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Chapter 29

"Gin, I just don't know what I should do." Dirty snow crunched under their feet as they walked along the busy streets of muggle London. With gloved hands and warm hats, the two girls were trying to finish up some last minute Christmas shopping.

"How about this one?" Hermione gave a nod and the two girls headed into a shop, stepping out of the chilly, winter air. The bell tinged and the shop keeper greeted them kindly.

"Gin, I'm serious though." Hermione let out a frustrated sigh as Ginny once again refused to acknowledge her comment.

"I don't know what to tell you, Hermione. Maybe he lost interest." At this Hermione's face fell. "Not that someone would lose interest in a catch like you." Hermione huffed in response, turning away from the girl to inspect a trinket on the shelf. "Oh come on, Hermione. It's just kind of weird talking about this with you. You never talk about this stuff."

"But you had no problem talking about it before." She picked the item up, showing it to Ginny who shook her head no.

"That was different. That was when we were joking. This is all too real now. You slept with Malfoy! Multiple times. You're his boss Hermione. This has sexual harassment written all over it." Hermione lunged towards the red headed girl, clasping her hand over her mouth.

"Will you keep it down? Gods, Ginny." Ginny rolled her eyes and pulled Hermione's hand from her lips.

"Calm down, Hermione. Who is going to overhear us here? We're in the middle of muggle London for Pete's sake." The large swooping gesture Ginny made with her arms bumped into a figurine on the shelf. It wobbled slightly, but remained upright. Letting out a sigh of relief, Ginny carefully dropped her arms back down to her side. "Maybe we should get out of here. I didn't realize how many things I could break in here." Hermione shook her head and rolled her eyes but motioned for Ginny to lead the way. She cast her eyes around the shop once more on the way out, just to make sure they had not been overheard.


The winter holidays flew by and before she knew it, Hermione was getting up Monday morning to head in for the first home game of the New Year. Hermione was slightly worried about the team not playing well, especially after that embarrassing loss to the Cannons right before holidays. Today marked the 22nd day since she had spoken to Draco. She'd seen him around the pitch, but he would hide his face or keep his eyes trained to the ground when he saw her approaching.

It hurt.

But she had decided the night before that she was done. Done feeling sorry for herself and done wondering what she could have done wrong. She was done crying into her pillow or worrying about the media finding out. If Draco hadn't leaking the information yet, she highly doubted he would. Granted she was taking a big leap in her logic, she honestly hoped he was a decent human being inside.

The walk to her office was pleasant. She passed a few stadium workers and politely bid them good morning. She noticed however, they did not bid her the same. Her pace quickened, feeling more eyes following her. Gripping her bag tighter, Hermione allowed her feet to carry her at a quicker pace, almost running for the safety she hoped her office would bring. Nigel was not at her desk. She pushed her door open, slamming it shut behind her. Dumping her bag on the floor, she brought her hands up to her hair, racking her curly locks out in nervousness.

"Relax, Hermione. You're being ridiculous. No one was staring at you. You have nothing to worry about." She took a few more deep breaths, shaking out her arms, before she felt calm enough to sit down at her desk. She closed her eyes, listening to the sound of beak tapping against the glass. Placing her hands on her desk top, she rose. Once the window opened, not one, not two, but four owls came flying through her window. Cocking her head to the side, she approached the flock.

Three of the owls she recognized as belonging to her three best friends. The fourth was a carrier for the Daily Prophet. Concerned for her friends, Hermione quickly untied the note from Ginny's owl.

'Oh, Hermione! I'm so sorry! I'll kill the bastard. Just you wait until I get my hands on him!'

Confusion flashed across her face. She quickly reached for the note from Ron, unfolding the parchment in a hurry.

'DRACO FUCKING MALFOY?! HERMIONE ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? WHAT WERE YOU EVEN THINKING GETTING INVOLVED WITH HIM? IF I EVER SEE THAT ARROGANT SON OF A BITCH ANYWHERE, I'LL KILL HIM.'

Her heart stopped. Ginny never would have never told Ron about her short fling with Draco. Ginny had sworn she hadn't even told Harry. She could feel the tears spilling down her face as she untied the note from Harry.

''Mione, I'm so sorry. I just saw the Prophet. Don't you worry. I floo'd Nigel right away. I've already got you publicist trying to do damage control. DO NOT go to the game today Hermione. Stay home.'

Her head was spinning and the tears in her eyes were starting to cloud her vision. She reached out for the last owl, hands shaking as she unrolled the paper. Her breath caught in her throat as the large, oversized black font glared back at her from above a picture that was worth a thousand words.

'GENERAL MANAGER HERMIONE GRANGER CAUGHT IN THE ACT WITH STAR SEEKER DRACO MALFOY'

Her tears turned to sobs as she stared at a picture of the two of them before the Cannons game, tucked away in the shadows. The image repeated itself over and over. She stared in horror as Draco bit down on her collar bone playfully before bring his lips back up to hers. She heard a knock at her door and a voice saying her name.

She was going to be sick.