Harry Potter One Shots (Vol. 2)

Seeker's Spirit (Viktor Krum)

It has been a day from hell ...

My phone has decided that it wants to stop charging and it's far too late to buy a new one today so I somehow have to navigate without one (which is near impossible). But, on the bright side, here is the next one shot. It's the fourth installment of the Selman sister's series. 

Anyway, how is everyone else?

Fair warning; this one shot is long. But I've said that so often that I think my definition is skewed.  This one is over 19k. Enjoy ~

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The newspapers were, without fail, always boring. They seemed to recycle the same stories day in and day out until something new circulated into the feed and then that too was commented on until it became boring. Salazar knew that the only reason we still had newspapers being delivered to our home was for Terence who had begun spending an increasing number of nights in our home and read the paper without fail every morning. The fact that he spent so much time indulging in something so dull was perhaps his only fault. And yet, despite knowing just how repetitive it was, I still reached for the paper every day once Terence was done with it. I still settled down comfortably in the family room, crossed my legs underneath me as I flicked past all of the so-called top stories and reached the international sports section.

It didn't take much searching before I stumbled across what I was looking for. Sure enough, taking up a fair chunk of the page was a picture of Viktor as he flew a victorious lap around the quidditch stadium, celebrating yet another win. I doubted many other people found out what their betrothed was up to by reading the newspaper. But what other choice was there? We didn't write to each other and I certainly couldn't remember the last time we had spoken to each other. Salazar's soul we were nothing more than strangers who had been paired up for the sole reason that our fathers had once called each other friends.

I could only suppose that it was a small mercy that we had spoken once before, last year at the end of my fifth year. Although it was a memory I tried not to summon because it wasn't the best introduction I'd ever had. And now that it was a year on, I could admit to myself that I had been starstruck and completely blindsided by Viktor Krum to function in a way that would have endeared him to me. Maybe if I had acted differently, he would have written to me or would have wanted to at the very least strike up a tentative friendship. But I hadn't behaved differently and I couldn't change that. I could only live with the past and try not to let the bitter ache of inadequacy fill my lungs. It was too late. The memory sprung to the forefront of my mind, refusing to be pushed back.

The last days of every school year were always full of chatter, the corridors teeming with overexcited activity as the summer holidays loomed. With the lessons having drawn to a close, the final days were a nice reprieve from a year full of essays and exams and school house rivalries. And of course, this year it had all seemed to double in intensity with the school housing delegates from two other schools, it was more so. With more students in the school, it seemed nearly impossible to find a spare moment to breathe. Salazar's soul I couldn't wait to be home with my sisters and away from the hustle and bustle. Only Hogwarts could make a home full of 9 sisters who could squabble just as frequently as they chattered excitedly, seem tranquil.

Still, despite knowing how little I had left with my friends, I found myself seeking small moments of peace, trying to steal away some time for myself. It was an incredibly hard feat, one that was always accompanied by a stab of guilt for being selfish. But was it really selfish to want some solitude? If I didn't actively seek it out for myself, I wouldn't find it at the school, and certainly not at home either. And yet - how could it not be selfish to want to retire alone when I grew up with sisters who had only ever really had one another to rely on?