Hermione gripped her broom tighter and shifted from foot to foot as the team waited for the wooden barriers to open to the field. No matter how many times she went through this, she was always nervous. She raised her hand to check that her hair was secure in its ponytail before dropping her hand and fiddling with her Quidditch robes.
Ginny reached out and squeezed her friend's hand to comfort her. "Always has the thrill, doesn't it," she said.
Hermione nodded. "Never gets old, that's for sure," she said.
Ginny leaned over and said, "Just focus on getting the snitch. Nothing else matters."
Hermione took a shaky breath and nodded. "Okay."
The crowd became louder as more people took their seats. "Mount up!" Katie said, her orders carrying to the back of the team line up. Everyone mounted their brooms. Hermione gripped the broom in her hands and settled herself on the handle.
The door opened and the team took off, zooming around for a few practice maneuvers. Students and teachers cheered wildly as the teams flew close to the stands. Hermione stopped high above the field, opposite Malfoy. He smirked across at her. "There's still time for you to give up," he called across to her.
Hermione shook her head. "I don't back down, Malfoy. Scared you'll lose?" she asked.
Malfoy was about to respond, but their teams had already circled up below them. Hermione looked down and watched as Madam Hooch came onto the field. "I want a clean game," she said. Her eyes traveled to each member, but Hermione thought she saw Hooch's gaze stay on Malfoy and her longer than the others. What? Did she think they would kill each other. Well...it was a possibility. The referee released the snitch from a wooden box, as well as the bludgers.
Hermione focused on the snitch, watching the sun glint off of its surface and vanish from view. The quaffel was tossed into the air. Katie dived for it and Hermione took off as she saw a flash of gold. Hermione dived straight down, weaving between players. She kept her eyes on the snitch, trying hard not to blink. Unfortunately, when she did, she lost sight of her target.
Hermione pulled up and hovered, quickly scanning the area. She saw, from the corner of her eye, Katie throwing the quaffel through the goal. Lee announced it over the load speaker. Hermione ignored it, though. She had spotted the snitch again. On the other side of the field and above the Slytherin crowd.
She leaned over her broom and shot across the field, low enough to avoid any players that may be flying by. Her hair whipped around her face as she pulled up and flew over the Slytherins. Some of the first years stared in awe, but older students jeered at her, some even reached out to throw her off balance by grabbing for her foot. She avoided their arms, though, reaching out for the snitch. It evaded her, though, and flew off in another direction.
Hermione turned and raced after the small ball. Malfoy soon was racing next to her, his arm outstretched like hers. They were both focused on the snitch. They were neck in neck, brooms going faster and faster the closer they leaned their bodies forward. Hermione and Malfoy zoomed across the field in almost blurs, everyone's attention on them.
Hermione gathered her strength and lurched forward. Her fingers latched onto the cool surface of the snitch and, for one moment, she smiled. But it was short lived, as she tumbled to the ground, as she no longer had a broom under her. She instinctively reached out and grabbed Malfoy, pulling him down with her. They tumbled forward, hitting the ground at a steep impact. Hermione finally stopped, her forehead banging against something hard.
She groaned and felt something move against her lips. She opened her eyes and realized what was going on. She was currently laying on top of Draco Malfoy's chest and her lips were pressed against his.
There was a frozen pause as everyone stared, all eyes on the two of them. Then, suddenly, someone yelled, "Hermione Granger's kissing Draco Malfoy!" The reaction was mixed. Some laughed, some gasped, and others flashed pictures with their magic cameras.
Hermione scrambled off of Malfoy, her face turning red. Malfoy looked just as equally disgusted. Hermione brought her hand up to wipe away the taste of Malfoy, but stopped as she felt something flutter against her palm. Looking down, she saw the golden snitch nestled in her fingers. She stood, wavering slightly from the crash, and raised her hand so the snitch could be seen.
Gryffindors burst into cheers while Slytherins booed, this reaction momentarily blocking the previous ones. "Gryffindor wins!" Lee yelled over the sound system. "Gryffindor wins!"
Hermione would be happy and rejoicing with her friends, but knew that the trouble was only going to start all too soon. When those pictures came out...Best not to think of them yet.
Her team swarmed her and lifted her onto their shoulders. None of them acted as if they'd just seen her 'kissing', if you could use the word, Malfoy. They were cheering that they'd won. As they turned to take her off the field, a pain racked her leg.
She hissed in pain and tapped their shoulders to be set down. They did so and Hermione probed her leg. She leaned against Harry and winced at the movement.
"You okay?" he asked over the cheering.
Hermione shook her head. "No. My leg's broken. Must have been from the fall," she said softly in his ear, putting a smile on her face for on lookers.
Harry smiled and lifted her onto his shoulders, fake cheering for show. He got her off the field quickly and up to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey took care of the leg with a simple draught and told Hermione to rest on a bed for a while.
"So," Harry said. "that was an...interesting outcome."
Hermione turned red. "Well, it wasn't planned. Like I would kiss Malfoy on purpose." She shuddered. She sighed. "Unfortunately, those pictures are going to be everywhere tomorrow. No matter what really happened, people are going to think I kissed Malfoy on purpose."
Harry sighed. "The Slytherins are going to hate you more and the Gryffindors are going to probably either shun you or feel sorry or you," he said.
Hermione chuckled. "So blunt, Harry," she said. She stood up and wobbled slightly on her newly fixed leg. Harry extended his arm and she grabbed it for stability. "I think the only part of Quidditch I hate, is getting hurt," she said as Harry helped her to the Gryffindor Dorm.
They approached the Fat Lady, said the password, and walked into the Common Room. The whole dorm was in the room, party full swing. Music blared from some magical speakers somewhere and a table was supplied with never ending food.
Ginny ran up and threw herself into Harry's arms. She gave him a hard kiss and then called out, "Hail to our victorious Hermione!" The other Gryffindors raised their cups and cheered.
Hermione smiled and turned to Lee. "Hey. What about my bet?" she said.
Lee laughed and put a brown bag in her hands. "Here's your money," he said. "Almost a hundred galleons in that. I've never had a better turn out for a bet."
Hermione gave a stupid salute and said, "Pleasure doing business." She turned and found herself face to face with her other best friend. "Hey, Ron," she said. "How much did you make?"
He glared at her for a moment. "I got fifteen galleons," he said. "But why the hell did you kiss Draco Malfoy!"
You know that moment when the music at a party just turns off to switch to a different song and someone says something really embarrassing or yells something because they're angry, and everyone looks? Yeah. That happened here. Everyone in the Gryffindor Dorm was looking at the two of them.
Hermione's cheeks turned red at the attention. "If you had watched, Ron," she said in a calm voice. "It was an accident."
"Yeah, right," Ron said. "He must have pulled you down, trying to get you to release the snitch."
"We would have won, anyways. Once a player grabs the snitch, that team wins, even if they let it go," Hermione said, watching her friend turn red. Poor Ron. He was trying to come up with some logical explanation to prove Malfoy was the one at fault here.
"Then he must like you or something!" Ron said. The words echoed off the walls in the silent room.
God, no. Why did he have to say that out load? And in public. Stupid Ron! Hermione thought, glaring at her friend as the dorm looked at her.
Suddenly, Harry and Ginny started laughing. People turned to them and then started giggling themselves. Soon, everyone was laughing and the mood had returned to that of the party. Of course, the music started again.
Hermione walked up to her red headed friend and patted his shoulder. "Really, Ron," she said. "How much have you had to drink? Hey! Who spiked the butter beer?" Ron didn't look convinced, but went along with it and shrugged.
Then, glad that the entire ordeal was over with, Hermione made her way up to the girl's dorms and crawled into bed after changing into her pajamas. She was rarely a party girl and, even then, she stuck to the walls. But, after Ron's outburst, she'd be put off by the whole thing.
Hermione leaned over the side of her bed and pulled up one of the floor boards. She pulled out a box and tapped her wand to it. The lid swung open to show her stash of winnings from other bets. She added her current winnings, and closed the lid, recasting the spell, and set it back into the cubby hole. Hermione was saving up for a nice trip to Paris and she was so close.
Deciding to think about her lovely trip, instead of Ron's outburst and that she'd kissed ferret face, Hermione closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
AN: I know Hermione's a bit OOC, but it had to work for the scene. Thanks for reading.