Author's Note: Well here is the short ending to my story. Thanks for the reviews guys. I hope this meets your expectations. Oh and I'm assuming that Viktor still has one more year left of school since he pretty much skipped one for the Triwizard Tournament.
"…" – speech
'…' – thoughts
Chapter Four
(Bulgaria – Krum Residence)
The bathroom door lazily swung open, cool air escaping into the bedroom along with a broad shouldered, well muscled figure. Viktor Krum wobbly strode to his soft welcoming bed and eagerly fell face forward into his comforting pillow. Unattended water droplets slid off of his hard body, creating cool puddles of moisture on his sheets. The young man didn't mind as he welcomed any amount of moisture to alleviate himself of the hot, dry summer weather. He rolled over onto his back, creating a strain on his already sore muscles. The news of the return of the Dark Lord had not spread, so once Viktor had returned to Bulgaria he was immediately put back into his intense Quidditch training with the Vrasta Vultures. After not playing Quidditch for almost a year, due the Triwizard Tournament, he felt a little rusty on a broom and his endurance seemed to have been shot since his muscles hadn't felt this sore since the first time he started flying. The Bulgarian wizard groaned and threw his arm over his eyes, desperately wanting sleep to wash over him.
Viktor had just about sunk completely into his dreams when a moderately large snowy white owl flew through his open window and landed promptly onto his exposed abs. He yelped and jumped up at the feel of the owl's sharp talons pricking at his stomach. The owl hooted angrily and perched at the end of Viktor's bed post, looking extremely harassed and dropping the package it was carrying on the floor beside the bed.
"Hey!" Viktor grumbled in Bulgarian. "You were the one who dug your talons into me!" He responded to the owl's offended look.
The owl stared at him questioningly, rotating its head from side to side. Krum picked up the dropped package and took note of the writing on it.
"English?" He muttered staring at the owl. "You are from Britain then?"
His nocturnal visitor hooted in response and flew over to him again, nipping affectionately at his arm.
"Vot is this?" The wizard looked at the animal questioningly. "Fickle bird aren't you?"
Viktor pulled a letter out of the envelope and smiled when he knew who the package was from.
Dear Viktor,
How have you been? I know its only been three weeks since the summer holidays began, but I thought it would be better if I wrote to you sooner than later. Besides, I think I could use a break from the summer homework I have to do. Ron and Harry think I've gone mad because I'm just about halfway done and I've still got about two months of holiday left. I hope that this letter arrives at an appropriate hour; I'm not exactly sure what the time difference is between Britain and Bulgaria. I don't have an owl of my own so I had to borrow Harry's owl, Hedwig. I hope she's not giving you any trouble. To tell you the truth, she was a little eager to take the job. I showed her a picture of you so she knew what you looked like and she volunteered before I even had a chance to send her back to Harry to see if I could use her. I think she might be a bit taken with you. I guess your charms aren't limited to just teenage girls huh?
Viktor smirked and gently petted Hedwig's head. "So you're Potter's owl eh?"
She cooed in response while he went back to reading the letter.
Are you doing alright with Quidditch? Harry and Ron reckon that you're going to be under some intense training because of the World Cup last year. When is the next World Cup? I really want to see you fly again… maybe you'll have a game against Britain? Do you think you could send me the Quidditch schedule when you find out? I don't want to have to ask Harry or Ron… they'll probably get all nosy and I don't want to have to deal with that.
I'm
really sorry about not coming to visit you this summer… but I
suppose its best with all the things going on around here now. Ron
sent me a letter about where a bunch of us… who know about… the
"incident" are going to spend the summer preparing for
anything that might happen. I think they're going to send a group
of Aurors to pick up Harry from his aunt and uncle's house soon.
Ron didn't explain how I'm going to get there though, so I'll
just have to wait until more news comes. Nothing suspicious is going
on in Bulgaria is there? Did Durmstrang find a new headmaster yet? Do
you have summer homework for your last year? I don't think I would
be able to handle Quidditch practice and summer homework…
especially if I liked one more than the other. I'm sure that we
would probably have different views on which one we would pick.
Oh! I can't believe I almost forgot! I've enclosed some pictures that were taken last year while you were at Hogwarts. I was shocked when Dumbledore sent me a package of wizard film! He assured me that nobody was spying on us and they just appeared on his desk. I guess its just one of those mysteries of the school that no one can figure out. It was my first time developing wizard photos… it was quite an experience. My mum and dad had so much fun looking at the photos. I think it might have been the first time they've seen wizarding photos. Since they're Muggles, they were really shocked to see us moving in them! Once they calmed down, they were really responsive to everything they saw. My mum thinks you're quite handsome Viktor and my dad can't get enough of the fact that you're a famous sports star. Granted, he's never seen a Quidditch game or knows any of the concepts but he's just really impressed by it all. I hope you and your family are well. Please write back as soon as you can.
I miss you.
Yours Truly,
Hermione J. Granger
Viktor swallowed as he read her last line. He shook his head free of his thoughts and reached deeper into the envelope to find a smaller envelope full of photos. The Bulgarian Seeker leaned back against his headboard and flipped through the pictures.
The first was a picture of him and Hermione sitting together in the library. He had put his arm around her and she was blushing lightly. They stared up at him with sparkling eyes and Hermione waved up at him, while Viktor stayed focused on her.
The second contained Hermione and him at the entrance of the Yule Ball. Viktor smiled at his own sheepish grin and Hermione's shy wave as they linked arms.
The next few were a series of pictures capturing the opening waltz from different angles. The wizard was surprised to see that he didn't look as clumsy on the dance floor as he had previously thought. He spent a few minutes looking at them but the dancers eventually got tired and took their seats to continue dancing later. Viktor blushed lightly when he noticed that there were more dancers in the picture than chairs so Hermione was forced to sit in his lap to rest.
Another series of pictures portrayed the un-choreographed dances. Some displayed the rough grinding dances during faster songs and others had the sweet embraces during the slower ones. Viktor found that his favorite was one where he was holding Hermione from behind, gently whispering sweet nothings into her ear.
The next picture showed them in an empty hallway holding hands and exchanging chaste kisses every once in a while.
He was definitely surprised when he found a picture of him leaning against a tree while Hermione was gently snoozing in his arms. He had looked up at himself and given him a sly wink before continuing to watch the young girl in his arms.
The final picture was of them outside, near the Great Hall when Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were leaving Hogwarts. Viktor had an arm draped over Hermione's shoulder and alternated between was whispering things into her ear and gently kissing her cheek, causing her to blush redder and redder each time.
Viktor quickly extracted some parchment from his dresser and conjured a quill and bottle of ink. He frowned for a moment to think about exactly what he should write in his response.
Dear Hermione,
I am glad to hear from you so soon. I am doing very well and Weasley and Potter are right about Quidditch. Ever since I returned to Bulgaria my coach has been working everybody hard. He has increased practices to five times a week. They are more intense than usual, so it is very difficult for me to return home and relax. I mostly just sleep because of my sole muscles. I will send you my Quidditch schedule if you like, but we do not get the World Cup schedule until towards the end of the season. My coach was annoyed that I could not return to practice during holidays this past year for practice because of the Triwizard Tournament, so I think he is working me to make up for lost time.
I am not sure of your meaning when you talk about Potter's owl. She does seem to like me but I would think it is because I am good with animals. My own owl, falcon and dog treat me the same way. I am thinking you like to make things bigger than they really are for fun.
I have not seen anything out of the ordinary in Bulgaria, mostly because the news of the Dark Lord's return has not yet reached us. I am being cautious about who I tell about it, however, because there are many wizards here who have graduated from Durmstrang. There are some of them here who deny being Death Eaters but I am sure they will change their minds when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named makes his presence known. Durmstrang has not yet found a new headmaster, so the most senior member of the staff is taking his place until the position is filled. My summer homework is going well, but I am having trouble with Disembowelment Curse and transfiguring fire into animal forms. I have done well with changing water and creating hurricanes however. How are you doing with your schoolwork? I am remembering that you told me that in your fifth year you will be taking O.W.L.s. At Durmstrang, we take our tests during our seventh year, so I will be under the same amount of stress as you or perhaps just a little more with Quidditch.
Thank you very much for the pictures. I am enjoying them very much. Forgive me for writing such a short letter but I am very tired. I will write to you again soon.
I miss you.
Yours,
Viktor Krum
The young man looked through the pictures for another few minutes before returning to re-read the letter Hermione had sent to him. He was interrupted, however, by Hedwig's hoots and gently pecking at his hand.
"You may stay here tonight if you vant." He gently scratched the back of her neck. "I vill send my response tomorrow."
'I should find pictures frames tomorrow as well…' He added in his head.
Viktor lay down, covered his eyes with his arm as he had done previously, not noticing Hedwig fly up to perch on his headboard, and held Hermione's letter over his bare chest. Her last line being constantly re-read in his mind as he drifted off to sleep:
"I miss you."
His dreams were filled of her. The feel of her body against his, the sight of her mesmerizing brown eyes, the smell of her floral body wash, the sound of her scolding voice whenever he whispered wicked things into her ear and the taste of each one of their stolen kisses.
The End
Author's Note: Well there it is. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this. I'm thinking of making a short post-Hogwarts sequel later. I would have to obviously manipulate the events of the last book to make it work. I'll have to see if I can gather enough thoughts to put into words. Review if possible.