Hi everyone! Thanks so much for your kindness and patience in waiting for this next chapter, I hope you all like it. Like I mentioned previously, I'm so sorry if I miss replying to your reviews. I read and appreciate every single one as it comes through but I have a tendency to lose track of who I reply to which ends in me missing reviews or replying more than once sometimes.
Just a reminder in case you missed my last post before I replaced it with this one: if everything goes as planned, a chapter will come out every Friday and this story will be complete by 11/1.
A special thanks to everyone who offered in comments and through PMs to be my beta and and even bigger thank you to pianomouse for going through and picking apart this chapter for me!
Just a reminder that any text that looks like this is the character speaking in another language (usually Bulgarian but sometimes French)-mostly because I'm too lazy to translate everything and have a translation log at the end of each chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own any recognizable characters or settings, those belong to J. K. Rowling. I just enjoy making things in her sandbox.
Chapter Eleven: Weddings Are Always a Wild Ride
August
"Mila?" Viktor's voice floats through the dimly lit room as he softly shuts their bedroom door behind them.
"Hmm," Hermione responds absentmindedly, her legs hanging off the edge of their bed as she lays on her back while her fingers continually scatter and rework her spellwork in the air above her as she attempts to theoretically remove the Horcrux in Harry's head for the umpteenth time. It was a spell she and Bill had created together so that everyone working on the Horcrux issue could do so on their own using the baseline facts that they were currently sure about. She was almost there, she knew she was, but there was something she was missing.
Viktor lays down beside her, staring up at the sparking theory for a moment before capturing the hand closest to him in between his own and pressing a soft kiss to her fingertips to gain her full attention, "Bedrooms are no place for battle strategy, Mila."
"I know," Hermione sighs, sweeping her hand through her work and turning onto her side so she can brush his hair from his forehead. He'd want a haircut soon, he hated when it started to get anywhere near his face. "It's just a little overwhelming. Having so many people in our house."
A goofy smile tugs at Viktor's lips when Hermione claims his house as her own and he presses another kiss to her fingertips before pulling her hand to rest over his heart and replying, "It's only until the war is over. Then we can shut our Floo to the comings and goings."
"Even after it's over, a lot of them won't be going back to Britain…" Hermione responds, her free hand drifting down the side of his face to play with the unruly strands of hair at the base of his neck.
"But they'll have their own space if they don't." The statement is said with such simplicity, like Viktor already knows how this war is going to end and that they are going to make it through this ok.
Logically, Hermione knows that nothing is for certain. That they might all be found out tomorrow and that there's a chance all of their lives could end in the coming months. Hermione also knows that Viktor is just as aware of the uncertainties as herself. But, for the first time since their home had become a makeshift safehouse for British refugees, Hermione feels like they might have more than a fighting chance.
"Hmmm. It'll be nice to have the house to ourselves again," Hermione murmurs and her nose brushes against his as she moves even closer to her fiance, throwing one leg over his waist and bracing her elbows on either side of his head. "If you're right and bedrooms aren't for strategy, are you going to show me what they're really for?"
It isn't the smoothest transition but she doesn't have to think things through or pretend to be more put together than she actually is when she's with him. He accepts her, awkwardness and all.
Viktor rolls them over at the same moment his lips crash onto hers, pressing his body into hers as they both sink into their duvet.
Hermione smiles into their kiss as her right hand threads through his hair and her left hand slips under his shirt, pressing into the small of his back.
Viktor smiles back as he places one last kiss to the corner of her lips before making a slow path down her neck. A pause at her collarbone and murmured incantation have Hermione's clothes vanishing.
"You've been working on your wandless magic," Hermione gasps, her body arching into his, as he leaves a mark just above the top of her breast. The statement was more breathy than the snarky remark she had intended to make but Hermione couldn't find it in herself to care at that moment.
Viktor's only response is a small pause to shoot her a mischievous smile before continuing down her body. He pauses at her right breast as his right hand whispers up her left side. His teeth grazing her right nipple at the same his fingers tweak her left nipple. His tongue and fingers circle the two separate areas in sync, distracting from the slight pain, and then his teeth nip her right nipple again while his fingers tweak her left…And the process repeats again and again and again as the tighter coil in her belly gets tighter and tighter but never tight enough to break.
"Please," she finally gasps, her nails raking down his cloth covered back as her thighs squeezed his sides.
"Please, what?" he replies, staring up at her with the same mischievous smile.
"Fuck me," she demands, her own mischievous smile pulling up her lips as she whispers her own incantation, banishing his clothes to the laundry bin.
"You've been working on your wandless magic," Viktor parrots her words from earlier back at her, a teasing light in his eyes.
Hermione rolls her eyes but doesn't have time to respond before Viktor is inside of her, thrusting into her with an abandon that showed his teasing had affected him just as much as it had affected her.
Her nails rake down his bare back, likely leaving marks that she'll have to heal for him later, and her teeth tug his lip in between hers as he angles his hips to hit the spot inside her that always makes her see stars.
When Viktor's right hand makes its way in between them to press into her clit with deliberately slow circles, the coil in her stomach tightens to the point of near pain.
"Viktor," Hermione gasps as she rips her lips away from his, her back arching off the bed once again.
"Come for me, Mila," Viktor pants against her lips.
Viktor's circles speed up to match the pace of his thrusts and the noise around Hermione fades as her eyes roll back into her head and the coil in her stomach finally snaps.
"Viktor!" the word leaves her lips as an almost unconscious thought.
"Hermione!" he whispers like a prayer as he freezes above her, the statement contrasting greatly with the literal fucking that had just happened but that didn't matter. In this moment, it was just the two of them. It would always be the two of them.
When their breathing eventually slows and Viktor moves to pull out of her, Hermione wraps her legs around him to keep him in place.
"Stay?" she asks quietly in English, the single word laced in an endless sort of vulnerability that only he was privy to.
"Always, Mila," Viktor replies, pressing a kiss to her forehead before carefully rolling so that her weight was on top of him and he didn't crush her.
They fell asleep like that and for the first time in over a week, Hermione was able to sleep dreamlessly. A sleep that Hermione isn't released from until gentle calloused hands are smoothing her hair away from her face and a familiar pair of lips brush softly against her forehead.
"Good morning," she murmurs in English, staring blearily up at a fully dressed Viktor.
"Good morning, Mila," Viktor replies, smiling at her softly before pressing a lingering kiss to her lips.
"Time to finish prepping the craziness?" Hermione asks (almost unconsciously switching over to Bulgarian) when their kiss breaks, her eyes traveling down to his well fitted suit.
"Seems so, Winky has assigned me to keep Gabrielle from trying to rearrange everything since I'm the only one here outside of her parents that she knows here and her dad is in charge of keeping her mom from rearranging everything. Winky told me that your dress is charmed to last for the day and hanging from the bathroom and she wants to see you as soon as you're done getting ready," Viktor tells her, twisting one of her curls around his finger.
"Who am I to turn down the lady of the house?" Hermione replies with a fond smile for the little elf who had treated her like a wayward daughter from the moment she'd walked through the front door.
Viktor grins then presses one more kiss to her forehead before pulling away completely and making his way out of their room.
Hermione mindlessly hums to herself as she makes her way from the bed to the bathroom. Today she would take a break. Everyone had been trying to get her to step away for weeks now so today would be her break day. All she would focus on would be getting ready for, helping out with, and all around enjoying Bill and Fleur's wedding.
Quicker than she expected, she was slipping into her elven charmed dress, the dress that was finally getting to see the light of day after sitting in one closet or another since Sirius had given it to her, and making her way through the wedding day chaos to see what Winky would like her to do. Most of the house was quiet until she passed the french doors that lead out to the garden where Alek and Marcus were hovering at the end of the already prepped aisle, readjusting the archway of flowers Fleur and Bill would be standing under for their vows, while Ginny and Charlie directed the quidditch players' actions from the ground. Both redheads stared at the quidditch players with a sort of predatory gleam that had Hermione wondering if the two quidditch players knew what they had coming their way. When Hermione passed the formal dining room, she had to hide her laughter when she caught sight of Viktor and Fleur's father looking equally frazzled as they continually redirected Fleur's mother and Gabrielle. A boom sounded from the roof, making both blonde women jump but Hermione merely paused (Afterall, when you spent most of your time in some sort of vicinity with the twins for the past six years, you learned to ignore loud noises like that.) until Remus's voice floated through the window followed quickly by the twins' response: "You good?" "Yeah!"
Shaking her head, Hermione continues on her way until she finally finds herself in the kitchen where a fond smile tugs at the corners of Hermione's lips. It was obvious to anyone that Ron Weasley loved food but everyone had been incredibly surprised when he had asked Winky if she would be willing to teach him to cook. How quickly he'd caught on to Winky's teachings and fell just as in love with cooking as he was with the end result. So of course Ron Weasley would be the only person Winky would allow into the kitchen, especially on a day like today. And of course, Ron would use that privilege to sneak spoonfuls of batter and other goodies to a giggling Vyara (who Winky pretended not to notice hiding under the counter at Ron's feet).
Seeing Ron with Vyara, Hermione couldn't help but imagine what he'd be like with his own kids once they settled everything back home. Both he and Harry wanted a big family, Ron because he'd come from one and Harry because he'd never had one growing up, and Hermione honestly thought they would be the best kind of parents. She just couldn't wait to see it in action.
"Winky is so happy to see Miss Mione!" Winky's familiar voice pulled Hermione from her thoughts, the small elf grinning at the witch happily as a multitude of ingredients and kitchen implants floated around her.
"I'm happy to see you too, Miss Winky," Hermione replies warmly, taking a few steps closer to her elven friend. "How can I help?"
"Can Miss Mione find Mister Harry? Mister Harry and Miss Mione are needing to be helping Miss Ginny and Mister Charlie with seating. Miss Ginny and Mister Charlie keep being distracted by Mister Alek and Mister Marcus," Winky huffs with a small eye roll at the end of her explanation and Hermione bites back a laugh because apparently she wasn't the only one who had noticed what had distracted the redheads.
"I'll track him down and get right to it, Miss Winky. Everything looks lovely here, you're doing an amazing job," Hermione praises, giving the elf a warm smile before turning to make her way toward Harry's usual hiding place.
"Thank you, Miss Mione," Winky replies just before the door closes behind Hermione.
She takes the quieter path out to where Harry could almost always be found since he and Ron had been brought to Bulgaria: kneeling in front of the secluded duck pond near the greenhouse of sprouting produce he and Viktor had been putting together just in case they needed to board themselves into the property. He'd figured out a way to use the water to display Snape's memory on repeat whenever he wanted.
Hermione doesn't say anything when she finally sees him alone at the edge of the pond in his freshly pressed suit with his tie hanging loosely around his neck and his shirt untucked. Instead, Hermione walks up and squats down beside her brother in everything but blood. They watch the memory together again, like they had that first time together and honestly who-knows-how-many-anymore times since then (Hermione is sure they both had the damned thing memorized at this point).
"Is it awful that I don't know if I can forgive her?" Harry's voice is barely a whisper as the memory begins replaying itself again. It's the first time he's ever said anything about it since that first day which surprises Hermione. She honestly wasn't sure if he'd ever have a response to the memory and she couldn't blame him…his life at the Dursleys…it was something they still couldn't talk about in its entirety and Hermione wasn't sure that they ever would be. There was a lot he had told her and even more that she had put together on her own but they never went too in depth. Harry had always seemed to separate his life there from his life that involved Hermione and Hermione didn't want to push him to share anything he wasn't comfortable with.
"Not at all," Hermione assures him just as softly, her hand finding his and giving it a gentle squeeze.
"Is it terrible that I want to? Despite everything she's done, and not done. I still…I want to know her, Hermione. I want to know how she saw my mum. How they were the same, how they were different…I want to know everything," Harry shares his thoughts, his hand squeezing hers gently, but his eyes stay trained on the pond's surface.
"I don't think that's terrible, Harry…I think that's normal…You want a family more than anything, love. And before you go off on a tangent: yes, Ron and I are very much your family and we always will be but Petunia…Petunia is the last link you have to your birth mum. Yes, Severus could help you there too but Petunia will know things that even Severus doesn't. And it's ok for you to want that connection, it's normal…You just have to be honest with yourself, and with her, going into it. It's ok if you don't forgive her but you can't lie to her and say you do just because you want her to feel secure enough to share her memories with you. That wouldn't be good for either of you."
"What do you think I should do…if I want to try to have some sort of relationship with her?" The look Harry gives her when he finally turns his gaze her way throws Hermione back to their first year…that first time she'd found him crying on the couch on their first Halloween at Hogwarts. His emerald eyes gleam with a sort of broken vulnerability that had no business being on anyone his age's face, the kind of broken vulnerability that begged for something…anything that could take a little bit of this pain away.
"I think, once this is all over, you and Petunia and Dudley should go to family counseling together…sometimes an objective point of view can help you work through things that you don't even realize are issues until you talk them through," Hermione states honestly because, just like her first year, that's all she can give him: honest answers and all her love.
Harry nods and gives Hermione a soft smile before physically shaking himself then charming the dirt and wrinkles from his suit as he rises to his feet and offers Hermione his hand, "I take it they sent you up to get me to come down."
Hermione smiles sheepishly and takes his hand as she rises to her own feet, "That they did. Can't have the guests walking down the aisle after the bride after all. Besides, Ginny and Charlie need help finishing the seating arrangements, their eyes keep wandering to the poor unsuspecting quidditch players they caught in their sights."
Harry chuckles quietly and tucks Hermione's hand into the crook of his elbow as they make their way back into the chaos, "You look beautiful by the way, Mione."
"Thank you, Harry. I just wish Sirius had had the chance to see me in it."
Harry pats the arm she had threaded through his and shoots her a wistful smile as they make their way into the half set up room.
Charlie and Ginny were in the exact place they had been when Hermione had passed them on her way to Harry.
"The two of you aren't as inconspicuous as you think you are," Hermione states, her voice startling the two redheads as it came from behind them.
"Who said anything about being inconspicuous," Ginny throws back, an easy smile tugging at her lips.
"We were going for obvious," Charlie adds on, slinging his arm around his sister's shoulders as a smile identical to hers graces his face.
Hermione glances at Harry and a smile tugs at her lips because, for the first time in days, Hermione sees a genuine smile on her best friend's face. It's the kind of smile Hermione had seen less and less since their first year. The easy kind. The kind Harry didn't put up so that everyone believed that he was ok (and that their cause wasn't a lost one–which it definitely wasn't but war did crazy things to your mind sometimes).
That easy smile stayed on his face as Charlie and Ginny pulled the two brunettes into teasing conversation before everyone had to take their places. It grew as Charlie took a page out of the twins' book and danced his way down the aisle toward the rest of the wedding party (Viktor as the man of honor, Ginny as the best woman, and Bill as the soon-to-be-husband to be who loved his fiery soon-to-be-wife's idea of saying fuck the more traditional witnesses her parents wanted them to have), dramatically releasing handfuls of charmed flower petals with every step. And that smile soften as Fleur and Bill exchanged their vows.
Hermione knew it couldn't be like this forever, but this moment and these people were why she was fighting this war. There was no telling who would make it through and who wouldn't but Hermione truly believed that moments like these were worth everything in between.