With a fair bit of reluctance, Harry and Ron made their way into the Gryffindor stands alongside Ginny to watch the Ravenclaw and Slytherin match. It was the last week of November, and the first match involving Gryffindor and Hufflepuff had taken place the previous week. Gryffindor had won rather comfortably, but the new Gryffindor captain, Angelina Johnson, was determined they wouldn't rest on their laurels. As such she'd insisted every one of the team attend the Slytherin/Ravenclaw match to get a look at their rivals. Harry was supposed to study the two seekers, so he know how to beat them when they faced off against each other later in the season.
"This is pointless," Ron grumbled as they settled into seats at the front of the half empty stand. "Who wants to watch Slytherin play quidditch when we're not thrashing them?"
"Angelina is just being thorough," Ginny said in defence of the new quidditch captain. Ginny greatly admired Angelina, both for her quidditch talent and the fact she was a genuinely nice person, and she wasn't going to let her brother make disparaging remarks about her.
"She's making Oliver Wood look laid back," Ron snorted. "Harry knows how to defeat both seekers. Watching them isn't going to make a difference."
"They could have improved since they lasted played," Ginny argued. "After all, there was no quidditch last year. It was two years ago that Harry last faced Malfoy or Cho."
"I'm surprised Cho's still seeker," Harry said quietly.
Cho Chang was in the year above them, and last year Harry had noticed her and developed a bit of a crush on her. However, she'd been dating Cedric Diggory and hadn't given Harry a second glance. After Cedric's death, Harry had spoken to her briefly and it was clear she was distraught about what had happened to her boyfriend. Harry had only seen Cho a few times since they'd returned to school, but from what he'd witnessed she was a lot quieter and she still looked to be grieving for Cedric.
"I'm sure she's trying to move on and live her life," Ginny said with a shrug as she tried not to let her jealousy show. It was fairly clear that Harry still had a thing for Cho, and much to Ginny's displeasure his crush on Cho stopped him from noticing her.
"Aren't we all," Ron grumbled. "But it's hard to do when you see the witch that betrayed you every single day."
Harry wondered why Ron had brought Hermione into things, but when he looked up, he realised where his friend's attention was. Over in the Slytherin stand, Hermione was settling herself down with her new housemates. Hermione seemed oblivious to the trio watching them as she chatted merrily to Daphne Greengrass. At Hermione's other side, sat Blaise Zabini and Theo Nott, while the rest of the Slytherin fifth years settled in the seats behind them.
"I still find it hard to believe she's still here," Ginny muttered darkly. "I mean, how is it fair that the daughter of the darkest wizard in the world is allowed to attend school with everyone else."
"The problem is, not everyone sees her as dangerous," Harry grumbled.
Much to Harry and Ron's annoyance, they'd found that when they'd returned to Hogwarts there wasn't universal disgust and hatred aimed towards Hermione. A handful of people refused to condemn her just because of her father, and they insisted she should be judged on her own actions. Shockingly, Neville Longbottom was one of those people. He'd apparently ran into her in Diagon Alley, and whatever she'd said to him had convinced him that she wasn't evil. Even worse, the twins shared the same opinions and they'd made it clear that they wouldn't be joining in any attempt to get rid of Hermione.
As shocked as Harry and Ron were with people's attitudes, they couldn't really blame them. Hermione had proven she was a world class liar and manipulator, so it made sense she was still able to fool people into thinking she was still a good girl. Not that they were fooled for a minute. She was Voldemort's daughter, and a very real threat to the wizarding world. As such, they were determined to show everyone her true colours. They figured if people saw what Hermione was really like, they'd join forces with them and have her removed from Hogwarts.
Unfortunately for Harry and Ron, things were moving very slowly in that respect. After the incident on the train, they'd realised they couldn't hurt her physically, so they'd have to settle for hurting her mentally. They'd resorted to making their mouths go every time they saw her, but on a whole she ignored them. In the last month or so she'd started to bite back at them, and they were beginning to hope that with a bit more prodding she would lose her cool completely and attack them. Although they figured they plan would work better if they could get her alone, as every time they saw her she was with someone else and they usually managed to calm her down and keep her from steeping out of line and showing everyone just what a wicked cow she could be.
"What we need is to get her on her own," Ron remarked as if he was reading Harry's thoughts.
"Why would you want her on her own?" Ginny asked with a frown.
Even though she knew Harry and Ron hated Hermione, she was also aware that they both found her attractive these days. Then again, there wasn't a male student in the school that hadn't admired her transformation. Long gone was the reserved bookworm, who disguised her good looks with unflattering clothes and bushy hair, and in her place was a confident witch who wore clothes that clung to her every curve, and who took the time to tame her hair into sleek curls.
"To get her to lose control," Ron replied. "We've been pushing her buttons, but she's always able to stay in control."
"But that's mainly due to the fact she's never alone," Harry added. "She's usually with Malfoy, but even when he's not around Nott or Zabini are. A couple of times it's looked as though she was going to reach for her wand, but they always stop her."
"And if you get her away from them, you think she might not be able to stop herself from lashing out," Ginny concluded, seeing where the boys were coming from.
"It's worth a shot," Harry said.
"Although, getting her alone is going to be bloody hard," Ron complained. "Malfoy, Nott and Zabini have been hanging around her like a bad smell all term, and in the last few weeks I haven't seen her without Malfoy at her side."
"They do seem to be getting rather cosy," Ginny agreed. They'd all seen the pair walking around Hogsmeade hand in hand, and since then the pair could often be found whispering and laughing together.
"Rather typical of Malfoy. Cosying up to The Dark Lord's daughter," Ron snorted. "He's probably hoping to gain some sort of influence with You-Know-Who."
"Who cares why he's cosying up to Hermione, it's still potentially dangerous," Harry grumbled. It was bad enough Hermione was now ensconced in the enemy camp, but he hated to think what she could get up to with Malfoy at her side, obeying her every word like a lovesick puppy.
"Don't worry, Harry," Ron said reassuringly as the two teams finally began to make their way out onto the pitch. "We'll get rid of the bitch sooner or later."
Harry nodded distractedly as he watched the two teams' line up on their brooms. While the teams were preparing for the start of the match, he let his eyes wander back over to the Slytherin stand. As he did so, his eyes caught Hermione and for a moment the pair stared at each other. Harry was just beginning to wonder if he saw regret in Hermione's brown eyes, when she smirked at him in a very Malfoy like way as she slung a green and silver scarf around her neck. The look she then gave him was pure malice as she turned her attention to the match as Madam Hooch blew her whistle.
"Bitch," Harry muttered under his breath as he tried to refocus.
He was finding it rather disconcerting that even though he hated Hermione, he kept finding himself lusting after her. That morning had been a perfect example as she'd came sauntering into the Great Hall wearing a pair of tight black trousers and an emerald green jumper that clung to her breasts. Despite himself, Harry had found himself transfixed by his former friend and he couldn't help but think that Hermione was looking very sexy these days.
Refocusing on the game, Harry tried to do what Angelina wanted and study the form of the two seekers. However, he was soon bored of watching the pair. It was clear Cho hadn't improved since they last played, if anything she might have gotten worse as she was easily fooled by several moves Malfoy made. As for Malfoy, he was his usual self. Even though Harry hated the blond with every fibre of his being, he would admit he was a hell of a flyer. Whenever Slytherin played Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, he was a cut above their seekers. The only reason Harry never worried about playing Slytherin was that he knew when it came to those matches, Malfoy was always so caught up in trying to wind him up and outdo him that he never played to his potential. Maybe if he did, they would have had a serious rivalry, but Harry always knew he would win because Malfoy didn't pay enough attention to the game when they played each other.
As Harry could have predicted before the match, Malfoy caught the snitch without any sort of threat from Cho. As for the rest of the match, the scoring was pretty even, but Malfoy's catching of the snitch ensured a first win of the season for Slytherin.
"Did you learn anything?" Ron asked Harry as they made their way out of the stand and back down to the ground.
"Malfoy's still a show off," Harry answered. Of course the blond had caught the snitch in pretty spectacular fashion, diving down from the sky fast and hard, skimming the ground as he grasped the snitch in his right hand.
"Of course he is," Ginny remarked with a snort. "Just look at him."
The trio were passing the pitch, on their way back up to the castle, and they briefly stopped to watch the Slytherin quidditch team celebrate. Malfoy was in the middle of the team, and they were all cheering for him. Groaning at the blond's smug expression, the trio turned away when they spotted Hermione and the rest of the little group she'd ensconced herself with emerging onto the pitch. Out of curiosity they stopped once again, and refocused their attention on the group on the pitch.
Hermione led the way over to the quidditch team, and they watched as she gave both Crabbe and Goyle a hug and a peck on the cheek. As the pair turned bright red, Ron made a gagging sound. He never thought he would see the day that Hermione would willingly touch Crabbe and Goyle. Still totally disgusted at what they were seeing, they watched as Hermione made her way over to Draco. The pair said a few words, which caused Hermione to laugh at something Malfoy had said. Malfoy then grabbed Hermione by the hand and pulled her right up against him. Harry and Ron were just thinking that they would never have dared manhandle Hermione the way Malfoy had, when the pair came together in a heated kiss.
"Whoa," Ginny muttered, her eyes wide open as she watched the two Slytherins kissing. The pair looked totally lost in each other, despite the fact they were standing in the middle of a crowd of wolf whistling Slytherins.
"Bloody hell," Ron gasped, almost choking when Malfoy's hand fell to Hermione's backside and gave it a squeeze.
"Talk about a changed personality," Harry muttered. "She never would have done that before."
"There's a lot of things she never would have done before," Ron snorted.
"I think she would, she just never had the chance," Ginny pointed out. Harry and Ron seemed to be under the illusion that Hermione had just changed, they didn't seem to realise that everything they'd know about her was a lie, how she was now was what she was really like.
"Let's go," Harry said, turning away from the two Slytherins who had finally parted for air. "I've had enough of Malfoy and Hermione for one day."
"It looks like you're not the only one," Ginny remarked, gesturing to where Pansy Parkinson was standing a little way apart from the other Slytherins, shooting daggers in the direction of the amourous pair in the centre of the group.
"Parkinson's probably mad that she's been pushed aside for Hermione," Ron said with a snort. "Serves the pug right."
"Who cares about Parkinson, and the fact her nose has been put out of joint," Harry said with a disinterested grunt as he turned back towards the castle.
As the trio headed back up to the castle, they were unaware of Pansy watching them go with a wistful expression on her face. Pansy still desperately wanted to get rid of Hermione, and she knew the Gryffindors were the way to go, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to deal with the consequences. Was getting rid of Hermione, worth facing the potential wrath of The Dark Lord? What she needed was a fool proof plan before she approached the Gryffindors. She needed a plan where they would take the fall if anything went wrong, and she would remain in the clear. She would have to think about it before Hermione got her claws even further into Draco and she lost him for good.