The Malfoys.
After Ron outed them as a couple to the rest of The Cannons, Hermione and Draco decided to go public with their romance. A few days after Ron was suspended from The Cannons, Hermione and Draco went out to dinner, only instead of sticking to a quiet out of the way restaurant, they decided to dine at one of the well-known wizarding restaurants which had a reputation for preparing the most amazing food. Of course their date attracted the attention of the press and their romance was splashed all over The Daily Prophet in the following days.
Despite trying not to care about what people thought, Hermione had been worried about how the papers would portray her romance with Draco. However, all the coverage was very positive. Draco was well enough established in the quidditch world that there wasn't any implication that he was with Hermione to advance his career. The fact that she co-owned the quidditch club he played for seemed pretty insignificant to the press, and instead they'd focused on what a good looking couple they made and how happy they seemed together.
It wasn't until after their romance had broken in the press that Draco remembered that he hadn't informed his parents of who he was dating. Not that Lucius and Narcissa had a problem with who he was dating, they'd just been a bit miffed not to hear about it from their son. The end result was that Draco's parents had insisted on Draco inviting Hermione for dinner at the manor so they could get to know her, which was how Hermione found herself dressing for an evening at the manor.
Since leaving school, Hermione had established a style of her own and she never worried about how she looked, but it was different matter when she was meeting her boyfriend's parents. Ironically the fact she knew Lucius professionally as The Cannons sponsor made the prospect of dining with him worse as she was also worried that he would disapprove of her getting involved with one of the players, and a disapproving sponsor could prove disastrous for The Cannons.
Finally Hermione settled on an elegant deep plum dress with black piping, which she paired with a pair of high black heels and a small black clutch bag. She completed her look with a small pair of Silver Star earrings and a long line crystal heart necklace. She also kept her make-up minimal and tied her hair up in a sleek ponytail. Satisfied she look presentable, Hermione headed into the front room where Draco was waiting for her.
"You look amazing," Draco said with a grin. Even though they were only going to dinner with his parents, he'd also made the effort and was wearing a smart emerald green shirt and black dress trousers.
"Are you sure?" Hermione asked nervously. "I could go for something more formal if you think it would be better."
"Hermione, it's dinner with my parents, it's nothing special," Draco said, smiling at his girlfriend. "I really don't think they'll care what you wear."
"I still want to make a good impression," Hermione insisted.
"Look on the positives, you've already won my father over," Draco said. "You got him to sponsor the club, and I know he was very impressed with you."
"That was different, that was business," Hermione argued. "He might be happy to sponsor my club, but he might not be happy that I'm dating his son."
"Hermione, my parents will love you," Draco reassured his girlfriend. "Just be yourself and everything will be great tonight."
Hoping that Draco was right, Hermione allowed her boyfriend to apparate them to his childhood home. Malfoy Manor was every bit as spectacular as she'd expected and she was overwhelmed by the sheer luxury and obvious wealth of the house as Draco led her to the main living room. The living room was twice the size of Hermione's flat, and like the rest of the house she'd seen, it was a picture of sophistication and elegance.
When the couple entered the living room, Lucius and Narcissa rose to their feet to greet them and Hermione was quickly distracted from the opulence of her surroundings. After her meetings with Lucius, Hermione knew what to expect from Draco's father and she wasn't surprised to find the attractive older wizard wearing a set of smart black dress robes. Hermione had never really met Narcissa, although she'd seen her around plenty of times, and she was expecting an elegant woman and she wasn't disappointed. Like her husband, Narcissa was in smart dress robes, but she was wearing an ice blue set that matched her eyes so perfectly Hermione wondered if they'd been dyed especially.
"It's very nice to meet you, Hermione," Narcissa said with a warm smile that helped to settle Hermione's nerves.
"You too, Mrs Malfoy," Hermione returned.
"Please call me Narcissa," Narcissa said.
Hermione nodded and smiled at Narcissa, before turning to Lucius and greeting him. Lucius greeted her like an old friend, which again helped put Hermione's nerves at ease. It seemed she wasn't in for an evening of interrogation as she'd feared. Either that or Lucius and Narcissa were putting her at ease before the inquisition began.
Fortunately for Hermione, Draco's parents had no intention of grilling their son's girlfriend and as they all enjoyed a pre-dinner drink the conversation was all very amicable as the older couple got to know Hermione a bit better. By the time the two couples moved into the family dining room for dinner, conversation was flowing freely and Hermione was beginning to enjoy herself.
"How are the preparations for the new season going?" Lucius asked as the starters arrived at the table.
"Team wise I have no idea," Hermione replied. "But outside of the actual quidditch, I'm happy with how things are going."
"The magazine last week was spectacular," Narcissa said. "It was such great coverage for you."
"It was," Hermione agreed with a nod. "I have to admit, I'm pleased it came out so well. It was a bit of a gamble, but I think we put ourselves over very well at the training camp when the journalist was there."
"It certainly would have converted me to support The Cannons," Lucius remarked.
"What do you mean, it would have?" Draco asked with a frown. "You better be supporting us."
"Of course I am," Lucius answered with a laugh. "I am the sponsor after all, and my son is one of the star players. I was just saying that if I didn't have a personal interest in the club, I might consider supporting the team."
"I'm hoping we can attract some new supporters," Hermione said. "Tickets for the first few games have been steady, but nothing special. We're going to need to improve that next season if we want to pack out the new stadium."
"It's too early to start worrying about next season," Lucius said. "I predict that as long as the club doesn't finish bottom of the league again, you'll get some new supporters. As long as you show some progress this season everything will be fine."
"Let's hope Harry works some magic with the bunch of players we've got," Hermione said.
"Is it a good group?" Narcissa asked. "I have to admit, reading the magazine last week, I didn't know too many of the players."
"Harry thinks it's a good group," Hermione answered. "In his words we have two stars, a group of solid, experienced players and a small batch of future stars."
"And does everyone fit in those three categories?" Lucius questioned with a knowing look. He knew more about quidditch than his wife, and while he thought The Cannons had a good base of players, there was a couple of players he personally wouldn't have signed to the team.
"Almost everyone," Hermione admitted. "We do have a tiny problematic element."
"Jealous people tend to be like that," Lucius said wisely.
"Jealous?" Narcissa asked. "Who's jealous?"
"My guess is Ronald Weasley, possibly even his sister," Lucius answered his wife, getting a confirmative nod from his son as he replied. "Weasley's career has never taken off, and it's hard for some people to see others their age achieve more."
"Let's not dwell on The Cannons," Draco said, sensing Hermione wasn't entirely comfortable with talking about the Weasleys with his parents. "Isn't this evening all about getting to know Hermione?"
"Indeed it is," Narcissa replied with a smile as she turned back to her son's girlfriend. "So tell me Hermione, what sort of things do you do when you're not running a quidditch team."
With talk of The Cannons well and truly exhausted for the evening, the evening took a more personal turn as Hermione became the focus of attention once again. Fortunately, by this time Hermione was completely at ease with Draco's parents and the rest of the evening was a pleasant experience as she got to know the older couple. By the end of the evening, she was confident that she'd won the approval of both Lucius and Narcissa and that they wouldn't prove to be a problem to her growing romance with Draco.
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Hermione and Draco's relationship was still hot news when the first match of the season rolled around, just over a week after their public date. However, Hermione's focus was not on her love life at all as she arrived at the semi-permanent stadium The Cannons opposition, The Ballycastle Bats, owned. Her entire focus was on the match she was about to watch as she hoped that the Cannons could get off to a winning start.
The Bats stadium was a semi-permanent erection on a piece of land the club owned. It wasn't a proper stadium, like the big clubs had and The Cannons were building, but it was better than the stadiums that were erected on a game by game basis, which was what The Cannons would be using that year for their home matches. The stadiums that were erected on a match by match basis were pretty much basic wooden stands surrounding a quidditch pitch, whereas The Bats semi-permanent ground had slightly more secure wooden stands around their pitch which stayed up nearly all year. Hermione guessed that if The Bats then wanted a proper stadium, it would be fairly easy to use the base they had to get the build done quickly, unlike The Cannons who'd had to start from scratch.
Hermione quickly forgot about The Bats stadium as she took her seat in a stand split into two, one half for the Bats officials and the other half for their opposition's counterparts. As co-owner of The Cannons, Hermione had one of the prime seats and she had a perfect view of the pitch. Also in the stand were guests of The Cannons, including representatives from their sponsors, and family of the players. Hermione had briefly spoken to the twins, who were supporting Angelina and Alicia, both of whom would be making the starting seven.
"Can we join you?" A familiar feminine voice asked and Hermione turned round to find Lucius and Narcissa standing beside her.
"Of course," Hermione replied with a smile as Draco's parents sat down in the seats beside her. "And are you here as Draco's parents, or our sponsors?"
"A little bit of both," Lucius replied with a slight smirk.
"Do you think we're going to win?" Narcissa asked.
"I hope so," Hermione replied.
"Where's Draco playing today?" Lucius questioned.
"Seeker," Hermione replied. "I know he was keen to play chaser, but Harry wants a few wins under our belts and he thinks Draco is better suited as seeker in this game."
"Did he take it okay?" Narcissa checked. She knew how keen her son was to explore the possibility to play chaser, but she also knew he was team player and she was hoping he wasn't too disappointed in Harry's choice of position for him.
"Of course he did," Hermione replied, thinking of the laid back way Draco had just accepted Harry's decision the previous day. "He understands it's what's best for the team."
"Speaking of teams, here they come," Lucius said, glancing over towards the pitch.
"Ooh, doesn't the uniform look good," Narcissa cooed as The Cannons flew onto the pitch. "It's a nice change, Hermione."
"I can't take all the credit, I worked with a very good designer," Hermione replied.
"Yes, Dean Thomas, I read that in your magazine," Narcissa said with a nod. "You were very complimentary about him."
"I couldn't have done this without him," Hermione said. "I just hope it leads to something more for him."
"I'm sure it will," Lucius replied thoughtfully. "In fact, some of our older companies could use rebranding, I might give him a call and see if he can do anything for us."
Smiling at the thought of Dean getting some new business, Hermione turned her attention to the match. Despite never being a fan of quidditch, Hermione quickly lost herself in the match and she was cheering every goal their team scored. Thankfully, it was solid performance from The Cannons and Hermione could see the potential in the team. Everything wasn't as smooth as she suspected Harry would have liked, but they were not only matching The Bats for goals, but thanks to some brilliant saves by Blaise and some scorching goals, after an hour they began to edge ahead.
Once they had the lead The Cannons never looked back, and the goals kept soaring in until Draco got his eye on the snitch and in a display of just how good he was, he snatched the little gold ball from right under the opposition seekers nose. The second Draco caught the snitch and the game ended, Hermione was up on her feet cheering loudly as The Cannons recorded their first win of the season. Now all they had to do was keep on winning and it would be the perfect start to the new season.