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Hermione Granger had felt like she was in a dream. She was dancing at a ball with a strong, smart, gorgeous boy. The hall looked like something from out of a fairytale. She actually felt beautiful. She laughed and twirled in Viktor’s strong arms, dancing as “Let It Snow” played in the background. They smiled, pink-cheeked and happy, as they got caught under enchanted mistletoe and were forced to stop dancing long enough for Viktor to kiss her on the cheek. It was the first time they’d gone past anything more than a kiss on the hand and sitting close enough for their legs to touch under the table in the library. It was a perfect night.
It wasn’t until after Ron had essentially ruined the night, and the euphoria of her first date had worn off that she started thinking too much. Her Mum had called it first love and told her to enjoy herself. She said that it was fleeting, just a bit of fun, a happy memory to look back on. She was young and this was her first romantic relationship, should she be putting so much expectation behind it? There were countless obstacles. Age, distance, fame, maturity. None of which were easily written off. These worries alongside what Ron had implied kept her mind ringing.
When it was time for all the foreign students to leave he asked to talk to her privately. He found them a spot, away from prying eyes, and gave her his address to write to him. He admitted that he’d never felt for another girl how he felt for her. He told her he would like for her to visit his country. He kissed her cheek, the corner of his mouth overlapping hers slightly. She was in a daze when she answered that she would write, and ask her parents about a visit.
Summer came and Viktor’s first letter to her reminded her that he invited her to visit his home. She knew now that the obstacles she was worried about would get in the way. He was done with school now, off to be an adult, forgetting she didn’t have the same freedom. She was a minor with years of Hogwarts ahead of her. She also now had a much more determined Voldemort trying to kill her best friend to contend with. She wrote him letters instead of visiting. When she told him that she would be in France with her parents for a vacation as an excuse, he made plans to be there at the same time so they could visit in person if she wanted. Her parents were shocked at first that this man was placing himself in her life. After meeting him though her mother was soon charmed and her father begrudgingly agreed that he was a gentleman.
Viktor explained to them that dating in the magical community was different from the muggle one. People tended to make emotional connections faster, aided by their magic. He told them about certain customs and rules that were followed by more traditional, old-fashioned families, like his. He calmed them by acknowledging their age gap and assuring them that for now, all he wanted to do was get to know Hermione.
With her parents appeased they allowed Viktor to take her out for a chaperoned trip to the French magical district. He signed autographs for some school-age children and said he was a little embarrassed because he had recently beaten one of the French teams. Hermoine told him that it was perfectly reasonable to look up to him even if they weren’t from the same country because he was the best seeker in the world. She didn’t even like quidditch but she knew it. That was when Viktor really kissed her for the first time. He pulled her into a dusty bookshop, walked her far into the stacks away from her parents, and then leaned down and kissed her. It was clumsy, but it was a perfect first kiss.
~*~
Christmas at Order Headquarters was somber. Viktor had planned to meet up with her family on a skiing holiday and Hermione had rushed to cancel at the last minute. He begged in his letter back to see her over the holiday, no matter where she was, and she had to tell him that it wasn’t safe. He then worried for her safety and asked her to come to him, away from England, so that he could protect her. It broke her heart to tell him that it wasn’t a realistic request and that she was safe where she was. She did let slip that she would think fondly of their last Christmas and wished they could be together. In return, he sent her a locket with a moving picture of the two of them dancing, and a warm knitted blanket that smelled like him. Hermione admitted to herself that she was in love with him that Christmas.
~*~
Every letter after school let out fifth year, Viktor asked when they could meet for the summer. Hermione was still hurting from the spell she took to the chest, she was grieving for Harry’s loss of Sirius. She was mourning the loss of what childhood innocence she had left, of being thrust into the harsh realities of a war. She pushed off his request for a visit by giving paltry excuses or not addressing it at all.
One morning he was just there, sitting at her kitchen table drinking coffee, when she came down to eat. Her parents were at work and they were alone in the house. Hermione panicked and asked him to prove who he was, to say something only she and Viktor would know. He told her that he stepped on her feet three times during the opening dance of the Yule Ball, then questioned why she needed to do such a thing. She broke down, curled against him, and told him everything that happened that year. Everything she hid from her parents about the political climate of the magical world, about how hurt she was, about the danger she put herself in. Viktor was stoic but his face slightly morphed as he went from pensive, to angry, to horrified listening to her tale. He held her closer, clutching her to him until she got to the part of her tale where she was hurt. He let go and apologized, demanding to see her injury. She blushingly let him see the bottom of her new scar but told him that it went up further.
Viktor told her that her mother suspected something was wrong and wrote to him to ask him to come. Her parents thought it was some magical thing that they wouldn’t understand and knew that Viktor might be able to cheer her up. He said he wished Hermione had told him in her letters, asked for him to come. He vowed he would try harder to protect her. To be a person she can rely on. They held each other and talked until her parents came home.
He stayed a few days, as much as he could take from an active quidditch season this year. Hermione soaked up her time with him. He woke her the next morning by sitting on her bed and stroking her cheeks. They ventured out into the muggle world and Hermione showed him some of her favorite places and things. On his last day there they stayed in and cuddled on the couch all day. They watched television, read books, and had a couch picnic. Hermione taught him the nail color charm as best she could without her wand and he had fun changing her toenails to awful colors and patterns. The best part of the visit was how casually he would lean in and kiss her all the time. It never went further and neither really pushed for it to. The evening he was to leave she went to his room with him to pack after dinner, leaving the door open at her father's request. When everything was in his bag he stood there and held her. He kissed her languidly, stroking her hair and keeping her pulled close to his warm body. He left when it was still light outside and Hermione cursed the sky for not being dark when she was feeling so sad. Viktor was taking all the light in the world with him. He told her to write to him, and stop trying to hide from him. He wrote to her that she didn’t have to be happy, but she wasn’t allowed to stop living. He sent her flowers weekly for the rest of summer, each bouquet slowly bringing back more and more of her smile.
~*~
Viktor was waiting for her at home during her sixth year Christmas holiday. She had got herself home from the station, her parents unable to leave the practice. It said a lot that her parents left him in the house alone like he was one of the family. She dropped everything the second she came in the door and fell into his embrace. She refused to talk about school on their first day together. They just quietly reconnected, always touching in some way, soaking in each other's presence. Hermione was of age now and readily used her magic to help around the house. It also meant Viktor had come to her parents and formally asked for permission to court her, just as old wizarding custom dictated. He once again impressed her parents with his maturity so they looked the other way quite a bit more when the two of them shared intimacies. He more openly leaned in to kiss her cheek, put his arm around her when they were sitting, and held her hand when they were walking. This suited Hermione just fine. She needed him close. She needed to feel warm, held, and protected.
She eventually told him about what was going on in her life. How frustrated she was with Harry’s behavior, how disgusted she was with her own behavior. She told him how jealous she was of Harry doing better than her in potions, how petty she felt for getting into Slug Club but Ron didn’t. She shamefully admitted her frustration and jealousy at Ron and Lavender’s relationship. She was resentful that they could have time together, closeness, when she could not with Viktor. He didn’t have an answer for her, telling her he felt the same way about his teammates sometimes. He envied their having loved ones in the stands, stories of dates, and complaints that they just wanted to go home to their significant others after a long day. So they just held each other and tried to make the best of the time they had.
He stayed a week but had obligations at home and work so couldn’t stay through to the new year. He was leaving in the early morning this time. On his last day, he didn’t just stroke her cheeks to wake her as he usually did. He woke her with soft kisses and sweet, murmured words. He drew her from her bed and pulled her close, taking one hand in his and wrapping the other around her. He swayed them like there was music playing. He rubbed his cheek on her hair while she rested her head on his chest. He was so much larger than her now, when had that happened? His wand buzzed when it was time for him to leave to catch his portkey. He laid her back down in her bed, kissed her goodbye, and left the house quietly.
~*~
She started her trip to Bulgaria straight from the train station. Viktor met her at the ministry in London since he was there for the funeral. He was just one of the many famous people that attended but he wasn’t there for Dumbledore. He left her to her friends to grieve during the funeral but he stood near her as they joined the swaths of people leaving after from the ministry portkey station. Hermione had already got permission months ago to visit for two weeks after school let out and was glad of it. She couldn’t go home now and pretend that everything was fine. From the Bulgarian ministry, Viktor took them straight to his home. He had a spacious flat near the Vratsa Vultures stadium. They were both numb and silently went through the motions of settling in, taking turns showering, and putting together food that they didn’t eat much of. Viktor kept her close, always reaching for her to be near, and hardly let her out of his sight. She slept next to him in his bed, not wanting to be alone.
When she told him about what she was planning to do with Harry and Ron he didn’t try to ask her not to. Instead, he prepared her as best he could. They charmed a bag for her to fit everything she could possibly need. He taught her spells for warding, healing, and defense. He taught her to obliviate, which she objected to at first knowing how many lives Lockhart had ruined with the spell. He was plain with her that what she was going to be doing wouldn’t be pretty, that she would need to do uncomfortable things to keep herself safe. This argument also made her agree to learn some of the more gray spells he knew that she was to use if she was in real danger. They filled her bag and made a list of things she would need to keep collecting just in case. He carefully addressed that she must also include contraceptive potions. She didn’t say anything about his eyes misting during that conversation.
Still, the world turned and life moved around them. Viktor still had to go to practices and a game while she was there. She waited in the stands, reading, while he practiced so she wasn’t too far. For the first time, she saw the new tattoo on his bicep that crept under his shirt to his chest. She watched him carefully shave around his beard as she sat on the long sink in the bathroom. He introduced her to his parents before his game and they sat together and cheered him on. They had a meal together at their house where his mother told many embarrassing stories of his childhood. Each night she slept in this bed. It was never discussed but it was where she belonged.
She had to leave him this time. He told her that he would ask her to stay with him if he thought she would say yes. They both knew she wouldn’t. He walked her to the portkey station and held her tucked under his chin until they called for her leave time. He smiled at her while they counted down and the portkey activated. Hermione waited until she was home, in her room, to cry.
Just as Hermione expected, the rest of the summer was tense. She gathered what resources she could inconspicuously. She got a letter from Viktor while she was at the Burrow asking if she needed him to get anything else before he saw her again. He told her he couldn’t wait to see what her dress looked like.
He wrote that he had something important to tell her.
~*~
Hermione cried over her picture of them at the Yule Ball during their Christmas on the run. She wrapped up in her blanket that sadly no longer smelled like him, clutched the picture against her chest, and silently sobbed. The world was falling apart and Christmas seemed so insignificant in comparison. It didn’t make her stop wishing that she had danced longer with Viktor at the wedding. Wish they could be sitting in front of a fire together. Her heart ached at once believing that they could be home by Christmas. She ached wishing he was there.
Fleur had sent him a message during their time at the cottage telling him to come. Hermione had whined and begged for him while Fleur was treating her tortured body. He came in the dark of night and held her while she trembled and moaned. He helped her drink her potions and rubbed her aching muscles. He left at first light. He had traveled illegally and had to return before anyone found out.
When they left for Gingotts Fleur called for him again, telling him it was time. When the battle started he came, and he fought. When the battle was over and they were mourning their dead he came to her. He held her while she cried and wailed. He cried too while he rocked her fragile body back and forth. He followed her to every funeral. He stood beside her as they carefully salvaged what they could of the Hogwarts library. He lovingly sat with her at every meal, encouraging her to eat what she could. He forgave her when she told him that she had kissed Ron. He soothed her when she admitted what she’d done to her parents.
He left when he was recalled by his team. He told her to ask for him if she needed him. She felt a little emptier without him there.
~*~
They still wrote letters. At first, they were sad and introspective. As they healed the letters became more like their old letters and so much more. They were wonderful, happy, flirtatious letters. He held back less, telling her of his deep feelings for her. He wrote of holding her, surrounding her. He told her he dreamed of kissing her again, of tasting her. He explained in fine detail how Dream Viktor touched Dream Hermione’s skin. He confessed that he sometimes touched himself thinking of his dreams.
His candidness made Hermione bold. She admitted to having similar wants and dreams. How she had a dream that they had a family, something she’d never before considered. She told him how she dreamed of them putting children to bed and then loving each other. She too admitted to having used her dreams to pleasure herself. That his words and her imaginings combined were the inspiration for many a release.
When they weren’t tempting each other, they spoke of the mundane. Hermione had gone back for an accelerated seventh year, rather than going for a full year or just accepting a certificate of equivalent education. She was at Hogwarts alongside Harry and Ron for five months and they were taking their NEWTS right before the Yule holiday. Viktor told her that he was proud of her. He knew what she would choose when she wrote about her options. Her thirst for knowledge was one of his favorite things about her.
Viktor was playing quidditch but also working toward a rune crafting mastery. For now, it was mostly reading and meeting with his master once a week for a lesson, to hand in assignments, and to go over notes. Hermione marveled at just how smart he was, essentially independently studying for a mastery. She was impressed with how capable he was of balancing his mastery work and his career. She found that his competency and intelligence still did things to her and told him so.
~*~
The time away was probably for the best. Hermione got her life back under control. She realized that it was better that she didn’t cling to him because of her trauma, making him the basis of her happiness. She had to find her own happiness. She had his support and care through their near constant communication but she didn’t make herself dependent on him to get back to living.
She went home with Harry to Grimmauld Place when they were done with school. So did Ron. Hermoine fully planned on looking for her own place to stay after the holiday.
Ron was increasingly attentive and hinting at them becoming more. She apologized for kissing him and tried to explain that she wasn’t interested in a romantic relationship with him. He seemed to hear it as ‘not right now but keep trying’. He would get a little too close, and try to touch her hand. He would lean in for a hug and brush his face against hers. He followed her around as he never had before on Hogsmeade visits and offered to get her things. He asked if she was coming to the big Christmas Eve party with hopeful eyes. She told him she was, but didn’t have the heart to tell him that she planned on leaving early for a portkey to Bulgaria.
At the beginning of December, she told Viktor that she was ready to take him up on his offer for a visit. He had offered to come to her if she wanted, but she insisted she wanted to come to him. She had told herself it was now or never to finally confess that she loved him and to see if he felt the same way. There was no longer anything bigger in the room which made it the wrong time. Every letter spoke of something between them but they never actually said it. She suspected it was what he was going to tell her at the wedding but didn’t get the chance to. If he loved her back she had a terrifying idea of starting a life in Bulgaria to be closer to him. It was fanciful, but with so many brushes with death, she promised herself more happiness if they made it out.
The trio flooed to the Three Broomsticks in the afternoon to celebrate with friends, schoolmates, Order members, and those who fought by their side during the battle. There were drinks but Hermione avoided them. She would be traveling later and didn’t need alcohol to make an already stomach-churning journey worse. She was also dodging mistletoe that kept mysteriously popping up every time she got near Ron. She repeatedly checked her watch for two hours until it was time for her to go. It was early to leave a party but late enough that she was shuffling out the door with people leaving to get their children home to get ready for Santa’s visit. As it was she was going to be one of the last arrivals at the Bulgarian station. She hugged Harry and kissed his cheek in farewell. She did the same for Ron and told them she was off. When Harry told her to travel safely Ron got confused, then angry when she informed him she was visiting Viktor for the holidays and she was sorry she forgot to tell him. She hastily made for the door, leaving Harry to deal with Ron’s mood, and only felt a little guilty.
More and more she felt her stomach tighten with nerves. The attendant at the portkey station asked if she needed a potion for travel-related nausea. Hermione wanted to be offended but honestly, he wasn’t wrong. Before she knew it she and two other people landed in Bulgaria. She stumbled away from the landing area and braced her hand on the wall to try to get her body to calm down.
“Hermione?” she heard softly next to her.
She took one more deep breath and opened her eyes to see Viktor standing next to her. He was smiling gently at her. The sight of him untangled all the mess her stomach and muscles had bunched into. She stepped forward and hugged him tight around the middle, snuggling into him. He rubbed her back gently and leaned his cheek against her hair.
“Are you alright?” he asked. Hermione hummed, not quite sure if she was in fact alright. “Alright. Come, we’ll floo to my home.”
She leaned heavily on his arm as he walked her to the public floos. The green flames took them to his familiar sitting room. He stepped out first and took her hand to lead her out and into a hug.
“Hi.” Her voice was thready and fragile.
“Hello.” Viktor squeezed her tighter for a moment. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too.”
He pulled away slightly and held her face in his large, calloused hands. He looked all over her face and deep into her eyes.
“I’m so glad you came.” He brushed his thumbs over her cheeks then one brushed over her lips. He exhaled heavily and leaned his forehead against hers with his eyes closed. “I had plans. I practiced to myself over and over but I can’t wait. Hermione Granger,” he pulled away and looked her in the eye again. “I love you. My heart has belonged to you for years. I need to know if you love me too.”
Hermione struggled to hold in a weird sort of wobbly moan that wanted to burst from her while his hands kept her looking up at him. She held his shirt in fists, sniffled, and blinked her eyes to try to clear away her happy tears.
“Yes, Viktor. I love you too, so much.”
He didn’t let her talk anymore. He dove toward her and captured her mouth. One of his hands wound around her to hold her against him while the other threaded into her hair and pulled her face closer to his.
“Stay with me,” he begged. “Don’t leave,” he rasped between kisses. “I don’t want to wake up without you here anymore.”
She smiled against his lips which made him move to her jaw and up toward her ear.
“I think that was the plan, wasn’t it? For me to stay with you.”
“Don’t ever leave. Don’t make me watch you leave, or make me have to walk away from you again. It might break me.” He went back to cradling her face in his hands. He looked desperate, pleading with her. “We don’t have to stay in Bulgaria, I can move teams. Just say you will let me be near you.”
“Oh, Viktor.” He couldn’t know that she had the same thoughts. That she planned to uproot her life to be near him if he’d let her. “I came here to ask the same thing.”
Viktor came back to her mouth and kissed her deeply. He slowly walked them back towards his couch and eased them down without breaking their kiss. He pulled her into his lap and held her close with his hands wrapped in her hair. Hermione worked at getting his coat off so she could feel his firm chest under her hands. Once it was off he reciprocated by getting her out of her warm cloak and scarf. Hermione tentatively reached her fingers under the hem of his shirt, slowly lifting it to his chest.
Viktor slowed down and took deep breaths. “Do you want this off?”
“Yes. Is that alright?”
“May I do the same to you?”
“Yes,” she answered breathlessly, her fingers digging into his pecs under the shirt in anticipation.
“Will you stop me if I go too far?”
“I don’t think there will be a too far,” she whispered back, looking at him through her eyelashes.
Their shirts came off and he took slow, measured breaths as he watched her explore. She moved her fingertips through the hair on his chest, over his tattoo. Her mind drifted to what it would be like to lick over the swirls and leaves that moved down from his shoulder. Then she remembered that she no longer had to wonder. She leaned forward and latched onto the skin, sucking and licking.
Viktor grunted and his head fell back against the couch. His fingers dug into her hips as he ground himself against her. “Yes, Mila.”
Her arms came up to wrap around his neck as she moved to suck at a spot behind his ear and whimpering at the sensation between her thighs. He was large and hard trapped beneath the placket of his trousers. Her mind warred between her newfound freedom to explore his body and staying right where she was on top of him.
Viktor was having no such troubles as he easily stood with her still attached to him and helped her wind her legs around him. He walked them to his bedroom and carefully laid her on the bed and began tasting and kissing her neck, her torso, licking along the swell of her breasts, along the top of her pants. He slipped her bra off and sucked gently on her pebbled nipples, making her spine arch from the bed. His fingers switched back and forth between delicately skimming her skin and pressing in to claim. Eventually, they made their way to the button and zipper of her pants and worked them down along with her underwear while he continued on his quest to kiss every inch of her.
Once her pants were off he placed his face between her thighs, tongue coming out to taste her and tease her. His hands spanned her hips, holding her down when she bucked against his ministration. He grunted and sighed as he lapped and sucked on her.
“More,” she begged but didn’t know what for.
Viktor took his hands away from her, one working at getting his pants off and the other slowly stroking a finger at her opening. She was so wet she didn’t expect him to have any trouble getting a single finger inside her. He worked his finger in slowly, pushing in a little, pulling it out, pushing in again a little further. His tongue tasted at where his finger joined with her. It didn’t take long for a second finger to join the first and now she felt a twinge. His two fingers were bigger, longer, than her own.
“So good Hermione. Look at you taking me in.”
Hermione felt a third finger join the other two. She clutched the pillow and hissed at the burn. It was helped by his tongue going back to her clit and fluttering. When she relaxed around him he sped up, crooking his fingers inside of her. She positively saw stars as she reached her peak. She clamped down on him and he pressed his mouth harder on her. He sucked hard, flicking her clit the whole time she keened and writhed.
She eased her now stiff fingers off the pillow and pushed his head away from her. He panted against her, slowing his fingers pumping in and out of her until he came to a stop. He wiped his hand and face against the blanket and climbed up her body.
He brushed her hair back, whispering to her in Bulgarian as they caught their breath. Hermione finally came down from her high, lolling her head towards him, eyes blearily looking into his. Words hadn’t come back yet but she did moan and reach her arm up to pull him on top of her. She wanted to feel his weight pressing her into the mattress, smell his scent in his chest hair. He leaned some of his body weight on her, wrapping his large muscled arm around her, and continued soothing her.
Hermione’s hands wandered over his hot skin. She mouthed at his chest again, teeth once catching his nipple which made him hiss and buck against her. Her hand wound down between them taking hold of his cock. She didn’t know much about them outside of what she had read in books (not always of the educational variety) and what she had seen in R-rated movies, but Viktor was perfect. The skin on top moved like silk over taught muscle. She moved her hand up and down slowly, hoping she was doing it right. Viktor’s breathing sped up and he reached down to wrap his hand around hers to guide her. He glided her hand along his entire length, his hips tilting into the movement.
“Oh Gods Hermione. Please let me have you.”
She nodded and grunted out a yes. He moved himself fully on top of her, keeping her hand in place as he pressed the head of his cock against her entrance, gathering her wetness.
“Right there. Do you feel me?”
Hermione nodded. She withdrew her hand and brought it back up to hold the pillow under her head.
“Ready?”
She nodded again. Viktor pushed the head of his cock into her. It stung but not as much as his fingers inside of her had. Once he was a little further in, slowly rocking himself, he leaned over her so they were chest to chest. He leaned on his forearms but took one of her hands in his against the pillow and kissed her. He rocked and rocked until he was past where his fingers reached.
A whole new sting popped deep inside of her. She knew it would happen but she wasn’t prepared to physically feel the breaking of her virginity. Viktor kissed her harder, then pulled away to tell her how brave she was being, how amazing she was. After Viktor moved in her a few more times the sting was there, but ignorable. She throbbed around him, it felt good, but she needed more.
“Touch me. I need-”
Viktor reached down and moved little circles on her clit as he sped up inside of her.
“Oh fuck. Yes." Viktor panted, a look of concentration on his face. "I love you so much, Hermione.”
“Yes, yes, yes!" He added even more sensation by licking and sucking her nipple on one breast and then the other. "Oh Viktor, you feel so good. Don’t stop.” She was awash with pleasure and her brain didn't know what to pay attention to.
“Never,” he kissed her. “Never leaving you again.”
His hips were slapping against her, his hand constantly moving on her, bringing her close to the edge again.
“I’m going to cum. Please Viktor, make me cum.”
His strokes became harder, each roll of his hips jolting her against the bed. He grunted with exertion and sweat beaded on his back where she grabbed hold of him. She felt her stomach tighten as her orgasm built up inside of her. Viktor leaned forward and grazed his teeth at the juncture of her shoulder and throat as he grunted. She convulsed and crashed harder than the first time. Viktor kept pounding into her and groaning but his hand stopped rubbing her and grabbed her thigh, hiking it higher against him. His hips stuttered, thrusting once, twice, three more times, hard against her, then stilled.
Hermione stayed wrapped around him, panting, and stroked his sweaty back.
“I love you too,” she whispered against his shoulder.
Viktor smiled and huffed. He rolled to the side, pulling her up against him to cuddle.
“Are you alright?”
Hermione nodded. She snuggled into him, rubbing her nose against him as she burrowed. Viktor waved his hand and his wand flew from the floor to his hand. He recited spells to clean them up and accio a blanket to cover them.
He rolled a bit towards her and stroked her cheek with his thumb.
“Do you need anything? Do you want a potion?”
Hermione shook her head, trying to press close to him again.
“No?”
“No.” She forgot again that nodding and head shaking was different here.
“You are very adorable after orgasm.”
Hermione whined and he chuckled. He laid back again and let her get herself comfortable again. She closed her eyes and dozed, reveling in his warm body against her naked skin.
~*~
“You want to stay?” he asked. They were standing in his kitchen drinking coffee and eating cheese.
“I am prepared to. I finished school. I don’t have a home or a job lined up. Other than my friends I don’t really have anything keeping me in England anymore. With magic, they are just a portkey or floo call away. No more inconvenient than if I were living in the same country as them.”
“And you can stay starting now?”
“I’ll need to pack my things but yes. You can always go with me if you want.”
“Yes,” he answered instantly. “I will go with you, help you pack. You want to live here, with me?”
“This will work for now. We may need something bigger in the future.” She smiled and Viktor grinned. “We can go back after the New Year. I don’t want to deal with telling anyone until then. I wanted time for just us.”
Viktor took a step toward her, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Christmas and New Year and you will still be here? I must be very lucky.”
“Or you’ve been a very good boy.”
“I am. Should I show you again?” He arched an eyebrow at her.
Hermione giggled and leaned into him, hands on his chest, on tiptoe, and pecked him on the lips.
“Merry Christmas love.”
“Merry Christmas my heart.”