Viktor frowns at her and tilts his head. "Hermy-own-nee, I don't understand. Vy am I here? Do you need something? Is there bad news?"
Hermione had asked him to meet him at the Viaduct, where she could talk with him privately. "I wanted to talk to you, that's all," she explains. "I have something I want to say." It's a beautiful spot where she loves to come and think; it's a massive structure that connects the castle to the Viaduct Courtyard. The stone structure stretches across hundreds and hundreds of feet of a chasm, so far down that Hermione grows dizzy if she stares for too long.
Viktor's not watching the chasm, however. He's staring at her, and for some reason he looks mildly embarrassed. He clears his throat. "Oh, I hope you do not haff the wrong idea, Hermy-own-nee. I am not interested in you in that, eh, vay."
Hermione blinks. "Oh. Oh."
"I did not mean to lead you on," he says, sheepish, "if that vas vat you desired out of our, eh, friendship."
She laughs a little, cheeks pink. "It's no worry, Viktor. I actually asked you here to tell you...that we probably shouldn't be together if that was what you wanted from this."
He nods. "Good, then—we have the same idea. I like you because you remind me of my little sister, and you treat me like a person, not like a celebrity. The girls who chase me… They do not even know me. You took the time to know me, even though you did not haff to, and that makes you very different. It makes you a real friend." He smiles at her. "My sister… She is a lot like you—she reads books more than she talks to people, and many think that vithout her books, she is no...real person. So they treat her badly. You deserve all of the nice treatment, Hermy-own-nee, no matter vot those other people think." Now Viktor's chuckling, too. "Vait—vy did you not want to?"
"Well, I'm a little young for you, aren't I?" she reminds him. There's a nest on the edge of the viaduct that she's just spotted, one with two eggs snuggled inside, and she reaches for it with her gloved hands, pushing it away from the dangerous edge and sliding it to a safer spot on the inner portion of the stone railing. Viktor watches her with a curious smile. "In the Muggle world… This would be…not legal for us to be together, because the age gap is too big. Besides, I don't think I see you that way."
He nods. "I don't, either."
"You're like the older brother I never had. Thank you for becoming my friend, Viktor, really. I won't forget you, even after you've gone back to Durmstrang. You truly are a good person. You saw past my...everything. Not many people do that."
Viktor nods again, patting her shoulder with his hand. "There vos nothing to see past, Hermy-own-nee. You are very kind, and you deserve kindness." He sighs. "I'm glad vee talked about this. I feel better now."
She hugs him then, throwing his arms around his neck and squeezing tight. "I wish you could stay here at Hogwarts, but… Just don't forget to write to me, okay? I still want to hear about your life when you're back at home."
"And you as well, Hermy-oh-nee," he responds, smiling. "I won't forget you. Seeing you...makes my day better every time. I just hope we will see each other again."
She smiles. "I know we will."
"Then…" Viktor, gently, bows and kisses her hand. "...until we meet again."
Then, they turn back to gaze out of the Viaduct, at the miles of wondrous space, at mist snaking through the chasm without a care, at the rocky cliffs far beneath them, at the rich forest extending as far as the eye can see.
It isn't romantic; it doesn't have to be. But it's perfect.
Written for: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments) [Gryffindor]
Term 12 - Assignment #10: Photography: Take A Snap, Task #3 [Write about being in a picturesque setting.]
Challenges: Writing Month [664], IWD [professional Quidditch player, Karl Marx], Days of the Year [June 8th], Spring Prompts [12], Birthstones [9], Earth Element [8], Hufflepuff [Traits:9], Character Appreciation [18], Bingo [5D], Film Festival [6], Insane [944], 366 [354]
WC: [664 words]