Chapter 13

HERMIONE'S POV

"Miya?" The sound of Viktor's voice caught her off guard and she jumped about a foot in the air, her wand pointing in his direction. She gasped as she saw who it was, his hands up defensively and eyes wide in surprise. "Vhat the hell?!" She dropped her arm and threw herself at him.

"I'm so sorry Viktor! You just caught me off guard," she relaxed against him and laughed lightly at her foolishness, until she noticed that he wasn't returning her hug but placing his hands on her arms to push her away gently. Hermione looked up at him curiously and saw an unreadable look in his warm eyes.

"Vhy are you valking around by yourself, Miya?" He asked with a soft, yet accusing voice. Although he wasn't rude to her, Hermione's patience was already wearing thin with all of her friends. I am getting SO tired of this!

"Well let me think," she put a finger to her chin and tapped it comically. "Perhaps because I wanted to?" He glared at her mocking and crossed his arms over his chest defensively, taking a deep breath.

"It vas only a question."

"Yes well maybe I've grown sick of those types of questions. I do not think it's necessary for me to be under constant surveillance. I'm pretty sure I signed up for a boyfriend, not a body guard."

"Zere is no need to act childish!"

"Oh, how strange. You say that I shouldn't act childish and yet you and all the rest of my friends have been treating me like a baby nonstop! I'll have you know that I've kept myself alive for nearly fifteen years while walking by myself to plenty of places! I'm tired of being followed around and babysat. You of all people should know how it feels to want a little privacy!"

"Ve are trying to keep you safe!" He retorted loudly, obviously trying hard not to yell. She didn't refrain from yelling, however.

"I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF, VIKTOR! I DON'T NEED YOU WITH ME EVERY SECOND!" Her breathing had become ragged and body shook with her anger, and she watched as Viktor stared at her incredulously for several long moments.

"Ve haff been trying hard to keep safe," the softness of his voice catching her off guard in the heat of the argument, his upset demeanor affecting his ability to speak his second language as well as he normally could. "Haff run ragged from classes and training just to be vith you so nothing happen. I haff not slept sefen hours in ze last four days. Ve make you priority and you tell lies and lose temper vith ones who care for you." She caught her breath, which had been growing more frantic by the second, and winced at his expression with confusion.

"What are you-?"

"I come early to see you; run into George on ze vay and he look upset. Ve vere confused because I thought you vere vith him and he thought you vere vith me. He then tells me zat you snap at him for trying to valk you to door. You told me before ve started dating zat you tell no lies," he sounded angry, but mostly hurt and Hermione had to push aside the weight of guilt that was threatening to drop on her chest. I am not the one who should be sorry. Despite her determination to win this argument, the next time she spoke she remained much calmer, talking slowly to keep herself in check.

"I apologized to George for that, and if he is still upset I will speak with him. And that was a little fib just to buy myself some alone time because even though I appreciate all of you, you guys have no idea how suffocating you have been. As long as we are on the subject of lying, perhaps you should fess up about what all these secret conversations you've been having with my headmaster are all about?" He shot her a surprised, questioning look. "I assume you two have just been discussing how to divvy up the babysitting duty or-"

"MI A DOBROTA!" Viktor roared in frustration, throwing his hands into the air, causing her to flinch away from him mid-sentence. "You vant to know vhy I haff been speaking vith headmaster? Come vith me," he grabbed her hand, giving her no choice in the matter as he dragged her down a few corridors and out of the castle, muttering angrily in Bulgarian the whole time. "Sa rabotili tolkova trudno-bez otsenyavane-razocharovashto malka veshtitsa." Hermione shouted at him to release her, threatening to curse him all the way back to Bulgaria, but he didn't loosen his grip until they were approaching the Durmstrang ship. As soon as his grip lessened in the slightest, Hermione yanked her hand from his angrily.

"I do NOT appreciate being dragged around like a rag doll, Viktor Krum," she hissed, eyeing him threateningly as she rubbed her wrist. His eyes changed to a look of concern when he saw this, reaching for her hand, but she just put more space between them. "It's fine," she barked. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Stubborn little vitch," he muttered under his breath, although she heard him clearly. He walked onto the ship, turning to her and raising his eyebrows when she didn't follow. After a tiny inner battle, she sighed and followed her boyfriend aboard and down below to the cabins. He didn't speak as he led her down a long hallway, which didn't matter because she was too busy taking in her surroundings. Hermione felt like she was deep within Dracula's castle; it was dark and cold, and ancient looking candle holders covered the cob-web dusted walls. She almost ran into Viktor's back when he stopped abruptly in front of the wooden door at the very end of the hall, biting her lip nervously when he turned and looked down at her. You're mad at him, Hermione. Although she tried to convince herself to be strong Viktor's handsome, rugged features looked impeccable under candlelight. She bit the inside of her mouth when two large, warm hands encompassed her waist and Viktor's chocolate eyes bore into her own sternly. "Are very feisty sometimes, malŭk angel, and I know zat ve must resolff zis. Ve vill talk later, for now I haff surprise for you. You vill see vhy I haff been speaking vith headmaster," keeping one hand on her waist, he turned slightly to open his door. Hermione gasped and brought her hands to her mouth.

"Hey there, freckles."

"NICK!" Hermione was across the room and in her cousin's arms in three seconds flat, her laughter piercing the air when he picked her up, spinning her around. The cousin's didn't look very much alike. Nick stood just about as tall as Viktor with a lean but muscular build, sandy colored hair and ocean blue eyes. She almost felt like crying, having been positive that she wouldn't see him this leave. "What are you doing here?!"

"Your booooyfriend brought me," he teased after setting her back down, earning a playful smack on the arm. "It was crazy, Hermione! He just grabbed my arm and then we were here! It was kinda nauseating, though." Her jaw dropped as she spun around to face Viktor, who was leaning against the door frame smiling sheepishly.

"You apparated him here? Viktor!"

"Zat vas vhat your headmaster and I speak of, Miya. After I told him zat I vanted to arrange time for you two to see each other he vas happy to help. Took me to your house and speak vith your parents and ve arranged everything. Dumbledore said zat he could not bring Nick here, but I could," his cheeks flushed slightly as he finished explaining the trouble he went through for her. Hermione beamed while still fighting back happy tears, running back over to him and linking her arms around his neck.

"Thank you," she whispered into his chest, feeling strong arms wrap around her and his mouth at her ear.

"You are velcome, angel," his chest rumbled as he whispered huskily. A throat cleared behind them, forcing the couple to break apart.

"I've kinda been hug deprived for a while," Nick teased lightly, pulling a laugh from the younger teen's throats as Hermione went back over to him. "Believe it or not, the guys don't just come up and give me them at random. I don't know why, I'm very cuddly," he poked her side as she re-wrapped her arms around him.

"I'll give you some privacy," Viktor said, gesturing toward some food that was set on a small coffee table in front of a sofa. "Keep an eye on ze time. Because zere are Ministry vorkers here for tournament Dumbledore said to stay in my cabin and zat he can only stay a little over an hour. It vas the best I could do," he mumbled the last part apologetically. Hermione smiled.

"It's perfect, thank you. You don't have to go, though!"

"It is alright, Miya. I von't be far," he went over and kissed her forehead and nodded to Nick before exiting. Hermione stared at the door. I acted so horribly and he went through all this trouble for me, she bit her lip as she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, then swallowed dryly as her thoughts changed. Yes, this is nice…but he was still a prat!

"So…what are you guys fighting about?" Her cousin's voice broke her trance, her cheeks flushing red with embarrassment.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh come on! I can tell something's bothering you and he seemed a little tense," he nodded toward the love seat Viktor had pointed out to them and helped himself to some food. Esther must have given Viktor some help, because there was an assortment of sandwiches, fruits, desserts, and various types of juices on the table before them. Nick helped himself to a chicken salad sandwich and Hermione, who wasn't very hungry in her current mood, nibbled on some fruit. "Well I don't know what he did but I like the bloke. He seems a bit older but you are pretty mature for your age so I suppose that's a good thing."

The corners of Hermione's mouth turned up slightly. It was nice to know that Nick liked Viktor and didn't have a problem with his age. "He's wonderful really, he's just being a bit too protective of me lately…"

"Does he have a reason to be?" His question made her hesitate. She understood why Viktor was worried about her but it just seemed as if he doubted her ability to defend herself. It's not like I'm an idiot. I know perfectly well that someone tried to hurt me and that I should watch my back. But they are all taking things to the extreme! "Anyone home?" She wracked her brains for a story, not thinking it the best idea to tell her cousin exactly what happened. He was in danger all the time, and needed to worry about himself instead of her.

"You remember that nasty boy I told you about? Draco? He's just out to get me a little more this year because of when I punched him in the face," she smirked as he sniggered at the story. She had told him all about her little encounter with the bleach blonde snake boy last term, and he had thought it was hilarious. It's not really a lie…Draco is bothering me more lately.

"Well maybe he just needs another good right hook!" He chuckled and shook his head, before setting down the half-eaten sandwich and turning to face her better. "I know I don't have all the details, Hermione, but you need to look at things from Viktor's point of view. I can tell that he cares about you and I can tell you from experience that it's not fun to watch someone hurt your girlfriend. It's just kind of natural to be protective of them. That being said, a line needs to be drawn somewhere. If he's making you feel suffocated than talk to him and you guys can work out a happy medium. Just remember that he does it because he cares about you," he poked her stomach to draw a laugh from her, and she swatted his hand away with a roll of her eyes. 'It's not fun to watch someone hurt your girlfriend,' his words rang in her ears for a moment as she slowly felt worse and worse. Hermione knew that a line needed to be drawn on how her friends and boyfriend were acting, but she couldn't help but feel like she had crossed another line entirely and sprinted a few miles.

I'm really sorry that this update took so long! I've been busy and sick on and off. I only was able to finish this today because I had to call out of work sick and got a little time.

Reviews are always appreciated!

TRANSLATIONS:

*Mi a dobrota!—Oh my goodness!

*Sa rabotili tolkova trudno- have worked so hard

*Bez otsenyavane- no appreciation

*Razocharovashto malka veshtitsa- frustrating little witch