A/N: I know it took me so long. I stalled for a while and before I knew it exams hit but here I am now!

Chapter Twenty – Rotten Rumors

(Three Days Later)

Hermiones POV:

It had been three days since I had gotten Krum's letter. I couldn't believe how drastically Draco had reacted. He was just a friend, right? One dance, big whoop. If that meant love, then Draco would love about every girl in the school. Well, he's probably made love to every one of them by now, but that's another story.

I was walking down the hall with my books. I always felt like it was rude to just stare at the people who walked by so I started to could the tiles on the floor.

"She doesn't look any bigger…" I heard a trailing voice from a girl the I just past.

"That glow in her cheeks means she just started…" Came another whisper. I lifted my head higher and caught several eyes all looking at me as I passed by. What were they looking at? I looked at my reflection in a metal flower vase. Nope, nothing on my face. I continued to walk, but I kept hearing more whispers.

"How long do think it's been?"

"She looks like she's already in her sickness days."

"I wonder who did it. Maybe Draco?"

"What do you think they'll name it?"

"Maybe they'll call it Draco Jr. if it's a boy!"

Rewind. If it's a boy? Do they think I'm pregnant? And if so, why am I the last one to hear about it? I had to find Draco and fast. I quickened my pace until I was practically jogging to the Heads Common Room. When I got there, I swung the door open to find Draco who had just come back from class, drinking a glass of water by the big sofa. I stopped, legs spread and gasping for air in the middle of the doorway.

"People think I'm pregnant."

Draco spit his water back into the glass and turned to me. "I know," he replied. He knew!

"You knew? What are you, insane? Why the hell would you want people to think I'm pregnant?" I questioned frantically. There was too much I did not know!

"Hey, hey! Rewind! I didn't spread the rumor, I heard it from Blaise. I have no idea who spread the rumor and after that little letter I forgot all about it!" his defended himself as almost a reflex.

I glared at him before walking over and completely flinging my body onto the long sofa. "Thanks for saving me a seat," Draco's sarcastic response came as he sat his pondering ass onto the coffee table in front of the sofa. I sighed, forcing myself to relax for a while. I wanted to seriously discuss the subject, but it was right after classes and my mind just couldn't handle it without humor.

"I heard people asking if I was going to call the baby Draco Jr. if it was a boy," I breathed with a smile. I heard a hearty laugh from Draco.

"That's the stupidest thing I ever heard. It would be called Thomas or Marcus," Draco replied, going into thought.

I turned my head to face him. "You're actually thinking about it aren't you?"

"N-no!" Draco stammered, shaking his head as if chasing the subject away. I chuckled a bit before letting out an exhausted sigh.

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Harry walked down the hall with Ron until Harry spotted a small, almost unnoticeable, piece of paper on the floor. He picked it up and read it to him and Ron.

"Draco. Hermione. Pregnant," Harry's eyes expanded at the last word. He looked up to meet Ron's equally large eyes before they both started to run to the Heads Room.

The two boys finally came to the Heads Room, and slammed into the door, forgetting to stop running. The door opened, and they were greeted with the rather skeptical face of Draco Malfoy. Ron spoke,"Mal-…inhale oh gosh…You b-…inhale."

"You better not have gotten Hermione pregnant!" Harry finished for Ron, using all of his breath. At the moment, Hermione joined Draco at the door.

"You guys know? How?" Hermione asked, impatient for the answer. Harry, completely winded, just handed her the wrinkled piece of paper that he had found on the floor. "Oh my god, Draco! There are notes going around! This is horrible!" Draco snatched the note out of her hands and read those three words.

"Bloody hell!" he exclaimed.

"So are you actually pregnant?" Ron blurted after a deep breath. Hermione pushed him away gently.

"Of course not, Ron! Why are you believing these insane rumors? Someone is obviously out to get me!" Hermione responded. "Ugh!" she went back inside without notice and flopped back onto the couch. Harry and Ron rudely let themselves in, shoving Draco, who was still gapping at the note, out of the way.

"So what are you going to do?" Harry asked, seating himself in one of the one person sofa chairs.

"She's going to get a hold of the little rumor spreader and strangle them!" Ron spat as if it was the most obvious thing to do.

"Something like that," Hermione replied in thought.

Draco walked towards them, quite calmly. "I bet it's Pansy and Victoria."

All heads turned towards Draco. He shrugged. "Who else would it be?" Hermione, Harry, and Ron all looked at each other. The puzzle pieces easily fit. Draco continued once again, "I've got a simple idea. Why don't I owl them both separately to come here so I can 'talk' to them. Then we can trap them in there own trap." Once again all three heads turned towards him as if he was some unbelievable genius who came from the heavens.

"Come here," Hermione spoke randomly. Draco came from behind the couch and leaned over her lying figure. She kissed his cheek. "You are so useful," she told him. He really didn't know how to take that. He guessed that it was a good thing.

Ron and Harry both made barfing gestures at each other.

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It had been twenty minutes since Draco had sent out the letters. There was a knock on the door, and Harry, Ron and Hermione were hiding in Hermione's room. Draco opened the door to find Pansy. She immediately wrapped her arms around him and squealed. "Oh, Drakie! I haven't seen you in so long! I knew you'd miss me!"

Draco cringed and desperately tried to pry her off as he led her to the large sofa. "Yeah, well… You just sit here for a few minutes. I have a – er – surprise for you!" Draco said, thinking quickly.

"A surprise? Mmm Drakie! Are we talking handcuffs or an engagement ring?" Pansy asked in glee, sending what was meant to be a sexy growl towards Draco.

"Just sit on the sofa!" Draco snapped. Her scratchy, weasel voice was getting to him. After about five minutes, there was another knock on the door. Draco answered it to find Victoria in the doorway.

"I didn't believe it when I read the note, but hey, I'm all go," Victoria said right away before smashing her lips on Draco. Pansy immediately rushed up and jumped onto Victoria's back.

"Get off my man, you bitch! He doesn't want your filthy lips touching his! I said GET OFF!" Pansy screamed as she attacked Victoria. Victoria screamed into Draco's mouth, and was pulled to the floor, pulling Draco with her. Pansy rolled so that she was ontop of Victoria, leaving Draco to be under the cat fight.

"Get off of me!" Victoria screamed, pulling at Pansy's hair while Pansy slapped her repeatedly.

"Hermione!" Draco yelled desperately from under the two girls. Hermione burst through the doors and yelped at seeing the fight going on over top of her boyfriend.

"MOVE IT!" she screamed as she trudged down the stairs, Harry and Ron following close behind. Instead of taking the situation and fixing it responsibly, she jumped into the fight and started pulling, punching, and kicking the two girls. Draco wriggled out from under the fight and took a seat by the wall. The three boys watched the fight with interest as the girls went at each other like wild leopards.

Finally, they somehow all shoved backwards so that they separated. Victoria and Pansy both looked at each other and then back to Draco. "What's going on?" they both snapped.

"I know you spread the rumor about Hermione being pregnant!" Draco hissed, still a little winded. The girls' eyes both went wide as they sprang for the door. Ron quickly dived for it and stood in front of it.

"Get out of the wasy, weasel!" Pansy squealed as tried to pull him away.

Ron cringed. "Ew, ew, ew! Get your nasty hands off me, Pansy!" Victoria and Pansy turned back to see Draco and Hermione standing, and Harry behind them.

"Why the fuck are you guys spreading rumors?" Draco asked, glaring them both down.

Victoria turned her head away. "We don't know what you're talking about."

Hermione was about to lunge right back at the both of them, but Harry held her back. Pansy gasped at her sudden attempt of movement and let her words fumble out of her mouth "W-well maybe we do know something." The trio plus Draco looked at her, all trying to drag the rest of the explanation out of her with their eyes.

"Okay! We started the bloody rumor, but you," Pansy shot her finger right at Draco, "you shouldn't be with – with this!" She immediately switched her pointing direction to Hermione.

"Bloo blee blah blah blah bloo!" Hermione imitated loudly, causing everyone to look at her as if she was balancing an elephant on her nose. Hermione quickly composed herself and let herself out of Harry's grasp. "Ahem, I mean – he isn't yours. You have no right at all to make those rumors!"

Victoria chose that time to pop in. "It doesn't matter. We're out of here!" The trio were all about to protest until Draco turned to them with an extremely sneaky look and smile on his face.

"Well, if you must. Thanks for dropping bye!" He put an arm around each of the conniving girls and led them to the door. "See you later!" he said before patting their backs and letting them head off.

"What the hell was that about?" Ron burst out with his mouth left hanging open.

Hermione and Harry stuck their heads out the doorway and looked down the hallways to where Pansy and Victoria were walking away. On Pansy's back it said 'I'm a big hairy slut,' and on Victoria's back it said 'Shut The Door, I'm A Whore.' Both Harry and Hermione cracked up laughing before heading back inside. There was suddenly an awkward silence with all Hermione, Draco, Harry, and Ron. All of them being in a room together seemed freaky. To be honest, it was Draco that made it uncomfortable, but they would sooner or later have to get used to it. Hermione was the first to speak. "So… What do we do now?" All the boys shrugged. She smirked. She was about to do something so evil that would help them all cope. It sounds weird, but bare with me. Hemione stepped back and looked at the males. "I say I leave you guys alone so you can bond." The word came out of her mouth as if it was Satan himself. "You guys will have to do it sooner or later! Now get to it! I want to see you bonded when I get back!" And with that she fled the scene before either of the boys could say a word. They wouldn't have said a word though. All of them had frozen with their mouths open wide.

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Five minutes had passed, and it had ended up with Harry and Ron sitting on the big sofa and Draco sitting near them on one of the one seaters.

"So…" Harry started, but didn't finish.

"How are 'you guys' doing?" Ron asked nervously. Draco looked absolutely frazzled by the question. He gulped.

"We're doing… splendid," he replied. Ron nodded. Harry was staring at a jar of some weird blue goop.

"I dare you to eat that," he said, nodding to Draco before staring back at it.

Ron made a face. "That's disgusting."

Draco was never one to back down though. "I'll do it." He hesitantly approached the concoction with care and untwisted the metal top. He took a sip of it and gulped it down. His face morphed into an ultimately disgusted one, and he took another gulp. He spat that out on the floor and start wiping his tongue with his hands. "That is disgusting!" he exclaimed, but it sounded more like 'Dat's de-ugh-sting!"

Harry was cracking up and Ron was trying to hold back his laughter.

"You know that was dead snake skin and troll drool, right?" Harry informed him, pointing to the label on the jar which Draco had failed to read.

Ron on the other hand was getting further amused. "You're tongue is fully blue! You look awful!"

Draco's eyes went wide. The things he did for Hermione!

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Hermione had gone and gotten Ginny before walking with her to the lake. They sat down on the tranquil grass. Autumn was ending all too soon as there was frost on the grass, and a frosty chill in the wind.

"So what's new, Herms?" Ginny asked, arching an eyebrow. Hermione gave a neutral sigh.

"I just left the boys to bond in the room after confronting Victoria and Pansy about spreading rumors. They were telling people I was pregnant." Hermione finished, too tired to emphasize the important event.

Ginny's eyes widened a bit. "Are you pregnant?"

Hermione gave her a frustrated and deadly glare. "No!" Ginny sighed in relief and leaned back against a tree. Hermione changed the subject. "So what's new with you?"

Ginny gave a tense glance at the ground, as if pondering something, and then took a deep breath. "Well…" She took another breath. It seemed she was thinking hard about something. "I have a dilemma," she said simply. Hermione nodded, signaling for her to continue.

Ginny went tense again. It was obvious whatever it was, it was hard to spit out. "I think I like Harry again." Hermione, who had been barely hearing her words after Ginny had taken so long to talk, choked on the cool air. Ginny winced at her reaction, but was relieved when Hermione's coughing mouth turned into a smile.

"That's wonderful, Ginny!" Ginny gave her a confused look.

"But he's in love with you…"

Hermione shook her head softly, "He has to get over me some time, Ginny, and he will. I don't think he's in love with me. I think he's more infatuated." Ginny took sometime to let that sink in. Yes, it could have been that he was just infatuated, there was no doubt. A small smile captured her lips. Ginny spoke again, "So what do you think I should do?"

Hermione pondered that. "Hmm, maybe you should wait a while and then somehow ask him out." It wasn't one of Hermione's most brilliant plans, but it was the most obvious one. Ginny seemed to be planning it out in her head. They sat there in silence for a while until Hermione continued. "Viktor's coming in like four days."

This caused Ginny to full turn herself towards Hermione. "Woah!"

"Yeah, I know. Draco doesn't like it."

"Well, that's expected."

"I told him we were just friends. He didn't believe me!"

Ginny raised an eyebrow skeptically, "Are you just friends."

Hermione leaned back and let out a huff of air.

"No."

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A/N: Woah! That took me a while! I'm not paralyzed, no. I just went through exams and projects, and a bit of depression actually. Overall it was very busy. Ugh, and holidays.

But yeah, I updated and I have the whole new chapter in my head as we speak! So please review! I really love it!