Disclaimer: Not mine. Not yours. Only JK Rowling's.

A/N: Hello, dearies! Well, this is the eleventh chapter of the story OaP and so far, I can see that based from your reviews, you are enjoying (well, SOME). Anyway, I'm as free as a bird today! I just do not have any idea if I'll be one next week.

Oh well, just read this chapter now. Review afterwards, okay? Enjoy!

Chapter Eleven: Back to Normal

"Good morning, Hermes!" Teddy greeted in a sing-song voice after plopping down beside Hermione. He started gathering food on his plate whilst talking to the disguised brunette. "How was your sleep? I hope it was a good one."

"I see you're back to normal," she mused aloud, watching as he enjoyed his pancake drenched with maple syrup.

"Yeah?" he asked. "How so?"

Hermione absentmindedly shrugged, munching her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "Well… I'm not used to seeing you so tired and drained. I mean, it was obvious that you were exhausted after your detention yesterday. It's just that… it's not like you."

"Hmm…" he murmured, looking at Hermione with amused eyes.

The brunette smiled back at him, her head slightly shaking. "There's some maple syrup at the corner of your mouth, Teddy," she said, gesturing towards the stain on his handsome face.

"Where?" he asked, wiping a specific spot.

"The other side," Hermione pointed out but still, Teddy was still not able to wipe away the syrup off his face. "Oh seriously…" The brunette leaned slightly towards the carefree Slytherin and without hesitation, pressed her thumb against the corner of his mouth and gingerly wiped off the syrup.

"There," she announced, satisfied with her small work. "It's gone already."

To her surprise, a terrible shade of red covered Teddy's whole face. His eyes were as wide as saucers as he stared at her wordlessly.

"M-mate," he stuttered out, placing a slightly shaky hand against the spot Hermione had just touched a while ago. "Don't do that. It's… it's weird…"

Hermione grew sheepish. "I'm sorry," she said, returning back to her breakfast. "I just can't tolerate… messy table manners."

"What are you? A girl?" he exclaimed, accusations in his voice. "Sheesh!"

The brunette's eyes grew wide upon hearing his accusation. "O-of course not!" she shouted back. "It's just that… that my parents taught me that real men eat properly, not shovel food down their throats as if there was no tomorrow."

Teddy grimace, now unconsciously rubbing his ruddy cheeks. "Yeah, yeah," he said in a dismissive tone. "Just… just don't do that again, yeah?" He shivered and Hermione pondered whether he did that voluntarily or not. "That was weird… Ah, whatever! Let's just enjoy our breakfast, shall we?"

"Of course," she answered back, nodding her head a bit too enthusiastically. 'Whew, that was close,' she thought.

"Oh, good morning, Blaise!" Teddy warmly greeted. Hermione looked at the incoming Slytherin and sighed in relief upon seeing that he was sporting his usual charming smile on his face.

'He's back to normal, too,' she thought, watching as Blaise sat down across from her.

"Good morning," he greeted back, eyes now landing on Hermione. "And good morning to you, too, Hermes."

Hermione grinned back. "Good morning, Blaise!" she exclaimed.

"So tell me," Teddy butted in, trying to catch Blaise's attention, "what happened to your date yesterday? And who's the lucky girl, for goodness' sake! We've been waiting all our lives just to see you date a girl, Blaise, do you know that?"

Blaise's smile faltered a bit, Hermione observed. "Let's not talk about that, Teddy," he said. "Not now."

Hermione's eyebrows knitted in concern. "Did something happen, Blaise?" she inquired. "Last night you came back… a bit odd?"

He only shrugged. "Really now?" was his absentminded question before starting to gather his breakfast on his plate. That only deepened Hermione's frown. She made a mental note to squeeze out some information from her friend later on.

The attention on Blaise was soon diverted when their last roommate plopped down beside the Italian, a huge scowl already visible on his pale, handsome face.

"Good morning, Draco!" Teddy exclaimed.

The blond only grunted in reply and like what Blaise did, he started gathering food on his plate.

Hermione thoughtfully stared at him, her mind returning back to the events that happened yesterday regarding him. She was still not able to conclude the reason of Malfoy's astonishing distress. All she was able to understand was that something big might had happened to break his calm and collected mask. After all, he was the almighty Draco Malfoy; he would die in embarrassment if someone was able to see vulnerability in him.

'Hmm… I do wonder,' she mused, eyes still firmly pasted on the blond. 'Maybe something had happened with his appointment with Dumbledore.'

She snapped out of her thoughts once Draco's eyes landed on her brown ones. She swore he looked humiliated as he stared back at her, but just in a snap of a finger, it was gone, replaced by a venomous glare. Hermione was driven to look away, wondering why she felt a bit… scared at Malfoy's sudden animosity.

Hermione was afraid that he would do something to her because she saw him at his lowest. 'Or maybe he's afraid I'll mock him just like what he would do if he saw me at my lowest,' she thought. And Merlin, she was greatly tempted to do that but thankfully, she was way different than Draco Malfoy.

The brunette already thought of possible things that Draco would do once he reverted back to his normal self. One: he might probably sneak into her bed while she was dead to the world and obliviate her memory of his vulnerable side; two: or he might probably sneak into her bed while she was dead to the world and hex her as much as possible until she was too injured to remember the events that had happened yesterday; and lastly: he might desperately search her deepest, darkest secret so that he would be able to blackmail her when she dared to open her blabbing mouth and tell the whole school that indeed, Draco Malfoy was not so almighty at all because even he could shed some tears.

'Oh jeez,' she thought, shivering at the thought. 'Who knew witnessing Draco Malfoy's vulnerable side will be bothersome. Merlin, I actually fear for the security of my secret.'

Judging from Malfoy's foul mood and sneers, he was back to normal. Any traces of his vulnerability yesterday were completelygone. Hermione actually thought that yesterday was just a… trance. It had never happened at all. But when she woke up this morning and saw an empty bowl of porridge sitting innocently on Draco's bedside table was enough proof that yesterday was real.

Seeing the empty bowl had surprisingly brought a smile on Hermione's face. Despite his stubborn attitude, he still secretly ate the warm porridge she prepared for him.

"There will be a Quidditch practice at six in the evening," Draco suddenly said, snapping Hermione out of her reverie. She blinked countless times and stared back at the blond, surprised that he was staring intently at her. "And I don't want anyone to be late later. Particularly you, nuisance."

'Yep,' she thought, a sour frown on her face. 'Everybody's definitely back to normal.'

"YOU CALL THAT A THROW? MERLIN, AUSTEN, A FIVE-YEAR-OLD CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT!"

Up in the sky, a very irritated Hermione Granger bristled.

It was an hour after six and the official members of the Slytherin Quidditch team were seen zooming around the Quidditch Pitch, practicing at their hardest.

Hermione had tolerated the first few minutes she was airborne. There were times when her fear would kick in and she had to shut her eyes and count from one to ten to calm her nerves. And so far, it had worked, though, not really that great.

As usual, Teddy was being his awesome self. Apparently, he grew more serious and had dodged quite a few Quaffles already, mostly thrown by Blaise.

Blaise, surprisingly, was an excellent Chaser. He was a bit aggressive, though not entirely hurting the other members; as long as he had the Quaffle in hand, he was satisfied. So far, he had thrown at least twenty Quaffles towards the goal hoops and scored at least fifteen goals.

And Hermione… in her opinion, she wasn't doing well. 'Oh who am I kidding! I suck!' she screamed inside her mind, dashing towards the falling Quaffle only to be stolen once again by Blaise. Her luck seemed to diminish today and she was only able to handle the Quaffle thrice. If Harry was watching from the stands, she'd bet that he would be laughing hysterically at her already.

Malfoy was not helping at all. He had been shouting instructions and mockeries towards the brunette, enough to drive her insane. She was tempted to throw a Quaffle towards the direction of her captain but restrained herself. But as more minutes passed by, Draco seemed to notice her mistakes more and more and Hermione was growing less and less optimistic.

"FOR MERLIN'S SAKE, AUSTEN! FOCUS ON THE GAME!" he thundered from below, a huge scowl visible on his pale face. "IF THIS IS A REAL MATCH, SLYTHERIN MIGHT HAVE LOST ALREADY!"

Snap!

Her elastic band of patience just broke into two and before she knew it, her feet were flat on the ground. Her face was red with fury as she took huge strides towards the irritable blond. Their practice game had halted; all members of the team intently watched the impending scene between the two.

"You… you shut up!" she screamed back, her hands balled into fist. "I am trying my best to be a good Chaser, Malfoy! You do not need to point out my… my mistakes."

Hermione then walked away, her Meteorite 1997 firmly clutched in her right hand.

Silence soon settled in the Quidditch Pitch after the disguised brunette's exit. The only thing that was heard was Blaise returning back on the ground and wordlessly ran after the fuming brunette.

The other members of the team soon followed. Teddy cautiously approached his fuming best friend and swung a comforting arm over his shoulder. "Don't you think you're being too harsh on him, huh, Draco?" he asked gently. "Remember, he's still a newbie. Hermes can make mistakes."

Draco released a disgruntled sigh and closed his eyes. "Tell the others that Quidditch practice is done," he instructed, gently shrugging off Teddy's friendly arm. "I'm going to take a nap. Merlin, I'm tired." And with that, he trudged back to Hogwarts.

As soon as her anger ebbed away, Hermione realized the huge scene she made. Embarrassment settled in and she sighed, cursing herself for suddenly losing her temper.

With cheeks flushed, she arrived at the Great Lake and thankfully, she was all alone. She blindly strode towards one of the humongous rocks and sat on it, a grimace present on her face.

'Great,' she forlornly thought, running a hand through her hair. 'You just pushed him farther and farther away from you, Hermione Granger.'

She glared at her broomstick, reminding her of her undoubtedly dramatic exit. Hermione released it not-so-gently and it fell on the ground with an ungraceful thud.

"You're not planning on ruining the broomstick I gave you, are you?"

Hermione whipped around so fast she swore she heard her neck crick. "Blaise!" she exclaimed in surprise, seeing her Italian friend in front of her. Apparently, he had followed her after she walked out from the Quidditch Pitch. Her cheeks colored in embarrassment once again and she looked away. "W-what are you doing here?"

Blaise raised an eyebrow as he slowly approached the disguised Slytherin. He sat down on the ground, just beside the rock Hermione was sitting on. He was silent for a while and Hermione watched him intently, a curious frown visible on her face.

Finally, he sighed and looked at Hermione. "You shouldn't have done that, you know," Blaise started. "Walking out from the Quidditch Pitch, I mean."

Her cheeks inflamed and she looked at her lap, ashamed. "I know," was her whispered answer. "It's just that… Malfoy infuriates me. I'm sorry; I have a really, really short temper and you have to blame my parents for that."

Blaise softly chuckled, shaking his head in the process. "I'm not blaming anybody," he corrected. "Draco's at fault, too. He shouldn't have been… mean to you, right?"

"Yeah!" she replied in defiance. "I mean, it was obvious I'm struggling to do the best I can muster, right, Blaise? You were right there in the Quidditch Pitch. It's true I haven't goaled" – she faltered for a bit – "but I was able to hold the Quaffle thrice. At least I'm still able to participate rather than stupidly fly around looking like a fool."

Once again, the Italian chuckled, this time because of pure amusement.

Hermione's blush darkened. "Eh, I'm sorry," she said. "I was babbling back there."

"Hmm…" he said, "sometimes, you never cease to amaze me, Hermes Austen."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

Blaise merely looked at her, a strange glint in his eyes. This caused Hermione's frown to deepen.

Silence ensued once again and Hermione allowed it. She somehow remembered that the comfortable moments she had with Blaise were lessening, and she was just happy that he was just there, keeping her company despite her embarrassing situations.

'He's such a good friend,' she thought, looking at him at the corner of her eyes. 'Maybe… I should have chosen to go to Hogsmeade yesterday than take care of that stubborn prat.'

Hermione frowned and shifted on the rock, this time her body was fully facing the Italian. "Um… Blaise?" she started and watched as he looked at her, a curious look on his face. "I'm so sorry about what happened yesterday. It's just that Malfoy's not feeling well… and I can't leave him alone. I'm sorry."

Thankfully, Blaise merely sighed. Hermione actually expected him to blow up or something. "It's fine," he said, although his voice sounded slightly strained. "Don't fret over it."

The brunette smiled and looked away from him, her eyes landing on the Great Lake. "So… how was your date?" she asked. "Teddy and Malfoy were dying to know. I can't believe it's the first time you went out with the opposite sex, Blaise. So, go on; tell me what happened. I'm dying to know, too."

At the corner of her eyes, she saw him scratch the back of his neck. "Well," he started, "she… ditched me. She didn't come."

"What?" she cried in exclamation, looking back at him with wide eyes.

"She ditched me," he repeated, followed by a sigh. "She didn't come."

Regret bubbled at the pit of Hermione's stomach. "I'm sorry," she said, eyes downcast. "I… If I have known, I would have followed you to Hogsmeade and accompany you."

Blaise released a low chuckle. "It's fine," he repeated, "and besides, she told me that she had to take care of somebody." He paused and looked at his hands. "I admit that I became upset."

Hermione gingerly placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she continued. "No wonder you were so furious when you went back from Hogsmeade yesterday." Hermione paused, thoughtfully nibbled her bottom lip, before continuing, "Don't worry, next time I'll make it up to you." Her eyebrows furrowed. "But how will I make it up to you? Do you have anything in mind?"

He just looked at her, his charming smile on his face. "Nothing… just…" He paused and to Hermione's surprise, his cheeks slightly colored. It was suspicious, she thought, but she immediately brushed that thought away. "Just… approach me when you need help. Don't go to anybody else, okay?"

Hermione frowned with his suggestion and was about to interject, remembering Harry and all. But then, she also remembered that she was the one who broke a promise, therefore, she released a sigh and answered a sincere, "Okay."

Blaise grinned and stood up, absentmindedly brushing off dirt off his Quidditch uniform. "Great!" was his cheerful reply. "Now, I think we should better go. Dinner's about to start."

The brunette stood up, too, broomstick clutched on her right hand. "Yeah, I guess."

And together, they trudged back to the school grounds.

Practice had ended and soon, the members were flying back to the ground.

Hermione had this satisfied smile on her face. According to Harry's suggestion, drinking a mild Calming Draught could help her. At first, the brunette interjected, knowing that any kinds of potions drank during a Quidditch game was prohibited. But Harry assured that mild Calming Draughts were fine; it helped the drinker to be more focused on the game rather than his or her fear.

She found it immensely useful and felt grateful to Harry.

It was their second practice before the big game and although Hermione still hadn't improved her Quidditch skills, she was doing better. After all, she was able to goal twice and take hold of the Quaffle five times. Teddy and Blaise reassured her that if she practiced more, she would be an excellent Chaser.

To her utmost surprise, Malfoy left her alone. Of course, there were some snide remarks and subtle insults here and there, but he seemed less cruel to her than their first practice. And for that, she was thankful to Merlin.

And now, she was headed back to Hogwarts, already imaging her warm bath in the Prefects' Bathroom. With her current situation, Dumbledore had granted her access to the said bathroom, despite not being a Prefect or a Head, because of safety reasons.

"Hermes, where are you going?"

Teddy suddenly materialized beside her and swung an arm over her shoulder. "Don't tell me you won't take a shower," he accused, steering her back to the showering room. "Come on, you did well. You deserve a wicked shower together with your other wicked teammates."

Hermione's eyes widened. "But… but…" she stuttered, digging her heels into the sand to stop Teddy from dragging her. "I-I'll be taking a shower in the Prefects' Bathroom. I'll be fine."

"Oh, nonsense," the carefree student said, successfully dragging her back to the men's shower room. He pulled her inside and Hermione instantly colored, seeing some of her teammates shirtless. "You're a new member here in this team so let's take a shower together!"

"N-no, please, Teddy, I'll be fine," she softly pleaded. By that time, Teddy had successfully dragged her at the farthest corner of the room, a few feet away from the door.

"Tsk," he said in mock irritation. "Come on." He removed his arm from her shoulder. "I'll be in my locker first, okay? And for Merlin's sake, don't go anywhere."

And with that, he left an extremely embarrassed Hermione Granger.

The brunette hid behind a post, her back facing the stripping males.

'Oh Merlin, what should I do?' she asked herself, blushing madly upon hearing some comments from males she knew she shouldn't hear at all. 'This is so embarrassing. I can already imagine Harry laughing his arse off when he hears about this.'

"Oi, Austen."

Hermione's blood ran cold when one of the beaters, newly appointed Ivan Raft, was standing in front of her, a large, boyish grin on his face.

He was half-naked, she observed, with only his boxers covering his manhood.

'Don't look down, Hermione Granger, don't look down,' she instructed herself, forcing her eyes to stay aloft, just looking at a spot directly above the sixth year's shoulder.

"You did slightly awesome a while ago," he praised, oblivious to the discomfort of his senior. "I mean… you were way better than our first practice." He looked from left to right and once satisfied, he leaned slightly closer to the brunette.

Hermione's eyes widened more in the process and instinctively closed her eyes.

"And I just want to say that your dramatic walk-out last practice was the coolest thing I had ever seen in my whole life," he continued in a soft whisper. "Nobody had ever humiliated Draco Malfoy like the way you did… well, with Hermione Granger as an exception. Too bad, she's dead. She actually entertains almost three-quarters of the whole Slytherin population. We're just too embarrassed to admit that."

Despite her extreme embarrassment, she cracked a small smile. "Err… thanks Raft," she said, slightly stuttering.

The sixth year Beater went back to his normal position and placed a friendly hand on her shoulder. Involuntarily, she flinched. "Just keep up the good work, Austen, and I think we'll make a wickedly awesome team." And with that, he walked away from the brunette.

Hermione sighed in relief once he was gone. 'Whew,' she thought, wiping some sweat that formed on her forehead.

She mentally cursed the structure of the men's shower room. She took a mental note to complain this to Harry, and even inquired it to Dumbledore.

But first, she needed to get the hell out of here.

Some of her teammates were still stripping off their uniform and Hermione swore that if she stayed in a room with a bunch of naked teenaged boys, she was going to faint right there and then.

"Okay, you can do this, Hermione," she muttered under her breath, emerging out of her hiding place. "Just do not look at them. Yes, that's right. Just don't look."

With her eyes downcast, she determinedly marched towards the exit door of the shower room. Thankfully, her teammates were too busy teasing each other and were not able to notice an embarrassed and suspicious Hermes Austen.

"Oof," she cried, her right hand immediately flying to her smarting nose. "Ow."

"Where are you going?" Teddy cried, large grin on his face. "You haven't taken a shower yet."

Hermione's right hand halted mid-air. Her eyes almost bulged out of their sockets and instantly, her cheeks started to inflame so bright she swore it would have resembled the trademark Weasley hair already. She was too horrified to at least move a muscle.

Because right in front of her was a definitely naked Theodore Nott.

The brunette tried to open her mouth to answer back but to her extreme horror, she was too embarrassed to talk. "I…" she managed to squeak, her breathing started to get ragged. "I… a-a-m… U-Um… I w-was – ."

The next thing Hermione knew, a small towel was now covering her face, obscuring her sense of sight.

"I thought you said you had some school work to do, Hermes." Hermione's eyes lit up behind the small towel upon hearing Blaise's voice. "And for goodness' sake, Teddy, leave the poor newbie alone."

Hermione took a peek under the towel and saw Teddy scowl. "Fine, fine, whatever," he said. "I know how much you value your studies, Hermes. And I'm not doing anything to him, Blaise! I only wanted for him to take a shower here."

"Mmm-hmm," the Italian mumbled, guiding Hermione out of the terrifying men's shower room. The brunette almost cried in relief once her Quidditch boots crunched above the sandy top of the Quidditch Pitch. "Now, go do your homework."

Hermione removed the towel off her face and looked at Blaise gratefully. Thankfully, he was still wearing his Quidditch gear; therefore, she had no trouble thanking him.

He only nodded, an amused smile on his face, before gesturing her to go back inside Hogwarts.

She followed him without any second thoughts and ran as fast as she could back inside the school.

As soon as she was inside the premises of her beloved second home, Hermione swore that in the future Quidditch practices, she would slip away from the Quidditch Pitch as soon as she could.

"I need to talk to Harry!" she declared to the air, before dashing back to her room in the Slytherin dungeons.

A/N: And, done! Please do review.

I was actually planning to reply to all of your reviews but truthfully, I'm feeling quite lazy now. So, no replies for now! But mind you, some of your theories are quite interesting. Others even made me smile. In the future, if I were to reply to your reviews already, if I do not answer any of your questions, there will be two reasons to it: first, your question will be answered in the future chapters and lastly, they are so close to the truth it's almost hilarious!

Oh, by the way, next chapter will be the Quidditch match! Hurray! XD

Well, I guess that's it for now. See you next week! Ciao :D

With love,
2booklover4