Reunion (Harry Potter Fanfiction)

Aftershocks

I have no excuse for this lateness.

Please forgive me, and continue reading on.

Love you guys!

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Hermione quietly walked through the portrait hole. The staircases were unusually quiet, the only sound was the clinking of stone as the stairs switched places. The silence sent a shiver down her spine.

She hurried down the stairs, heart beating as rapidly as her footsteps on the marble floor. She was both nervous and excited. Words and ideas of what she was going to say were jumbled up in her brain. For such a typically smart girl, it was startling to her how little she could comprehend about liking a boy.

What if he had lost interest in her? The idea made her stomach bubble with guilt. She had been so quick to brush him aside on his first night, it would be no surprise if he didn't feel the way he once did anymore. She shook the panic in her thought, and kept going.

Below her, Hermione could hear the clattering of forks and knifes, and chattering of students. Clearly most of the students were still in the Great Hall, at dinner.

The 4th floor was empty as well. It seemed as though everyone was avoiding where she was headed. Her shoes clacked against the floor. Further, further, further she went down the hall, heart hammering against her chest. Hermione bit at her lip, and pulled on her braid, nervously. She spotted his office in the distance, and hurried over to the polished oak door. She reached down for the brass doorknob, and was surprised to find the door locked. Puzzled, Hermione folded her hand into a fist and knocked on the door. The instant her skin made contact with the door, the knob magically turned, and it slowly opened, leaving the door slightly ajar.

She stepped inside.

"Viktor?" She called out, scanning the room for signs of him. "Are you in here? I wanted to talk to you."

Silence.

She walked around the desk, to knock on his bedroom door, when she nearly slipped on a piece of parchment. Smoothing out the newly formed wrinkles in her skirt, she picked up the parchment. There was messy handwriting scrawled across it. A handwriting that was incredibly familiar.

Too familiar.

Her heart stopped. Across the parchment, read "8 o'clock, -H". An attempted forgery in her name. The writing belonged to a young, redheaded wizard.

Ron.

Hermione's brain went into a frenzy. It all finally made sense. Ron had set up them up, wanted each of them to believe how much the other wanted to talk. Her face scrunched up in anger. She crumpled Ron's forgery, and flicked it across the room, anger seeping out of her throat, in the form of a scream. The parchment ball hit the window, and fell to the floor. She went over to pick it up, too guilty to litter Viktor's office. When she got back up, her eyes flickered to out the window, where her 20/20 vision picked out 2 black masses out on the darkening grounds. One was gliding towards the castle, a wand in its right hand, while the other fell to the earth, tensing in pain. Confused, Hermione squinted into the twilight, watching the first get closer to the castle, until it walked under one of the castles many oil lamps, and a mass of red hair was lit by the glow of the lamp.

Ron Weasley.

Becoming more and more panicked by the second, she refocused on the body on the ground. She whipped out her wand, and sent a small bead of light threw the window, for a better view. As the orb flew down the hill, Hermione began praying it wasn't whom she was thinking.

But of course, life didn't always give you what you want.

Viktor Krum was lying on the ground, blood spurting from his body.

***

Hermione tore down the marble staircase, her feet flying faster than a firebolt down the polished steps. The entrance hall was empty, and the doors to the Great Hall were firmly shut, voices still coming through the gold. She flew to the door, and was about to wrench it open, when it opened for her. She stepped backwards. The outside of the castle was flooded with golden light, and Ron walked into the entrance hall.

At first his face filled with shock when he spotted her, but he quickly tried to cover it, his face turning neutral.

"Hullo." He said solemnly, pushing past her. Hermione's fury went into overdrive. She grabbed Ron by the shoulders, and shoved him into the wall. His body smacked up against the stone, and his head knocked against it.

"What the hell?!" He yelled, trying to free himself. Hermione was relentless, and gripped his shoulders even harder. Angry, hot tears swam in her eyes, and fell down her cheeks.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!" Hermione yelled, shoving him against the wall again. Her voice was a shrill scream, and a few voices fell silent in the Hall. She was broadcast across the castle floor. "YOU'RE GOING TO KILL HIM!"

Ron's lip curled. "If I'm lucky." He sneered, shaking himself free. As he walked away, Hermione slapped him across the face, hard. The smack echoed through the halls. He staggered backwards, clutching his cheek, which now was as red as his hair. "You won't get away with this!" She bellowed, now fully crying. Ron folded his arms across his chest.

"I already have."

The gold doors to the Great Hall creeped open, and Harry's head popped out.

"What in Merlin's sake is going on?" He asked, looking from Ron to Hermione.

"This psychopath just came up and slapped me!" Ron said, stomping into the Great Hall. Hermione watched him stick his wand into his back pocket.

"Hermione, that's not cool." He said. "Wait, what's up? Why are you crying?" Harry slowly came towards her, but Hermione backed up equally. "Hermione?"

"I can't!" She yelled, and turned on her heel. The only vision in her mind was Viktor, lying helpless in the dirt, blood streaming out of his body. She bolted out of the door, and took off. Harry, his curiosity getting the better of him, sped up and followed her.

***

The grass was slippery from the evening dew. Hermione slipped and slid down the steepening hill. She didn't notice any of it. Her sole focus was Viktor's sad, small shape at the bottom of the hill, twitching and wet with blood.

She reached him, and dropped to her knees beside him. His eyes were closed, and his fingers were clenching the ground in pain. She cried out, fear and despair flooding in her veins.

"Viktor!" She exclaimed, cupping his face in her hands. "I'm here, don't worry. Open your eyes for me, please. Just open your eyes."

Harry skidded to a halk behind her, and crouched down next to her. His face went chalk white.

"D-did Ron..?"

"Yes!" Hermione sobbed out, hugging her knees. "Viktor's going to die because of him!" Harry whipped out his wand, and straightened his glasses. "Hermione, you stay here with him. I'm going to deal with Ron."

"No!" Hermione yelled. "That's not important right now! Harry, please. Go find Madame Pomfrey. She might be able to save him."

"Hermione, Ron can't get away with this, we need to-"

Harry's sea green eyes met his best friends chocolate brown ones. Where they were once warm and full of life, now sat helpless and desperate. He knew how much his guy truly meant to her, and would do anything to help her.

"Stay here, I'll go find her." She hugged his knees, and cried.

"Thank you, Harry."

He rushed up to the castle, stowing his wand in his robe pocket. Hermione turned back to Viktor, and reached for his hands, which were pale and cold.

"You're going to be okay, I promise." She cried silently into them, wanting to bring the warmth back.

"I'm here."

"I'll always be here."