By Reason Of Birth

The Tickets

She woke up three hours later and took a shower before getting dressed. When she left her room it was close to noon, and she opened her door into the hallway at the same time as Theo.

"Morning," he greeted and she smirked at him, shaking her head in amusement that he could sleep so late every day.

"Morning," she responded. The two walked to the dining room, where lunch was set out. "Do you have plans for July 18th?" she asked as they sat down on opposite sides of the table.

"Yes," he responded, looking up. "So do you," he informed her.

"Excuse me? What do I have planned?"

"Dad got tickets to the Quidditch World Cup. We're going the day before and spending the night."

"Well, fuck," she muttered.

"What, you don't want to go?" he asked, amazed at the thought of someone who didn't want to go to the World Cup.

"No. Actually," she said after a brief pause where she looked at him knowingly, "I was sent four tickets this morning. It was requested that you come with me, and I was going to ask Harry and Ron to come as well."

Blaise walked in the room and they both glanced at him before turning back to their conversation. "You were sent four tickets to the Quidditch World Cup, for free, with no strings attached? I really don't think you should trust that, Hermione," Theo warned.

"I never said there were no strings attached," she responded vaguely.

"Hermione," Theo said, giving her a 'don't patronize me' look.

"What? I didn't." She paused for a moment, thinking, before she continued. "No offense to Brisco and Caoilinn, but I'd rather go with my friends... and I have better seats than them."

"You don't even know where the seats are," he said as Blaise looked on quietly. Now he knew what was in the letter she had received, he just didn't know who had sent it. "Dad was able to get really good seats, even if we are right next to Dolohov."

"No way!" she hissed angrily. "There is no bloody way I am sitting anywhere near that man! However," she continued quietly, "I will need you to come with me a bit after the game if you won't sit with me."

"I take it you don't like Dolohov?" he asked, ignoring the rest of what she had said.

In response, Hermione stood up and lifted her Muggle shirt to just below her bra, showing off the pale flesh of her stomach. A thick, white scar could plainly be seen across the upper half of her belly. "It goes up a bit more as well. So, I guess you could say that I'm not particularly fond of Dolohov."

Theo and Blaise were staring at her in horror. They had both known that her being friends with Harry had come at a price, that she had been far more involved than them in the actual fighting of the war, but neither had been expecting something quite like this.

"Antonin did that to you?" Caoilinn asked from the doorway, her voice tight with pure fury. They all turned to her in surprise since no one had heard her come in.

"Yes," Hermione responded simply, lowering her shirt as she sat back down. Her mother now understood one of the many reasons Hermione resented them, along with Brisco's choice to stay a Death Eater throughout the war.

"Oh, come on, it's not the end of the world," she told her brother and his friend as they continued to stare at her. "Caoilinn, I hope you don't mind, but I won't be sitting with you at the Cup," she changed the subject.

"I can't say I blame you, but your father may be able to get other seats before you make the decision."

"Actually, I was given four seats in the letter that arrived for me this morning. I was told that one was for Theo, and I was planning on asking Harry and Ron to come with the other ones," she explained again.

"And just who is it that gave you these seats, Hermione?" Caoilinn asked, her eyes narrowed. Seats to the World Cup were hard to come by, especially since it was being held in the Spanish countryside this year and they didn't have the home advantage. A gift of four of them would be rather expensive for whoever bought them, even if they were cheap seats.

"Viktor," she replied.

"Viktor who?" Caoilinn demanded, even more suspicious.

"Krum," Hermione sighed. As much as she loved her friends, she hated how well-known some of them were, never having been one for name dropping. For the second time this meal, the two males in the room were agape.

"And what does Viktor Krum expect from you that he would send you four tickets to the match?" she asked suspiciously.

Hermione rolled her eyes as she answered. "His girlfriend is adamant that she meet me, and he wants to meet Theo. Probably to threaten him or something, I don't know. He's kind of protective, even though I haven't really seen him in ages," she mused.

"You never mentioned that you still talk to Krum," Theo interjected.

"I didn't? Sorry, I wasn't keeping it from you on purpose. We've been writing to each other ever since he left after the Tri-Wizard Tournament."

"I'll have a talk with your father tonight and we'll let you know our decision tomorrow. Are you still planning on going over to Harry's today?"

"Mmm hmm," she mumbled through her food, keeping her mouth closed. "I have to Floo him first, though," she added when she had swallowed.

Once she had finished eating, Hermione made her way to the cloak room, calling out for Harry. Sirius answered and they spoke genially for a bit until Harry made his way to the fireplace. "Hey, Hermione, I wasn't expecting to see you today."

"I know. I was wondering if you have plans for today? I had a fight with Brisco and I don't really want to stay here."

Harry suddenly looked uncomfortable, shifting on his feet and not looking her in the eyes. "Yeah, I'm sorry, Hermione, but I do have plans already. I'm sure that Ron's free," he suggested.

"Maybe," she hesitantly replied. "So, what are these elusive plans?" she asked, seeing that he was obviously uncomfortable with the topic.

"It's nothing," he waved away, his face flushed.

"Is it a girl?" Hermione asked teasingly. The only time she had ever seen him act remotely like this before was when he had had a crush on Cho. He hadn't been nearly this bad over Ginny.

"Hermione," he groaned.

"Fine, fine, I'll leave it alone. For now," she told him, raising her hands in surrender.

"Thank you," Harry sighed. "I have to get going now, I'm sorry that I can't help you out," he said genuinely.

"That's okay," she responded. "I'll think of something." Before she even had her head out of the flames, she had already thought of who she could go to. The Grangers. Their surgery was closed on Tuesdays, so they could open on Saturdays when they had a large amount of business from people who couldn't get time off during the week to see the dentist.

After grabbing her purse, she Apparated to Muggle London to use a pay phone, thankful that she kept both Wizarding and Muggle money with her. The Grangers eagerly agreed to meet with her in an hour, so she Apparated back home to inform Caoilinn of her new plans and find something to do for the remaining time before she was to be at the Grangers.


Chapter End Notes:
Thanks to Lupie for her lovely betaness and to the readers and the reviewers! I heart you all!