Chapter 56

"Well?"

"Well what?" he snapped.

Fleur huffed impatiently. Ever since her sister had gone away she had began accosting Viktor at every available opportunity, sitting next to him in classes and trying to corner him in the hallways. He had managed to avoid her or ignore her so far, but today she had intercepted him on the way back to the ship and she refused to step aside.

"Is it still standing?" she asked for the tenth time.

Viktor glared at the annoying quarter-Veela. He was seriously considering to hex her and be done with this, but something in her determined expression made him suspect that she would continue insisting even with tentacles sprouting from her head.

"I do not think that is any of your business," he said curtly, glancing around to make sure there was no one at eavesdropping distance. The last thing he wanted was for that nosy reporter to include Fleur in her next article about Viktor's love life.

"It is," she countered, stepping closer to him. "I want in, Viktor."

Viktor felt certain that Fleur was trying to manipulate him with her dangerous charm, but that wasn't going to work on him.

"You had your chance before, and you threatened us in response," he reminded her, stepping back. "Why would we accept you now?"

"Does that mean that you're still allies?"

Viktor's scowl deepened. He had grown so used to people not being able to ask or comment about his alliance that he had not realized what a relief it was to be left alone to figure things out without external interference. It was extremely irritating to be pressed for an answer to a question he didn't even want to ask himself at the moment.

He wanted to say yes, but he couldn't bear the thought of Fleur mocking him if it turned out not to be true. And he didn't want to say no, in case saying it made it true.

"I am not sure," he finally admitted.

"You're not really fighting about that girl, are you?" she asked in disbelief. At his dark expression, she raised her arms defensively, "All right, not my business! But if you decide it still stands, will you ask him if I can join?"

"You can talk to him yourself," said Viktor. "If you want an alliance with Potter, just go and offer."

She sighed.

"It's just that... I have treated him horribly. He has no reason to trust me, but perhaps if you spoke in my behalf..."

Fleur's eyes were bright and her lower lip trembled slightly as she stared imploringly at him. All her usual arrogance and conceit had disappeared, leaving complete vulnerability behind. Viktor had never been much affected by her beauty, but he now suddenly realized that she was, indeed, beautiful beyond words. He shook his head to clear it and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Potter almost drowns cracking the clue, you know," he said coldly. "And he was the one who insisted in that you and Diggory had to be told."

Shame appeared in Fleur's beautiful face, making it more human, but still Viktor didn't relent.

"Potter cracked the clue for you, but you didn't even think of sharing the Bubble-Head charm with him. It was just luck that he found a way to breathe underwater, he almost didn't make it. And who would have saved your sister then? I certainly would not have done it."

Now tears were running down Fleur's lovely face, but Viktor continued in a harsh tone.

"Potter didn't cheat, by the way. The warning was for nothing he did. And he didn't put his name in the Goblet willingly. He never wanted to be part of the Tournament, and yet he is the only one who deserves to win."

Fleur nodded as she wiped the tears from her face.

"I know," she sniffled. "I understand now. And I want to help him win. I'm no longer in this for myself, Viktor, I swear!"

"He doesn't care about winning," he snapped angrily.

"Then I will help him survive," she said fervently. "I owe him a life."

Viktor maintained his glare for a while longer. Fleur seemed sincere and desperate to make up for her previous behaviour, but he still didn't like the idea of welcoming her into the alliance. Assuming there was still an alliance to welcome anyone into, of course, or that he had any say on who was admitted. The truth was that Viktor was mostly angry with himself, but it was easier to take it out on Fleur than to deal with his own conscience.

"I will think about this," he said finally, turning to go and wishing he could take flight instead of walking.

"When will you-?"

"You will have to wait," he cut her off brusquely. "And if Potter says yes, you better not think of betraying him. I will be watching you."

His threat had the effect of returning some haughtiness to Fleur's countenance, which only annoyed Viktor more and resulted in the exchange of a few French and Bulgarian insults as they parted ways.

Fleur really was a fool if she thought that Viktor would give her a good recommendation. She would have a much better chance of getting into the alliance if she just approached Potter directly and asked. The kid probably would take her in without a second thought nor the slightest recrimination, thought Viktor with a mental roll of his eyes.

Perhaps that's why he had been so hard on her: because he suspected that Potter would let her off too easily, and that might give Fleur the idea that she didn't have to work so hard for the kid's forgiveness. Viktor would make sure she knew better.

Of course, he had his own forgiveness to work on.

Viktor had survived the second task. He had rescued his hostage and received perfect marks for his performance. People seemed to think that he should be enjoying his success, but he actually felt as if he had lost a great deal during the task. Or at least he feared so.

He envied Diggory. His hostage was plainly delighted at having been singled out as that which her champion would sorely miss. The whole experience had served to bring them closer than they had been, as evidenced by the fact that they seemed to be spending every available moment staring at each other like fools or snogging passionately whenever there weren't teachers around. The girl sat with Diggory at his table every day, for every meal, always smiling at him and leaning over to whisper things at his ear that made him smile or even blush.

Viktor wasn't so fortunate.

Of course he had never expected Hermione to be the kind of girl that lost her head for someone to the point of spending all her time making eyes at him or giggling or snogging behind tapestries. It was the fact that she wasn't that kind of girl what had drawn Viktor to her. He liked that she was different, complicated, serious. Challenging.

The problem was that he was losing the challenge.

Instead of bringing them closer, the second task seemed to have erased any progress he might have made with her. Hermione hadn't exactly blown him off —yet—, but she definitely had began to pull back, and he could feel her slightly more distant with each passing day. She had still to give an answer to his invitation to visit him in Bulgaria during the summer (an invitation he had extended in a moment of temporal madness, still overwhelmed by the mixture of emotions that had accosted him during the task), and she had excused herself from going with him to the village near Hogwarts. Suddenly she seemed to have a lot less free time, and whatever time she had she spent it with Potter and —until a few days ago— his dog. Since Viktor no longer sat at the Gryffindor table, he didn't see her as frequently as before, and he had begun to hesitate again when it came to approach her in the library. The only time they had gone for a walk together after the task she had seemed uncomfortable and had mostly avoided his eyes, not encouraging him at all to break the distance with a kiss.

He was losing her.

He also seemed to have lost his ally. Viktor had intended to talk to Potter the next time they met up in the sky, but the kid had not showed up in over a week. He was avoiding him, both in the air and on the ground, and Viktor had to respect that.

It's not fair, he thought bitterly as he flew over the lake, the darkness and silence feeling oppressing instead of liberating. He had always enjoyed flying alone, but now... it just wasn't the same without Potter. He had gotten used to the company, and now he missed it.

It wasn't fair. Viktor had done everything right, so far. He had volunteered himself as champion to spare the likes of Andrei. He had fought his dragon, and rescued his hostage. He had properly courted the girl, and worked out an alliance with the younger champion. He was technically winning (score-wise), and he knew his parents would be proud of him.

And yet, he felt empty. A failure.

He had failed Potter. They were supposed to be allies, and yet he had left him alone at the bottom of the lake. Viktor, who had joined the contest to spare innocent people, had turned his back on the other innocent hostages.

Viktor had only cared about taking Hermione to safety.

He lazily turned around when he reached the northern shore and flew in a random pattern for a while, his eyes scanning the empty sky without much hope. For a moment he wished he were flying over the Durmstrang grounds with his schoolmates, or in Bulgaria with some of his cousins, or even in a stadium with the rest of the national team and an annoying crowd looking on. He wished to be anywhere but here, with anyone except alone. He missed home, and his parents, and his life before the Triwizard Tournament.

For the first time since he had come to Britain, he felt homesick.

Without conscious thought, his broom came to a stop right above the spot where he and Potter had dived into the lake during the second task. It wasn't too far away from the spot where Potter had almost drown. He wondered whether the golden egg had reached the bottom on that occasion, and whether the merpeople had seen it before Viktor summoned it back. He tried to imagine what had happened down there after he abandoned his ally, what a difference he could have made if he had stayed. Potter had managed on his own, somehow, but he had emerged too close to the time limit...

He felt mostly guilty and ashamed, but some part of him could still evoke the anger he had felt when Potter had left him no choice but to swim away without him. Viktor had indulged him for like twenty minutes, reluctantly agreeing to stay until the kid saw evidence that the other champions were on their way too. Diggory had come, but still Potter had refused to go and eventually Viktor had had to make the decision of leaving before the stupid kid could pick a fight with the merpeople.

He still thought that his own decision-making had been right, that given what he knew and what was at stake it would have been too reckless to stay behind and provoke the merpeople for a hostage that was someone else's responsibility. They had shared the clue with Fleur and Diggory. They had offered them an alliance. Surely no moral guidelines would have demanded from them to save their hostages too.

Apparently Potter's moral compass was more demanding that anyone else's. An innocent girl was alive because of that. A girl that Viktor would have left to die. That he had left to die. Because he couldn't deceive himself: he had known, when he had swam away, that Fleur wasn't coming. That she would not get there in time. That even if she got in time, she would not have time enough to swam back to shore with her hostage the same way she had come.

Viktor had not wanted to think about that, but deep down he had known. And he had chosen to get away safely with his own hostage rather than risk it all for that little girl and his suicidal ally.

Feeling lost and empty, Viktor wandered aimlessly through the dark sky a while longer. He would have never believed that he could ever not enjoy flying, but the activity was currently making him utterly miserable. He supposed it was the scenery what depressed him, everything from the lake to the trees and rocks at the shore, all belonging to Potter. This was the kid's territory, his home field, and it was just plain wrong for Viktor to usurp it. If their alliance was broken, if they could no longer be even flying companions, then the decent thing to do was for Viktor to step aside and let Potter fly alone. The kid certainly needed it, and he had been first up here.

He had all but decided to fly back to the ship and tomorrow morning inform Potter that the sky was all his when he caught sight of a dark spot moving in the distance. Said spot seemed to come to an abrupt stop at the same time than Viktor, and despite the distance he knew that he was staring at him too. It was Potter. Finally.

They remained suspended in midair, unmoving, for a long minute, probably both trying to decide whether to approach or go their separate ways. Viktor didn't want to impose himself on Potter if the kid didn't want company, but he sensed that this was a critical moment, a crossroads of sorts, and he didn't want to be the one to make the decision of calling off the alliance for sure. Was Potter thinking the same thing? If neither of them moved, eventually someone would give up, realized Viktor, and it would be a shame —not to mention stupid— if they lost the possibility of collaboration just because neither of them had had the guts of taking the first step —or flight— back in.

So finally Viktor steered his broom and leaned forward to meet the Boy-Who-Might Still-Be-His Ally. And he saw, with a relief that suddenly lightened his heart, that Potter was flying to meet him too.

"Hey," said the kid awkwardly when they came to a stop at speaking distance.

Viktor just nodded. No matter how much English he learned, he couldn't bring himself to use such informal expressions in that language. Even though in Bulgarian he would probably be addressing Potter informally at this point.

"May I have a word?" he requested levelly.

He was certain that two weeks back Potter would have smirked at his formality, but the kid must be nervous too because he just nodded seriously and led the way at top speed towards the same section of shore where they had listened to their eggs over a month ago. It had become sort of like their spot, and Viktor found encouraging that Potter was leading them there since it was where they had originally agreed on their alliance.

They landed quietly and propped up their brooms against the usual tree before beginning a slow stroll along the shore, neither of them saying anything for several minutes. Despite having been the one to ask for a word, Viktor wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to say.

"I'm sorry," said Potter before he could decide how or where to begin.

Viktor looked up in surprize.

"Why would you apologize, Potter?" he asked with a frown.

His fellow champion sighed.

"Because I put you in a horrible position," he said. "I know it was hard for you to leave me behind. You also took a risk waiting with me for a while, and afterwards coming back to help me with my dog. Thank you for that, by the way." Viktor opened his mouth to argue against the whole concept of Potter apologizing or thanking him, but the kid went on, "I don't regret what I did, and I would do it again in a blink, but we were supposed to be a team and yet I completely ignored your opinion down there. You and Hermione could have gotten hurt because of that. I'm sorry."

Viktor remained in silence for a long minute, processing Potter's words. He hadn't expected an apology, and he certainly didn't think it was called for, but he appreciated it anyhow. It had been hard for him, and it was true that Potter's impulsivity could have endangered both Viktor and Hermione. The kid had actually tried to approach the other hostages while Viktor was still there, and while the attempt had only elicited a firm warning from the merpeople it could just as easily have triggered a hostile response.

"I think we both failed as allies," he said. "I... I wish to apologize for leaving you behind. For not staying to cover your back as I should have."

Potter was shaking his head.

"No, you didn't have to stay, I didn't want you to. It was my decision to stay for the other hostages. I wanted you to take Hermione away. You did the right thing."

"Clearly I didn't," objected Viktor. "I only thought about myself and my hostage, I didn't even consider to rescue the others."

"You did the right thing," repeated Potter. "You focused on your task and rescued Hermione."

"If that was the right thing, what was what you did?" demanded Viktor.

Potter shrugged.

"It was the right thing for me," he said simply. "I knew there was a risk, but I was willing to take it, and I believed my dog would have agreed with me. I'm not sure I could have risked it if I had not trusted you to keep Hermione safe, though."

Some part of Viktor's mind was wondering how a dog could have 'agreed' with anything, but mostly he was feeling extremely conflicted. Apparently Potter wasn't angry at him for having abandoned him at the bottom of the lake, he even claimed that he had wanted him to go. He had gesticulated something like that, but he had also clearly indicated that he wanted to stay so Viktor had assumed he wanted —and needed— help rescuing the other hostages. Being underwater without verbal skills had definitely been a nightmare, Viktor had vowed to learn some kind of sign language after that experience.

It was sort of a relief that Potter didn't expect him to share his extreme self-sacrificing tendencies, that he didn't seem to judge him for not having stayed for the little girl, but some part of Viktor couldn't help feeling that he should be different, more like his fellow champion. He wasn't, though. Much as he admired Potter's nobleness, Viktor also thought the kid had been reckless, stupid and even suicidal, since he couldn't possibly have believed that defying an entire colony of merpeople on his own had a great chance of success. Viktor still had no idea how he had survived that, truth be told, especially considering that Dumbledore had not mentioned the Killing Curse amongst the kid's offensive skills displayed.

"If you do not resent me for leaving you behind-"

"I don't," said Potter firmly.

"Then why have you been avoiding me?" asked Viktor in confusion. "I thought you were angry, with good reason."

"You have been avoiding me too," accused Potter. "I thought you were angry."

Viktor snorted. Could it be that they had been avoiding each other unnecessarily?

"I honestly thought you would not want to have anything to do with me anymore," said Potter defensively. "You were really angry down there, and after the task too. We had a plan, but I threw it out the window, and I can't promise I won't do something like that again in the future. Our alliance was only for the second task, anyway, for the hostages, so..."

"It is true that I was angry, Potter," he admitted, "but it was mostly frustration because you chose to take a risk I wasn't willing to take too. I thought you were being stupid and stubborn."

"I probably was," said the kid with a sigh. "But I couldn't leave the others behind. I just couldn't."

They subsided into a thoughtful silence. Viktor had not expected their conversation to go this way, and he had no idea how to proceed. Potter wasn't accepting Viktor's apology, and Viktor would not accept Potter's. They had both acted as they had thought best, but they also understood why the other's course of action had been right for the other. This understanding and acceptance seemed like a good foundation for an alliance, although Viktor definitely would have to factor in Potter's hero complex in any future plans.

"We do not know what the third task will be," he said finally, "but I would rather have an ally for that too."

Potter regarded him with wide eyes.

"You seriously still want me as an ally?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes," said Viktor without hesitation. Even though Potter's impulsivity could be a hazard, somehow Viktor found that he would rather have this kid covering his back than anyone else. And he had meant what he had said to Fleur: Potter deserved to win this stupid tournament, or at the very least survive it. Viktor would make sure of that.

He really hoped he would succeed in keeping his ally alive, because he suspected Potter might be more than just an ally at this point and his death would probably come as a hard blow.