All Bets Are Off

Chapter 3

Two hours later, she was letting herself into her Cairo hotel room, kicking off her trainers, and flopping onto one of the two queen sized beds. Her first hour of shaking Fred from her system had been a failure. All through her travels, she kept thinking back to the miserable look that was on his face as she was leaving the store.

Was he that upset about her leaving for a few days? She couldn't see how that could be. He would be here with George and Ginny at the end of the week. Hermione was positively certain that she had let them know about her plans as soon as she had made them, so he couldn't be mad about being left in the dark about her plans. It wasn't her fault if those two only retained half of what was said to them. And why did her plans suddenly matter to him so much anyway?

Hermione groaned into her pillow. More than likely, she was just reading too much into his expressions. How self absorbed was she that she assumed Fred's sulkiness had been about her? Was she so desperate to mean something more to him than friends that she had resorted to imagining emotions that weren't there? There was that one evening, a few weeks ago, where it seemed like he was going to kiss her, though she had quickly dismissed that theory. Maybe there was something there on his side too...

"No!" Hermione quickly sat up and slapped her hands over her face. "It's a stupid crush," Hermione muttered to herself. "I just need a few Weasley free days to put my mind straight."

A knock on the door forced Hermione to drag herself off the bed. A hotel staff member was on the other side, presenting her with a rolled up piece of parchment.

"A letter for Miss Granger." The man bowed his head as Hermione took the note.

"Thank you." She gave a small wave and shut the door.

The letter was from Viktor. He passed along the name and address of a restaurant, and hoped that Hermione would be able to join him for lunch. Just the distraction she was looking for- an afternoon with an old friend and delicious, new food. She changed into a fresh shirt and forewent her trainers for a simple pair of flats. Not daring apparate in a new country and risk ending up Merlin knows where, Hermione hailed a muggle taxi to the restaurant.

"Herminny!" a voice boomed as Hermione entered.

Looking around, Hermione spotted Viktor standing and waving from a table in the corner. As she made her way back to the table, she was transported back to the Yule Ball as dozens of pairs of eyes and hushed voices followed her. Viktor was either oblivious or just used to it all, because he paid the extra attention no mind as he wrapped Hermione in a tight hug.

"It is so nice to see you again!" Viktor greeted in his thick Bulgarian accent.

"And you! Thanks so much for the tickets and inviting me to spend a few extra days with you." Hermione smoothed out her shirt and turned to a petite woman that had stood up beside Viktor. She had long, wavy black hair, big brown eyes, and a wide smile. "You must be Nikolina. Viktor has told me all about you. Hermione Granger," she introduced, holding out her hand.

"I knew Viktor was not saying your name properly," Nikolina laughed, gently shaking Hermione's hand.

"And this is our daughter, Tatiana," Viktor said, pointing to a little girl sitting beside Nikolina.

The little girl, that was an exact copy of her mother, grinned up at Hermione. "Hi, Herm-oy-lee," Tatiana chirped, stumbling over the long name. She held up her tiny hand.

Hermione giggled and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you Tatiana. Your daddy talks about you a lot in his letters, too." Hermione took the last seat at the table and ordered a glass of red wine from the waiter. She turned to Tatiana and said, "I have a niece back in England. She could never say my name either, so she just calls me Min."