Chapter 1 - Watching From A Distance
"Hey love." Viktor Krumgreeted his girlfriend of 3 months.
Hermione Granger smiled at Viktor as she gave him a hug and peck on the lips.
"How's it going at Durmstrang?" She asked him. He'd come to visit her on a two week vacation holiday from Durmstrang. Unfortunatly, Hogwarts had another week of school before their two week holiday started, so Hermione still had to attend classes.
"Everythings going okay, it's great to ve on vacation vor a vhile though." He grinned at her as they walked hand in hand to Gryffindor table.
It had been over a year since they brought the Dark Lord down, he was no more and all of his followers either died alongside him or were locked up for life in Azkaban. Lucius Malfoy was among those who had died next to Voldemort. Severus Snape had taken him down before he had the chance to curse Hermione, he then helped Harry defeat the Dark Lord. Even Draco Malfoy showed his true colors in the end, killing Voldemorts followers one by one. The Golden Trio had eventually accepted him into their group and befriended him.
"Hey Viktor." Harry greeted Hermione's boyfriend as he saw them headed towards their table.
"Hey guys." He smiled at Hermione's friends. Ron, Ginny, and Draco waved at him as Hermione sat down next to Harry. Viktor sat next to her, his arm draped around her shoulders as they engaged in a deep conversation.
One pair of obsidian eyes remained focused on Hermione, watching from a distance. He sneered at Gryffindor table, looking away, he saw the Headmaster staring at him. He raised an eyebrow questionly.
"Severus as you know, a couple of Durmstrang students will be joining us on their holiday for a couple of weeks. They should all be up to date on their studies, or so I am told they should be. Besides our holiday will start the following week, so you won't have to endure too much pain." Albus smiled, trying to make a light conversation with his colleuge.
"Wonderful, just what I wanted. A couple of transfer idiots." Severus muttered sarcasticlly.
Albus chuckled at Snapes sarcastic humor.
"Hey, you want to go with me to Hogsmeade to do some shopping?" Ginny looked over at Hermione.
"Sure." Hermione agreed as she drank some of her apple cider.
"Hogsmeade? Wha foo?" Ron asked, his mouth stuffed with food as usual.
His friends all gave him disgusted looks before Ginny answered him. "Ron, don't talk with your mouth full, it's nasty. As for shopping, I need a few hair care products."
"Oh, girly stuff." Ron rolled his eyes.
"Shut up." Ginny playfully punched her brother on his arm.
"I don't see why you don't just use a charm on your hair instead of wasting your money on hair products." Draco commented as wrapped his arm around Ginny's waist. He and Ginny had announced their relationship months ago, Ron and Harry finally came around and accepted it as long as Draco didn't hurt so much as one hair on her head. Hermione thought they were perfect for each other.
"I do use charms on my hair, but it makes my hair softer when I use hair care products." Ginny grinned at her boyfriend.
"I guess." He shrugged.
"Well, let's get going Hermione." She stood up and waited for her friend.
Hermione got up and looked at Viktor. "Do you want to join us? Or are you gonna hang out with the guys?"
"I'll just vhill here babe." He smiled at her.
"Alright, well, we'll see you guys later then." Hermione said as she and Ginny headed out of the Great Hall.
"Okay, time for a break." Hermione pleaded with Ginny. They'd shopped non-stop in more than 8 different stores, Ginnys hands were full of bags and Hermione's feet were killing her. What she needed was a good book. "Let's go to Flourish and Blotts." She suggested.
"I guess, if we have to." Ginny sighed dramatically. Hermione laughed at her friends' sense of humor. Together, the girls walked into the bookstore and split up looking for different books.
Hermione searched around for a new Hogwarts A History copy, since hers was really old and falling apart. Finally after what felt like hours, she found it. It sat high up on a shelf way above her head. Hermione cursed as she realized she was going to have to use a ladder to reach it, she hated heights of any kind, that included climbing a ladder. Sighing, she pulled her wand out and conjured up a ladder. The ladder placed itself in front of the book she wanted. Slowly, she started climbing up the ladder, on tiptoe, Hermione reached for the book and wrapped her fingers around it. She started to descend the ladder, unfortunatly though, her foot missed one step and she felt herself stumbling backwards. Dropping the book, Hermione let out a scream as she fell off the ladder. She shut her eyes, awaiting the impact, her body meeting with the tile floor. Instead, Hermione felt two strong arms wrap around her, catching her in mid-fall, her head inches from the ground. Looking up, Hermione stared into the eyes of her Potions Master. Effortlessly, he lifted her up and steadied her. Reaching over, Severus grabbed her book and handed it to her.
"T..thank you." Hermione stuttered.
"Next time, try to be more graceful." Severus smirked as he turned and walked away, black robes billowing behind him.
'I really have got to work on not being such a klutz.' Hermione thought to herself as she straightened her robes out and went to pay for the book.
"Woah, what happened to you Hermione?" Ginny looked at her dishelved friend.
"I was trying to get a new copy of Hogwarts A History and I conjured up a ladder, I went to grab it and fell off the ladder in the process. Luckliy, Professor Snape was there and he caught me before I hit the floor." Hermione explained.
"Damn, at least he was there to save you from a nasty fall. I didn't even buy anything, I couldn't find any good novels." Ginny said as she grabbed a hold of Hermione so they could apparate back to Hogwarts.
"Novels? Typical you." Hermione chuckled.
"Haha, very funny." Ginny smiled as they apparated back to Hogwarts.
"Hey Ginny." Draco greeted her as he swept her into a loving hug.
"Hello love." She smiled at him. Draco grabbed some of her bags for her and began heading to the common room with Ginny and Hermione trailing behind him.
"You'd better hope that Professor Snape doesn't catch you here in Gryffindor Tower Draco, or our head of house." Hermione said.
"I doubt they'll catch me." Draco grinned.
"Well, I hope they don't. Anyway, I'm gonna go on down to the library and catch up on some studying." Hermione said to her two friends.
"You and your studying." Draco chuckled. "Alright then, we'll see you later on."
Hermione nodded as she took off for the library.