The Game of Seduction

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The Game of Seduction

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The Game Begins

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"Ronald Weasley! How many times have I told you not to leave your broom lying around! I could've fallen down the flight of steps and broken my neck!" A female voice shrieked through the normally peaceful, expensive flat located in the heart of England.

"Merlin Hermione, do you have to scream about it? I was taking a nap," Ron whined as he walked into the hall, scratching his back and with his coppery hair in disarray. Not that it was normally neat, but it looked crazier than normal.

Hermione flashed him a warning glare and threw the broom at him. Ron caught it with one hand and glared right back. "Ron, there's a reason why we have a bloody broom closet in the hallway, why don't you learn how to use it?" she nagged, making her way into the kitchen.

"I must've forgot," he said ruefully, pulling a chocolate frog from his pocket and stuffing the nearly melted sweet into his mouth.

"Why is that you always forget to put your things away, but you never forget to stuff your face full of chocolate frogs every time you get home or when you wake up?" she asked in displeasure, walking over to pour herself a glass of orange juice. "It's a miracle you're in the shape you're in when you eat so much junk food."

Ron pouted and walked over to press a kiss to her cheek. "I'm sorry Mione," he whispered as two fingers trailed down her spine. "That's what all the extra training is for."

Hermione shivered, but then turned to slap his hand away. "Ron, it's been long since you and I ever resolved things that way. We're just friends, not friends with privileges," she said with a small laugh.

"That's not what you say every time you get drunk and wake up in my bed," he said lightly, before turning and walking out of the room.

"That's because we usually wake up with a hangover," she said pointedly. "Hey, where's Harry?"

"He had a meeting with the owners of the team. Something about training the new Seeker. It's strange; they're keeping the guy's identity a secret until our first official game."

"Really?" Hermione asked, intrigued. "So they've already chosen the person?"

Ron nodded and took a bite out of a cookie that was on a plate on their table. Every time Hermione went to a muggle supermarket, she brought back specific cookies called 'Oreos' just for Ron. "Yeah, but only Harry seems to know who this person is, being the captain and all. I just wonder who he is and if he's going to be as good as Harry was when he was seeker at school," he said absently.

They both looked up when Hedwig swooped in through the open Victorian window that was above the entrance door of their home. After graduating from Hogwarts, she, Harry, and Ron had moved in together and had taken small part time jobs at the ministry. Harry and Ron had tried out for the Quidditch team, and had just recently been accepted into the Gryffindor Army team. This team had been formed by a few Gryffindor alumni from Hogwarts who had been able to form a team. Harry had taken over and had been able to hire new players for the team.

Unfortunately for them, the other houses had also formed professional teams, and now the Slytherin team was captained by none other than Draco Malfoy himself. The Ravenclaw team was under Cho Chang's training, and the Hufflepuff team was trained by one of the older students that had graduated before them all.

Harry had gotten captain of the team as a chaser, though he was still one of the best seeker's in the world, and Ron was the keeper. He had come a long way from the way he had played when he had been in fifth year at Hogwarts. As for Hermione, she had taken on the biggest challenge of her life as a side hobby. And as always, she was good at what she did.

Only Harry knew her secret though, and she was sure that Ron would be shocked out of his life when he found out...... Hermione took the rolled piece of parchment from Hedwig and read the neatly cursive letters printed there.

Her eyes lit up. Harry had sent her the note to give her the good news. She ran into her room to grab her coat and purse while Ron watched her in bewilderment. He followed her into her room just in time to see her grab the thick locks of her hair and curl them into a bun, sticking her wand through it.

"Where are you going and what did that note say?" Ron asked as he opened another chocolate frog.

"It was a note from a girlfriend," Hermione said as she grabbed her purse and made for the door. "Ron, do me a favor and be ready tonight at seven. Tell Harry to wear nice clothes. I'll be back by then and then we'll go out to dinner," she called before she was out the door.

Ron frowned, but then his lips curved into a smile at the thought of a good tasting dinner that wasn't a disaster cooked by either Hermione, Harry, or himself. They usually took turns for dinner and it was never something to look forward to. Sometimes, well when either he or Harry cooked, the food was still moving. Yuck, Ron thought. But then he wondered where they were going to go and his day instantly brightened.

...........................

"Wear this one!" Ginny called as she emerged from Hermione's closet. It was six in the afternoon and they only had one hour to finish getting ready. Ginny had done her hair, and Hermione had done the red-head's in turn. Ginny's dress was under a protective cover, hanging from the closet's door, and she and Hermione were debating on what the brunette should wear on such a special night.

"Which one?" Hermione asked as she looked up from the long brown package she was pushing under her bed. Her room was mainly plain, but spacious. The only things that stood out was a large wizard picture of their graduating year at Hogwarts; all the houses had come together to take the picture, and it looked pretty good. Well, except for maybe the fact that Slytherins and Gryffindors were glaring at each other every five minutes. The next thing that stood out was two posters of Harry and Ron grinning sheepishly in their professional Quidditch uniforms next to each other on her wall by the windows.

But Hermione's pride and joy had to be the huge bookcase that took up a whole wall and was filled with books that she had collected over the years. Aside from that, her bed was a plain four poster with a canopy of maroon silks and a cotton duvet. Her diploma of graduation and the honors she received were on a shelf all by themselves.

"I think this dress would flatter your figure. There are so many dresses in your closet, why don't I ever see you in any of them?" Ginny asked as she took the protective covering off of the dress she had brought out.

Hermione had many and more beautiful dresses and they were all protected and in neat rows in her closet, but Ginny hadn't seen her wear more than half of them, and even more of them looked brand new. Hermione flushed in embarrassment. She took great care of her dresses, but she rarely used them.

"I have issues," Hermione admitted. "Every time I see a pretty dress I have to buy it, regardless of if I will wear it or not. I only wear them to special occasions like today."

Ginny grinned. "I would kill to have all these beautiful dresses. But then Dean would have a fit about me wasting our savings on dresses and Quidditch supplies. But I still have my fair share of dresses that would make any guy drool over me. Hey, have you ever worn this dress?"

Hermione nodded. "I wore it for Ron once," she said wistfully.

"And what did he think about it?" Ginny asked as she walked back into the closet.

Hermione was thankful that Ginny wasn't there to see the darker shade of blush that covered her face. "I never made it outside that night. We had dinner at home," she chimed with meaning.

Ginny burst out laughing as she brought out shoes and all the necessary accessories that would complete Hermione's attire. "It's a shame you guys didn't stay together. But I can bet you a nice sum of Galleons that his jaw is going to drop tonight."

"I don't want his attention anymore. Being a couple put a huge amount of weight and tension on our relationship as friends," Hermione said as she applied some lip-gloss and looked herself over again. "I just want to have a nice dinner among friends."

"And we'll see if we can find you a man tonight," Ginny said decisively. Hermione just rolled her eyes and grabbed the dress before walking into her bathroom.

..........................................

"So what are we celebrating?" Ron asked as he sat with Harry at the restaurant that Ginny had sent them to. She had said that Hermione and she would be a few minutes late, but that they would be there shortly. "And where are those two? I'm hungry," he complained.

Harry just grinned and shrugged his shoulders lightly, taking a sip of the fine expensive French wine that had been courtesy of the house. Being famous due to the war and then at the fact that he was captain of the Gryffindor Army Quidditch team came in handy. He still didn't like having the spotlight on him much, but he tolerated it much more than when he had been young. "Be patient. When Hermione tells us a certain time, she'll be here," Harry said calmly, trying to smile without it looking forced to everyone who looked his way and whispered his name.

Ron ran a hand through his long red hair and took a bite out of the complementary breadsticks in the center of the table. His eyes narrowed as he looked towards the bar. "Did you see whose here?" he asked sourly.

Harry followed his line of vision and smirked. "A fellow competitor. I heard from your brother Bill that Malfoy helped his team win the international Quidditch cup three years ago against Bulgaria. He must have been better than Krum to have beaten a team like that."

"He beat Krum? Did the officials ever double check, you know, just in case Malfoy cheated? We know what a sneaky ferret he can be when he wants to," Ron said as he kept his glare on their childhood enemy, who was at the bar with a fellow teammate of his, Blaise Zabini.

Almost the whole majority of the Slytherins had fought in the war against Voldemort, and Malfoy and Zabini had been the two main ones. Thanks to their change in sides, a half-friendship had been formed between them Harry and Ron. Hermione had grudgingly accepted it too, but she and Malfoy had been indifferent to each other, and no amount of cajoling from the rest of the golden-trio could make her change her mind.

Not that Malfoy cared, he still despised Hermione for being smarter than him. He had graduated second best from Hogwarts, and maybe that was why they still hated each other with an incredible intensity that it was almost tangible. "You know, if he's as good as he's proved, we'll play against his team soon. We have a couple of fundraising games next month for charity, and I think that his team also signed up for those."

"Fundraising? Malfoy? bah!" Ron burst out laughing. "Please. He may have helped us in the war, but he's still a selfish git. He has a bloody playboy reputation," Ron said with a roll of his eyes.

Harry chuckled too and spotted two beauties coming in through the apparition spot. "They're here, and take a look at... Hermione," he said before his mouth dropped open.

.........

"Ginny, I should've left this dress black. Red is getting me too much attention," Hermione said as she pushed her hair over her shoulder.

Ginny snickered. "Did you see the way the host was looking at you? Talk about staring isn't polite," she grumbled as they looked around for the boys. "But don't worry about it, Mione, the color is the last thing that people are looking at. You may not want to see it, but you have a great bod and your dress is highlighting that curvaceous figure of yours. Look at all the eyes on you!" Ginny said as she looked around the place.

"I'm not the only one they're looking at," Hermione commented with a sly smile. "Look there they are," she said as they began to make their way towards their table.

.....................

"Malfoy, look at the two that just walked in. Two pretty little Gryffindors."

"Zabini, I'm here to find a pretty and easy lay. The last thing I want to see are Gryffindor punks from school," Draco grumbled as he took a drink from his firewhiskey. But Blaise was making hand movements and he was staring ungracefully to the point that Draco was starting to feel embarrassed.

Draco looked up and raised both his eyebrows. The red head was in a satiny, form-fitting sleeveless dress that matched the color of her vivid blue eyes and made her thickly curled red hair stand out. The brunette was in a vibrant red halter-top dress that hugged her waist and hips in a cinched material, and from her hips down it flared out in a stylish skirt that puffed out. They stood out among most of the people not because of the color of their dresses, but at the fact that they were not in dress robes; they were wearing muggle clothing.

"Unless that's the Weasel with a sex change, I am willing to bet that that's Ginny Weasley," Blaise commented.

But Draco wasn't listening. He was staring at the woman next to the Weaslette. If he wasn't mistaken, that was...... no, no, no. It couldn't be... the mudblood! She looked unlike the beaver-tooth, bushy haired, know-it-all from school. She had the shape of an hour-glass thanks to that dress. Her hair was in flowing golden-brown waves and one side of it was held up by a big red flower, while the other side fell seductively over one of those brown eyes that were dark with some sort of make-up that made them look like cat-eyes.

The heels she was in allowed her to sway her hips alluringly as she and Ginny Weasley brushed past them and joined... Potty and Weasel at an exclusive table. Draco's lip curled in disgust; he had been nearly drooling over the mudblood. Zabini was gaping, and Draco had to give him a little tap in the ribs to make him snap out of it.

"Shit, Malfoy, what the hell was that for?" Blaise snapped, rubbing his hurting middle.

"You were about to start drooling over my expensive shoes, and we couldn't have that, could we?" Draco asked as his eyes narrowed darkly. "Besides, you were drooling over the mudblood and over a weasel," he said in distaste.

"I saw your eyes flicker over Granger too, so don't give me that crap. She looked good enough to eat, and you need yourself a distraction. How long has it been since you got laid?" Blaise asked pointedly..

"Too long. Nearly a week now," Draco said dramatically. "But Granger wouldn't be my first pick, regardless of what she looks like now."

"You think she's still with Weasley?" Blaise muttered.

Draco shrugged. "I could care less."

"Then if she gets up from that table, I'll take my fine self over there and see if she'll go out with me," Blaise said as he ran a hand through his dark hair and straightened his expensive suit. Draco looked at him in disgust.

"The mudblood? I would've thought that the she-weasel," Draco said as he looked towards Granger's table again. The Weasel was staring dumbfounded at her, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.

"Either one is fine with me," Blaise shrugged and took a sip from his glass of wine.

Draco's eyes narrowed to slits. Granger did look......nice. Never mind that. He turned away from the mudblood and looked around the restaurant. There were no real lookers today. Except for... hmm was that Lavender Brown? For a Gryffindor, she was pretty hot and she looked to be alone.

"How about her?" Draco asked Blaise as they picked up their wine glasses and started to walk towards their table.

"Brown?" Blaise asked, unconvinced. "She was a good shag, but she tended to get over attached. She cried and cried and cried that night that I told her that it had to end," he said dryly. "After a few weeks, it gets annoying regardless of the fact that she's good in the sack."

Draco shrugged. "She looks good."

"You prefer her over Granger?" Blaise asked with a frown. "Merlin are you blind."

Draco shrugged. "Watch me work my magic," he said before standing from the table and sauntering gracefully towards the table where Lavender brown was sitting. This would be a breeze.

.................................

"Hermione! Ginny!" Ron choked. And quite literally, because he had been munching on a breadstick. "Ginny, what are you wearing?"

"It's called a dress you dolt," Ginny snapped.

"I know that, but..." and he grimaced as he said the words, "We can see your... figure."

"That's the point, isn't it?" Harry asked the two girls.

Hermione smirked and nodded. The waitress came over and brought the bottle of champagne that Harry had ordered prior to their arrival. They also placed their orders and spoke for a few minutes. Harry gazed at Hermione and gave her a happy grin. This was a very special night for them all, but she had yet to tell Ron what they were celebrating.

"Is it just me, or is Zabini staring at you two?" Harry asked, eyes narrowed. It was only natural of him to be overprotective of his ex and his best friend, the latter being the woman whom he was now dating.

"Yup, he's staring," Ron growled softly. "And Malfoy's with... Lav?"

"Lavender Brown?" Ginny asked. Then an idea popped into her head. She wanted to say hi to Zabini, he looked deliciously good in that muggle designer suit he was wearing. "Come on Mione, let's go say hello to an old friend," she said as she grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her along. "I think you should go out with Malfoy," Ginny whispered when they were at the midpoint between Ron and Harry's table and Malfoy and Zabini's table.

"What?" Hermione hissed, trying to pull her wrist out of Ginny's grasp without attracting anymore attention to them. Though because of the dresses they were wearing, it was turning out to be quite hard. "Malfoy is a slimy git and I will not......oh hello Lavender!"

"Hermione and Ginny!" Lavender squealed before jumping up from her chair and hugging the two other girls. "You both look beautiful!"

"Thank you," Ginny said confidently, eyeing Blaise Zabini covertly. "Zabini, Malfoy," she said, nodding her head in greeting.

"Miss Ginny Weasley," Zabini said as he stood and took her hand in his, placing a kiss upon it. He followed suit with Hermione. "Miss Granger, you both look stunning tonight.

"Hello Blaise, Malfoy," Hermione said, suddenly feeling self-conscious of the way that he was looking at her.

"Granger," he drawled, an evil smirk plastered on his face as he looked her up and down. "You've...changed."

"Am I supposed to take that as a compliment?" she asked saucily.

Draco shrugged, amused that even after school years he could rile her up and get under her skin. "Take it as you'd like. Now, to what do we owe this pleasure? We were about to order." Which in his words meant what the hell are you doing interrupting us; go away.

Hermione smiled evilly. "We came over to say hello to Lav, there's not a problem, is there?" she asked innocently.

"Of course not," Blaise interrupted, gazing at Ginny with overt interest.

"That's good. Maybe some day you'll both join Hermione and I for a drink and a night on the town," Ginny said slyly, licking her lips seductively.

"We'd love to," Blaise said before Draco could shoot her down.

Hermione glared at the red-head and then noticed that Harry and Ron were motioning them over. "Well, we should go, have a pleasant evening. It was nice seeing you Lav, owl us so that we can have a girls night out," she said before grabbing Ginny and pulling her along.

"I will," Lavender called.

Ginny flashed Blaise a wink and then reluctantly followed Hermione back to their table. "Why did you pull us away? I had Zabini's attention," she grumbled.

"Gin, you're living with Dean," Hermione hissed. "You have a commitment with him. Why are you looking for a way to tear all that time invested apart?" Hermione stopped her before they reached their table.

"Because Zabini looks good enough to eat," Ginny said with a grin. Hermione gave her a flat look. Ginny pouted. "Okay, fine. I think Dean is cheating on me," she said sulkily. Shockingly, she didn't look too angry, just a bit disgruntled.

"What! How do you know?" Hermione asked, feeling indignant on behalf of Ginny.

"One of his shirts had lipstick on it, and dark red is so not my shade," she snapped quietly.

"So what are you going to do?" Hermione asked as her eyes strayed to Malfoy and Zabni's table again. Her eyes met with Malfoy's and he gave her a look over again. She gave him a childish face and turned away. "Sodding Malfoy," she grumbled.

Ginny just smirked knowingly. "Well, I'm moving out. We had a row and he didn't exactly deny it when I accused him of being unfaithful. I told him that tomorrow I'm gone. I just need to find a place to live now," she said with a small shrug.

Hermione grinned suddenly. "You can live with us!"

"And have Ron breathing down my back every time I come home late?" the red-head asked in horror.

"We can think of some way to fool him on your curfew. Besides, we have a spare room that's filling up with spiders because we don't clean it. We need to clear it out you know," Hermione said matter-of-factly.

Ginny grinned and nodded. "Okay, but you have to promise to not give me lip about me going out with Blaise."

"I doubt anything serious is going to come out of that. Slytherins will always be Slytherins."

"Including Draco Malfoy, right?" Ginny asked smartly, her gaze traveling back towards the table.

Before she could stop herself, Hermione turned to look at him too, to find that he was looking at them both suspiciously. She turned away abruptly. "Ginny, I don't need you to play cupid for me. Harry and I are dating," Hermione snapped as they finally arrived at their table.

Ron and Harry were frowning. "What did you go over there for?" Harry asked.

Ginny smiled when she noticed the slightly accusing tone in his voice. "I wanted to say hi to Lav," she said nonchalantly.

Hermione forced herself to stop glaring at Ginny and instead smiled at Harry. "Do you want to break the news to them then?"

"You guys aren't getting married, are you?" Ron asked, looking pale.

Harry and Hermione burst out laughing as Harry popped the champagne open. "No, it's something different," Hermione said with a grin.

..............................

"What exactly are we doing here?"

"Come on Malfoy, you've been acting sour since we stumbled onto Granger at the restaurant. Why does she rattle your nerves so much?" Blaise asked in annoyance. They had just stepped into the box seats of the hidden Quidditch Stadium in the outskirts of London.

"I have a not so pleasant history with Granger, you know that. I just can't stand her for some reason," Draco snapped curtly.

"You know, they say that there's a very thin line between love and hate," Blaise said slyly.

"Yeah, and there's a thin line between my wand and the Avada curse," he grumbled.

Blaise chuckled and watched as the new head of the Department of Magical Games & Sports, who just happened to be Oliver Wood, walk in and sat down. With a wave of his wand, he magnified the sound of his voice and cleared his throat.

"Welcome everyone to the very first match of the fundraising Quidditch matches for 'Support The Families of our Fallen Hero's!' As we all know, the proceeds of the tickets will go into a fund that will help the families and the children of the fallen after the war against he-who-must-not-be-named. Twenty teams have signed up to participate, and today's first match is the Gryffindor Army team vs. Puddlemere United!"

There was a roar of applause and Draco forced himself to not roll his eyes. Zabini could be so bloody annoying about these things, but he had a point. This was Potter and Weasley's first match, and Draco needed to start studying his strategies until they met up on the pitch against each other again.

"Now lets welcome the players for Puddlemere United!" Wood continued as a group of seven people clad in blue robes zoomed out in Nimbus 5000's. Oliver then named them all, and the crowd cheered loudly.

"Want a butterbeer?" Blaise asked as a man came over to ask if they wanted anything to drink. Draco nodded and turned his attention back to the pitch.

"Now lets welcome the team of old Hogwarts alumni, head by team captain and chaser, Harry Potter!"

"Chaser!" Draco and Blaise echoed in disbelief.

Wood nodded and grinned. "Just today, we received news that a new seeker has been chosen for the team. Lets us all hope that she is as good as Mr. Potter is!" he called.

"She?" Draco asked with a frown.

"Yes, I said she," Wood snapped, his voice echoing around the stadium. "Welcome Harry Potter, Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny Weasley, the keeper and beaters and chaser. Next chaser, Seamus Finnigan. And, introducing the new seeker... Hermione Granger!"

The crowd erupted in even more cheers at the team that raced out in Thunderbolts, said to be the fastest brooms created to date. They were seven figures in Gryffindor scarlet and gold.

"Granger!" Draco yelled, looking at Zabini. "Granger?" he repeated.

"Don't judge until you see her fly," Wood echoed smugly. "She has to be the best woman I have seen on a broom. Miss Hermione Granger has just recently recorded the fastest catch of the golden snitch in history!"

"This can't be," Draco snapped in annoyance. "She's...... well, she's Granger!"

And it turned out that thirty minutes later, after a brutal match and a score of 270-120 Gryffindor, Hermione caught the snitch from a nose dive and mere inches from the ground.

"What a game! What an incredible first game for Hermione 'Quicksilver' Granger!" Oliver Wood echoed loudly.

..................

"Hermione!" Harry yelled. "You were incredible!"

She ran into his arms and he hugged her tightly, twirling her by the waist in the air. "That was such a rush!" she squealed happily. "Oh my god, I never thought that I would have done this in my lifetime. I'm just so glad that you helped me get over my fear!"

Ginny and Ron hugged her and congratulated her too. "We have to go out to celebrate this tonight!" Ginny said excitedly.

"Yes, just as long as Hermione wears a dress like the one she wore a week ago," Harry said with a grin.

Hermione blushed scarlet and they were all escorted to the changing rooms before they were stampeded by the fans who were leaving their seats. They all changed, but on her way out, Hermione remembered that she had forgotten her purse.

"Go on ahead, I'll catch up to you guys at our flat," she said to Harry and Ginny.

"Okay, don't take too long," Harry said before they made it to the apparating point inside the head of departments office there in the stadium. She walked into the changing rooms briskly and searched around for her stray purse. She found it on the floor by the broom closet and frowned. How had it made it over there?

Hermione was positive that her bag was not bewitched, so it had no life of its own. She walked over to it and picked it up. She nearly jumped out of her skin when a voice startled her from behind.

"Well, well, well," drawled a quiet, familiar voice. "What have we here? A lost seeker?"

Hermione smoothed her face into cool indifference and turned to glare at the prat of her life... well, not of her life... the point was that he was a prat. There. Nothing underlying in the meaning.

"What are you doing here? How did you get past security?" she snapped.

"Oh ho, fame going to your head?" he asked wryly. "I always knew that beneath that bookworm exterior was a wench that wanted to have attention."

"Sod off Malfoy, I'm not in the mood to fight with you. We're adults and we aren't in school anymore," she snapped, brushing him off without another thought or word.

Draco scowled and grabbed her by the forearm roughly, turning her back to face him, and abruptly pulling her flush against him. Hermione gasped but had not time to curse him before his lips were crashing on hers. She uttered a squeak of surprise before his tongue was in her mouth, silencing her completely.

Her hands fisted into his neat and expensive dress shirt, trying to shove him away, but Draco wouldn't budge. She suddenly relaxed and allowed him to taste her thoroughly. When he finally loosened his grip on her, she shoved him back and sent the hardest slap she could muster towards his face.

The slap was gratifying to her, and even more when she saw the red welt on his cheek. "Keep your filthy lips to yourself!" she screamed before walking off briskly, distraught at the events that had just gone on between her and her one time enemy. One time enemy? Oh no, he was still her enemy and always would be! Hermione thought furiously.

Draco smirked to himself and rubbed his cheek gingerly. He had been thinking about Granger since the moment he had seen her at that restaurant in that blood form-fitting red dress. And he had come to a conclusion. He was going to seduce Hermione Granger.

There was no special reason behind his motives other than the fact that he wanted to know what it would feel like to shag her senseless. He had to admit that for a mudblood, she had always been pretty. Not ugly, but not startling beautiful either.

She was undeniably intelligent and just knowing that he, Draco Malfoy, had seduced her from right under Potter and Weasley's noses was something that appealed to him greatly. The seduction of Hermione Granger was just a sport to him, like catching an elusive Golden Snitch.

And... he was proud to say, the game had just started.

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