Abused

Gossip

~Continued Flashback~

November 27, Saturday

"What the hell, Pansy?"  Hermione narrowed her eyes at Pansy. Pansy raised her eyebrows and shrugged innocently.

"What are you talking about? All I said was let's see where the day takes us," Pansy defended herself. Hermione's eyes widened and threw her hands up in mock frustration. 

"Yes, but when I asked where you were taking me and you replied with a suspicious 'You'll see,' I was expecting something amazing! Or at least a little interesting." Pansy shook her head. 

"This is amazing! Look around!" Pansy gestured around the room. Hermione rolled her eyes, but she couldn't keep the smile off of her face. 

"Pansy, the kitchen is not amazing." Pansy brow furrowed. 

"Yeah, it is!" Hermione tilted her head and crossed her arms. "Okay, fine. I was hungry." Hermione tried hard to keep from laughing. 

"Pansy! You took us from the dining hall to the kitchen. Do you see the problem with that? If you were hungry, we could have stayed longer in the dining hall!" Pansy frowned. 

"But the girls there were just gossiping annoyingly. I wanted to tear my hair out, but I was still hungry."  Hermione rolled her eyes dramatically. 

"Fine. Get what you need, and then we could do something like explore the grounds." 

"Boring!" Pansy said plainly. "Why don't we head to Hogsmeade. Don't we have, like, free range there?" 

"I guess," Hermione muttered. "Let's do that then." Hermione was pretty sure Ron wouldn't go to Hogsmeade today. That way, she could get away from him for a while. She also needed some time to contemplate what to do with Ron. She had to decided whether or not to report him. She wanted to talk it over with him, but she was scared he would go crazy on her if she suggested anything of the sort. Hermione's mind was crowded with thoughts as she thought of all of her options. Pansy walked back towards Hermione with her arms full of foods. Hermione laughed.

"You need help there, Pansy?" Hermione joked. Pansy laughed.

"I guess I may have gone a little overboard. But the house elves like me! They offered everything!" Hermione laughed more. 

"Whatever. Let's get going." Pansy and Hermione thanked the elves over again and headed out. In the corridors, the two girls were about to round a corner when Pansy's arm flew in front of Hermione, stopping her in her tracks. 

"Pansy, what the-" Hermione was cut off by Pansy pressing a finger to her own lips. Pansy pointed to her ear, silently telling Hermione to listen. Hermione did as she was told. 

"Ugh, I hate Granger." Hermione heard someone say, not bothering to try and keep their voice down. Hermione's eyes widened in surprise. She didn't think she had many enemies in this school. Another person sighed. 

"Me too. You know, I used to really like her. Well, I mean as much as you can like an annoying know-it-all." There was a chorus of laughter. Pansy made a move to go around the corner, but Hermione grabbed her arm and shook her head. Pansy narrowed her eyes but obeyed. The voice continued. "She has kind of dropped the smart ass act now, though. She's started acting out a little more than she used to, and she's kinda more badass after the war last year." 

"Yeah, but the thing is-" Another voice cut in. "-she still acts like she's a saint when she's not." There were murmurs of agreement. Pansy's head whipped back towards Hermione, asking permission to stop the gossipers. Hermione shook her head once more. 

"I heard she's fucking both Blaise and Draco while she's dating Ron," one last voice added. "I don't even know why any boys would like her. She's uglier than anyone I've ever met." 

"Yeah, she's such a slut. I bet she'd fuck everyone in this school if they gave her the chance."  This hit home for Hermione. Ron had called her a slut so many times. She had always convinced herself that it wasn't true, and that he was just trying to bring her down. But if others were saying it, was Ron right? If so, what other things was he telling the truth about? Hermione couldn't listen anymore. Without waiting for Pansy, she turned on her heel and ran off. Pansy watched helplessly as she watched Hermione disappear down the corridor in the opposite direction from the voices. Pansy was boiling with anger. Pansy moved to round the corner. She had the strong urge to put the mystery voices in their places. She wasn't surprised to find the four eighth year girls standing in a gossip circle, but she was surprised to find Draco towering over the four girls. 

"What the fuck did you just say about Granger?" 

Author's Note

Yo everyone. So sorry I didn't post Sunday. And sorry this chapter was so much shorter than my other ones. I plan to post on Sunday like usual but I may be on Saturday or Monday since it is Easter. I don't have many plans for Easter, but you never know how busy a holiday will be. So I'll try my best! Thanks for understanding, y'all! Kiss Kiss!