The next few days went by slowly, and Hermione couldn't wait to leave the house. She was planning on going to diagon alley Tuesday morning to get school supplies but was disappointed when she found out that Eleanor had already bought them. She had the house elves put them in the corner of her room, beside her trunk.
She had nothing to do anymore, Eleanor didn't force her to go out, so she was now trapped between her room and the library with nothing to do. She didn't know if she was still welcomed at the burrow, and didn't bother to find out. All she had to cure her boredom was books, but even that became boring.
She was sitting by the window of her room, looking into the yard. She saw 2 people near the fence, before recognizing them. It was Theodore Nott and Draco Malfoy. She rolled her eyes, what were they doing now? She sat at the edge of the chair, looking closely and realizing they were exchanging money.
"Stalking my friends, are you?"She heard behind her, causing her to fall from her seat.
She threw a glare at Blaise as she stood up. "It's not my problem, they're in front of my window" She snapped. Blaise scoffed, looking out the window. "They're making a bet, and they are in fact not in front of your window"Blaise said. Hermione rolled her eyes, "why are you in my room?" She questioned. "Flint has a quidditch game today, and you're coming with us" Blaise told. "I am not going to some dumb game, I rather stay here and die of boredom" Hermione snapped.
"Well too bad, it's the first game since the war and a lot of people are going, you're lucky we were able to get tickets"Blaise said. "Refund my ticket, I'm not going" She said. "Hermione you don't have a choice, Mother and Michael want to stay here alone. So you're going to come with us, and be happy you're sitting in the top box, and not in the 26th with your precious Weasleys" He told, walking to the door. "What? What do you mean!"She questioned, rushing in front of him. "Your Weasleys are going to the game"He said plainly. "I'm definitely not going!"She snarled. "We bought the tickets, you're going. The game is at 6" Blaise rolled his eyes, pushing past her and leaving the room. Groaning as she threw herself on the bed, Hermione regretted ever entering this manor.
An hour or two later, Hermione was still not ready. All the clothes that Eleanor had bought for her made it difficult to pick which to wear. It was 5:35 and they were supposed to leave in 10 minutes. There was a knock on her door, and Hermione felt like she was about to explode. She opened the door and saw Eleanor. "Are you having trouble getting ready?" Eleanor questioned. Without asking questions, she nodded and stepped aside for Eleanor to walk in. She went to Hermione's closet and skipped the outfits, going straight to the dresses. "You might be attacked by paparazzi at the game, so I want you to be careful"Eleanor said, rummaging through Hermione's closet. "Paparazzi?" Hermione repeated. "Well you've been on the cover of the daily prophet for the past 5 days"Eleanor laughed, pulling out a short black dress. She turned to give it to Hermione and realized the shock on her face.
"You haven't seen the daily prophet?"Eleanor asked, surprised.
"No" Hermione told, now worried for the worst.
Eleanor stared at her for a second before calling Recor. "Get me today's daily prophet"Eleanor said as Recor appeared. "Of course Mistress" Recor bowed. Recor left and Eleanor handed Hermione the dress. "You get dressed and I'll pass you the paper from under the door"Eleanor told. "Isn't this a bit-" Hermione was saying, questioning the choice of clothing, but Eleanor interrupted. "If you can't find something in the next 60 seconds, you won't have a choice. You haven't even done your hair yet"She said. Knowing she won't, Hermione sighed and went to the bathroom.
She was fixing the straps of the dress when the paper was slid under the door. The front cover was a picture of her and Michael, the headline being "LOST ZABINI FOUND?". Hermione groaned, picking up the paper. And she believed her life couldn't get more complicated. "Hermione, you have 6 minutes to be downstairs"Eleanor said, knocking on the door. "I'll do my hair and I'll be down soon, don't worry"Hermione told. She heard Eleanor leave the room and turned to the mirror. After finishing her hair, She was putting on her jacket as she left her room. She made it to the front door, and only found Pansy there. "Your mother said you're gonna be late" Pansy said. "Weren't we supposed to leave at 5:45?"Hermione questioned, checking the clock. "We were till your stupid brother found out he mixed up the times. The game is at 6:15. He even convinced Flint he was right"Pansy scoffed. "You stay here, I'm going to see where the rest are" She added as she walked away. Hermione was sure this was just an excuse to not be left alone with her. She sat on one of the short black leather benches by the door, watching the clock.
"Aren't you a little too dressed up for a game?" She heard. After looking up, she rolled her eyes. "You're wearing a tux, you are in no place to talk" She said. "I'm always wearing a tux" Draco scoffed, sitting on the bench across from her. "But I doubt you've worn a dress since fourth year" He said. "Not an excuse for you to talk" She snapped. He rolled his eyes, turning his head as they heard footsteps. Blaise walked toward them, fixing the cuffs of his shirt. "Everyone's on their way down, we're going to apparate to the stadium"Blaise told, saying the last part to Hermione. Muttering a small "ok", she stood as she grabbed her purse. When Hermione looked back at Blaise, she saw him glaring at Draco as the git smirked back. She rolled her eyes, and checked the clock.
5:58
Soon, the rest joined them, along with Eleanor and Michael. She stood in front of Hermione. "You can't leave your brother's sight, alright? I want you to be extra careful, keep your wand in hand. I know you remember what happened at the last quidditch game"Eleanor said, muttering the last sentence. She than turned to Blaise. "You aren't allowed to drink more than 2 glasses, you need to be stable enough to apparate back. Don't forget to keep an eye on your sister, I want her back in one piece. If you aren't able to watch her, Draco will. Won't you?"She said, looking over at Draco. Hermione's eyes widened, following her mother's gaze.
"Of course"Draco smiled.
"Very well, you all must be careful. Your parents trusted me to take care of you, so you can't have more than 2 glasses of any type of alcohol. If you apparate while drunk, you may splinch yourselves, understood?"Eleanor told. They all nodded and Eleanor smiled. One by one, they all apparated out of the manor. Blaise was the last to go, having to apparate with Hermione. "Ignore Draco"He said before apparating them to the stadium.
They appeared near the change rooms, leaving Flint to go with his team mates as they walked to the stadium. They made it to the top box and had their tickets scanned before being let in. Hermione had a seat near the far left, between Blaise and Draco, as Eleanor wanted. The glass box was hard to hide in, Hermione watching as many people got up to stare towards them. All she could do was hover her hand over her face. She stayed silent as the others talked.
The game was about to start when a house elf entered the box. It levitated glasses over its head, slowly handing one to each person. Hermione didn't get to say anything before the elf was gone. Hermione looked back and realized most of the people around her were on the edges of their seats. The game started, both teams being introduced. They met in the middle and the team captains stepped forward, shaking hands as they glared at each other.
Hermione didn't pay attention to the game, instead her focus was on trying to find which box the Weasleys were in. Her eyes scanned along every box, trying to remember what box Blaise said they were in.
14, 15, 16,... she couldn't find them.
22,23,24,...
Than her eyes landed on box 26. The box was full of red heads. Sitting in front was Arthur, Charlie, Bill, Fred, George, Ginny, Harry, Ron and ... Hermione couldn't tell who it was, but it wasn't a Weasley. She scooted to the edge of her chair, trying to get a better look. Was that... Lavender Brown? She reached under her seat, and picked up the Omnioculars that were placed for them. She put them up to her eyes and went back to box 26. Ron had his hand in hers, and Lavender's head was on his shoulder. Hermione noticed Ginny staring at them before Fred took her attention back to the game. What was Lavender doing with them?
"Granger those are used for Quidditch, not stalking"She heard, the Omnioculars being moved toward the game. She dropped them in her lap, glaring at Draco, as he smirked before turning back to the game. Hermione leaned back in her chair, her eyes still on the Weasleys. Why would Ron be there with Lavender, practically cuddling with her? She looked away, trying to think of any reason Ron might be holding her hand. She occasionally glanced over at the game, before scanning over the stadium once more. Her eyes landed on the Weasleys again as one of the teams scored. They cheered, but her focus was on Lavender, who leaned towards Ron and kissed his cheek.
Her face paled, what was she doing? She watched as Ron kissed the top of her head, a small smile on his face. Hermione was about to glance away when she made eye contact with Ginny. She held her gaze, before Ginny stood up, nodding her head once and leaving the box. Hermione got up as well and almost slipped past them when someone grabbed her wrist.
"You can't wander around, Granger"Draco said, pulling her back. "Where are you going? One of us has to go with you"Blaise reminded. "I'm going to the bathroom, you're not following me"Hermione rolled her eyes, snatching her wrist from Draco. "Keep your wand out"Blaise added, before looking over at the match. Hermione slipped out of the box and kept walking the hallways before she saw Ginny. Ginny grinned as she ran over, throwing her arms around Hermione.
"I missed you so much"Ginny muttered, squeezing her. Hermione smiled, hugging her back. "Where have you been? I was beginning to think that they had killed you" Ginny told, stepped back. "I didn't know whether I was still welcome"Hermione mumbled, looking away. "Just because you and Ron aren't together, doesn't mean you aren't welcome"Ginny scoffed. Hermione's head shot up, staring at Ginny. "What? What're you talking about?"Hermione questioned. Now it was Ginny's turn to stare.
"Ron said you guys broke up last week? Before you were all over the daily prophet" Ginny said.
Hermione stared, her eyes expressing everything going through her mind.
"Ginny, we never broke up"