Disclaimer: In Chapter 1
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Chapter 5: With Friends Like These.
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Nothing much of interest happened during the days following Hermione and Draco's encounter in the woods. He still skulked around corners hoping to catch a glimpse of her, and she skulked around the opposite ones in order to avoid him.
Snape continued to look dour, not that anyone really noticed a change. (since there wasn't one)
Ginny walked around with purpose in her stride and a gleam in her eye that made her husband very uneasy. He had been on the receiving end of that look one too many times and as a consequence was unable to sleep very well at night!
Everyone else either seemed either unaware of the way things stood between Draco and Hermione, or they simply didn't care.
So all in all things weren't so very different than they had been prior to the 'encounter' and it SEEMED as if things might still remain the same for a very long time thereafter, but sometimes fate and her minions have a way of helping out when (and how) you least expect.
(Of course sometimes when you have Snape and Ginny on the case you really don't need to worry about Fate at all, you have bigger fish to fry!)
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The day of the first Quidditch game of the season had turned out to be unseasonably warm and sunny, and students were shedding their outer wear as they made their way toward the stands. Hermione strode along side a group of Gryffindor's wearing her bright red and gold striped scarf wrapped about her neck and her sensible dark shoes tied firmly on her feet. She lifted her face to the sky and smiled, it was a perfect day for Gryffindor to beat Ravenclaw. A chuckle escaped her lips at the friendly house rivalry, and the fact that she had fallen back into those thoughts so easily, even though no longer a student.
Her group reached the stands and she decided to sit with the students, since she really wasn't faculty, and there were people over there that she was trying to avoid if possible. Well, 'PERSON' not people. She lifted her robes slightly as she started to climb the stairs, showing a bit of ankle as she did, not that anyone would notice.
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Of course Draco noticed her ankles shown by her lifting her robes slightly, he noticed everything. Her bright cheerful expression, her cheeks pink from the crisp air, her untidy hair pulled into a hasty braid, her brown eyes so happily glowing, everything about Hermione Granger Draco drank in and savored. He stayed standing and staring after Hermione long after the time when the quaffle was released and the game underway. Finally noticing the glaring of Professors around him he sat down and folded his arms over his chest.
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Hermione stood up and cheered as the quaffle went flying past the Ravenclaw keeper and into the hoops another ten points for Gryffindor! This was shaping up to be a very good match. She was happy she had come. It had been ages since she had seen a Quidditch match live, even this level was still exciting, and fun. She started as she realized she was once again having fun, on purpose.
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Draco sighed, another ten points for Gryffindor. He couldn't seem to keep his eyes or mind on the game. It was a boring match-up. Ravenclaw's keeper didn't seem to be able to keep anything, let alone the quaffle from entering her hoops. He frowned and glared at no one in particular. A few students caught his eye and blanched at the look. He could think of at least a dozen things he would rather be doing, granted most of them involved Hermione, but instead he had to sit here and watch this match up of hideously mediocre Quidditch playing, AND he had to act as if he cared. A loud sigh escaped his lips.
He felt someone's eyes on him, that strange sixth sense you get when someone is staring. He turned around sharply and was surprised to see Severus watching him with a speculative look. He raised a brow in question at the potions master, who glared and pointedly looked away. Ooo-k.
The strange feeling of someone watching him persisted and he looked around himself again, Snape was determinedly NOT looking in his direction, despite the fact that the Quidditch field was directly past Draco. Most students were interested in the game and the ones who weren't were not watching the professor's stands. Hmm, no help there, and yet that little prickle was still there.
Draco craned his neck looking all around at the other professors. Ahh, Ginny was watching him. He raised a hand and did a little wave in her direction, two flags of color charged up her cheeks and she looked away. Remus noticed the exchange and looked questioningly at Draco. Draco shrugged, how should he know. Everyone was acting strangely lately.
"Humph!" With another loud sigh Draco tried to turn his attention to the game, but found it wandering, as usual, to Hermione. The old Malfoy "The Ferret" part of him wondered what it was that made her his mate, but then his Veela side quickly put that question to rest. She was the most delightful person on earth, she was charming, and lovely, a bit willful but still would he want her any other way? Want her? Want her...oh yes he would want her any and everyway, and he would have her too. She was HIS!
His eyes narrowed and he resumed his perusal of her from the distance of the stands. He couldn't see her eyes but he knew the brown had little flecks of green and gold in them, and that when she smiled her two front teeth stuck out a little. There was nothing about Hermione that wasn't perfect. He sighed, if only he could just haul her off somewhere, make her love him. He could do it, of that he had no doubts. But knowing her like he did he squashed that idea before he decided that sneaking in her window and putting a bag over her head, then dragging her into the forest was a good idea! The ends in this case would NOT justify the means, not to Hermione anyway.
Another sigh.
Would this game never end?
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The quaffle flew through the hoops on the Gryffindor side and Hermione booed with the students around her. The Ravenclaw team did a victory lap and pulled up short in front of their stands to bask for a moment in the cheering, coming from that side.
Hermione knew that Draco was watching her, he was always watching her. She turned her head to look at the Professor's stand and saw that Draco WASN'T watching her, he was waving at Ginny. Ginny? Did Ginny just blush? What was going on with them? Hermione felt her face harden into a frown. Stop acting like a fool Hermione, Ginny is married, and you don't care what Draco does! She sternly reprimanded herself and got back to watching the game. She only had to tell herself she didn't care, what Draco did, ten times before she actually believed it. Perfectly normal, perfectly healthy!
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Everyone was on their feet as the seekers went into a dive. One moment everyone was cheering for their particular seeker and the next the Gryffindor Seeker was rising into the air the snitch triumphantly held aloft in his hand.
In the interim however Draco Malfoy had been struck in the chest and knocked unconscious by a bludger.
Draco had stood as had all the others, and he leaned over the rail in front of him to better watch this first bit of action so far in the game. Everyone was cheering and calling the name of the two seekers. No one noticed when the bludger went rogue, no one noticed that it was heading for Professor Malfoy, some one might have yelled "Bludger" at the last moment, but by then it was much, much too late. Draco felt as if his chest had caved in, and in truth more than a couple of ribs had been broken, he fell muttering Hermione's name.
Then came the blessed darkness.
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The stands were erupting with the chants of "Gryffindor, Gryffindor!" as the team flew lap after lap in triumph.
Snape looked over at the Gryffindor stands, Hermione was hugging and being hugged by a group of students and didn't even notice that the professors were all in an uproar, because Draco was lying on his back, blood coming out of his mouth, looking like one dead.
Well so much for plan A) Make Hermione Worry.
Now it was Snape's turn to sigh...on to plan B, and with a swirl of robes and a scowl he headed for his dungeons.
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A/N Yes its the old "rogue" bludger ruse , but this is Snape here, he does the best he can. SO I need CLICHE'S...I am going to open a little contest, the prize will be a preview of a future chapter. IF you have any really cheesy cliche ways to get Draco and Hermione together that their friends might use and I write them into the story I will send you that chapter. (which is all about their first date.) I have a few nice little ones of my own...but I thought you all might have some I never even thought about. Anywho, if you are interested email me, my email is in my profile.
And now for something completely different....thanks for the continued interest in this little story, I am still having loads of fun writing it, and I appreciate your reviews so very much! THANK YOU! I still am in LOVE with a particular story and those of you familiar with me know what that story is, so I shall refrain from saying.
I moved safely and things should be settling down...I use the word should because things don't go according to plan sometimes, in any case I am back and will try to update as frequently as I can.
Until next time keep those Veela charms tamped down folks and I will catch you later. ;)