There Are Some Things Books Can't Do | By : I'veGotNothing Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 17692 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of Jk Rowlings works and/or characters, and I do not make any money from this story, its just for fun |
Author’s Note: Rare day off, so I’m gonna bust out another chapter. Thanks for reading and thank you so much for your patience!
*****
Neville was sitting in the common room at one of the study desks. He had piles of Herbology notes scattered around himself, as well as a few (fairly) harmless plant samples. He was rather enjoying a quiet evening to himself. Harry and Ginny had learned to use silencing charms on his room, Dean and Seamus had finally done similarly, and the rest of the eighth years were either absent from the dorm, or already winding down for the night.
Neville hummed to himself, and was delighted to see the delicate screechsnap sprouts sway and dance to his tune. Who would have thought screechsnap would like the Weird Sisters? He began taking excited notes, when he saw a green flash of light on the wall. He turned towards the closest fireplace and was not surprised to see Ron emerge from the flames. He had gotten it connected to the Floo Network that morning, so Neville assumed this would be a regular thing.
He waved slightly to Ron as greeting, scribbling furiously to finish his train of thought. Good thing too, as Ron plopped into a chair next to Neville, flinging off his outer robes next to him as he did so. “Hey Neville.”
“How was work?” Neville asked watching Ron screw up his face before expelling a breath.
“The same. Well except one thing.” Ron looked tired, but Neville had been talking to him every night for a week after classes and the internship, so he knew why already. In fact he may know more than Harry did at this point.
Neville didn’t speak, just put his quill down and turned his full attention to Ron. He noticed that people rarely gave him their undivided attention, and it certainly made a difference in how Ron interacted with people. Well, at least with him.
“My boss is throwing this huge work party. Its basically a meet and greet for hopeful players to meet recruiters as well as the teams they hope to play on. Of course the rosters aren’t being drawn up for a few more months, but according to Gwenog this is how they decide who they will actually see at tryouts for individual teams.”
“And you get to attend? Cool!” Neville smiled, not noticing Ron’s ears flushing.
“Yeah and I was hoping you would come with me.” Ron said very fast. So fast in fact that Neville didn’t quite understand him the first time.
His eyes grew big after Ron repeated it, his mouth hanging open in shock. “Me?” he almost squeaked out, as if he was a first year again.
“Yeah, you’ve been the one who has been around for me lately, and I think we’ll have a good time.”
“Okay!” Neville was excited, he couldn’t believe he was going to meet some famous Quidditch players.
“Its in a few days. On Saturday. We can meet here and floo together.” Ron surprised himself with that, but he brushed it aside. Assisting Gwenog Jones just made him more thorough and organized is all. Besides, she would skin him alive if he was late.
“Cool, thanks Ron!” Neville was going to invite him to play gobstones or a round of wizard chess, but Ron claimed exhaustion and headed to Neville’s room. Whenever it wasn’t quite curfew Ron had simply learned to sleep on Neville’s spare bed for an hour or two before being able to return to his own bed. Neville honestly wanted to just ask Ron to move into his room and save them all the trouble, but he kept silent. He really wasn’t sure how Ron would react. Harry was his best friend after all.
He turned back to his plants, deciding to finish his notes before going to bed. He started humming again, already immersed back into his plants.
***
Hermione didn’t sleep well that night. Not only was her kind of relationship in danger, she managed to get Draco detention. He had laughed it off, but she felt absolutely awful about it. To top if off Blaise was pretty much constantly camped out in her and Lavender’s room, and she had to feign sleep once or twice throughout the night because, just like every other cursed eighth year, they couldn’t seem to stop shagging. Admittedly she envied Blaise’s stamina, but still people were trying to sleep!
All through her classes, all Hermione wanted to do was go to Viktor and figure out a solution to their problem. But she couldn’t. She didn’t have his class, and until that blessed hour before dinner started, she was booked solid with class and homework. Draco started out their classes smirking at her, but by the end he kept shooting her concerned glances, as she grew more and more frazzled. She tried to ignore the glances, they made her more nervous.
The moment she was able to leave Arithmancy she did and had to stop herself from sprinting to Krum’s office. She decided her standard lost in a book meander would be best, and pulled out her Arithmancy text, adeptly sidestepping students and staff as she pretended to read.
She was going a tad fast for being actually lost in a book, but luckily no one noticed, allowing her to pass through the halls widely ignored. She may have been revered from her war efforts, but everyone in the school knew not to mess with Hermione Granger while she read. It was almost too easy at that point, really.
Krum happened to be outside his classroom, ushering students out, when he spotted Hermione. “Ah Miss Granger, I finished grading your extra credit essay. I see that the books I lent you helped.” Only teachers were bold enough to interrupt her reading, so it wasn’t odd to any of the students surrounding them.
Hermione forced herself to keep up the appearances as she stowed her book in her bag. “Yes Professor I did. Actually I came to return them, do you have a moment to spare?”
There were hardly any students around at this point, but he carried on as if they were being watched with ease. “Certainly, please come in.” and he politely held the door open for her.
Once they were inside his office, he locked the door and swept her into his arms, kissing her soundly. She tried not to melt under his touch, but he was already pulling her robes aside. Reluctantly she pushed him away. “Viktor wait.”
He stared at her confusedly for a moment, but complied. “Hermione, what is it? I’ve been thinking about you all day.”
She led him to the settee that she lost her virginity on and they sat, her facing him. “We have a problem that needs fixed now, or else your contract will be dissolved.”
“We already talked about it, what could be left?” Krum scooted closer to her, kissing her neck, eliciting a soft sigh from his not quite girlfriend.
Hermione wanted to try some new ideas, but she was worried that the clause would kick in if they kept up. She needed to fix it before they slept together again, just in case. “Please, this is important.”
She explained the problem, keeping her eyes on Viktor’s face, gauging his reaction. He was rather stoic, and certainly took it better than she did. In fact, he seemed rather nonchalant about it. “Viktor, do you understand how serious this is?”
“I do.” He kept it short, kissing her neck again, trying to pull her close.
She gently pushed him away, entwining his fingers in hers. “Then help me find a solution. Work first, play later.”
He smiled softly at her as he shook his head. “Fine, fine. I do love that about you. So what’s the problem?”
Hermione explained everything, relieved that he was going to take it seriously. To her surprise, and annoyance, his expression didn’t change all that much. “Viktor? Don’t you see what could happen?”
“Yes. But I don’t see why you’re so upset.” His words were calm, focused. She wasn’t sure whether to be angry or soothed.
She didn’t speak, staring him in the eye, waiting for him to explain himself. Krum sighed resignedly as he spoke. “We just have to bring a third person in, that’s all. Occasionally have him or her join us, but mostly have them be dating you casually in between seeing me.”
“How is that simple? And why do I have to be the one to see someone else?” Hermione untangled her fingers from his, cross with his words.
“I’m still a teacher, its not like I have a whole lot of other options besides students. And that’s why we’re in this situation. You have to be the one to do this.” Krum strode to his desk and grabbed a biscuit from the tin he kept on the corner, eating calmly as if this the most normal situation in the world.
Hermione was indignant, but she really didn’t know any other options at the moment. She could always go along with his plan, and then find a better solution later after all. So she snapped out briskly, “Fine, but who?”
***
Draco trudged to the library that evening. Sure he had told Granger that it wasn’t a big deal that he got detention for her, but that didn’t mean he wanted to spend an evening with an enraged librarian. But when he arrived, there was a note posted on the entrance, asking him to report to Professor Krum’s office instead. He supposed that Hermione had done that, and he also (accurately) guessed that the note meant Madame Pince did not want him to step foot in her library for the time being.
When he arrived at Krum’s office he wasn’t surprised to find Hermione there, organizing files absent mindedly while Krum graded papers at his desk. He was surprised at the warm greeting he was given by his professor though.
“Ah Malfoy, good to see you! Please, sit.” He waved at the chair parked in front of the desk. Draco sat, cautiously. It should in theory still be a detention after all.
Krum started speaking rapidly, and Malfoy noticed that Hermione had stilled behind him, listening intently. She was tense too. “So you’re the only one who knows about this, besides the two of us. And we need you to date Hermione to keep this working.”
Malfoy couldn’t help it. He tried, but he really couldn’t contain the snort of laughter that escaped his lips. Hermione shot him an annoyed and disapproving glance, but turned her back again, as he noticed a small chuckle slip through.
“As her friend, sure I’ll do what she needs of me, but in this circumstance, what exactly do I have to do?” Malfoy really didn’t mind, it was the perfect recipe to tease her until the end of time.
“Date her.” Krum was relaxed, but his eyebrows bunched up in slight confusion. “Didn’t I already say that?”
“Yeah yeah, I got that. I meant how invested to either of us have to be?”
Krum considered for a moment, and Hermione finally came over and sat on the settee, lips pursed as all three of them stared at each other. When Krum looked at Hermione, she tensed up her shoulders, but filled in the blanks. “Based on what little research I was able to do, it has to appear to be real. So we actually have to go on dates and interact the way a dating couple should. Viktor and I can’t do all of those things unless I do them with someone else as well. So essentially, we have to pretend to be into each other. It is okay for us to keep it secret from our friends though, which I know we both would prefer.”
Draco nodded slowly, processing. Krum stepped in to finish the thought. “I’m willing to share her for now, until we can figure out another way. So let the relationship be as natural as possible. But do anything she doesn’t like, and I will hurt you and let my reputation be ruined.”
“I understand”
“Good. Now, ask her out officially, or we can’t begin this.” Viktor tried to be casual, but Draco noticed Hermione flushing red. Clearly they couldn’t have sex until this was done. And he knew how much Hermione wanted to improve their sex life.
He walked over to her and sat next to her, taking her hands in his. He decided to make it as natural as possible. “Hermione, would you like to go on a date with me?”
Hermione was lost in his steely eyes for a moment. They were so warm, comforting, and yes slightly smug and mischievous. In fact, it was as if he saw right into her, and was reassuring her that everything would be okay. So when he asked, she couldn’t stop herself from breathing out a sweet, “Yes, I will” with much more feeling and much less resignation than she was planning on.
Krum didn’t seem to notice the warm moment between the two because in the next instant he held out to Hermione, which she accepted instantly, breaking the bond between her and Draco, and uttered out a curt goodnight to Malfoy before ushering her into his private room.
Malfoy let himself out, unsure exactly what he had gotten himself into, but knowing that no matter what it was, it was going to be super weird and very, very fun.
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