She reached out and took his hand, letting him help her up. When she was on her feet, she turned to him, teary eyes flaming with untamed loathing for him.
"I hope you rot in hell."
The rest of the week went by like a nightmare for Hermione and Ron. Both suffering from the break up, they avoided conversation, isolating themselves; Hermione in the library and Ron on the pitch. Surprisingly, Ron had not told anyone why Hermione had called it quits, leaving Hermione to feel even worse about it than she already did. She had not been called all week, making her uneasy. She knew they were planning something bad for her and she really didn't want to know what it was. Gryffindor had not exactly exiled her, but they were wary around her, abruptly stopping conversations or leaving when she came.
Currently, Hermione was in the kitchens, begging for something strong to drink. Though Dobby wasn't budging, he was offering to give her some butterbeer. Hermione finally groaned and asked for some coffee, sitting down on a stool one of the house elves had offered her. She rested her head on the counter and sighed.
"Hermione?" Her head shot up to see Harry standing there with Ginny. She opened her mouth to say something then shut her mouth, turning back to the counter. Ginny walked over to her.
"Are you-"
"I'm fine," Hermione snapped, pulling away from Ginny. The girl glanced over at Harry and frowned. Harry shrugged. He turned to Dobby who had just shown up.
"Can we have eight butterbeers?" he asked. Dobby nodded eagerly and whisked off to do Harry's bidding. Ginny watched Hermione for a moment then asked the question that had been bugging many Gryffindors.
"Hermione, why?" she asked. Hermione stiffened. She remained quiet for a while and then turned to Ginny.
"Because I did," she replied, annoyance hinting in her voice. Ginny wasn't moved.
"So you just broke up with Ron because you 'did'?" she asked sarcastically. Hermione stood.
"Look Ginny," she snapped. "I don't have to give you reasons why I broke up with your brother. That's my business not yours," she said. Ginny crossed her arms.
"Well now it's my business, seeing as I do have to deal with him," she retorted. Both girls glared at each other. The house elves stopped what they were doing to watch the fight that was brewing. Harry looked between the two nervously, glancing at the door frequently.
"Back off Ginny," Hermione growled.
"No. Not until you told me why you broke my brother's heart!" Ginny replied defiantly. Something passed over Hermione's face for a second then disappeared. Hermione turned away and took the coffee from the elf, sitting back down and ignoring Ginny. Harry saw his girlfriend's ears go bright red, but before the girl could say a thing, the door opened and Neville came rushing in.
"Harry. You'd better get out here. Ron's in a fight with Oliver Verland!" he explained in a rush. Hermione gasped and raced outside followed by the other three. There were about five Slytherins out there with Lavender, Pravati, Dean and Seamus. She stopped upon seeing Ron and Oliver pointing there wands at each other, swearing. She ran between the two and shoved Ron away.
"Stop it!" she screamed. Oliver grinned.
"Yes, Weasley, listen to Granger. You always have," he sneered. She turned to him.
"Stop egging him," she hissed so that only he could hear. He rolled his eyes and turned to Ron.
"She's beautiful isn't she?" he asked with a smile. Ron went red, eyes drifting to Hermione. Lavender gasped eyes going from Ron to Hermione to Oliver. Then she pointed to Hermione.
"You… you've been with him?" she asked, disgust dripping from her voice. Hermione stiffened, her eyes going to Harry and Ginny. She then turned away.
"I've got other things to do," she said. Oliver however didn't seem to be finished yet. He pulled her flush against him, making her gasp. Knowing better that to struggle, she contented herself with digging her nails into his shoulders. That's when his lips met hers. She felt the tears come to her eyes as she stood there and let him kiss her. Finally she pulled away, glaring at him. She straightened her shirt and walked off. Oliver turned to Ron with a wink.
"Now I see why you kept a hold of her. Feisty thing," he said before he walked off after her with his group. A dark silence fell over the rest in the hall, all eyes on Ron. He stood there for a while, his chest heaving as he struggled to keep it all together. Ginny reached out to touch his arm when he pulled away, stalking off down the hall.
"Hermione's dating a Slytherin…" Seamus muttered. Too shocked to answer they all just stood there, watching as Ron's figure disappeared around the corner.
"Blaise," Malfoy called.
"What?" the black boy snapped, pulling away from a beautiful sixth year girl. Malfoy motioned him to come over and Blaise rolled his eyes. He whispered something to the girl. She blushed and nodded, leaving the seventh year dormitory. Blaise got up and walked over.
"What?" he asked annoyed. Malfoy handed him a piece of parchment he'd been working on for the past hour while trying to ignore Zambini and his little whore snog. Blaise read what was written and a frown appeared on his dark features.
"How do you know he has it?" he asked. Malfoy pointed to his trunk.
"He doesn't know he has it, but the prick accidentally took it when they were raiding the manor. I know he has them in his trunk."
"What do you want with them anyway?" Malfoy grinned.
"Salazar wasn't the only one with a creature," he murmured. He stood and walked to the door. "You didn't think that the mudblood didn't have a real purpose, did you?"
