chapter 7

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He was coming round the corner and into the lobby when he came to a skidding halt. At the welcome desk stood Viktor Krum, who was chatting with one of the stadium's managers. Harry was, for the moment, unnoticed as Viktor headed for the lifts, but a moment later, a throat cleared to his right.

Whipping round, Harry's eyes went wide when he saw Hermione standing there. "Hermione," he blurted without thinking.

She lifted a brow at him. "Since when are we on first name terms, Potter?"

"Since er...it started being strange to refer to you as Krum and not Granger?" he offered weakly.

The corner of her mouth quirked up, and she shrugged. "Alright, fair enough. I don't mean to keep you. Vik's going to be up there a while and I was looking for the visitor's lounge."

"Ah er..." Harry had been there long enough to have seen it, though seeing Hermione startled him a bit more than he expected and he momentarily forgot the layout of the building. After a second, he ruffled his hair and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry yes. Right this way." He started off, and a moment later, she caught up to him.

"So, you've done well for yourself," she said tightly.

He shook his head. "Look, I'm well aware we hated each other, so you don't have to make polite conversation." He took a left turn, and started down the long corridor.

Hermione gave him a curious look. "You say that as though you're not fully aware of our relationship through school. You attempted to hex me during Potions NEWT."

Harry flushed. "Right. I'm...I'm sorry about that. I was a complete twat."

"And that's changed?" Her voice dripped with scepticism, and he flinched a bit.

"Let's just say I'm not the person I was back then. I'm not even the person I was six weeks ago. Not that you'll believe me." He paused at the door, then pushed it open and stepped aside for you. "There's tea against the back wall, and if you pick up those little menu cards, you can order anything you like as you wait. The House Elves are even more helpful here, I think, than they were at Hogwarts."

She immediately looked annoyed, and Harry felt a small rush that even this Hermione was still similar to who she'd been in his own timeline. When he started to step back, she turned. "Fancy a cuppa?"

Harry was too startled to move for several moments, but when she rolled her eyes, he found himself laughing and stepping inside. He was supposed to be meeting with Ron, but his mate could do without him for a bit. This was a chance to pick her brain, to see if anything leftover lingered in her mind that he could use to figure out what the bloody hell had happened.

Going to the small counter, the pair got a cup of tea and a tin of biscuits which were lying on the counter, and they each took a squashy armchair by the massive screen which was playing out one of the Kestrals' latest victories.

"So, is Viktor coming to play or...?"

Hermione scoffed. "You know just as well as I do he's not in any form to play. He's here for a coaching post. Which I suppose means he'd be working with you."

Harry's eyebrows lifted. He hadn't known, of course, but he didn't say it aloud. "Right, yes. Sorry, I wasn't thinking. But that means you'd be back in London, yeah?"

Hermione lifted her eyebrow at him again, then shrugged. "I've already had an interview at the Ministry about it. I mean, my work as ambassador was well enough, and I'm thinking of applying in the Magical Beast department. See if we can get some of these laws turned round."

Harry thought about Remus, and nodded swiftly. "That would be really good. It would be nice if Remus could actually enjoy his life as a human instead of classified as less than."

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