AU_Muses November
OOC: Yay! I finally joined au_muses! I will always make sure to clearly tag between AU!George and TM!George, because obviously they are different. But it shouldn't be too hard to tell the difference. If the post mentions dating Hermione or the MacManus twins at Hogwarts, it's AU!
November Prompt: Champion
“Krum? May I have a word with you?”
I hated being short. The Durmstrang champion wasn’t exactly tall, but he was taller than me, and it made me look much less threatening than I’d hoped. He stared at me appraisingly.
“Of course.”
I gestured slightly, and he excused himself in rapid Bulgarian to his friends and followed me down the aisles of the library until I found a secluded corner. I purposely positioned us so that he was backed against the shelves.
“Yes?” he asked, a polite look on his face. And unfortunately, I hadn’t thought this far yet.
I wasn’t used to confronting people by myself. Usually Fred was the one doing the confronting. I just stood next to him, looking menacing and offering some well-timed quips. I made myself swallow to get rid of the dryness in my throat. A squeaky voice wasn’t intimidating at all.
“I hear you’re taking Hermione Granger to the ball,” I said in what I hoped was a casual tone.
He nodded. “Yes. How did you know?”
“She told me. She is my best friend, you know.”
He looked slightly disturbed at that idea. His brow furrowed, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Was it really that much of a shock to think that she could be friends with me?
“Well uh, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” I said, trying to keep my voice even and diplomatic-like. “How um, how attached to going with Hermione are you?”
“What?”
“What do you think about possibly not going with Hermione?”
He blinked at me. “I do not understand.”
This time I did roll my eyes. And decided that this miscommunication had nothing to do with a language barrier. He was just a dumb git.
“I’ve been meaning to ask Hermione to the dance for awhile now…”
“But you did not ask her,” he pointed out, as if I couldn’t have figured that out on my own. Dumb git.
“Yes, but I was meaning to-”
“But you did not.”
“Well how could I when you asked her first?”
He didn’t seem to understand that either. He really was stupid. “I do not believe there vos a problem vith asking Herm-own-ninny. If she did not vont to go to dance with me, she would have said no.”
“Yes, but-”
“And if she had wanted to go with you, she would have said so to me.”
“No, I don’t think-”
“Perhaps she does not vont to go vith you. Perhaps you missed your chance and should accept your defeat vith grace.”
I clenched my jaw both to fight back a retort and to fight back a cry of frustration at myself. I wasn’t willing to admit he was right. Especially after teasing my younger brother about that very thing.
It wasn’t my fault I hadn’t realized my feelings for Hermione until recently. Perhaps the exact moment when she said she was going with Krum. Could I have gathered up the courage to ask her if he hadn’t done so first?
I didn’t want to focus on me, and the flaws that Krum felt like pointing out. I could feel my skin getting hot, and I knew my ears were turning red.
“Krum listen,” I said as calmly as possible. My teeth were still clenched. “You can’t go with Hermione. You just can’t. I… I don’t know how-”
“And who vould you expect to go vith her instead? You?”
“Well… yes!”
Krum snorted, a sound that annoyed me much more than it should have. “Vhy vould she go vith you? She is much smarter than that.”
“She’s what?”
“Herm-own-ninny is very smart girl. She vill not vaste her time vith… pranker like you.”
I wanted to correct him on his horrible pronunciation of her name. Or his horrible pronunciation of “prankster”. I wanted to haul off and hit him. I wanted to go back to my room and dig up a time turner and make it so that this never happened. He was pointing out all the things that I refused to think about. All the reasons Hermione really shouldn’t be wasting her time with me. As her friend or her boyfriend.
“You’re right. Hermione is a smart girl. So I don’t know why she’s wasting her time with a haughty, empty-headed foreigner who comes from a school that’s so interested in the Dark Arts!”
One second I was staring at his passive face, and the next I was sprawled on the floor and my eye felt like it was about to fall out of its socket. It took me a moment to realize what had happened. Krum had punched me.
And then there were people yelling, and Madame Pince was scolding someone, maybe it was him and maybe it was me. Krum’s friends were there, and someone was holding me back, and I didn’t realize I was on my feet again until I heard my twin’s voice in my ear, telling me to calm down. And then I looked over and saw her. Hermione. I couldn’t read the reaction on her face. I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
---------
The doors to the Great Hall opened and the four champions strode in, dates on their arms. I didn’t recognize the girl on Krum’s arm, and I blamed it on my swollen eye. Or the distance. Across the break of people, Ron glared at me with all the anger of a howler. I was glad I couldn’t see the exact expression on his face. I’d gotten in a fight with his idol. As far as he was concerned, I was dead to him.
I could see closer much better. I was thankful for that, because the most important part of the night, the best thing to see, was standing right next to me. Hermione smiled at me, and I kissed the back of her hand, like the gentleman I was hoping I was. Krum may be the Triwizard Champion, but I got the girl.
November Prompt: Champion
“Krum? May I have a word with you?”
I hated being short. The Durmstrang champion wasn’t exactly tall, but he was taller than me, and it made me look much less threatening than I’d hoped. He stared at me appraisingly.
“Of course.”
I gestured slightly, and he excused himself in rapid Bulgarian to his friends and followed me down the aisles of the library until I found a secluded corner. I purposely positioned us so that he was backed against the shelves.
“Yes?” he asked, a polite look on his face. And unfortunately, I hadn’t thought this far yet.
I wasn’t used to confronting people by myself. Usually Fred was the one doing the confronting. I just stood next to him, looking menacing and offering some well-timed quips. I made myself swallow to get rid of the dryness in my throat. A squeaky voice wasn’t intimidating at all.
“I hear you’re taking Hermione Granger to the ball,” I said in what I hoped was a casual tone.
He nodded. “Yes. How did you know?”
“She told me. She is my best friend, you know.”
He looked slightly disturbed at that idea. His brow furrowed, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Was it really that much of a shock to think that she could be friends with me?
“Well uh, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” I said, trying to keep my voice even and diplomatic-like. “How um, how attached to going with Hermione are you?”
“What?”
“What do you think about possibly not going with Hermione?”
He blinked at me. “I do not understand.”
This time I did roll my eyes. And decided that this miscommunication had nothing to do with a language barrier. He was just a dumb git.
“I’ve been meaning to ask Hermione to the dance for awhile now…”
“But you did not ask her,” he pointed out, as if I couldn’t have figured that out on my own. Dumb git.
“Yes, but I was meaning to-”
“But you did not.”
“Well how could I when you asked her first?”
He didn’t seem to understand that either. He really was stupid. “I do not believe there vos a problem vith asking Herm-own-ninny. If she did not vont to go to dance with me, she would have said no.”
“Yes, but-”
“And if she had wanted to go with you, she would have said so to me.”
“No, I don’t think-”
“Perhaps she does not vont to go vith you. Perhaps you missed your chance and should accept your defeat vith grace.”
I clenched my jaw both to fight back a retort and to fight back a cry of frustration at myself. I wasn’t willing to admit he was right. Especially after teasing my younger brother about that very thing.
It wasn’t my fault I hadn’t realized my feelings for Hermione until recently. Perhaps the exact moment when she said she was going with Krum. Could I have gathered up the courage to ask her if he hadn’t done so first?
I didn’t want to focus on me, and the flaws that Krum felt like pointing out. I could feel my skin getting hot, and I knew my ears were turning red.
“Krum listen,” I said as calmly as possible. My teeth were still clenched. “You can’t go with Hermione. You just can’t. I… I don’t know how-”
“And who vould you expect to go vith her instead? You?”
“Well… yes!”
Krum snorted, a sound that annoyed me much more than it should have. “Vhy vould she go vith you? She is much smarter than that.”
“She’s what?”
“Herm-own-ninny is very smart girl. She vill not vaste her time vith… pranker like you.”
I wanted to correct him on his horrible pronunciation of her name. Or his horrible pronunciation of “prankster”. I wanted to haul off and hit him. I wanted to go back to my room and dig up a time turner and make it so that this never happened. He was pointing out all the things that I refused to think about. All the reasons Hermione really shouldn’t be wasting her time with me. As her friend or her boyfriend.
“You’re right. Hermione is a smart girl. So I don’t know why she’s wasting her time with a haughty, empty-headed foreigner who comes from a school that’s so interested in the Dark Arts!”
One second I was staring at his passive face, and the next I was sprawled on the floor and my eye felt like it was about to fall out of its socket. It took me a moment to realize what had happened. Krum had punched me.
And then there were people yelling, and Madame Pince was scolding someone, maybe it was him and maybe it was me. Krum’s friends were there, and someone was holding me back, and I didn’t realize I was on my feet again until I heard my twin’s voice in my ear, telling me to calm down. And then I looked over and saw her. Hermione. I couldn’t read the reaction on her face. I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
---------
The doors to the Great Hall opened and the four champions strode in, dates on their arms. I didn’t recognize the girl on Krum’s arm, and I blamed it on my swollen eye. Or the distance. Across the break of people, Ron glared at me with all the anger of a howler. I was glad I couldn’t see the exact expression on his face. I’d gotten in a fight with his idol. As far as he was concerned, I was dead to him.
I could see closer much better. I was thankful for that, because the most important part of the night, the best thing to see, was standing right next to me. Hermione smiled at me, and I kissed the back of her hand, like the gentleman I was hoping I was. Krum may be the Triwizard Champion, but I got the girl.