Dance with the One that Brought You

Chapter 3

Hermione loved having this hour free to spend in the library. This was her nirvana. She gathered a stack of books on her table and began earnestly researching her cause. While Ron and Harry were cooped up with Divination class, she could proceed with righting a terrible wrong.

Her quill stopped momentarily as she paused. Her brows furrowed, and she appeared to be lost in concentration as she considered a proper name for this cause. She absentmindedly raked the quill's feather across her lips as she pondered.

He sat a few spaces down at the same table. From his spot across the table, he had been covertly observing her until he saw the quill's feather softly touching her perfect set of rosy lips. His throat went dry, and he had difficulty swallowing.

She closed her eyes, oblivious to his presence, and mouthed words he couldn't hear. He unconsciously slid a bit closer to her and the stack of books. He pretended to be reading, but then he glanced back up at her lips. What was she whispering? A spell? Was she trying to memorize something?

The feather stopped its path across her mouth, and she bit gently on her lower lip. He stopped breathing.

"That's IT!" she proclaimed as her eyes popped open: "Society ... for the ... Protection ... of Elfish Welfare!" Her sudden epiphany had jolted him, and he banged his knees up under the table. He quickly looked down at his book.

She had felt the table jostle more than heard the banging of his knees against the wood, so she looked up at him for the first time and took in his appearance.

She smiled shyly. "Sorry." It was a whisper. He was staring now. She sat up a bit straighter and realized he hadn't said anything in reply. She felt a bit unnerved by him, so she looked down at her parchment. She began writing and then scribbled the words out. She shook her head. She didn't feel she had captured the proper name after all. She was close though.

"You ... you study hard." He leaned forward and whispered, still honed in directly on her.

Hermione looked up at him and smiled. She nodded and then looked back down at her parchment.

"What you study ... it is important, yes?" His Bulgarian accent was quite strong, and he pronounced his W's like V's.

Hermione looked around to see if Madame Pince was anywhere within earshot. She leaned in closer to the table. "Yes," she whispered back, "it's very important. It's possibly the most important work I've done yet."

His eyebrows shot up. He looked down at her stack of books and could not tell from their bindings what she was reading. He smiled again, closed his book, and stood. Hermione thought he had decided to leave her alone, so she returned to her parchment and scribbled a few other words down. Then she felt him sit next to her. He leaned into her side, and said softly, "Viktor Krum. You please tell me your name and what is very important work you do." He had extended his hand to her across the parchment.

She took his hand and shook it briefly, smiling nervously, "Of course you're Viktor Krum." She blushed now and continued, "I'm Hermione Granger."

"Hermyninny," he breathed, "Beautiful name to match beautiful girl."

Her face could not have gotten any hotter than if one of Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts had shot her with flames. She returned to her parchment and mumbled, "Err, thanks."

He was still leaning in very close to her as he read her handwriting. "Society for Protection of Elves. What is?"

"Ah." She reached up and tried to smooth a hand through her hair, and he followed the movement with his eyes. "I'm going to liberate slaves and house-elves." She glanced up to see his reaction. He didn't laugh. He didn't gape at her or have any of the other reactions she would have expected from Ron or Harry. He nodded. That's it; just a nod. So she continued, "It's come to my attention this year that Hogwarts is contributing to the cruelty of slavery by making house-elves cook in the kitchens!" She must have said it louder than she thought because Madame Pince rounded a corner and shushed her.

Viktor lifted up one of her research books, Mastering Elves, and opened it. He perused the table of contents and then noticed she had marked a section by sticking a colored ribbon bookmark. He turned to that section and began to read. Hermione noticed that he had not moved his body away from her. She could feel the warmth from his arm and shoulder against hers. She tried to pull her thoughts back to her parchment, tapping it lightly with the quill.

Viktor glanced sideways at her and then continued reading.

"Perhaps you tell me more about work for elves?" It was so soft that she almost didn't hear him.

She fidgeted in her seat and put down her quill. She reached for another book and opened it. "Yes, well, I'm not sure I can do that here in the library," she whispered and nodded in the direction of Madame Pince. He pressed his leg against hers and her head snapped up. She looked straight ahead, not turning to him at all. "You see, it's all about the welfare of creatures that have no rights in the wizarding world." She breathed deeply. "House-elves can only be freed if given an article of clothing from their masters; but here at Hogwarts, there is no master! And thus, no freedom can be had. Nor do we pay them for their labor."

He bent down and leaned in closer to her, so that his entire right side was now leaning on her, and whispered into her ear, "Very bad."

She flushed again and managed a strangled, "Mmm." His breath against her ear had driven any words from her mouth and mind.

"Hermyninny," he said, "I help you."

Her hands pressed flat on the table, and she looked down at them. What was he doing? What on earth had brought the famous Bulgarian seeker to her side? She wondered briefly if he was playing with her. Merlin knows he had all of the girls in Hogwarts in a titter ... all scrambling to him for autographs, following him around as he worked out.

"I'm sorry," she replied as she shut the book in front of her and rolled up the parchment. "I need to get to my next class." She quickly grabbed two of the largest books that she had been reading, stood up as she reached for her messenger's bag, and hurried off.

Viktor smiled as he followed her exit with his eyes. Her robe was hanging off her shoulder, and her hair was a mass of curls, both flowing behind her as she made her hasty retreat. He glanced at the table and noticed she had left a row of colored ribbons laid out. He grabbed them and followed her.

"Hermyninny!" he called out to her once outside the library. It only took him a few seconds with his long, strong strides to catch up to her. "Wait, please." He extended his hand to her, and she glanced down at her ribbons. She tried to shift the weight of the two large books onto one arm while reaching for the ribbons. "Thank you, Viktor."

He reached for her books, and she jumped as he brushed her arm. He bent down and lowered his face closer to hers. "I help," he softly repeated.

Hermione was at a loss. She shifted her weight from one foot to another, still clutching onto the books. "Viktor, I'm 14 years old." He nodded, and his eyes softened with a sparkle. "Too old for help?"

Her face lit up with a smile, and she shook her head. "No, that's not it at all. And I will be 15 in a few weeks."

He opened his palm that held the colorful ribbons and extended it to her. When her small hand reached into his to retrieve them, he enclosed his hand, capturing hers. His fingers gently squeezed hers. "You carry ribbons; I carry books."

She found herself chatting quite easily with Viktor as they headed down the hallway -- him with her books and she with her bag on her shoulder and ribbons in her hand. She told him about the importance of liberating the elves, about the injustice of slavery, and about her work to start a society that would protect them.

Viktor listened.

"Well, this is where we part ways. I have an assignment to work on. Another project."

He smiled at her, and she wondered how come every time he did that, she felt something melt inside.

He transferred the books back into her arms.

"Thank you, Viktor."

He lifted his hand up to her hair and began softly stroking it. Is he petting me?

As he leaned in toward her face, she backed up, nervously. "Umm, yeah. Well... that is... I am sure I will see you around soon." His hand went from her hair to her shoulder, and he softly caressed it, slightly pulling her back in toward him.

She planted her feet firmly. "Oh, yes, as a matter of fact... the waltz."

He cocked his head to the side, still smiling at her as she bit her lower lip.

"You see, Malfoy... well he and I were asked to... umm."

It happened before she knew it. He had swiftly dove in for a quick peck on her lips and patted her head. All the while she'd had her eyes open, and she hadn't see it coming at all! Her first kiss.

She hadn't kissed back, and it wasn't something she was prepared to receive! Did he just kiss her and pat her head?

"Hermyninny."

She looked up, and he winked at her. Winked! He was smiling as he turned away and carried on down the hallway.

She wasn't sure how long she stood there, dumbfounded, but it seemed like hours.

What was that!

Was that really Viktor Krum, kissing her, Hermione Granger, right here in Hogwarts?

She slowly smiled and closed her eyes. She got her first kiss from Viktor Krum!

She spun around as she squeezed the heavy books into her chest.

It seemed as though she floated the rest of the way to her destination, the Great Hall. Not even a Veela could be walking as lightly or gracefully as she was now. She didn't even feel the ground beneath her.

She glided into the Great Hall, with a smile that went ear to ear, and clutched the books closer to her. They didn't even seem that heavy anymore... she hadn't realized that in the process of bringing them to her chest, she had them pressed under her breasts, lifting them up and outward.

"My, my Granger," he said slyly as he eyed her, "what big ... books you have."