I curse you, bratwurst (and/or Red Lobster,) for giving me food poisening! D:

Anyways, I know that this chapter is short. But it is the beginning of Four parts of amazingness. So, read on!(:

Dislcaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. 'Nuff said.

July Fourth

Part One

Depression

It was a beautiful day. Hot, but beautiful, with white clouds and clear blue skies. Mrs. Nelson had brought out lemonade. Not Leigh's mom, Mrs. Nelson, but Leigh's dad's mom, Mrs. Nelson, who was strict but kind and was great friends with Mr. Weasley because she loved to talk about Muggle things.

"Uh-oh."

George glanced over at Rebecca, who was sitting outside with him, Ron, and their mom, and gave her a questioning look. "What's wrong?"

Mrs. Nelson—the older one—then brought out a plate of cookies, brownies, and some kind of small fudge on a platter, setting it down on the small wicker table between George and Rebecca. "I'm guessing that this is Leigh's work?"

The old woman nodded, her eyes slightly saddened, but her face strict, and then returned to the house. George turned to Rebecca, who had a worried look on her face and was looking as if she would stand up and run away at any moment.

"What's wrong with brownies?" George wanted to know, picking one up and popping it in his mouth. It melted, and was a perfect blend of chocolate and caramel in every bite.

"Leigh cooks when she's upset," Rebecca said, and her pretty strawberry brows furrowed, the freckles all over her face contorting together until it looked as if she had a tan. "More precisely, Leigh bakes when she's depressed. Maybe I should—"

"Perhaps we should get Viktor to talk to her," Mrs. Weasley stepped in quickly, a knowing look on her face. Of course they all knew that Viktor and Leigh Ann had feelings for each other, but the two didn't, and it was so completely obvious. Well, except to Ron, who had probably messed up a very intimate moment between the two before the baseball game the day before.

"Are they dating?" Rebecca asked in that southern tone of hers from those small pink lips. George liked the way that her green eyes showed every emotion that she was feeling, and that her eyelashes were the exact same shade of strawberry as the rest of her hair. At the moment, the hair on her head was pulled down into two pigtails, tied at the end with large blue bows that hung around her chest.

Ron snorted rudely, making those strawberry brows scrunch up again. "Yeah, right. That'd be like saying that Hermione and I were dating."

Just you wait, brother, George thought with a smug smile, knowing that the two would eventually get together, even if he had to spike some punch with a small amount of love—ahem, lust—potion to get them to see that they were crazy for each other.

"Hmm. Well, its just that, I thought…with the way they were…I mean, she doesn't usually…" Rebecca huffed and crossed her arms under her small but somehow perfect chest. "He got her a necklace."

"It was a peace offering."

She rolled her eyes and took a sip of her lemonade. "Are they that oblivious?"

"Obviously," Mrs. Weasley snorted, before blushing and returning to whatever she was doing in her lap.

Was she knitting?

George shook his head when he realized that Rebecca had changed subject and was trying to talk to him. He cleared his throat and asked, "Sorry?"

"I was asking you, have you really never seen a Disney movie?" she repeated, and the look of confusion, curiosity, and excitement in her eyes made him want to answer everything she asked.

"Nope."

"No offense Mrs. Weasley, but is he sheltered?" she asked completely serious, her face dead-pan. But then she smiled at the confused look on Molly's face. "Oh, don't worry, I'm just messing with you. It's totally alright that you haven't seen The Lion King or Aladdin or even the new Pochahontas. That just means that we have a bunch movies we need to watch, like, now. Wait. Which twin are you today?"

"I'm George," he said with a small smile, hoping that she didn't think of him as, 'Just that twin.' "Really, I'm actually George."

"Okay. Well, to me, you're the one who talks faster. Its much easier to talk to you with knowing who you are. George, the one who talks faster. And I think you have a funny freckle right…" She put her finger to a spot right between his eyes. "There."

"Oi, so do you!" he exclaimed, putting his finger between her eyes as well.

She giggled, crossing her eyes to look at his hand, and pulled her hand away. "I love your accent. Keep speaking!"

Mrs. Weasley looked to her youngest son. "Ron, go see if you can find Jason, and ask Jason if he'll get Viktor from the Quidditch pitch. I'm still not sure if I could make it all the way there without getting lost."

"But Mum—"

"Don't you dare, Ronald Weasley. Do as your mother says."

Ron sighed and stood up lazily, grumbling under his breath.

Viktor Krum

"Oh, Viktor, there you are."

Viktor turned around and saw that Leigh's grandmother, Caroline, worrying her darkly tanned, wrinkled hands. "Da—yes, Meesees Neelsoon?"

"Its not going to do any good. When she gets in these states, she won't talk to anyone, and I'm sure that's including you." Though the woman didn't look like she meant the slight insult.

"Jasoon deed noot say vhat vas wrong. Ees there a beeg probleem?" At first, when he'd seen Jason, he'd been wondering if there was to be a change in the get-together. But no, it had been worse.

Something was wrong with Leigh Ann.

He'd been practicing with the team during the American's slot—as they had no practice on the Fourth—when Jason had shown up, and his coach had almost put him on probation for jumping off of his broomstick and following after her brother, but then he reminded Dimitrov that he was supposed to keep an eye on her, and he grudgingly let him leave in the middle of practice.

Caroline nodded, her eyes worried. "Anna does this whenever she's upset. I think its because her father isn't going to be here for the Fourth."

"I vill talk to her."

"Please."

He walked past her worried form, through the living room, the dining room, and followed the smells of baking sweets until he saw her standing there. He'd never seen the kitchen before, what with all its black marble and dark-wooded glory. Stainless steel appliances, with a dark marble floor, and dark red walls.

And then there was Leigh Ann, who was standing next to one of the three large stoves.

"Leahn?" he asked softly, watching as she angrily sifted flower into a large mixing bowl. "Leahn."

She ignored him. Instead, she cracked eggs, poured milk, added cocoa and a few other ingredients that he had never seen before. She started beating the mixture, still not saying a word. She was wearing shorts, with plain white tennis shoes and a plain maroon tank top, all under a cream, lacy apron which was wrapped firmly around her waist and neck.

She then turned slightly, moving to pour the batter into a large pan. She didn't notice him. Tears had previously run down her face, as there were streaks, and she looked very determined not to let anymore fall. Her hair was up but falling in a messy bun, and the necklace around her neck was off kilter.

As soon as the batter had been placed in one of the many ovens, she then turned back to something that was rising, adding more cinnamon to the top of it, and then turning to a small bowl of another kind of batter and keeping up with it.

He moved closer, to stand behind her, and he put his hands on her arms. "Leahn, vhat ees wrong?"

She sat down her wooden spoon on the table with a loud clang. "Nothing."

He put his chin on her shoulder, noticing that her entire front was covered in flower, coco, and who knew what else. He also had a very wonderful view of pure peach chest, and he wanted to kiss off all of the flour. "There ees soomthing. Tell me."

"Did Jason send you?" she asked determinedly, and he saw her fists clench on the counter.

He started to rub his hands up and down her bare arms, wondering how she could be so strong. He didn't want a crying woman, but he didn't want this, either. "Da and he." Technically yes, and technically no.

"My Gamma?"

"Da and he."

"Rebecca, then."

Viktor sighed and gave her a squeeze. "Stoop it."'

"What do you want me to say, Viktor? I'm upset, so leave me alone." She tried to shrug him off, but he wouldn't allow it. "Let me go, my brownies are burning."

He did let her go for that, but crossed his arms over his chest and stood his ground as she got out baking mitts and took the brownies out of the stainless steel oven. She sat them in a windowsill next to two pies, a cake, and some strange type of muffin to cool, then tried to go back to baking.

Viktor grabbed her before she could continue. "Tell me the prooblem."

Leigh Ann pulled her arm from his grasp, walking around him to go back to her cookie batter. "There is no problem, so leave me alone. I'm baking for the party tonight."

Viktor ran a hand over his face, giving a deep sigh. She will be the end of me yet. "Coome here." She didn't answer as she started rolling the batter in little balls, setting them on the cookie sheet. Viktor then walked around behind her, slowly undoing the tie of her apron that was around her waist. He settled his hands there, on the smallest part of her waist, and gently massaged her back with his thumbs in small circles. "Leahn…"

"I want to be alone," she said softly, leaving her batter to rise. "Please, Viktor."

He pulled the apron from around her neck, folding it and gently setting it down beside her cookie dough. "Stoop eet."

"No, just leave me alone!" She tried to reach for the apron again.

This was when Viktor decided to go into action. He bent down, wrapped his arms around her legs, then threw her backwards. He stood up the second she gave the first annoyed scream.

Her fists pounded on his back as he walked through the kitchen, then the dining room, and then the living room, where Caroline was sitting. Though she quickly stood up when she saw them. "Viktor, what are you doing?"

"Talking to her."

"LET ME GO!" she screamed in frustration as he passed the Weasleys and Rebecca on the front porch.

"Way to go Viktor," Rebecca said, clapping, a large smile on her face.

He strode along the grounds, past gardens, past a miniature forest, until he saw the vast, clean blue lake. He'd seen it the day before when Jason had taken him on a tour of the house, and now he knew exactly what it was used for. He walked along the pier, past one strange-looking boat, until he was at the end.

And then he threw her in the water.

She surfaced with a gasp. "V-VIKTOR!" she sputtered furiously, her thick, long hair matted down all around her. "DAMN IT!"

He crouched down low, watching her temper flare, her low-spirits forgotten. "I toold you to stoop."

Suddenly she reached up, wrapped her hand in his shirt collar and pulled, making him lose balance. He felt himself fall right over her, into the cool though refreshing water.

Viktor felt a slight annoyance as he surfaced, though the smug look on Leigh's face made him want to dunk her. So, he did, laughing when she sputtered again and came back up.

"Why you—" she growled, wrapping her arms around his neck and attempting to drown him, but she only put herself back into his arms, which made it easy for him to dunk her yet again. Her soft breasts against his chest sent his hormones raging, her body wrapped in all of that wet clothing making him want to take it all off.

She stopped trying to dunk him and instead tried to get her breath back, leaning her head against his shoulder as he held her. She punched him in the shoulder lightly. "Payback is such a bitch, Viktor."

He smiled and leaned down to kiss her wet forehead. "I knoo. Boot you feel better, yes?"

She laughed and snuggled into his wet t-shirt. "Yeah, I guess I do." Her soft, hazel-green eyes met his, and he saw a small crinkle in each corner. He'd never noticed it before, but there was a small dimple in her right cheek as well. "Thank you, Viktor." He longed to reach down and kiss it, so he did, and she looked surprised. "Viktor?"

"Yes?"

"I-I think we should g-get out of the water now."

And the sexual tension gets worse...(; Here's an excerpt from the next chapter, which hopefull I'll have a Beta Reader for soon. I'm talking to someone who loves my story and would love to give me a few pointers, which I'm glad to hear! We shall see.(:

Anyways, a look at "July Fourth: Part II:"

Leigh Ann blushed proudly, gently touching the small oval. "I don't want compliments, Viktor. I want to know that no one thinks that you're using me, or that I'm using you. What does your team think of us?"

"They think that I am using you," he said softly, giving her temple a small peck, "and that you are using me." He couldn't stop his lips as they gently moved down her jaw, and he wondered if her skin had always been so soft. "That ve are using each oother…

She jokingly pushed him away, but not before a slight flash of light blinded them both. Leigh Ann started coughing from a small amount of smoke, and he couldn't see.

"Oh, well, how cute," came a very familiar, very nails-on-a-chalkboard voice. "That'll be a good one for the paper, won't it, Lieutenant?"

Viktor could almost feel Leigh Ann's body heat up in embarrassment as Rita Skeeter walked up to them, her handy-dandy camera man behind her like an obedient pup. "Vhat are you doing here, Vita?" he asked, wrapping Leigh Ann up in the towel and standing in front as if to protect her.