Marcus sent Hermione a lovely flower arrangement to apologize for his mother's words. He wrote her a letter to apologize for her rude behavior and explained that he didn't want the same things as his mother wanted. He told her that although he knew he still had a lot to learn, he wanted to put the old prejudices that he'd been taught growing up to bed.

Hermione liked looking at the flowers as they sat on her desk at work. She was touched by how much of an effort Marcus was making for her.

Not to mention that the flowers caused quite a stir at work. It was well known that Hermione Granger didn't have much of a love life to speak of, and no one had sent her flowers before. If anyone at her work knew who sent them, they didn't say anything.

That was until Tuesday, when Hermione was horrified to see that she had made the front page of the gossip magazines. There were several pictures of her and Marcus walking around the farmer's market, holding hands and laughing together, and eating breakfast, making gooey eyes at one another across the table.

Hermione groaned. She didn't even know that there were paparazzi following them. She'd worked so hard to keep out of the limelight. At least, it appeared that the cause of the article was not her, but rather that Marcus had signed a new six year, twelve million galleon contract with Appleby. Still, she'd had to deal with the constant ribbing of her coworkers, who were surprised that she would date a Quidditch player.

Things had died down, until after lunch, when a pushy woman made her way into the reception area. She was causing quite a ruckus, and demanding to see Hermione Granger. When the receptionist wasn't helpful, she pushed past and stomped back to Hermione's desk, shoving a copy of the magazine in her face.

"Just where do you get off thinking that you can date my Marcus?" she demanded. She had shoulder length red hair and brilliant blue eyes. She was a bit older than Hermione, but still very beautiful. Hermione knew that she looked familiar, but couldn't quite place her.

"I am sorry, but you are...?" Hermione asked, trying not to be offensive.

"Don't act like you don't know!" she practically screeched, before seeing no recognition at all on Hermione's face. "Gemma Farley. I am Marcus's girlfriend."

Hermione recognized her, then, from Hogwarts. She had been one of the Slytherin prefects in Marcus's year. Still, Hermione was instantly suspicious of her assertion that she was Marcus's girlfriend. Why would Marcus go on a date with her if he had a girlfriend? And, if he had a girlfriend, who was certainly more acceptable to her, then why wouldn't Marcus's mother not say anything about her?

Looking over the other woman, Hermione decided to voice her opinion. "If you are Marcus's girlfriend, why didn't his mother say anything about it when we saw her this weekend?"

Gemma looked shocked. "You met Octavia?" she gasped. "Impossible."

Hermione just shrugged. "She didn't mention you at all." She let a little bit of nastiness bleed into her voice at the idea.

"Don't get it in your head that you can keep him, mudblood," Gemma said. "He could never be interested in you. I will have Marcus back." Then, she turned on her heel and left the office, knocking a stack of papers off of Hermione's desk on the way out.

Hermione sighed, and used her wand to pick up the papers. That was certainly quite the threat, but Hermione knew that she could handle her own. Still, she thought maybe a visit to Marcus after work was in order.

After Hermione had finished her work for the day, she flooed over to Harry's office at the Appleby stadium. Her bespectacled friend was surprised to see her. "Everything alright Hermione?"

"I don't know yet, I was hoping to see Marcus?" Hermione told Harry. "I ran into someone claiming to be his girlfriend today. She was really upset about the latest cover of Witch Weekly."

"Yeah, I saw that," Harry said. "You looked really happy in all the pictures. Well, Marcus should be down in the locker room, if he hasn't left already."

Hermione nodded, before following Harry's directions to the locker room. When she arrived, she found that the locker room was empty, save Marcus. She felt her mouth go dry, as she'd surprised him, only wearing a pair of muggle jeans, his hair still wet from the shower. It had been years since she'd seen his broad shoulders and chest naked, muscles exquisitely toned through the years.

Marcus recovered from the shock of seeing her first. "Hermione? What are you doing here?" he asked.

Hermione swallowed thickly, and took the time to look at his face instead of his abs. "Oh, I just had an unexpected visitor today, Gemma Farley? She said she was your girlfriend," she told him, a blush on her cheeks.

Marcus swore under his breath. "Sorry about that, Hermione. I did date Gemma for about six months, but that was two years ago," he explained with a frown, before rubbing his hand against his face. "She is probably just doing this because of the new contract that I signed."

Hermione smiled, knowing that there would be a reasonable explanation. "I saw that as well. We should celebrate, maybe after the game," she suggested. Then he saw him flinch and wondered if he was worried about her using him for his money, too. "My treat of course."

Marcus's shoulders instantly relaxed. "Of course. I am so used to girls only being after me for my money. But you wouldn't need mine, would you?" he asked with a sly grin, knowing that she had a good job and she'd been rewarded by the Ministry for her work in the war. Hermione shook her head no. "So, you are still coming for the game then? It...it means a lot to me that you will be coming," he admitted.

Hermione smiled brightly at him. "Sure thing, Marcus. It will take more than an ex-girlfriend to scare me off," she agreed. So far, dating Marcus had had its ups and downs, but she thought that he was worth it.