[Special] A Confusion, a Regret for a Lifetime 1/2
"Oh, looks like you're not as much of an idiot as I thought," a voice said as Viktor walked back out of the arena. When he turned around, Daphne was standing there, wearing a slightly mischievous smile.
At the sight of her, Viktor's face shifted into a tired expression for a moment.
"I already apologized for that mistake. Are you planning to keep this up?" he asked, a trace of remorse in his voice, feeling as if he could still hear that camera clicking inside his head.
"Of course. I'm a very vindictive person," Daphne replied with a truly gentle smile that, without context, would have looked beautiful. But in Viktor's eyes, it was the devil's own smile.
"Besides, if you don't end up fighting my friends, I'll be quite disappointed in the Quidditch champion," she added, though it sounded more like mockery; enough to genuinely sting Viktor, who, for some reason, looked truly ashamed.
Daphne turned and walked away calmly, humming a cheerful tune. Viktor could only watch her back before letting out a long sigh, feeling like a complete idiot because of past events.
Well… not so far in the past.
An incident that had happened right after he was chosen as Durmstrang's champion.
And that memory did not just embarrass him. It forced him to calculate better what he was seeing before acting.
But more than anything, it made him wish he had a Time Turner just to go back and punch himself in the mouth.
Flashback:
As always, Viktor's mornings began with training. As a professional athlete, even if he was somewhere else, that was something he could never skip. The place he had noticed that seemed perfect for a run was none other than the edges of the Black Lake. So he got his clothes and trainers ready and headed out.
As usual, the moment he stepped outside, he drew attention from students of the other schools. But that was nothing new. Even in his own school, people still stared as if he were something distant and untouchable; and more than once, he had caught girls pretending not to watch while he trained. It had stopped bothering him a long time ago. He learned to treat the looks like background noise and focus on his routine.
First, he started with some light stretching and a warm up.
"Oh. It's rare to see another wizard training around here," a voice suddenly said as it approached him, prompting him to turn around.
There stood a student he vaguely recognized from Beauxbatons. A striking one, at that. But what surprised Viktor was not his appearance; it was that, even through the athletic clothes he was wearing, Viktor could tell every muscle on him was more trained than any professional athlete he had ever seen.
To make things worse, several more girls came trailing after him. The moment they noticed Viktor there as well, ready to train, the squealing only grew louder.
"Ah, right. I didn't introduce myself. Luciel Delacour," Luciel said, offering Viktor his hand with impeccable manners and a calm smile.
Viktor looked at him seriously for a moment before shaking his hand out of courtesy.
The instant he touched Luciel's hand, he noticed the heavy calluses.
"Viktor Krum," he introduced himself, though he found it hard to believe there was anyone who did not already know his name.
"Well. Let me give you some quick advice. Don't stay in one place too long or they'll interrupt your training. Oh, and don't drink anything they hand you. Love potions are a little too easy to get around here," Luciel said with an amused smile before giving him a quick nod and starting to jog the moment he noticed several girls approaching with water bottles and damp towels.
Viktor glanced at the girls for a moment as well and, taking Luciel's advice, stopped warming up and began to run.
As he ran along the lake, he realized something truly monstrous.
Luciel did not slow down for even a second. He did not sweat, nor did his breathing change in the slightest.
Viktor, on the other hand, felt his lungs burning.
"Huff… huff… what kind of monster is he?" Viktor muttered, finally stopping when he could no longer continue, watching Luciel grow more distant with effortless ease. He was not used to falling behind. The feeling settled heavily in his chest, sharper than the burn in his lungs.
After accepting that he could not catch up anymore, and seeing that he had at least completed his daily run, he simply turned around and headed back to where he had left his towel and water.
But he quickly realized that by doing so, he had unintentionally signaled to the girls that he had finished training. Several of them began walking toward him. A few boys as well.
Viktor could not help rolling his eyes.
After wasting a fair amount of time surrounded by a crowd of Beauxbatons and Hogwarts students asking for autographs, trying to hand him bottles of water or towels, Viktor finally managed to leave with a faintly annoyed expression.
He checked the time and frowned slightly. He had lost nearly an hour signing autographs. Luciel had already disappeared, most likely taking advantage of the distraction.
Breakfast on the Durmstrang ship had a strict rule. Exactly one hour. If you were late, you did not eat until lunch. Karkaroff demanded absolute discipline.
If Viktor asked for food outside the allotted time, they would probably give it to him without question. The headmaster never hid his favoritism very well. But that was precisely what Viktor hated. He did not want privileges. He did not want different looks inside his own team.
A few days earlier, he had overheard two Durmstrang students quietly complaining because they had overslept. They said that at Hogwarts, the Great Hall did not have such rigid rules. That they could eat breakfast later without any issue. They had gone there and no one had stopped them.
Viktor had not joined the conversation. He had simply heard it in passing.
So he decided to do the same.
He cast a quick cleaning charm on himself and walked toward the castle, intending to eat quickly and leave before more people surrounded him.
And it was just as he reached the entrance that he saw her.
A blonde girl was slightly bent forward, peeking through the doorway while looking around as if searching for something, or someone, she had not yet noticed.
"How strange… they said he was around here," she murmured while glancing toward the Black Lake.
Upon hearing that, Viktor's expression hardened in annoyance, assuming she was just another fan looking for him. So he began to walk slowly away, taking advantage of the fact that she had not seen him.
But her next words made him stop.
"He's too smart to fall for a water bottle. Harry and Draco would notice right away. I already have the camera, so blackmailing him afterward will be easy. The problem is figuring out how to make him drink it," she said while staring at a small vial of pink liquid in her hand.
So she was not just any fan.
And in that instant, something inside him went completely cold. He had seen more than enough.