"I don't know if you are being purposefully obtuse or willfully idiotic," was the first thing Hermione said to him when she showed up by the shore of the lake in the dreamscape he was beginning to think of as theirs, "but for Merlin's sake, I hope it's purely accidental that you keep sending me horrible gifts."

He sighed, his heart sinking into his stomach. "I take it you disliked the mirror."

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "It insulted me! I was going to simply stick it in a drawer because it was useless, but Ginny convinced me to a least try to use it as a paperweight or something of the sort, so I took it with me to potions. I had the poor luck that my partner knocked it off the table — Neville has always been clumsy — at which point it got knocked open. Then, of course, it took to shouting at me again, quite loudly and in front of all the Slytherins."

She pressed her lips together, her cheekbones high with colour. Stiffly, she continued, "I did not appreciate Blaise Zabini of all people remarking that I must be rather ugly indeed if an enchanted mirror, which are traditionally spelled only to say compliments, would only say things like, your face looks like your bottom or that your mother must have been a pig."

Viktor was going to kill Kosta. "I...I don't know what to say."

"Did you even open it?" she asked, exasperated.

He had, actually. "It...well, it told me I had a..." His cheeks flamed. He couldn't say it.

"A…."

"A nice arse," he blurted out.

She reared back, her eyes wide, then collapsed into laughter. "And you thought that was also appropriate?"

"In my defense, it also said it liked my hair and that I looked ready to seize the day. And!" he scrambled to add, "It was my brother's suggestion."

"So it's his fault, is it?" Hermione commented dryly, crossing her arms. "You're really something else, aren't you?"

He bowed at the waist, misery creeping through him. "I have tried so hard to show that I respect you, but it seems as though I insult you or displease you at every turn. Please," he swallowed, "I only wish to get along with you. I wish to be your friend and your partner, if you will let me."

For a long time, she looked at him, her expression inscrutable. "If you'd like that," she said finally, "stop sending me gifts that don't mean anything. Talk to me instead, and stop assuming what I'll like or dislike. I'm not sure what I want from you, if anything—" he flinched at that, "but I am willing to speak with you like this if you'll stop acting and start listening."

Listening. It was such a little concept, something that he did all the time, but it appeared it was one thing he had not done well at all with the person that mattered most.

"I can do that." He would do anything to get her to give him a chance.

"Good." Neatly, she folded herself into a cross legged position on a large, flat rock that jutted out over the water. Even as she patted the spot next to her invitingly, her eyes were wary and distrustful. "Tell me about your family."

"My family?" he asked as he joined her, resting his weight on his hands as he let his legs lie straight before him. It was cold, here, he thought. Soon enough, it would be too cold to be pleasant, and he hoped that they would be able to find or at least conjure something warmer in this dreamscape they found themselves in.

She nodded. "You had mentioned that this happens to all your family members, I think, back when this all began, so...your family. Tell me."

Making a thoughtful noise, he looked out over the lake, which appeared black in the light of the perennially setting sun with the exception of the far edge, where it was various shades of pinks and oranges. "I have a mother and a father and a brother. Mother is, as you're well aware, a celebrated Master Diviner while Father is a renowned Master Potioneer and my brother Kosta is a—"

"Wait, your brother is Kosta?" Hermione cut him off, her eyes glittering with...was that excitement? "As in, Kosta Krum, who wrote that seminal treatise on runic warding?"

"You...know of him?"

Hermione fairly bounced in her seat. "I've read his works! The library at Hogwarts keeps them. I may only be in my third year, and so a lot of it was over my head, but from what I could understand, he's brilliant."

Of course. Trust the world to pair him with a girl that was more awed by academic brilliance than anything else. He was smart as well, that was true, but his passions trended towards the more physical applications of magic, such as duelling and quidditch.

"I'll tell him that you're a fan of his work," he offered at last, unsure where the rock sitting in his gut was coming from.

"Would you? That would be wonderful." She reached over and gave him a quick hug, which set his entire being to fizzing. "Do you think...do you think he'd accept an owl from me?"

An owl? When Viktor couldn't even get her to have a conversation with him? Damn, he should've sucked it up and specialised in alchemy or something.

"You're family," he managed eventually, his voice sounding shockingly normal for someone who suddenly had the urge to commit fratricide. "Of course he will."

"Excellent. Just excellent." She was grinning from ear to ear, and he found himself returning her smile. "Now, I know you're from Bulgaria—that magazine article Ginny made me read said so. Are you in school there?"

"No," he shook his head. "I attend Durmstrang, same as my brother."

"Isn't that only open to the northern European students?" she asked. "Of course, it's not public knowledge where it is, but it's rumoured its up north and they only accept those in the surrounding countries."

"That's somewhat true," he allowed, "but they also take in students from abroad as well, provided they can pass some additional exams and pay the full tuition."

Just as Hermione opened her mouth to ask another question, a particularly stiff wind slammed into them, the gust of frigid winter air making her shiver. Ruefully, she smiled at him as he took off his jumper and handed it to her. "Thanks. It's a bit colder in here than it is in Scotland, which I really didn't think possible."

The sight of her shrugging into his favourite jumper momentarily struck him dumb. It dwarfed her, the sleeves falling far past her hands, and he had never seen anything more adorable in his entire life. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah." She bit her lip for a moment. "Thanks for this. Actually, can you conjure a glass jar, a big one?"

"A glass jar? Whatever for?"

For the first time, she smiled. "It's a surprise. You'll see."

Jar successfully created, he handed it over and watched as she pointed her wand tip inside. His eyebrows rose as blue flames danced off the tip and sank to the bottom of the jar. Even from here, he could feel the heat. "What spell is this?"

A diffident shrug. "Oh, just something I made awhile back. The best part is that they're pretty durable. I have to cancel the spell for them to go out, so we'll have this even if it starts snowing. Handy, isn't it?"

Viktor looked at the blue flames incredulously. "Have you considered the various uses for this?"

Her brow scrunched. "Heat? Convenient fire?"

He resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. "No. Think bigger. Look, I really think you should consider patenting this—"

Someone was shaking him violently. "Viktor. Viktor, wake up."

Hermione vanished suddenly as he was jarred awake, his eyes opening on Nikolai's worried visage. "It's Karkaroff," his friend said, voice hushed. "He's called a meeting for all captains and majors."

"For our battalion?" he clarified, frowning as he quickly got dressed. "And why not any of the colonels? What about the major generals?" It was strange only to summon the fifth and sixth years but not any of the seventh years. Very strange.

Nikolai shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I think the summons is across all battalions."

"Let's go." Greta popped her head in, eyes narrow. "We can't be late."

As they hurried down the corridor, Viktor felt dread pooling inside him. What the hell was going on?

Hello, it's me, back again with our two favourite morons as they figure out how to communicate like actual human beings. Shocking, I know.

I was going to come back to this after finishing the first arc of my epic Viktor/Hermione fic, Hunting Shadows, but I was inspired by a sudden spate of reviews, so thank you guys for pushing me to get back to this earlier than planned :) It's all due to you that this chapter got done more quickly than it was slated to.

That being said, please let me know what you think!