Distant roaring surrounded Hermione as she sat nervously alone in her seat among the quidditch stands. Every crimson and gold wearing Gryffindor were up on their feet, eagerly waiting for the teams to arrive and begin the game.
One of the last, if not most crucial, game of the season was just about to start and Hermione couldn't help but feel uneasy. If it weren't for Nott and his horrible spell, she would be cheering along with her friends instead of moping in her seat on such a beautiful autumn day.
Honestly, it was what she deserved for doing the unthinkable.
"Here," Hermione said as she shoved parchment papers into Nott's arms.
He was startled by the sudden action but quickly gathered what was going on after she had cornered him alone in an empty corridor a day before the game.
"They're Ginny's notes. She writes out different strategies and gameplays before every game to secure a win," Hermione regretfully informed him.
"How can I trust these are real?" Nott asked, cautious that Hermione would give him fake plans.
Hermione, with a grave look, responded, "I can assure you, they're real."
"Good girl," Nott praised as he opened his carrier to secure the papers.
But before Nott could stow away the stolen plans, Hermione reached for his wrist and held it tight.
"I want something in return."
Clearly taken aback by the sudden action, Nott had no choice but to listen.
"Since I've practically done everything you've asked me to do, I want you to..." Hermione had to inhale deeply before continuing as her body seemed to be fighting her words, "I want you to lose the game."
The grip she had on Nott's wrist was so tight, he had to rip her fingers off of him.
"You're kidding, right?" Nott lightly chuckled.
The stern look on her face told him otherwise.
"You can't possibly think I'll lose this game for you," Nott said with concern.
Hermione didn't respond and only stared at Nott with unwavering gravitas.
"It's only fair," Hermione uttered before losing face and shrugging, "but it didn't hurt to ask."
And before Nott could get another word in, Hermione left him to his own devices.
Present-day, Hermione watched as the two teams swiftly manoeuvred their way across the field as the game had already begun.
She remained glued to the bench and watched nervously as Team Slytherin made passes to one another, leading against Gryffindor. Though it was a bad start for Ginny, Hermione knew the girl was prepared. She didn't have to rely on the game plans alone and was an amazing strategist, quickly analyzing the situation for a better strategy.
In no time, both teams were neck and neck and still no signs of a snitch.
"There goes the quaffle..." Madley, the quidditch commentator, informed the entire stadium, following the ball as it flew through an unguarded hoop, "and another ten points for Gryffindor!"
Hearing the turnaround, Hermione was starting to feel less anxious and decidedly got up on her feet. Examining the sky for the redhead, the older witch could see her celebrate with her teammates, hi-fiving one another in excitement.
While not too far from Ginny hovered Draco trying to catch his breath.
Hermione worried that with no breaks or timeouts so far in the game, Nott would be pushing his best player to the limit.
All she could do was watch in terrifying silence as the boy rushed his way back into the game, hoping to make another goal worthy shot at beating Ginny's team.
Another hour passed and there was still no signs of a snitch. With only two short timeouts each, Hermione knew both teams' energy was surely spent. The teams were tied 210 points, the most points garnered in a single game so far this season. The snitch is the only thing that could break the tie.
"What's that? Looks like Baldock spotted the snitch!"
Everyone's eyes including Hermione's scanned the sky for Slytherin seeker Sadie Baldock who had, in fact, spotted the snitch and was in the middle of chasing it down. The attention the crowd brought to her prompted the Gryffindor seeker to take action and follow suit.
"Looks like Gryffindor seeker, Charlie Stainforth, caught onto Baldock, only an arm's length away! Who'll be the first to snatch the snitch?"
The air was thick with anticipation. Many held their breaths but all were watching the two players struggle to keep up with the golden ball. For fifty meters, Baldock swerved and spiralled trying her best to close the gap between her grasp and the snitch. Stainforth, who was not too far behind her, could only watch in fear that she would end the game for good.
But as luck would have it for the Gryffindor seeker, Baldock would eventually lose her chance at catching the snitch. A targeting bludger came speeding out from nowhere and made direct contact with the Slytherin seeker's extended arm. The impact was so heavy, it caused Baldock to lose control of her flying and spiral toward the ground.
With Baldock out of the way, Stainforth gained momentum and ultimately caught the snitch.
A brief pause silenced the air for a split second before a roar of cheers resounded the entire stadium.
"With a total of 360 points, GRYFFINDOR WINS!" yelled Madley in equal excitement as the Gryffindors who ran onto the field to celebrate their win with the team.
Hermione was left flabbergasted on the stands. She watched her entire house crowd the team and lift both Ginny and the seeker in their arms to rejoice their victory against Slytherin.
It was a momentous occasion in which Hermione should celebrate with her fellow peers. However, she couldn't help but turn her attention toward the skies to see how the Slytherin team was holding up after such a defeat.
Her eyes spotted Draco, leaning back on his broom as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead. There were no signs of anger or bitterness in his face, just exhaustion. He exhibited what one would call a good sport in the game even after such a lost and Hermione couldn't have been more proud of him.
If only she could say the same for a certain somebody.
Nott, Slytherin's eager to win at all costs captain was finally knocked off of his high horse. The intense stare he had on his face at that very moment would've sent shivers down Hermione's spine but it didn't. Instead, she felt a sense of relief wash over her and quite cavalier that her team won from sheer talent alone.
It served him right for trying to rig the game.
When Nott noticed Hermione was looking directly at him with contempt, he decidedly flew off toward the locker rooms ahead of everyone else.
It was a beautiful day after all.
By nightfall, the Gryffindor Common Room was packed with celebrating students, including some Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff supporters.
With the entire tower engulfed in music, dancing, and alcohol, Hermione decided she was better off away from all the amusement and snuck out. She would rather have a quieter victory celebration in the likes of the library and headed straight there to unwind.
Only a few meters away from the entrance and Hermione was ready to relax until she heard a horrible scream.
Hermione's instincts kicked in and she turned on her heel in the direction of the awful sound. In her gut, she knew it was not going to be some students rough-housing in the hallways at such a time and cautiously pulled out her wand. Turning a few corners, she finally reached the source of the noise as they lay feeble on the floor.
Hermione recognised the victim as Slytherin Seeker Sadie Baldock, beaten and bruised. The girl could barely stand but she was moving and that was all Hermione could hope for.
"Are you all right?" Hermione asked the girl who proceeded to cough uncontrollably.
In her fit, Hermione could see a shadow slowly fade down the hall. She knew immediately what had transpired before her arrival and quickly cast a patronus down the opposite end of the hall to search for help. Hermione couldn't let the culprit escape and gently set Baldock up against the wall before running after the shadow she saw turn the corner.
As she continued to turn many corners, the shadow was slowly fading away and no longer in sight. Hermione would not give up too easily however and would search every classroom and closet on each floor if it meant finding the monster who has been beating up students indiscriminately.
Eventually, she stumbled upon an already occupied classroom, leaving her little to the imagination of who the culprit was.
In the forefront of the charms classroom were two people, passionately snogging away on top of the professor's desk. A blonde girl with her buttoned shirt wide open had her legs wrapped around the waist of none other than Theodore Nott. The two were far too engaged in the little act they hadn't noticed Hermione standing by the doorway, fuming in her spot at the discovery.
"Nott!" She yelled, no longer providing any courtesy to those caught in the crossfire.
Instantaneously, both Nott and the girl stopped what they were doing. The Slytherin turned only to disregard Hermione completely before attempting to continue with what he was doing with the blonde.
"If she doesn't leave in the next five seconds, they'll be consequences to pay," Hermione warned with a menacing tone.
Upon hearing that, the girl reluctantly pushed Nott away to fix her appearance before leaving. A little pat on her bum, courtesy of an unconcerned shirtless Nott, sent her gleefully out of the room.
"You lost," Hermione began, not waiting for him to cover up, too enraged to care.
As he pulled over his jumper, Nott responded, "and you've come to rub it in my face have you?"
"You lost, so you had to take it out on someone," Hermione concluded, "and that someone was the one player who cost you your game."
Fully dressed, Nott stood straight up to absorb the full weight of Hermione's words.
"What are you talking about Granger?"
"Sadie Baldock, your seeker. She was attacked," Hermione said with anger in her voice, "there's no other motive than to punish her for what she did, isn't that right?"
Hermione's grip on her wand tightened but she couldn't raise it. It was pointless against Nott.
"You're wrong," Nott countered with a severe tone.
She had never seen him look so serious before. There was a darkness in his eyes that grew, dispersing into the air all around him.
"Then explain to me why one of your teammates was beaten for no apparent reason!" Hermione yelled.
Nott did not answer right away and so she continued to question him.
"How'd you do it, Nott? Hm? Did you sneak up behind her and assault her when you knew no one was watching?"
Nott's wide eyes began to dart around as he stood there motionless, a distant look about him.
"Or did you order someone else to do it? You have people you could rely on to do your dirty work don't you? Who did it then? Hm? Who attacked Baldock?"
"It wasn't me!" Nott shouted back at her, pushing Hermione back against the wall.
For a brief moment, she was stunned by such a response. Her submissive side was slowly taking control of her body and was practically telling her to stand down, but she wouldn't and continued to press on.
"Who was it then?"
"I don't know Granger, but it wasn't me," Nott growled, stepping close to her.
He was in her space now, standing tall and looking down on her with indignation in his eyes.
"I would never hurt anyone of my players."
"Then it's just a coincidence that you're here, not too far from the scene?" Hermione challenged with her chin held high, "let's face it. You were angry about the loss. I mean, you practically raced everyone off of the field once the game was over."
Hermione could see Nott's chest and shoulders rise and fall, clearly furious with her accusation but she persisted to get some answers. Why anyone would want to hurt a classmate was beyond her.
"How could you possibly show your face after such a defeat? The great Slytherin Captain Theodore Nott, lost by a margin. No chance. The couldn't possibly be the captain's fault, it had to have been someone else. Someone less talented and more deserving of punishment and that someone was your seeker. She cost you your victory, your glory and so you had to teach her a lesson."
The air was grisly as the two stared at each other, Hermione not letting up.
"While everyone else was either celebrating or sulking in the dorms, you brought her alone into the halls, somehow, and beat her senseless. She didn't see it coming and to further hide the fact that you were involved, you came here to create an alibi with some bird."
A loud bang resonated right beside her left ear as Nott's fist made contact with the wall near her head. Hermione barely flinched but her heart was pounding furiously in her chest. She knew she was getting under his skin but she didn't know how long he would last before he'd burst.
To her surprise, it was a lot longer than she had expected.
"She didn't cost us our game," Nott whispered, his hand still trapping her against the wall, "I did."
There was a long pause between them before Hermione mustered the courage to speak up again.
"What do you mean?"
Nott brought his arm down from the wall and backed away from her. He was contemplating something before looking back up at her with softer eyes.
"You wanted me to lose didn't you?"
Hermione stood there taking in his words and ran it through her head over and over. He was either trying to change the mood and avoid answering her questions or he was actually implying that he lost because of her.
"What do you mean?" was all she could say.
"What I mean is, the bludger that was supposed to hit Stainforth was redirected to hit Baldock instead."
Did she hear him correctly? Redirected? What did Nott do?
"You redirected the bludger? But that's illegal," Hermione might not know much about the sport, but she did know anyone who wasn't a beater was not allowed a bat.
"That may be, but accidentally bumping into the beater at the very last second isn't," Nott explained.
Hermione couldn't believe her ears. Nott purposefully lost the game and for what? All because she told him to?
"Don't look too cocky, I don't know why I did it either," Nott said seeing she was perplexed at the notion, "but it's proof in itself that I'm not angry at Baldock."
Hermione was starting to realise that him telling her this was probably just a ploy to get her to think otherwise about him assaulting Baldock. After all, he was very good with words, she knew not to trust what he said at face value.
"After the game, I took a shower and came here alone to smoke. After a while of brooding, my little friend showed up and we got busy. Then you showed up and the rest is history."
Hermione couldn't possibly believe all of that. There was an entire time frame of him being alone where no one could account for his whereabouts.
"I've long accepted the loss, what possible reason is there for me to go around beating my teammates?"
"I don't know, underlying aggressive behaviours?" Hermione suggested.
Nott smirked for the first time since discovering him in the classroom. Although he was showing signs of being the same old Nott she's unfortunately grown to know, it still sent a shiver down her spine.
"All right. Say it was me, the one who assaulted Baldock," Nott proposed as if the accusation didn't mean anything to him, "what're you gonna do about it? It's not like you can rat me out."
"You're wrong," Hermione answered, determined to bring him down at all costs.
"Oh," Nott smiled before lifting his wand to close and lock the classroom door.
Hermione raised her wand and pointed it directly at him in retaliation.
"I'm impressed, you still have so much fight in you."
Hermione could start to feel a strange heat engulf her face and body. It was his spell taking full effect at making her complicit but she wasn't going down without a fight.
Feeling a little dizzy, she had to use both her hands to hold her wand steady.
"Please, do your worst," Nott encouraged as he took a step toward her again.
Hermione managed a non-verbal stupefy but it jolted out and ended up firing behind Nott, knocking down a shelf and all its contents. Her miss made Nott take another step forward.
"The more you push, the harder it'll be for you."
Hermione fired off more nonverbal spells in rapid succession only for them to miss Nott entirely and hit the classroom. Papers and supplies were thrown around everywhere, creating a mess as big as the fog that was starting to envelop her mind.
She was becoming weaker and weaker and could barely keep her arms up. The heat was overbearing and she could no longer conjure up spells feeling too lightheaded.
The last thing Hermione could see before succumbing to the dizziness was Nott rushing over to break her fall and then complete darkness.
AN: It's been a while since my last update and I apologize for that. I'm on winter break now so hopefully, I can post the next chapter sooner rather than later. Thank you all again for reading and not abandoning this story as it is still ongoing!