Chapter 6-
Hogwarts Great Hall
Monday morning, the group of friends, minus Hermione, were eating breakfast. Every once in a while, one of them would glance at the doors, seeing if Hermione was going to walk through it.
"Merlin's shoelace, look at us! What's wrong with us? If she doesn't show, she doesn't show. We'll see her in class. Give it rest already," Harry exclaimed.
"We have no life, mate, that's what wrong. Hers seems so interesting now," quipped Ron.
"I resent that Ron. My life is perfectly fine thank you very much. Draco is great," Ginny declared.
"Gin, please. I have entirely too many mental images of Hermione, I don't need them from you too," Ron begged.
The doors opened and Hermione strolled through. The group stared at her as she took her seat at the table.
I hope it isn't that obvious that I've been shagging all weekend. she thought.
"Good morning all!" Hermione said, pleasantly taking a fork.
"Morning 'Mione. Coffee?" Harry asked, handing her a cup.
"Thanks Harry. Ready for the potions test?" Hermione inquired sipping her coffee.
"Nice weekend Hermione?" Ginny asked lightly.
Merlin's lacy nightgown, here we go! Don't take the bait! thought Hermione.
"Fabulous Gin, and yours? Neville, could you pass the bacon?" Hermione asked, not missing a beat while continuing to eat.
Ron noticed the ring on her left hand and asked, "Nice ring, Mione, where did you get it?"
Now the whole of the table stopped to look at her.
Harry suddenly looked at her hand, then Ginny. Their eyes went wide.
"Yes, Hermione, where did you get it?" Ginny asked with twinkling eyes, knowing perfectly well who had given it to her.
"'Mione? Did you say yes?" Harry asked her stunned.
"Yes, I said yes." Hermione said with a smile.
Ginny squeeled then jumped up and almost knocked Hermione over with an exited hug. The professor's head table looked at each other questioningly. Dumbledore discretely cast an amplification charm towards the group to catch wind of whatever was going on. The staff didn't know about her ...yet. It wouldn't take long though, for news and gossip spread fast around Hogwarts.
"Yef twho abut fwhut?" Ron asked egg hanging off his bottom lip.
"Ron, wipe your mouth. Victor asked me to marry him yesterday. I said yes so after graduation we'll tie the knot and I'll move to Bulgaria. Pass the bread, would you Ron?" Hermione said simply.
It was Ron's turn to be stunned. Hermione tried her best not to laugh, seeing his expression and the egg still hanging off his lip.
"Oh, come off it, Ron. People get married everyday," Hermione said matter-of-factly, handing him a napkin.
"Huh? Yeah...but...you?...Mione... Bulgaria?" Ron's thoughts were slowly catching up with him.
"It's all terribly romantic I think," Ginny said dreamily.
"Are you sure Hermione? This is big. It's...Wait, hold on. What am I saying? Congratulations!" Harry hugged her.
He kicked Ron under the table. "Ron is happy for you too, aren't you Ron?"
He took the hint and pointed his fork at her. "He better treat you good. If he doesn't, I'll go to Bulgaria and kick his Bulgarian ass." Ron said. "I'm happy for you Mione. Really. When is the wedding?"
Wednesday, last class
Hermione drummed her fingers on her desk and glanced at the clock for the fiftieth time this class. Would this class ever end? Arithmancy never seemed so boring before. Quidditch tryouts were today and she was so exited she could barely sit still. When class was dismissed, she raced out to grab some dinner and prepare. Getting to her room, she called out "Dobby!"
He appeared. "Yes Miss?"
"Dobby, I require dinner here in my room again. Could you bring something not too heavy? With an extra glass of water? Thanks so much."
With a snap of his little fingers, he was gone. Hermione changed into her work-out clothes and tied her hair into a tight bun. She didn't want it in her way today. She started to shine her broom when Dobby appeared minutes later with her favorite sandwich and some fruit.
"This is fine Dobby, thanks."
He snapped his fingers and disappeared again. She looked at her clock— 20 minutes till tryouts. She ran her mind through all the things Victor had showed her. She ate her dinner, grabbed her broom, then made her way to the quidditch pitch. This was going to be fun!
At the Quidditch Pitch
Ron and the existing team had gathered by the entrance of the pitch, and about 8 people had showed up vying for the team. He thought he heard Hermione's voice while he was giving a speech so he stopped and looked in the back of the crowd. He and the rest of the team somehow did not notice when she arrived with two others potentials. He couldn't believe his eyes! Ginny and Harry were equally stunned. She looked drastically different. She had her hair slicked back and in a tight bun, and wrap-around sunglasses. She was dressed in black, tight, but functional work out clothes. She looked drop-dead-sexy.
And look at her broom! Just like Harry's! Ron thought.
"What are you staring at? Is this a tryout or what?" Hermione inquired.
"Umm, Mione? Are you trying out?" Harry asked.
"Yes, Harry. I am." Hermione replied, slowly taking off her sunglasses, starting to get a little peeved.
Sensing this, Ginny stepped forward. "That's great Hermione. Beater or chaser?" she asked diplomatically.
"Chaser," Hermoine returned.
Ron assumed his captain-of-the-team role.
"Alright, alright everybody. Listen up. Beater candidates are up first. Go onto the pitch so I can see how you fly and handle a bludger. Please try not to injure anyone, this is after all a try-out," Ron said.
They all watched the beater hopefuls with interest. Ron was glad they were all fairly good sized. Beaters needed to be a little larger. He saw three right away that flew well and batted well at the same time. The other two either flew well, or batted well, but not both. Oops, one almost fell off his broom.
"Alright there, Tuttle?" Ron shouted.
Hermione scanned the pitch. Several professors were present at the tryouts too, sitting in the student section. The heads of each house had had friendly wagers going on for about 20 years as to which house would win the quidditch cup. They were sizing up the teams so they could get a good idea of their wagers. Snape almost laughed out loud when he saw the student called Tuttle almost fall off his broom.
McGoangall smirked when she said, "Severus, need I remind you what we witnessed at the Slytherin tryouts yesterday? You might as well just pay up now."
"Don't get your knickers in a twist Minerva. We haven't got to the chasers yet," Snape drawled.
Ron blew his whistle. "OK, that was fine. Good job beaters. We will let you know of our decision at the end of tryouts. Chasers, you are up."
"Listen up, chasers. This is what I want. Fly around the pitch a couple of times, show us your moves. Then we will see how you handle bludgers and beaters coming your way, and wrap it up with your quaffle skills. This is the positon that scores points, so impress me."
The three walked out onto the pitch, shook hands, and mounted their brooms.
Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape were discussing student detentions when Snape stopped, looked onto the field then stood up.
Is that Granger? And what is she wearing? his voice echoed his thoughts.
"Yes, Severus, I believe it is. Miss Granger is doing a bang-up job of surprising us lately, isn't she Minerva?" Dumbledore said.
"My goodness, yes. Where in the world did she get that outfit? Doesn't she hate to fly? I look forward to our little talk later, Albus," McGonagall said grinning. They settled back to watch.
Hermione was gliding around the pitch, slowing down then speeding up demonstrating her skills. She looked as if she had been flying forever. Doing sudden turns and barrel-rolls, Ron had to admit she flew great.
"Looks like Victor has showed her a lot of things," Ginny said.
"She's having a great time though," Harry mused.
What she did next caused everyone present at the pitch to almost soil their pants. She took off flying straight up in the air about 50 feet then dove towards the ground. She increased her speed in the descent with no signs of slowing down. The professors jumped up. Ginny was shaking as she watched.
Harry yelled, "OH MY GOD! She's trying the Wronski feint! She's gonna kill herself!"
Ron was screaming, "MIONE! DON'T!"
She was 10 feet from the ground when Dumbledore was preparing to cast an 'arresto mememtum" when she pulled up, leveled out and waved, and flashed a big smile to the horrified, stunned group. She tossed her sunglasses to Harry. Where the professors were at, Dumbledore and Snape were reviving Minerva, who had passed out from seeing her prized student and head girl racing towards the ground. She sat up putting her glasses back on her face.
"Goodness, Albus. She gave me a good scare."
"Daft girl. What was she thinking?" Snape muttered.
Albus was patting Minerva's hand.
"There there dear. Look, she's fine Minerva. She was fine all along, in fact, she was grinning at the bottom of the dive. Naughty girl, I do hope you have a good talk with her," Dumbledore said assuringly.
The tryouts continued. Hermione did a great job of dodging bludgers and bats, and stood her ground (so to speak) when being bumped and nudged by beaters much bigger than her. She even managed to throw some winks their way.
Yes, naughty girl indeed! Snape thought noticing her winks to the beaters.
She shined when she got the quaffle in her nimble hands. She twirled it on her fingertip like a basketball, then tossed it hand to hand. Ron was patrolling the goal, and shouted,
"Okay Hermione, demonstrate some quaffle handling!" She gave Ron a thumbs up.
"Ready Foster?" she asked the other Chaser candidate, also a seventh year. After seeing Hermione fly, the third chaser candidate, a fifth year by the name of Mooresby, gave up. He knew he had no chance.
"Ready when you are, Miss Granger," Foster replied grinning at her. "And by the way, I must say Miss Granger, you look hot."
"Why thank you, Mr. Foster. Call me Hermione," she winked and they flew off. The two flew side by side, gliding up then down, while passing the quaffle back and forth to each other.
"I think we have our two chasers," Ginny quipped.
"Yes, they fly great and work well together," Harry said.
Getting towards the goals and Ron Foster wound up and threw the quaffle. It came close to getting through goal and Ron caught it just in time. Foster had a hook in his throw.
"Outstanding Foster. Great hook!"
He tossed the quaffle to Hermione and said, "Okay, Mione, your turn. Bring it on."
Foster and Hermione went back about halfway down the pitch. They approached the goal again. Hermione tossed the quaffle to Foster under her broom, over her head, then a final time behind her back.
"Now she's just showing off," said Harry smiling.
"Yeah, isn't it great? She's better than me," said Ginny grinning.
In the stands, Dumbledore said, "Anyone want to place a wager that she gets it past Weasley?"
"No thank you, Albus, I've had quite enough today," Minerva quipped.
"Terms?" Snape inquired.
"Hmmm, let's see. If Granger scores, you Severus, will wear a yellow robe tomorrow, all day. If Granger misses, I will grade your first year essays for the next week," Dumbledore challenged.
Snape considered. "Deal," Snape said, the two shaking hands.
Hermione sped up towards Ron, coming close to him, holding the quaffle in her right hand, rearing back as if to throw to the right loop, then suddenly switched hands and threw as hard as she could through the left loop. Ron was totally unprepared for this and watched the quaffle sail through his outstretched fingers. The rest of the team on the ground cheered. Even Dumbledore cheered. Hermione was ambidextrous. Would wonders ever cease? Ron dropped his arm and sat on his broom in shock.
"How was that Ron?" she asked hopeful.
"Uh, great Mione." He could not believe she had never played this before.
He blew his whistle to signal the end of tryouts. When they were all on the ground, the team huddled together to make the choices. It didn't take long. Ron made his announcement.
"Okay group. Our new beaters are Tyler Smith and Henry Gallop. And it goes without saying our new chasers are Matt Foster and Hermione Granger. Congratulations. The practice schedule will be posted as soon as I co-ordinate with Madame Hooch. That's it I guess."
Harry, Ron and Ginny gathered around Hermione.
"You have some questions to answer, young lady," Harry said.
"Fire away," Hermione replied.
"Well, you fly as if you've been flying your whole life. I can't believe the scare you gave us when you did that Wronski feint stunt. McGonagall actually fainted. You say you've just started flying this past summer?" asked Ginny.
"Uh huh. Did I do something wrong?" Hermione returned.
"Absolutely not Mione. You fly better than I do," Ginny pointed out.
"Aren't you hot in that outfit? It's stifling out here. But it looks good," Harry said eyeing her up and down. "Where did you get it?"
"In Bulgaria," she said taking her hair down. I won't mention that I got it from a vampire!
"With Hermione, Foster, and Ginny at the quaffle, we can't lose!" Ron was thrilled.
McGonagall walked up to the group.
"Don't put the milk before the cow, Mr. Weasley. Let's have a match first. Good show, Gryffindors. We look as if we have an excellent shot at the cup. Congratulations to the new team members. Miss Granger, may we talk awhile in my office?"
"Certainly Professor. See you lot at dinner. Thanks Ron," she gave him a peck on the cheek. Harry and Ginny chuckled at Ron's ferocious blush.
Dumbledore and Snape were walking back to the school. Dumbledore patted Snape on the back then said,
"Severus, I think a canary yellow robe would look quite fetching on you."
A million points from Gryffindor! Snape thought sourly.