Fourth Year, Part 2, 1994-1995

Hermione's fourth year at Hogwarts was dominated by the Tri-Wizard Tournament and Harry's unfortunate and mysterious entry as a school champion. Was it not possible for them to have a single school year without the threat of death lingering around them?

A fight with the younger Malfoy resulted in a misfired curse and buck teeth that grew to cover her chin. The only plus to come out of that very public humiliation, which Professor Snape made so much worse by claiming he couldn't see a difference in her extreme overbite, was that Madam Pomfrey graciously agreed to shrink her teeth to a smaller size than they'd originally been.

For weeks afterward, she couldn't stop smiling toothy smiles at herself in the mirror. She'd begun to pay more attention to the little things the other witches in her dorm did to enhance their appearance so she could try them out herself, and for the first time in her life, she started to feel a little bit pretty. Her mum was fond of reminding her that the ugly duckling grew into a swan. She wasn't sure she'd ever be swan-like, but she at least felt more like a GIRL.

To her immense surprise, she'd somehow managed to attract the attention of Durmstrang's champion and Bulgaria's seeker, Viktor Krum. He'd approached her in the library with a question about a book. That had turned into study sessions, which turned into conversations, which somehow turned into him asking her to accompany him to the Yule Ball. The whole thing had a very Cinderella sort of quality to it.

She'd hoped that Ron would ask her to the Yule Ball. He was her friend, and they would have fun together, and if she was very honest with herself, she did think he was rather cute in a gangly kind of awkward teen boy sort of way. He didn't make her heart race when he smiled, and she didn't blush uncontrollably at the thought of him possibly holding her hand or kissing her cheek, but she liked him. He was safe. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to see her as a girl, one he could ask to the ball.

So she'd gone with Viktor instead, and she'd silently enjoyed her classmates' stunned looks of surprise at her appearance. Draco Malfoy had even stared at her with shock, unable to say anything mean to her. She felt like a princess in a muggle movie. She'd gotten into an argument with Ron at the ball, but Viktor had done his best to make her feel better.

The most momentous part of the ball was that when it was over, Viktor had kissed her, a real kiss, one that he obviously wanted because unlike a few other couples she'd seen that night, they weren't stuck under an enchanted mistletoe.

Her first kiss! She supposed most girls built up the idea of their first kiss in their heads until it couldn't possibly live up to their lofty expectations, and she really was no better. She wanted passion. She wanted fire. She wanted to burn and melt in a wizard's embrace, a wizard who adored her and was good for her.

She wanted to fall for someone who wasn't Lucius Malfoy.

Viktor's kiss was sweet, almost uncertain. She wasn't sure where to put her hands. Around his neck? On his shoulders? His chest? When she finally parted her lips for him and allowed his tongue to snake inside her mouth, she felt a little bit panicky. Was she doing this the right way? She'd expected him to take control because he was older, he was famous. Surely he'd had loads of girlfriends already. He was timid with her, like he was afraid he would scare her if he pushed her too hard, and instead of relaxing her, it made her feel uncomfortable. What was wrong with her? She was kissing a handsome wizard after being his date for a magical holiday ball, and she couldn't turn her brain off even for a second.

He pulled back from their kiss first to gauge her reaction and then grin broadly at her.

"Herm-i-o-ninny, you haff made me a very happy vizard tonight."

She smiled back and tried not to cringe at the way he still butchered her name even after she'd told him over and over again how to pronounce it.

"I vill valk you back to your dorm?" he offered.

She nodded mutely, unsure of what to say or do next. Did this mean they were a couple now? Did he want that? Did she? It was all very confusing.

~oOo~

Hermione learned over the next few months that Viktor did indeed consider her his girlfriend, although he struggled to pronounce that word, just as he still struggled with her name. Harry struggled with his preparation for the next task and with an unrequited crush on Cho Chang.

When the next task came along, Hermione was NOT happy when she learned that she was to be put in stasis at the bottom of bloody Black Lake. Just whose bright idea was this? She could DIE down there! She never agreed to be part of this stupid tournament! She was still arguing with Professor Dumbledore when his spell knocked her unconscious.

The next thing she knew, she was gasping for breath and panicking because she was in the water. She was in very deep, very cold water, and oh god, something was touching her, something had a hold of her.

"Herm-i-o-ninny! It is me! You are alright, no?"

Viktor. It was Viktor holding her up and pulling her toward floating platform.

"So-o-o c-c-co-o-ld," she stuttered as she relaxed in his grip and stopped fighting his hold on her.

"I vill get you out, get you dry."

Her soaked robes weighed her down and make it difficult to climb out of the lake. Someone returned her wand to her, and with a shaky hand Hermione cast a drying spell on her clothes, along with a warming charm. She felt unsettled and overwhelmed.

Where was Harry? Where was Ron? She was about to panic when she saw Harry break through the surface of the lake, dragging both Ron and Fleur's little sister Gabrielle with him. In her relief, she threw her arms around Viktor in a hug. He returned it, patting her wet hair. It hit her then, as she stood there on the platform hugging a cold and wet Viktor, that SHE was the person who meant the most to him. She pulled back from his embrace and kissed him lightly on the lips. She intended to let go of him to assist Harry and Ron, but he hugged her again, and she froze.

Standing behind Viktor, along with Durmstrang Headmaster Igor Karkaroff and Minister Fudge was Lucius Malfoy. And he was looking at her with a most unfathomable expression on his face.

"Ve help your friends, no?" Viktor asked.

She nodded and tried to draw her attention from Mr. Malfoy. She was distracted then by Harry and Ron and by the announcement of the champions' scores from this task, but as she celebrated with Viktor and her friends, she was certain she felt Mr. Malfoy's eyes on her. It was incredibly unsettling for reasons she couldn't quite put into words.

~oOo~

Of all the ways she thought her fourth year at Hogwarts would end, Harry clutching Cedric Diggory's body and yelling that Voldemort was back, followed by the reveal that one of their professors was really a Death Eater everyone believed dead did not even make the list. It was disheartening to think that each year was somehow more terrifying and horrific than the last. Her only consolation was that Harry, dear sweet Harry, was safe.

She and Ron sat on either side of Harry's bed in the hospital wing, relieved that he was alive and well but horrified at the tale he had to tell. Voldemort was truly back, resurrected, and he'd called his inner circle to him. Her heart twisted painfully as Harry described how Voldemort had removed the mask from one of his followers, revealing Draco Malfoy's father.

"And you told this all to Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione asked when Harry finished his story.

"Yes, but Fudge and the others from the Ministry don't believe it. They sent the dementors in for Barty Crouch Junior, because they had proof of who he was, proof that he'd captured the real Moody," Harry said bitterly. "My word and Cedric's body isn't enough for them though. They're convinced it's some fantastical tale."

"I knew it!" Ron crowed. "I know Malfoy's dad was a Death Eater!"

"Fat lot of good it does though since Fudge won't believe it," Harry pointed out.

Hermione bristled at Ron's attitude and then turned her attention back to Harry. "You said Voldemort questioned Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yeah, for not looking for him, for publicly denying him after he disappeared following my parents' murders," Harry said.

"Dad says he and a bunch of others claimed they were under the imperius curse, but it's bollocks of course," Ron supplied. "Him being there tonight proves it!"

"It doesn't prove anything of the sort," Hermione spit out before she could stop herself.

Ron and Harry both gawked at her, and Ron's face twisted in surprise and then anger.

"Of course it does! It proves he's an evil git, it proves he was lying all that time all those years ago. He should be in Azkaban with the rest of the lot!" he said.

"All his presence there proves is that he has the dark mark - but that's public knowledge from his trial all those years ago, isn't it?" she asked.

"I...I guess?" Ron replied, clearly unsure where she was going with this.

"If Voldemort used the mark to call his followers to him, then it would have called anyone who had the mark."

Both boys looked at her blankly.

"If someone was under the imperius curse when they were marked, meaning they were marked without their consent, they would have still been summoned to that graveyard, whether they wanted to be there or not," she lectured.

"You don't really buy that do you?" Harry asked. "That he was under the imperius curse?"

Of course she bought it. His innocence was something she fervently believed in because to believe otherwise was to admit to herself that she'd fallen for a supremacist, a bigot, a violent terrorist. But that wasn't Mr. Malfoy. He was cultured, sophisticated, powerful.

"You said yourself that he looked terrified, and that Voldemort singled him out for denying him and being a respectable member of society."

"So?"

"So the dark mark, it's forever, right? Once you have it, it doesn't just go away, does it?" she asked.

Harry nodded. "I think it's permanent."

"So what if he was terrified because he had no choice but to be there? A lifetime of servitude as long as Voldemort lives, even if you didn't want the mark in the first place."

Ron sputtered indignantly, and Harry looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I guess it all hinges on whether or not you really believe that he was imperiused. He definitely didn't look happy about being there," Harry admitted.

Ron looked like he wanted to say something, and Hermione had a feeling it wouldn't be anything good, so she preemptively flung herself at Harry and wrapped him in a hug.

"I'm just so glad you're okay. I don't know what I'd do without you, Harry."

He hugged her back, and for a moment, Hermione set aside all thoughts of Mr. Malfoy and his actions and motives. She curled up beside Harry and smiled when Ron followed her lead and flopped down on the foot of the bed. For the rest of that evening, she did not think about Harry's unsettling news about the return of Voldemort, about Cedric's death, or about Mr. Malfoy. For the rest of that evening, they were just normal teenagers.

~oOo~

So there it is: Vikmione! I have always wondered what their interactions were really like before Harry figured out they were together, and this was a fun opportunity to play with the awkwardness of young romance. Hermione is growing up, but she's not been able to shake her growing obsession with Lucius. Up next: 5th year!

Thanks for reading. As with all my stories, constructive feedback is always welcome.