New Romantics | Hermione Granger Book IV

|15| Chapter Fifteen

F I F T E E N

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For someone who wasn't remotely interested in Quidditch, (unless giggling over Oliver Wood with Lavender and Parvati counted as interested), Saffron was rather surprised as to just how excited she was to watch the match. To say it was hotly anticipated was the understatement of the century as apparently both the Irish and Bulgarian teams had endured tense and thrilling journeys to get to the positions that they were in at that moment. What those journeys consisted of, she didn't know or particularly care but she was grateful to be there for the culmination of it all.

What wasn't culminating was Saffron's suspicions of Maya. It was an endless circle of accusations and mistrust. The vast majority of the time they had good reasons to be suspicious of one another as to put it plainly the girls kept things from each other. Although the chasm that Maya had put between them when Saffron was a but a ten year old had narrowed, it was still present and no matter how many times they insisted that it was gone it proved to not be the case. Therefore, Saffron was curious as to why her elder sister was talking to a Malfoy and wasted no time in asking her about it as the seemingly never-ending advertisements ensued.

She didn't beat around the bush as that would only lead to lies on Maya's end. She just asked the question quietly so that nobody else could hear her. Needless to say, when Maya heard the words come out of her younger sisters mouth, she was shocked. That lead Saffron to believe that it wasn't a big deal and Maya made a point to make that known as the prospect of the encounter being filled with anything but indifference was immediately shot down.

"He was trying one of his old tricks to try and make me think he's actually a good person," Maya stated firmly. Evidently, this wasn't something that she wanted to discuss. "Obviously, it didn't work, it was never going to with me. He strives to be annoying but I didn't even give him the satisfaction of entertaining him,"

"Oh... well that's good,"

 Saffron wasn't quite sure what else she could say to that. She wasn't going to lecture Maya like Maya so often did to her simply because there wasn't anything to lecture her on if she was telling the truth. That was a big 'if' as Maya was prone to twisting the truth when she felt it was necessary. Regardless, Saffron didn't question her on it further. The sisters could get into spats very quick and adding fuel to the fire in the form of questioning her would only make that more likely. They couldn't afford to let themselves go there so instead Saffron focused in on the beautiful blond women that began to practically floating onto the pitch.

Her version of watching them, however, was very different to a lot of the people around her, namely the majority of the men in the stadium and some women around them too. Saffron could see why they were so enamoured by them and almost transfixed as the women who were called veela were stunning. They looked inhuman with skin that shined so bright it was blinding and with hair the colour of gold blowing behind them as they danced across the pitch.

When Saffron noticed her brother getting up out of his seat and clutching onto the seat in front of them, looking like he wanted to leapfrog every person in front of him to get to the pitch, she felt uncomfortable. He had never shown interest in anyone from an even remotely romantic standpoint before and now here he was wanting to get to the veela just as so many other testosterone-filled males did. She shouldn't have been surprised as the days where she and Rowan told each other everything were over, ever since he and Rachel gained a closer bond thanks to their joined clairvoyance. Still, it didn't feel great to see that he was growing up and clearly feeling things he hadn't felt so many times before. It was very possible he felt them more than Saffron did which was worrying for her considering she was older than him.

The other males in their groups also had quite dramatic reactions. Noah's jaw was dropped and he was unable to get out of his seat. Like Rowan, Harry too was standing up, barely resisting the urge to jump too. Then there was Sirius, who echoed his son's reaction but soon came out of his reverie as a result of Sage's scathing look.

There was an uproar when the music stopped and the veelas were escorted from the field. Those soon turned into yells of delight when the Irish chimed in with their mascot.

"And now," the man Saffron had seen earlier in the Weasley's tent, Ludo Bagman, was commentating and one could hear it in his voice that he was still getting over watching the veelas. "kindly put your wands in the air . . . for the Irish National Team Mascots!"

Saffron gasped in happiness when a green-and-gold comet hurled into the stadium. It lapped around them all and then divided into two separate comets. A great big rainbow burst out into the middle of the field and connected the comets together, forming a beautiful light display. Suddenly, the lights merged together completely to form a massive shamrock shining brightly in the sky. Then gold began to rain down onto them all. It was what appeared to be galleons but Sage told them not to take it seriously, as it was fake.

The fourteen Quidditch players were introduced in addition to the Egyptian referee Hassan Mostafa, all get glowing responses from the crowd. Most people did have a preference as to which team they wanted to win but in the same breath, the Bulgarian and Irish nationals didn't make up the majority of the crowd, so by in large, there was adoration for both sides, not just one. It only elevated the already electric atmosphere.

Mostafa was bald with a small moustache, which Harry told them looked like his Uncle Vernon's. This came as no surprise to Sirius nor Sage who told Harry that clearly nothing had changed in fourteen years since they had seen him, as he sported the same facial feature then and hadn't learned that it didn't suit him. Though, Saffron wasn't sure anything suited a man like Vernon Dursley. Anyway, the referee brought a crate with the Quidditch balls onto the pitch and everyone watched with bated breath as the whistle was blown sharply and balls were released into the air.

The match was underway.