LYOVA RASMUSSEN - A Durmstrang Quidditch Captain.

Chapter 28 - V.I.A.

LYOVA RASMUSSEN POV - Durmstrang Quidditch Captain

Lyova woke up from a soft whisper in her bedroom. Slowly opening her eyes, she noticed Farkas kneeling beside her bed, level with her. He was so close that Lyova backed away in confusion while her brain tried to process his presence.

"Well done, Farkas. So much about waking her carefully," another voice chuckled deeply.

She rubbed her eyes and witnessed her other teammates standing behind Farkas, who grimaced at her sudden movement.

Lazarev nonchalantly pulled him back and smiled widely at Lyova.

"Happy birthday, captain!"

"And that couldn't have waited until I came to the common room?" Lyova asked with a raspy morning voice. Still, she couldn't hide a grin on her face, recognizing that she had almost forgotten that today was her birthday. All the drama in the last days had her entirely out of mind.

She swung her feet over the edge of her bed and got up, smiling cheekily. Oh my – how did she deserve that team. All of them were widely beaming at her, and Orlov balanced a cake in his hand.

One by one, they approached her to pull her into a hug, congratulating her. Lyova whined as Kazlauskas picked her up and twirled her around.

"Let me down," she screamed and laughed. After a quick look at her clock, she told her teammates to wait in the common room for her to get ready. Lyova changed into a fresh school uniform and stepped in front of the mirror. She hated how tired she looked these days. Her face was even paler, and her eyes were sunken in.

In the mirror reflection, she noticed a crumpled piece of parchment at the little nightstand beside her bed. It was the letter Silva had received the evening before.

After she had bumped into Flint, Lyova had gone through the whole castle to find her teammates. One by one, they had read the letter.

Lyova tried to knot her tie. In Durmstrang, they didn't wear things like this. She gave up and laid the tie loosely around her neck. Somebody else would have to do that for her.

Yesterday's happenings still went through her mind, but she decided to let it rest for this day – her birthday. Going downstairs, her teammates already waited for her. Orlov locked arms with her, and together they went to breakfast.

"What do you feel like doing today?" he asked her on their way to the great hall.

"We have lessons today," Lyova responded with raised eyebrows.

Orlov sighed. "I am aware of that. I mean, what would you like to do after lessons?"

"I don't have any plans. I thought about settling on a training session for today." Lyova frowned.

"Sure, we're definitely NOT going to do this," Orlov laughed, and they entered the great hall.

Lyova took her usual seat beside Krum and poured herself some coffee.

"What happened to your tie," Viktor asked quietly while loading his plate with food.

"I hate ties," she only murmured.

He chuckled and faced her. Viktor carefully took the ends of her tie and knotted it for her while examining her face. "You shouldn't worry," he addressed her eyes. "Everything's going to be fine. This is just a ball. Nothing more, nothing less." Viktor put his hands down.

"Done," he added with a slight grin.

"Thank you," Lyova said.

"That's my birthday present, then," Viktor joked before returning to his breakfast. The great hall windows opened, and hundreds of owls entered the room, looking for their destined receivers. Before she saw the Rassmussen family owl, she heard it.