Author’s Note: This came to me as I was sitting in the little lounge near the computers during a free, and reminiscing about the days when I used to bother my mother over her choice of men. And then I thought ‘HEY! How can I relate this to Harry Potter!?’ A friend of mine cites this as proof that I am in sore need of a shrink.  Thanks to Elanor Gamgee my Beta, or “She who sees the Phantom Commas”.

I hope you enjoy!


***

“Mum?”

“Yes, dear?”

“Who’s that in the picture?”

“Which one, sweetie?”

“The one with you in the blue dress robes.”

“Oh, that’s Viktor Krum, dear.”

“So . . .my imagination isn’t going wild?”

“No, not right now.”

“This is from when you were at Hogwarts, right?”

“M-hm. That was the Yule Ball in my fourth year.”

“And . . .you went with Viktor Krum.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because he asked me to go with him.”

“What about Dad?”

“What about your father?”

“Well, weren’t you two dating then?” 

“No, he didn’t ask me out until the following year.”

“So you went to this ball with Viktor Krum.”

“Right.”

“The greatest Seeker ever.”

“Some people think so.”

“Well?!”

“’Well’, what?”

“Well . . . what happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“What happened after the dance? Did you see each other anymore?”

“Well, Viktor was staying at Hogwarts that year with the other Durmstrang students, so, yes, I saw him a few times.”

“Did he like you? He must’ve liked you to ask you to the ball, right? I mean, if he was Quidditch star even then I reckon he could have got any girl!”

“Yes . . .he liked me somewhat.”

“And didn’t Uncle Harry once say that YOU were one of the hostages during that second task thing?”

“Well, yes, but-“

“And if Dad was Uncle Harry’s hostage then I’d reckon . . .is this why Dad always gets a really mad look on his face whenever the Triwizard Tournament is brought up?”

“Partially.”

“Partially?”

“Well . . .your father wasn’t exactly very deft with his feelings at the time . . .and he got upset when Viktor asked me to visit him in Bulgaria. Drove him rather mad, in fact.”

“Viktor KRUM asked you to visit him? Viktor Krum!? Quidditch superstar? He asked you to stay with him in Bulgaria? At his house?! Did you go?”

“With your Grandmum and Granddad, yes. I went for a few days.”

“Was Dad angry?”

“Livid.”

“Ha! I bet. So what happened? Did you go out with Viktor Krum loads?”

“No.”

“NO!? WHY NOT!?”

“Because I liked your father-“

“Who CARES if you liked Dad? Viktor KRUM liked you! Viktor KRUM!”

“That’s not exactly the way love works, dear.”

“Who said anything about love!? This is Viktor Krum we’re talking about! The man is a genius!”

“Do you have any idea how much you sound like your father at times?”

“Don’t change the subject! Why would anyone, ANYONE, pick DAD over Viktor KRUM!?” 

“Because I was in love with your father.”

“But Viktor Krum could’ve been my father!”

“Sweetie, you wouldn’t be here if I’d married Viktor Krum.”

“How do you know that? How do you know that I wouldn’t have been a great Quidditch player!?”

“Well, if I’d married Viktor then you would probably be living somewhere in Bulgaria, and you wouldn’t get to see your friends and family so much. Wouldn’t you miss your grandparents?”

“I wouldn’t know about missing them, and Bulgaria wouldn’t be half bad if Viktor Krum was my father! And I could talk about ‘Cool Uncle Ron’ and how he always brings me sweets and pranks like Tom does.”

“First of all, I’m not so sure your father and I would still be on speaking terms if I’d thrown him for Viktor Krum.” 

“Oh, you would too be on speaking terms! You know how he is about Quidditch, he’d get over it and be happy that you got married to the best Seeker ever. You could even give him free tickets to the matches, it’d be great!”

“I don’t think he’d share your philosophy-“

“Bloody hell, Mum.  I can’t believe you passed up Viktor Krum for Dad.”

“Watch your mouth.”

“Don’t you regret it?”

“Marrying your father? Never.”

“Oy, I can’t believe you picked Dad over Viktor Krum”

Hermione hid a smile behind her hand as Katrina began to leave the room, shaking her head at her mother’s mistake. The girl paused and turned back, giving her mother a withering glare.

“Katrina Krum. That would’ve been my name. Do you have any idea how much better that sounds than Katrina Weasley?” Holding back her laughter, Hermione shrugged apologetically as her daughter heaved a dramatic sigh and stalked from the room.

“What has that prat got that I don’t that makes all the Granger women swoon?” Ron’s voice came from the kitchen followed by Katrina’s shrieks of laughter.

Smiling at the sound, Hermione turned back to her desk and glanced at the picture of her and Ron on their wedding day, before returning to her work.