A Year Abroad (Hermione/Viktor)

Birthdays

Viktor had never really been one for birthday parties. But that never stopped his Mother from throwing a massive shindig at their home every year. With Viktor leaving his teen years and turning twenty, this gave his Mother extra fuel.

Throughout the weeks leading up to his birthday, every man on the team, including the coaches received an invitation to his party.
"Should I invite Hermione?" His Mother had asked him when she had seen him. He had told her that she should, but he knew that Hermione was going to hate it.

But, in some ways, Viktor was wrong. Hermione had rather enjoyed going out into town and trying on dresses. Of course, Luna liked the ones with lime green trim and purple beading, but they were not for Hermione. It was not until she tried on a black velvet dress that fit her tightly and stopped around the middle of her calf that she had liked any of the dresses. She emerged from the changing room and gave Luna a twirl.
"That is the one. You look better than a pint of cold Butterbeer on a hot day." She smiled, giving Hermione two thumbs up and before she could talk herself out of it, she had bought the dress, with a pair of black strappy heels, low enough that she could still walk in them, to match.

But before any festivities could happen, Hermione had another problem that needed to be dealt with. Chigvintsev was still on her back about the flying. She had decided that running was not a task worth setting her mind to, but flying could useful. She hated to ask him, but Viktor was the best flyer she knew and she wanted to learn from the best.

Viktor had been confused when he had received her letter. Hermione had never shown any interest in flying. In fact, she hated it. He knew that this must have been part of her training. But he didn't mind teaching her, in fact, he rather enjoyed the thought of it. He had not seen her since that night, the night after he had won the world cup and to say he was excited to see her again was an understatement.

Hermione clutched her egg as she walked along in the early morning fog. Viktor had agreed to teach her, which she was glad of, but she was nervous. She had never been any good at flying and the idea that she might embarrass herself in front of him was horrifying to her. But apart from that, she was nervous to see him again. It had been a week since they had been together. She was nervous if things would have changed, if their relationship might be different, if he would still want her.

Viktor smiled when he saw her, limping through the fog. He spotted the glint of the golden egg and retrieved his back bag from his duffel and waved to her.
"Hi." She greeted him, her teeth chattering. He tilted his head to the side, wondering why she had not worn warmer clothing.
"Hello. It is cold today." He noted and took the egg from her arms.
"How are you?" She asked as he placed the egg into the bag and turned her around.
"I am vell. Enjoying my break." He told her as he placed the bag on her shoulders.
"And you?" He asked, his hands on her shoulders, looking over them to her face.
"I am stressed." She sighed, her shoulders relaxing a little. He understood, he knew that her life would be stressful for the foreseeable future and he wished that he could take that stress away, but he was unsure if he could.

They left formalities for now. In this moment, she was student and he was teacher, it was as simple as that. He gave her a broom, along with a reassuring nod and watched as she mounted it, having to silence his mind. Hermione took deep breaths as she placed her hands on the broom and gripped tightly.
"No, too tight." He placed his hand over hers. She softened then, her grip releasing, only a little.
"Better." He nodded, feeling her grip.

Viktor then mounted his broom and kicked off, only flying a meter off of the ground. He waited for Hermione to follow suit and despite her wounded leg being a little weaker than its healthy counterpart, she kicked off and rose a few feet. Viktor nodded approvingly.
"Vell done. You are now flying." He told her and she had to look down at the ground disappearing beneath her feet to believe him. She congratulated herself silently and then focused.
"Now, lean your veight forvard." He instructed her and she did so, feeling her broom inch forward slowly.
"Good, now harder." He instructed her and she had to do everything to stop herself from blushing.