The aftermath of Cedric's attack left the school buzzing with gossip. Everyone seemed to know the basic facts: Cedric had been under the Imperius Curse, he had been compelled to do some sort of Dark devotion ritual, and Hermione had saved his life.
Everything else flying around was pure speculation. Tracey told Hermione she'd been keeping a list of possible culprits she'd heard people mention, but there were nearly two dozen names on it by lunch, and Hermione tiredly told her not to bother.
Cedric appeared back in classes and the hallway a couple days later, and Susan Bones stayed next to him and walked him to classes, glaring at anyone who came near. When Hermione asked, Susan sheepishly told Hermione it was a complete bluff.
"We can't do the Occlumency Ritual until a full moon," Susan said. "If I stick by his side, hopefully whomever tried to do him in will be scared off by the power of our coven."
Hermione was struck once again by the fierce loyalty of the Hufflepuffs. Susan didn't even know Cedric, really, but she was ready to protect him with her life.
More interesting was the buzz of gossip at dinner the day of Cedric's return, which had moved off of Cedric and onto Cho Chang. Cho, who had been very publicly dumped by Cedric in front of everyone, was now in the position of knowing her ex-boyfriend had been under the Imperius Curse when he'd dumped her. No one seemed to care that Cho hadn't noticed a change in his behavior in the days leading up to the incident; all anyone cared about was whether or not Cedric and Cho would go to Hogsmeade together the next day and make up.
Viktor was highly amused by this.
"I not be champion with no date this time," he said, nudging Hermione. He grinned. "Unless you were moved by flower of blood."
"Of course not," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "Honestly."
"I dunno, Hermione," Draco drawled lazily, his eyes glinting with amusement. "It was very romantic. Probably the most dramatic gesture he could do other than literally giving you his heart."
"Ah, I have disadvantage," Viktor said, feigning despair. "I gave already my heart to Quidditch."
Hermione snickered despite herself. "Literally, though?"
"Of course," Viktor said seriously, nodding. "Is kept in handle of Firebolt. Very secret."
Hermione laughed.
"Hogsmeade is fine, but not exciting," Dmitri said, shrugging. "Is there anything other to do than walk around the shops?"
There was a pause as everyone tried to brainstorm something.
"…there's the Shrieking Shack?" Tracey offered.
"Boring old house," Alexei said, smirking. "Too like ones at home."
"Not really," Hermione admitted. "It's—it's really just a chance for a change of scenery, I guess. Sometimes it can feel like you're going crazy, trapped in the castle, especially if there's bad weather. And it's a good chance to stock up on supplies you've used or things you need…"
"It's a place away from the school for dates," Millie said loudly, smirking. "You can go with friends, but mostly it's a place to take a paramour without everyone's eyes on you."
"Now that's just false," Blaise pointed out. "Taking someone to Hogsmeade is public. What you do at Hogsmeade might not be, but the act of taking someone is very public and widely discussed. Weren't we all just talking about who Diggory and Cho would go with?"
"Oh no," Viktor said, looking down at Hermione, his eyes sparkling. "You on very public date with me will make reporters excited." His lips twitched. "Have you very fancy robes again to wear on date?"
Hermione flushed. "I haven't thought about what I'd wear yet, really. I thought it'd rather depend on the weather and how cold it is tomorrow."
Viktor put a hand to his heart, pretending to be struck.
"You are not prepared for impressing reporters?" he said, shaking his head. "You are very bad at dating me, Hermione. You are lucky I am better at dating you."
His crooked smile was somehow charming, his dark eyes bright with fun, and Hermione couldn't help but laugh even as she blushed.
By the end of the day, Tracey had answers to the school's burning questions, which she shared with her dormmates as they all undressed for bed: Cho had accepted an invitation from an older boy from Beauxbatons to go to Hogsmeade with him ("He's got some very French name," Tracey said. "Jean-Stéphane or Jean-Baptiste or something. I would say just go with 'Jean', but Beauxbatons probably has half a dozen of those."), and Cedric had asked Susan Bones to go with him, an invitation which she had accepted.
"Do you think there's any romantic element there?" Daphne asked, eyes wide as she listened to Tracey from her bed. "For Cedric to be interested in Susan, after courting you, Hermione, with you both in the same coven…"
"It doesn't matter at all," Hermione said firmly. "I wish Susan all the happiness in the world. I don't think she'll find it with Cedric," she said, hedging her words, "but she's welcome to look wherever she pleases."
"Who's Fleur going with?" Pansy asked. "She's not going with Blaise again – he's going with Ginny Weasley."
Hermione whirled around so fast she thought she might get whiplash.
"Wait, what?" she demanded. "Ginny Weasley? Since when?"
Pansy looked deeply amused by Hermione's astonishment, and she smirked at Hermione.
"Since Blaise asked, I presume," she drawled, sarcasm dripping from her tone. She paused. "I think it's just to annoy Ronald, though. I don't think he's actually interested in her."
Hermione let out a sigh of relief.
"The last thing I want to deal with is a Weasley hanging around all the time," she said, shuddering. "Can you imagine?"
"Ginevra's not that bad," Daphne objected. "She's friends with Luna, and she's kind and polite. I think she's shaping up to be a sharp and quick-thinking woman."
"Really?" Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Interesting. I didn't know that."
"I imagine Luna will try and recruit her," Daphne said delicately, "once she comes of an age and her magic matures."
Hermione sighed. As much as she was disgusted by the wizarding world's obsession with a witch's first period, she couldn't deny that it was the point when your magic started to mature much faster. She shook her head and put the matter aside, instead readdressing the original question.
"Fleur," Hermione said, looking at Pansy, "is going with Cassius Warrington."
There was a stunned silence.
"What?" Millie burst.
"You didn't tell her?" Tracey said, horrified. "You're just going to let her go with him?"
"My engagement just got broken off," Daphne said, mouth agape. "And he's already got someone waiting in the wings?"
"Of course I told her," Hermione said to Tracey, disgusted. "Do you really think I wouldn't?"
"But then—" Tracey faltered, confused. "Why-?"
There was a shocked silence for a moment while Hermione smirked at her dormmates, challenging them.
"Oh… ohhh, I see what's going on here," Pansy said, her eyes slitted. She smiled cruelly. "Well played."
Hermione smirked. "Thank you."
"I don't get it," Tracey objected. "Why are we letting Hermione's not-girlfriend go to Hogsmeade with a rapist?"
"He didn't—" Daphne objected, looking worried.
"He would have," Millie cut in, eyes flashing, and Daphne held her tongue, looking down.
"Because," Pansy said, her lips curling, "Fleur is a Veela."
Tracey still didn't seem to get it, so Hermione took it upon herself to clarify.
"Fleur is used to dealing with lustful men, as well as intensifying any… urges they're feeling." She smirked. "And if there's anyone who can safely cause Cassius to realize the gravity of the curse we laid upon him," Hermione said, looking around the room at her dormmates, seeing understanding dawn in their eyes, "it would be her."
There were noticeably more teachers patrolling the streets of Hogsmeade. Even Snape was out, giving students sharp looks as they came out of Zonko's. Moody was prowling around in a beaten-up black trench coat. The coat was cut in a very old style, reminiscent of the Victorian Era, and with his manic, electric-blue eye, Hermione couldn't help but think of the old man with the vulture eye from The Tell-Tale Heart. And once Hermione had thought of it, she couldn't unsee it, which made her break into giggles in the middle of the street every time she glimpsed Moody.
That made Viktor want to know what was so funny, leaving Hermione to try her best to explain Edgar Allen Poe to the Bulgarian over butterbeers in The Three Broomsticks.
"Violent stories," Viktor remarked, interested. "Old man was because he had vulture eye, pendulum and pit was from Inquisition, but why Fortunato?"
"The story doesn't say," Hermione told him. "It's hinted that Montresor blames Fortunato for his family's loss of fortune, but the story's really just about how Montresor takes his revenge to extremes."
"Extremes?" A slight grin crept over Viktor's lips. "You call his revenge extreme?"
"Well, it is," Hermione said huffily. "Entombing a man alive?"
Viktor laughed.
"You, if anyone, would know," he declared. "You at least make punishment fit crime."
Hermione sighed, toying with her butterbeer.
"A group of students almost killed me my first year, you know," she said, startling Viktor. "I survived their bullying, obviously, and I've been slowly working my way through a list them, getting my own revenge. But like… does revenge expire after a certain time? Has it been so long that I should just let it go?"
Viktor considered her question seriously. Hermione appreciated that about Viktor – he listened and actually thought about what she was asking, no matter how Dark or deranged it was. And he was giving the matter serious consideration instead of giving lip service to forgiveness like many people would.
"Have they apologized?" Viktor asked. "Your bullies?"
Hermione thought about it. "No."
"Then they are still fair targets," Viktor said decisively. "After five years, maybe is too late. But is only three years for you, yeah? And since no apology, insult still stands."
Hermione tilted her head, thinking. "Actually… yeah. That seems fair. They could have apologized at any time," she said, crossing her arms huffily, "and they still haven't."
"Very foolish," Viktor said gravely. "Very unwise to not apologize to woman becoming powerful sorcerer."
"You think?" Hermione asked. There was a note of insecurity in her voice, one she didn't like noticing was there. Viktor looked at her incredulously.
"Yes," he said. "Why not be unwise to—"
"No, not that bit," Hermione interrupted, looking down at her drink. "You think—you think I'm becoming a powerful sorceress?"
There was a pause.
"Hermione." Viktor sounded astonished. "You—I—"
"I know I can create rituals – I can do that really well. I can do some things, but I'm so bad at others," Hermione said, the words spilling out from her like through a hole in a dam. "When we dueled, I couldn't think of any good spells to use. Not really. I had to resort to elemental magic. And just the other day – I had no idea of what counter-curse to use to save Cedric – all I could do was channel magic into it and try and burn it out. I can only do rituals, really – I have no idea where to even start to create a spell. And you—you know all kinds of spells, Viktor, you know so many; you were able to use that curse against the dragon like a champion, like it wasn't difficult at all, and sometimes I just look at others' spellwork and—and I feel like I'm so very, very far behind."
When Hermione had finished speaking, Viktor let her words settle between them, letting a comfortable silence grow as he put his hand over Hermione's quietly. Despite the wet feeling in her eyes, Hermione looked up at him, and he was looking back at her, his eyes holding her, seeing her.
His gaze was like a warm blanket on her. Despite Hermione's sudden outpouring of insecurity, Viktor's eyes weren't judging, or pitying, or anything. He was just listening, and even as he said nothing, Hermione felt like a load had been slowly lifted from her shoulders, with comfort and warmth wrapping around her instead.
"Okay?" Viktor asked, offering a small smile, and Hermione smiled faintly.
"Yes," she said. "I just… I don't know. I get anxious sometimes."
"Is normal to be anxious," Viktor agreed, nodding. "Is also normal to compare self to others. Part of being human."
Hermione was surprised by that. Her parents always told her not to worry about what everyone else was doing, to just focus on herself and doing the best she could. Her strongest competition was always going to be herself, they'd told her; the only one she had to beat was herself.
"But Hermione," Viktor said, his lips quirking slightly, as if he were trying very hard to suppress a smile. "I am three years more in school than you. You are comparing you to me, but I have head start."
Hermione huffed, and Viktor laughed, the rest of the tension breaking.
"You are brilliant, powerful sorceress," Viktor told her, stroking her hand with his thumb. "You are advanced far past your classmates. So you not know many spells?" He shrugged, giving her a half smile. "Then you learn them. Like everything else you want to do – you go to library and learn."
A laugh escaped her, and Hermione smiled down at their joined hands, her heart relaxing and feeling warm as they both finished their Butterbeers.
They revisited the topic later that afternoon as they strolled down the main road of Hogsmeade together, albeit with significantly less anxiety and personal issues wrapped up in the discussion on Hermione's part.
"Do you know how to make spells?" Hermione asked Viktor, and Viktor considered.
"I know theory," he said. "But I not done myself."
"Really?" Hermione said curiously. "Why not? It sounds fascinating."
Viktor laughed.
"Is not very fun," he told her. "Very boring. Lots of trying things and failing many times. Spell-making needs good runes and Arithmancy, and I am not good with numbers."
"Really?" Hermione said, surprised. "You're excellent with runes, though – I remember from the forest."
"Ah, yes," Viktor said, smiling impishly. "Our first date. When you ask me out without realizing."
Hermione flushed bright red, and Viktor laughed.
"I'm never going to live that down, am I?" she huffed, and he grinned his crooked smile.
"Likely not," Viktor said cheerfully, and Hermione rolled her eyes but smiled. It was a bit embarrassing, but it was a good story to tell.
They walked along the row of shops for a while, content just walking hand in hand, before Viktor paused in front of Tomes and Scrolls.
"Want to look for books on spell making?" he asked her, putting a hand on the door and pausing. "Or to buy advanced dueling book? We could to practice together."
Hermione felt her heart warm, and she squeezed his hand.
"You know, Viktor," she said, looking up at him, "I would love to."