Hermione wasn't too worried. It wasn't like Paul hadn't faced worse than this before. They'd all battled MONSTERS before coming here. And these two opponents weren't even using swords or anything. But Clarisse was a daughter of Ares. She packed a punch and she didn't hold it back. Well, Paul did too, it seemed. Maybe the nervousness had more to do with the fact that Hermione just didn't like fights. Okay, that was probably it. She bit her lip.

The campers took turns cheering and booing for their sides as the fight progressed. Then Hermione's side started getting wilder and she allowed herself to smile a bit. He was going to win! The next instant, a sign appeared above Paul's head. Hermione shot to her feet, still clutching the sword and shirt and stared, amazed. Clarisse swung at him one last time, then he ended the fight with an uppercut. But the crowd hardly noticed, including her.

Then Paul realized what was going on and Clarisse SMILED at him. Finally, the bleachers all cheered for him and applauded the fight, Hermione included.

The Ares kids that were present rushed over to congratulate and welcome Paul, perhaps lift him on their shoulders. This gave Hermione a bit of pause, but after a minutes she picked her way down to the arena floor and stood on the sidelines, shifting from foot to foot, waiting to give him back his stuff and congratulate him. She smiled in case he looked her way.