Hermione awoke the morning after the ball in a flurry of excitement. She was even more anxious than she had been the day before. She flew through her morning routine and rushed down to breakfast.
Neville was there, drinking tea and eating like he hadn't stayed up later than normal the night before. She was glad to see him, however. She needed to talk to someone, and she was certain that Harry and Ron would sleep till noon.
"Good morning," she said cheerfully.
"You're up early."
She looked at him, a look of confusion on her face. "Not that early, surely."
She looked around the great hall. There weren't many people up, but that was to be expected. Last night had gone rather late, and there wouldn't be any classes until school had resumed term in January.
"Maybe not as early as you normally get here, but early when you spent the entire night dancing," he said.
She snorted. "That's rich coming from you. You were on the dance floor almost all evening. You danced with Cho, me, and even Hanna Abbot."
Neville nodded. "I still went to sleep earlier than you."
She poured herself some tea. "And you were awake before me."
"I'm always up before you," Neville said. He handed her the platter of eggs. "It really isn't much of a surprise."
Hermione rolled her eyes at that. He was right of course. But it was still silly of him to expect her to sleep in. Especially when her night had been so amazing.
Viktor walked in, sleep still in his eyes. But it looked like he'd been doing something. He was in running clothes, and his hair was wet.
Hermione gave him a smile and a small wave, before turning back to Neville. She kept sneaking glances at Viktor, and Neville eventually told her to go over and say hello.
"I couldn't," she protested. "I know we've already been seen together. But he's at the Slytherin table."
"You had best think up a better excuse, because he's coming this way."
Viktor sat down next to Hermione, and pulled her close. He planted a kiss on her cheek, before turning to grab himself some toast.
"How did you sleep?" he asked.
"Better than anticipated," she said. "I kind of fell asleep as soon as I hit my bed. Not that it's a bad thing. But I was expecting to be awake for a little longer."
"It probably helped that Ron was in his dorm before she came in," Neville added.
"Red haired friend?" Viktor asked.
Hermione nodded as she sipped her tea. There was no doubt in her mind that if Ron had been in the common room they would have gotten into a shouting match. They seemed to do that a lot recently.
"Do you vant me to do something?" Viktor asked.
"Oh no." Hermione set her mug down on the table. "That would only make things worse. Ron will come around. He's just got to have some time to wrap his head around everything."
"Ron has this problem with attention," Neville filled in. "He's got five older brothers, and he feels as if he's got to live up to every expectation. So other people getting attention instead of him is a bit of a blow."
Viktor nodded. Some of his friends had felt the same way when he joined the Bulgarian quidditch team. While he didn't understand why they wanted such attention, he couldn't blame them for it.
"If you vant, I can still talk to him. Maybe, vhat is phrase, batter him up?"
"Butter him up," Hermione corrected. "And you can try."
They continued talking about lots of things. Family, friends, things they wanted to see, places they wanted to go, and things they hoped that they could do.
Breakfast ended quickly, and more than half of the students had slept through it. Those that hadn't were mostly first and second years.
After breakfast, Neville went off to the greenhouses to do some work. He had grown into a love of herbology, and Professor Sprout was thinking about taking him on as an apprentice. As it was, she was never the kind to turn down anyone who wanted to help.
Viktor and Hermione walked down by the lake. It was calm. It was freezing. But mostly it was away from the chatter of the other students.
"How did your classmates enjoy the ball?" she asked, making small talk.
"They said it vas good. But," he took her by the waist, "I think I vas the one vith the best date."
Hermione melted into his kiss, her hands running over his arms and around his neck as she stretched up on her toes. It felt like she was flying, as if she was high above the clouds. And she was pretty sure that she could breathe about as well as if she was actually flying.
When they finally pulled apart, it was because they both needed a chance to breathe. Hermione's eyese sparkled, and Viktor was having a hard time not crushing her back to him.
"Hermione," he said huskily. "I vant…" he trailed off.
"What do you want?" she asked, trying to prompt him into giving her an answer. She wasn't aware that she was the reason he was having such a hard time thinking.
"I vant you to meet my parents," he said. "They vill be visiting for the third task, and I vant you to meet them."
"Only if you agree to meet mine," Hermione said.
He pulled her as close as he dared and nodded before he sealed the agreement with a short but passionate kiss.
They spent the rest of the morning, talking, stealing kisses, and walking around. When it was time for lunch they walked into the great hall, cheeks flushed and eyes bright.
Since it was noon, a good portion of students were there, some obviously just waking up. Ron and Harry were sitting at the table, and Hermione knew she was going to have to talk to them. She kissed Viktor on the cheek, and went over to sit by them.
"How did you guys sleep?" she asked. She picked up a sandwich for herself, not feeling particularly hungry, but knowing she needed to eat.
"Not too bad," Harry said. "I stayed up for a few hours just thinking, trying to get my brain to wind down. This one here fumed way past the time I went to bed."
Ron certainly looked like he was still fuming. His face was flushed ever so slightly, and his eyebrows were knit together. But it was the way he stuffed his face and tore up his food that convinced everyone that he was still upset.
They ate in silence until Neville came over. He was covered in sweat and dirt, having just come from one of the greenhouses. He'd spent the whole morning helping Professor Sprout, and had plans to go back in the afternoon.
"How are you Neville?" Harry asked.
"Good. My muscles are going to ache tomorrow, but we'll just be right back at it again. I'm actually thinking of asking Professor Sprout if she would consider taking me on as an apprentice." Neville looked thrilled at the possibility.
"I'm so proud of you!" Hermione squealed and hugged him, not caring if she got messy.
"Thanks," he said a little awkwardly.
"So what does a herbology apprentice do?" Ron asked.
"Sort of the same things any apprentice does," Harry said. "Keep track of all the things that their master needs. Help out with big projects. And learn everything they can from their master."
Ron nodded and turned back to his food. He could feel his anger towards Hermione slipping away. It was hard to be mad when he could see how much she cared for all of them.
"Harry could totally apprentice under the Defense teacher," Hermione said. "If one managed to last for more than a year. It takes about two to three years to become a master."
"And you have to stay with the same master for the whole time?" Ron asked.
"It's part of the agreement," Harry said. "Because a lot of masters will dabble in other things. It used to be that after you got your OWLs you either went out and worked, or you found a master who would teach you a trade, and some other things. NEWTs are fairly new."
"I would have thought you would know that Ron," Neville said. "You do have a brother who was taken on for an apprenticeship in care of magical creatures."
"Charlie was too busy doing things to talk to anyone. As was Bill. And Percy was, and still is, a bit of a pompous windbag."
"And Fred and George have each other," Hermione whispered. It all of a sudden made sense why he clung to his friends like he did. And why he felt betrayed when they didn't want to spend time with him.
"Well, now you know," Harry said. "But don't worry too much. I only know because Neville was going on and on about how hard it was to get an apprenticeship."