Ecdysis

Chapter 19 - Fifth Year: A Troll In The Great Hall

Dear Granger,

I hesitate to ask because it did not go so well last summer, but I want to see you more than anything, so I wonder...

Will you come to Bulgaria for Christmas?

You can stay at my house, and we can pick a Christmas tree. You can share your Muggle traditions and I will show you all of my favourite places. You can finally fly in your new suit. Does it still rain everyday at Hogwarts? Promise you won't fly in a storm. Only crazy Quidditch players do that and you're too intelligent to make our mistakes (but I fear twice as stubborn).

I know it's early to ask, and though you are not happy with your parents, you should spend time with them. But it has been so long since I saw you and I cannot help but be selfish.

Will you think about it?

I wish to see you wearing red again and to kiss you in the snow.

Say yes. I will send a Portkey.

I miss you.

Viktor

🐍

The holidays were a couple months away, but Viktor's letter was all I could think about since the moment it landed in my fingers, delivered by a Long-Eared owl I had never encountered before. Last year, Dad had refused to let me travel to Bulgaria, even when I'd told him it was to visit a friend named Victoria. This time, I'd tell my parents I was staying at Hogwarts for another Yule Ball, Hogwarts would assume I was returning to London to see my parents, and the moment I stepped off the Hogwarts Express, I'd take Viktor's Portkey to Bulgaria. It was the perfect setup.

My parents had sent a card on my birthday, signed Love, Mum & Dad. They had also included two Muggle books—The Giver and Jurassic Park—both, I suspected, were selected by Dad, as well as a bookmark shaped like a double-decker bus with 'Once Upon A Time' as its destination, and a pair of fleece socks. It was the last I'd heard from them for some days, and I was in no rush to see them again if I could help it. I would rather visit Viktor.

I reread Viktor's letter, my gaze burning a hole beneath one particular line. The whole thing was rather romantic: his invitation to Bulgaria, his concern for me, but that sentence solidified why he really wanted to see me again. He wanted to kiss me. What was platonic about that? My relationship with Viktor was confusing me. Were we only 'together' when we were together or were we 'together' now? I didn't consider myself his girlfriend, and I didn't think he did either. He'd done interviews saying he was single. It was better that way, safer, after the way things ended last year. Viktor sent his post via different owls to preserve his anonymity, so I assumed that he wanted to keep our correspondence a secret. But perhaps he'd always sent his post this way, even before he met me, and I was just reading too much into it.

Going to Bulgaria would give me the clarity I needed. I wondered if things would have been like this even if the tournament hadn't ended in tragedy. Maybe this was how Quidditch players dated, uncommitted when they were away playing games, and faithful when they returned home. Wasn't that the way of popular athletes? I knew it was common in the Muggle world, particularly with celebrities. Why would Viktor be any different? Was I being foolish in hoping for something steady in our future? Would this always be our story?

I tried not to overthink the situation. We were friends who occasionally kissed, and that was fine. Really. I had plenty on my mind at Hogwarts, anyway. I didn't need to be anyone's girlfriend.

🐍

I was studying at my favourite spot in the library when Draco wandered over, shielding his eyes with a palm above his brow. He sat across from me as if we did this all the time, frowning as he tilted his chair on its rear legs.