Jane and Tony have really hit it off. They have been having dinner together every night in the Great Hut by themselves, or so she told me. Every night, Jane brings me food since I don't have enough time to go down there after my after-session with Malfoy.
Oh gosh. The game! It's today in a few hours!
"Oh, good, you're awake," I heard Jane say. "Everyone is already at the Great Hut. I was going to wait until you woke up. Almost changed my mind when you kept on sleeping though."
I smiled. "Thanks Jane. How's Tony?"
She plopped on my bed, legs crossed. "Horrible. We've been talking for ever and he still hasn't asked me out! What do I do?"
"I have no clue," I replied. "I'm not the best on answering boy questions. Sorry."
She shrugged. "Arg! Who do I ask then?"
"You do realize we share a room with girls who probably can answer your question, right? Ask one of them."
"Well of course. How stupid could I be!" She threw her hands in the air and layed on my bed. I laughed. "Are you ready yet? I'm hungry."
I got out of bed, brushed my teeth, combed my hair, put on good clothings, a little makeup, and met Jane in the small common room.
"Okay, lets go. Is Tony meeting us there?"
"No, he eats early in the morning all the time with his friends." She said sourly.
We headed out to the Great Hut, still filled with people talking amongst themselves. Seeing the first empty table, we sat ourselves down as a plate of food rose to the tabletop.
"So, have you heard from the guy you like yet. What was his name? Roy?" Jane asked while sipping her orange juice.
"Ron, and no. You know the letter I got? Well, it was from my friend H- Howard and he told me that Ron got a girlfriend a few days ago."
She gasped. "No!"
"What's the No?" Malfoy asked as he sat down next to us. A plate of food appeared in front of him.
"The guy Hermione likes now has a girlfriend." Jane blabbed.
Eyes wide opened, I said, "Jane," with clenched teeth.
She gasped for the second time today, while instantly covering her mouth. "Oops."
Malfoy chuckled. "You're talking about Weasel Breath?"
"What's it to you?" I asked as my face became obvious red. My head hung low, staring at the food.
"Granger, everyone knows about your crush on him. Except, probably Weasley himself...but," he went on as he took a bite of his egg.
"Ugh, how embarrassing." I muttered.
He chuckled again.
"Can you stop laughing, please!" I begged.
A few seconds later, he stopped his laughing.
"Seriously, Granger, you can do so much better than him. He lost his chance at a great person."
I blushed.
"He's right, Hermione. If he doesn't see how great you are, he's not worth it," Jane added.
I sniffed. "Thanks guys."
I was actually surprised Malfoy said that about me. I guess he's sticking true to his word about being teammates. I haven't heard him say anything horrible to me or about me. Did he really mean it though, or was it all just a fake?
"Okay Granger, our game is in an hour. We actually shouldn't have eaten right before the game but we'll let this one slide. Ready to leave?" He asked.
"Yea, sure. Is that okay, Jane?"
Jane nodded and I headed out the door alongside Malfoy. Huh, he still smells like peppermint. We headed out towards the locker room behind the field.
"Are you ready Granger?"
"I think so."
"Yes or no."
I took a deep breath. "Yes."
"I know," he simply said. From the corner of my eye, I could see his boyish grin hanging from his face. "I trained you personally, didn't I?"
I smiled this time. "About that," I started. I stopped at my tracks and he eventually caught on. "Thank you. For everything."
My heart started pounding against my chest. It amazed me that no one else heard it. He walked back to my side.
"Your welcome, Hermione."
From then until the locker room, we kept silent. I couldn't talk for if I did, the sentence would surely not be a sentence but jumbled up words. During the whole walk, my breath were short and to the point. There was no relaxing, no pleasure.
I don't know what's making me feel like this. It's probably just game jitters, everyone gets that ten minutes before a game. But then again, we're an hour from the game.
"Granger, you go that way." Malfoy said.
"What?" I asked. After having to listen Malfoy say 'that way' five times, I finally processed what was going on. It was me. Yea, me going into the boys side of the locker room.
I giggled foolishly. "Sorry," and rushed out to the girls side.
There, I met up with Lauryn. She was already half dressed and putting on her Quidditch tights.
"Hi Lauryn," I greeted her.
"Hey Herms," she replied. "Your uniform is in that bag over there."
I nodded as I walked to the bag. The uniform stank, literally. It was raggedy and old and stank. The colors were blue and dirty white.
"Why is mines dirty while your's is clean?" I pouted while making my way back to Lauryn.
"Oh yea, you were supposed to wash that before. Sorry," she apologized genuinely.
I didn't reply back with a 'It's okay' because it wasn't okay. I stink. I'm dirty. I'm ugly.
Quivering with disgust, I began to put on the clothing provided by the camp. Isn't this camp supposed to be expensive? Why are we wearing these hand-me-downs? I should complain. Yes, tomorrow I'll write a letter to the head of chief and complain. Maybe with a howler. No, that's rude. But the letter sounds good.
Finally done after the many layers of fabric I had to put on, I headed out to the front room. Everyone was already seated around Malfoy. Embarrased, I walked to the only open seat and sat waiting.
"What happened to you, Granger?" Malfoy asked.
"I-erm."
"She crashed and burned, that's what happened," Phillip remarked waiting to hear some snickers support from his teammates. Instead, all he received were glares of hate and disgust.
"Phillip!" I heard Malfoy shout.
I jumped up, "No, Draco, it's fine." I held a hand towards Malfoy hoping he would stop.
"Phillip, I am suspending you until I further notice!" He spat. I could have sworn his eyes turned flaming red, but that can't happen. What was I thinking! Kay, back to the story.
Phillip jumped out his own seat, eyebrows flying off his face. "WHAT!"
"You heard me! I thought I made it clear you are to be civil towards Hermione here," he yelled. The captain squated my hand out of the way and marched towards the one I call scum. Soon, more and more players stood up in surprise. "Draco, we need him or we'll be short a player!" Tristan cried but Malfoy payed no attention to him.
"You can't suspend me!" Phillip said angrily. "You have no authority!"
Malfoy smirked, "You agreed to make me captain and therefore, you agreed to give me responsibility of your playing duties."
"I'll report you for this," he hissed.
"Get out of my sight." Malfoy muttered.
"What if I don't!" Phillip fought back.
Malfoy raised his wand in one hand and a fist on the other. "Get out or you'll regret it. GO!"
I didn't know what to do. They were fighting over me! Well, Phillip insulted me and Malfoy defended me. What do I do! Of course, I did nothing. Phillip cursed at Malfoy and he returned them stronger. Eventually, the scum left and the room was left in silence.
"Shit," he whispered. "Why'd he have pull a stunt like that."
"Malfoy," I started.
"No Granger, not now. We have to get ready."
I nodded and sat back down. That was flattering and embarrasing. I still can't believe the boy who hated me with all his guts just stood up for me. Again. Just the thought made my stomach squirm in a way I didn't like.
"Sorry for the interruption, you guys. Now, where were we? Oh yeah."
Malfoy tried to act normal but it didn't work. I knew it and so did everyone else on the team.
I tried to listen to the captain but something made me zone out.
"Granger?" Someone asked.
Again, I snapped back into reality. "What?"
"I said, did you get that?" Malfoy asked.
I nodded assuringly. Unconvinced, he gave me the eye. I looked away before he could question me any more, thank Merlins.
"Okay team, this is it. The first game," he said. "Let's teach the other team a lesson about our team, shall we?"
We gathered in a huddle and placed a hand in the middle.
"Team on three," Malfoy shouted. "One, Two, Three."
"TEAM!" We yelled in unison. That felt good, I thought smiling to myself.
We heard the bell signaling us to start going out to the field. Everyone was ready, it was in the air. Now, it's time to shine. It's time for me to prove to myself I can do it.
A/N:
Hi. Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter! I love reading those :) I love writing this fanfic. I think I could write all day and not stop for anything! Seriously!
Btw, I've written another DM/HG fanfic. It's called Years of Waiting. It was actually based on an avatar I made, so if you want to read it, tell me how it is :D!
Thanks again, and I hope you're enjoying the story!