Hey Tomorrow (Irina)

[ivanka luise krum]

June 1, 2026

Viktor Krum was out as Minister for Magic, and Ivanka was already cringing internally at just how terrible that was going to look for her family. As the youngest Krum child, she knew that she didn't really have much—if any—influence on her professional-Quidditch-player-turned-politician father's actions. That wouldn't stop the Daily Prophet (and every other publication from Britain to Bulgaria) from hounding her, though, and she knew it. It wasn't only that, though; the timing couldn't have been worse if her father had tried. Hogwarts was no more, and everything felt as though it had been crumbling around her already. Getting the grades at NEWT level that she needed to go into Curse-Breaking? She could forget about those.

It felt as though the only people who understood a fraction of what she was going through were her siblings, but even they hadn't been at Hogwarts for Elaine's final blow. The plus side, too, was that Irina was already in Curse-Breaker training, and Ivanka had begged her to take an hour or two to help her with her exam revision. Though she had no doubt that she would have been perfectly capable of getting the marks she needed if not for the destruction of the school, Ivanka had begun to question her own abilities.

"Urgh," Ivanka sighed, staring down at her lap. Her eyes scanned over a page towards the end of the new copy of her Ancient Runes book that she'd had to purchase to replace the one she'd lost at Hogwarts, but she quickly tossed the whole book aside from where she was seated on her bedroom floor. "This is hopeless, Irina. I can't focus," she complained as the book landed with a thud. Ancient Runes was her best subject. If she couldn't even do well at that, then she could kiss Gringotts goodbye.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina was spending time at home this summer, more than she had done the previous summer to be sure. But it was good, because after everything that had happened in the past year and a half, she needed to be home. Her family needed her. Well, perhaps not their eldest brother, who always seemed like he could take care of himself. And not her next younger sister Ana, who was…well she was safe wherever she was now. She mainly meant Ivanka, her youngest sister. With Hogwarts gone, her sister would be going to a new school this coming September, and she would be following in Irina’s footsteps as a Cursebreaker. Irina thought it was pretty cool that students now could start specializing specific career paths instead of just being told what jobs look for what OWL and NEWT level examinations, but she knew Ivanka was worried.

Lying on her back with her legs bent, Irina had closed her eyes while Ivanka studied on the floor next to her. She was dozing ever so lightly when the thud of a large textbook jerked her from her reverie. “Ivanka,” she sighed, then opened her eyes and saw the look on her baby sisters’ face. “Hey,” she said, sitting up and sliding down so she was on the floor next to Ivanka. “What’s really going on? You were really getting Ancient Runes before..” she trailed off; before Hogwarts was set ablaze and destroyed. “Is this what you still want to do sis?” she asked her softly.

ivanka luise krum

[ivanka luise krum]

June 1, 2026

Ivanka didn't even realize that her sister had begun to nod off until she noticed that she had inadvertently startled her awake. Irina was only cross with her for a moment, though, before she slid down to the floor to speak to her. She started off with a "Hey," but it wasn't the kind that made Ivanka think that she was going to be chewing her out for anything.

"What's really going on?" Irina questioned her, mentioning that she had had no problems with Ancient Runes before then. Ivanka knew that, too, but apparently it was enough for Irina to wonder aloud if Curse-Breaking were what she still wanted to do.

"Yeah, of course I want to do it. I can do it," Ivanka replied, a hint of disappointment in her voice despite her stubbornness. She knew that she would hate herself if she weren't able to make it into Curse-Breaker training. (Irina already had done it, after all.) "I just…" It was so hard to retain anything in preparation for her upcoming examinations. Her mind felt like it had been transfigured into a sieve—at least when it came to anything that she needed to remember for her NEWTs.

"I can't believe we've got to sit these exams," Ivanka added in frustration. "It's been two weeks since we all nearly died," and that wasn't even considering the people who wouldn't be able to take their exams as planned because they had died. "Can't they just use the grades we were predicted to get?" It would make the whole process so much easier for everyone involved. The Ministry wouldn't have to arrange everything that should have been done in the Great Hall, and no one would be put at a disadvantage because Hogwarts had been destroyed. The idea wasn't for a free pass; people would have had to have put in the work before the tragedy. If their father were still Minister for Magic, then maybe it would have been different.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina held up her hands in defense. “Okay, I believe you,” she relented with a small smile. Ivanka couldn’t seem to put into words exactly how she was feeling, and Irina couldn’t blame her. She thought she had seen it all when the Beauxbatons carriage and the Durmstrang ship were attacked and so many of their visiting students had died, but it turned out Elaine had another trick up her sleeve. One bigger and more explosive than anyone could possibly have imagined. Irina had dreamt of Hogwarts aflame before, but she hadn’t paid the dreams much mind since they were from several years ago. Now she felt like she could have kicked herself for not believing in her Clairvoyance more. Still, now wasn’t the time to bring that up.

“You don’t feel ready, even though you are?” she asked her sister, cocking a brow at her. “I know the feeling, but you need to have a little more faith in yourself sis. You know it, and when you do go and sit the exam, everything else will leave your mind. You’ve just got to hone in on those lessons and practical examinations you’ve been doing this past year. Although I know it’s hard to believe, for a few hours you can put YOU first,” she told her. She wasn’t going to joke how the world wouldn’t catch fire while Ivanka was sitting the exam, because they both knew it could. There had been confirmation of a body, a charred body but a body nonetheless, in the Chamber of Secrets. Evidently thats where Elaine had been hiding all along, but nobody thought to look there. Still, Elaine hadn’t been a Parselmouth, so nobody knew exactly HOW she got in.

“I’m a bit envious of you actually,” Irina commented, slightly changing the subject. “It would have been pretty cool to get some specialty training for Cursebreaking. Not that I’m not a prepared Cursebreaker at this point,” she added quickly, for some reason not wanting her sister to think her current level of education left her unprepared. “I heard Professor Vector has a few cool seminars he’s introducing,” she told her. When Irina had seen the list of courses offered, she had felt a pang of jealousy at some of the offerings. Perhaps she’d be allow to sit in on one or something.

ivanka luise krum

[ivanka luise krum]

June 1, 2026

Irina told her that she needed to have more faith in herself and put herself first for a few hours to succeed at her NEWTs. As long as she could do that and ignore everything else that wasn't on her exams.

Changing the subject, Irina said that she was jealous of her because Professor Vector was planning on introducing some seminars for the Curse-Breakers.

"Really?" asked Ivanka, curious what Irina had heard that she hadn't.

With Hogwarts destroyed, Ivanka knew that the staff of the school had to find other jobs or something else to do to occupy their time. It made sense that some of them would find other ways to teach. The goblins at the bank didn't seem to care much about proper training, though, from what Ivanka knew; they only really cared that the Curse-Breakers came back with treasure from abroad. She really didn't want to feel as though she had gone back to school, particularly after Elaine's attack, but having the occasional bit of stability wouldn't hurt anything, either.

Besides, she wouldn't have to think about some of her school subjects ever again after her NEWTs were over. Ancient Runes was one that she would need without a doubt, though. She was great at Ancient Runes; there was no reason in the world why she couldn't get a perfect score on her final examination. She just had to get her brain back to the way it was before Elaine Dupree had gone and screwed everything up again.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina nodded, pulling out a course offering list she had gotten from a colleague at Gringotts. She had been curious about the new LIFE courses, and how different it would actually be from her own experience. She had wanted to prepare Ivanka of course, but she had wanted to see for herself what she was missing. She wasn’t planning on going back to school at this point, but maybe she’d be allowed to sit in on a seminar or two to get a feel for it. Plus, Professor Vector was a former Cursebreaker, which meant he would be a fountain of knowledge. “Lots of Cursebreaking specific seminars you should check out,” she told her younger sister, pointing out a few courses led by Archie and her own mentor Renfri Selwyn that she had found intriguing.

“And just think Ivanka, once you’ve sat your NEWTs, you can just focus on Ancient Runes and any other course you’d like. I’ve heard Ancient Studies with Professor Lancaster is quite interesting; he used to be an Auror I think, but rumor has it that many of his summers were spent on magical archaeological digs,” she explained, her eyes glinting with excitement. “This year will definitely be quite a bit different than what you’re used to, I won’t beat about the bush with that. But I think it’ll be a good different,” she told her younger sister. She hoped Ivanka could get through her NEWTS without trouble and start down her new path with a hopeful outlook on life.

ivanka luise krum

[ivanka luise krum]

June 1, 2026

Ivanka was beginning to feel slightly annoyed that Irina had a more positive outlook on how things were going to be mere weeks after so many people had been killed by Elaine Dupree for what felt like the millionth time. She didn't really care what opportunities were available to her, assuming that she would pass her NEWTs with the marks she needed. If she were to fail, as she was sure she would, then she needed options. Maybe she would get really lucky and find something that paid enough for her to rent a room at the Leaky Cauldron, at the least.

Under better circumstances, she would have been interested in hearing what Ivanka had to say about Professor Lancaster. She didn't know him as well as she knew some of the other staff members at Hogwarts, but she had enjoyed taking Ancient Studies and hoped that it had been good preparation for going into Curse-Breaking.

Still feeling incredibly tense, Ivanka let out a huff. "I just want my life back!" She wasn't angry with Irina; she was just tired of the situation into which she had been dropped because some people thought of murder as a hobby rather than an atrocity.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina could tell her positivity was going in one ear and out the other with her baby sister. Sighing, she reached out and ruffled her hair. “Listen Ivanka, I know life seems like it keeps throwing curveballs at you. Believe me, my seventh year was no picnic either with the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang explosions. And Elaine’s attack the year before.” That really didn’t paint Hogwarts in the best of light since every spring something bad seemed to happen. Perhaps out of the ashes the Phoenix will rise with the successor to the infamous school.

“You’ve just got to find that confidence in yourself again. I know it’s there - you wouldn’t have even gotten to NEWT level if you didn’t know your stuff,” Irina reminded her sister. She picked up the book and placed it on the desk. “But you also need to recognize when to take a break. So come on, let’s go for a walk,” she said, sticking out her hand to help Ivanka up. She wasn’t going to take no for an answer; her jaw was set determinedly and she planted her other hand on her hip. “Up!” She encouraged, perhaps a little forcefully.

ivanka luise krum

[ivanka luise krum]

June 1, 2026

Irina wasn't about to let her stay inside her head, ruminating over everything that had happened. Ivanka wanted to be grateful to her older sister for that, but it was hard to when so much felt like it was happening all at once. Having the ability to pause time would have been excellent, though that also wasn't a possibility. Hearing the reminder that Elaine had screwed over her seventh year at Hogwarts was meant to be comforting, and Ivanka understood that. Simultaneously, it just frustrated her because it shouldn't have happened then, and it certainly shouldn't have happened again.

"You've just got to find that confidence in yourself again," Irina explained to her, sounding more encouraging then in a way that Ivanka could get behind. "I know it's there—you wouldn’t have even gotten to NEWT level if you didn’t know your stuff. But you also need to recognize when to take a break. So come on, let’s go for a walk. Up!"

Begrudgingly, Ivanka knew that her sister was right. She took Irina's hand and stood up, smiling a little bit at her insistence. "Alright. But I'm not a broomstick," she protested, albeit with a joking tone.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina snorted at her sister's broomstick joke. “You’re forgetting that it was our dear brother who tried to use you as a broom, not me,” she chided teasingly. Thinking back to the actual event she was quite sure it had only been a joke and had lasted just one or two seconds, and if she was being honest with herself she had egged her brother on, but she felt no reason to reveal this.

Irina led Ivanka outside, where a beautiful afternoon sun shined down on them. “Now pause,” she instructed. She stopped and closed her eyes. Tilting her face towards the sun, she took a deep breath in, then let it out slowly. “Take a deep breath in, then when you exhale, exhale EVERYTHING. All the stress, frustration and nerves you are feeling just breathe them out.” She kept her eyes closed, giving Ivanka the privacy to do so on her own time, or roll her eyes at her. She was pretty sure it was the latter. She let her eyes open and pointed towards one of the trails leading into their woods. “That one leads to the pond where last year we found the ducklings. We can see if a new batch hatched recently?” she suggested.

ivanka luise krum

[ivanka luise krum]

June 1, 2026

Laughing, Irina pointed out that it was their brother who had once tried to use her as a broomstick; she hadn't. Ivanka laughed, too, because it was funny to think about by that point, though of course he hadn't gotten very far in that attempt to begin with. Using another inanimate object in place of a broomstick was one thing, but sitting on one's younger sister and expecting her to fly around simultaneously was another.

Once they were outside in the sunlight, Ivanka realized just how hard on herself she had been. The weather was pleasant—not as cold as she would have liked, but pleasant. Irina instructed her to pause, and Ivanka didn't need as much convincing to do that. She stood there in silence, listening as Irina told her how to inhale and exhale all her frustrations.

Ivanka nodded at Irina's words and closed her eyes. She breathed in deeply, let it out, and repeated the process for a second time.

When she opened her eyes again, Ivanka saw that Irina was pointing in the direction of one of the trails that led into the woods. Irina reminded her that that particular path would lead them to a pond where there had been ducklings the previous year.

"We can see if a new batch hatched recently?" Irina suggested.

With everything else that had gone on since then, Ivanka had almost forgotten about the ducklings, though she wasn't opposed to going with Irina to check if there were ducklings that had newly hatched. "Yeah," she agreed. "Let's go." It would be another way to clear her head.

Irina Rose Krum