I make no money from this . All characters belong to JKR. I am simply playing in her garden. All possible kudos to my wonderful new Beta, Happybunny. She is keeping me on the straight and narrow.

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I have no idea why I was sitting there, watching who put their names into the Goblet of Fire. I suppose it was because all of my friends were there.

When George and Fred did their little asinine bit with the Aging Potion and wound up fighting, I was amused because I had told them what would happen. I looked up a moment later to find the young man from Durmstrang staring at me.

He was not conventionally handsome, having too strong a nose and a heavy jaw line. But he had the most remarkable eyes, deep chestnut brown with gold flecks in them. He looked at me and almost smiled. I was intrigued by his seemingly conspiratorial air, as if we shared a secret, somehow. It never occurred to me that my life had changed immeasurably in that one moment.

Later that same day I was in the library studying when a hand appeared in front of me, holding a pale pink rose. I looked up to him again. He smiled before asking permission to sit next to me. I was intrigued. I knew his name was Viktor Krum and that he played professional Quidditch for the Bulgarian team. It had been a surprise to learn he was still a student at Durmstrang. I smiled and nodded that he could join me.

"I am sorry to interrupt you, Miss Granger. Your smile, as I dropped my name into the Goblet, seemed like an omen. I was told before I came, that I would win the greatest prize of my life here. Thank you for making this day exceptional."

"Erm... thank you for the rose. I do hope you are chosen to represent Durmstrang."

"I see you are studying Arithmancy. I took that same subject last year. I would be happy to share my notes with you. I brought them to see if I could discern the possible outcome of the Triwizard Contest. If you permit, I will bring them to you tomorrow at this time. I, also, spend a great deal of time in the library. It is a place I do not get bothered by fans wanting autographs or giggling."

"There are some quiet spots in the grounds where you can avoid people, too. I can show you around the school, if you are interested."

"Did you forget to tell me your first name on purpose, Miss Granger?"

"Oh, of course, my first name is Hermione. Sorry."

"Hermione is a good Greek name, a strong name for a pretty, young witch. I am Viktor, with a k. I would like to see the school, Hermione. And in return I will tell you about your name. Until tomorrow then, Hermione, I will miss your smile."

He stood up and walked away. I quickly gathered up my books and went in search of Professor McGonagall. I needed to ask her if it was permissible for me to study Viktor's notes from his NEWT level Arithmancy class. The gossip had already decided that he was over 17, in his last year at Durmstrang and had no girlfriend. He did, however, have beautiful manners and a charming way about him.

Professor McGonagall assured me that it was perfectly acceptable for me to use his notes as they would give me a different perspective on the subject. I thanked her before going off to the dormitory. I placed the rose in a phial of water on the windowsill where it would get some sunlight.

My suitemates never asked where the rose came from. That was a good thing. They were both Viktor Krum crazy and I would have been pestered to death with questions.

At dinner that night I watched the Slytherin table because that was where the Durmstrang students had been seated. Viktor looked over at me and winked. In the morning I went off to my first class which was double Potions with the Slytherins. The Durmstrang Headmaster was talking to Professor Snape when we all arrived for class. He nodded curtly and rushed out of the room.

The lesson that day was on wormwood. We were assigned twelve inches of parchment to write concerning the properties and uses of wormwood.

After lunch I waited in the library for Viktor. He showed up with his notes on Arithmancy just before I had to go to another class.

He asked if I would show him the school grounds that afternoon since the drawing of the names was to be held that night. I agreed to meet him at the Quidditch pitch just after three.

We walked the grounds talking about Arithmancy and other things. I showed him the Whomping Willow and told him of its propensity for attacking things. The shortcuts to Hogsmeade and the shops in the village were another subject I covered. He told me the historical significance of my name.

"The original Hermione was the only child of the King and Queen of Sparta. She had been given as a bribe to Neoptolemus by her father during the siege of Troy. Once the war was over, Neoptolemus had paid more attention to his captive mistress than his wife, the only child of Helen of Troy. Hermione escaped in the company of her cousin, Orestes, her true love. So, you see love played a large part in that Hermione's life."

He made me laugh with his Old World manners and the way he questioned my ideas about flying. He teased me into admitting that I was scared to fly on a broomstick. We had talked about how much he loved to fly. He had asked, innocently, if I shared his love of flying. When I answered him, quite truthfully, that I loved the way it looked; he had then asked if I even knew how to fly. I had to admit to being terrified on a broomstick. We had both laughed at that.

Suddenly, it was time to go back into the school and dinner. The name drawing would be after the evening meal. I spotted Headmaster Karkaroff looking for Viktor. Viktor clicked his heels together and bowed over my hand as he promised to see me in the library the next day.

Harry and Ron were waiting for me at the table. They wanted to know what could possibly have kept me away from the library all afternoon. I simply smiled and ignored them.

Everyone was excited by the name drawing. The three names were drawn fairly quickly and Viktor, Cedric and Miss Delacour all were ushered into another room. Then suddenly, Professor Snape was looking at the Goblet strangely and the flames turned blue once more.

Another name flew out and landed in Headmaster Dumbledore's hand. He called out Harry's name. But that was impossible. Harry had not put his name in the Goblet; I knew he hadn't.

He wasn't even particularly interested in the contest; although, he did tease Ron about Miss Delacour and Viktor a bit. Everyone was shocked, including Harry. Dumbledore hustled Harry into the same room as the others and the teachers all were upset.

Harry, of course, denied putting his name in and rightly so. He could not have done it; it would have taken a much more adept wizard than Harry to have gotten by Dumbledore's precautions.

I could not understand why the teachers could not figure that out. The evening ended with Dumbledore and Karkaroff having a session screaming at Harry. Poor Harry was as mystified as the rest of us, but Mr. Crouch took it as an accepted fact that Harry would participate.

Ron went ballistic and ragged Harry out. I was fed up with Ron acting like such a prat. I told them to deal with it and leave me alone. My only consolation was my growing friendship with Viktor. He could carry on a conversation intelligently and was comfortable with who he was. Maturity had apparently come to Viktor along with his Quidditch skills.

Viktor was convinced, unlike Karkaroff, that Harry had not put his own name into the Goblet. His reasoning was sound; Harry simply was not devious enough to have figured a way to do it.

The next few days were awful as the Hogwarts students all turned against Harry, again. Malfoy was at the root of it, of course. He had always been a smarmy, little nancy boy.

The highlight of my days became the hours spent in the library or the grounds with Viktor.

When Ron begged me to talk to Harry for him, I reluctantly agreed. But when it came time to actually talk to Harry, Ron made up the most asinine story for me to tell.

I gave up after repeating it twice, the way Ron had told me. I avoided both Harry and Ron entirely after that.

The funniest thing that happened was Professor Moody turning Malfoy into a ferret. After she turned Malfoy back into a human, McGonagall berated Professor Moody, but he did not listen until she touched him and spoke his first name.

There was something about the way she said it that caught my attention. My inquisitive mind was screaming 'there is history between those two'.

Viktor had also seen the incident and agreed with me that those two knew each other rather better than we thought.

I was worried about Harry when the first task was about to begin. I shared that fear with Viktor, who urged me to talk to Harry. I foolishly waited until the day of the task and the ensuing debacle with the Skeeter cow was blown all out of proportion.

Viktor and Harry both knew that the task was to be dragons. I think that Harry may have told Cedric. Harry always plays fair, something that I have always admired about him.

I was absolutely terrified when Viktor and Harry were facing their dragons. But, luckily, both managed to get through the task safely.

The announcement about the Yule Ball caught my friends unaware. Viktor asked me to go with him immediately. I answered yes because I was unexpectedly really starting to like him. The ball was to be held almost exactly a month after the first task. My mother sent me a mauve dress for the ball. She had a few ideas about fixing my hair also.

Viktor and I were spending more and more time together. My teachers were beginning to notice. Professor Vector, in particular, noticed I was trying new things in Arithmancy. She had me stay behind one day after class to talk to me.

"I am aware you have made friends with Mr. Krum. I know from his Headmaster that he is very skilled in Arithmancy and has shared some of his notes with you. None of this bothers me, Hermione. I am quite proud of your abilities in this subject.

I simply wanted to share something with you. I have been doing calculations on the Triwizard Tournament and something strange kept coming up in regards to your friend Harry. There is no way he could have put his name in for the contest.

"I have shared this information with Dumbledore and the other Headmasters. There is an evil force at work here. There is something else, I hesitate to mention it, but it involves your Mr. Krum. He is capable of winning this contest with one hand tied behind him, but he has not placed very high.

"He has other matters on his mind. He has you on his mind. The numbers suggest he has been told this contest will be life-changing for him. I do not know how or why, but am only repeating what my calculations tell me.

"I see much strife ahead for you, Potter, and Weasley. I see great happiness for you eventually. Your Viktor will be always near. His destiny and yours seem to be entwined. I think, perhaps, he will be a help to Potter when the battle with the Dark Lord is nigh.

"There is a girl I see also. She has not come fully into the calculations yet. She is merely an unknown quantity right now, but I feel she will become a force before another year is over.

"Remember my warnings, Hermione. You must be the strong one for Potter. He is not weak, just naive. Go on to the Great Hall, child. I will see you in class later this week."

I had much to think about then. It both pleased and scared me that I was on Viktor's mind. The thought that our destinies were entwined was almost too unbelievable.

I knew there had to a girl somewhere in Viktor's life, he was already seventeen. I made my way to the Great Hall because it was nearly time for the evening meal. I saw Viktor talking to Karkaroff. Viktor motioned for me to come and meet his Headmaster.

Igor Karkaroff was very tall and fierce looking. He smiled at me when Viktor introduced us, however.

"Mademoiselle Granger, Viktor tells me you are very accomplished at Arithmancy. It is his favourite subject, besides Quidditch. I am pleased Viktor has found a young lady of intelligence with whom to converse. Please excuse me, I must talk to Dumbledore."

He bowed to me before heading off in Dumbledore's direction. Viktor was beaming like a lighthouse at me.

"He likes you. I think you may remind him of his daughter. He was pleased that I asked you to the Ball. Shall we go in to dinner, now?"

He took my hand and squeezed it before leading me to the Gryffindor table. Ginny looked surprised that Viktor was holding my hand, but she smiled at us. Viktor bowed slightly in her direction and smiled before he went to find his own seat at table. The smile definitely improved his looks.

Ginny leaned over and rolled her eyes as she said, "Who are you and what have you done with my friend Hermione? He is dishy! And he looks smitten, too."

I laughed and blushed at her antics, but sobered soon enough when Ron and Harry appeared, arguing about who they were going to take to the Ball. They were finally speaking to each other again after Ron admitted being wrong about who had put Harry's name into the Goblet.

Ron made some idiotic statement and asked me to go with him. I replied that I already had a date for the Ball and gave Ginny a warning look to keep quiet. I relied on our friendship keep my secret.