Queen of Gorgeousness

Give Me the Strength to Carry On

As always: rights go to J.K. Rowling

Chapter Eight - Give Me the Strength to Carry On

The incident between Krum and Hermione had been kept a secret by McGonagall and other staff members. Of course most of the school knew that Hermione had been taken from Hogsmead but they didn't know the finer details. Hermione had suffered enough and rightly so the teachers didn't want her to be humiliated further or hurt by the gossiping of school peers.

Physically Hermione recovered quickly as it was easy for Madame Pomfrey to fix up her external tears. Emotionally her healing was much slower but Hermione wasn't a stranger to emotional suffering and she was determined to get through things. She put on a confident front and blocked out all the negativity but she didn't feel so happy on the inside. She was still a little scared even though she knew she shouldn't. Krum had been detained at the Ministry and the Zabini family had launched a full scale investigation into what had happened. Hermione needed to work through her fear and become more confident in herself.

Despite the fact that her peers didn't quite know what had happened, it didn't stop the rumours from spreading. The main antagonists in charge of the 'rumour mill' were of course Pavarti and Ginny. Hermione summarized that she must have been something really disgusting in a former life to warrant such unkind behaviour now. While Ginny went for the more obvious approach, Pavarti went for more of a side swipe approach because it helped keep her off the radar.

As usual it was Herbology that caused most of the problems being that Hermione was the only Slytherin to attend the class. Hermione was beginning to think that it would be a good idea to ask McGonagall if she could switch to private lessons just to avoid the insults she received during this class. She always sat next to Neville in this class – he was the only Gryffindor to remain friends with her- though Lavender seems to be offering friendship as well. Neville didn't agree with Harry or Ron's treatment of Hermione. He'd been through a lot and knew that Hermione didn't deserve what she was getting either.

"Where have you been Granger?" asked Ginny.

"Krum probably had her tied up, never took you for a bondage girl," said Pavarti.

"As if Krum would want someone as cold and prudish as Granger."

Hermione took several deep breaths and clenched her fists in an attempt to control her anger.

"Honestly I'd be surprised if anyone wanted to kidnap her she's not exactly marriage material," said Ginny with a sneer upon her face. "Besides all that stuff with Krum is false. Granger's just trying to get attention."

"She was probably begging him to take her back."

"That's enough," said Lavender.

"No one asked you Brown!"

Hermione tried to get Professor Sprout's direction, willing her to get involved if things took a turn for the worse. Hermione could understand why she hadn't yet interfered. Tensions were high enough with this returning year group, they were adults in the eyes of the law and though the war may have shaped them, they deserved to try and sort things out before a teacher became involved.

"Siding with the enemy now Lavender? You'll regret it."

Turning her back on her one-time friend, Lavender walked from the room. She didn't share the same opinion as Hermione and if their teacher wouldn't help with the situation then she would find someone who would.

"Have you seen what she wears? There is no way she picks out her own clothes because she has no taste. She looks like a trollop in whatever she wears anyway."