Yuuri panicked - internally, externally; he was all sorts of a mess.

He dodged around incoming pub-goers on stumbling feet, swiping Floo powder between pushing bodies. He was ignorant to their cries as he pushed his way through. All he could think about was the fact that if Viktor wasn't here with him, then where on Earth did he end up?

He hadn't realised that Viktor's accent was so heavy it caused accidental misdirections.

Was that why Viktor had been so hesitant to Floo?

Fingers trembling, Yuuri threw more Floo powder into the public fireplace. "Centre de Convencions Internacional de Barcelona," he pronounced as clearly as he could, because they didn't need to both be completely lost.

Green flames flickered across his view, and even the slight warmth that came with Floo travel couldn't dissipate the cold fear in the pit of his stomach, because what if Viktor wasn't at the Convention Centre either?

There were so many dangerous places VIktor could end up. Yuuri was sure Viktor was a fine wizard on his own, but Viktor seemed so out of it these past days.

Soot and ash swept past his feet as he hurried out the other end.

He was greeted by the sight of Viktor speaking rapid French with a worried looking elderly witch. They both turned towards him, Viktor's eyes glistening suspiciously.

Yuuri froze at their twin stares, and a feeling of having done wrong washed over him. Except he'd done nothing?

"Viktor?" Yuuri began carefully, turning from the woman towards him. "Viktor, are you okay? You were very late- mmph-" Anything he wanted to say was cut off by Viktor's mouth on his own. It was sooty and haisty but still everything Yuuri loved more than anything else, because it was Viktor.

His legs buckled under him, forcing Viktor to sweep him gracefully into his arms like some sort of synchronized dance. They twirled, Yuuri lost in Viktor's crystal eyes, until Viktor's hold loosened and Yuuri realised he was trying to help set him up right. It wouldn't do to slump like a boneless lovesick fool the moment Viktor let go.

The man patted him down, likely concerned for his limp form.

It was endearing, except Yuuri wanted to know if Viktor was alright. Not that he minded the impromtu kiss, mind you.

"Are you okay?" Viktor asked him instead, before Yuuri could repeat his question. At least Yuuri could now be certain Viktor had been listening before drawing him up into a kiss.

"Yes?" Yuuri replied hesitantly.

There was a weight over him as Viktor draped himself over his shoulders. "Then I'm fine too," Viktor declared, a bit too dramatically in Yuuri's opinion.

The elderly woman sighed softly off to the side. There was something tender in her eyes as she watched their odd reunion. She patted Viktor's forearm, though she looked over at Yuuri instead. "Take care of your fiancé," she said sternly in heavy Spanish flavoured English.

Had Viktor found time to confide a complete stranger the status of their relationship while Yuuri had been worrying needlessly for his safety?

To Yuuri's confusion, the woman only continued on. "I won't tell," she said kindly, though 'tell' about what exactly, she didn't say. But before he could ask, with a parting, "Be careful," she was gone in a flash of green flames as she walked into the Floo.

Yuuri was left with too many unanswered question.

"Tell?" Yuuri echoed to the empty space she left behind. Finally, he turned towards Viktor. "Did you get caught up talking with her?" he asked, not accusatory, because Yuuri knew what he'd been getting into, and Viktor was sociable and absentminded on the best of days.

Viktor retracted his arms from where they'd curled around Yuuri, and they hung by his sides, swinging awkwardly like he didn't know what to do with them. His fingers found the crease of his jeans, scraping against it in a nervous tick.

This was a man who could nonchalantly stand naked in a public onsen, who would sulk until he got things his way, who's unwavering confidence was capable of overwhelming anything he did that was socially unacceptable.

Viktor did not do nervous. Not like this.

"What were you talking about?" Yuuri pressed, because there'd been no problems up until that lady appeared. What had she said to distraught Viktor like so?

"I told her we weren't married. That I was only your fiancé." Any other time Viktor would've spoken those words with a sulk, but there was something unexpectedly insecure in his tone this time.

"Marry me?" Viktor proposed, out-of-the-blue, while Yuuri was still pondering the reason behind his expression. It was an echo of the abrupt way Yuuri had sprung their matching golden rings onto him, but filled with so much more desperation. Viktor pressed this time, even though he'd never done so before, always so patient to let Yuuri set the pace he was most comfortable with. "Soon?" he urged hopefully.

Concern built up once more, not that it had dissipated in the first place. "What's going on?"

"You walked into the fire," Viktor answered instead.

"Yes?"

"You walked into the fire and you went up in flames! Then you were gone," Viktor continued.

Yuuri wasn't certain why Viktor felt the need to explain the mechanics of Floor Travel to him, but he nodded regardless. "Yes?"

"I didn't know," Viktor said, and before Yuuri could ponder what exactly he didn't know - because surely they had Floo Travel in Russia? - Viktor rambled on, "I didn't know that I wasn't supposed to know. I didn't know that I shouldn't let anyone else know that I didn't know unless I wanted to end up really not knowing."

Yuuri's brain whirled in daze. He grabbed Viktor's hand, fingers curled around his trembling figure.

"I was scared when you disappeared. She came in to use the fireplace, and I had to ask." Viktor continued, barely taking a breath. "And she told me it was against the law for me to know about," he flapped his hand meaninglessly towards the general vicinity of the fireplace and Yuuri, "this, you, until we were married. I could get… obliviated."

"But that's only for muggles," Yuuri said, before his mind caught up with his mouth. And then all the times Viktor stumbled over seemingly mundane words flashed before his eyes.

An unbelievable realisation suddenly crossed his mind.

What if they hadn't had language issues, as Yuuri had so quickly written them off as, rather than actual, complete incomprehension on Viktor's part?

Except, Viktor couldn't be muggle.

Viktor was so… so magical. More so than anyone Yuuri knew. The way he glowed under the sunlight with a spark of something utterly divine. The way his skating took the breath out of Yuuri, enchanting and ethereal like a being not of this world; the incarnation of magic itself.

"But- but you saw me do magic. I've talked to you about magic. You've came with me to San Mercutio!" Yuuri exclaimed.

Viktor cocked his head in thought. "So, you… all this whole time you really didn't know I was a, ah, muggle?" he asked, and Yuuri could see his eyes dimming, and something timid seeped through. "You thought I was like you?"

"Well, yes," Yuuri admitted truthfully.

Viktor gave a empty laugh. "I see."

There was all sorts of wrong with the way Viktor said those words that Yuuri scrambled to continue on, "Not the entire time! Just- I mean- you saw me summon my stuff and weren't surprised. A-and you said you were a wizard too."

"When was this?" Viktor asked, brows furrowed.

"At the Ice Castle. In the locker room." He paused. "It was after practice. You told me to trust you and to stop keeping secrets," Yuuri added when Viktor continued to stare cluelessly at him.

Slowly, realisation dawned as his eyes widened. "When you were sick?"

"Sick?"

"You sneezed and tried to hide it from me. And you thought I didn't care about your wellbeing!"

"...that's not what happened, though?" Yuuri said, confused.

Though Yuuri couldn't remember their interaction word-for-word, it slowly dawned on him that no explicit terms had been used in that stilted conversation of theirs. And 'accio' could sound like a sneeze if heard by someone who wasn't expecting latin out of the blue.

"So- so you're really not a wizard?"

"No, I'm not." He sounded blunt and distant. The dimness in Viktor's eyes didn't recede.

"Viktor?" Yuuri pressed hesitantly.

The man didn't speak for moment, and when he did, it was full with a bitterness that had no place in this world, ever. Viktor gave huff. "I should've known better. I thought I'd gotten through to you at last, Yuuri," he said, running a hand through silver locks, "but it turned out it was all because of a misunderstanding. I'm not the man you thought I was, and I can't be. I'll never be." Something in his blue eyes glistened like thawed ice, held together only through desperation.

Did he think Yuuri would dump him for being a muggle?

"No!" Yuuri exclaimed before the thought could settle into Viktor's mind for a second longer. Because as far as Yuuri was concerned, one second of Viktor misunderstanding his love for him was a second too much. Viktor just needed to be Viktor to hold Yuuri's heart in his hands. He didn't need to know magic, nor be world famous. Everything else was bonus - his adorable insecurity about his hairline, his tactile affections, his all-accepting smiles.

"You're so captivating, so marvelous," Viktor said, hands gesturing grandly, "and magical! How can I live up to all this-"

That was a horrible lie.

It was Yuuri who could never be worthy of Viktor, and it was something he hoped daily for Viktor to never realise, lest he cast him aside.

Yuuri was desperate and clingy. He'd bought matching rings and forced them on Viktor, a claim and connection to show off to those around. He'd commissioned charms and runes carved into each golden band, filled with all the love, safety, and happiness Yuuri wished for this man.

Yuuri lunged, grasping Viktor's hand. Their rings clinked, metal against metal like the harmonious sound of marriage bells.

Yuuri slotted his fingers between Viktor's.

"I mean everything I've said, no matter who or what you are," he declared firmly.

"But it was after that-" Viktor began, before his voice dropped to a hushed insecurity that squeezed against Yuuri's chest. "It was only after that misunderstanding that you started to open up to me."

Yuuri understood insecurity better than anyone. "Trust me, Viktor? I wouldn't have bought us these rings otherwise."

Viktor's grip clenched. His thumb swept over Yuuri's ring, rubbing it tenderly, wonder on his face.

"I thought I imagined it - my ring, it always felt so warm and safe … it felt like you."

Yuuri blushed and looked away.

"Oh. Oh, Yuuri," Viktor crooned, bringing their joined hands to his lips. "I should never have doubted you." He tugged him close into his chest, pulling his hand out to engulf Yuuri entirely. It was like a warm blanket descended on Yuuri, smelling of cozy dates and shy kisses. "I should have never doubted our love. Forgive me?"

"Always," Yuuri breathed, and Viktor responded by hugging him tighter, twisting so their lips locked, pressing needingly against each other in promise and acceptance. Magic sparked in the air between them, echoing the fireworks behind Yuuri's eyelids. Viktor made a startled sound but didn't pull away in a show of trust, because Viktor was always a man of his words.

Yuuri moaned into the taste of him, toes curling, fingers entangled in fine silvery hair. The moment was more magical than all seven years at Hogwarts.

Yuuri never wanted it to end.

Which was when Viktor pulled away suddenly and asked, "Ah, I almost forgot. Can you unshrink my shopping now?"

"What?"

The man reached into his long overcoat and pulled out miniature bags, identical to the ones from their shopping spree around Barcelona.

Yuuri recalled he'd cast a Diminuendo on them while in St. Mercutio because the evidently muggle brand names on the shopping bags had garnered too much attention. He'd slipped them into Viktor's pocket, assured the man would be able to unshrink them afterwards himself.

He had never been more wrong.

But Viktor hadn't said a thing when Yuuri had handed them over! "You just accepted them," Yuuri said, bewildered.

"You gave them to me! How can I refuse anything from you?" Viktor whined, eyes staring much too dotingly into his own.

"And you've been walking around with miniature shopping bags in your pocket since?"

"It seemed like a good idea," Viktor countered weakly.

Of course it did. Merlin, Yuuri loved this man.

a/n: and that's that. No angst, because their love is too pure for angst.