Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Written for; Hogwarts Assignment 7, Muggle Studies Task 1 - Insulting someone behind their back.
Word Count - 1948
Warning - Suicide attempt, and talk of suicide. Bullying and the effects of bullying.
Chinese Whispers
"I got paired with Parkinson," Susan complained, rolling her eyes. "Why me?"
Hannah snorted. "I know she can be a bit… bitchy sometimes, but… I mean, she's never been mean to me so…"
"You're so nice about everyone, Han," Susan muttered. "Even to the people who deserve insulting."
Hannah shrugged. "I don't see the point in insulting people. Besides, 'bitchy' is an insult, isn't it? I feel mean now."
"We need to work on your insulting skills."
"I'll pass, thanks. Can you grab me that Charms book? I need to finish this essay off."
…
Daphne lay on her back on her bed, watching Tracey painstakingly apply polish to her nails. She didn't have time for it personally, especially not when perfect application was just a swish of a wand away, but Tracey always did her nails by hand.
Weirdo.
"Oh, hey, I heard Abbott call Pans 'a bit bitchy' in the library earlier," Daphne said, laughing. "I didn't know she had it in her. She's so nice."
Tracey looked up. "Hannah Abbott insulted Pansy Parkinson? Seriously? Were you high?"
Daphne rolled her eyes. "It's not exactly an insult is it? Especially since it's true."
"Yeah, but I mean… Abbott. I bet it's the biggest insult she's ever given in her life."
Laughing, Daphne nodded. "Probably."
…
"Heard it on the grapevine that Abbott called you a bitch yesterday," Tracey said absently, flipping through a magazine. "It's hella funny. You must be doing something right, if you can get the nicest person on the fucking planet to insult you."
"Abbott? Cheeky slut," Pansy muttered. "What the hell did I do to upset her?"
Tracey shrugged. "I dunno. Probably you were just yourself. It's enough to make anyone call you a bitch."
Pansy threw a cushion at her.
"Bitch," Tracey muttered, throwing it back. "You just proved my point."
"Hmm. Can't let someone insulting me behind my back go unpunished though, can I?" Pansy said, thoughtfully.
Tracey looked up from her magazine. "Aww, leave Abbott alone. She'll wet herself if you even glare at her."
Pansy smirked. "I know."
…
"Are you okay?" Susan asked, panting slightly. She'd run all the way up to the bathroom in their dorm after hearing from one of their dorm mates that Hannah had been crying all morning.
Hannah nodded, wiping at her cheeks. "I'm fine."
"Clearly you're not though. What's going on?"
Shaking her head, Hannah cast a freshening charm on her face and offered Susan a wan smile. "I'm fine. Just woke up in a funny mood is all."
…
"Have you noticed the way Pansy is looking at Abbott?" Daphne asked with a frown, watching Pansy across the classroom.
Tracey looked over and then rolled her eyes. "Ah, she's got a bit of a vendetta because Abbott called her a bitch."
"What, to her face?" Daphne asked, her eyebrows raising. How the hell had she missed that?
"What? No. To… whatever you told me. In the library?"
"You told Pansy? Are you insane?" Daphne asked, her voice raising slightly. She shook her head when those nearest looked over curiously. "What the hell, Tracey?"
"What? I didn't think it was some super secret thing!"
"So you thought it would be a good idea to set Pansy on Abbott. On Hannah Abbott, who is the sweetest girl ever and who absolutely cannot handle a Parkinson attack?"
Tracey's lips twitched. "I'm sure it'll be fine. Pan's will get bored when Abbott cries."
Daphne shook her head, biting her lip. She had a bad feeling about this.
…
Hannah looked behind herself for the fifth time in two minutes. She felt like she was being watched, like people everywhere knew that something bad was going to happen to her any time now and they wanted a front row seat.
She gripped the waistband of her skirt, and clutched at her tails, holding them together.
People were whispering as she passed by, giggling behind their hands, and the boys were watching her with hooded eyes, licking their lips and winking at her.
She didn't understand why this was happening. She didn't know what she'd done wrong.
Whatever it was, it needed to stop. She couldn't… she couldn't handle this.
…
"Parkinson, you need to back off Hannah," Susan Bones demanded loudly in the corridor. Daphne turned just in time to see the look of absolute horror on Abbott's face, as she tried to tug her friend away.
"Or what?" Pansy asked, stepping forward with a smirk on her lips. "What are you going to do about it, Bones?"
"I'll go to the Headmaster," Bones threatened. "They won't stand for this!"
Pansy snorted. "I'll tell on you," she twittered, a fake impression in a high voice. "Grow up, Bones. Besides, Abbott started this one, so how about you go tell the teacher on her."
"Whatever… what… whatever I've done, I'm sorry," Abbott stuttered out, looking at Pansy with a pleading look in her eyes. "I'm sorry, just please, please stop this."
Pansy's eyes glimmered with triumph. "I don't know what you're talking about, Abbott. I haven't done anything. Maybe people are just seeing you for the slut you are now, huh?"
Daphne watched as tears fell down Abbott's cheeks as she let go of Bones, turning tail and running from the corridor.
…
"Abbott, what the hell!" Daphne gasped, staring at the girl in shock.
Hannah looked up at her, her eyes pain filled and the anguish clear in every line of her body. The hand holding the broken mirror shard trembled above the wrist she'd been aiming it at.
"I… I… I…" she couldn't seem to get past that, and her whole body shook as tears began to fall.
"Abbott… if this is about Pansy… she's going to back off, I promise you," Daphne said cautiously, moving forward carefully to crouch down beside Hannah. She pulled the mirror gently from her fingers, tossing it to the side with the rest of the broken pieces.
"I don't know what I did," Hannah mumbled. "I don't know why she hates me, I don't know what I did, I don't know how to fix it."
"She doesn't hate you, sweetheart," Daphne murmured, stroking a hand over Hannah's long blonde hair. "She heard that you'd said something about her, and she was just getting back at you for it. She took it too far, I know, and it's not fair, but don't… don't let her ruin your life."
"She… she… she… she's going to ruin my life. She… she spelled my skirt to keep falling down, and she said I was a slut, and she told all the boys that I was easy, and she said she's going to ruin me, and I don't know what I did."
Daphne's heart plunged from her chest, leaving an icy feeling behind. She'd done this. Cursing herself, cursing Tracey, and Pansy, and everything that had led to this, Daphne tugged Hannah close and held her tightly.
That seemed to be what broke the dam, and Hannah cried into Daphne's shoulder, her tears soaking the material there.
"I'll make sure she backs off, okay?" she whispered. "And I'll make sure that everyone knows that she lied about you. Just… this isn't the answer."
"I didn't know what else to do," Hannah sobbed. "I just need it all to stop."
Daphne rocked the fragile girl in her arms, the guilt welling up inside her until it threatened to explode. "It'll stop, I promise. It will. I'll make sure of it."
She didn't know how long they sat on the dirty floor of the bathroom, but she didn't care. She'd caused this. It was up to her to fix it.
…
"You need to back off Abbott," Daphne snapped later that night.
Pansy blinked up at her. "She cried. I'm over it. But jeez, Greengrass, what crawled up your ass."
"I've spent the last few hours with her, trying to convince her that suicide isn't the answer," Daphne growled, whipping her wand out and pressing it against Pansy's cheek. "So why don't you tell me again how you're going to fix this."
"Suicide," Pansy shrieked. "What the hell? I didn't…"
"You spelled her skirt to fall down, you absolute creep," Daphne shouted. "What even possessed you to do that?"
"She called me a bitch," Pansy snarled, pushing Daphne away and standing up. "So yeah, maybe I went to far, but it wasn't like she was completely innocent, was it?"
"She said you were a bit bitchy," Daphne replied, rolling her eyes. "I call you worse than that on the daily!"
Pansy blinked. "What? Tracey said she called me a bitch."
Daphne shook her head.
"I'm not going to apologise," Pansy sniffed, looking away. "I'm a Parkinson, we don't apologise."
"Perhaps you don't, but you are going to make sure that people know the rumours you spread are false. Aren't you?"
"What's it to you?"
"None of your fucking business," Daphne snapped. "And the way you tried to ruin her? Will be nothing on what I'll do to you if you don't fix this mess. You might be a Parkinson, but I'm a Greengrass, and I won't stoop to your levels, Pans. I'll just kick your ass repeatedly until you sort this shit out. Understand?"
"I got it, Merlin," Pansy muttered. "I don't understand why you care so much, but I'll sort it, alright?"
…
Daphne watched from across the hall as Hannah smiled at something Bones said to her. It had been a few weeks since she'd found her in the bathroom, and though the girl still looked somewhat skittish whenever she saw Pansy, she had colour in her cheeks again at least.
Pansy had admitted to the other Slytherins that the rumours weren't true, and Daphne had made sure that word spread. She still felt guilty, and every time they crossed paths in the hallways, when Hannah smiled a sweet smile at her, Daphne wanted to admit that overall, the whole mess was her fault.
Except… she liked seeing that sweet smile aimed at her. She liked seeing the happiness in Hannah's eyes. She liked Hannah.
If she admitted her part in the mess that had almost… well. She didn't think she'd be seeing that smile again if she did.
…
"Hey, Daphne, have you got a minute?" Hannah asked, standing by the table in the library.
Daphne nodded, dropping her quill to the table and stood up. They'd been friends for over a year, and yet, Daphne knew how much it must have taken for Hannah to come over to the table that Pansy was also sitting at.
Even now, Hannah couldn't look Pansy in the eye without fear.
"What's up, Hannahkins?" Daphne asked, when they got far enough away from the table to have some relative privacy.
"I, um. Well. Hogsmeade is… a thing."
Daphne blinked. "Yes it is, well noticed."
"I. Do you want to… go to Hogsmeade with me. On, erm, a, date thing?"
"A date thing?" Daphne teased, just to see Hannah's blush deepen. It only emphasised her prettiness, and Daphne often teased her just to see it. "I'd love to."
"Really?"
"Really," Daphne replied with a smile. Glancing back at her table, to where Pansy was studying with Tracey, Daphne's smile fell from her face. "But… I. There's something I need to tell you first. Something… something I should have told you a long time ago."
"Oh?" Hannah asked, her own smile dimming. "What is it?"
"Please don't hate me," Daphne begged, before she took a deep breath. She had to tell the truth. She had no other choice.
She couldn't keep hiding this. It wasn't fair.
It wasn't right.