Happy Birthday, .Reid. I hope you like this!

It was the most tiring thing in the world, being famous.

Fame was something people craved. Most people would sell their soul if given the chance to become famous for even fifteen minutes.

Viktor? If given the choice, he would sell his soul too. But it wouldn't be to become famous. He had too much of that already.

No, if it was possible, Viktor Krum would sell his soul for a single day where no one knew his name, where there were no press photographers camped outside his house. A day where he could start a relationship without wondering if the woman was interested in him or him his fame, where he wouldn't have to be on his best behaviour in case the wrong people were watching.

He would sell his soul for single day where he could just be himself.

He knew that Karkaroff desperately wanted him to go with the Triwizard contingent to England. It would be his moment of crowning glory in front of the other Heads – to have a Champion who was the star Seeker of the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team.

He'd spun a vision with the most beautiful words – Viktor Krum, international superstar, a world-travelling voyager.

None of that changed the fact that they were nothing but words. Viktor was already an international superstar, and what did he need to a world-travelling voyager for? He saw more than enough places playing Quidditch.

But – there was a part of him that wondered if the press attention would be less in England.

(He knew better than to think that there would be no press attention at all. No matter where he was, there were always journalists and photographers that followed him.)

And maybe, just maybe, Dumbledore would do a better job of protecting his school from unwanted visitors than Karkaroff seemed to be able to.

So he went, and just as he had expected, his fame followed him there. Legions of giggling girls behind him every time he turned around. At least at Durmstrang, the students had gotten used to having them among him.

But there were no nosey journalists here except for the bug-eyed woman – Reeter, Peeter, something like that – and even she seemed more focussed on Harry Potter.

(And as much as he hated himself for wishing it upon another unwilling victim of fame, he couldn't help but hope that that was where she kept her attention for the remainder of the Tournament.)

And then he found out what the First Task was going to be.

Dragons!

What the British Ministry of Magic and the Heads of the schools were thinking, he didn't know. All he knew was that he was going to face one of the most dangerous magical creatures in world armed with only a wand. He needed to figure out a way of getting past it – his life literally depended on it.

That Task may just have been the most fortunate event of his life.

Because, sure, his giggling fans were still around in the library, but so was she.

She was unlike anyone he had ever seen before. Definitely not anyone's description of a classic beauty, she had frizzy brown hair and a face that seemed just a little too big for her.

But that wasn't what attracted his attention. The reason he noticed her was because she was the only person who didn't notice him at all. The only reason she ever turned to look at him was to throw him a dirty look over the amount of noise his fans were making.

She was the only person in his life apart from his family who so obviously didn't care about his fame, so it wasn't really surprising to him that he quickly fell for her.

So when the Yule Ball was announced, he knew exactly who he was going to ask. There was never any other choice. That mystery girl, whoever she was, was the only one he wanted to go with.

The next time he saw her in the library, he gathered up all of his courage and approached her. This was one of the most important – and nerve wracking – things he had ever done in his life, and the last thing he wanted was to mess it up.

She didn't notice when he sat down in front of her, so he somehow found his voice and said, "Miss -"

She looked up at the sound of his voice, her face conveying her surprise at seeing him in front of her. "It's Hermione Granger," she said. "Uh – can I help you with something?"

"I – I vanted to ask you if you vould be villing to go to the Yule Ball with me?"

Hermione's face showed even more surprise.

"Me?" she asked. "But you don't even know me! Why would you be asking me to the Ball?"

"Vell – I have been vatching you in the library and trying to gather my courage to talk to you. And vhen they said there vas to be a Ball, I knew that I vished to take you as my date." He was fighting back a blush as he spoke. It was extremely embarrassing to admit this, but if she accepted, then it would all be worth it.

Hermione coloured a dark red at his admission, before nodding, suddenly shy. "I would love to," she whispered.

Viktor could have spent the rest of the day talking to her, or even just looking at her. Unfortunately, the bell for the next lecture rang at that very moment, and before he could say anything, Hermione had gathered her books and disappeared from the library.

Still, he couldn't stop a faint smile from spreading over his face. Yes, the First Task was undoubtedly the best thing that had ever happened to him.

For:

The If You Dare Challenge, Prompt 990. Old and Dusty Library

Legendary Creatures Competition, Aka Manto