Everything is Art

Viktor and Hermione didn't talk much for the next two days. They went on a boat tour of Santorini and then spent the day on the island. The next day they went to Crete for a tour of ancient Minoan magical culture. They were both happy when Todor and Pietra showed up, but almost immediately something felt off. Pietra was unusually quiet and when she did speak it was minimally. The morning after they arrived, Viktor and Todor went to the other side of the island to fish off the pier and Hermione went out on to the balcony to read.

xXx

It wasn't long after the men left that Pietra made an appearance. She came out on to the balcony and stood in front of Hermione. "I need to speak with you."

Hermione looked up from her book and set it aside. "All right."

Pietra blew out a calming breath. "As you know, Todor and I are getting married."

Hermione smiled broadly. "Yes. We got the invitation. We've already RSVP'd."

"Yes," Pietra was clearly struggling to stay calm. "So, my future mother-in-law wanted some of Todor's photographs to put up at the wedding. Photos of us. She felt that since we've known each other so long that it would be fun for people to look at those at the reception."

"That sounds like a good idea," Hermione said.

"It's ridiculously early to be pulling those together, but like Todor, she has a certain aesthetic, so she wanted to have them early, so she could put them together in various ways to… who cares? She wanted them. Todor was away doing a portrait in Vidin, so I let myself into his studio."

Hermione was starting to feel very uncomfortable. She didn't know where this was going and it worried her.

"While I was there," Pietra continued, "I thought to check his hidey-hole."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "His what?"

"Where he used to keep his stash. He doesn't know I know where it is, but I do. I just wanted to see if he had anything in there. I needed to know if he'd really left the drugs behind for good."

"Okay," Hermione said slowly.

"The good news is, I didn't find any heroin."

"That is good."

Pietra reached into her pocket and threw two photos on the table. "The bad news is I found these instead."

Hermione felt her heart sink and her guts churn. "Pietra," she whispered. The top photo was the one Todor took of her pregnant the day she and Viktor were attacked in Sophia. The other, which Hermione had never seen, was taken in Todor's studio when she was staying with him while Viktor recovered in the hospital. She was asleep in Todor's bed under the covers. Even asleep her expression was troubled, but her shoulders were bare, leaving the impression that she was naked beneath the covers.

"When the hell were you pregnant?" Pietra said. "Did you have an affair with Todor?"

Hermione shook her head. "No. This isn't what it looks like."

"Then what the hell is it?" Pietra's face was red with anger.

"You should ask Todor," Hermione said quietly.

"I'm asking you. Witch to witch. Did you sleep with him?"

"No," Hermione lied. "Of course not. That's not what this is about."

Pietra sat across from her. "Then tell me."

Hermione took a deep breath and did what she'd done so many times before under pressure. She lied. The second lie slipped from her lips so easily it could have been true. "I was pregnant shortly after Viktor and I got back together." She shrugged. "Reignited passion can get away from you. It wasn't intentional, but I wasn't willing to terminate. I don't have any family, I couldn't waste the chance to…" She shook her head, trying to keep her emotions in check. She cleared her throat. "Viktor asked Todor to take the picture. Then we were going to get a marriage license. Viktor wanted us married before we went back to England."

"That sounds like him," Pietra commented.

"Yes, but…" Tears filled Hermione's eyes and she pressed a hand to her mouth to try and regain her composure. After a moment she continued. "But then we were attacked, and I lost the baby."

"I'm so sorry," Pietra said. "I didn't know." There was a long pause before she continued. "And the other photo?"

"I've never seen it before," Hermione said. "But it had to have been taken when I stayed with Todor while Viktor was still in the hospital. It would have been the first night."

"And you're naked because?" There was a threatening edge to Pietra's tone.

Hermione closed her eyes. "Because I came into the hospital without clothes and they discharged me in just a gown. There was blood on it." She shook her head. "He got me cleaned up and put me to bed. It wasn't…there was nothing sexy about it."

Silence hung heavy between them for a moment as Pietra absorbed this new information. "But he took a photo."

"I wasn't aware that he'd done that."

"And he kept them hidden. Why would he do that?"

Why indeed? Hermione thought, and then a plausible explanation occurred to her. "Insurance perhaps."

"Insurance for what?" Pietra asked, clearly confused.

Hermione sighed. "Money. That picture of me pregnant would be worth a small fortune to Witch Weekly. Even the other photo of me asleep would be worth something. He probably kept them in case he ever needed quick cash."

Pietra shook her head. "He wouldn't do that."

"He wouldn't if he were sober, but if he was desperate for a fix, he might. Who knows when he put them in there? He may have completely forgotten he did that."

"You think?"

Hermione shrugged. "I think you should ask him. And then I want the photos and the negatives."

"Of course," Pietra said. "I will talk to him when they get back. This is very troubling."

Hermione stood. "I'm going to get in the shower."

Pietra nodded. As Hermione started to walk away Pietra called her name and she turned around.

"I'm so sorry…about what happened to you."

"Me too." Hermione walked calmly into her bedroom and locked the door behind her before turning on the shower. She pulled her wand and promptly Disapparated.

When she landed on the pier a moment later, she marched straight for Todor.

"Hermione?" Viktor said, as she passed him without so much as a glance in his direction.

Todor turned around to see what was going on and she smacked him hard across the face. "You stupid, perverted git! I should curse you into next week."

Todor put a hand to his cheek. "What the hell?"

"Hermione what's going on?" Viktor asked.

"He kept that picture of me pregnant, and he took another one of me sleeping in his bed. Pietra found them and thought we'd had an affair."

A dark look crossed Viktor's features. "You what?" he said to Todor.

"It's not what you think," Todor pleaded. "What did you say to Pietra?"

"What could I say?" Hermione hissed.

All the color drained from Todor's face. "You swore you wouldn't tell her about Amsterdam."

"I didn't, you idiot!" Hermione shouted. "But I had to tell her something so I suggested you might have kept them to sell at some point if you needed money."

Todor's mouth dropped open. "I would never do such a thing!"

"Then why did you keep them?" Viktor asked angrily.

Todor ran a hand down his face and paced back and forth across the short end of the pier. "I...it was my baby. That was all I had."

Hermione shook her head. "Dammit Todor!"

"And the second photo?" Viktor said.

"Closed the loop?"

"What?" Hermione said, completely exasperated with him.

"The first photo is of potential, the second of loss. Both are beautiful in their own way."

Hermione shoved him with both hands. "I'm not an art project!"

"Everything is art," Todor said quietly.

She shoved him again. "Fuck you!" She turned and started back down the pier.

"You idiot," Viktor growled.

"It could have been worse," Todor said. "She didn't raise her wand to me."

Without turning around Hermione flung her arm back and Todor went sailing out over the water and dropped with a huge splash. When he resurfaced a moment later, Hermione was gone.

Viktor reached down to help him out of the water. "Idiot," he said grimly.

Todor pulled his wand out of his pocket and cast a charm to dry his clothes. "It could have been worse."

Viktor looked at him. "How?"

Todor averted his eyes. "There are some other photos we should talk about."

xXx

When Hermione reappeared back in their bedroom, she undressed and got in the shower. The warm water was a comfort as she rested her forehead against the cool tile and let the tears come. She was furious with Todor, but she also understood why he'd kept the photos. She'd cried herself to sleep every night while Viktor was in the hospital and every night Todor would curl up behind her, hold her tight, and cry too. It was a loss they shared no matter how problematic the conception had been. She heard the bathroom door open and Viktor say, "Hermione?"

She wiped her face. "Yeah."

He stepped into the shower and slid his hands around her waist. "I am sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"But I am still sorry." He kissed her shoulder.

She turned around in his arms and kissed him. "We should probably go down to the beach and give them some privacy to hash this out."

He looked surprised. "You do not want to go home?"

"No. Do you?" It was her turn to be surprised. "I think it would be worse if we went home, don't you? They're our friends. This is awkward but not insurmountable, right?"

He sighed. "She has tolerated so much from him. I hope this is not the last straw on the camel."

She chuckled.

"I did not get that right?"

"Close. It's either the last straw or the straw that broke the camel's back, but not both."

He smiled. "English idioms are hard."

She looked down between them. "Hard is good."

He nodded and pressed her back against the wall.

xXx

Viktor and Hermione spent the rest of the day on the beach, waiting to go back in until the sun started to set. When they finally went back to the villa, Todor was alone on the balcony looking out at the waves crashing against the shore.

"Where is Pietra?" Viktor asked, fearing she'd left.

"She went for a walk to clear her head. She is very upset with me."

"What did you tell her?" Hermione asked.

"I confirmed your suspicions, but I told her I put those pictures away, before I was really clean, and that I forgot about them. In the end, I think she believed me, but she is still very upset that I would even consider selling them."

Hermione frowned. "Perhaps she would've been better off with the truth."

Todor shook his head. "No. That would have been much worse. For me to have gotten you pregnant," he shook his head again. "She would never have forgiven me for that no matter the circumstances. This she will get past."

Hermione nodded. "Okay."

Below they could see Pietra on the beach walking back toward the villa. "Why don't you and I make dinner?" Viktor suggested to Hermione.

"That sounds good," she said, although she couldn't help wondering how dinner would go with Todor and Pietra on the outs with each other. She wondered if they would stay for the rest of the week? When Pietra came in, she didn't say anything and went into their bedroom and closed the door behind her.

Viktor grilled steaks and Hermione baked potatoes and put together a tossed salad. When they had everything on the table, he looked at Todor who went and knocked on the door of the room he shared with Pietra. Viktor poured wine for everyone but Todor. A few moments later, Todor came out of the bedroom and closed the door behind him.

"Is she joining us?" Hermione asked.

Todor shrugged. "I told her dinner was ready. She didn't say anything. We should probably go ahead and eat."

As they took their seats, the bedroom door opened and Pietra came out and sat down. "Thank you for making dinner," she said.

Viktor began to pass around the food.

Pietra mechanically took some of everything handed to her, but as the others began to eat, she just sat there. Hermione felt awful for her. She wished she could have thought of a different less onerous reason that Todor might have kept those photos.

Pietra took a sip of her wine and set it down. "I'm sorry," she said. "We've hijacked your vacation. We should leave in the morning."

"Pietra please," Todor said.

"It's not fair to them. How Hermione can stand to look at you, I don't begin to understand."

"But I can," Hermione said.

Pietra looked at her. "How?"

"I won't pretend I was happy to see those photos, but…" She shook her head. "He's apologized to me. Explained the circumstances. I'm now in possession of both photos and their negatives. No real harm was done. We've all done things we regret and in the grand scheme of things…well…this is forgivable."

Pietra raised her eyebrows. "You're very understanding."

Hermione shrugged. "I wasn't always, but I've done things I'm not proud of."

"We all have," Viktor added.

"Besides," Hermione continued. "He was still using, but he rose to the occasion and came and got me from the hospital and took care of me while we waited for them to release Viktor. So, no, he shouldn't have taken that picture, but he could have left me to fend for myself, so I forgive him. He was there when it counted and that outweighs the photo."

Todor looked on the verge of crying.

Pietra closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment before taking another sip of wine. She looked at Todor. "You don't deserve such good friends."

"I know," he said contritely.

Hermione leaned over and put her hand on Pietra's forearm. "Stay." She smiled. "When are you going to get another chance to enjoy a private island?"

Pietra quirked her lips. "Probably never."

"Then listen to Hermione," Viktor said. "And eat your dinner before it gets cold. It would be a crime not to eat a steak this good."

"Oh great," Todor said. "Now we have to listen to what an incredible cook he is."

"Can I help it if I am a genius with grilling spells?" Viktor said, smiling.

Pietra looked at Hermione. "Do good grilling spells qualify as genius?"

Hermione chuckled. "Not that I'm aware of but Magic is a broad and varied field."

"Of course, they qualify," Viktor said. "I am a genius at many things: flying, dancing, cooking, golf—"

"Golf?" Pietra said in disbelief.

"Oh yes," Viktor said, warming to his subject. "I have learned to play since I moved to England, and not surprisingly, I am brilliant at it."

They all laughed.

"Of course, you are," Todor said, shaking his head.

"Yes!" Viktor said, grinning. "Just the other day, I banked a shot off a Manticore's head for a hole in one."

"Do bank shots count in golf?" Hermione asked. "It's not snooker."

"Any shot that doesn't get you killed counts in Wizard's Golf," Viktor said.

Dinner continued in the same lighthearted vein and tensions eased. The rest of the week was spent sunbathing and fishing, cooking and playing games.