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Chapter Three: The Man in the Green Baseball Cap
The next morning Hermione awoke to an empty room. She saw the schedule and noticed that it was time for breakfast. Last night, when they had checked in, they had been informed that breakfast would be provided by the magazine hosts and that they would be expected in the diner downstairs at ten the next morning. Luckily, it was only 9:30, so Hermione had time to shower before she left. When she had showered and dressed, Hermione left the hotel room and hurried down to the lobby to find Ginny.
Ginny had woken up at 8:30 that morning and, after a quick shower, she had decided to explore the Green Dragon Casino and Resort. She still had an hour and a half until breakfast and that seemed the perfect amount of time to check out her new surroundings.

First, Ginny took the elevator down to the lobby. She got off and soon saw Blaise Zabini. Blaise was talking to a man wearing a dark green baseball cap. The man had his back to Ginny so she didn't recognize him at first sight. Blaise looked past the man he was talking to and caught Ginny's eye. After hurrying the conversation to a close, Blaise strode past his friend and approached the redhead.

"Hello, love," greeted Blaise.

"Hi, Blaise," Ginny replied giggling.

"Have you ever heard the phrase," Blaise asked, "'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas'?"

Ginny giggled again at the memory of her telling Hermione the same thing last night. "Yes."

Blaise grinned. "Good. How about dinner? Tonight?"

At this Ginny saw the man in the green baseball cap behind Blaise. She saw him smiling at the two of them talking, and for a split second she recognized him. Unfortunately he turned, and any recognition that Ginny had had, was lost.

"Um… sure. I guess that would be nice."

"I'll pick you up tonight at eight. What room are you in?"

Ginny hesitated for a second. She knew Hermione, and she knew that Hermione would not agree with her going out while she was engaged. Sure, what happened in Vegas could stay in Vegas, but would it? If she went sneaking around with Blaise behind Hermione's back, and Hermione found out, which she would eventually, then Oliver would soon know. And Ginny loved Oliver too much to risk that happening.

"Oh, actually… I'm staying with Hermione and I would hate to leave her alone for dinner on our first night in Vegas. Maybe some other time?" Ginny asked, trying to evade the oncoming date.

Blaise sensed her cautiousness and tried to persuade her. "Don't worry about it. I'm not going to try anything. I just want to have dinner with an…old friend."

"Yeah, well…" Ginny sputtered. "I really think I should stay with Hermione tonight."

"OK," Blaise said slowly. "How about I bring a friend along and Hermione can go out with him?"

"Like a double date?" Ginny asked.

"We don't have to call it a date if you don't want to. Being engaged and all might make it a little bit awkward. It really can be dinner between old friends."

Ginny was now curious. "Who is your friend? The one who will go out with Hermione?"

"Oh, you probably don't know him. He's not from around here," he said slyly.

"Oh. Well… I'd have to ask Hermione, but I'm sure she'll agree," Ginny lied. She was sure that Hermione wouldn't agree, so she planned on informing her at the last minute. She still wanted to go out with Blaise and she wasn't about to let her best friend ruin this chance. Besides, she reasoned with herself, it would be a great opportunity for Hermione to go out with a guy.

"When can I pick you up?" Blaise asked.

"Eight will be OK."

"What room?"

"206. We're in room 206."

"Great. See ya' at eight," he said before turning back to his friend in the green baseball cap.

I wonder if that's him… Ginny thought to herself. She walked past Blaise and into the diner. The place was made up beautifully; it was set for about fifty people. She sat down at a table. She had no desire to explore the building anymore; she just wanted to sit and relax. And think. She had a lot of thinking she had to do.

She was walking on dangerous ground. With Oliver gone, she had what was probably the last possibility to be single and free. Of course she wanted to take advantage of the situation, but was reuniting with an old flame the best way to do it? She had dated Blaise for a few secretive months, and no one—at least to her knowledge—had known about them. She hadn't told Hermione, and she expected the same from Blaise.

Oh, if Oliver ever knew what she was going to do...

Ginny! Stop making this into such a big deal! She scolded herself. This wasn't anything bad… She was just having dinner with an old friend. That was it! He had promised that he wouldn't try anything. And she could trust him… right?

Suddenly, Hermione was sitting next to Ginny and was talking animatedly about her excitement about the pageant.

"How long have you been here, Hermione?" Ginny asked distractedly.

Hermione stared at Ginny quizzically. "Ummm… fifteen minutes? Didn't you notice when I sat down? I was talking to you."

"Sorry, but no I didn't notice. I was thinking."

"About what?" Hermione asked. It wasn't like Ginny to totally ignore someone.

"Oliver," she answered truthfully.

"Well that's nice to know. I have to admit, when I first saw you two together, I couldn't see much of a spark that is normally in young couples."

"We have been dating for a while now, Hermione. We don't hang all over each other or give surprise visits anymore. I guess we outgrew that stage."

"Well, as long as you're happy. But I still think you should be careful around—" Ginny interrupted her. "Shh. Someone is up front. I think the lecture is about to begin."

Ginny was right. For the next half hour, Hermione and Ginny, along with a room full of contestants and judges, were told the rules and regulations of the pageant. They would be given an entire day to shop along with plenty of spending money. They were reminded that there would be seven separate competitions and ten judges per competition. No single judge would score any more than five competitions a piece and this would prevent any unfair judging.

They received new schedules that were more detailed and precise. Hermione ignored hers for the moment while she sat motionless, absorbed in the instructions. Ginny, however, examined hers.

Annual Witch Weekly Beauty Pageant and Model Search

July 15th

10:00 AM Initiation Breakfast

July 16th

2:00 PM Casual Wear Competition

July 17th

5:00 PM Casual Wear Scores Posted

July 18th

1:00 PM Formal Wear Competition

July 19th

5:00 PM Formal Wear Scores Posted

July 20th

12:00 PM Lunch

3:00 PM Swim Wear Competition

July 21st

5:00 PM Swim Wear Scores Posted

July 22nd

5:00 PM Dinner

8:00 PM Lingerie Competition

July 23rd

5:00 PM Lingerie Scores Posted

July 24th

4:00 PM Clubbing Attire Competition

July 25th

5:00 PM Clubbing Attire Scores Posted

July 26th

4:00 PM Pajama Wear Competition

July 27th

5:00 PM Pajama Wear Scores Posted

July 28th

3:00 PM Talent Show

July 29th

12:00 PM Talent Show Scores Posted

2:00 PM Final Scores Posted

6:00 PM Dinner and Awards-Winners announced

Scores will be posted in main lobby of the hotel. On score days contestants are free to do what they wish as long as they do not violate the rules set by the hosts. We hope that you enjoy your place in the competitions and that you do well. Thank you for joining us for the annual Witch Weekly Pageant.

Wow, Ginny thought to herself. We have a lot going on in the next two weeks.

As soon as Ginny had finished reading her schedule, the woman that had been speaking was finished and they were told to enjoy their breakfast. Ginny waited for Hermione and then the pair hungrily walked up to the buffet.

Ginny loaded her plate up with eggs, sausage, and bacon. She watched as Hermione did the same. Hermione looked around at the other girls at the buffet and stared in horror. The girls were barely eating anything. She had never really believed that people would starve themselves in order to be thin; she had been lucky and had been blessed with a fast metabolism.

Hermione and Ginny shared a look of disgust at the eating habits of their competitors, but said nothing. They sat down at the table and made small talk for a while; Ginny was careful to avoid mentioning the dinner she had planned for that night. They talked about their families. They discussed Hermione's job as Charms teacher at Hogwarts. They mainly used breakfast as a time to catch up on each other. Although they lived close together, Hermione and Ginny had not seen each other in a while. They had both been too busy. Ginny with her boyfriend and Hermione with her work, of course.

Breakfast ended a bit sooner than they would have liked, but they both agreed that a nap would be nice after the long plane flight. They had arrived very late and their bodies hadn't had the time to adjust to the time difference between the two countries. Hell, the two continents!

Hermione led the way to the room and Ginny reluctantly followed. She wanted desperately to talk to Blaise again, but realized that she hadn't seen him since before she went into the dining room and had no idea where he was currently. Oh well, she sighed internally, I'll just have to wait until eight, tonight.

As they lay on their bed, Ginny assumed that Hermione slept while she lay awake, still thinking about her lost relationship with Blaise. She had thought that she had loved him. When they had dated, she had thought that they were perfect for each other. That they were meant to be. However, when he had broken up with her she had realized that they were both still to young to know what love really was. It hadn't taken her very long to forget him.

Now he was here again. She wasn't sure how long he was staying in Vegas for, but she wanted to take advantage of every minute of his presence. She wanted to remind herself that Oliver was the one for her. But at the same time she needed to know that Blaise was not the one for her. She had to be positive that their previous relationship was better ended and that this current attraction between them was merely physical.

As they lay on their bed, Hermione assumed that Ginny slept while she lay awake, still thinking of that one wonderful—albeit solitary—time with Draco. Yes, she hated both herself and him now, but Blaise's single comment had caused old memories to resurface. Not just old memories either. Old feelings were rising again.

Two days ago if you had mentioned the name Draco Malfoy to her she would have attacked you with all the venom she had. She had hated him, and it made life so much easier for her. Now, if she came face to face with him this moment, she doubted that she would be able to say a single unkind word his way.

At some point the two of them did fall asleep and at eight o' clock exactly there was a knock on the door of room 206. Hermione and Ginny both sat up, staring in awe out the window at the night air. They had meant to take a nap and instead they had slept for almost nine hours.

"I guess we were more tired than we thought," Ginny said sleepily, running her hands through her wild hair.

"Yeah," Hermione agreed just as groggily.

The two girls were again disturbed by the rapping on the door and Hermione stood up to answer it. Before Ginny could reach it, Hermione had the door opened and was looking into the faces of the last two people she expected. One was Blaise Zabini, and the other was Draco Malfoy. Wearing a green baseball cap.

A/N: I hope you liked it. This was SilverShivers chapter. Review please!