Thank you all for the lovely reviews! Here is another chapter as a little thank you.

Again, all characters & story elements you recognize from the wonderful world of Harry Potter are the creation of JK Rowling and I am just an enthusiastic muggle with a love for stories and all things magic.

The Jersey

Damp, windy, cold.

Hermione was the trifecta of miserable. Begrudgingly huddled in the offensively green jersey, she openly pouted.

"I mean really. Let's all play complicated keep away with flying projectiles and a hefty dose of danger. That definitely sounds like good clean fun.", Hermione grumbled.

Neville chuckled while sitting next to her and Luna dreamily smiled and leaned into Hermione's shoulder regardless of the Gryffindor's wild curls swirling angrily around her head.

The wind was howling almost as loud as the crowd as brooms zipped by at vision blurring speeds. Pelting rain combined with the whipping wind left identification of players to nothing more than house jersey color and identifiable hair.

Two of the most identifiable were the scarlet blur circling above the players at a concerningly high altitude and the green wearing white blonde alternating corners of the pitch seemingly scanning for that telltale flash of gold.

The green blur started to maneuver toward the Gryffindor stands whilst gracefully dodging bludgers and other players.

Pulling his bloom parallel to the stands directly by Hermione and her fellow peers, Malfoy wiped his forehead and pushed his rain-soaked hair out of his eyes in one stroke.

"He knows there aren't cameras here, right?" She loudly whispered to Neville next to her. His responding snort was enough to make the grumpy brunette smirk.

"Nice jersey Granger. I always knew you were my number one fan." Malfoy drawled with a grin.

"I just wanted to make sure to wear something that I can dispose off immediately once I am free of this weather." She responded whilst making eye contact in challenge.

She expected his grin to falter, his eyes to narrow menacingly, or even a scrunching of eyebrows. Instead she was startled by his burst of laughter.

His mirth lit up his face and she gaped at him. He looked like a different person and if she was being honest quite fetching with the small crinkling at the corners of his eyes and his low laugh that felt startling contagious. Quickly shaking her head side to side, she immediately schooled her features to be more fierce and less gob smacked.

"Well I take it that you are an even lesser fan of this weather than you are of long quidditch games?" he queried with a slight tilt of his head.

"I am not a fan of this weather, this game or this jersey. Needless to say, I am not exactly thrilled with my current predicament." She responded dryly.

"Well you can blame your brew for your predicament. Meet me at the entrance to the locker room after the game if you want to know how to brew better next time."

Hermione could not keep from throwing her head back and loudly laughing. She was laughing so hard that tears started trickle down her cheeks mixing with the droplets of rain.

"I am cold Malfoy not stupid. Why on earth would I meet you? Especially since the end of this game marks my prompt escape to a warm fire to warm my bones and to burn this god forsaken jersey."

Malfoy's eyes shifted to hers and he held intense eye contact for a moment before speaking.

"You will meet me for two reasons. Reason one: you can give me back my jersey and change into a nice dry shirt to wear on your long trek back to your tower. Reason two, you have an insatiable thirst for knowledge, and I have information that cannot be found in any book." He simply looked at her with a smug half smile.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at the blonde sitting casually across his broom.

"Why would you help me? How is this advantageous for you?"

"Perhaps I need someone else's educated opinion on the knowledge I have. Do what you want Granger. I will wait for ten minutes and not a second more following the game. But know that this offer is only for this singular time. If you decide to let your Gryffindor courage fail then you will never know what key knowledge you missed out on."

"Shouldn't you be playing quidditch rather than games with me Malfoy?" Hermione responded after a beat.

"There is no rush. Weather like this always blurs Potter's glasses." He said with a smirk thrown in the direction of a frantically circling Harry at the base of the pitch.

"But if a beautiful witch sporting my name wants me to play then who am I to say no?" Malfoy said while putting a dramatic hand over his heart and looking into the distance.

"Piss off Malfoy" Hermione responded while angrily crossing her arms to block his name and to keep from throwing overly rude hand gestures.

Again, they were graced by his mirthful laughter. He laughed hard enough that his balance waivered on his broom. Reorienting himself, his eyes shifted from jovial to calculating in an instant.

"I'll catch the snitch and the Slytherin win will be for you Granger."

Before Hermione could think of a colorful insult or jump up in outrage, the blonde zipped off to the opposite corner of the pitch and caught the snitch winning the game for Slytherin. Over the cheers and groans emanating from the stands a very stunned Hermione could still hear his laughter.