13I basically live my life either extremely hyper or exhausted. No in between. What does one do when they don't like coffee or energy drinks. I don't drink them to stay awake and I can't blame them for my hyperness. Useless.
Anyway I don't own Harry Potter but fuck JK Rowling.
"Harry! Mia! Wake up, it's snowing, they called off classes for the day!" Ginny's laughter wakes me from the best dream, and I feel Harry jolt awake under me. "Come on guys! It's the first snow of the year! Let's go to Hogsmead." I groan as she grabs my hand and drags me off the sofa, ordering me to get dressed and meet her in the great hall.
"Go back to bed Harry" I yawn. "You need rest, I'll handle Gin."
I watch him shuffle to his room like a zombie and let out a laugh.
Sometimes he is too dramatic.
I put on a thick sweater and pants, wrapping a thick scarf around me before pulling on a pair of riding boots my mother had gotten me when she went to Italy, and head down for breakfast. Gin is already sitting next to Neville and Luna had apparently decided to join by the time I had gotten there.
"Good morning everyone."
"Hermione, your aura is all pink today. Did something good happen?" Luna says airily. It was times like these I really questioned whether or not she was really as crazy as she tried to make herself out to be. Sometimes she was just too accurate.
"Yes actually, Viktor Krum had invited us all to Durmstrang's Halloween party next week. I was just about to ask you if you wanted to come." I grab a few pieces of fruit to eat. I've never been able to eat heavy foods in the morning. It always made me sick to my stomach.
"I'd like that." I look up at her and the way she's smiling at me unsettles me, like she knows something I don't.
"Luna, I worry about you sometimes." Neville chuckles.
"Oh, you can be a hippie with us!" Ginny smiles; probably not realizing that Luna has no idea what a hippie even is. "We can get our costumes today and, when we get back, we can pelt Ron with snowballs until he stops being such an arse. Should we wait for Harry?"
"Let him rest Gin, he just found out that he has to get past a dragon for the first task. He needs to relax. When we get back, we'll see if he wants to join us." I feel a headache coming on at the thought of the first task; if dragons were the first, how difficult with the other tasks be?
"I knew you'd figure it out Mia. Dragons, really?" Neville goes a bit green at the thought. "Blimey they really aren't going to go easy on them huh?"
"It would appear not." Luna bites into a piece of toast. "I wonder if they're anything like the stories?"
"I'd hope not considering the ones in stories eat people." Gin deadpans and the image of Viktor and Harry being eaten by a dragon flies across my eyes. I feel a roll in my stomach and push my plate away, not hungry anymore.
"Thank you for that Gin." I sigh. "Let just get to the carriages before they fill up. You coming Neville?" He shakes his head and mutters something about aquatic plants and goes back to reading the book in front of him.
I'm glad he found a love in Herbology. It's been really good for him.
The girls and I say goodbye to Neville and make our way out of the castle. The grouds look gorgeous covered in the blanket of white. It would appear we were the only students crazy enough to go out this early.
"Hallo girls." A familiar voice calls as we're about to step into a carriage. I'd know that cocky tone anywhere.
"Hello Damyan." I sigh, knowing its much too early to deal with him. I don't deal with cheesy flirts until well after eleven am. My mind drifts back to the first task and I bite the inside of my cheek. How is Harry getting past the dragon? How is-
"Da, we would luff to come. Hey baby cousin Do- Vait vhere did he go?" The blond looks around him and then walks back towards the castle. "He vas right behind me!" He mutters and I barely hear it over the wind.
"Gin, did you invite him?" I groan. I didn't dislike Viktor's cousin, I just don't like the way he leers at me or how all of his compliments sound hollow. Maybe I should introduce him to Lavender?
"Vound him!" Damyan grunts, tugging Viktor along by his arm. "He stopped to read book, vas still standing in middle of corridor vhen I got back."
Watching Viktor nose deep in a book and ignoring his cousin, I cover my mouth to stifle a laugh. It was as if I was watching a scene of Harry and I. He must have heard me because he looks up from his book and smiles when his eyes meet mine.
"Hermione, your aura has gone all pink again." Luna says, in what I'm guessing is her teasing tone. The Krums raise a brow at her simultaneously.
"Don't worry, it only gets weirder." Ginny giggles before getting into the carriage. I end up taking the seat next to Viktor as the other three sit across from the door closes, she looks at me with a wicked smirk.
"So… Mia were you out late last night? The Fat Lady told me you gave her quite a fright when you came in after curfew last night." Her words are innocent; the way she says them is anything but. I don't have to look at Viktor to know he was grinning next to me. I feel my face heat up and I let out a huff.
"You got me, I went into the forbidden forest to go be with my true love, Firenze the centaur. He proposed and we're getting married next fall." Gin sticks her tongue out at me and Viktor shakes with laughter next to me.
"I'm sure it will be a lovely wedding." Luna sighs while staring out the window and Damyan gives her a weird look.
I can't blame him.
I look at the book in Viktor's hand and notice it was the one I had recommended to him a few days earlier. "Do you like it?" I ask, it was a muggle series of crime novels that documents the protagonist's descent into madness until, he ends up being committed after murdering his true love.
"Da, the detective is brilliant. Vis is second book in series, right? It veels completed but, I know someving is going to happen because vere are more books." I nod in agreement.
"Those are some of the worst feeling while reading. When it's page thirty and everything seems solved but there are still a hundred and seventy pages left. I get anxious just thinking about it."
"How about vhen vhere are only venty pages left and no one is close to a solution?"
"Oh, Merlin I had never thought of that!" I can feel the others' eyes on us, and I turn to them. "What are you guys looking at us like that for?" My words come out a grumble, then as a shriek when the carriage hits a bump and I fly up out of my seat. I feel hands grab my waist and I'm pulled back onto something warm. I peek an eye open and-
Oh, Merlin I'm on his lap. Viktor pulled me onto his lap.
The butterflies that had been in my stomach last night turned into wasps and they rattled angrily. Not missing a beat, Viktor's hands are feeling my face and arms; for a moment, I forget the other people right across from us.
"Are you okay? Did you vit you head on anyvhing?" He looks worried enough to match Winky on a bad day and I can't help but let out a laugh. He looks into my eyes and an easy grin slips onto his face before, he too, is laughing. Looking at him now, I don't understand how people could ever say he was brooding and unapproachable. It was obvious they had just never been in the presence of his smile. It's one of the first times in a long time I've felt truly happy; no worries, no tasks, just laughter.
"I'm okay, dad." I'm so so focused on the man in front of me that I miss Luna sticking her wand back into her robes.
Gin clears her throat and Viktor and I look at her. "We're here." She smiles knowingly. We pile out of the carriage and into the crisp snow.
"Vhis is just like home, da little cousin? Now vhere is broom shop? I am in market for new broom." Damyan takes a deep breath, nostalgia in his eyes. Ginny points him in the direction of the shop and the boys promise to meet us in an hour at the Three Broomsticks.
"Cmon! Gladrag's Wizardwear should be open by now!" Ginny squeals before running off. I lag behind feeling my giddiness wear down back into worry and anxiousness. I had agreed to come out to get Ginny off of Harry's back for the day but, I can't help but feel this is a waste of precious time. I could be back at Hogwarts, brainstorming a solution to the first task. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly as I walk past Dominic Maestro's Music Shop. I stop walking and look inside before looking towards where the girls went; biting my lip, I walk into the shop.
"Hello, Miss Granger. Come back to play some more?" Dominic, the owner of the shop, smiles kindly.
"If you don't mind?"
"She's all yours." I let out a breath as I sit at the piano. After being petrified, my father thought it would be good for me to learn a skill outside of school. She was the one who convinced me to learn to play and Dominic was more than happy to teach.
My fingers find the keys easily and a melody flows from the instrument. Playing always managed to calm my nerves and Dominic always kept a piano open for me.
He slips into the office without me noticing as lyrics bubble up my throat.
Viktor and Damyan walk into Spintwitches Sporting Needs, it was quiet, due to it still being fairly early.
"Merlin! Did Viktor Krum just walk into my shop or am I finally going blind?" An old man pops up from behind the counter with a smile. "How can I help you?"
"Good Morning, I vas vondering vhat kinds of vaxes you haff in?" The aforementioned seeker asks and the clerk mumbles something about checking in the back before scurrying off.
"Vere you are, back to vrowning." His cousin sighs. "You'd probably make more vriends if you didn't scowl all the time."
"I am not vrowning; vhis is just my face." Damyan laughs, clapping the younger Krum on the shoulder.
"Ah, I guess it vosen't matter, Mione' seems to vike your ugly mug vust the vay it is." The blond ignores the withering look his cousin shoots him. "I mean she has alvready called you dad; how long until she starts calving you daddy?"
A bright flash stops Viktor from strangling his cousin, followed by several others.
"Damn reporters." Viktor growls, letting go of his cousin's collar. "Do not valk about her like vhat."
"So, I have…well that's not good." The clerk sighs, seeing the gaggle of people outside the shop window. Looking at the boys annoyed expressions, he smiles. "Come, I have a tunnel connecting to a couple shops over, from there you can get away from the reporters." He leads them to a room in the back and lifts open a trap door. "I'll let Dominic know that you boys are coming."
"Vank you much. I appreciate vhis." Viktor shakes the man's hand.
"Don't you worry about it, the people of Hogsmeade aren't particularly fans of reporters. If you make it to Honeyduke's, there's a tunnel that leads back to Hogwarts. Good luck!"
Between the two Krums, there was little room for excessive movement. The old man closes the hatch above them, plunging both men into darkness. Without a word, Viktor lights his wand.
"Because vhis isn't creepy at all." Damyan grumbles. "You know, sometimes being revated to you sucks." When his cousin doesn't answer, the blond sighs. "Look, I'm sorry vor what I said. It von't happen again."
"It better not, vor I'll kick your ass." Viktor grins eerily in the wandlight. "I see light, vhat must be the shop."
"Do you vere that? It sounds like music."
Viktor's eerie grin slips into a smile. He'd know that voice anywhere.
Being here was relaxing, Dominic let me play whenever I was stressed, and it helped immensely. I notice him slip into the front on the shop, probably to assist a customer. I continue on pressing the keys in a familiar fashion.
"I've been tearing up town in my fucking white gown like a goddamn near sociopath. Shaking my ass is the only thing that gets this black narcissist off my back. She couldn't care less, and I never cared more so there's no more to say about that; except hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have.
Hope is a dangerous thing for a woman with my past."
I physically feel my shoulders relax as I focus on the music instead of dragons and tasks. It felt good to sit behind a piano and play. It reminded me of my father and how he had been adamant on me learning an instrument, the muggle way.
"There's a new revolution, a loud evolution that I saw; born of confusion and quiet collusion of which mostly I've known. A modern-day woman with a weak constitution, 'cause I've got monsters still under my bed that I could never fight off; A gatekeeper carelessly dropping the keys on my nights off"
I was so focused on playing, I miss the chime of the bell that means Dominic had let someone in through the tunnels.
"I've been tearing around in my fucking nightgown; 24/7 Sylvia Plath. Writing in blood on your walls 'cause the ink in my pen don't look good on my pad. They write that I'm happy, they know that I'm not but at best, I can say I'm not sad. But hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have. Hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have." I nearly shriek when I hear clapping next to me. I pull my wand and have to restrain myself from hexing the three men standing in the archway.
"You scared me half to death!" I feel color rush to my cheeks as I step away from the piano. "What are you even doing here?" I glare at the Bulgarians that were supposed to be at the sporting shop and, Dominic steps in front of them with an apologetic grin.
"Reporters ambushed Flick's shop, so he sent the boys through here." He explains. The front doors open as Ginny and Luna rush inside, each carrying a handful of bags.
"There are reporters everywhere!" Ginny gulps; her and Luna were aware that right now was not the time to be seen in the papers, especially not after finding out that the Death Eaters know who I am and, that I am very much alive. "We need to get you out of here Hermione. Now."
"But, vey are here for Viktor no?" Damyan's words cut through the tense atmosphere like a knife.
"It doesn't matter who they're here for, they can't see Hermione. Everyone gets those papers. They're getting closer." Luna warns from her spot at the window before closing the blinds.
"Shut up and let me think!" I snap.
Not good. There aren't any tunnels that connect to Hogwarts on this side of town, we'd need to make it to Honeyduke's. Unless Ginny and Luna can distract the reporters for the half hour it would take to get there, there is no chance I can get out of here without being seen, not to mention Viktor. This is all my fault, I had forgotten anyone that's seen with me is a potential target now and Viktor is front page material for all the newspapers and magazines, of course reporters would follow him like hounds. If he's seen with me; he becomes high value target number one.
Why am I so bloody stupid?
I grip my hair tight at the roots and breathe heavily.
I've got to find us a way out of here. I've got to-
"She's having a panic attack. Mia sit down." I feel Ginny sit me on the piano bench. "Take deep breaths with me okay?"
A knock at the door causes all of us to jolt. One knock turned to two turned to rapid beating on the door as flashes of lights shine through the blinds.
"He's going to find me again Gin. He's going to finish what he started." I feel hysterical and I'm sure I sound it as well. I can barely get the words out past the hand on my throat that I, logicall, know aren't there. "Then he's going to come for you. I'm so stupid. I'm sorry I'm so stupid." I can't breathe. I feel so weak. I feel so tired.
"Umno momiche, look at me." Viktor whispers, kneeling next to me and lacing his fingers through mine. "No one is going to get you. I von't let that happen. Are there any tunnels that we can take vhat lead back to school that is not in town?"
I shake my head. "The only other tunnel is in the Shrieking Shack but, we'd still need to get through a part of town. W-We don't know how many of them there are. They could be everywhere."
"Is it closer?" he turns to Ginny and she nods.
"We won't be able to make it through. It leads under the Whomping Willow, at best, it will severely injure you. The only people to ever use it were Animagus because they were the only ones who could hit the stun knot." She explains.
"How small vould you have to be to hit it?" He asks, turning back to me to cup my face and make look into his eyes. For the first time, he looked scared.
"You couldn't be any bigger than a house cat." I take a deep breath, pushing the images of that night in the shack far from my mind. "Pettigrew was a rat."
"Vhen, we are in luck." He whispers before turning to Damyan.
"Of course." The blond agrees before even being asked a question.
"Okay, visten to me umno momiche, I am going to go out there, vead the reporters avay vhile the rest of you go towards the shack, da? I vill take carriage back and meet you in Library. It vill be okay. Damyan is animagus, he will get you vrough the tunnel." His words make it seem so simple even though it was anything his cloak around my shoulders and putting the hood up, he smiles at me. "I vill need vis one back."
"I don't like this." Ginny states as she bites her thumb. "But it will have to do. Thank you, Viktor." He nods and tucks a piece of hair behind my ear before jumping into the tunnel and out of my sight. Not five minutes later, we hear a chorus of people yelling Viktor's name and the banging on the shop door stops.
"Luna, you take the front, Damyan you stand to her right, be her wall if need be, I'll take up the rear and make sure we aren't being followed." Although confused, the blond takes Ginny's words seriously, standing by my side and taking my arm in his.
Maybe he isn't completely awful.
Luna leaves the shop briskly and we wait a few minutes before we follow, pulling the cloak tighter around me. I can see Viktor in the distance, leading the vultures towards the carriages.
We make it to the outskirts of town when I hear a camera flash and all of the blood drains from my face.
"Miss Granger!" a voice shrieks "Do you have a moment to answer a few questions about your infidelity to Harry Potter with the man on your arm?" Another flash.
"You have no right to ask her those questions, Skeeter. Back off."
"Did you arrive here with Viktor Krum?" She persists, and I feel myself stiffen. "I am going to be taking that as a yes! Did mister Krum attempt to distract us so you could sneak away and continue this affair?"
I knew it would be too obvious. Stupid Girl.
I turn around to face her and end up with another flash, blinding me. Gritting my teeth, I give her a smile.
"I am fifteen years old Ms. Skeeter. I am underage even by wizarding laws and you can't legally write or post anything about me and if I find you do, I will get the best lawyers in England and I will get you. However, if you leave Viktor and my friends out of it, I will give you permission for one picture and one quote." My hands go clammy as I wait for her answer.
I have to do this. I'm sorry.
"Mia, no." Luna interjects. "It's too-"
"It's a deal." Skeeter giggles in a way that makes me want to grind my teeth, before clapping her hands together. "Well then, Miss Granger, how do you feel about the Triwizard Tournament? Are you worried for your lover Mr. Harry Potter?"
I bite my lip and try to think of the best way to word my answer so she cannot twist my words. This plan is almost as bad as Harry's, fly into a dragon den on a stick, plan. I know Rita Skeeter, and I know that I can't trust her as far as I can throw her.
"Although I respect its history, I cannot say I agree with it. I worry for all of my friends that are participating in it. Now, we are leaving, and you are not following us." I turn away from her and everyone else as I march towards the Shack.
"I'm not going to say anything right now but, tomorrow when this is all over, I will never let you live this down." Ginny huffs, hiding a smile behind her hand as we look at the blonde hedgehog in from of us. It was a momentary reprieve from the seriousness of what just happened. I saw Peter Pettigrew go into his Animagus form last year but, that did not prepare me to watch a six foot, built like a truck Bulgarian shrink down to, what I could only describe as, an adorable little ball of spikes. "Oh look! I think he's glaring at us!"
"Stop teasing Gin." I say with mock seriousness before picking Damyan up. "The knot is on a root closest to the entrance, its darker than the rest of the bark, you can't miss it." He nods his little head and I reach my hand up through the hole. Almost two minutes pass when a hand reaches in through the opening; grabbing hold of it, I feel myself hoisted up into the daylight.
Normally, seeing the stone walls of Hogwarts made me feel safe but now, I all feel is dread. Gin excuses herself to go report to Snape and Luna disappears soon after, dragging Damyan with her.
Viktor waits an hour before leaving the library in search of his friends. Something wasn't right, the bags under Hermione's eyes and the exhausted look in them had left him with a sick feeling.
They should have been back by now. He thinks to himself, checking the Great Hall and Hospital Wing to no avail. Not knowing the location of the Gryffindor common room, he opts to search the dungeons where he had seen Hermione and Ginny disappear to multiple times. With a stroke of luck, he sees the Weasley girl exiting the Potions classroom. Her look of despair when she sees him does nothing to quell the worry in his stomach.
"You are back? Is Hermio-nine vith you?" He asks. Ginny's face switches from despair to anxious in a matter of moments.
"She's not with you? She's supposed to be with you."
"She never came to Library." The redhead worries her lip at his words before grabbing his wrist and dragging him into the classroom where four other students, including Luna, sat conversing with Snape; feeling as though he had walked into something he shouldn't know about.
He recognizes the blond boy from the first night; Draco Malfoy, and Neville, Hermione's housemate among them.
"She never went to the Library." Ginny announces. "And she wasn't in the prefect's bathroom or the common room."
Her words cause a flurry of murmurs throughout the group and Viktor's eyes drift towards the boy that had chased her the first night at the castle, he looked a shade whiter than death as his friend, another Slytherin, pats his back in slurred movements.
This is not the time to be drunk. He internalizes angrily.
"Vhat happened after I left?" Viktor wonders aloud.
"Rita Skeeter managed to sneak up behind us. Hermione made a deal with her; she could use her picture if Skeeter didn't mention or photograph any of us." Luna explains. "We got back here and then she disappeared." The Bulgarian feels his anger reach a boiling point and he has to refrain from finding the reporter and strangling her himself.
"She left. Probably going to go somewhere far away from here and get herself in the papers again so-" Blaise coughs. "they follow her instead of coming here. She's going to go far away and paint a target on her back. Bloody Gryffindor."
Draco notices the surprised look on Viktor's face and he mutters "He's the brains, I'm the sobriety." In way of an explanation before going back to his worried rocking.
"Before we lose our heads" The professor, who had been silent the whole encounter, drawls. "We need to make sure she has actually left and isn't just hiding somewhere. Weasley, go talk to Potter and other Weasley. See if they have talked to her."
Instead of arguing, which is what Viktor expected from the redhead, she just nods and disappears out the door. Once she's out of sight, the Bulgarian feels all of the eyes in the room land on him. He thought it was a waste of time, something was wrong, her could feel it in his bones. They way she had broken down earlier, he had never seen her so scared.
"Mr. Krum." Snape says sharply. "I want you to leave and pretend today did not happen. Go to classes, complete your tasks, and never speak of this to anyone. Am I clear?" It wasn't a question. It was an order.
"No." Viktor declines. "Someving isn't right, I can veel it. I vant to look for Hermione." He stands tall, not backing down from the professor's withering glare. A staring match begins intensely between the two, both standing their ground.
"This is bigger than you Mr. Krum. I advise you leave before you get in over your head." Snape repeats after a minute or two. Guilt eats at the younger man; Hermione was in trouble and she wouldn't have been if he wasn't constantly followed by reporters and journalists alike.
She made me veel normal. I had vorgotten what reality vas like for me.
"Professor, Ron said she cornered him about an hour and a half ago; telling him to apologize to Harry because he needs his best friend back and to be there for him. I checked her room; her trunk is gone." Ginny explains between gulps of air. "She's gone Professor."
Her words hit Viktor like a ton of bricks. She had disappeared because of him. He had only ever viewed reporters as nuisances, not threats but, now he realizes what a grave mistake that was. Hermione was hiding from someone and, once that photo hit the papers, he would know exactly where she was.
"She can't apparate within school grounds, she'd have to get outside the perimeter. She knows we could follow her easily if she went to Hogsmeade." Blaise rubs his face and takes a deep breath. "She'd have to go through the Forbidden Forest and apparate from there. If she were running, she'd reach the end of the ward in two hours."
The Bulgarian's heart begins to pound loudly, he had read about what lurks in the forest, the acromantula and centaurs were only the tip of the iceberg.
"She has at least an hour head start. We need to leave now." Neville stands, packing his wand into his robe. The others follow suit and Viktor vaguely wonders why a Professor was about to let a bunch of teenagers into one of the most dangerous places in England but, watching how they uniformly and swiftly prepare as a unit it all makes sense. They were trained for this. These teenagers were soldiers.
"I think it's time you leave Mr. Krum." Snape says with a dark look.
"I am going vith them. You cannot stop me." He almost growls and Ginny looks at him oddly.
"This is over your head-"
Viktor doesn't know if it was the culmination of his worries or the arrogant tone of the man in front of him that causes him to shout.
"No! It is my vault she is gone, and I am going to help get her back. You cannot stop me."
"It would help to have another pair of eyes Professor." Luna persuades. "We normally travel in pairs and condensing groups means less area we can cover."
Snape looks between the blonde and Viktor for a few moments before rubbing the bridge of his nose with a sigh. After a few more deep breaths he opens his eyes and stares at the younger man intensely.
"Once you do this, there will be no backing out. You are signing up for, what will eventually be, a death sentence." Viktor holds the potions professor's gaze.
Viktor could tell he was being deadly serious but, at that moment, only one thing mattered to him; not the tournament, not the apparent death sentence, and not whatever was lurking in the forest: Hermione. All he cared about was getting her back into his sight and into his arms.
He nods.
"Very well. Weasley, you and Longbottom take the north side of the forest. Zabini and Lovegood, take the south. Malfoy take Krum to the East and debrief him. I want you all back by no later than midnight. I'll inform the Headmaster and we will send out the teachers as soon as we can without causing a panic. It's two o clock now. Go."
"How var do you think she has gotten?" Viktor asks, breaking the terse silence between himself and Malfoy. The blond had yet to say a word despite being told to debrief the man next to him. Instead of answering, Draco stares into the murkiness of the forest.
"Do you vink she is okay?"
"I saw Voldemort in this forest my first year at Hogwarts. He had latched onto a Professor and was surviving off of unicorn blood. Hermione was almost killed by a werewolf last year and a basilisk the year before that. Ginny was possessed by Voldemort and Blaise drinks to try to forget watching his little sister die by the hand of Bellatrix Lestrange. Neville is being raised by his grandmother because both of his parents were driven mad by the Cruciatus Curse." Malfoy's words catch Viktor off guard. "That is what you are signing up for if you help us. You step into this forest with us and you're agreeing to put yourself at risk. Are you sure? She won't think any less of you if you turn around now."
Without a moments thought, Viktor walks into the tree line pressing into the forest, not noticing the frown that had crept onto his companion's face. After an hour of walking, Draco speaks again.
"Over the summer, Hermione was targeted by a Death Eater that goes by the name Thorfinn Rowle. He disguised himself as an American wizard on holiday and the two became close; a week later he strangled her to death or, what he thought was death. She said she woke up and hours had passed and Rowle was gone. She somehow made it back to Ginny but, she said the bruising was extensive enough that she couldn't heal it and that Mia should have died."
Viktor's breath catches in his throat. Looking towards Draco, he silently urges him to continue despite his growing rage.
"Frankly, despite the injuries, it was a good thing. The Death Eaters thought she had died which, in turn no longer made her a target; that was until the World Cup."
The dark-haired man nods, remembering the way the Death Eater had taunted her.
"We had been feeding rumors to the general public the past few weeks; saying that Hermione decided to withdraw from school and go into hiding. It was honestly the truth, Snape had wanted to pull her out but, she was stubborn and the two argued until he gave in and let her stay." The two men smile despite their current situation. "I have no doubt that she thinks she's doing what's best but, she's wrong. We need her here. We are a small sect of The Order of the Phoenix; a group of witches and wizards dedicated to keeping Voldemort at bay and keeping Harry Potter safe."
The sound of a twig snapping to their right stops all conversation. From behind a large tree lumbers a hairless black cat the size of a Lynx, its cloudy blue eyes staring at the boys curiously. A curse flies past Viktor before he can open his mouth, hitting the cat and knocking it backwards. He looks to the blond with a frown.
"You vid not need to do vhat. It vasn't attacking us."
"Yet. It wasn't attacking us yet. If you wait for your enemy to make the first move, you lose." Malfoys grumbles.
"It vas a cat." Viktor deadpans.
"And next time it may be a Death Eater. The faster you get that through your thick head. The better off we will all be, Krum." The way Malfoy had says his name bothered Viktor, as if it left a sour taste in his mouth. The Bulgarian was a confrontational person by nature, and he grabs the boy's arm fully intending to ask him what his problem was but, yowling halts his movements. Both men look in horror towards the fallen cat as it shambles its way back to a standing position, bones snapping back into place and eyes now a pale red.
Draco draws his wand but, the cat moves quicker as it separates into two gaunt and feral looking creatures. Another stinging hex flies past Viktor before he can stop his companion. The cat it hit barely flinches before it separates into two more cats. Instead of drawing his wand, Viktor grabs Malfoy by the arm and starts running, the cats not far behind them.
Draco continues firing curses behind them as they run each one hitting their marks and creating a larger problem as they now had at least eight cats following them.
"Vill you stop vith the hexes!" He finally yells.
"What else are we supposed to do?!" Malfoy yells back, almost slipping on a patch of ice.
In true Seeker fashion, Viktor spots a large hive on a branch in front of them; brandishing his wand, he stops a few feet past it and faces the cats, hot on his heels.
"What are you doing?" The blond yells, watching the Bulgarian shifting from foot to foot quite like boxers do before entering the ring. "Please don't tell me you're going to try to hit them."
Once the cats are under the tree, Viktor shoots a quick Flipendo at the hive, knocking it to the ground with a crash. He doesn't wait to see the colony of Vampyr Mosps swarm the cats but, he hears them; the yowling and buzzing clashing like nails on a chalkboard.
"That works too, I guess." Malfoy pants when the two stop running. Viktor nods questioning, not for the first time, how Hogwarts hasn't been shut down yet. "What were they?"
"I vo not know and, right now, I vo not care as long as they von't come after us again." The man breathes deeply, the cold air and smell of burnt pines reminding him of home.
Vait, burnt? Vhat is burning?
"Krum, do you smell that?" The blond asks, as if reading his mind. "It smells like sulfur." Despite their better judgement, the two follow the smell as the air gradually gets warmer around them, and the snow melts away. A flash of fire streams above the trees and Viktor feels a hand on his shoulder.
"This isn't a good idea. Mia wouldn't go towards something like this." Draco reasons.
"Ves she would, if it meant ve vould not follow her, she vould." Viktor moves forwards, not waiting for his partner.
"Don't come any closer!" A man's voice yells a couple yards ahead. "Turn around and go back to the school before I tell Headmaster Dumbledore and get you expelled."
Viktor walks on, undeterred, only to be knocked backwards by the same curse he had used an hour ago. He looks up at a red head with strikingly familiar eyes. He hears Draco run up behind him.
"Bloody hell Krum, you good?" He asks as the larger man stands back up. Viktor watches the red head's eyes narrow at Malfoy before flickering to the clearing behind him.
She's back vhere. I know it.
With a newfound determination, he blitzes past the unknown wizard, knocking him to the ground and bursting into a burnt clearing, suddenly face to face with four sleeping dragons. A small gasp draws his attention to a red and gold dragon with a bushel of hair sticking out from behind the fringe of its head. The dragon lazily opens an eye at his approach, not finding him interesting enough to pay much mind to.
"Her-my-ohnee?" He asks cautiously, taking his time to try to say her name correctly.
"You shouldn't have followed me Viktor." She says, stepping from behind her cover, wand drawn. She looked fearsome, posed next to the red beast with fire in her eyes. He knows he should be sacred; he had seen her duel before, she was ruthless, and her determination matched his. His point was proven as he deflects a stinging hex. It was clear she wouldn't be pulling punches.
Viktor wasn't normally a man of many words so, he struggles to find the right ones as he advances onto her, backing them up, not realizing his mistake until they were clear of the dragons and she had taken off. She was a sight to behold, leaping over logs and dipping under branches easily, and Viktor would have been more appreciative of it if he wasn't so worried about her. Her plan was ridiculous, she would leave and then what? Get all of the Death Eaters in England to swarm her? She wasn't thinking rationally.
"I don't want to hurt you!" She calls before sending another curse his way that he barely has time to dodge it before it hits. He hits the ground hard and, with a groan, he aims his wand at Hermione.
"Carpe Retractum" A stream of red light leaves his wand and wraps around her ankles, dragging her back to him. Once she gets close enough to him, she surprises him with a right hook. From there it turns into a grappling match that ends with Hermione, held tightly in Viktor's arms and he bear hugs her from behind.
"It's okay to be scared, umno momiche." He mutters in her ear, using his nickname for her that she still didn't know the meaning of.
"Let me go! Please if he comes here, he'll kill all of you." She thrashes against him.
"And you leafing vill not change anyvhing. If you go, he vill still know vhere we are, and it is too late to change vhat. Vhat is my fault, vhose reporters where vhere for me but, if you leaf, you are just stalling him. It is safer for you to stay and you know vhat. So, vhy are you running." His words cause her attempts at escape to cease.
"I'm so tired of being scared Viktor." Her words are so quiet he almost misses them, and in that moment, it all makes sense. "I can't breathe." She gasps, hands flying to her throat. "Viktor, I can't breathe!"
Umno Momiche* - Smart Girl