     On a frigid day in late November, Professor Karkaroff had approached Viktor with news that both excited and terrified him. On Christmas evening, a ball would be held in honor of the Triwizard Tournament and the four champions. Not only would he have to ask a girl to come with him, but, being one of those champions, would have to dance in front of everyone else with that girl.
     He knew immediately who he wanted to ask, but it was how he would find the guts to ask her that worried him.  He had made a habit of going to the library to watch her, and every time he had seen her there he had wanted so badly to talk to her.  But sometimes she would go with Harry Potter and her red-haired friend, or sometimes his fanclub would be there, peering at him from behind a bookshelf.  And the rest of the times, he simply hadn't been able to pluck up the courage.  She was so pretty that even the thought of approaching her would get him tongue-tied.  He almost thought it would be easier to approach her if she was with a group, because then there would be other people to look at too, but…he couldn't ask her out with everyone else standing there.
     At last, though, Viktor decided that he needed to hurry and ask her before someone else did, if they hadn't already.  So he had come up with a scheme to ensure that they would be out of earshot of anyone else when he asked her out.  He had located an obscure book in the most remote section of the library, and had decided to ask her to lead him to it. Then, when he was sure they were alone, he would just suck it up and ask her.
     Viktor arrived early to the library on the day two weeks before the Yule Ball.  He had done a very minor relaxation charm on himself just to keep the jittery feeling in his nerves to a minimum.  He knew that he was going to have to ask Hermione to the ball today, because he had pointed her out to his best mate, Bjorn Lundin, at breakfast and told him that she was the one he wanted to take.  Like the good friend he was, Bjorn had immediately begun teasing him about how young she was, but then had dared Viktor to ask her before returning to the ship, and Viktor hadn't been able to find a way to  back out of it without seeming like a coward.  So after standing in Hermione's empty alcove for a moment, he made a rash decision and sat at her usual table with a few books.  If she came in at the time she usually did on this day of the week, he would have about twenty minutes to wait.
     Sure enough, she walked in right on schedule, and Viktor steeled himself for the most horrendously nerve-wracking experience of his life.
     *          *          *
     What in the name of all that's holy was he doing at her table?
     Hermione had stopped dead in her tracks as she turned the corner entering her favorite part of the library because Viktor Krum had done the unthinkable.  He actually had the gall to sit at her table, facing in the direction that she always entered from, almost as if he had been waiting for her to come.
     Don't be ridiculous, she thought.  Of course he wouldn't know that the table was practically reserved for her, but still, he had been in there enough times to know that it was the table she always, always used.  And of course he wouldn't be waiting for her.  That was just absurd.
     She thought about sitting at another table, but somehow she just knew that she wouldn't be able to focus if she did.  It was silly, but she was just so used to that table….
     So, she approached Viktor Krum.
     "Do you mind if I sit here?" she asked, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice as she gestured to the chair opposite him.
     "Not at all," he said, glancing quickly up at her and then back to his book, his dark eyes looking oddly tentative beneath thick, surly eyebrows.  She didn't think she'd ever heard him speak before.  His voice was very deep and thickly accented.
     "Thanks."  She sat down and dumped her books across every unoccupied inch of the table, selected one, and in a few minutes had become so absorbed in her reading that she nearly forgot that she wasn't alone.  She was almost half-way through the reading assignment when the sound of his voice suddenly made her jump.
     "Excuse me, Miss…Granger, isn't it?"
     She looked up at him, raising an eyebrow when he somehow knew her name, but she just nodded.  Krum shifted in his chair, seeming to avoid her eyes.
     "I…I haff seen you much here.  You must be…" he glanced in her direction, "…qvite a studious type."
     "Yes, I like studying," she said shortly, turning back to her book.  "But mostly I've just been very busy."
     There was a short pause, but Hermione found herself reading the same line of the text over and over again while she waited for him to say something else to her.  She heard him shift in his seat again, and she looked back up when he spoke.
     "I haff been noticing that you help many others vith studies.  You seem to be…a very brilliant vitch."  She saw his cheeks go red at the same time she felt her own face getting hot.  She was about to object to his over-ambitious compliment but he continued quickly, seeming to grow even more nervous when he saw her blushing.  "I am sorry if I am…distracting you," he said quietly.
     Hermione sat back in her chair, utterly baffled by his strange behavior.  It wasn't as if she had never made a boy nervous, but before it had only been because some boys just found smart people intimidating.  It had nothing to do with the often-overlooked fact that she was actually a girl.  But this seemed different, somehow.  He could talk to her, but he would hardly look at her.
     "No, you're not distracting me," she said, even if it wasn't technically true.  Ordinarily she would have found any interruption to be terribly annoying, but, although the whole situation was rather odd, she was more than a little bit curious to see where he was going with this.
     He met her eyes sheepishly.  "Vell, I vos just vondering, Hermy-own, if—"
     Hermione tried very hard to stifle a giggle when she heard his terrible mispronunciation, but did a very bad job of it.  Looking completely mortified, Viktor grimaced and said something that sounded like a curse in Bulgarian.
     "Forgiff me, please," he said in a desperate voice while his ears burned with embarrassment.  "My English is uzhasen, is terrible, I'm sorry."
     "It's alright," she said, still trying not to laugh.  "You aren't the first one, believe me.  I know it's a difficult name."
     "But is very pretty von," he said, looking very contrite as he gazed up at her with his head bowed.
     Hermione felt her face turn pink.  She was beginning to get that fluttery feeling again.  "Thank you," she said quietly, and one corner of his mouth pulled up slightly in a nervous smile as they sat looking at each other for a moment.  Then Hermione cleared her throat.  "So what did you need, Mr. Krum?"
     He frowned slightly.  "Viktor," he corrected.  "Please call me Viktor."
     "Okay…Viktor, then."
     "Yes.  Vell, I…I vanted to ask you if you could…help me find a book."
     "Oh."  Strangely, Hermione found herself to be a little disappointed.  She didn't know what she had been expecting, but this seemed like a rather mundane thing for him to get so nervous about.  "What do you need help finding?"
     "Archaic Incantations."
     She looked up at the ceiling, her lips moving to form the words, but not speaking them out loud, and then she stood up.
     "It should be right here," she said, turning to the bookcase behind her, and she began walking along it, running her finger down the spines of the old books. Viktor got up and stood behind her as she muttered to herself.  She found herself getting distracted by how close together they stood, but then there was a sudden outburst of giggles from the other side of the bookshelf.  She heard a huff from Viktor, but she decided to ignore the ridiculous groupies.
     "Or...it could be over this way... Come on," she said, and she began to walk down the aisle toward the deserted end of the library.
     Viktor followed her, and just as he passed the group of girls, Hermione heard the loudest giggle yet, and then the sound of seven pairs of feet scampering towards the exit.  She looked at Viktor over her shoulder and saw him shaking his head, his hands buried in the pockets of his robe.  She smiled slightly as she turned away.
     Eventually they reached the aisle where the book was shelved, and she located it fairly quickly, pulled it off of the shelf, and held it out to him.
     "Here you are, Mr. Kru…er, I mean Viktor," she said with a small smile. "Archaic Incantations."
     Viktor hesitated, and then reached out and took the book, but did not take his eyes from her face.
     "Actually… I vonder if I could ask you something else as vell..."
     "Oh," she said, slightly confused. "Okay..."
     "I am sorry if I am being…a bother.  It's just…vell…that I haff been meaning to speak to you for…a few days.  Ah, no for a few veeks."  His ears went even redder, if that was possible, and he looked quickly down at his book.
     And that blasted fluttering was back.  Multiplied tenfold.
     "You see," he continued, "I…I saw you on the night I vos putting my name in the Goblet, you vere sitting there by it—"
     "I remember," she interjected.
     "Da, yes, vell I…I vos thinking that…forgiff me for being forvard, but I vos thinking that...you vere a very beautiful girl."
     He looked a terribly nervous, but he steadily held her gaze, and the look in his eyes was very sincere.  Hermione, on the other hand, was feeling light-headed and somewhat dazed.  Very deer-in-the-headlights, having every intention to bolt...if she could only find a way to make her feet move.
     "You've lost me," she mumbled under her breath.
     "Sorry?" he asked, but she just shook her head, putting her hand the bookshelf to steady herself.  "Vell, anyvay, then I vos coming here and I could see that you vere also a very smart girl, like I haff said.  And so, vell vot I really vanted to ask you is that…is if you vould like to….like to accompany me to the Yule Ball?  I vould be very much honored."
     Hermione's eyes widened.  The ball?  He wanted her to go the ball with him?  It had to be the most absurd joke she had ever heard in her life.  She opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to latch onto a word, but that incessant fluttering was making it nearly impossible to think, let alone speak.  Viktor's face fell after a few seconds of this, and he held up a hand.
     "I see, perhaps you already haff another.  I should haff known to ask you sooner."  He glanced away from her, looking disappointed.
     "Oh…no," she finally managed to stammer, though her voice was infernally squeaky.  "I don't have a date yet."
     "Vell I could understand if you vanted to go with someone else…."
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     She was shaking her head before he finished speaking.  "No, I don't.  Or…what I mean is…yes.  Yes, I-I'd love to go with you…Viktor."
     Viktor's eyes lit up, and a smile spread across his face, instantly warming his harsh, aquiline features and revealing a face that was surprisingly charming.  "Really?  You vould?"
     This was the first genuinely happy smile she had seen on his face, and the fact that it was directed at her kicked the fluttering to an even more insane speed, causing her to lose the ability to speak again, so she just nodded.  His smile turned into a huge grin, and he caught up her hand and kissed it, making her blush all over again.
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     "Thank you," he said enthusiastically, still holding onto her hand.  "Thank you very much, you make me very happy.  Shall I vill meet you near to the castle enter before the ball begins?" he said.
     It took a moment for her to decipher his butchered grammar, and when she tried to answer in the affirmative, it came out sounding more like a giggle.  Viktor swallowed hard, still grinning, and then he dropped her hand and clicked his heels together, making a deep bow.
     "Very good," he said.  "I vill be eagerly avaiting."  He was about to leave, but then he grabbed her hand and kissed it again.  "Until then, Her-my-ninny."  He spun on his heel and left the library with an obvious spring in his step.
     Hermione stood there, awestruck and dumbfounded, with a giddy smile on her face, but as the seconds passed, her euphoria started to fade away.
     And it left her terrified.
     A ball?  A ball with dancing in a ridiculously fancy dress?  And with a boy?  What on earth had she been thinking?  And…going to the ball with one of the champions meant that she would be put directly in the spotlight.  In the spotlight with the likes of Fleur Delacour and Cedric Diggory.
     How could you be such an idiot? she thought, although screaming it out loud was what she had wanted to do.  Still in a bit of a daze, she walked back to her books and slowly packed them up, and then left the library, her thoughts feeling like a terribly jumbled mess.
     *          *          *
Karkaroff was waiting for Viktor when he arrived back on the ship.  Viktor knew immediately that the look on his face meant, "Come to my study," and meant it without room for excuses.
     "Vhere haff you been, Viktor?" Karkaroff demanded the moment he closed the door behind them.  The headmaster's thin, bearded face was like hoar-frost.
     "I vos…finding somevon to take to the ball," he said, almost making it sound like a question.
     "Did you ask that girl that Lundin told me you vould?"
     Viktor blinked.  "Bjorn told you?"
     "Not qvite villingly," Karkaroff said with a half-sneer on his face.  "Now vos this the girl you asked?  The Muggle-born who is alvays vith Harry Potter?"
     Again, Viktor blinked in surprise.  Not that it mattered very much to him, but she seemed so brilliant that it hadn't even crossed his mind that Hermione might be Muggle-born.  But rather than convey any of these thoughts, Viktor simply said, "Yes."
      A dark look crossed his headmaster's face.  "I varned you about this before the ball, Viktor," Karkaroff growled.  "Slytherin House is the only von of the four that remains pure.  The others are filled vith all sorts of…other types of vizards and vitches, such as this vide-eyed little fawn."  Viktor opened his mouth to speak but Karkaroff cut him off with a raised voice.  "But also, she is friends vith Potter, you know this, and he is currently the closest behind you in the tournament.  That little Delilah vill be trying to vheedle strategies out of you so she can pass on to Potter."
     "Ve vill not speak of the tournament, Her-my-nee and I."
     Karkaroff straightened to his full height.  He was the only person who could actually tower over Viktor.  "Take care that you do not.  And, since you are so determined to stay vith her, a vord of advice: be careful that you don't…vound her sensibilities.  The little girl is bound to haff many."  Viktor felt his ears go red at the suggestive tone in Karkaroff's voice, but he held his headmaster's nearly-smiling gaze.  Then, after just a moment longer, he unexpectedly reached behind him and pushed open the door, and Viktor stalked out of the room.
     *          *          *
Minutes later, Hermione stepped through the portrait hole of Gryffindor tower, her heavy book-bag slung over her shoulder.  She still hadn't quite believed any of it, that she was going to the Yule Ball with someone...a boy...and not just any boy, but Viktor Krum.  She was almost panicking.  Why on earth had she accepted him?  She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and then looked around the Common Room for someone she could talk to.  Not Harry or Ron: they would never stop making fun of her if she told them. Then she saw a red-haired girl sitting by the fire with three other students, and, dropping her bag on the floor where she stood, hurried over to her.
     "Ginny," she said, tapping her on the shoulder. "Could I talk to you?"
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     "Yeah, sure," Ginny said, looking at her.
     "Er...in private?" Hermione added, because all of Ginny's friends were staring up at her.
     "Oh...yeah. C'mon, my dormitory's empty."
     They walked up the girl's staircase, into the second door on the right hand side, and both sat on Ginny's bunk.
     "So what's up?" Ginny asked, and when all Hermione did was take several deep breaths, she said, "What's the matter? You look like...like-"
     "Like I just got asked to the Yule Ball by Viktor Krum?" Hermione finished for her.
     "Yeah," Ginny said with a laugh, but then she froze, her mouth open. "Did you?" she asked, sounding shocked.
     Hermione looked at her and nodded.
     "What did you say?" she asked in a hushed voice.
     "I...I think I said yes."
     Ginny stared at her for several seconds. "You don't sound very thrilled..."
     "Thrilled?" Hermione said incredulously. "Why should I be thrilled? I..." She stood up and began pacing up and down in front of the bunk. "God, what was I thinking?"
     "Well at least you didn't turn him down. Then I'd just be laughing at you."
     "I should have!" Hermione said a little hotly. "I can't go to the ball with him!"
     "Do you have a dress?"
     "Don't be silly, of course I do."
     "Then why can't you go?"
     "I...oh I don't know...I can't dance, I...I'm just not the type," she said in desperation, sitting back down on the bed, resting her forehead on her hands. "I mean, look at that Delacour girl, and Diggory...Cho and Davies aren't bad looking either...I'm just not—"
     "Hermione, would you let me help you get ready for the ball?" Ginny asked suddenly.
     "Would you?" Hermione asked, clutching at the offer like a lifeline.
     Ginny grinned.
     "'Course I will," she said. "Just be here early, and I'll make you the prettiest girl at the ball."
     Hermione raised her eyebrows, but then laughed, shaking her head.  "I doubt that, but...but thanks anyways, Ginny."
That night, Hermione went to sleep feeling a bit better about the whole situation, and was actually a little excited that she would be going to the Ball with Viktor Krum.
* * *
A Midwinter Night's Dream by winters_tale
Chapter Endnotes:
"A waltz for the chance I should take,
But how will I know where to start?
She's spinning between constellations and dreams,
Her rhythm is my beating heart.
So she dances,
In and out of the crowd like a glance.
This romance is
From afar calling me silently.
I can't keep on watching forever
I'd give up this view just to tell her..."
~Josh Groban, "So She Dances"