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He was older than she thought he would be, or he looked older than all the other students here in any case. Hermione wondered if Durmstrang had cheated by sneaking in a fully qualified wizard. She dismissed the thought just as soon. If any idiot could fool people, there was no way Headmaster Karkaroff had successfully fooled the Goblet Of Fire. Harry had been a fluke. A loophole in the rules.
Besides, Krum was some sort of celebrity so everyone must know his date of birth. Hermione wish he did not visit the library so often as a gaggle of giggling groupies always followed in his wake, ruining the calm of the place.
With a huff, Hermione closed her book and stalked out, knowing she would not be able to study there anymore. Unfortunately, Parvati and Lavender were having one of their dramatic gossip days in their bedroom after Pansy had called them fat cows, and the Gryffondor common room was as loud as ever. For such a large castle, it seemed every other nook and cranny she knew of had already been claimed.
So, if everyone was inside, she would just have to find some peace and quiet outside. Once she had found a bench under the sun, she settled down to read. Only a couple of pages later, Hermione suddenly understood why it was exactly all the students had stayed indoors. It. Was. Freezing.
She was about to admit defeat if even the elements were against her, when someone cleared their throat behind her. Startled, she looked around to find Krum standing there. She leaned a bit to the side, expecting to find his faithful herd of fawning fangirls, but the space was blessedly empty. Krum looked amused however, eyes crinkled as his lips quirked upwards.
"I have lost them," he said with a heavy accent.
His voice was surprisingly deep compared to the other male students she knew. Another reason he seemed older than the others.
"Oh…" she hesitated, not having a clue why he was there, or talking to her. Maybe he was lost? ”You need help finding them?”
"Dear Gods above, no. May I sit?”
Hermione stared wide-eyed at him, then at the other two empty benches nearby. He wanted to sit with her? Why? She nodded, looking back down at her book since she could feel her cheeks pinken, and resumed her reading.
Or tried to. It was difficult to focus on ancient runes with the famous wizard sitting right next to her. He made her feel very self-conscious. She had always been drawn to older, smarter guys, and this one oozed confidence too. With good reason since he had been chosen as his school's champion. Which begged the question: what was he doing here? With her?
Then it dawned on her: Harry! He wanted to get information out of her on his competition. Obvious. Everyone knew she and Ron were his best friends. She must have looked like the easier target.
Before she could tell him off however, a warm, heavy cloak lined in fur fell over her shoulders. Her head snapped up and she met Krum's dark gaze.
"You vere cold, yes? Difficult to read vhen cold. You vere still on the same page."
Hermione blinked at him, then nodded. It was a better explanation than telling him it had taken her that long to figure out he was spying on her. This wizard was cunning, and he was now trying to get in her good graces, but she saw right through his schemes.
”Aren't you cold?" she asked snidely, wondering how long he would keep up this charade. Not that she wanted his cloak taken away. It was fantastic against the Scottish wind howling through the courtyard.
"It is much colder in my country. This is nothing for me."
He was good. She could almost believe his charm and chivalry, but she was tired of his games.
"I'm not going to tell you anything about Harry."
"Good. I am not interested in Harry. I vould rather know more about you."
It took a lot of convincing on his part, and several days meeting on this same bench for her to actually believe him. No one would keep up such a charade for so long just for scraps of information on her friend. And just like Harry, under all of the fame and rumours, Viktor turned out to be one the nicest guys she had ever met, and he looked at her as if she was the shiniest snitch he had ever laid eyes on. Hermione finally let her guard down and opened up to him the way he had with her. It was the most wonderful day, the two of them huddled close together on their bench against the cold winter winds.