Look at the Stars

"You will dance with me?" Viktor Krum asked, taking Hermione's hand.

"Um. . . Viktor, have you met my friend Sirius Black?" Hermione responded, looking uncertainly at Sirius, who was inexplicably glaring at Viktor. "Sirius, this is Viktor Kr-"

"Yes, Viktor Krum," he said stiffly, offering his hand to Viktor in a formal, almost hostile manner. "Congratulations on your victory at the Quidditch World Cup last year," he said as he curtly shook Viktor's hand. "I'm a bit tired; I suppose I'd better sit down."

He walked away, missing Hermione's shocked and disappointed expression and her plaintive call to return. He reached a chair just in time to see Viktor wrap his arms tightly around Hermione as they swayed gently to the soft beat. He was in agony. Hermione should have been in his arms, not the arms of a young Quidditch star with poor English skills. What does he think he's doing with her? Sirius thought. He can't even pronounce her name correctly!

As he watched the pair on the dance floor, he was repeatedly stung by the thought that Viktor was really much closer to Hermione's age than he was. Sirius remembered how he'd thought it odd eight years ago when Viktor, then eighteen, had taken a fourteen-year-old Hermione to the Yule Ball. Ironic, he thought bitterly, four years seems remarkably close, now. He could understand that she would prefer being with someone who wasn't old enough to be her father. Really, who was he to even imagine that she could love him?

He was absorbed in his miserable thoughts when Dumbledore came to sit beside him. "Professor Black?" he said, "Sirius?"

Sirius turned with a jolt. "Professor Dumbledore, good evening."

"Sirius, if may I ask you, why aren't you out there with the woman you love? You seem quite disturbed at the moment."

"She's dancing with Viktor Krum. And why shouldn't she? I'm sure she prefers to be with a man who isn't twice her age."

"Did she say that, Sirius? Calm down. You can't close the age gap by acting like a child," Dumbledore said with a smile. "Perhaps she is feeling abandoned by you now."

"I thought it best to step aside."

"Without discerning her preference? When dealing with women, Sirius, that is never a good idea."

"Professor Dumbledore, I just can't believe I ever thought that she could. . . love me. You said it yourself, twenty years is a gap that can't be closed."

"Sirius, you will learn when you grow older--which you are not, not now--that in the grand scheme of things, twenty years is nothing, especially for a wizard. Pardon me, but Minerva, who, I might mention, is eighty years younger than I, appears to be beckoning me to join her on the dance floor."

Dumbledore gave him a little wink from across the room as he took Minerva's hand.

*~*~*~*~*

With her arms lightly around Ben Calvert's neck, Viola found herself having fun for the first time that night. She and Ben had sat together in the prefects' compartment of the Hogwarts Express at the beginning of the year, but she'd scarcely seen him since then. Both were ardent Quidditch fans, though neither actually played the sport, and she was pleased that Ben had immediately restarted their discussion about the recent World Cup.

When Ben, the popular, handsome Head Boy, had asked her to dance, all thoughts of a certain dashingly handsome Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had disappeared. She and Ben--both famous in the school for their chattery personalities--conversed enthusiastically, laughing so loudly at a story she'd told Ben that the couples around them, dancing silently to the cheesy love song, began staring.

Versha, a few feet away with Matt Weasley, caught her eye and smiled incredulously. Viola grinned back. This was how it was supposed to be, she suddenly thought.

Her eyes drifted a few feet beyond Versha and Matt and she gasped. "Whoa, Ben, I think that's Viktor Krum dancing with Professor Granger!"

*~*~*~*~*

"Hermy-o-ninny, I have been following your success."

Hermione, though still a bit uncomfortable and wishing that she were in Sirius's arms rather than Viktor's, flashed him a pleased smile. "Thanks, Viktor. You, too--remarkable performance at the World Cup this year!"

"Oh, thank you. It was good to bring the victory to Bulgaria." At 26, Krum had lost much of the awkwardness that had characterized his presence at 18, and his hawkish nose had become even more rugged--no doubt courtesy of a few stray bludgers.

"But really, I'm quite shocked to see you here, Viktor! What brings you to Hogwarts?"

"Eh. . . I was in Diagon Alley last week. . . I was signing posters at the, ehh, what do you call it? Flourish and Blotts. I saw my friend Sybil Trelawney, she used to work with my mother, you see. And then she said she was quite distressed, that bad things would happen at the ball on Halloween at Hogwarts."

"Bad things?"

"Oh, that is Trelawney, always predicting bad things."

"Yes, I'm quite familiar with her omens of death!" Hermione laughed.

"But I said, Hogwarts! That is where my old friend Hermy-o-ninny is teaching now! I will drop by to visit with her!"

"Oh, thanks, Viktor. That was sweet of you."

"It is good seeing you again. That man, he is your date for the evening?"

"Yes, he is. Sirius Black. He teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"But you are just friends?"

Hermione hesitated. She could imagine what Krum's motivation for asking that question might be. She didn't want to lead Viktor on; she could not be with someone else when she was in love with Sirius. And yet, Viktor spoke the harsh truth. They were just friends. "Yes. For now," she added significantly.

"Ah!" he said cheerfully, though he was obviously disappointed. "You love him?"

Hermione nodded.

"I wish the best of happiness, Hermy-o-ninny."

She smiled, "You too, Viktor. The best of everything."

*~*~*~*~*

Sirius forced himself to calm down as he waited impatiently for the song to conclude. Was Hermione laughing at something the Bulgarian had said? So Viktor Krum makes her laugh, does he? Sirius thought. He a little at his own paranoia. Dumbledore spoke wise words; he had foolishly assumed the worst. To my credit, he thought, I don't have the same anger management issues I did a few years ago. . .

He was pleased to hear the song winding down. Sirius stood up to reclaim his date, hoping the next song would be a slow one, too. His heart glowed when Hermione caught his eye and smiled.