Hermione looked at the page in front of her. She wasn't thrilled that Harry was sending her terse letters over what was supposed to be the holiday. And she wasn't thrilled that he felt a need for such a thing to happen. But when war occurred, it was rarely at a time that was convenient to all parties involved.

Harry, she wrote, I know you're busy. I know that you've visited a teacher of some sort. I just don't think that you should get your hopes up about Professor Slughorn teaching defense against the dark arts.

Looking up, she rubbed her temples. She'd heard the name Slughorn somewhere, and it certainly wasn't in any defense books. She was fairly certain that he wasn't going to be a good teacher for that subject. But she couldn't tell Harry that.

Harry was hoping for someone competent. Frankly, Hermione was as well. There was only so much that she could take after years of teachers barely covering any material. And the last year had been the worst one to date.

She was certain that no one, not even some underpaid ministry hack, could be worse than Umbridge. And she knew that if worst came to worst, she was prepared to ask other teachers for practice time with them. Flitwick, as it turned out, had been a master dueler in his day.

McGonagall was beyond competent. And she was downright scary if anyone pressed hard enough. No one had while in class, somewhat miraculously. That was good. But transfiguration might go more than a little smoother if she wasn't as lenient with punishments as she was.

It was a good thing that transfiguration wasn't usually a dangerous subject. If one wanted to proceed further into the discipline, it would be dangerous. But the things that they dealt with on a day to day basis weren't.

Hermione found that she needed to take a break before writing to Harry turned into too much of a chore. She finished up the letter with pleasantries, and making sure that he was alright. He'd spent a few weeks with his aunt and uncle and was headed for the order headquarters. Or the burrow. Hermione wasn't sure which one.

She made sure to tell Hedwig to bug Harry for her. And then she sent the letter off, ready for something to take her mind off the situation brewing back in England. She pulled away from her room and set down the stairs to wait for someone to arrive home.

She wasn't quite sure what, or who she was waiting for. She just knew that she didn't want to be alone at that moment. And she didn't feel like reading to pass the time either. It was a strange feeling, not wanting to read.

She paused, examining the feeling. It was probably just boredom. Either way, she didn't like it. But she wasn't about to push herself to read when she didn't feel like it. It would make it less pleasant in the future.

Instead she headed to the kitchen. She found a pair of house elves bickering, in much the same way that Winky and Kreacher loved to. She suspected it had something to do with their pride on serving their families to the best of their ability. It made her ever so slightly homesick, but the feeling vanished as suddenly as it had appeared when a clattering behind her notified her of another presence.

She whirled around, finding herself face to face with Mrs. Krum. They hadn't interacted as much as Hermione had assumed. They hadn't avoided each other, but they hadn't been buddy-buddy the way that she and Mrs. Granger had been.

"Oh," Hermione breathed. "I didn't know you were here. I'll just be going."

She moved to leave but Mrs. Krum stopped her.

"No need to feel like you haff to leave. You belong here as much as I do," Mrs. Krum said.

She picked up the metal plate she had dropped, and strode into the kitchen, almost ignoring the creatures as they bowed. She inclined her head slightly, but put the serving dish away as if they had better things to do.

She then walked back out the way she had came. She paused, watching the house elves go back to arguing. "That never gets old," she said.

"Watching them bicker?" Hermione asked.

"Absolutely. You would think they were more closely related," Mrs. Krum answered.

"They aren't?" Hermione had assumed that they were at least somewhat related. They were serving the same family, and she didn't know how often that happened outside of family relations.

"Third cousins. We used to haff more, but we were once a bigger family. Dimitri's younger brother has three, and their son has two."

Hermione pondered this. She had thought that house elves were a pureblooded thing. And she had been under the assumption that most pureblooded families didn't have more than one son. Apparently, that was an English thing. Then again, Sirius had had a younger brother.

"At the house we stay at in England, there are two elves," Hermione said. "They fight the same way. But they belong to two different families."

Mrs. Krum smiled. "They can get very territorial."

"That's putting it lightly," Hermione said.

They stepped away from the kitchen. Still talking, they found themselves in what appeared to be Mrs. Krum's personal study. It was light, airy, but still heavier than the Ravenclaw tower that Hermione had subconsciously started comparing every study space to.

"Would you like some tea?" Mrs. Krum said.

"I would love some." Hermione never turned down tea if it was offered. She had found that she was calmed by it more often than not.

It was one of the things she shared with her mother. Helena Granger was a firm believer that a good cup of tea could cure any ailment, mental or physical. And while it probably couldn't heal broken bones, it did a good job of mending a broken spirit.

They were having a good time with tea and silly stories of school. Ivanna Krum had quite a few tales to tell from her days at Durmstrang. It seemed like there was someone who had given Harry a run for his money, but out of his own actions as opposed to someone intervening.

"Excuse me," Mrs. Granger said. "Ivanna, do you have a moment?"

"You don't mind, Hermione dear?"

Hermione shook her head. "I'll just be going. I think I'm actually calm enough to write Ron now."

She closed the door behind her, not wanting to deal with politics at that moment. She had dealt with them for a while, and she just wanted a break. Of course, she would likely be back to dealing with them the very next day. It was just the way things worked.

She was walking up the stairs towards her room when she walked into Viktor. Literally. She wasn't paying much attention to where her feet were going, having memorized the layout of the house the year before. And she crashed into her fiancé.

"Oh, Viktor. I didn't see you there."

"I know. You don't normally valk into me vhen you see me."

Hermione rolled her eyes a little. She loved him, but sometimes he didn't need to state the obvious. Especially since she was just trying to be polite.

"I got an owl from Harry today," she said changing the subject. It was an abrupt change, but it didn't really matter at that junction.

"I hope you let the poor bird rest," Viktor said.

"Of course." Hermione had let Hedwig rest while she took a few hours to think about and then write her message. She had even given the owl some treats and water.

"Vhat did he say?" Viktor asked.

"He managed to convince one of the old professors to come back to Hogwarts. A Professor Slughorn. He thinks he's for the defense positon. But I'm not so sure," Hermione vented.

"I haff not heard that name before."

"Me either." They reached the top of the stairs. "I'm going to grab a quill. I get the feeling that I should write to Ron. Even if the response won't likely be what I want to hear."

A/N: I felt like we needed more Ivanna Krum. She's great. But I have this idea bubbling in my head. It's so AU it's crazy. (And it's Draco/Hermione so there's that. And Slytherin Hermione. Like I said, crazy.) Anyways. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.