AN: Hi! I'm alive. Mostly. Real life has been... peachy... but I live. Things are better than they were before, but the writing process is still slow. None of my stories are abandoned. I just need to find the time to actually update them. Also as you can probably tell from this chapter I am a little rusty (so sorry!) but on the other hand I am beyond grateful for all you beautiful people still reading and supporting this story whilst not knowing whether or not its abandoned! I know it happens a lot on this site. Writers say their stories are not abandoned but then something happens that forces their hands completely off this site and you're left wondering if there will ever be an end but rest assured that if that ever happens here there will be a note posted informing all my readers that the story is discontinued, but until then I'm here to stay!

I cannot apologise enough for the delay, or thank you enough for the continued support, but I do hope that this long-ish chapter makes up for it :D

It appears that Durmstrang Institute will make exceptions for half-blood wizards with violent tendencies, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Durmstrang's very own champion and Veela Viktor Krum displayed such inclinations last night when he assaulted a student at the height of the Yule Ball festivities.

The victim, Ronald Weasley, who also happens to be close friends with Hogwart's fourth champion Harry Potter, had barely escaped the encounter unscathed. He had bravely put himself between his date for the evening, Hermione Granger, and Krum when he spotted the champion trying to intimidate her into spending the evening with him. Krum was so overcome with jealousy he threatened to stab Weasley with a sharp piece of glass that he obtained by breaking a cup of Butterbeer from the refreshments' table.

"I really thought he was going to kill him," said one seventh-year student, distraught. "I looked up to Krum my whole life. Always wanted to meet him. Always wanted to be like him."

Full male Veela have gone extinct thousands of years ago so very little is known about them. Current male half-Veela, on the other hand, are said to be rather unpredictable.

"This has nothing to do with this Veela temperament nonsense!" Beauxbatons Academy of Magic's Headmistress Madam Maxim said. "It's the school, the boys there they always behave like brutes with each other! They obviously did not teach them how to behave around ladies!"

It's important to note that Madam Maxime's own champion, Fleur Delacour, is half Veela.

Pansy Parkinson, a lovely fourth year student who was at the heart of the scene, had an interesting theory.

"He's definitely full Veela," she said, "and Granger's not as innocent as she looks. She's made him her lap dog, and not a cute one but a mean rabid beast she sets on people she doesn't particularly like. I'm guessing Weasley confronted her about it and she got upset and set Krum loose."

Her date, Draco Malfoy, had this to say: "Wands belong to wizards. He shouldn't even be in school."

If proven true Mr. Krum would face severe legal repercussions. His stolen wand would be confiscated and destroyed, he would get immediately expelled from Durmstrang Institute, lose his spot as Seeker for the National Bulgarian Quidditch team, and face a minimum of twenty years in Azkaban for identity theft, fraud, and for endangering the life of one minor and sexually harassing another. Durmstrang and Hogwarts headmasters, disgraced wizard Igor Karkaroff and his equally controversial ally Albus Dumbledore, will face similar charges for failing to protect their students and faculty.

"Hermione, stop," said Harry, shadowing her as she paced, trying to reach around her and slip the newspaper from her hands.

"He's read it," she said, going through the article again for the hundredth time. "He must've, at breakfast. I know he did."

"Dumbledore took care of it," said Ginny, standing with her arms crossed by the fireplace, her hazel eyes following the duo's every step. "You heard him. He doesn't believe a single word of it, and he even banned Skeeter from Hogwarts. She's no longer covering the Triwizard Tournament and tomorrow morning The Prophet is issuing an official apology."

Just hours before Hermione had run to Dumbledore's office with the newspaper rolled and clutched in her hand. She was more inclined to find Viktor first, but she had to get things sorted with Dumbledore. She couldn't go to Viktor without any answers or words of comfort.

Karkaroff was already there by the time she reached the entrance. He was on the verge of blasting the gargoyle off it's perch, and she's certain he would've done so in his rage had it not moved aside to give Hermione passage, stating that the headmaster was expecting her.

"Professor, she's lying!"

"I demand to have that woman's writing privileges revoked this instant!"

They both said at once, bursting through the door and nearly breaking it off its hinges.

Hermione didn't care to let Karkaroff say his piece. She stepped towards Dumbledore, who was calmly observing them from behind his desk. "None of this drivel is true, Professor, I swear! He wasn't harassing me!"

"A true gentleman!" Karkaroff jumped in, standing next to her and slamming his hands on the table, startling Fawkes on his perch and making the various small unidentifiable trinkets on the table rattle. "A model student! Never in my life as an educator, Albus, never in the history of Durmstrang Institute have I ever encountered such a refined and sophisticated prodigy!" Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak but Karkaroff wasn't finished. "And I will not have his name besmirched by some cheap whore that can't even pass herself as a half-decent writer!"

"She really can't write!" Hermione agreed, throwing her hands in irritation and nearly backhanding Karkaroff in the process.

"Miss Granger," Dumbledore started calmly, only to get immediately cut off by Karkaroff.

"If I see her again I will have her skinned alive, Albus, this I swear to you!"

"Igor," he said to Karkaroff, "old friend. Miss Granger. Please have a seat."

Hermione complied. Karkaroff remained standing.

"I have spoken to both Mr. Weasley and Mr. Krum this morning regarding the incident—separately, of course. They have given me their full cooperation and were both honest to a fault. I know this because their stories were a perfect match."

Hermione didn't know what to make of it. She was surprised that Viktor didn't tell her anything about his meeting with Dumbledore, but then again they barely had time to talk before the twins' prank landed him in trouble. Ginny's hostile attitude didn't help, either. And what had Ron said to Dumbledore, anyway? Hermione can't see him taking any responsibility for his own actions, not since the way he's behaved at breakfast.

"I have come to the conclusion that the incident was a result of a terrible misunderstanding from both parties," he continued, smiling a little at Hermione, "both have acted out of great love for Miss Granger and I for one cannot find it in my heart to punish children for expressing such powerful emotions."

"And what of that woman, Albus?" said Karkaroff impatiently. "Do I have to get the Bulgarian embassy involved or can I trust the local authorities to do their jobs for once?"

Dumbledore had already taken care of everything. He told them that The Daily Prophet, in great fear of retribution in the form of Viktor's very expensive lawyers, or the relation nightmare the story is threatening to cause between the wizarding world and Veela community, had put Skeeter on temporary suspension. They have also agreed to have another journalist cover the tournament in her place, one that Dumbledore gets to choose, and they did not try to sway Dumbledore when he banned her from entering the castle grounds. The paper will also immediately start working on an official apology for the entire front page, to be published the very next morning, as well as any form of compensation Karkaroff demands.

And Karkaroff had many demands, so many that Hermione feared that The Prophet would change their minds and take their chances with Viktor's lawyers instead, but thankfully they agreed to each and every demand. All was settled. It was more than she could accomplish on her own, but still she wasn't satisfied because no amount of apologies or compensations will make up for the torment Viktor will have to go through first and there's absolutely nothing she can do about it, nothing but obsesses over the same article for hours hoping to find something incriminating enough to get Skeeter permanently suspended from every single publication in the world. Hermione never wants her to lift another quill again.

"She wasn't even there!" she wailed. Harry saw the opportunity and quickly snatched the paper from her hands, but she didn't seem to care at this point. "I didn't see her anywhere, how could she have known?"

"You don't think that Malfoy had anything to do with it?" asked Harry, always quick to point the finger at his second biggest adversary, the first being Voldemort and the third most likely the Dursleys.

Hermione thought about it. He had given a statement on the incident against Viktor, as did Pansy, but still she couldn't see it coming from him. "No, I don't think so. Just the day before he was stuck to Viktor's side on the Slytherin table."

Harry wasn't easily convinced. "But he'd do it to get to you, and me."

"Not everything is about you, Harry," she said, and then cringed. "I didn't mean–"

"It's alright," he reassured her.

"Except it's not alright and it is about Harry!" Ginny jumped in. "Or have you forgotten? Someone placed Harry's name in the Goblet to get him killed and all you could think about is what people might say about Krum?"

"It's not about what they'd say!" Hermione said hotly. "It's the things that will happen to him because of the things they'd say!"

She snorted. "Oh yes, because obviously he's the only celebrity to get bad press every once in a while."

"This- this isn't just bad press, Ginny, it's his life!" she was starting to shout but she didn't care about the attention she was drawing to herself. She couldn't believe this was coming from Ginny of all people. "The allegations Skeeter has hinted at will not only incriminate him but every bloody Veela out there! Or have you forgotten about the prejudice against anything remotely different that strives in the wizarding world?"

Ginny flushed, either from embarrassment or anger or both. "As the daughter of traitors I know bloody damn well how the system works against all who are different here."

"Well as a Mudblood I happen to know it better," she spat the word with the same amount of venom it carried the first time it was thrown at her, and she knew from the shocked expression on both Ginny and Harry's faces that it had stung them just the way she wanted it to. She turned to Harry. "I am by no means putting my problems before your life-threatening ones, but Viktor needs me right now. You could help the both of us by actually making an attempt at figuring out that bloody egg."

She left them with that. She had a lot more to say especially to Ginny, for she had spend all of last night reading Scamander's book and then re-reading some parts up until she finally gave in and passed out on her breakfast, but she had more pressing matters to look into and not enough time.

If they cared to know they'd read the book themselves, she thought angrily. She had been so excited to tell them about the things she's read so far, about how Scamander was teaching her things she's never come across in any other book regarding Veela (and she's read many since the World Cup) and how it had gotten her so much closer to understanding Viktor, but then George read that mating bit and Ginny got judgmental and Harry cautious and who knows what Ron was thinking or feeling about this whole ordeal, but Hermione has had enough.

Karkaroff's choice of punishment this time was manual labor, and once again Hermione was worried that Viktor's classmates will hold this punishment over his head in the future, but they didn't seem to care at all. If anything cutting grass, mopping floors, hand-washing sails, polishing wood, and even diving underwater to remove the barnacles from the ship looked like a regular occurrence for them. Viktor was the only one who wasn't working on the ship, but he was sitting close by polishing a mountain of old and new school brooms.

It was an odd sort of punishment, she thought, and if anything it probably wasn't meant to be a punishment in the first place. Unlike his sullen-faced classmates that were just trying to get through their chores as quickly as possible, Viktor was taking his time with each individual broom, carefully going over all the necessary steps and even going as far as taking out his own very expensive-looking kit to clip, shave, and add a fresh layer of paint on the older brooms.

Hermione was against any form of favoritism, especially the type Karkaroff very obviously displays around Viktor, but this time she's grateful for it. And she's grateful for Karkaroff's presence in Viktor's life, because surely it can't be easy (or possible) for a half-blood wizard to be enrolled in Durmstrang in the first place.

He was so focused on the broom on his lap that he hadn't noticed her approaching until she cleared her throat. He put aside the half-finished broom and stood on his feat, beaming at the mere sight and presence of her, and her heart broke for him all over again.

"Why didn't you tell me about the article?" she asked. She hadn't meant to bring it up. She had only planned to check on him, but with everything going on and the way he was taking it just didn't sit very well with her and she couldn't wait for answers.

"It's not important."

"Viktor, I saw you going over it several times this morning," she said softly. His smile faltered. She took his hand and pulled him to sit on the ground with her. "It's alright. You can talk to me. I saw Dumbledore this morning and he took care of everything."

"I know. He is telling me this morning. Karkaroff lied, he is not happy. He wants me to write to my lawyers."

"Are you going to?"

He shrugged.

She hesitated. "I- I think you should."

He raised a brow at that. "You want me to sue your school?"

She blinked, shocked. "Why would you sue Hogwarts? Rita wrote that article! It's The Prophet you should be suing!"

"Does not matter. Hogwarts will also be in trouble. Dumbledore signed a contract when he said yes to hosting Triwizard Tournament."

"Yes, I'm aware, but that was to ensure that the game's rules are implemented and followed through and to also keep the visiting schools safe and well taken care of! He had no hand with what happened with you or Ron or-"

"Skeeter has too much unofficial information," he cut her off, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder to still her. "Meaning security was bad. As headmaster of Hogwarts Dumbledore is responsible, so if I sue there will be an investigation and The Prophet will use Dumbledore to take attention away from themselves." She opened her mouth to protest but he quickly added: "Skeeter was not there but she know I broke Butterbeer glass."

He didn't need to clarify. Hermione understood. Even if the investigations were strictly classified Skeeter would find a way to extract any information she could use to get her suspension lifted, just like she did with the Butterbeer glass, and knowing her she'd use a small detail like that and spin it into a monstrous fictional retelling of the events that The Prophet will cling to in hopes of clearing their name.

Whatever unofficial information she found and withheld was probably the reason she was only temporarily suspended. That made Hermione even more determined to catch her.

"I know Dumbledore is important to Potter," he said, his hand gently squeezing hers before retracting to retrieve the previously abandoned broom he was polishing. "Potter is your friend, also important. You are important to me. If I sue Potter will be hurt and you will be sad, so I will not sue."

He was letting it all go but she wasn't going to allow it. "So that's it, Skeeter wins?"

"Skeeter is not important."

"She's most definitely not, but we still have to stop her!"

"We did. She is not writing for The Prophet anymore."

"Just that one publication, and it's temporary. She could easily submit her writings to other publications and she's got quite a large readership, so really why wouldn't they publish it?"

"Let them publish it. It is just gossip."

"Hurtful gossip, Viktor!" She sighed, putting her hand on the broom's handle to interrupt him and make him look at her. "Assault and sexual harassment allegations are not what I'd call just gossip. These are things that could damage your career."

It came as quickly as it left, but she saw it clear as day: fear and uncertainty. She was glad, at least, that he told her the truth and didn't try to cover it with the usual carefree façade.

"If I don't sue they will investigate me," he said. "It is suspicious, no, to not do anything against strong accusations?"

"Who are they, the Confederation of Wizards' Quidditch Community?"

"There is a zero-tolerance policy against sexual harassment, which is good, but there is also another thing." He hesitated, considering her reaction for a moment before deciding to tell her. "Only wizards are allowed to play Quidditch."

"But- but you are a wizard!"

"I am more Veela," he corrected her.

She hated herself for quoting Draco on the matter. "Wands belong to wizards."

He scoffed. "Everyone except for muggles can use wands, Hermione. They are just not allowed to."

"Still–!"

"There will be tests that will tell them if I am more wizard or more Veela. It is not new. They were used for many cases, mostly with half-blooded orphans," he said, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself than her. "I don't know how many, or when, but I have to pass them."

She felt like she really didn't need to hear the answer, but she asked anyway: "and if you don't?"

He averted his eyes and started polishing the broom's handle again, this time more vigorously, either to avoid looking at her or to keep himself distracted. "If I fail I will be officially named Veela. I will be expelled from school, kicked out of the Bulgarian National Quidditch team, and I will lose my wand. The good news: they will not send me to Azkaban for this because I did not know."

At least he had spoken to his lawyers about something.

Hermione was plagued by too many conflicted emotions. She didn't know what to do. On the one hand if Viktor doesn't sue he will lose everything, but on the other if Viktor files a lawsuit Dumbledore will very likely get scapegoated and while Hermione doesn't for a moment doubt his ability to get himself out of any situation unscathed, Ginny was still right about one thing. Harry was not safe. The only reason he's still alive is due to Dumbledore's presence in the castle. If he is removed for any reason Harry will be in even more danger.

Still she couldn't just let it go. She had to do something.

She turned to Viktor, too focused on the broom he was nearly finished with to bother with the silence. Once again she felt a painful twinge at the sight. She really didn't want to leave him.

"Viktor, can I ask for a favor?"

He looked up at her, smiling in affirmation.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but can you… stay out of trouble for the foreseeable future?"

He did take it the wrong way. "Who is saying to you I am trouble? I will beat them!"

She scrambled over the scattered chips of wood and equipment and pulled him back down just as he was about to stand and head towards his nonexistent rival with the broom still clutched in his hand. "Viktor, you cannot beat everyone that says bad things about you!"

"If they are saying it to you I will beat them and teach them a lesson!" He vowed. He then tried to pull away but she tightened her grip on his robes and pulled hard, making him almost fall flat on his back.

"No one said anything to me!" she snapped, and then took a deep breath to calm herself. "What I meant was no more pranks with the twins, but now I suppose I'll have to add that you don't fight anyone as well no matter what they do or say to you. Do you think you can do that for me while I do some research in the library that could take me a long time to get through?"

He huffed. "Of course I can. I can do anything for you. You know why? Because I am amazing!"

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. Can you just promise to stay out of trouble while I work?"

He thought about it. "Ok, but only if you make two promise for me first."

She blushed. "For the last time, Viktor, we are not going to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop alone, or with company for that matter."

He scowled. "Fine. Then you only make one promise for me."

She folded her arms over her chest, looking down at him haughtily. "I will make it after I hear it."

He looked like he was going to argue with her, but then seemed to change his mind. His expression suddenly changed and it startled her. It looked too similar to the face he made when she found him after the Yule Ball in the kitchen, cowering from her in deep shame and anxiety. "You don't believe everything you hear about me, ok? If you are not sure, ask me. I will never lie to you."

She remembered Daniela's letter. She briefly wondered if she should tell him about it, but then promptly decided against it. The Veela didn't sound like she was too fond of him and Hermione had no idea if Viktor was even aware of her existence, but he would certainly be hurt if he knew that Hermione went behind his back to his potential nemesis rather than look into the material he provided first. The very last thing she wanted to do was hurt him.

Pushing her guilt aside, she smiled at him. "I promise."