Hey guys I am currently stuck on top of a mountain completely snowed in! As my sanity drains, here's another chapter.
I do not own Harry Potter but fuck JK Rowling.
I could feel the rays of sun warming my face, trying to wake me up.
"Who forgot to shut the bloody curtains?" I groan.
"Sorry! I needed to find my pink top, you know the one with the flowers and-" Lavender's whine makes me cringe involuntarily.
"Lav, I love you, why do you hate me so much?" Pavarti sighs resigning herself to an early morning. "It's six in the morning and classes don't start for another two days."
"But its Saturday and they're letting us out to Hogsmead with the other students. That means we have all day to get to know them!" Lavender huffs.
"Oh shove off, you just want to stalk Krum." I sigh. I was hoping by the time I got back to the dorm last night, everyone would be asleep. Oh how wrong I was.
Pavarti and Lavender we're still up, giggling about the Durmstrang boys, namely Viktor.
"Can you blame me? He is a hunk of man and famous to top it off." She sighs dreamily "Can you imagine it? A little girl with his eyes and my nose."
Ah right, I had almost forgotten Viktor was famous.
I roll myself out of bed and open my trunk, grabbing a set of clothes and my toothbrush.
"OooO Mione! Where did you get those pajamas? They look gorgeous on you!" Pavarti asks. "Don't tell me, they're enchanted!"
"It's just a set I picked up at a muggle clothing store. If you'd like, next time I'm home, I'll get you a pair?" I offer, looking down at the black lace boy shorts and half shirt.
"I'd love you forever!"
"Shut up, you already do." I laugh before going to change in the bathroom. It had taken a year or two but, my roommates and I had finally begun to get along. They weren't as shallow as I had originally thought and they eventually got used to my late night study habits. It was a tug of war for a while but, after my hospital wing stay last year, everything got better. Hearing a knock on the window above the loo, I open it and let the small owl drop off its letter before flittering back out the window.
I appreciate the promptness but, its only our second day back.
Peeling the envelope open I reach in to grab the familiar parchment.
Miss Granger and Miss Weasley,
It has been asked of you both to travel to the meeting room at 4pm sharp. Be prepared and don't be late.
Severus Snape
I groan, already feeling tired just looking at the letter; quickly setting it aflame, I carry on with brushing my teeth and pulling on a pair of black leggings and a lose jumper over a white long sleeve shirt.
"Mia! I've gotta pee!" Lavender raps on the door.
"Ah sorry, coming out now." I open the door and allow her to rush past me.
Pulling on white sneakers and my cloak I make my way to Ginny's dorm, knocking loudly.
"Whoever it is, I hate you." I hear her grumble form behind the door and I huff.
"Get up, I'll buy you a butterbeer for your troubles." I grin at her groan of acceptance. "I'll meet you in the Great Hall."
Casting a self-heating charm on my cloak, I leave the common room, knowing it's no use to try to wake up the boys any time before ten on Saturdays.
I almost make it to the Great Hall with no issues before-
"Oi Granger. What happened to your hair? A rat nest in it?" I take a deep breath before turning with a big smile.
"Good morning Malfoy. Has your father heard about the rumor going around?" I ask.
"Okay I'll bite, what rumor?" he frowns.
"That you get all your good grades by blowing Snape of course. I mean, its not so much a rumor as it is a truth finally being revealed. Feels good to let it all out huh? I'm proud of you for finally coming to terms with your sexuality. Congratulations." I laugh as I bow out.
"You- Mudblood bitch!" Goyle growls. I turn back around and narrow my eyes.
"Now Goyle, you're going to need to come up with something better than that. I would take my time to insult you but I'm afraid I don't have the time nor the crayons to explain to you what I want to say." I take a step backwards and bump into something hard. I know for sure there wasn't a wall there before which must mean-
"Iz problem here?"
"I'm sorry, I'm just going to get out of your way." I go to walk away but a hand on my arm stops me. I turn to look at the man behind me and blink a few times. He looks just like Viktor if he had long blond hair and light blue eyes.
"No, you stay. You." He points at Goyle who looks around to see both Malfoy and Crabbe gone. "Apologize."
I pray my shock doesn't show on my face. As much as I others speaking for me, it would appear that the giant of a man meant well.
"What?" He sputters "No."
"Puny boy. You think it vun to pick on girl. Go grow pair and come back, lucky I don't hit girl. Shoo."
Watching Goyle run with his proverbial tail between his legs its going to be in my top ten of Hogwarts memories for sure.
"Congratulations, I think you are my favorite Bulgarian." I pat my heart. "That made me feel all warm and fuzzy."
"You a very velcome, pretty girl." He grins, leaning a bit too close to me. No thank you.
"Don't push it."
He laughs and hold his hands up in defeat.
"Da Damyan, I was- oh Hallo Hermo-ninny." Viktor greets. "Wait that's not right Hermi-"
That's not fair. I think to myself as he walks up to us wearing a pair of black joggers. That's it, just pants, its zero degrees out, where is his shirt. Why is he so muscular; Seekers do not need to be this muscular.
"Good morning Viktor." I smile putting an end to his attempts at pronouncing my name. I'd be lying if I said Viktor wasn't attractive but, that doesn't mean I can stare at him.
Stop ogling him, he's a person not a piece of meat Mione.
"Ah Viktor guess vhat, I tell puny boy to veat it and am now her favorite Bulgarian. You keep perfect grades. I vin this one cousin."
Cousins. Of course they are. I didn't even know Krum had a cousin. Actually, the only person I could think of actually knowing that would be Ronald...
"I safe your life and yet he favorite Bulgarian, I'm hurt." Viktor sighs as he feigns a pain in his chest.
"Vait, You the girl who safed Lelka Sofia and Zhi? Blagodarya ti!" Damyan grins after a moment of realization before grabbing my face, kissing both my cheeks and the top of my head.
Too much contact from a man I met five minutes ago.
Luckily, Viktor grabs him by the collar and yanks him away.
"Damyan, that's enough, you make her uncomfortable. Ne ya dokosvaĭ otnovo, kuche.." Viktor mutters before letting go of the collar. I wasn't sure what Viktor had said but, the odd shade of paper that Damyan turns makes me hide a laugh behind my hand.
"Okay cousin, I understand" The blond grins in a way that makes it seem like he knows something Viktor and I don't. "Haff you put name in goblet yet?"
My shoulder tense as I looked towards Viktor. He shakes his head, refusing to look me in the eye and I let out a sigh of relief.
"Da, I did this morning, before my… ah ticham." He says quietly. "What's the word."
Ah I forgot, Bulgarian people shake their head for yes and nod for no. I'm going to have to remember that from now on.
"I think you meant jog Viktor. Jog or run." Ginny says in way of greeting as she appears from behind us.
"Da, vank you." He grins.
"Hallo miss-" Damyan begins.
"Too young for you, don't even think about it." I cut him off. I don't think Damyan is a bad guy per se but, the flirty grin that slipped onto his face when Ginny and I arrived reminds me too much of Cormac McLaggen.
"I'm Ginny" The redhead says with a roll of her eyes. "Mione, we might miss the carriages if we dawdle any longer. Plus, Lavender and her goon squad turned Viktor squad are on their way down."
"Carriages for vhat?" Damyan asks.
"Vhat is Viktor squad?" Viktor looks towards me with wide eyes. He was scared and he had every right to be.
"Oh, we've been granted an early Hogsmead weekend to show you lot what's it's like to live at Hogwarts." Ginny answers, ignoring Viktor's worried look.
"I'm sorry" I mutter, pulling him to the side. "It appears my roommate has decided to start a Viktor fan group. I have to warn you, she is vicious about this kind of stuff." With a sigh I take off my jumper and roll my eyes when I see Viktor's shocked face. "Don't worry, I'm not going to proposition you. You're safe from me. Engorgio" The tip of my wand glows against my jumper as it gets larger. "Here, do you think it'll fit?" I hand it to him.
"You vant me to wear your jumper?" He looks at me with questioning eyes.
"If I know Lavender, and trust me I do, if she sees you shirtless, she will maul you. I've seen it almost happen to Gilderoy Lockhart. It wasn't pretty. This is for your own protection."
"Mione, I can hear the giggling. They're coming." Ginny says with mock terror. "Viktor, you better put that on. The carriages will be running all day if you or any of your younger classmates want a tour around the town."
"Gin, we have to be back before four. We have…a practice that'll run well up to dinner."
She nods quickly with a solemn expression.
"Practice? You play Quidditch?" The boys ask in unison before glaring at each other.
"What? Oh no Hermione has…singing practice?"
"And Ginny is learning Piano." I add in quickly.
"I am? Right, I am! Silly me, the summer Holiday has really thrown me for a loop."
"Let's get going Ginerva." I grit my teeth "Madame Rosmerta's frozen butterbeer is calling my name. See you later boys." I wave, dragging Gin behind me.
"Really Gin?! Singing lessons?" I huff as soon as we close the carriage doors.
"At least you can sing! I've never even seen a real piano before!" She groans. "Do you think they bought it?"
We look at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter.
"Man, Snape is really going to grind us out this year huh. Training on the first full day back? Has he ever done that before?" She asks.
"Not since the boys and I started. It's probably because of the attack on the World Cup. Voldemort is going to try and come back again. I can feel it in my bones. I just hope we have time to prepare." I sigh.
We aren't going to get as lucky as we did last time. The World Cup had to have been a test run and for a test run it was highly successful. When I close my eyes, I can still hear the screaming and I can still smell the smoke.
"Okay, I think that's enough about good old Voldy for today. Tell me about what's up between Viktor and you." Even with my eyes closed I can see Ginny's leering smile.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. He's only nice to me because I helped his mum. He feels obligated."
"There you go, selling yourself short again, you saved both his mum's and his brother's lives. They wouldn't be here without you. You saw, they weren't taking prisoners during that attack Mia."
It was odd hearing Ginny so serious, it didn't quite match her fiery hair or fiery personality.
"Not to mention you should have seen the look on Viktor's face when his cousin was all over you. It was absolutely priceless. I don't think that was obligatory. C'mon Mia, you can't let what happened prevent you from being a teenage girl. You deserve better. When's the last time you went out with a guy? Since before the concert that shall not be named? Then walks in Viktor Krum, quidditch superstar, walking Adonis, top of his school. You saved his family's life, he saved your life, It's like fate." Her dreamy sigh gives way that she's probably already planning our wedding; she's a hopeless romantic just like her mother.
"Gin, you're imagining things again… did you say top of his school? How do you know that?" I ask, snapping her out of her daydream.
"Have you heard the way my brother talks about him? Ron could probably tell you his blood type and favorite food if you asked him."
I try to push the mental image of Ron fawning over Viktor far from my mind.
"Regardless, say Viktor is all those things and more. It's just like Ron said: I'm just me. My idea of fun is you and I dancing around the common room singing into our hairbrushes. I like staying in on Friday nights to read about magical theory. Summer Holiday was more than enough excitement for me. Not to mention. I don't have the mental capacity to be worrying about another person right now. I can barely handle Harry and Ron." I rant.
"Mia, at some point they are going to have to handle things on their own and when they start figuring things out on their own you deserve to have someone there to help you. You're right, you can't have another person to worry about right now but, what about when this is all over? What about when all Voldemort is nothing but a page in history books?"
Thinking about the future worried me more than anything, I don't know what's going to be happening next year, or if I'll even make it through this one. What do I want when I think about the future?
"I just want a peaceful sleep. I don't care if someone is there with me, I just want- When this is all over, I just want to be able to close my eyes and not be afraid. Do you want to know why I risked it all to save Viktor's mum? I did it because she reminded me of my mum; all alone and scared. I couldn't let what happened to my mum happen to anyone else's." The words tumble from my mouth easily, Gin has always been easy to talk to. "The weird part is, that I loved it. I was terrified but it was a rush like I had never felt before. What would mum think of me?"
I felt Ginny take my hand.
"It has never been and will never be your fault Hermione. What happened to your parents was not fair but, there was no way you could have stopped it. It's been almost a year and you still haven't told Ron or Harry yet. Maybe it's time to."
"You know I can't do that, not until-"
"Not until they completely rule out magic. I know." The silence that settles in the carriage is louder than my screams when Snape broke the news to me last year.
"One of the Death Eaters knew who I was. They knew I was muggle born." I breathe in deeply, trying to calm myself down. I've always been so thankful to Gin for sticking with me. I feel the carriage slow to a stop. "I think I owe you a butterbeer or two." I recall aloud, hoping to break the tension.
"Or three, or four" she laughs.
Per the girls' advice, Viktor pulls the jumper on and the smell of honey and lavender invades his senses.
"Isn't boyvriend supposed to give jacket to girlvriend?" Damyan teases once the girls are out of earshot.
"She is not my girlvriend, she is vriend that is girl." Viktor glares as the two begin walking the opposite direction the so called, Viktor Squad, was coming from. He had dealt with quidditch groupies ever since he became famous, the best way is to ignore them politely until they lose interest. They always do.
"Friend vhat is a really pretty girl. If you don't like, I ask her out."
That makes Viktor send another glare towards his cousin. Damyan was a notorious womanizer and loved being the man that the quidditch groupies would use to try to get close to Viktor. Always teasing his baby cousin about all the girls that he passes up almost always land in the blond's bed eventually.
"She's too smart to vall for your tricks, ti kuche." Viktor says, pulling up the jumper's hood to hide his face from, what was very obviously, a groupie girl looking for him. Button with his face on it and all.
"I vould hope so, she isn't called brightest vitch of her age vor nothing. Helped Harry Potter and Vonald Weasley take down troll virst year at school. Valso heard rumor vhat she successfully brewed Polyjuice Potion in ver second year. She is very vell known. People have started calling vem Golden Trio; it vas been said vhat, if time comes, vey will take You Know Who down." The older Krum rambles. "Who vouldn't want a girl like vhat behind them?" Looking as his baby cousin's pensive face, he chuckles. "Have you not known who she vas?"
Viktor had heard of Harry Potter, who hadn't? He had also heard of his two best friends Ronald and Hermione. They managed to escape after being kidnapped by mass murderer Sirius Black just last year. He just hadn't realized the girl who saved his family and who smelled of lavender and honey; was in fact the Hermione Granger.
He shakes his head. She is just Hermione as he is just Viktor. She treated him as a normal person, and he would do the same.
After a few moments of silence, Viktor grins.
"All vhat means is vhat she is definitely too smart to vall vor your tricks."
Anyone else completely ready for 2020 to be done?
Just me?
Bet.