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Chapter 22

"Gin, it was terrible!" Hermione flopped herself down on the couch in her office. The redhead gave a smirk from her seat behind Hermione's desk. This was her first visit to Hermione's office and she'd oohed and aahed at the furnishings and the oversized mahogany desk. Ginny quickly settled in and to Hermione's displeasure propped her feet up on the desk. "He made some comment and it was just….so awkward after that. We hardly spoke two words the rest of the evening. Worst date in the history of dates."

Ginny looked over at the brunette. She'd thrown her arm over her eyes and her ankles were crossed, resting on the arm of the couch. "I eh, thought it wasn't a date Hermione?" Ginny tried to hide her smile as Hermione threw her arm off her face and bolted straight up on the couch, glaring in Ginny's direction.

"YOU! This is all your fault! I told you it wasn't a date and now all I can think of it as was a date and just the worse date at that." She slumped back down on the sofa, ready to give up for the day. Ginny let out a sigh as she reluctantly removed her feet from Hermione's desk and made her way over to where her friend sat defeated.

"Hermione, it couldn't have been that bad." Ginny wrapped her arm around her in a comforting gesture and felt Hermione's body shake and for a moment Ginny panicked, thinking Hermione had started crying. She racked her brain, trying to remember the proper way to comfort someone in this type of situation, but felt relief rush over her as the girl in question began laughing. It had started small at first, just a quiet chuckle but it grew quickly, overtaking Hermione's normally composed figure. Unsure of what to do, Ginny awkwardly laughed along with her, staring at her all the while.

"That," she managed to get out between laughs. "Was how awkward the whole last half of our dinner went. Granted, Malfoy wasn't laughing like a maniac."

"Well, what are you going to do then Hermione? You may be trying to hide how you feel from him and everyone else, but I can see it. I can tell. You've got a soft spot for him. He pushes your buttons and you like it. He challenges you." Hermione curled her bottom lip between her teeth, a nervous habit she had recently picked up. Ginny was right and if she could see it, it was only a matter of time before it would be too obvious to hide anymore. She let out a sigh and fell back into the couch once more. Ginny mimicked her, falling back as well. Hermione rolled her head to the side and rested it on Ginny's shoulder.

"You want to what? Hermione, you've got to be out of your mind! I respect you as a boss and if that is what you want then fine, we can look into it but are you sure?" Michael looked up and her from his desk. It was becoming a regular occurrence for Hermione to make her way down to his office for meetings instead of dragging him up to hers. He had to admit, he much preferred it. The last General Manager the Falcons employed had been a real piece of work in Michael's opinion, so Hermione was like a breath of fresh air. Today, however, he wasn't so sure.

He watched as she let out a frustrated sigh, ran her hand through her already tousled hair and paced the space in front of his desk.

"He won us the game on Sunday against the Wasps. Are you sure you want to trade him?" He watched as she opened her mouth to speak, quickly shutting it again. "Hermione, what's going on?"

Her internal battle was difficult to watch. At any moment he was sure she would just explode. She finally sat herself down in the chair in front of his desk, but her fidgeting had not ceased. "I can't keep spending time with him Michael. These lessons, traveling with the team, dinners. It's too much."

"Is he saying or doing something to upset you Hermione?" Michael eyed her suspiciously. As far as he had heard, Draco was doing much better at interacting with his teammates and working as a team player. Had he been taking all of his frustrations out on Hermione instead?

"Not exactly." Her eyes were on the floor and she refused to lift her head and meet his gaze. After minutes of silence, he heard her let out another frustrated sigh before mumbling.

"I'm sorry, couldn't quite hear you." He received another mumble in response. "Still not quiet catching that Hermione."

"I LIKE HIM, OKAY?" Her words came out much louder than she had expected and her hands quickly shot to her mouth in disbelief. She felt her cheeks turn red and instantly wished she was somewhere else. "Sorry, I didn't mean to shout like that."

Michael just stared at her, trying to process the information. It had only been about a month since Draco had arrived at the facility and with all the history of the pairs past, Michael was doubtful in the first place they'd be able to get along. That had been part of the reason he'd allowed the clause in Draco's contract. He needed the pair to function together in peace for this to work. But he had not been expecting this. Especially not this soon and now she wanted to trade him away. Granted, if that was her final decision, there wasn't much he could do. She had final say.

"It's quite alright Miss Granger," she took note of his use of her proper name and just nodded her head. "Now, is there any other reason why we as a team should trade Draco Malfoy besides your personal opinion?" Her cheeks flushed again and she shook her head. Besides his advances on her, Draco had been a great asset to the Falcons so far.

"Then alright, shall we weigh some options then if you're up for alternatives?" He watched as she mulled the idea around in her mind. He was sure she may not like his alternative options either, but if he wanted to keep Draco on the team and out of Hermione's personal feelings, he may have to put someone else there instead.