A/N: Oops. Sorry about the delay, but here's the next chapter and I'm sure it'll be worth the wait! (At least I hope you think so, ha.) Once again, thank you for all of the feedback. You guys are phenomenal. I realized a little too late that I sort of messed up Hermione's age. I said she was eleven in her first year and so on and I know she was twelve in her first year. Gah, my bad. To clarify, she is now 18. Ok, enough chitchat, onto the story!
~Chapter 28~
A couple days later, Hermione was tossing a football with Sam and Puck while they told her about various plays and answered her questions.
"So let me get this straight, there's actually a penalty if a player hits or kicks another player?" The British girl asked disbelievingly.
"Uh, yeah, can you imagine how brutal the games would be if they players could do whatever they wanted to each other?" The boy with the mohawk replied, looking at her strangely.
"Yes, I can," she mused aloud. "I'll have to tell Harry about that."
"So Herms, were you always this athletic?" The blonde boy asked her as he threw her the ball.
"Hardly," the brown-eyed girl chuckled. "I knew that in order to be successful in some of my life's endeavors I had to be in impeccable shape, so three years or so ago I began working out and training regularly. Before that though, I just helped my friends train and avoided participating in any competition that wasn't purely academic."
"Whoa, watch out, Sam, we'll have to make sure we don't get on her bad side. She might melt us with her brain power," teased Puck. Hermione glared at him playfully before charging at him, causing the resident bad boy to utter an uncharacteristic shriek and run away from her. The British girl easily caught up to the brown-eyed boy and tackled him to the ground.
"I'll have you know, Puckerman, that I broke a guy's nose when I was thirteen," she informed him with a wicked smirk before getting off of him and sauntering away.
"Woman after my own heart," Puck dramatically called out after her as Sam helped him up. The wavy-haired brunette turned around with an amused smile and waved farewell to her friends before going off in search of her uncle.
"She's a special one, isn't she?" Sam said after the girl disappeared from their sight.
"That she is, Evans, that she is. Hopefully, Santana will get her head out of her fine ass and make her move before some other chick steals Hermione away."
"Do you really think Santana would let someone do that without a fight? I mean, she is from Lima Heights," the younger boy pointed out before he and Puck began laughing hysterically.
As Hermione was walking through the school trying to find Will, she was pulled into a nearby classroom. She raised her fists and spun around to face her abductor who was trying not to laugh.
"What the bloody hell is your problem?" The British girl panted, lowering her fists and relaxing slightly.
"Sorry, Granger," Santana murmured with a smirk.
"Blimey, you don't do that to someone who has fought in a war," Hermione muttered quietly with her eyes shut.
"I really am sorry, princesa," the Latina responded apologetically, gently putting her hand on the older girl's shoulder. "Wait, you've fought in a war?"
"I shouldn't have said that," the wavy-haired brunette sighed, opening her eyes. "But yes, I have fought in a war. I don't know if you ever saw anything about it, but I believe I mentioned to you about the large terrorist organization that was trying to take over all of England and I was part of the resistance?" The shorter girl nodded. "Well, it eventually escalated into a full-scale war and my friends and I were a part of it."
"But you're so young," the raven-haired Cheerio replied with a frown.
"It was the right thing to do," Hermione shrugged, while trying to force her memories of the war away. Santana noticed the pain the taller girl's eyes and wrapped her arms around her.
"If you ever want to talk about it, you can trust me, you know."
"I know, San. Thank you." The two girls continued to embrace each other in a comfortable silence until the British girl opened her mouth to speak once more. "What did you need to talk about?"
"What? Oh, it's not important now. I'm not going to be able to change your mind anyway," the Latina informed her with a small grin causing Hermione to tilt her head in confusion. "I was going to ask you not to play in the game on Friday because I'm scared you'll get hurt, but you're the kind of person who does what's right, so you're going to play in the game no matter what." She paused. "You're a better person than I am."
"No, I'm not. I have my flaws just like everyone else, especially the nasty temper that I've gotten over the past seven or eight months. You need to give yourself more credit, San. No one else may notice it, but I see the way you are after someone in glee gets slushied. You want to rush to his or her aid and defend your friend's honor, but you're scared of letting people see the compassionate side of you because you have a certain reputation to uphold. It's ok to be yourself, Santana. People aren't going to think you're pathetic. If anything, they will appreciate you more," Hermione spoke to her fondly before kissing her cheek and exiting the classroom.
The rest of the week flew by and before anyone knew it, it was time for the big game. The former football players began verbally assaulting Finn about how he was committing social suicide when they noticed the girls decked out in pads and jerseys walking over to them.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Karofsky spat while throwing his hands up into the air.
"What the hell are they doing?" Azimio questioned with a roll of his eyes.
"What you don't have the balls to do," Finn smirked before joining the rest of his teammates in the pre-game huddle. "Let's do this!" He encouraged before telling them the play and directing the girls to the proper positions. Hermione stopped him and whispered something into his ear. "Are you sure?" She nodded, determination shining in her eyes. Finn gave his consent before muttering the change in plans to his best friend.
After the ball was snapped, the girls fell flat to the ground except for Hermione who pushed past their opponents and ran forward. Finn threw the ball, praying that his trust in the girl wasn't misplaced. Hermione spun around, jumped up, and caught the ball much to the amazement of everyone on the field. She shoved away one of the other team's players and ran into the end zone. As soon as the referee threw up his arms, signaling that she had scored a touchdown, the crowd erupted into thunderous applause before the rest of the Titans surged forward to praise the British girl.
"Girl, when did you get so fast?" Mercedes squealed as the girls embraced her.
"Growing up with mostly guys as your best friends has its advantages," she answered with a chuckle as the team got in position for the extra point.
Near the end of the second quarter, the score was 17 to 14. The Titans lined up and waited for Finn to call out the play. Hermione could have sworn she heard Coach Beiste shouting something about a blitz, but didn't have time to process it before Finn was sacked and the ball was lying helplessly a few feet away from him. She sprinted over to it and picked it up before she ran towards the end zone yet again. As soon as she crossed the goal line, a player from the other team came out of nowhere and tackled her. The referee blew his whistle and threw his arms up, indicating that she had scored yet another touchdown causing the crowd to break out in deafening cheers. They soon fell silent when they saw Hermione rolling back and forth on the ground clutching her right arm.
"Hermione!" Will bellowed trying to shove through the crowd as Coach Beiste rushed out onto the field.
"Granger, are you ok?" The older woman questioned worriedly.
"Um, yeah, I'm fine, just a small sprain," she lied through gritted teeth, knowing full well that her arm was broken.
"Ok, we'll get you a sling and take you to the hospital as soon as we can. By the way, thanks to you, we're now winning," the football coach beamed at her before helping her up and gently leading her off of the field. After they put her damaged arm into a sling, the wavy-haired brunette approached her friends.
"We can win this, guys!" Finn informed his teammates enthusiastically. "Hermione, you were awesome." The girl blushed and simply shrugged with her one good arm.
"I agree with Finn. You guys can win this. And an amazing halftime show will help us build our confidence even more. Finish up this quarter. Puck, Finn, you convince the rest of the guys to do the show with us. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Where are you going?" Puck inquired after he took off his helmet.
"From what I can tell about football, you can't have a halftime show without cheerleaders," she smirked before hurrying off the field and over to the parking lot.
"Oi! Wait up, you three!" She called out to the Unholy Trinity.
"What are you doing here?" Quinn asked confusedly.
"Forget what she's doing here. What the hell happened to your arm?" Santana yelped as she hurried over to the British girl and began examining the sling.
"I just hurt it a little while scoring a touchdown," she replied nonchalantly. "That's beside the point though. You guys have to come back to the game with me. I know you all care so much about your reputations, but is being a Cheerio really worth it? Whenever you guys perform in glee, it is obvious to everyone who watches you, that you truly love singing and dancing. And I, for one, can say that all three of you are so much more beautiful when you're not wearing that stupid uniform and are doing something you love with people who actually give a damn about you." She paused to look at Santana. "You told me that I was the bravest person you know, but you seem to forget how strong you can be. I know you can figure out the right thing to do."
"Ok, princesa, you win," the Latina finally relented with a smile.
"Brilliant! You two coming?"
"Of course," Quinn murmured shyly.
"Duh. I really don't want to die." The four girls moved to walk back over to the football field, but were stopped by a harsh voice calling out from behind them.
"No time for a foursome, ladies. This bus leaves in five."
"We quit," Santana informed her bluntly.
"You can't quit Cheerios. It's blood in, blood out. Now get your sweet little cans on that bus." The now former cheerleaders rolled their eyes and spun around before walking away. "You're my stars! If you leave, I have no performance!"
"Sorry, Sue," Hermione called back over her shoulder. "But these ladies are wanted elsewhere right now." The four hurried into the girls' locker room to get on their costumes and do their makeup. The British girl winced in pain as she grabbed her bag and hurried to the nearest stall. She whipped out her wand and hurriedly mended her broken arm. She sighed contentedly before putting her wand away and opening the door. As soon as the door swung open, she was met with a smiling Santana. Before she could say anything, the Latina's lips crashed down onto hers. After a few moments, they broke apart happily.
"Finally," murmured the younger girl.
"Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?"
"For pointing me in the right direction and for believing in me when no one else did," the raven-haired girl mumbled sheepishly. Santana leaned in and gently kissed Hermione again before slamming her hand up to her forehead. "Shit, we've gotta get you ready. How's your arm?"
"Never better," the wavy-haired brunette replied with a grin as she was dragged in front of a mirror. After a few minutes, the two girls rushed out onto the field hand-in-hand. "Good luck," she whispered before kissing the Latina's cheek swiftly. The zombified teenagers took their place on the field as the music started and fog quickly spread around them. After their well-received performance, the entire team was rejuvenated and took over for the girls after thanking them profusely for what they did. At Hermione's suggestion, they kept on their zombie makeup to frighten the other team. The British girl watched the team play their hearts out before moving to stand by Santana.
"I heard you kicked ass tonight, what with your three touchdowns. Who knew you'd end up being an amazing football player," teased the Latina.
"It was quite exhilarating. Kissing you was so much better though."
"Oh, really? Well, we should definitely do it again then," she murmured huskily into the other girl's ear.
"But of course. Can it wait til after the game though?" The older girl pleaded while bouncing on her heels.
"You are too cute," the former cheerleader spoke fondly. "Of course it can, princesa." Hermione squealed and threw her arms around the shorter girl. After about an hour, Santana was tapping her foot impatiently. "Will you all hurry up and win the damn game, I've got better things to do!" The Titans turned around to glare at her before returning to the huddle. Several minutes later, the final whistle blew and the crowd cheered vivaciously.
"We won, Santana, we won!" Hermione squealed while jumping up and down.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's get going," Santana growled pulling a still bouncing Hermione behind her.
"Well, someone's quite eager to get someplace where we can be alone," chuckled the wavy-haired brunette causing the Latina to spin around rapidly.
"Have you seen yourself? Can you really blame me for wanting to get you back to my place as soon as possible?" She pointed out seriously. The British girl blushed and grabbed the other girl's hand.
"I'm nothing compared to you, love," the young witch responded infatuatedly before climbing into the other girl's car. The former cheerleader stood outside of her car with a goofy expression on her face before a honk snapped her out of her trance. "Come on, Lopez, I believe you wanted to 'get your mack on'."
A/N, part II: Yay! They finally kissed! I hope to have another update soon and I have planned on writing a sequel following the events of the third season of Glee, so that's good news, right?