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TWENTY ONE.
BULGARIA WAS nothing – and everything – like how Arabella imagined it to be, all at once. They stayed with Viktor's parents, in a house far smaller than she had imaged for a family with a famous son. Nevertheless, his parents were welcoming, and that was all Bella had wanted from the trip (as well as the guarantee of safety from Zoe, of course, but she already had that as long as she was out of England).
Viktor's father was alike his son; tall and broad, with dark hair and a naturally harsh expression, but this was counteracted by the kindness that was present behind his mahogany eyes. Viktor had told Bella that his father's eyes matched his heart; and he was right. The man was warm and inviting, like a crackling fire at Christmas with the Weasleys. Oh, how she missed that.
Viktor's mother was understandably cold and sceptical at first. Following the rest of the Krum family, she too had dark hair and dark eyes, though she was a short woman with a soft exterior that – at first – did not at all match the way that she had acted towards her son's girlfriend. Her personality, or so it seemed, was reserved and distant, with an expression which resembled that of an upper class woman on a pig farm. Ironic, really. She had acted as if Bella, metaphorically, was the pig; but it was Viktor's mother who actually looked like one.
Over time, Mrs Krum – with persuasion from Mr Krum – had softened towards Arabella, and once they had become better acquainted, the girl had learned that Viktor's mother was not entirely different from her husband or her son at all (and it was oddly endearing how sufferingly bad her English was).
For the third time that week, an enveloped letter flew through the letterbox of the house; courtesy of Bella's owl, Henry, whom had flown back and forth to receive letters from home. This one was from her sister, which was a delightful change from the letters that she had received prior; one was from Deanna and the other from her aunt.
Viktor noticed and grinned as he sat beside her. "Read it aloud," he suggested, "so that we can all hear." His grin curled further up the corners of his mouth when Arabella nodded in agreement.
"Dear Bella, I hope you're having fun in Bulgaria because I'm having lots of fun back at home without you!" The redhead paused to chuckle to herself. She knew that Ellie wasn't joking, either. "Mom and Dad are both fine, and so is Gran. They were very excited when they found out that you are dating Viktor Krum – out of all people – and Mom is desperate to meet him. Gran stayed with us for the weekend because she saw two of spades in her tarot cards and somehow she interpreted that into the world ending. And I thought she couldn't get any crazier. See you in a week! Love from Eleanor."
