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Tepid	By : KohakuShadow Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 2638 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I'd obviously have done it the way I wanted it the first time. That's what makes it FANfiction. And as it is a fanfic--written by the fans, for the fans--it is also obvious that it's not helping me pay any bills.

Chapter List
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II.
Wedding Bells

"Viktor!
Oh, I'm so glad you were able to make it!" Hermione ran over to
him, holding her wedding gown up at the knees so she didn't fall on
her face, and soon he found the girl hugging him tightly. He thought
he felt a slight baby-bulge under the frilled layers of the empire
waist, but he wasn't old fashioned, and it didn't seem at all like a
shotgun wedding. Both sets of parents were positively glowing,
though Hermione's carried themselves with a bit of extra nervous
muggle-ness.

"I
managed to rearrange my schedule. You vill only get married once,
Herm-own-ninny. It vould be a shame to miss it," he said,
patting her back a bit awkwardly until she let go. His words had
been a lie. There had been nothing in particular to re-arrange for a
winter wedding. It was not Quidditch season and he had no real ties
or plans. It was just that he'd made himself sound very busy in his
return letter. He'd thought at the time he really didn't want to go
see Hermione marry someone else; now he considered it closure. He
still thought she was very pretty, but the infatuation he'd had was
long gone. Seeing her at her prettiest and feeling no particular
stirring of emotion proved that. Hermione had insisted she would
keep a pair of seats open for him, in case he managed to find the
time at the last minute. Now he was glad for it; her wedding was the
excuse he needed to get away from Bulgaria for a while.

They
exchanged some pleasantries and Hermione promised she would catch up
with him later. "Have to make the rounds, you know?" He
was happy for her, really. And he hoped that she really would only
be married but the once, because she and Ron seemed to suit one
another and bring each other happiness. He got himself a drink and a
little plate of appetizers and sat down. It was the second wedding
he'd been to in the Weasley's back yard. Today it was snowing; a
number of warming spells were cast on the tarpaulins overhead to keep
everyone effectively toasty and comfortable. He took a seat near the
edge of one and could feel the cooler air outside against the back of
his neck. He didn't mind--compared to Bulgaria, this was nothing.
He preferred to be left with his thoughts for now, anyway.

Bill
and Fleur had also been married here. He thought about that and hoped
that the youngest of the Weasley boys was a bit more earnest about
his feelings than Bill had turned out to be. It was a shame, because
his first impression of Bill had been a good one. He seemed
friendly, kind and devoted. Well, it wasn't as if he'd cheated on
Fleur, but that didn't change the fact that what had come to pass was
most definitely his fault. He had not been honest, and now Fleur was
devastated. His loyalty was to the woman first, of course. He
didn't really know Bill Weasley very well. They'd only met on a few
occasions, and those meetings were brief.

He
forced the morbid thoughts from mind and let his gaze trail about the
room. A few couples were dancing, but they struck him as about as
interesting as drying dishes. He knew a lot of these people, but
very few of them enough to strike a conversation up with. Harry, he
thought, but he spotted Harry in a far corner near a buffet table,
holding up a fork and trying, it would appear, to get Professor Snape
to eat something. Snape looked disgusted and pushed the hand away,
but Harry was persistent. He watched them go back and forth like
this for a few minutes. Harry was busy, it seemed, so he wouldn't
bother him.

"Hey."

Viktor
startled out of his thoughts. Bill was standing a few feet away,
hands shoved carelessly into his pockets. He had the grace to look a
little awkward, at least. Viktor didn't answer him. It was rude,
but he couldn't think of anything to say in reply to this man so
blatantly going out of his way to talk to him.

"Mind
if I sit?" Bill plodded on. The last wedding he'd been to was
his own, and that one was right here. It was more than a little
awkward, and watching Charlie and George mercilessly tease Percy only
distracted for but so long. He'd had a dance with Hermione, claiming
it was a 'big brother privilege' and gave her the full Bill charm
before gently pushing her, flushed, back into Ron's arms. Now he
instinctively zoned in on the only other person who had come to the
party alone. It was probably his bad karma that it was Viktor Krum.
As a Quidditch player, he didn't deny being a fan of Krum's--not
obsessive like Ron, but then, he wasn't obsessive about much of
anything. That was sort of the problem. ...but as a person, he saw
Viktor as 'Fleur's Bulgarian friend' which made this awkward.

Viktor
nodded at one of the chairs across the table. Bill ignored this and
sat right beside him, uncorked the champagne on the table and poured
full glasses for both of them. He held his glass up. "Well,
cheers," the red-head said.

"Vhat
are ve toasting?" Viktor asked, obviously confused.

Bill
shrugged. "Just life in general," he answered.

Viktor
didn't see why that was so worth toasting, but he figured Bill meant
something more profound like being alive, having survived the war,
and being able to see Ron and Hermione so happy. Bill just seemed
like that sort of profound person. Viktor thought those things were
probably all worth toasting, and so he drank.

They
didn't really say anything for a while. They just quietly drank
champagne and watched the people around them getting giddy and
trashed from their subdued corner. Viktor had noticed Bill shiver a
bit at the breeze against his back, but chose not to mention it. He
figured Bill was probably thinking--trying to find the best way to
say something.

Then,
about the time the bottle ran out, Bill finally spoke. He kept
staring ahead and asked, "how's she doing?"

Of
course. It was about Fleur. "I vas not given the impression you
cared," Viktor snipped a bit.

"I
care," Bill answered, "just not enough."

Viktor
believed him. There was this little hint of remorse in his eyes,
like he knew that he'd done everything with Fleur exactly the wrong
way, but there was nothing he could do to change it. "She is
heartbroken, but she is strong," he answered eventually. "She
does not need you."

Bill
seemed a little relieved, like he thought that's how things ought to
be. She would get over it, and she had the baby, and she would find
someone to love her the way he should have loved her soon enough.
She would heal. But maybe that was all wrong. Maybe Viktor was only
seeing what he wanted to see--a kindred spirit.

"Fleur,
you..." he began to say, but it was as if Bill knew the answer
before he got the question out.

"I
was sure if I could fall for anyone, it would be her," he
answered. "I was wrong, and that's disappointing, but it's
better that it's happened now."

That
seemed like a weird thing to say. Better that it happened now?
Better than when? "Better for who?" Viktor asked.

"For
Victoire, obviously," Bill answered, looking at Viktor like he
was slightly unintelligent. "She's still a baby. By the time she
can walk and talk she'll have forgotten all about me. Maybe by then,
Fleur will have found someone else. Someone who can be Victoire's
dad. She should have a dad, I think, one who'll be there for her and
Fleur." 'Someone completely different from me,' Bill
thought. 'Someone honest. Ugh. I need to quit drinking. I always
get so damn depressing when I drink.'

Viktor
stared. He didn't mean to, but what Bill said was very telling. It
was cold logic being applied to the things that should be intensely
dear to him. Most fathers would fight tooth and nail for the right
to see their children, but Bill Weasley didn't have any intention of
trying to remain part of Victoire's life. He thought it would be
more painful for her if he wasn't there complicating everything. He
didn't think Bill's logic was correct, but it confirmed that Bill was
also what people would call 'tepid', just like him. "I do not
think that a person can learn to love someone, just because they like
them. I also do not think that a person can learn to not love
someone, just because it is a burden." After he said it, he
realized the words must seem out of left field. He felt pretty
stupid, but Bill just gave him this warm laugh.

"You're
probably right," he said, clapping Viktor on the shoulder with a
bemused little smirk. "Sooo, I suppose that begs the question."

"Begs
vhat question?"

"Why
you're here alone." Bill seemed to be implying that he might
still have feelings for Hermione, but he didn't say anything of the
sort. He never said anything, no matter whether he approved or not;
Viktor could remember Hermione writing something like that about Bill
once. She'd said that Ron said that about him. That he just accepts
you for what you are, no strings attached. He can do that, Viktor
thought, because he's too wrapped up in his own flaws to give other
people grief about theirs. Maybe. He didn't know why he was sitting
her psycho-analyzing Bill, but decided to blame it on the alcohol.

"They
are only vords," Viktor answered with a shrug, looking down at
his half eaten plate of appetizers and finding no appetite for any of
them.

Bill
nodded like he completely understood. Reality was just more trying.
How things should be was not always how things could or
would be. He should have loved Fleur. That would
have been a perfect, fairy tale ending for everyone. But he couldn't.
He'd wanted her, but he hadn't needed her. He hoped Viktor was
being honest when he said that Fleur didn't need him, either. That
would make things much easier, but if Bill had learned anything
curse-breaking in Egypt it was that the hardest route always led to
the best rewards. He had this gut instinct that Viktor Krum could
make things very, very hard on him.

"Hey,
where are you staying while you're here?"

"I
vill find a hotel tonight," Viktor answered, once again unsure
where Bill's mind had gone to that it would lead to this
conversation.

Bill
made a disgusted face. "Nah. You'll stay with me. Free, and I
make a mean roast beef. ...well, at least, if you like your meat a
little on the pink side."

"I,
but...no, that..." Viktor stumbled. Bill had thrown him
completely off guard. Was he serious? He couldn't be, right? Why
would anyone invite the friend of their ex-wife to stay with them? It
was insane.

"No
complaining. My place is nice. Quiet. Has a good view of the beach.
We can get to know each other a little. We never got the chance, and
what with Hermione and Ron getting married, we should make a bit of
an effort, right? Especially since we're more or less the same type."

Viktor's
eyes widened. When had Bill noticed? "I vill relent," he
answered with a sigh. "I know vhen I have been out-maneuvered."

Bill
grinned, but it was a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. It was
obvious when you knew what you were looking for, but nearly invisible
if you didn't. How long had Bill felt so emotionally detached to
wear such an expression? Would Viktor, also, gain such expressions if
he felt this way long enough? Did he already have some? And most
importantly, how was he supposed to get rid of them? He knew there
was something missing from his life, something vital, but how was he
supposed to find it if he didn't even know what it was?
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