Without Umbridge there, they were having a bit of a gap in the schedule. But everyone, even the Slytherins, agreed that it was better than having her horrible attempt at teaching. They had progressed more than they had the entire year just by having a dedicated study period.
"I still don't know why everyone looks to me for instruction on things," Harry said.
Neville chuckled a little. "Mate, you were leading a 'study group' for quite some time. And everyone can see how much it's helped. Everyone's willing to take a little instruction from someone competent."
"Especially if they want to pass their O.W.L.s," Hermione added, not looking up from what she was writing.
"Is everything about exams for you?" Harry teased.
Hermione did look up at that. "With your abysmal typical results, I'd expect you to worry over your exams. You need N.E.W.T. potions in order to be an auror."
Harry groaned. "I know. And Neville's gotten better at it than me. What happened?"
"Viktor," Neville said simply.
"Viktor Krum taught you how to make potions?" Harry asked.
"That's him."
"And you willingly let Viktor have him near a cauldron?" Harry asked Hermione.
"They didn't do anything dangerous," Hermione said. She had turned back to her letter, scribbling away in her neat handwriting in letters that were unfamiliar to the boys.
"I doubt, no offense Neville, that anything Viktor could have taught him in regards to potions would have included an element of risk."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "They made soup. I really doubt, aside from a very low possibility of food poisoning, there was any risk involved."
"Cooking is pretty much the same as potions," Neville added. "Probably why Fred and George are so good at what they do."
Hermione scrunched up her nose and pulled her quill away from the parchment. She didn't want the ink to bleed, and she knew that she was going to be distracted for at least a few seconds.
"I never thought of that," she said.
Mrs. Weasley was a phenomenal cook. And she had made sure that each of her children could at least make food that wasn't gross. Even if they didn't have much of an interest in it. And she had taken time to help Harry and Hermione learn before she realized that they were capable of not only making sure that they didn't starve, but that they could feed people well.
"Me either," Harry said.
"So we made soup. I knew the steps for the potion, and I make sure to know them by heart before we make a potion. That way I don't have to think as much around Snape," Neville said.
"Still scary?" Harry asked.
"I think he'll always be scary," Neville admitted. "But, if things get too bad I just imagine him in my gran's clothes."
All three of them smiled at that. The sight of the boggart in third year still made everyone's time with the strict potions teacher much more bearable. He was still liable to scare most of the students into submission, but they weren't usually scared enough to make huge mistakes.
They were starting to giggle over it when Ron came in, and flopped down on the armchair near them.
"What are you guys up to?" he asked.
Hermione shrugged. "Not much."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Only if you don't count writing a novel as much."
"Krum?" Ron asked.
"Considering that I'm fairly sure she's writing in Bulgarian," Neville said, "I would have to say yes."
"You guys do realize I'm still here," Hermione said.
Ron shrugged. "You happen to be writing to your boyfriend. I'm still not the most thrilled about you dating him, but I am grateful he saved us from Umbridge."
"We all are," Neville added.
Hermione felt mildly conflicted at the mention of that day. On the one hand, it had been horrible. The pain was bad, but knowing that she was hurting Viktor was worse. And that was probably why she had written words that weren't the lines.
She was also glad that Madame Pomfrey had given her something to make the scars go away faster. She had known what was going on with Hermione and Viktor the moment she had seen the cuts on his hand. And she knew that both of them liked some semblance of privacy.
She also was glad that no one was really pestering her, thought she could almost feel the anticipation in her dorm. Lavender and Parvati were patient enough, but wanted her to tell them. She wondered how long it would be before the papers caught wind of it.
"I know," she whispered. "I kind of told him before what was going on."
"That explains how he got there so fast," Harry said.
"We had been wondering about that," Neville added.
"And I've been wondering how they were certain he was going to show up at all," Ron said.
Hermione blushed. She had told both Harry and Neville about her soulmate connection. She just hadn't found the right time to discuss that with Ron. And he certainly wasn't going to like the idea of her keeping something from him.
"About that," she started. "Viktor and I talk. Quite a lot. Almost every day."
Ron looked pointedly at the long letter she was writing. "I can see that. But how do you get it to him so fast?"
"That's just it Ron. I don't," she said. "Bulgaria is a fair distance away, and I don't think any owl could fly that fast. He actually got an international portkey here."
"Then I have no clue what you're talking about."
Hermione looked to Harry and Neville for help explaining. Harry shook his head. He really didn't want to be caught in the middle of another argument between them. He also had the excuse that he wasn't particularly knowledgeable on the subject of soulmates.
"Ron, you know how Hermione always seems to have ink stains on her hands?" Neville supplied.
"Of course I do. Don't we all? Quills aren't exactly the cleanest method of writing ever," Ron said.
Hermione had taken the liberty of showing him muggle pens. He was slightly fascinated by them, but she wasn't too focused on that most of the time.
"Ron, have you noticed that the ink stains on my hands have faded slightly over the past year?" Hermione asked.
"Now that you mention it," he said. "But you haven't been doing as much studying. Thank goodness. We love you Mione, but you can be scary when you study."
She couldn't argue with that, as much as she wanted to. She was fairly awful when she got caught up in something. Her friends were fantastic to make sure that she kept eating and such. And Viktor helped her from going crazy.
"Well, that's not the only reason," she said. She looked down at her hands, a new bracelet that matched the pendant she wasn't ever without adorning her left wrist. "What do you know about ancient magic?"
"Admittedly not much, but that's pretty normal," Ron said. "Ancient magic is an unpredictable little beast."
"Tell me about it," Neville whispered.
"Well, Viktor and I share a bond. One that seems to have been there since I was born. And when he gets ink stains on his hands, because that happens when he writes, it sometimes shows up on my skin."
Ron's jaw dropped. "You don't mean?"
Hermione nodded. "Just please don't go screaming about this."
"Why would I do that? A soulbond is considered sacred. And I know how much you hate being in the limelight, in spite of the fact that you're practically engaged to a famous quidditch star."
Everyone around them relaxed. No one had known how Ron would react, and were a little wary of telling him. But he had been a good friend, and had never done anything unforgivable. His jealousy, typical of a younger child, sometimes got the better of him. But they could understand why.
Hermione hugged Ron. She knew he would always be close to her. He and Harry were the closest thing to siblings she had, and she certainly thought of them like that.
"Thank you."
"Don't worry about it," he said.
A/N: No, Hermione hasn't mentioned that Viktor asked her to marry him. She's hoping to hold off on that for as long as possible. And Ron and Ginny are training to try out for the quidditch team next year. But I'm glad that she finally told him. And yes, he's a teenage boy, so she was nervous about him telling people. But Ron is actually a great guy. (All teenage boys have bad times. And as a middle child, he probably feels a little smothered and overlooked at the same time. My sister tells me about that all the time.)