Past:
The bar began to buzz again loudly with the mix of all of the voices before Viktor tried to comfort Hermione, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Let's get going." Hermione responded walking into the unlit fireplace. Viktor followed her lead stepping into the fireplace pulling some powder out of the bag in his hand.
"Slithering Snake Saloon," Viktor shouted throwing down the floo powder into the fireplace. The fireplace erupted into green flames. As Hermione vision began to be pulled from the bar to the new location, she saw a blurred figure of a man standing in front of the fireplace with blonde hair. Hermione tried to focus on the person to see who it was, but her vision went black as she pulled to her new location.
Present:
Hermione's vision blurred as her body was pulled to her new location. Her feet hit hard against the stone floor causing her legs to buckle. Hermione extended her hand out hitting the cold brick of the fireplace and held herself upright until her vision returned. Hermione opened her eyes and could see Viktor watching her from the other side of the fireplace.
"Are you alright?" Viktor asked.
"Yes," Hermione answered looking around the bar. It was nothing like the leaky cauldron. The bar was dimly lit with only a few people sitting at a table and one other guy sitting at the bar. None of the patrons of the bar looked up from their drinks or conversations to look at them. Viktor moved out of the fireplace and waves at the bartender, "Hello Davor."
The bartender nodded his head at Viktor before returning to polishing the glass in front of him with an old rag. "Stay close!" Viktor whispered to Hermione as he began walking towards the door. Hermione pushed off of the brick wall of the fireplace following close to Viktor as they reached the entrance to the saloon. Viktor pushed it open to reveal an empty street with rolling hills of grass on the other side of the road. He began walking out of the saloon onto the empty street with Hermione following close behind him. The street had nothing on it just the field of grass on the other side of the road. The door to the saloon slammed shut behind Hermione. Hermione turned around at the sound to see nothing but another field on the other side where the entrance to the bar had just been.
"Viktor, where are we?" Hermione asked looking at the spot where the saloon had just been.
Viktor turned around looking at Hermione, "We are on the outskirts of the Krum property. The saloon sits in a protected space to serve as the security gatehouse. Only people of the family or people escorted by the family can enter the property."
"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Now the house is just on the other side of those small hills." Viktor pointed at the rolling hills of grass as he began walking towards the point he had just pointed at, "It's only a fifteen-minute walk from here, so let's get going and keep close." With that, Viktor turned around and began walking across the street towards the hills of grass. Hermione followed quietly already deep in thought as they started their hike to the Krum house. While they walked Hermione's mind drifted off to the event that had occurred before they had floo traveled. Ron. Hermione sighed breathing in a big gulp of the sweet grass air.
'We are over Hermione' replayed in her mind as her eyes wandered across the grass field. It was just that a grass field. There were no flowers or weeds. Just tall grass that swept across her ankles as they continued walking and rustled with each gust of the wind.
'It's probably for the best,' Hermione thought, 'Ron was nothing but a drunk these days. Since the last battle, he had done nothing but drink. Harry wasn't much better, but Ginny seemed to at least keep him sober at certain events or when he was going to work. But Ron had no concern about what being drunk would do to his job. He had almost lost his job multiple times because of him being drunk. He had put his team in danger because he was drunk. But every time I had saved his job. Maybe, it's my fault he became a drunk…'
'No,' Hermione thought fiercely, 'We both were upset after the war. He had lost multiple members of his family. And I had lost the only two people that were my family. My parents. But I persevered and got multiple promotions at work. Ron just handled everything differently. I tried talking to him about it multiple times. But it never helped. He tried counseling after one of the incidents at work. That didn't work either. We were just cut from different cloth. Ron needed to drink to numb the pain. I thrived off of it and made it into something positive. If it weren't for me, Ron wouldn't have a job. It's better that we are separated.'
'It's sad,' Hermione thought, 'That the final straw wasn't even him being a drunk. It was Viktor. Stupid jealousy. Ron had always been jealous of Viktor since the Yule Ball in the fourth year. Viktor and I had owled each other multiple times and stayed in touch. Ron always hated it. He would get outraged when he found the new letters from Viktor when they had started living together. So I made sure he wouldn't see them. By having them delivered at work. Away from Ron's prying eyes. It felt wrong, but there was no reason for Ron to act like that over a letter. It's not like Viktor was confessing his undying love in them. After all, Viktor was one of her friends and had been for a long time. And my first kiss…'
Hermione stopped and turned to look at the boy who was trekking up the hills of grass. 'He had been her first kiss. Right before Durmstrang school had left Hogwarts in fourth year. Viktor had surprised her with a small picnic on the north side of the lake. Away from any prying eyes. It was very sweet. It was a couple of lunch meat sandwiches and chips, but it was perfect. We talked for what felt like hours. As the lunch ended, we both stood up promising to stay in touch with each other. As I turned to walk away back to the castle, he stopped me by grabbing my hand. I wasn't prepared for what happened next. He pulled me to him and kissed me firm but gently on the lips. It was warm and sweet. Unlike any kiss from Ron that was hot and sloppy. The kiss with Viktor had been quintessential. It was thing that dreams were made of. But as quick as it started it ended. I never told anyone about that moment with Viktor. It was our private moment. After the kiss, Viktor said one last thing before we both separated. I will always be there for you if you need me. And I believed him wholeheartedly.'
"We are here," Viktor announced as they reached the top of the next hill.
Hermione looked up from her feet and was amazed. The house. No, the palace in front her was as beautiful as Versailles. It was massive. The architecture of the castle even reminded her of Versailles. The roof also had gold peaks coming off the square roof. Every side of the structure was covered in large rounded windows. Only a few feet from each other. The palace had a wing on each side. The center of the castle was attached to both of the wings but was pushed back from either wing with a large manicured garden in front of the main entryway. That accented the dual marble staircases coming down for the main entryway twisting gently down to the cobblestone walkway in the center of the garden.
"Viktor, it's beautiful." Hermione breathed.
Viktor chuckled, "This is just the summer house."
Hermione's mouth hung open and stared at Viktor, "But this is incredible. It had to cost a fortune and take many years to construct this."
"It probably did. But my family has always had money. Even before I started professional Quidditch." Viktor shrugged.
Hermione closed her mouth taken aback turning her head to look back at the palace. Viktor had never told her much about his family. Or what his home life was like, 'Maybe this is why.', Hermione thought.
"Are you ready to head down?" Viktor smirked at the girl.
Hermione nodded, "Lead the way."
Viktor started to descend the hill to the cobblestone path. Hermione followed close behind him still looking at the massive summer house in front of her. Their shoes clicked as they began walking down the cobblestone path to the house. The garden on either side of the trail was just as beautiful as the house itself. It had small manicured bushes lining the route and on the other side of them were rows and rows of bright red tulips with the tips of the petals being yellow. Reaching the end of the cobblestone path they began to climb the marble stairs up to the front door of the Krum Summerhouse. Hermione followed Viktor slowly her head on a swivel trying to take in all of the magnificence of the garden and the house. The sound of one of the doors opening caught Hermione's attention causing her to turn forward and to look at the inside of the house. The interior of the house was just as amazing as the outside. Inside was a massive crystal chandelier that sparkled through the whole entryway and lit up the second level which could be accessed by a grand staircase in the center of the entryway. Hermione walked into the house and saw that the grand staircase and the interior floors were both polished wood, but the stairs had an old green and silver stair runner. There were a few moving portraits of people on the walls in the entryway. 'Previous family members' Hermione guessed.
Hermione cleared her throat after thoroughly looking around the entry of the house, "Well, we are finally here in Bulgaria, in your families house. Can you tell me who my real family is now?"
"Not quite yet. Follow me" Viktor said motioning her to follow him. Viktor walked up the grand staircase in the center of the house with Hermione following behind him. The chandelier-lit their way up the stairs to the second level that had two grand oak doors in the center of the entry to the second level. Viktor walked up to the doors pushing them open to reveal a magnificent library. Inside the library, it was dimly lit by a few candles on two tables in the middle of the room. The outer edge of the room was covered with darkened bookshelves. Then there were multiple rows of bookshelves on the ground behind the tables that Hermione could only see an outline. Viktor motioned for her to step forward into the library. Hermione obeyed and walked through the doorway into the dark library. Viktor followed closing the doors behind them and walked over to the tables in the center of the room.
"This is a nice library, Viktor. There must be books from every century in here." Hermione beamed looking around at the massive library before stopping at the tables in the center of the room and turning to look at Viktor.
Viktor smiled sadly, "Hermione, Tom Riddle, Lord Voldemort, is your father."
Hermione froze staring at Viktor. She couldn't breathe, it felt as if all of the air in her body had abandoned her. "You're lying!" She choked out as she felt a drop run down her cheek.
"I am not lying. Tom Riddle IS your father." Viktor stressed.
"No..No...No" she whispered frantically falling to the cold stone floor in shock before crying out, "….NO! That's impossible! I'm just a mudblood! He can't be my father!"
"Hermione, you're not just a mudblood," Viktor assured her softly.
"What?" She whispered harshly. Tears were falling down her cheeks as she struggled to stand herself back up.
"Hermione," Viktor began walking around the table towards the girl who immediately put her arms up to distance herself from him, "You are not just a mudblood. Both of your parents are actually from two very proud pureblood families."
"No, this can't be happening," She whispered to herself, "This has to be a nightmare. I'm probably just still sleeping in Viktor's bed and just having a nightmare."
"This is not just a nightmare," Viktor sighed, "I'm telling you the truth, you are his daughter."
"No! He can't be my father! This is just a terrible prank. That demon spawn would never have children." Hermione snarled, " I hate Lord Voldemort. I fought him in the last battle with Harry. We killed him. He's dead."
"Actually…" Viktor began, "He's not dead."
"What did you say?" Hermione stammered.
"Tom Riddle is alive." Viktor disclosed.
"But I was there at the last battle. I saw him die. He's dead. Is what I saw at the battle a lie too?" Hermione asked her voice quivering with emotion.
"Yes," Viktor started slowly, "You saw a copy of Lord Voldemort, Tom Riddle, die."
"A what?" Hermione gasped.
"You saw a copy of Lord Voldemort die. It wasn't the real version of the man." Viktor announced.
"How is that possible?" Hermione questioned.
"Polyjuice Potion," Viktor replied.
"But the Horcrux. Harry destroyed it and killed him." Hermione breathed.
"The Horcrux was destroyed but not because of Harry. Lord Voldemort gave the wizard that was poly juiced as him a spell and had him destroy it to make it believable." Viktor revealed.
"That's impossible! I saw his body hours after the battle, and it never changed." Hermione retorted immediately.
"The potion was created by your mother a long time ago. It is a permanent change for the person taking the potion. That's why the death eater that took his form never changed back." Viktor continued.
"But...but.." Hermione trailed off, "It can't be real. Lord Voldemort, would never let someone else be him."
"Hermione, Lord Voldemort is your father, and he's alive," Viktor said exasperated by the girl.
"No!" Hermione cried out walking away from the table in the middle of the room towards the doors.
"Where are you going?" Viktor growled in annoyance.
"I'm leaving. You have lost your mind. I can't nor will I ever be Lord Voldemort's daughter." Hermione spat as hot tears streamed down her flushed cheeks.
As Hermione approached the door, she heard the door click and lock. She pulled on the door to be sure, but the door had locked. Hermione turned around in rage her brown eyes fiery with anger.
"Unlock the door Viktor!" Hermione snarled.
"I didn't lock it, Hermione," Viktor muttered.
Hermione looked at him in shock. "Then who did?" Hermione said in an accusing tone.
Hermione watched as the shadows seemed to come to life in the library and started to move. Viktor fell to his knees and put his head down as a man stepped out of the shadows of the library. For the second time in the day, Hermione's blood ran cold as all of the air vacated her body. She was staring at the most hated man in Britain. Lord Voldemort. Alive. He stopped beside Viktor and put his hand on his shoulder, "Hello, my daughter." Lord Voldemort hissed.