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“‘Scuse me.”
Viktor looked up from where he was reading his book, half-sure that he was merely imagining being addressed directly. Not that it would be anything new to him, of course - as a famous Quidditch player he was used to fans coming up to him, asking for autographs or for pictures.
But he wasn’t expecting it to happen in this part of London. An area he had specifically come to avoid exactly such an experience. One could say that he was hiding from his fans - but really, he only wanted a quiet minute to enjoy his coffee and the new book he had purchased this morning. Therefore, he had chosen a café, not in Diagon Alley, but in the Muggle part of town.
He still looked up to see where the voice had come from. Huge blue eyes stared back at him, framed by a wild mane of flaming red curls - such a contrast to the young and innocent-looking face staring up at him.
Gazing around quickly, Viktor couldn’t see any adults looking in their direction. And from the way the girl’s eyes were fixed on him, there was absolutely no question she had been talking to him.
“Uhm, yes?” he asked, putting the book down to give her his full attention.
How likely would it be that a wizarding family had chosen the same café in the same part of Muggle London, at the same time as him? And how likely would it be that this young girl was his fan and would know who he was?
When the girl raised her hand, Viktor half-suspected to find a pen and some sort of paper there, for him to leave his autograph. But instead, the girl pointed towards his arm.
“Do you have to put on your tattoos by yourself every day?” she asked, voice full of innocent wonder. “Or does your mummy help you?”
Stunned, Viktor was unable to stop himself smiling. Turning fully towards her, he lifted his sleeves to expose more of his many tattoos.
“No, in fact, these are permanent.”
The girl’s eyes widened in awe and her mouth fell open.
“But did your mummy put them on?”
“A friend did it for me. But my mother helped me pick this one” - he pointed to the tattoo of a dragon, then to that of two flowers - “and these two are for my mother. This is a Hyacinth, my mother’s favorite flower, and this one is a Heather - my mother’s name.”
“Ohhh, I was named after a flower as well! I’m Rose!”
“Nice to meet you, Rose. I’m Viktor,” he replied, taking the hand the little girl proffered in a very adult-like gesture that made him grin.
When Rose let go and stepped closer to examine more of his tattoos, Viktor glanced around the café again. There was still no sign of anyone being concerned that this girl was talking to a stranger.
That circumstance changed, however, the moment the door opened and a young woman entered, looking as though she had tried to keep herself in check but crazy with worry underneath. It took him but a second to recognise her and he was already tempted to call out her name when Hermione’s wandering eyes fell on the girl by Viktor’s side.
Right away, relief washed over her features and Hermione rushed over, barely keeping a neutral face - just enough to not draw any unwanted attention to her and the situation at hand.
“Rose,” she said as soon as she was close enough and much calmer than Viktor would have guessed. Kneeling down beside the girl, she pulled her towards her. “Honey, we’ve told you to contact us whenever… this happens.”
“I’m sorry, mummy. I was about to, but I saw this man and he has so many tattoos and -”
“And what have we told you about talking to strangers, hm?”
Her tone of voice was nowhere as harsh as he remembered his father reprimanding him whenever Viktor had done something wrong. It was just stern enough to show the girl that her mother meant what she said and that she had been worried about her. Maybe even that she was disappointed.
Rose dropped her gaze to where her mother was holding her hand and mumbled an apology towards her mother. Accepting it, Hermione pushed a stray strand of hair behind her daughter’s ear and without any warning, turned her attention towards Viktor.
“I apologise for any incon--- Viktor?”
“Hello, Hermione.”
Not even trying to tame his joyful smile, Viktor grinned wide as Hermione got up from her kneeling position to give him a hug.
“My God, what are you doing here?”
“Enjoying some quiet time,” he replied with a wink and by the way Hermione’s lips tugged into a quick smile, he knew she understood what he meant. Indicating the other chair, he added, “Please, sit. We haven’t seen each other in far too long.”
“Very true,” Hermione said, sitting down across from him, pulling Rose up on one leg. “Oh, but wait just a moment, please. I have to let the others know I found Rose.”
Viktor watched as Hermione pulled a mobile out of her pocket and quickly typed a message into it. Within moments, she was done and the mobile was gone again.
“Well then,” she said, readjusting Rose on her lap as the girl began to play with the table cloth. “This is a surprise. I hope Rose wasn’t bothering you.”
“Not at all,” Viktor assured, sending a smile towards the girl. “She asked about my tattoos.”
“Yes, she’s recently discovered a liking with anything to do with art.”
“Mummy, you see those flowers on his arm? They are for his mummy.”
Right away, Hermione’s gaze softened and she threw him a sympathetic gaze. After the war, they had stayed in contact with letters and the occasional phone call, so Hermione was well aware that his mother had passed not long after Voldemort’s defeat.
A waiter coming by prevented any further conversation about a sad topic. After some arguing, Hermione gave in to his invitation and ordered a hot chocolate for her daughter and some camomile tea for herself. She sat Rose in her own chair, took off her light coat, and settled in for a real catch up with him. Somewhere between Hermione starting to work at the Ministry and her wedding and Viktor’s career taking him from Bulgaria first to France, then to America, and now to England, their letters had become less and less frequent.
One could probably say they had lost sight of each other.
All the more reason why Viktor was happy to find that they had not lost any of the dynamic between them, the conversation flowed easily while Rose was busy colouring in some paper’s the waiter had brought along with the hot chocolate and the tea.
“So, what’s going on with her?” Viktor asked, lowering his voice as he nodded towards Rose. “It sounded like this happens quite often? Whatever this is?”
Unobtrusively, Hermione scanned the area around them but there was no-one close by, most tables empty again, now that the lunch rush was over.
“It’s bouts of accidental magic,” Hermione finally whispered back, eyes on her daughter, a hint of worry in them. “Only that her accidental magic leads to actual apparition.”
Viktor stared at Hermione, eyes wide. “You mean she apparated here? Alone? At her age?”
Hermione nodded and the worry on her face grew deeper.
“The first time it happened, we went sick with worry. Thankfully, she had ended up at Harry’s place; gave Ginny a heart attack. It doesn’t happen often, but it does, now and then.”
“And knowing you, you have a theory. What is it?”
Nodding again, Hermione studied Rose for a little while before looking back at Viktor.
“It began shortly after Ron moved back to the Burrow.”
“Oh… you mean…”
“We’ve split up, yes. It’s not official yet and we want to keep it out of the news for as long as possible. But it’s over, yes. And these accidental apparitions only happen whenever Rose really wants to be with the other parent at that moment. Or just away from whomever she’s with. Or really, just when she wants to be anywhere else but where she is. Usually when she doesn’t get her way.”
“So really, it is apparition. Only she does it on instinct.”
“It seems like it, yes.”
“Wow,” Viktor replied, following Hermione’s gaze as she watched her daughter once more. “Then again, she is your daughter.” That got him her attention back and he held her gaze. “If any little girl could do this, then her.”
He was happy to see that his comment drew a shy little smile from Hermione and she quickly took a sip of her tea. It was probably cold by now but Hermione did not seem to care.
“I had meant to contact you when I read in the Prophet that you transferred to England. But it fell right in with my split-up with Ron and…”
“There was a lot on your mind,” Viktor finished for her. “I can understand, don’t worry. Safe to say, I had a lot on my mind as well. It’s only been a few weeks, so I still get ambushed by fans all the time I step outside.”
“Hence a café in the Muggle part of London?”
“Exactly.”
Their easy conversation went on for a while longer until Rose was no longer distracted by crayons. For a few more minutes, Viktor kept her entertained by explaining some more of his tattoos but it was soon easy to spot that the young girl grew antsy and tired.
“I think it’s time to go home.”
“Is she staying with you tonight?”
“Well, it was supposed to be Ron’s week until tomorrow but thanks to Rose’s disappearance, I found out that he wasn’t even home today. So Molly begrudgingly agreed that it would be best if I take her back a day early.”
A bitter note in her voice told Viktor just what Hermione thought of that. Not the fact that she would have her daughter back early - but rather that her father had not bothered to be there on her last day to take care of her.
As they all got up - Viktor insisting he pay for all of them and Hermione without another choice since she had left her purse at home in her haste to find her daughter - Rose reached for both their hands on their way to the door. Viktor took it but still sent a questioning look towards Hermione.
All she did was to shrug her shoulders and grin at him. Apparently, Rose had made a new friend.
Once they were outside, Rose let go of his hand and reached up to Hermione with both arms. Her mother picked her up, protesting only a little about Rose growing too heavy for her to carry her around.
Then, the moment of goodbye had come.
“So-”
“Well-”
They both stopped at once, chuckling.
Hermione was the first to speak.
“I’m really glad we ran into each other again.”
“Me too,” Viktor agreed, then turned to Rose. “It was a pleasure making your acquaintance.”
“Same,” Rose replied, resting her cheek on her mother’s shoulder, her eyes already dropping. “Can we meet again?”
“Absolutely,” Viktor agreed. “Though next time, maybe we don’t scare your mother, okay?”
“Okay,” the girl agreed, nustling further into her mother’s neck and closing her eyes.
Looking at her daughter out of the corner of her eyes, Hermione sighed.
“This one needs her nap. Too much excitement.”
“Send me an owl? We can talk about meeting again?”
“I would love that. Oh and, thank you. Truly. For taking care of my daughter until I got here.”
“Anytime. Although, I do hope it doesn’t happen again. For her sake.”
“You and me both,” Hermione agreed.
For a moment, neither of them seemed to know what to do or how to say goodbye. In the end, though, Hermione got up on her tiptoes and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek.
“It was nice seeing you again, Viktor. I’ll owl you soon. Bye.”
“Bye, Hermione.”
As Hermione walked briskly down the street and towards a nearby alley she would be able to apparate in, Viktor’s hand wandered towards his cheek, touching the stubbled skin where he could still feel the press of her petal-soft lips.
