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Viktor Krum loved Quidditch, the sport was something he excelled at. So much that he ended up at the Quidditch World Cup representing Bulgaria as its seeker. The feeling of air rushing around him always brought a smile on his face since he was a child. That's why he ended up playing Quidditch professionally. Viktor flew into the arena when his name was called, eyes scanning the crowed. There were so many people here to watch him play, it never ceased to bring him a little bit of nervousness. Even though he had been playing with a crowd for a while, he still felt a little nervous.
In the stadium, Y/N sat with Hermione, Harry, and the Weasleys watching the players enter the stadium. She knew and recognized every player who entered. Her older cousin, Aleister, really loved Quidditch and played on his school team. He was prone to sending long-winded letters or having endless conversations about Quidditch. From Aleister, Y/N learned practically everything about Quidditch. So while Ron Weasley was gaping at Viktor Krum like he was in love, Y/N was remembering what Aleister said about his playing style.
Aleister described Krum as a formidable player who had a good head on his shoulders. Looking at the image of the man who flew into the stadium, she decided the description was about right.
While Y/N's mind might have been chock full of Quidditch knowledge, the young woman had plenty of other interests. For one thing, she adored learning about magical and non-magical plants. Her love for flowers and plants was, according to her aunt Azrael, tied to her affinity for plant magic. She was hoping to become a wandmaker or a botanist after she finished her studies at Hogwarts, though no one seemed to care.
Right from the start, Y/N made waves as one of the few Valari students who were starting their studies at Hogwarts. Add that to her deep knowledge of Quidditch and skill on the broom, and one could see why her interests ended up disappearing from public knowledge. Her housemates were too busy trying to convince her to play on the house team to actually realize her skill in Herbology or Care of Magical Creatures.
Maybe it's Aleister's fault for teaching me to play so well and cramming my head with all this knowledge, Y/N would think to herself.
Whenever Y/N tried to avoid playing on the Gryffindor team, people would say it was such a shame. It seemed that everyone only cared about her "wasted" potential. People would insist that her ability to play so well was a gift, but she saw it as a curse. So long as she was good at the sport, people would always ask why she didn't "achieve her full potential." Quidditch took away from her ability to study plants and herbs. The sport swallowed most of her spare time and left her with even less time to learn about the plants and creatures that inhabited the world.
She didn't want to play Quidditch, but she felt that there was no other way to make people stop bothering her about it. That's why she hesitantly joined the Gryffindor team as a Chaser. But she was honestly quite miserable and constantly thought about what she could be doing instead of playing.
By the time she snapped out of her thoughts, the Irish had finished their player introductions. She watched the game, answering questions as they came up. When Krum performed a Wronski Feint, she smiled. It was a beautiful move that he executed perfectly. It was the textbook version of the feint and she figured it must have felt good doing it so nicely. Stunts on the broom were always exhilarating.
When Krum took a Bludger to the face, Y/N flinched hard. She was well-aware of the pain that a Bludger could inflict. Taking one to the face seemed even more painful than just a regular hit. She hoped the medi-witches would check for a concussion. Bludgers were hard and fast. Plus, brain damage could have lasting implications.
After the World Cup and the chaos that followed, Quidditch was the last thing on her mind. Imagine her confusion when she saw a ship appear in the Black Lake. Then watching Viktor Krum and the rest of Durmstrang enter the Great Hall was equally weird. It wasn't until Dumbledore explained the Triwizard Tournament that Y/N actually understood why Krum appeared. Her assumption had been that Durmstrang was here to play Quidditch. She practically jumped for joy when she found out that there wouldn't be any Quidditch that year.
Y/N was slightly disappointed that Koldovstoretz or Ilvermorny did not appear. She was hoping to see Svyatoslav or Aleister within the crowd of faces. She didn't dwell on it too long as she was quickly looped into a conversation with Hermione who asked her a few questions about the schools. While Hermione knew a lot about the other two schools (Durmstrang and Beauxbatons), there were still things the books didn't say.
"Do all the Beauxbatons girls speak English?"
"Most do, but they also speak their native tongues. You need to at least know French to converse with them beyond pleasantries. Not everyone's fully fluent in English since they're located in France."
"What about Durmstrang?"
"Everyone there speaks English and their native tongues."
Viktor found himself sitting with the Slytherins who looked absolutely delighted to be among Durmstrang students. He glanced around the hall with some interest, taking in the other students and teachers in the hall. He faintly wished he could ignore the stares from his female fans. It was uncomfortable being stared at, though his body language would never say it.
During his time at Hogwarts, he found himself constantly followed around by smitten fangirls. He would often borrow the Quidditch pitch at Hogwarts to practice his tricks. It was through his practices that he met Oliver Wood, captain of Gryffindor's team. While Viktor didn't always say too much, Oliver was willing to fill most of his silence with chatter. It was through Oliver Wood that he learned about Y/N. Oliver invited him to watch a optional, but really honestly mandatory, Quidditch training session for the Gryffindors.
Oliver Wood was absolutely delighted that he was able to talk to a professional Quidditch player, especially one as skilled as Krum. Of course he was going to show off a bit with his team.
It just happened that Hermione was sitting in the stands watching the practice as she usually did. Viktor spotted the bushy-haired girl and found her quite pretty. He decided to join her in the stands along with some other spectators. He wanted to say something but found it quite difficult to get a word out. She was just so pretty and he wasn't too sure what to say.
"Oh, hello. I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione said, politely introducing herself to him.
"I'm Viktor. Viktor Krum." He replied with a brief nod.
She smiled brightly and pointed to the pitch, "Well here they come. Oh look, there's Harry!"
Hermione happily waved at Harry who grinned right back and waved happily at her. Viktor felt like he was intruding on something based on the way she acted with Harry. So he moved his eyes away from the two and found himself looking at the rest of the Gryffindor team. There was a redheaded girl who was fairly pretty, but he was more drawn to a girl with a slightly disinterested look in her eyes. He was curious about that odd expression on her face, shouldn't she be happy or excited? It almost looked like she was utterly miserable on the team.
The team mounted their brooms and their practice began. Viktor couldn't keep his eyes off the [hair color] haired girl who was now flying about with the same impassive expression. He didn't realize he was staring until he heard Hermione's voice again.
"That's Y/N. She's really good at Quidditch. Y/N knows all kinds of tricks and that helps her maintain her role as one of Gryffindor's best chasers."
Viktor flushed, embarrassed that he was caught staring at someone. He watched as the players continued to practice and he thought that the team wasn't too bad. They were pretty good.
That's when he nearly had a heart attack. One of the twins hit the Bludger and it went hurtling towards Y/N. The girl didn't even seem phased by the black ball hurtling towards her. She flipped her broom, hanging upside down on the broom and still managed to score without a single injury.
"You know, that scared me too. The first time I saw it, I was terrified. She really uses extremely reckless tricks," Hermione remarked as Viktor let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding.
"Does she always use those kinds of stunts?" Viktor had to know.
"Oh there are more horrifying stunts she's done in matches. Once, in a practice match she was filling in as Seeker for Harry and she jumped off her broom to catch the Snitch. Of course she landed just fine, like a cat, but it was still horrifying," Hermione said, clearly still traumatized from the experience of witnessing such a trick.
"Does she always have that unhappy face when she's playing?"
"Yeah, she never looks too happy."
"Why?"
"Honestly, I have no idea," Hermione shrugged.
After that conversation, Viktor began to spend more time with Hermione and the rest of the Golden Trio, to an extent. He mainly spent time with Hermione, Harry, and occasionally Y/N. Through his friendship with Hermione and an eventual friendship with Harry, he learned more about Y/N.
During Harry's task, he learned that Y/N had helped calm the Hungarian Horntail after it escaped his chains. She and a tall, scarred woman spoke to the dragon in its language, convincing it to stop rampaging. He thought the story was made up until Harry himself confirmed that Y/N had spoken to the dragon.
As Harry explained, "Azrael taught her some basic dragon in case she ever got into trouble."
He continued to struggle to speak to Y/N, unsure of how to start a conversation with her. Despite his struggles to say anything to her, he managed to ask her out to the dance.
"Hey Hermione? Viktor Krum asked me to the Yule Ball," Y/N said with a slightly confused expression.
"What did you say to him?"
"I said I'd be honored to go with him."
Hermione's eyes widened and she hugged Y/N tightly while the girl stared at her friend. Y/N had never seen such a giddy reaction from Hermione except for the moment when Harry asked her out. "Let's go dress shopping together!" Hermione said with an excited twinkle in her eyes.
"Sure," Y/N said with a shrug as Hermione continued to excitedly hug her.
Y/N still wasn't sure how it happened, but she found herself quite busy being cycled through various dresses. Hermione already found her perfect dress while Y/N was stuck modeling various dresses for her friend. "Still not right," Hermione muttered to herself as she tilted her head. Hermione was going to help Viktor get the girl and also ensure that her friend looked insanely pretty.
A few days later, Y/N was busy helping Hermione do her hair and makeup while they prepped for the ball. The two women were at different levels of excitement with Hermione practically bouncing off the walls while Y/N was just hoping to have fun.
Viktor could not tear his eyes from Y/N from the moment she left Gryffindor Tower and took his arm. He felt a bit flustered by the calm expression on her face as his heart pounded incessantly. Hermione had told him that Y/N looked very pretty in her dress, but he never expected the dress to look as good as it did. Y/N looked even prettier than usual, though Viktor always found her pretty. Whether she was playing with a wild Bowtruckle or dirty from helping Professor Sprout in the Greenhouse, she was pretty in his eyes.
As he swept Y/N across the dance floor, he couldn't help but feel absolutely delighted. He loved dancing with her, it was absolutely wonderful and he felt quite happy.
Which is exactly how Y/N ended up at the bottom of the Black Lake with Hermione.
Y/N and Hermione were asked by Professor McGonagall to see her in the office. The two girls were confused by the sudden summons, but went anyway. They were told that they would be the hostages for their respective champions. Then they were offered a potion to drink.
Neither Hermione nor Y/N were keen on getting wet or being in the frigid waters of the Black Lake, but they drank the potions dutifully.
Harry got to the village first and saw Y/N and Hermione there. He felt conflicted as he looked at his girlfriend and his friend there. Then he saw Viktor swimming towards Y/N and he watched as Viktor struggled with her ropes. He was quite worried about Y/N's safety so Harry helped Viktor out by giving him a jagged rock. Viktor took Y/N to the surface shortly after Cedric arrived at the surface.
When Y/N hit the surface, she made a very adorable expression, at least in Viktor's eyes. She made this expression that practically screamed, "this water is too cold and why am I here?" She honestly looked like a cat who just realized it had been dropped in water, in his eyes. He found it ridiculously cute. As they got out of the water, she was still shivering.
Despite her shivering, when Harry and Hermione reached the surface with Gabrielle in tow, Y/N hugged both of her friends. "Why did they think this was a good idea?" She said through her chattering teeth, "I'd like to see the judges survive in this kind of water. It's like being in Antarctica."
Hermione laughed, "I see the cold hasn't stolen your sense of humor."
"Awww, 'Mione, you know that I'm the weakest to the cold. They should have at least used magic to dry us off."
"Well maybe Viktor wouldn't mind warming you up," Hermione said with a twinkle in her eyes.
Viktor's ears turned a bit red, but he opened his arms to Y/N who happily accepted his offer. He would have to thank Hermione later, she had really helped him. "Y/N, there's this bug in your hair," he said suddenly spotting it in her hair.
Viktor quickly pulled it out as Y/N stood very still with an extremely terrified expression. He then threw the bug into the water as she snuggled closer to him. In that moment, Viktor decided it was the right time to confess his feelings and asked her to visit him in Bulgaria. He told her how he felt about her and she agreed to visit him over summer break.
She did visit him in Bulgaria and they spent a whole summer hanging out since Y/N didn't have to go to the Order. Y/N and Viktor were also able to spend the summer afterwards together. He had to look at the scars that she had from Umbridge's stint at Hogwarts and his heart ached when he saw the scars. Though they were slowly disappearing from the special ointment Azrael made for all the students, he still felt angry when he saw the scars.
She had to go into hiding after her sixth year and that meant no more letters to him. Y/N seemingly dropped off the face of the earth due to having no ability to contact him. Instead, she was busy planning to hunt the Horcruxes with Harry, Hermione, and Ron.
Viktor received an invitation to the wedding of Fleur Delacour and Bill Weasley. He decided to attend in hopes of seeing his old friends. He saw Hermione first and greeting her enthusiastically. He asked her how Harry was and where he was. Viktor also met a disguised Harry who joined him and Hermione.
"Do you know where Y/N is?" Viktor asked, nervous butterflies growing in his stomach. It had been a while since they had talked. He wasn't sure if the girl had gotten into a new relationship since she disappeared.
"She should be entering anytime soon," Hermione said with a knowing smile. Harry nodded.
Then he saw her approaching them with a bright grin and Ron following her. "Hey Viktor! Fancy seeing you here," Y/N said with a bright grin.
"Hello Y/N, it is good to see you." He said with a bright smile as he opened his arms.
She hugged him with a happy smile, as Ron frowned. He hoped that Viktor would have been out of the picture because he had started to fancy the [hair color]-ette girl.
They spent a brief amount of time together before the skirmish occurred at the wedding. Then Y/N, Hermione, Harry, and Ron disappeared from the venue to hunt the Horcruxes.
When the war in England ended, Viktor first heard the news in his local papers while he was sitting down to breakfast. He got a letter from Hermione and Harry shortly afterwards letting him know that Y/N was alive last they saw her.
Worry churned in his stomach, the girl had been on his mind throughout the entire year they were apart. He wanted to know that she was safe, hold her close again, and just be by her side. Viktor missed her terribly. He wondered where she was. They never entered a relationship, but they had always been on the cusp of one. Now that the war in her home country was over, would she want to try to have a relationship with him? Was she okay? Where did she go?
Meanwhile Y/N was flying to Bulgaria, headed towards one of their favorite places that they spent time together at. England was haunted for her. She didn't think she could ever settle down in the country again after witnessing the cruelty and bloodshed in England. Loss was all that seemed to exist in the area.
It was by pure chance that Viktor was there when he saw a figure on a broom plummeting down towards him. He rushed to try and catch the person. Lo and behold, it was none other than Y/N who was completely exhausted from flying straight from England to him. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see you."
Three years later, he didn't forget that moment as his wife walked down the stairs sleepily and gave him a hug before he left for morning practice. He would come back after practice, probably to his wife tending their garden out in the back. The garden she had always wanted to have rather than practicing Quidditch.
After all, Y/N only really wanted to have that beautiful garden full of non-magical plants. He was looking forward to hugging her as they lay under the sun and enjoyed the flowers.