Chapter Two: Rumours
"So…is it true?" Parvati whispered over a spoonful of sundae. Her dark eyes sparkled with raw curiosity as she licked a drop of hot fudge off her bottom lip and waited for Hermione to answer.
It had been a week since Harry and Ron had turned up in the middle of the night. It was Saturday, and Parvati Patil, whom Hermione had only a lukewarm friendship with, had showed up at her door while the trio were having breakfast, proposing a trip to the Hogsmeade ice cream parlour with Hermione.
"Is what true?!"
Parvati's eyes widened as she sighed with impatience. Her voice lost its secretive tone.
"Are you, Harry and Ron involved in a three-way relationship with each other?"
"WHAT?!" shrieked Hermione, causing fellow patrons to turn their heads in curiosity. "Of course not! They're simply my temporary roommates! Not to mention best friends! Who spreads such rumours?"
"Well…" started Parvati.
"And that's the whole reason you invited me out for ice cream, isn't it? To ask me that! And who eats ice cream on a bitter autumn day anyway? We could have at least gone to a tea house…"
"But I thought since we're out of Hogwarts now, we could get to be better friends, and-"
Hermione stood up, wiping her lips on her yellow cloth napkin, then throwing it onto the table.
"It's been very nice, Parvati, but I have a lot of work to do. S.P.E.W. will never progress if I don't work my hardest. Good-bye!"
It wasn't until she reached the chilly, bustling autumn streets of Hogsmeade outside, before she stopped in her tracks and thought a moment. Why had what Parvati said upset her so much? She knew herself that it wasn't true, so why should it matter? It was just a stupid rumour that no one besides Parvati would be silly enough to believe, so why did she care so much?
With a moment's longer hesitation, she sighed and retraced her steps back into the ice cream parlour, ready to apologise to Parvati. She was dismayed to find that Parvati was no longer at the table. She realized that she must have Disapparated. Most likely to report back to her friends what Hermione had said, and how she had reacted to the question. She realised that her reaction probably proved to Parvati that the rumour was true.
"Actions speak louder than words", a little voice in her head seemed to say. Hermione's anger returned.
"But that's stupid, because the rumour's not even true!" She hissed impatiently to the little voice.
She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She had to calm down. And maybe she should figure out why this was upsetting her so much.
When she finally returned to London, it was two in the afternoon, and Harry and Ron were found at the kitchen table, munching beans on toast and drinking milk for a late lunch. Crookshanks wound around their legs, yowling for a baked bean or two, only to be shoved away.
"What's up Hermy? Finally had your fill of ice cream?" Joked Harry through a mouthful of beans and milk.
Hermione's eyebrows appeared to be permanently knitted.
"I stopped eating ice cream hours ago. I realised I don't really have much of a fancy for it. Oh, and please make sure you replace the food you eat. I noticed that we've already run out of eggs, which I haven't eaten any of all week."
"Why did you accept Parvati's ice cream invitation?" Ron wanted to know. "I thought you said she was too shallow for your liking."
"Well, she is. But I'm always so busy with work, I don't get out much with anybody, intelligent or not. After today though, I don't think I'd like to do anything else with her."
"Why?" asked Harry.
"Merlin's sake, why are you two so nosy?! Look, I really have to get some things done for S.P.E.W., and I'd appreciate it if the two of you would keep it down. And don't be a stranger to the food market!"
She marched to her bedroom where her desk and important Ministry papers were kept.
"Blimey, what's bitten her in the arse?" Whispered Ron, before taking the last bite of his beans and toast.
Harry shrugged. "Maybe she's still cross with us for not having 'proper' jobs. You see the way she works. Just like in Hogwarts. She's annoyed that she has to slave away while we carry drinks on trays and clean tabletops."
"Well, she doesn't have to. She's the one that chooses to do it all. Gawd knows nobody at the Ministry asked her to start up an official department for Spew. How she got permission from the Minister, I've no clue."
Harry was silent for a moment. "Do you ever think that maybe we're too hard on her? She's hard on us, but maybe it's our own fault. She is sharing her flat with us. Perhaps we should do something nice for her."
"Like what?"
"I don't know; it's not like we're always doing special things for her. It won't have to be very big to please her. We could take her out to dinner, since the Black Cat's closed tonight."
"And we'd buy her food?"
"Yes Ron, that's what it means when you "take" somebody out for dinner."
"Oh. Well, okay. But she might not want to go tonight. You heard her; Spew awaits."
"Well it's worth a try."
The two of them performed a cleaning spell on their plates and milky glasses, before tentatively making their way to Hermione's room regarding a dinner proposition.