Fight With Me | Hermione Granger x Female OC (Book 2)

07 - Attack at the Clock Tower

Ellie only slept for a few hours before she was woken. Hermione stood before her, the moonlight still shining through the Hufflepuff's window. Without speaking, Hermione led her girlfriend out to the Clock Tower, the big hand pointing at the third mark.

"May I help you? It's nearly three in the morning," Ellie groaned as she leaned her body against the railing.

"Yes, you can actually. Give me your hand," Hermione instructed sternly, holding out her palm for Ellie to place her own upon.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Go on, give it here," Hermione urged, her voice raising slightly.

"Look, I've had a long day, Hermione. I don't know what you're talking about. Nothing's wrong with my hand," Ellie lied, remembering the events that had occurred in Umbridge's office just earlier.

"Don't bloody lie to me!" Hermione snapped as she snatched Ellie's left hand out of her pocket to examine it.

Ellie winced in pain, but she didn't resist Hermione's grasp. She hung her head down, avoiding eye contact with the Gryffindor. Hermione looked down in horror at the damaged hand in front of her, the blood that surrounded the words now dried.

"You were planning to tell me this, when?" Hermione screeched. "I saw what Umbridge did to Harry. That wretched cockroach! You should've gone straight to me after detention, not hide in your dorm. You better have a good reason as to why you hadn't told me sooner."

"Why would I need to tell you? Just for you to pity me?" Ellie countered loudly, matching Hermione's tone.

"I'm your girlfriend, Ellie! For Merlin's sake, would you stop trying to hide what happens to you?"

"Do you think I enjoyed what happened? You were only going to worry if I had told you."

"Ellie, I worry about you all the time!"

"Then you need to stop!"

"I can't! I need to understand why you think you can get away with these things. Why do you try to hide your emotions?"

The tension was rising at a fast pace, and both girls were now screaming at each other in attempt to get their point across. Ellie felt like she was suffocating, Hermione's words cornering her aggressively.

"You don't understand, Hermione! I can't move on!"

"Move on from what?"

"Cedric! It's always been Cedric!" Ellie finally admitted, her confession startling Hermione. "He was my best friend, Hermione! And he was ripped away from me! You don't understand how much it hurts! I can't just cry whenever I feel like it! I'm supposed to be strong—for him, my mom, for you! Imagine what it'd feel like to have someone you loved stolen from you!"

"Love, I..." Hermione trailed, but Ellie cut her off.

"And to hear Umbridge undermine his death? I couldn't take it! It hurts. So. Much. It's hurting me..."

Ellie's voice cracked and faded as she sunk to the ground, her back sliding against the wall. She felt an unpleasantly familiar feeling return to her body, taking over her senses. Her body started to shiver uncontrollably, her head spinning, making her eyes see a tilted world. She hadn't felt this feeling since the day her father had passed. For years, this sensation had been bottled up, like a shaken-up soda can waiting to be opened. Ellie brought her hands to her face and started to sob. It felt like an invisible force was squeezing her throat, tightening its grip with every passing second. Her sobs were loud and heart-wrenching, her breath hiccuping at the suffocating sensation.