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The back garden of the Burrow was filled with white marquees and golden chairs, and the air was thick with the smell of cream cakes and summer grass — cloyingly sweet.
Viktor Krum tugged his collar loose another half-inch; formal robes made him uncomfortable. He was uncomfortable anywhere that wasn't on a broom.
He had arrived too early.
No one had forced him to come. When Fleur Delacour had sent the invitation, he could easily have written back to say he needed to train in Bulgaria. He did need to train — he'd just cancelled it. Stupid.
The marquee was filling up. Krum recognised the Weasleys' mass of red hair, along with a few British wizards whose names he didn't know. He stood in a corner with a glass of mead, shoulder against a tent pole, his hair falling across his face.
Then he saw her.
Hermione Granger walked into the marquee in a lilac dress. Her hair wasn't as bushy as he remembered; it lay smooth against her shoulders. She smiled and walked over to the red-haired boy. Ron Weasley — of course he knew the name.
Krum took a long drink of mead.
What was he doing here?
He knew the answer. It had started when fourteen-year-old Hermione Granger looked up at him in the Hogwarts library. She hadn't even smiled — just frowned, because his shadow was falling across her page.
Someone was walking towards him. A young man with red hair — no, too short, and his face was rounder, lacking the long Weasley frame. Krum narrowed his eyes.
"Who are you?" Krum asked.
The man seemed nervous. "Barney. Barney Weasley."
Krum nodded and didn't press. He didn't care who this person was. His gaze travelled over 'Barney Weasley's' shoulder and saw Hermione sitting with Ron, her hands resting on her knees, her fingers unconsciously plucking at the folds of her dress.
Barney followed his gaze, then looked back, his expression turning wary.
Krum looked away.
Enough.
He finished the rest of his mead and dragged his attention back to the fake Weasley in front of him. He needed to say something — anything — to prove he wasn't staring at Hermione. To prove he hadn't used International Floo Powder just to —
"Pretty girls are always taken," Krum said, tilting his chin towards Ginny Weasley.
Barney's face immediately tightened.
Good.
Krum breathed an inward sigh of relief. As long as he was looking at someone else, no one would notice who he was really looking at. By steering the conversation towards Ginny Weasley, no one would think he was still dwelling on something from three years ago.
She didn't need to know.
She didn't need that burden.
Hermione Granger had more important things to do — the whole wizarding world knew that.
The Dark Lord had returned. British wizards were either picking sides or running away, and Hermione Granger had clearly made her choice. She stood with Harry Potter.
Viktor Krum was a professional Quidditch player. He could read the wind, knew when to dive and when to pull up.
Now was the time to pull up.
The wedding went smoothly before the Death Eaters arrived. Krum danced two dances, neither with Hermione. She was huddled with her friends, talking, and Krum watched from a distance, setting down his empty glass.
He thought he wouldn't walk over. But his legs didn't listen to his brain — that happened far more often on the ground than in the air.
"Hermy-own-ninny," he said, standing behind her, the pronunciation still awkward.
She turned.
"Viktor!" Her face lit up. "You came."
"I said I would," he shrugged, making the journey across half of Europe seem like nothing.
Hermione gave him a soft smile, then looked away, back towards her friends.
Good.
See? That was how it was.
Krum talked with her for five minutes. He asked how her studies were going; she answered vaguely that they were fine. He asked if she'd kept up with that Advanced Rune Translation; she said she hadn't had much time lately. He wanted to ask if she was safe, where she would go now that war had broken out, whether he could help —
A silver lynx Patronus landed in the centre of the marquee, speaking with Kingsley Shacklebolt's voice: The Ministry has fallen. The Minister is dead. They are coming.
Screams erupted all around.
Krum drew his wand, letting his gaze sweep over the crowd one last time, and saw Hermione grab Ron's and Barney's arms — the three of them spun and vanished.
She didn't even look back.