"Now tell me, what is this fiancée thing and how long has this been going on?" Hermione asked while folding her arms and looking directly at Victor.
The two of them were standing near the woods behind the Lovegood house, away from the others.
"Hmmm, since we're talking about that, how about we discuss arranged marriages and why letting children make lifelong decisions is usually a terrible idea?" Victor replied.
"To be fair, I never asked for an arranged marriage. Do you honestly think I'd be excited about marriage at this age?"
Hermione narrowed her eyes.
"Come to the point, Victor."
Victor sighed internally.
Normally Hermione was willing to tolerate his attempts to circle around a topic before answering it, but today she clearly wasn't.
The fiancée revelation had obviously bothered her, and honestly, he would have been surprised if it hadn't. They weren't children anymore.
They were teenagers, and emotions were far stronger than they had been a few years ago.
More importantly, Victor wasn't blind.
He knew Hermione had feelings for him.
Maybe she had never said it directly.
Maybe she hadn't even admitted it to herself.
That didn't change the fact that she wanted an answer.
'For once, it would be really great if a Dark Wizard or Voldemort himself appeared.'
Compared to this conversation, that sounded considerably easier.
Hermione continued watching him, clearly unwilling to let him avoid the question.
At the edge of the woods, two heads slowly emerged from behind a bush.
Harry looked uncomfortable.
Ron looked interested.
Neither of them possessed enough self-control to simply walk away.
"Ron, don't you think this is wrong?" Harry whispered while glancing toward Victor and Hermione.
Ron kept his eyes fixed on the conversation.
"No."
Harry wasn't convinced. Listening to private conversations wasn't exactly something Hermione would approve of, yet neither of them was making any effort to leave.
Meanwhile, Hermione finally spoke again.
"Victor."
Her voice remained calm, which somehow made it worse.
"How long?"
Victor rubbed the back of his neck.
"The arrangement has existed since we were children."
"So you can honestly say there's nothing going on between the two of you?" Hermione asked.
Victor hesitated for the briefest moment before answering.
"Umm... nothing besides being friends."
The lie came out surprisingly smoothly.
For the sake of a peaceful life, a few lies here and there were completely acceptable. At least that was what he told himself.
The truth was considerably more complicated.
Victor liked Hermione.
He liked Luna too.
If somebody called him a scumbag for that, he honestly wouldn't have much of a defense.
Fortunately, he was very good at hiding things behind a calm expression.
"So nothing is going on?" Hermione asked again, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"Nothing."
Victor nodded confidently.
"And don't think too much about the arranged marriage either. It's something set far in the future. Anything can happen before then."
That part wasn't entirely a lie.
Years remained before anyone would seriously discuss marriage, and a lot could change before then.
Hermione remained silent for several moments as she studied his face, searching for any sign that he was lying. Victor met her gaze without flinching.
"Is that true?" Hermione finally asked.
"Yes."
Victor answered without hesitation.
"Absolutely true."
The confidence in his voice was flawless.
Hermione stared at him for several more seconds before her expression gradually softened. A small smile appeared on her face, and before Victor could react, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.
Victor froze briefly before returning the hug.
At least the crisis seemed to have passed.
That alone was worth celebrating.
Behind his calm expression, however, Victor couldn't help thinking Hermione was much easier to fool than he had expected. Then again, maybe that was because they were still young.
Hidden behind the bush, Harry and Ron stared with their mouths hanging open.
Both of them had been expecting an argument.
Instead, the conversation had somehow gone from Hermione looking ready to interrogate Victor to the two of them hugging.
Ron looked completely dumbfounded.
"Wait... that's it?" he whispered.
Harry looked just as confused.
"I thought she was angry."
"So did I."
Neither of them had any idea how Victor had managed to turn the situation around, but whatever had just happened made absolutely no sense from their perspective.
Then Ron noticed Victor looking directly at him while Hermione was still hugging him.
Victor was smiling.
Ron immediately flinched. During the last three years, he had learned many things about Victor, and one of the most important lessons was that not every smile was friendly.
This was definitely one of the dangerous ones.
"Harry, don't you think Victor is looking strangely at us?" Ron whispered.
Harry glanced toward the clearing before answering.
"No."
Ron immediately relaxed.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. It's probably just my imagina—"
"He is looking at you."
Ron froze mid-sentence and slowly turned toward Harry.
"What?"
Harry looked back toward Victor.
"He's looking at you specifically. Also, he doesn't look particularly happy about whatever you've done."
A feeling of dread immediately settled in Ron's stomach.
"Umm... Harry, do you think it's too late to apologize?"
Harry considered everything Ron had done since arriving at the Lovegood house. Between the fiancée comments, the endless teasing, and Ron's complete inability to leave well enough alone, the list was fairly impressive.
After reviewing all the evidence, Harry arrived at a conclusion.
"I think that opportunity disappeared about an hour ago."
Ron closed his eyes.
"Yeah... that's about what I was afraid of."
*****
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