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Chapter 12

When Draco hadn't come barging into her office later that afternoon, Hermione was surprised. She was so sure that they were going to have it out, she had Nigel clear her schedule for the afternoon. When he never showed, she found herself concerned. 'It's a bit ridiculous when I'm worried about not fighting with that stupid git.'

As she was getting ready to head home, she noticed the lights still on in the pitch. She let out a heavy sigh. "Nigel! Nigel are you still here?" Her voice cried out in the darkness. No response.

"Well, guess I'm not leaving yet." Gathering her things, she turned the light off in her office and locked the door behind her. It was quite the walk down to the light controls. She mumbled to herself about her stupid idea to protect the panel from magic so an unruly fan couldn't send the match into total darkness. At the time, she'd been very proud of her idea, on nights like tonight when she would much rather go home and soak in the tub, the walk down was long. Flipping open the panel, she located the breaker for the field lights and turned it off.

"Oi! What's the big idea?"

"Malfoy?" Hermione checked her watch, heading towards the sound of his voice. "What are you still doing here? It's almost ten."

Draco came in for a landing in front of her. He ran a hand through his hair, feeling the sweat as he did so. "I thought that'd be apparent Granger. I'm flying. And they say you're the brightest witch of our age. A load of shit if I ever heard one." Hermione watched as he tugged his long sleeve shirt off over his head, his white undershirt trying to come with it giving her a view of his stomach. She tried not to look, much like before, but the moonlight seemed to reflect off his pale skin. His abs were toned or at least what she could see of them were. Not a single hair littered his chest anywhere.

"Like what you see, Granger?" Her checks flushed pink and she stumbled over her words as she tried to inform him she was not at all interested in seeing anymore of his bare body. His smirk grew as he watched her squirm under his gaze.

"I'd say the jury's still out on that one, Granger. Not a woman on this continent that doesn't want a piece of this." His broom was leaning against his shoulder as he made a grand gesture to himself. She let out a puff at his forwardness and rolled her eyes.

"Malfoy, your skull must be pretty thick. There is no possible way you honestly believe that every woman wants you. You're unbelievable." She threw her hands up in the air before resting her head in one with a pained expression on her face. Draco was a piece of work. She always knew he thought highly of himself, he'd made that glaringly obvious from the first moment she'd met him. However, she was under the impression that normal, well round individuals grew out of such behavior. Apparently it was her mistake in thinking Draco could ever grow to be more than the pompous prat he'd always been. With a shake of her head, she looked towards him again, his smirk still in place.

"Just turn the lights off before you leave tonight please. You're the last one here." She turned to leave but he called out for her.

"Granger, what are the chances you actually let me play in the game on Sunday?" His voice was sincere.

"Slim to none. Once you learn not to be an intolerable git, maybe we can reconsider your placement on the team."

"Placement on the team? Are you saying I'm not out for just Sunday?" Draco's eyes widened in panic.

"That would be correct, Malfoy. Once I see some respect and effort on your part to treat everyone within this organization with respect, we can consider letting you start once again." She ignored his vulgar rant as she turned to leave once more, smug smirk plastered on her face. She knew it was unwise to cause riffs with Draco but she found she couldn't help it. Every snide comment that came out of his mouth took her back to their Hogwarts days and she found herself falling back into their old routine. But no more. She needed to take control. She had too much to prove to be fighting with Draco at every turn. Maybe this would be the push he needed to finally be a team player.

"WOOHOO!"

"Yeah! Great job guys!" It was Sunday. The Falcons had won their first game of the season and there were high fives all around followed by the team chant. Newbie, Lance, was hoisted up on Kenneth's shoulders. It'd seemed that those extra practices had paid off. He was the leader in total points scored, giving Galvin lots of breathing room to find and catch the snitch. It had evaded him for most of the game, but when he finally caught sight of the small, golden ball flying around the Bats goal posts. Victory was finally in their grasp.

Draco was more than slightly put off that Galvin had managed to catch the snitch. He had hoped they would lose so Hermione would realize the mistake she'd made and have him put back in as a starter. But Galvin had done great. It seemed he had a lot to prove after being moved from a starter to reserve when Draco had first arrived and was taking advantage of Hermione's decision to bench Draco.

She was cheering for them as they walked down the tunnel towards the locker room, huge smile plastered on her face. He glared at her, but she never once looked at him while she was jumping up and down. His sneer grew larger. He would show her. She wanted a team player, well he could act. He could act well. He'd make her believe that he was a team player. He'd make her believe this team couldn't function without him and after he finished showing her, he'd prove to the owners that he was better fitted for her job. He'd snake it out right from under her. His sneer grew into a smirk as he took a seat on the bench in front of his locker.