Foreign Marriage

Chapter 3

Daimeaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I'm only writing this story for fun.


"Professor Krum?" Hermione repeated, her mouth open, her jaw hanging slightly. "When did you get hired as the new Defense teacher? And what do you mean by arrangements?"

"I think that Professor Dumbledore would be best suited to answer that question, Hermione," Viktor replied. Even though it had been a couple of years since they last saw each other, it was obvious that Viktor still had feelings for her, Hermione could tell that from the way he was looking at her. She, on the other hand, was experiencing conflicting emotions. After all, she had only agreed to be his partner for the Yule Ball and didn't intend on it being a dating relationship. Yet, during the course of that year, it had been, albeit briefly. They settled for being pen pals after the Tournament had finished.

Professor Dumbledore emerged from the kitchen, almost on cue. "Ah, Miss Granger, Viktor. Would you please join me in the kitchen for a minute?" Hermione, her emotions still tugging at her, slowly followed the headmaster into the kitchen, with Viktor trailing right behind her.

"Have a seat," he directed to her and she sat down. Then he took out a small package and offered it to her. "Lemon drop?"
o tho thanks," she said.

Dumbledore shrugged his shoulders. "First off, let me congratulate you on being selected as this year's Head Girl. If you're wondering who this year's Head Boy will be, Ernie McMillian will be the Head Boy. As for quarters for you and him, well, you each will be staying in your house dormitories, although you will obviously not have to share a room with anybody else from your house," the headmaster began.

Hermione couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. When she got the letter saying that she was Head Girl, she was fearful that Draco Malfoy would be Head Boy. Obviously, his actions on the Inquisitorial Squad were still fresh in the minds of the staff and even Snape couldn't justify making him Head Boy, especially since he no longer had to play spy for the Order.

"Now, as you may or may not know, you will have to spend some of your free time on the weekends with Ernie to coordinate your duties. You both will have to report to Hogwarts early, like 2-3 days early so you can both be on the train to give the new prefects their instructions. Professor McGonagall, as your head of house, will outline your specific duties once you arrive early, as will Professor Sprout to Ernie.

"Next, is a more serious and delicate matter: the Marriage Law. As I'm sure Professor McGonagall has told you, we know that you have already received a petition from Draco Malfoy. Unless more petitions start arriving, you will have only one week to accept his petition and I'm sure you don't want him as a husband."

"I definitely do not want him as a husband," Hermione declared firmly.

"Then alternatives will have to be considered. I'm sure Mr. Weasley will want to petition for your hand, and although we cannot stop you from accepting, we urge you not to. Obviously, Mr. Malfoy will expect Ron to petition for your hand, so we think he might have something devious in mind to counter that move. Therefore, you will need to choose someone who is a pureblood, powerful and respectable...but more importantly someone that the Malfoys will fear and respect, although as I said before, the final choice is ultimately yours."

"So, who are the alternatives?" Hermione asked, curious what her options could be.

Dumbledore looked at her and Viktor for a minute before answering. "As you know, one of the requirements of this ls ths that you have to produce a child within two years of your wedding. My suggestion, althought you're free to reject it as long as you can find a suitable suitor who won't be in danger from Lucius Malfoy, is...Viktor," he said.

Hermione was stunned for a moment. She could tell that even though Viktor had fallen in love with her when he was Triwizard Champion for Durmstrang, he wasn't willing to rush into it unless she was okay with it. "The reasons, Miss Granger, are these. Obviously, he's a pureblood. Second, he's internationally renown for a couple of reasons: his position as Seeker with the Bulgarian team and his status as Triwizard champion for Durmstrang. His fame is international enough, I doubt that even Lucius Malfoy would want to risk trying to attack him...at least directly. He will, if you agree to this, probably try to use legal loopholes to keep you two from marrying," Dumbledore pointed out to her.

She thought about it for a moment and weighed the positives and negatives. "But I will be his student," she pointed out. "Surely that will raise more than a few eyebrows."

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, it will. But if I authorize it, the Ministry will have to recognize it once you're married. Fudge has learned his lesson from two years ago and if he attempts to seize personal control of the school again...well, he saw what happened to his former Senior Undersecretary," Dumbledore commented y.
y.

Hermione chuckled. She clearly remembered Umbridge being attacked by the centaurs and then being chased out by Peeves, being careful to avoid the walking cane that the poltergeist had been swinging at her. "Very well, Professor Dumbledore. If Viktor...I mean Professor Krum will petition for my hand, I will accept," she said.

Viktor turned bright red at this, and everybody else chuckled, even Viktor. "Thank you, Hermyne...let me put it in writing so that it wiatisatisfy your Ministry," Viktor said. Dumbledore handed him a roll of parchment and a quill and Viktor began writing. As soon as he was finished, he gave it to the headmaster for inspection, who gave his approval. Then Dumbledore passed it to Hermione to sign. Taking the quill from Viktor, she signed her name right below his and the parchment immediately glowed and then sealed itself.

Dumbledore took the sealed petition, put it into an envelope and had an owl take it to the strystry. Turning back to them, he said, "Congratulations. Miss Granger, you are now officially betrothed to Professor Viktor Krum. We'll perform the ceremony soon."

Hermione and Viktor turned to each other and smiled. Then slowly, ever so slowly, their lips met and engaged in a passionate kiss. The portrait of Phineas Nigellus, posted in the hall, but with a good view of what was going on, shouted, "Get a room, you two!" Everybody laughed heartily.

However, a worry came over her. She was sure that Harry was going to support her marriage to Viktor, but she was worried how Ron would react. After all, he had been jealous that Hermione had gone to the Yule Ball with Viktor during their fourth year, instead of him. And Hermione had to confess to herself that his jealousy had been somewhat justified.

FLASHBACK

It was the day after the Yule Ball and Hermione had been incensed with Ron over his jealousy and insulted and hurt by the fact that he waited until the last minute before asking her. That day, she didn't wait for Harry or Ron when she went to breakfast. However, before she had reached the Great Hall, Viktor had pulled her to the side.

"Has Harry figured out that clue yet?" Viktor had asked in his thick, Bulgarian accent. Hermione looked at him skeptically. Viktor added, "I'm not trying to get an advantage. Right now, I have no idea how to get the clue to the second task."

"Shh," Hermione whispered. She had heard the voice of Professor Moody talking to somebody and that somebody sounded like Cedric. Beckoning Viktor over, she was careful to keep out of range...not that it would've done much good considering Moody's magical eye could not only see through wood, but also through the back of his head.

She couldn't hear much, except the words...prefect's bathroom. Turning to Viktor, she said, "Might want to try that." Viktor agreed, but then surprised her with the next question. "What?" she said, at first not thinking she had heard him correctly. "I don't know," she added uncertainly, when Viktor asked her to join him, clearly remembering Ron's accusations during the Yule Ball, plus she wasn't ready for THAT type of a committment. "Fine," she said after Viktor almost begged, "but I'm wearing a swimsuit, so no funny business."

That night, after the rest of Gryffindor tower had fallen asleep, Hermione had sneaked out of bed, changed into a bathing suit, put on a dressing gown. She then slipped into the boys' dormitory (girls were allowed in there; for some reason they were trusted not to do anything they shouldn't). As silently and stealthily as possible, she took Harry's map and Invisibility Cloak. Taking her wand out, she activated it and slipped on the cloak. Viktor would meet her at the bathroom.

Using the map to avoid Filch's and Mrs. Norris's patrols, Hermione made her way down to the bathroom. Viktor was standing outside the door, tapping his foot, almost impatiently. Hermione muttered the password and the door opened, after letting him under the cloak as well. As they entered the bathroom, a strange noise came to their ears.

"What is that?" Viktor asked, turning to Hermione with a curious expression on his face.

Hermione shrugged their shoulders, but the noise soon became apparent the further they delved into the prefects' bathroom.

They heard water splashing, giggling and Hermione opened her mouth in horror and immediately closed her eyes as they pressed further. When they came to a stop in front of the bath, still concealed by the invisibility cloak, Hermione risked opening her eyes and what she saw confirmed her suspicions.

She and Viktor saw a naked Cedric Diggory fucking a naked Cho Chang. They saw Cho run her hands through Cedric's hair as she moaned. "Oh, Cedric," she begged as he thrust forcefully into her. Hermione closed her eyes once again as quickly as possible and as quietly as possible, she tried to drag Viktor away from this little peep show, who was transfixed. There was no way they could leave now without their presence being known, although they were still unseen. Their best bet was to wait until Cho and Cedric were done.

After what seemed like an eternity, Cho and Cedric were finished. Getting out of the bath/pool, they dried each other off, but prolonged it as much as possible, taking the time to kiss, cuddle and fondle each other. Finally, they dressed and quietly exited the prefect's bathroom.

"Finally," Hermione muttered as she threw the invisibility cloak off of the two them. Viktor immediately stripped of his shirt and pants, revealing red boxers. Hermione couldn't help but gaze longingly at his chest. Obviously, years of playing Quidditch had been good to him.

She stripped herself of her dressing gown, to reveal a black bikini that nicely complimented her. From what she remembered of that night, she and Viktor had figured out the clue after several tries, then spent a little while more in the bath. That was when they had their first kiss. Despite the situation they were in and their lack of other clothes, they both managed to limit themselves to kissing, managing to counter the raging hormones. It was the kissing and helping Viktor that still made Hermione feel guilty, in light of Ron's jealousy and accusations and that was why she was afraid of his reaction to her impending marriage.

END FLASHBACK

"Are you okay, Hermione?" Viktor asked, bringing her back to the present. "You look troubled." He reach out, took her hand and held it.

Hermione smiled. "I'm fine," she said.