Chapter 6

The lead up to Monday had been a bit rough. Coach O'Kelly was still put off about having reserves practices taken away from him; however he did notice it gave him more time to prep the teams starting seven. Media outlets had been temporarily banned from the pitch as well since coach was trying to keep their new moves under wraps.

Game day found Hermione pacing her office. It was finally time for her to announce herself as the new General Manager of the Falmouth Falcons. Knowing what a loyal fan base the team had, Hermione had worried about their reaction to this being her new role. While she was aware that yes, the media and general population liked her quite a bit as a savior of the Wizarding World, even she was aware that suddenly becoming the general manager of a Quidditch team was a stretch for her.

Straightening her skirt once more, she found herself nervously rocking back and forth on her heels when Nigel entered the room with Michael in tow. "Miss Granger, it's time."

Hermione swallowed hard and gave a nod of her head, following the men from her office. As they made their way towards the pitch, Hermione could see a few of her players giving pregame interviews. Her eyes fell upon beater Kenneth Broadmoor. It appeared he was being a bit touchy with the leggy female reporter currently interviewing him. Hermione couldn't help but shake her head. Broadmoor had been a problem since before she had taken the position. His father was Karl Broadmoor, beater for the Falcons from 1958-1969. Apparently that made him feel entitled to something. At 27 years old, he was by no means inexperienced on the pitch, but it was his arrogance that had made her think more than once about replacing him with reserve beater McManus.

Nigel had followed Hermione's eye and was already on his way over to get a handle on the situation. She noticed the frown appear on Broadmoor's face as soon as he was approached. Hermione gave Nigel a nod in thanks as he began scolding Broadmoor for his behavior and continued following Michael towards the coaches' pregame interview stage. As they neared, O'Kelly was wrapping up his interview as it was time to head to the pitch for warm ups. He gave a curt nod to Michael but held a cold stare on Hermione. Obviously he was holding her solely responsible for his loss of the reserve team. She took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves. Now was not the time to get riled up.

"We here at the Falmouth Falcons would like to welcome you to our season kick off game. I know there has been much speculation as to what's been going on with our team this season and today, you'll finally get some answers. Without further ado, I'd like to welcome your new General Manager making her debut in the Quidditch world this season, Miss Hermione Granger." Michael motioned with his left arm in her direction, requesting her presence on stage, before he began clapping.

For a moment, he was the only one clapping. There was a collective gasp from the crowd of media representatives unsure if this some sort of joke. Eyes grew wide as Hermione stepped out on the stage. It only took a few reporters to begin laughing, for the whole group to join in. By the time Hermione had taken her seat at the table, some had tears rolling down their cheeks. She blushed a deep scarlet, feeling her anger boil inside.

Michael did his best to control the crowd and had finally got them calmed down when the first question was blurted out.

"Do you expect us to believe this rubbish? It's common knowledge that Hermione Granger is very anti Quidditch. How the hell are we to believe she can take this team to the cup?" The man was plump and it was apparent that he held his own opinions very highly. There was a collective murmur from the crowd as they awaited an answer.

"Miss Granger is not anti Quidditch Mitch, she just hasn't played much in the past-"

"All my reports say she'd never played a day in her life." Mitch grew another round of laughs from the reporters. Hermione tried to keep calm, but suddenly found she lost all control. Standing up from her chair and slamming her hands down on the table, which caused the group to cease all laughter immediately. Leaning forward on her hands for support, Hermione focused all her attention on Mitch.

"I'll have you know sir, I have played Quidditch. Never professionally and never well but that does not keep me from understanding how to run a successful franchise. When it comes down to it, sport or not, this is business. My business and I plan on it being a success. Now whether or not you agree with that is all up to you sir. In the meantime, I believe my time will be better spent making sure my team is ready to beat the pants off of Puddlemere United. Anymore questions are to be directed towards Michael. Understood?" The room had gone eerily silent. She hadn't meant to come across so cold, but she'd been prepared for this. Hermione knew it would be a cost of accepting this job. Not only did she have a reputation as the Golden Girl to shake off, but she was a woman trying to make it in a man's world.

She was very aware she was currently the only female GM in the league, possibly the entire profession. Head held high, Hermione removed her hands from the table, flipped her fallen hair back over her shoulder and walked from the stage as camera flashes began in a fury.

"Well, that's one way to piss off the fans." Draco had broken away from the pregame warm ups being led by O'Kelly just in time to catch the end of her interview.

"Shut your trap Malfoy. Get your arse back out on the pitch. I'm in no mood for your shit today." He faked a shiver at her cold attitude before following her down the tunnel towards the home end of the pitch.

Note:

Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. So glad you're liking it so far. Next chapter I promise you a quidditch match!

Also, I plan on trying to update once a week. At some point, I would like to have one set day you an look for new chapters, but right now, I just get so excited to get them out to you as soon as I finish. Restraint must be enforced.

Review!

-blondkellycrazy