Wigtown Wanderers

Chaser 1

Prompt: Write about a group coming together for something/someone

Additional Prompts: 1. [action] Stargazing; 7. [dialogue] "Do you wonder if it would be easier to live somewhere you don't matter?"; 14. [object] Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night Painting

Word Count: 1630

Warnings: None

I think it's a good time for mush and existentialism.

~o0o~

Just as he had almost every Saturday night for the past five years, Cedric set up a padded blanket by the lakeside, two teacups depicting Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night painting, a thermos full of hot chocolate, and a tray of snacks. Since he was only meeting Hermione Granger, he let himself relax and dropped the facade he put up in front of his friends. She didn't judge him.

They were the only members of the Hogwarts Astronomy Club. They had tried to get more members, but nobody wanted to join on the account that they already had to do Astronomy as a class. What the others just didn't understand was that they weren't making star maps, they were discussing new knowledge of the galaxy, stories about the constellations, and the phantasmagorical nature of the universe itself. It was very existential.

"Evening, Cedric," said Hermione, sitting next to him. "Mum sent in our new club t-shirts."

She offered him a black shirt with a print of Starry Night on the front. It was Hermione's favorite painting, hence the tea cups. Cedric found the painting beautiful as well, though he was more partial to Irises. His mother had taken him to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam when he was a kid, so he was familiar with the Muggle artist.

"Oh, wow, these are great!" he said, pulling it on over his sweater. "Tell her I said thanks."

"I will." She looked over her shoulder. "Cedric… I think we might have a new member."

"A new member? That's weird." He looked over to see a tall figure standing in the shadows. "Come and join us! There's always room for one more."

"Join us, join us!" Hermione said in a creepy voice.

Cedric snorted and nudged her, before beckoning over the strange student. He stepped forward into the light of their lanterns looking uncertain with himself. Viktor Krum…that was surprising. As much as Cedric wanted to geek out, he imagined that this celebrity wasn't here to be fawned over and he also didn't seem to be there as opposition. So, he squashed down his excitement and waved him closer.

"Have a seat," he said cheerily, tapping his wand against a teacup to duplicate it. "Welcome to the Astronomy Club where we look to the stars, ponder our place in the universe, and tell cool stories about the constellations. Cocoa?"

Viktor sat down and accepted a cup, but didn't drink out of it.

"Hey, we're not going to poison you," said Hermione, taking a sip from her own cup. "I'm Hermione by the way. I'm sure you've seen me wandering around the library."

"I'm Cedric," said Cedric, though he knew Viktor knew his name. "Avid stargazer, gluten-full, and one hundred percent jazzed to meet you."

Viktor twitched like he found that remark funny, but was trying not to make a sound.

"Alright," he continued. "The Astronomy Club has come to order. We have a new member tonight: Viktor. Welcome Viktor." Hermione clapped lightly and Viktor looked down into his tea cup. "My thought today is: Death is only the end if you assume the story is about you."

"Ooh, heavy," said Hermione. "Mine is: the human body is so easily killed despite the fact we are a network of nerves and energy creating conscious thought. Which is perhaps why people place so much weight on there being an afterlife. What about you Viktor?"

"Ah…pass," he said.

"That's alright," she said. "Now, Viktor, are you familiar with the constellations?"

"Yes."

"You sure?"

He furrowed his brow. "Yes, I know many of them."

Cedric grinned at Hermione.

"Okay, then we will have a little test for you," he said.

He and Hermione got out the small pillows meant to support their necks and laid down. Viktor followed suit and settled on his back. Cedric extinguished the lamps and gave them all a chance for their eyes to adjust.

"Okay, Viktor," said Hermione. "This is your constellation test. Where is the big dipper?"

"There," said Viktor pointing to the seven stars.

"Where is Orion?" Hermione asked.

He pointed it out and Cedric grinned to himself. They had decided on this quiz for all new recruits and now they finally got to use it.

"Good. Where is… The Canoe Bailer of Makali'i?"

"Uh… I don't know."

"What about… Maui's fishhook?"

"Uh…"

"The backbone?"

"What about the Reins-holder?" Cedric asked.

"Are you making these up?"

Cedric and Hermione laughed.

"The Greek constellations are the most well-known," said Hermione. "But every culture has their own and each with their own stories! My Dad is from Hawaii and told me all the stories when I was a kid. Let's start with Ke Ka o Makali'i."

"This is gonna be good," Cedric whispered to Viktor.

Hermione pointed up to the star Canopus and cast a spell to create floating lines. She connected the stars until it was a large constellation that cupped the Orion constellation and told them the story her dad would always tell her. The rest of the meeting was spent listening to Hermione tell stories. She had a lot of good ones. That's why she was head of storytelling and Cedric was in charge of snacks and existential crises.

Around two in the morning, they declared the meeting over. It was also declared successful and Viktor was welcome back anytime.

~o0o~

Viktor wasn't sure why he kept returning to the Astronomy Club. Perhaps because every time he went he was treated as someone else. At Durmstrang he was a loser and a geek, at Hogwarts he was a hero and a cool guy. Either way, nobody wanted to know the real him and made assumptions about the type of person he was. Cedric and Hermione didn't seem to care about any of that. When he said he didn't want to talk about Quidditch, they were fine with it and avoided the subject. When he told them he had planned on being a linguist before he was recruited to the Bulgarian Lions, they thought it was interesting.

Hermione even gave him a t-shirt with the painting on it. She explained it was from a famous non-magic painter named Vincent Van Goff or something. He had to hide it from Karkaroff, but he had still taken to pulling it on over his clothes whenever he would go to meetings.

Two Tasks passed, the weather grew warmer, and Viktor's affection and trust towards his two friends grew.

"Your turn, Viktor," said Hermione. "What existential problem will we be working on today?"

Viktor stared up at the stars and furrowed his brow.

"Do you wonder if it would be easier to live somewhere you don't matter?" he asked.

"Why would you want that?" Cedric asked.

"Well…being high in the entertainment industry, my family is placed under scrutiny," he said. "We run circus and descend from acrobats, but we cannot be expected to act like we are from circus. My mother is Romani and so people hold prejudices against me. More so than my siblings because they are fair and I…am not. At school, I have to fight to get any sort of recognition and here I am seen as nothing more than an object. I am a novelty to these people. My wants do not matter to my peers, my teachers, or even my own parents. I have often thought of running away so I could live how I want to."

"I can understand that," said Hermione. "Before I attended Hogwarts, I was known as the kid who got expelled. I couldn't stop getting into fights, but I worried if I ignored the name-calling and hair-pulling it would escalate. People say such awful things when you look different. And here…nobody expects me to be anything other than a brainiac."

"What would you do if people didn't place high expectations on you?" Cedric asked.

She hummed.

"Not place my self-worth on my academic prowess," she said. "I think I would also become a dancer. I'm actually rather good at it."

Viktor smiled. "Rather good" was an understatement. She was a wonderful dancer.

"Your turn, Cedric," she said.

He was quiet for a long moment.

"I think I would do something for me," he said softly. "This club is all I have that I think is actually me. Everything else I do is to make someone else happy. Even this Tournament. I only joined it because my Dad wanted me to."

"Guess none of us are actually what people expect us to be," said Hermione.

Viktor sighed and nodded. He wished he could be who he was around Hermione and Cedric all the time. The three of them sat there in silence contemplating who they were and who they tried to be as they picked out shapes amongst the stars.

Electricity shot up his arm when Hermione took his hand.

"Let's make a pact," she said. "When all of us have graduated let's…go somewhere! My Nana Kamalei lives in Hawaii, we can go there! Kauai is small, but the magical center of the Pacific is huge. Nobody knows you two in Kauai and they only know me as Manny's daughter. And they wouldn't care about a Bulgarian Seeker at Kilokilo. We could have a trip of self-discovery! All three of us."

"That does sound wonderful," said Cedric, taking Viktor's hand so all three of them were joined. "Let's do it! Viktor, you in?"

Viktor smiled. For the first time in his miserable life, he saw an opportunity for happiness.

"Agreed," he said.

"Alright," said Hermione. "When I graduate in three years we will all go live in Hawaii for a year in a journey of self-discovery. Stars as our witness."

"Stars as our witness," Viktor murmured and the stars seemed to smile back.