BITTERSWEET TRAGEDY◦VIKTOR KRUM

EIGHTEEN

    

EIGHTEEN.

THE FOLLOWING morning, Viktor trudged down the broken wood steps of the Leaky Cauldron at exactly nine-fifty two. With a serious case of bedhead, tired eyes and a yawn so large that his jaw seemed as though it would unhinge, Arabella rolled her eyes at the eighteen-year-old. She had been waiting for him for over an hour.

          "Forget about our coffee date, did you?" Her eyebrows were raised, fingers tapping impatiently on the table.

"No, I didn't forget. I was sleeping." He spoke with a deep tone. Morning voice. Viktor cursed to himself. He sat beside Bella and brushed down his sweatshirt as he did so, ruffling his hair as if suddenly attempting to look presentable.

"Yes, I know; I could hear you snoring. You should lead by my example and not be so lazy." She joked sarcastically, shoving him gently against his side when a chuckle escaped her lips. The girl was trying to lighten the mood, but upon noticing that Viktor didn't laugh with her, she frowned.

She nestled her head into his shoulder. "Vik, I wasn't being serious. Be as lazy as you bloody want to. I'm just an early riser, is all."

Finally, he laughed. "I'm not upset by that. I'm upset by my thoughts." He sighed deeply. "I was thinking about Zoe, and the burn scars that she has over her face. I-I was thinking how dangerous it would be if we went back to Hogwarts, because what I did to her . . . she wants to do to you. I don't want you to be in danger, Bella; I don't want you to look like her."

"But I have to go back to Hogwarts. I can't just abandon my school, and my friends. My sister, too. She's only twelve." She mirrored his sigh. "Believe me, I never thought I would be in this situation - for Merlin's sake, I'm hiding from my werewolf roommate who possibly wants to kill me. Like I said yesterday, Snape knows she's a werewolf, so if him and Dumbledore were going to expel her, they would've done it by now. Zoe is most likely staying at Hogwarts for as long as I am, so I need to face this danger instead of running from it."

Her lover shook his head in protest. "I don't understand how you are expecting to--"

          Viktor was interrupted by the presence of a stout man, with a slightly hunched back and a grin far too large for his small face. He stood beside the table with his foot tapping on the solid oak floor, waiting to take their order, although at first this was not recognisable because no speech had yet sounded from his crooked mouth.

"I'll have a Snakeweed tea, please." Bella mumbled through a yawn. Figured she needed the tea to get her through the day.