once a busy crowd soon became an empty stadium filled with nothing but silence. Harry Potter had just finished his challenge, signalling the end of the First Task, and Arabella was delighted at the rankings.

Both Harry and Viktor were awarded joint first place.

She ran out of the stadium, leaving Fred and George behind, with butterflies in her stomach and a bubbling joy pulsating through her veins. A broad smile was plastered on her face with her shoulder bag flailing behind her.

She caught sight of Viktor's muscular body promptly after congratulating Harry on his placing; the bespectacled boy was sweaty and smelled less-than-pleasant, although neither of them seemed to care as he was completely overjoyed with the results and his efforts in retrieving the dragon egg (so much so that, unbeknownst to Bella, a celebration was held in the Gryffindor Common Room afterwards - Harry was held up by his housemates and cheered on in acknowledgment of his success).

Abandoning Harry's excited nature, she blabbered out an adequate excuse and began walking towards Viktor, who was laughing alongside one of his Durmstrang friends who was clearly congratulating him. Soon, her stroll transitioned into a fast walk, and Arabella found herself picking her feet up and breaking into a run.

At the sound of her footsteps, Viktor swivelled on his heels and turned to face the redhead with beaming brown eyes. Before he could react, Arabella sprinted into his large arms, embracing him in a forceful hug which he returned by grasping her around the waist and swirling the girl off of her feet. She shrieked in surprise as she was spun around, finding the ground again under her black pumps and burying her head into his neck. "I'm so proud of you," she whispered into the cotton of his Durmstrang jersey.

"You helped me," he replied dismissively.

She shook her head, about to argue against his modesty, when she caught sight of Erin Martell and Zoe Rosenkrands - of whom she previously presumed the latter had been expelled due to her supernatural exposure. (Evidently this was not the case, or Zoe would not have been standing in front of her.) Her eyes narrowed at the two girls; both adorning their usual appearances with heavy makeup and their Ravenclaw uniforms edited to their own perfection, and despite Zoe's obvious face burns, the focus was still maintained on her obnoxiously loud yellow nail varnish.

Anthony Goldstein had his arm around Erin as him and the two girls spoke in a group under a shaded tree. The mere sight of her roommates made Bella's stomach churn with disgust. She hadn't seen Zoe since their interrogation with Snape, and Erin since the night in the Forbidden Forest.

She tugged at Viktor's sleeve, and found herself not being able to let it go. "Viktor," she murmured shakily. "It's Erin and Zoe."

He followed her gaze and instantly found them with his own eyes; surveying the group with a similar look of displeasure. Viktor began walking towards them, forcing Arabella to release her grip on him. Suddenly, she became too weak to call out in protest; her hands shaking, her ears ringing and her head pounding. She couldn't decide if it was fear, but she recognised the incredibly nauseous feeling in her stomach to be something of that nature.

She watched as Viktor grabbed Erin's robe with a large fist, his skin turning the red hue of his Durmstrang jersey.

He was angry.

Arabella ran to the scene, attempting to pull Viktor away, but he was too persistent. Despite Anthony Goldstein's attempts to calm the Seeker, he was proving to be pathetic against someone of Krum's tall and muscular stature. "You hurt Bella," he spat at the scared brunette. Her robe was held tightly between his fingers. "Don't ever do that again." He released the girl, and her expression wavered. Erin had a smirk on her face, and all of a sudden, she broke into laughter.

"What are you talking about?" She chuckled. "I haven't hurt Bella. I thought that cut on her head was because she fell over or something."

"Then who did?" It was the first time that Arabella had spoke in the whole interaction, and still, her voice was quiet and shaky.

Erin shrugged. "I don't know." She sighed, exasperated. "For Merlin's sake, just because I hate you doesn't mean I want to kill you." She turned, looking for Zoe, who had seemingly slipped away from the group without the knowledge of any of them. "Where'd Zoe go?"

The rest of the group shrugged in reply.

"If you're not lying to me, Erin, I'm sorry for accusing you." Bella muttered, embarrassed of her accusations. She felt Viktor's arm snake around her waist, mirroring Anthony's position against Erin. But Arabella flinched at the touch, making him instantly retract his arm back to his side.

Erin noticed this, and smiled. A malicious idea enter her mind, but it was quickly distinguished when she thought of her and Anthony's secret relationship. Bella has kept it secret for over a year. She decided she would return the favour, and keep the romantic tension of the redhead and Viktor between herself.

Besides, Zoe planned to kill the girl anyway; she had attempted to do so beforehand in the Forbidden Forest, and she was determined to succeed this time.

But Bella didn't need to know that, right?

"It's fine, Flannery. Really." Erin dismissed, suddenly and forcefully grabbing the redhead's arm which startled her. "Just-- be safe, okay?"

Bella shared a worried glance with Viktor. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Erin shrugged. I promised Zoe I wouldn't tell her. "I don't know, I've just heard rumours around the castle lately. Stupid ones about the return of the Dark Lord and Death Eaters. Like I said, as much as I hate you, I don't want you to die."

●

Bella smiled as she recognised her owl, Henry, flying above the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall. He dropped the latest edition of the Daily Prophet in front of her, with a note from her mother scribbled on the front.

Bella,

Just received this at home, very surprised to see your name mentioned by Rita Skeeter - you're practically a famous witch already!

Love Mum x

Noticing the newspaper and the confused gasp from Deanna, Eleanor skipped over from the Hufflepuff table; a familiar delighted and cheerful expression on her face. She sat at the empty seat beside her sister (which Luna had previously sat on until she decided that the thestrals were far more interesting than her breakfast), waiting for Bella to read Rita's article.

As she skimmed over it, surprised at the headlines of Harry and Hermione's supposed relationship of which she knew was incorrect (she never trusted Rita Skeeter, anyway), Arabella recognised her name and her eyes instantly widened in shock. "In a previous interview with eighteen-year-old Seeker, Viktor Krum, he spilled information on his new budding romance with ordinary Hogwarts student, Arabella Flannery." She read aloud, feeling anger bubble in her stomach. "It seems that the Ravenclaw girl prefers older men, with a two-year age gap that will make many readers question: is this a publicity act for fame?"

Crumpling the newspaper in the palm of her hand, she arose from her seat and stormed over to the Slytherin table where the Durmstrangs were sat - earning a few mocking whistles and scoff of disgust from Draco, which she returned with the same expression.

Viktor stood up in acknowledgment of her presence, recognising her anger. Before he could express his concern, she pushed his chest forcefully. "What did you say?" She yelled, acquiring the attention of the whole Slytherin table.

He raised his hands in defeat. "Say to who?"

She opened the newspaper, pointing to the article with a slender finger. "Rita Skeeter! She's published a bloody article on our apparent budding romance so now the whole school knows! Oh Merlin, Viktor, what did you tell her in that interview?"

"I didn't say anything! She asked me if there was a romantic interest in my life and of course I couldn't say no!" His voice was raised, coarse and angry.

"Why couldn't you say no?" The Ravenclaw shouted in reply.

"Because I love you, Bella!"

HE LOVES HER HE FINALLY CONFESSED ASPXOWKL

I only have a week left of my exams so I thought I'd update, sorry for the hiatus but I hope I made it up to you with all the Vik & Bella moments ;)

I've probably lost so many readers though oops