Greengrass

~9~

Hermione sat alone by the lake for hours. Her mind kept replaying Ron's threat to replace her. Long-buried insecurities emerged, making her feel hollow and anxious.

Maybe she was as annoying as everyone said she was. Snape's words from so long ago sprang to the forefront of her mind.

Have you always been an insufferable know-it-all?

She couldn't help it! Knowledge is how she coped, it always has been. When she got her Hogwarts acceptance letter when she was eleven years old, she was excited but she was also terrified. She had just discovered she could do magic and she was thrust into a world where she was the outlier. Everyone thought her inferior, so she thought she could beat them at their own game by being the smartest. Maybe if she was the smartest she would be worthy of the magic everyone thought she stole.

She used to wonder if maybe the boys only let her follow them around because she was useful, because she was smart. Harry had helped abate those fears when they spoke about growing up in Hogwarts during the Horcrux Hunt, but he could've just been saying that to placate her.

She shook her head to clear the deceitful thoughts. Getting caught up in it now was useless. She had no reason to doubt Harry's words. Her insecurities were her own, after all.

Until someone she trusted used them as a weapon.

A sigh escaped her mouth. She couldn't control what anyone else did. It wasn't wise to dwell on the words of a hothead like Ron anyway.

This pity party was officially over. Getting up, Hermione brushed the grass off her skirt and began making her way back to the dungeons. She wanted to forget about Ron, forget about the escaped death eater, forget about the mess that was today.

Luckily for her, she knew just the people who could help her.

The Slytherin common room was crowded. Everyone was just returning from their classes for the day and Hermione tried not to think about the fact that she missed an entire day of classes.

Her friends were easy to spot, huddled on couches in front of the fireplace. Blaise had his arm slung around Daphne's shoulders while Pansy braided her hair. Draco and Theo sat opposite them, discreetly passing a flask of what she assumed was fire whiskey between them.

Hermione slithered into the spot in between Draco and Theo and reached her hand out for the flask. Theo looked at her in alarm before giving it over. She took a swig and tried not to cringe at the taste. The last time she drank fire whiskey was when Sirius had offered all the teenagers at the Burrow shots after Molly Weasley went to bed. She had said yes so as not to look like a spoilsport, but she spent a few minutes after that coughing and trying to get the taste out of her mouth. This time she didn't cough and she let the taste linger, wanting to bathe in the nostalgia for a little longer.

"Nice of you to join us," said Draco as she passed the flask over to him. He took his sip and then passed it to Blaise.

"Pity parties aren't nearly as fun as they used to be."

Pansy raised the flask Blaise handed her and said, "Hear hear." She took a long swig and offered it to Daphne. Daphne shook her head and Pansy passed the flask back to Theo.

Theo patted Hermione's head before taking his sip. "I guess now this makes you an official Slytherin. You aren't one of us until you've drank away your woes."

They all chuckled and then nothing. No one spoke. The only sound between them was the sound of the flask getting opened and closed and the fire crackling.

"Can I ask you all a question?" Hermione broke the silence. She received hums in response so she took it as her sign to ask away. "How have you all dealt with the school-wide hatred? I'm only receiving a small portion of it from Ron and it nearly broke me, so I can't imagine how everyone else feels about it."