Work Text:
Hermione looked around the library for a quiet place to study. The world had seemed to go mad since the other two schools had arrived. There never seemed to be a time when someone wasn't mooning over the boys from Durmstrang or the girls from Beaubatton. She just wanted to find a quiet place to study.
It did not help matters that Harry was now tied up in all the nonsense of the Triwizard Tournament, and Ron was mad at both of them.
"What would it hurt anyone for us to just have a normal year?" she grumbled as she made her way through the stacks. "Just a quiet, normal year where nothing went wrong and nothing jumped out of - Umph!"
Hermione's train of thought stopped with the wall of flesh she had run into. "So sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going. Just looking for a quiet place to study."
"No problem." A deep, accented voice and strong hands steadied Hermione as she stepped back. "Would you know a place where I can escape a flock of screaming girls? And a few fainting boys?"
"I was actually looking for a quiet place myself." Hermione looked up into the dark eyes of the brick wall she had run into. "Hello, my name's Hermione Granger. You're Viktor, aren't you?"
"Da. I'm Viktor." He shrugged and took another step back from Hermione. "Every time I think I have found a place, someone shows up. All I want to do is have five minutes to breathe."
"I can understand." Hermione sighed and pointed towards the back of the stacks. "I think there may be a place that no one has discovered yet. It's a place where I can escape everything, especially the trouble Ron and Harry seem to find and drag me into. It's enough to make anyone mental."
"Mental?" Viktor's confusion showed on his face. "Psihicheski? I don't understand."
"Feel like you are losing your mind?" Hermione tried to clarify. "It's like being caught in a windstorm and not having anything to hold on to. Between the swooning girls and fawning boys, it's hard to find a place without people. But, then, count in that Harry and Ron can't seem to get along and want to use me like an owl…."
Viktor grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her into the next set of stacks. "Being pulled between others can break even the strongest ties if you let it. I understand the need to find quiet to keep your balance."
"It only breaks you if you let it." Hermione shrugged as she let Viktor drag her deeper into the stacks. "If I have not learned that in the last few years, I never will. I should probably just avoid those two and survive this school year."
"But, you still cheered for your friend when he fought the dragon for the egg," Viktor whispered as he pulled her into a small alcove with a pair of chairs and a small table. "Why do you still work with them?"
"It is a choice I made, I guess." Hermione sank into one of the chairs and watched Viktor settle into the other. "They saved me from a troll after Ron had been an absolute beast. Unfortunately, they keep getting all of us into trouble and then look to me to help get them out of it. Or to at least give them possible solutions for the problem we face."
"Is this why you are looking for a quiet place?" Viktor watched the light cast shadows over Hermione's face. "It sounds like some that have come with me. I do not always want to do the tasks before me, but I don't have choices. I was offered a chance to do more than be here risking my life against dragons and golden eggs. But, expectations and obligations made a choice for me."
"We are always offered choices." Hermione reached into her satchel and pulled out a book she needed to study for her next examination in her Runes class. "It seems like this tournament has taken over everything and everywhere. Can we sit here and study and pretend like what is beyond this place is normal?"
"Da. We can do that." Viktor sat back in his chair and watched Hermione read the book she had pulled for her bag. "How do you keep from breaking? When they expect so much from you?"
Hermione looked up from her reading and frowned. "I told you. It is a choice. I seem to choose those two no matter how stupid they seem to be and how much trouble they seem to get into. Because they chose to stay with me when we faced a troll with nothing more than our wands in the girls' lavatory our first year."
"I guess I choose this, too." Viktor leaned forward in his chair and rested his elbow on his knees. "I let the expectations of others bring me here. But I can choose how I do the rest. Even if Karkaroff pushes me to do what is not right. It is a choice to stand, to bend or to break."
"So, what will you choose?" Hermione closed her book. "Stand, bend or break? There are still two tasks and many months to survive in the tournament and in school."
"For now, I will stand." Viktor reached for the hand Hermione had extended towards him. "How do you choose when you are pulled and pushed? From the stories I have seen, many would have broken long before."
"I choose to bend." Hermione squeezed Viktor's hand. "Sometimes, the best path is to bend, not break or stand. Those two had always stood with me when I needed them, so I continue to stand with them. I may just be a bit too stubborn for my own good."
Viktor raised Hermione's hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "I have one more question to ask. Do you have a date for the Yule Ball?"