Backlash.
Hermione sat in her quiet office going over the season ticket sales for The Cannons. The sales were fairly steady, and there was still a few months to go before the new season began, although there wasn't the big hike in sales Hermione had been hoping for before the final game of the season. A little over a month ago, she'd been sitting in the office discussing how their performance in the final game of the season could affect season ticket sales, and it seemed her predictions had come true. Thanks to the final game of the season, they did not get the boost in supporters Hermione had hoped for.
Given the accident between Draco and Ginny a week before the final match it had come as no big surprise to anyone that The Cannons that lost the match and The Tornadoes had won the league. However, The Cannons hadn't just been beaten, they'd been totally thrashed and had suffered their worst defeat since Harry and Hermione had taken charge of the team. Thanks to the way Harry had assembled the squad the players who had taken Draco and Ginny's places had been good players, but they hadn't played much first team quidditch, and as a whole the team were still coming to terms with the horrific crash that had occurred in training. Of course it didn't help that at the time Ginny was still in hospital with the possibility that she would never play quidditch again hanging over her head.
All in all it had not been a good day for The Cannons, and it very much took the gloss off what had up until then been a very good season for the club. A couple of years ago The Cannons finishing second in the league would have been cause for a huge celebration, but everyone associated with the club were left disappointed and deflated following the final game of the season.
With the disappointing end to the season, further disappointment had then headed The Cannons way with the lack of rise in season ticket sales. Hermione was hoping the sales would pick up over the off season, and hopefully a new season would bring fresh hope and confidence to the public if The Cannons could get off to a winning start. However, she wasn't going to count on extra ticket sales as it was clear that the shine had definitely began to fade for The Cannons and their new owners.
Aside from the ticket sales figures, Hermione had several papers from the last month strewn over her desk. Every single paper was open at an article about The Cannons, and very few of them were complimentary. Several of the articles were match reports for the final game of the season, and they were all pretty brutal in their assignation of The Cannons. Almost all of the match reports admitted that The Cannons had a strong squad, and a few world class players, but they all questioned the teams ability to play without one of their star players, and their ability to handle the pressure of a big match situation. One report even went as far as to say that The Cannons had peaked, and they would never go further than they had that season.
Although the match itself wasn't the only thing under scrutiny, and for the first time since they'd taken charge at the club, Harry and Hermione found their management of the club under fire. Several articles cited the problems they'd had with Ron, and put it down to bad management and the pair's inability to separate their personal life from their professional one. The fact that both she and Harry were dating players of the club was also mentioned, although interestingly enough the papers couldn't give any real examples of how that was a problem. However, even Hermione had to admit the papers were right about Ron. They never should have kept him on when they'd taken over the club, and all the trouble he'd caused for them could still come around and bite them in the backside.
Although what hurt Hermione most of all were the articles questioning the club's rebranding and new stadium. It was suggested that The Cannons had overreached themselves with rebranding the team and building a new, expensive stadium. One article suggested that instead of making such wholesale changes, Harry and Hermione should have waited and settled in at the club before turning it on its head. One report even suggested that club was in more debt now than it had been before Harry and Hermione bought it. Of course Hermione knew that wasn't true, but the stadium and rebranding had been expensive, and it was still going to be a few years before both things really paid off and the club started turning a healthy profit.
Hermione had tried to ignore the articles, but she couldn't help but wonder if they were at least partially right. Maybe she'd jumped into something she just didn't understand, and now it was all going to blow up in her face. Maybe she should have thought more seriously about Harry's proposition and what it would truly mean to own a quidditch club. It was certainly tougher than Hermione had expected, and she couldn't help but wonder if she was out of her league.
Needing some fresh air, Hermione left her office and headed down the corridor towards the executive boxes. Moving through one of the boxes, Hermione emerged out onto the balcony and took a seat overlooking the new stadium. There was no denying that The Rising Phoenix Stadium was a work of art, and sitting looking around, Hermione couldn't help but be proud that she'd played such a huge part in its existence. If it hadn't been for her and Harry's eagerness to relaunch The Cannons as a credible team, none of this would exist, and Hermione felt the quidditch league would be a lot poorer for it. So maybe she hadn't made such a bad move in partnering up with Harry after all.
Sitting looking out over the empty stadium, Hermione pushed all the negativity from her head and filled it with positive thoughts. For all the issues they had right now, she could honestly say she wouldn't want to walk away from the club. Owning the club wasn't anything like what she was expecting, nor was it as easy as she'd thought, but she loved the challenge. She loved the work involved, and even though the previous season had ended on a low note, there was still so much more to look forward to. Hermione still believed The Cannons could win the league, and she was going to do everything in her power to make sure it happened.
Lost in her thoughts, Hermione didn't realise she wasn't alone until someone settled themselves in the seat next to her. Turning her head, she smiled widely when she found Harry had joined her. In the last month he hadn't been around much, but she'd always known he would be back and like her he was determined to prove their critics and doubters wrong. Together they would keep The Cannons at the top of the league, and they would turn them into one of the most formidable, and profitable teams in the country.
"I hope you haven't been dwelling on what the press have to say," Harry said.
"How do you know that's what I was thinking about?" Hermione questioned with a frown. As close as she and Harry were, he wasn't usually able to read her mind.
"I was in your office and I saw the newspapers," Harry replied. "I threw them away, by the way."
"What if I wanted to keep them for motivation?" Hermione asked. "What if I wanted to prove everyone wrong?"
"We can prove people wrong without keeping proof of their doubts," Harry answered with a shrug.
"Do you believe any of the things they're saying?" Hermione questioned.
"I think there's a grain of truth in a few things they brought up," Harry admitted.
"Like what?"
"The team for a start," Harry answered. "I've built up a solid squad of players, yet not all of them get their chance. That last match, we had a perfectly adequate chaser and seeker, but neither of them really performed as they haven't had the opportunity to play alongside their teammates much."
"You can't give people first team quidditch just so they won't freeze when they do get an opportunity to play," Hermione argued. "You want the best, and you can't not play the best players because it's the same people who end up playing."
"You're right, but I think we need to do more in training to help those not playing first team quidditch," Harry said.
"That's for you to sort out with your training staff," Hermione said. "So is that it? Is that the only thing you think the papers were right about?"
"I don't think they were right about the rebranding or the stadium," Harry said reassuringly. "I think both have been vital to the team's re-emergence. I do however think they had a point about our professionalism when we first took over the team, or rather my professionalism. I let personal feelings cloud my judgement when I kept Ron on the squad and signed Ginny."
"You regret signing Ginny?" Hermione gasped, surprised by the admission given how much Ginny had matured and how important she now was to the team.
"That's a hard one to answer," Harry conceded with a small grimace. "As it stands now, I don't regret it. She's an asset to the team, and her game's improved tremendously. However, you know how different things could have been. At one point she was heading down the same destructive path as Ron. We could very well have had the two of them to deal with."
"But she came round and turned the corner."
"She did, but it was touch and go," Harry said. "What I should have done was settle in before even thinking about signing Ginny. And as for Ron, I think we both know he should have been let loose long before he was."
"If only things had been that simple," Hermione said with a wistful sigh, wishing things could have been different with Ron.
"Have you seen much of him?" Harry asked, noticing the wistfulness in Hermione's eyes.
"Once Ginny was out of hospital he came and apologised," Hermione answered. "He even said sorry to Draco."
"But it was too little too late," Harry summarised. He didn't blame Hermione for not welcoming Ron back as though nothing had happened as he knew he himself might not have been as forgiving if it wasn't for the fact Ron was Ginny's brother and his oldest friend.
"It was," Hermione confirmed. "We didn't reject his apology, but I made it clear to him that we couldn't go back this time. I forgave him last time, but what happened just proved that when the chips are down, he's going to revert and blame everything on Draco. I think he accepts that things aren't going to be the same now I'm with Draco. Don't worry, we can still get along if we see each other, but the days of our close friendship have ended."
"I'm sorry," Harry said softy. He was genuinely sad that his two best friends had drifted away from each other, but he could understand Hermione's stance.
"Me too," Hermione replied with a sad smile. "But I've always got my memories. Things weren't always this way, and I've got plenty of good memories of Ron."
"That's good," Harry said with a nod. "And how's Draco? I hope he's ready to begin training in a few weeks."
"He's raring to go," Hermione chuckled. "How's Ginny?"
"Great," Harry answered with a smile. After a week in hospital, during which the daily potion treatment reduced the swelling on her brain, Ginny was discharged. She'd then had to rest for a couple of weeks, but the previous week the healers had given her the all clear and she was now ready to begin her rehabilitation. "In fact as I left, Theo was arriving to give her a physio session."
"Will she be ready for the start of the season?" Hermione asked.
"I don't think so," Harry replied with a regretful shake of his head. "Ginny, Theo and I have discussed her rehabilitation and we've agreed that taking it slow and steady is the way to go. We don't want to push her and have her suffer a relapse that will end her career this time."
"It's best to take things slowly," Hermione agreed. "So are you going on holiday before the new season?"
"Not this year," Harry answered. "Ginny's got her physio, and I want to relook at the training programme. I think we've both got plenty to do over the summer. How about you, are you and Draco getting away from it all?"
"We were talking about having a quick break," Hermione replied.
"Do it," Harry urged. "You deserve a break Hermione. In fact, think of it as an order."
"You're not my boss, Harry," Hermione laughed.
"No, but I am Draco's," Harry retorted. "You tell him to whisk you away and spoil you, or we're going to have words."
"I'll pass the message on," Hermione replied with another laugh as she rested her head on Harry's shoulder and the pair gazed out at their stadium, their minds full of plans for the future and hope that the upcoming season would end better than the one that had just finished.