~*Love and Rumors: Part 4*~

A/N~ Thanks for all of your reviews and support. I hope ya'll still remember the beginning of this story. I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry that I have these huge increments of nothingness. It's almost all written, but it's the matter of finding enough time to type it up. Anyway, Thanks again to Lizzy Rouseau for her moral support, etc, and yes my first day was THAT hectic!

Disclaimer~ I don't own any characters that appear in the Harry Potter books, so most of my story isn't really mine. Cassie, Lizzy, and Bria are mine, but nothing else. At least not to my knowledge. Without further ado...

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Hermione felt her afternoon lessons gone far too fast. In absolutely no time, she had been to dinner, and she was now back in the common room, studying for her upcoming Arithmancy test. Ron had broken his fourth quill that day, and had just gone upstairs to get another one. Hermione barely noticed when Harry strode up to her.

"Hermione, um, what were you and Ron doing down here? Not that I believe what they're..." He said quietly. His last sentence was interrupted by a fierce slap to his face.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do!", she said as he felt the stinging handprint on his cheek. He turned to go up to his dormitory, passing Ron on the way.

"Your girlfriend's got one great aim. She never misses once she goes in for the kill," he said, never stopping or meeting Ron's perplexed eyes.

Ron couldn't even sit down before Hermione glimpsed at her watch, gasped, kissed him quickly on the cheek, and said, "I'm going to be late to detention. Wait for me in here afterwards. Love you." She ran through the portrait hole without giving him a chance to answer. He remembered his own detention and hurried off to Professor McGonagall's classroom.

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Making it to the hospital wing with one minute to spare, Hermione paused in the doorway to catch her breath. Composure in place, she stepped in and saw she wasn't going to be alone in scrubbing bedpans. Ginny was there too. Madam Pomfrey was filing papers in her office.

The huge sink the pair was to use was located between two beds, one of which contained Ginny's ex, Colin Creevey. Hermione stood next to Ginny, and immediately began scrubbing. She eyed Colin, who had begun to sneeze uncontrollably. Ginny, without delay, began bubbling about Harry and how great he was. For over half an hour, she wouldn't shut up about his wonderful eyes. Hermione finally flung down her sponge, cried, "Honestly, Ginny!" and smacked her. Ginny looked shocked, so did Hermione.

"I really need to learn to control that!", she thought.

"Thanks!", said Colin, with an evil look at Ginny, who glared back at him.

Hermione, rather nonplussed, asked, "What are you in here for?"

"Pneumonia," he said simply through a terribly stuffy nose.

"It's only October. How'd you manage that?" Hermione asked, realizing how forward she must've sounded.

"Well a certain little redheaded witch with a fiery temper decided to push me into a frigid lake after we had a little stroll and chat. Not to name any names or anything...", he said, coughing, looking pointedly at Ginny.

Hermione's eyes went wide, "Ginny! Goodness, some week you're having! So, Colin, how long have you been here?" Blushing at her nosiness, she busid herself while he answered the next question.

Still looking at Ginny, he answered, "Today's Friday so, two days. Since very early Wednesday morning. I assume you're both here on the detentions you snagged then. The look on McGonagall's face was laughable, eh, Ginny?"

"You! You're the one! You listened outside, told everyone, and got them mad at me!", Ginny shrieked, dropping the half-washed bedpan she held. Hermione was too busy lost in her own memories of that night to be bothered by their shouting match, affected by Colin's confession, or to see the malicious smile spread across Colin's rat-like face.

"Oh Ginny, don't go trying to shift the blame on others," she said distractedly, finishing the last of her pile, tapping on the door to speak with Madam Pomfrey, then leaving.

"Why, Colin? Huh? Trust me, I got in plenty of trouble for being out of bed/ out of bounds at three in the morning."

"You hurt me Gin!", Colin said sarcastically. She finished scrubbing the last bedpan in her pile, then threw on top of her haphazard stack.

She said venomously, " Don't call me that, you filthy, slimy, little rat. I hope you had fun with your trick because revenge is always sweet!" She turned, and stormed out into the halls, taking the even longer way back to Gryffindor Tower.

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A/N~ That was a little short, but let it tide you over until at the earliest tomorrow night, Please. I am sooooooooooo sorry this is taking me so long, but bear with me. R&R!