Hermione's Riddle

Hermione's Heart

Hermione stepped out of the changing room and fiddled with the hem of her shirt.

"Quit being so nervous. You'll be fantastic." Tom was leaning against the side of the changing room with his arms folded over his chest.

Hermione frowned. "This is my first time playing quidditch. I've only ever played during practice and friendlies and I have never played in front of a large crowd."

Tom chuckled and sauntered over to her. Now that she noticed, it seemed as if he always sauntered, at least when she was in his presence. He brushed a light kiss to the top of her forehead. "You'll be fine."

It was still strange for her to see this side of Tom Riddle. She really hoped she wasn't making a mistake by following her heart. An arm wrapped around Hermione's shoulders, pulling her away from Tom's embrace. "Stop distracting my chaser. I need her full concentration for this match."

"She could use half of her concentration and still be better than you, Potter," laughed Tom. That was another thing that both intrigued and scared her; Tom and Fleamont were becoming friends, sort of.

"We better be on our way," said Sylvia, one of the other chasers. Sylvia Llewelyn had long blonde hair and bright emerald green eyes. She was a pureblood and it showed in the way she carried herself. Hermione wondered how a person like Sylvia wound up in Gryffindor.

Archer, the last of the chasers nudged Sylvia in the side. "Remember to balance." Hermione liked Archer's laid back demeanor when they were on the field. Not so much when they were off it.

Tom rolled his eyes at Fleamont, barely taking notice of the fact that Fleamont had an arm wrapped around her. "I'll be sitting next to your grandfather, cheering you on." He looked as if he wanted to press another kiss to her forehead but decided against it. With a slight wave of his hand he ambled away from them heading toward the stands.

"That is the most centered he has ever been," commented Archer in that slow, breathy voice that he possessed. Other members of their team nodded in agreement with him.

Hermione felt Fleamont's body shake and his arm moved with quiet laughter. She elbowed him in the side which only caused his inner laughter to turn outward. He removed the hand that was around her while he tried to calm down. After a few seconds, he smiled at his team. "Now that the Slytherin has given us the opposite effect than normal, I say we go out there and win this." He thrusted a fist out in front of him and the others followed suit. They broke contact with shouts of 'Gryffindor'. They made their way out onto the pitch, Hermione staying close to the other chasers. The stadium roared to life with cheers of enthusiasm as the two opposing teams entered the pitch.

The players from each team mounted their brooms. Madam Hooch walked out to the middle of the pitch. That had been another shock added to Hermione's rapidly growing list. Madam hooch had just finished her training and had begun her first year teaching. Her yellow gaze peered to each member before releasing the quaffle, bludgers, and snitch. Fleamont took off like a bolt, soaring high in the sky to get a better vantage point of the field.

A Hufflepuff chaser was the first to grab the quaffle. A stray bludger bulldozed past Hermione, barely missing her ear, heading straight for the Hufflepuff. The Hufflepuff seen it coming and doved down. The bludger followed, smacking into the tail end of the broom. The Hufflepuff's broom spun out of control.

Archer took this time to sweep in and steal the quaffle. He passed it to Sylvia who was positioned near the goal. She caught the quaffle and threw into one of the goals.

The next to score a winning goal were the Hufflepuffs.

Hermione saw her chance and swooped in to steal the quaffle. She saw Sylvia wide open and threw it to her.