Sofia, Bulgaria

That's ok, love. I only got home a few minutes ago myself! XD
BTW- He's Viktor Fucking Krum. He can smile however the fuck he wants. JS.

Hermione can't help but smile at how humble Viktor is. He's always been like that; she remembers how shy he had been when they had first met, and how awkwardly he had reacted whenever anyone complimented him. Not many international sports stars would be that way, Hermione muses, particularly not ones with so much success from such a young age. It was quite endearing, actually, and one of the things she loved about him. Oh. There was that word again. Hermione hides her face in her coffee cup, pretending to take an extra long sip so that she no longer has to participate in the conversation. She wishes she could talk to Audrey, or Angelina. They'd help her figure out what to do.


I just got through this whole post and realised Hermione didn't say anything... sorry. Butmaybeweshouldspeedthingsupanyway?

TRUE DAT
YeahIwasthinkingthattoo. *is getting tired of being the entire Krum family*

And breakfast is lovely and then everyone bonds over coffee and it's just beautiful. But now it's time to go back to Viktor's apartment and it won't be long before they're heading back to Bulgaria. So, they say their goodbyes and thank you's and OH MY GOD AS IF BY MAGIC they are back in Viktor's apartment again.

"That vent vell. They really like you," Viktor said with a soft smile, pleased with how the entire trip went because Hermione seemed to love his parents and his parents seemed to love Hermione...There was also that whole part with him loving Hermione, but he's trying to suppress all those feelings, which is horrible because by the time he gets to Molly he's going to be like a soda pop bottle that's been shaken up with the lid on...Does that make sense? Ihopeso.

It makes perfect sense. And Inner!Molly is already baking cookies. In fact, she might even bake Cookies if Viktor is too shaken up.

"I really like them, too," Hermione says, looking down slightly because she feels like if she looks Viktor in the eye, she might do something horribly embarrassing like burst into tears. "Um, what do you want to do now?" she says, even though all she wants to do is go drown herself in the bathtub and count the minutes til she can get back to Hogwarts, where everything is magicoooooooool and she doesn't have to be in constant close quarters with the unattainable object of her affections.

Viktor likes that plan <.<

Viktor smiles happily because even if things are more than complicated, Hermione liked his parents. It could have been worse, they could have hated each other but they don't. So at least he has that going for him right now. He shrugs lightly, not really sure of what he wants to do. They got plenty of movies...but that would involve cuddling again, and he's not sure that he wants to snuggle with someone he might be in love with, especially if that person is his best friend and a girl and just...His head hurts a bit now. "Anything in particular that you'd like to do?"

Awesome.

Be normal. Be normal. Be normal. Hermione takes a deep breath. "Let's watch The Lion King," she says, and hands Viktor the DVD so that he can prove he's remembered how to load the DVD player and work the TV. While he's occupied with that, she settles herself on the couch, huddled up in one corner, her body angled away from Viktor's space so that their will be little or no contact between them.

Viktor walks over to the TV and loads the DVD properly, although it does take him longer than it would for a muggle, or muggleborn, or just anyone who has been around DVD players. He would smile proudly, but he's nervous about being rude to Hermione. He'd really rather not be close to her like last time. Not after...Well, everything that happened at his parent's house. When he turns around, he feels relieved. Sad, but relieved. Hermione's body language clearly shows that no cuddling is going to happen tonight anyway. He sits down about a foot away from her and grabs the remote off the table. "You see? I told you I remembered everything you said," he said with a grin before pushing play.

"And you didn't even need a cheat sheet," Hermione returns, and she can't help but look across at Viktor with a fond smile. She grabs a blanket and burrows beneath it, almost as if it's a protective shield between her and the world (and her feelings) as she watches the film.

Viktor returns the smile and grabs a blanket of his own, leaning on the arm of the couch as he watches the movie...Which is about a lion....who can talk. Now why does that sound so familiar?

Hmm, funny how familiar that sounds. Hermione keeps both eyes on the movie the whole time, but somehow manages to be hyper-aware of every single little move Viktor makes throughout the film. When the final credits roll, she glances at her watch. It's still rather early, but she can't stand it anymore. "Erm, I'm pretty tired. I think I'll turn in early. Goodnight," she says, and flees for the sanctuary of her own room.
Once there, she runs a bath and slips in, shedding a couple of silent tears for how awful she is feeling in the solitude. She lays in the bubbles for what feels like hours before her fingers turn prunish and the water starts to cool, prompting Hermione to drag herself from the depths of the tub, dry herself off, put on her ducky pajamas and crawl into bed. She only hopes she gets a little more sleep tonight than she had the previous night.



*sobs* Wifey my net has totally spazzed out, so I am going to go do something else for a while until it behaves. Talk to you in the morning/night. LOVE YOU SO MUCH! <3 XXOOXXOO

Nooooooooooooo! *kicks it* OKAY THEN. LOVE YOUUUU<3

Viktor frowns as Hermione rushes out of the room, mumbling a quick 'goodnight' as she leaves. He stays there alone for a moment, wondering if things are going to be like this forever or if it's just something about Bulgaria making things weird. He sighs and gets up to go take a hot shower in his own bathroom, before changing into his pajamas and laying down in bed, hoping that he would get some sleep even with his mind full of all these confusing thoughts.

Hermione sleeps fitfully, tossing and turning. Several times she wakes in the night, often making it as far as her own bedroom door before she realises that she just can't go crawling into Viktor's bed anymore. Maybe she should never have done it to begin with. For the second night in a row, she stays in her own bed, denying herself the comfort of cuddling her best friend because it seems like stolen comfort all of a sudden, coming from somebody else's boyfriend.
Having barely slept at all, she's up early in the morning, dressed and in the kitchen before Viktor. She puts on a pot of tea, and then decides to make Viktor breakfast, if nothing else than to make sure he eats something. She's not nearly as at ease in the kitchen as her 1.0 counterpart, so it takes her a while to make some eggs and sausages and toast, but she gets there.

Viktor wakes up after not getting much sleep, and is rather surprised when he smells breakfast already cooking in the kitchen. He quickly gets dressed and ready, and walks out into the kitchen to see Hermione already up. "Morning," he greets softly as he walks into the kitchen with her, realizing how easy it would be to wrap his arms around her and kiss her which he knows is a very bad thing for best friends to do. That's something that couples do, and the thought that tells him he'll probably never have that with Hermione makes him feel sick, so he grabs a glass of juice to help calm him down and not think about any of that.

Hermione looks up as Viktor enters, almost spilling the eggs she's transferring from the frying pan to their plates in her awkwardness. "Morning. I hope you don't mind, I took the liberty of making breakfast. I thought it was the least I could do," she says, handing Viktor one laden plate and keeping one for herself. "And there's tea as well," she says, indicating the pot. She's already poured her own cup, which she carries to the table with the rest of her breakfast things.

"No, I don't mind...Thank you," he smiles as he takes the plate from Hermione and pours himself a cup of tea. He sits down across from Hermione and takes a bite of the food she's prepared for them. "It's good," he told her after he swallowed. "Guess you've picked up a few tips from eating my cooking," he teased with a small smile.

"You're welcome," Hermione says, as she tucks into her own breakfast. She smiles slightly as Viktor declares her cooking good. "Maybe I have picked something up from you. It's definitely not as good as yours, though," she says, because it's true. "So what time are we heading back to Hogwarts?" she asks, forcing herself to keep her tone casual as she asks the question.

Viktor smiled and continued eating, pausing to answer her question. "Um. I vos thinking sometime after breakfast, I guess. Vonce you're all packed and everything...Unless there vos something else you vanted to do in Bulgaria before ve leave," he said as he moved his food around on his plate.

Hermione shakes her head. "I've loved Bulgaria, it's been wonderful, but maybe we ought to head back to Hogwarts once I'm all packed? I've got a couple of holiday assignments that have been sorely neglected," she says, latching onto the excuse. She quickly finishes her breakfast and takes her dishes to the sink. "I won't be long," she promises, and returns to her room to quickly pack her things.

Viktor nods in agreement, and despite all the awkwardness between them he can't help but smile because it's just like Hermione to worry about her assignments over the break. When she leaves to pack her things, he takes his plate to the sink and washes everything up before going to his own room and pack and get ready. It doesn't take long, and once he's finished he takes one last look at his bed where Hermione had slept the first two nights, sighing sadly before walking out of his room to wait for Hermione.

Hermione joins Viktor after only a few minutes, her bag in one hand as she looks about the lovely apartment that she'd fallen in love with so quickly. Just a couple of days ago, she believed she could happily spend her whole life here. Now she knows that it's not fair for her to consider ever coming back. The thought makes her want to cry, but instead she smiles at Viktor as if everything is alright. "Ready when you are."

Viktor smiled at Hermione, taking his bag in one hand as he used the other hand to hold hers. "I'm really glad you came," he told her again, smiling softly as he gave her hand a quick tight squeeze in warning before apparating back to Hogsmeade.

Hermione just nods, not having time to return the pleasantries before he squeezes her hand and they apparate away. What could she say, anyway? I'm really glad I came and trespassed on your kindness, shared a special occasion with your family because you're too good to me, only to repay you by potentially ruining our friendship forever? Hermione doesn't think so. And then they're back at Hogsmeade, where everything is the same except for the two of them.