Inverse

Chapter 4: Winter

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December came rolling in, and the school bloomed with the best decorations Hermione had ever seen in her four years there. She assumed that the staff wanted to show the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students that Hogwarts did not celebrate Christmas half-heartedly.

She sat in her usual spot of the library, thankful that it had been quiet for a few weeks. Viktor Krum's fan club seemed to give up waiting for him in the library after realizing that he was no longer in there. Hermione smiled, knowing that he was probably around, using the charm religiously. The girls had gotten more and more vicious after the Yule Ball had been announced, and they were practically throwing themselves at him in the hallways when he wasn't charmed.

Flipping through another page of History of Magical Creatures: House-elves, she barely heard the whisper behind her.

"Hermy-own."

Snapping out of her book, she turned around at the familiar voice, and the unmistakable way her name was pronounced. She glanced towards the direction of the voice, but saw no one.

A second later, Viktor appeared a few feet ahead, his wand over his head. He seemed strangely nervous.

"Viktor?" she blinked. "Er—hello." She honestly thought she would never talk to him again.

"Hallo," he greeted, walking towards her. "Ver you reading on elves again?"

She nodded, still curious as to why he was talking to her. "And I see you've been using the charm well."

He nodded too. "Veil yes, it has helped me a lot. I don't know vie I didn't look for a spell like this before."

"That's good," she smiled. "I noticed your fan club have been especially horrendous since the Yule Ball announcement."

He shifted his weight from side to side and gave her a sheepish smile. "Actually, Hermy-own, I vonted to ask you—veil, vould you go to the Yule Ball vit me?"

Hermione took a sharp breath and stared at him wide eyed. Had she heard correctly? Did Viktor Krum really ask her to be her partner for the ball?

"To the ball? M-Me?" she pointed at herself.

He nodded eagerly, looking completely serious. His dark eyes seemed to silently plead with her. Hermione felt a blush creep across her cheeks.

"Uhm—yes, I would like that," she answered quietly, biting her lip. "I mean—yes, I'll go with you. Oh Merlin..."

She raised her hand to her face and awkwardly wiped her cheeks, feeling them flare.

Viktor seemed to breath in relief and gave her a wide smile.

"You may not believe me, but I haff been coming to the library to try and talk to you Hermy-own." He looked rather embarrassed at the confession.

Her jaw lowered again. "R-Really? Oh... but why me? I mean, I'm just an insufferable know-it-all—"

"No, no," he shook his head, looking insulted. "You are a vonderful girl, you are different. You did not try to talk vit me for my fame, and you are very smart and kind."

Hermione blushed deeply, feeling her heart beat accelerate. She didn't think anyone had talked about her like that, or even complimented her with such assurance. Her insides squirmed with happiness.

"Thank you, Viktor..." she mumbled, unable to meet such honest eyes.

He approached her more confidently, a smile on his face. He took her hand and kissed her knuckles lightly. Hermione choked.