So this is kind of a longer chapter than usual as a reward for your patience and support. This chapter needed to do a lot of thing for our characters and I didn't want to torture you with a long wait.

Thanks to my lovely beta. Betawork done by etoiledelune. Also shoutout to my other WIPtember buddies for setting all the challenges to get me writing at a faster pace.

As always, thanks for being here!

Theo had been feeling majorly neglected. Hermione would've liked to say that it had been subtle and her incredible perceptiveness is what clued her in.

But subtle was not in Theo Nott's vocabulary.

No. Words like dramatic, over-the-top, outspoken, and bold were more his style.

Which is why she was not surprised when he flung himself across from Hermione and Draco at breakfast and declared (yes, declared), "Have you two forgotten about me now that you're having insanely satisfying and regular sex?"

Draco seemed more annoyed than shocked himself. "No, my dearest darling Theo, we have not forsaken you simply because we have each other," he responded, voice oozing sarcasm.

"Oh thank Merlin! I was so worried that I'd forever be deprived of staring at your unnaturally pale skin and Granger's mass of unwieldy curls. Can you even imagine?!" Theo threw an arm over his eyes and his shoulders shook with fake sobs.

"And I thought Harry was dramatic with his whole 'it's always me. It has to be me!' nonsense," Hermione mumbled.

Daphne was the only one who seemed to have heard her and she began choking on her pumpkin juice. "You have to warn me when you're going to be sassy! I'm never prepared for it."

Theo and Draco had started arguing over which one of them Hermione would miss more if they both perished in a Quidditch accident. Hermione hoped that if she continued to ignore them that they wouldn't ask her to weigh in.

"Perhaps you should always be prepared for my sass then," Hermione smirked in response.

"Oh no, Draco is rubbing off on you," Pansy remarked as she sat next to Theo, ending the argument by grabbing Theo's chin and planting a quick kiss on his lips. "That smirk was very Malfoy-esque."

"Please don't adopt any of his other qualities. I can only deal with one mercurial sod at a time," Theo begged.

Hermione shook her head as she took in her new friends. She'd always had a good time with her Gryffindors but she couldn't imagine life without her Slytherins anymore. They were sarcastic and honest. Ridiculous and exasperating. But they were fierce in defense of their friends.

Not all that different from Gryffindor but it was something about their incredibly posh mannerisms that made it so much fun. It was like, she imagined, seeing Prince Harry on a night out or walking in on the Queen yelling about soggy-bottoms on Bake Off.

Utterly normal but so out of place with everything about how the rest of the world saw them.

"'Mione, can I talk to you for a second?" Ginny said, coming up to the table. Hermione started to nod before Ginny spoke again. "Alone, preferably."

Draco tensed beside her but she patted his thigh under the table. "Sure thing, Gin."

Hermione got up and gathered her stuff, Draco held up a lone croissant and she rolled her eyes before she took it. Draco turned his head to present his cheek for a kiss and she happily obliged while also messing up his perfectly styled hair that he'd spent fifteen good minutes on this morning.

"You absolute wench," he murmured while combing his fingers through it to straighten it out.

She walked away with Ginny, chuckling all the way. She hadn't felt this carefree and happy for sometime. She'd conquered a lot of her own demons and now Draco was conquering his. They were moving forward. Casting off the weights of their traumas.

"I didn't want to say this in front of everyone because it's shite and I know they'll get all protective," Ginny said.

So much for moving forward and casting off trauma…

"Is it Ron?" she asked, willing her voice to stay steady.

"Yes and no. It appears he wrote to mum saying that you were bitter about him moving on and making up lies. He…he owned up to hurting you but he said it was only once and—," Ginny stopped abruptly. The redhead began chewing on her fingernails, an old nervous tick Hermione hadn't seen in years.

"Just tell me."

"And he told mom you'd started the physical violence. That you two had been fighting a lot and that you escalated it while he just reacted. Ron is telling the family that you're blowing the whole thing out of proportion…that you're playing the victim when it's really him." Ginny spoke without taking a breath, like she thought the faster she said it the less it would sting.

Hermione froze. She knew, logically, that Ron would never have been honest about what happened. She knew that he would certainly downplay all the events. It was shocking really he'd even owned up to being physical with her once, but for him to say that it was her.

She was not an abuser.

She did not break his bones. She did not make him feel ashamed.

She was not an abuser. And fuck him for making it seem like she was.

"Do I want to know what the reactions were?" Hermione asked tentatively, still not daring to move a muscle.

"Well, George is the one who wrote to me about it. Mum asked him to come by and showed him the letter. I'm sure you won't be shocked to know that she's on Ron's side. Dad seemed to be disappointed by the whole thing but didn't have a strong opinion," Ginny was on a roll now, detailing the reactions of the Weasley clan. "George and Charlie are right pissed off at Ron for hitting you once. Bill and Fleur, of course, don't believe that they are getting the full story and are planning to write to you themselves. Percy, rather shockingly, showed human emotion and said that Ron should've been a better man and not resorted to violence at all. He apparently left rather quickly and that was that."

"And you're clearly on my side," Hermione said to break the tension.

"Fucking right I am. What's another brother being dead to me?" Ginny joked. Her sense of humour had always been a little morbid and she was clearly clinging to it as a coping mechanism.

"Where do you think Fred would've landed?" Hermione leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. Remembering the fallen Weasley twin. He'd always been so kind to her. He was the one she'd been closest to for so many years until Ginny had come into her own.

"Oh that's cute," Ginny snorted.

"What?"

"Hermione Jean Granger! I know."

"You know what?"

"That Fred was your first." Hermione's eyes shot open and she looked at her friend in complete shock.

"How do you know that?" she asked in a panic.

"Well I didn't know for sure until just this minute, so thanks for solving that mystery," Ginny said smugly. "You two were awfully cozy that summer at Grimmauld. Sneaking off to get supplies. And I know you were leaving our room in the middle of the night!"

"Yes. Well, he—I just—" Hermione sighed. "He was good to me. He cared. Fred asked me to the Yule Ball you know? But I'd already said yes to Viktor by then. I didn't love him or anything but I was comfortable. Safe."

"He was half in love with you. I think he was more worried about you during that Horcrux hunt than anyone else," Ginny mused.

"So he'd have been on my side, then?"

"Oh definitely. Ron would be lucky to walk around this castle if Fred was still around," Ginny agreed.

Hermione laughed. "Fred would've been sneakier than that. Ron would've been receiving a lot of sweets from him and then having a variety of unpleasant reactions."

The girls giggled to themselves in an empty castle hallway. Remembering a friend and brother who was no longer here. Remembering the man who would've wanted them to laugh and smile more than anything else.

Hermione would sneak off later that night to a spot in the courtyard where that same man had kissed her cheek and told her she was beautiful. Where he'd told her to not let Krum or any man treat her as less than a queen.

She liked to think Fred would've approved of Draco once he saw how Draco treated her. Not like a queen, but a goddess.

Hermione had to tell the others about the Weasleys. People outside the castle knew about her issues with Ron. A skewed version, but they knew something more than the story she'd fed to the press about growing apart. The secret was bound to get out and she'd need the support of her friends.

But she waited a full day before bringing them up to speed.

Talking about Fred had brought up some memories and she had gone down the road of wondering if she'd have ended up with Ron at all if Fred had survived. Would she have seen the clear differences in them and turned to the better brother?

But if she'd never endured Ron, then she wouldn't have embraced the Rebuilding program. And she wouldn't have embraced this exchange program. Would she have given friendship with the Slytherins a chance? Would she have found this happiness with Draco?

Her thoughts weren't necessarily positive so she wanted to get a hold on them before she divulged even more drama to the Slytherins. To Draco.

They'd never really talked about their past relationships outside of the most immediate ones and maybe he'd feel awkward knowing about Fred.

It was time, though. She'd gotten a letter at dinner from Bill and Fleur and another shorter missive from Charlie that simply said, "He's a prat. I'll feed him to a dragon if you ask. I have a bunch of brothers. No one is going to notice if one goes missing. We've replaced him with a ghoul once before, we'll do it again."

Draco and Daphne were being patient. Pansy and Theo were being less patient. Blaise was being down-right demanding. So she'd tell them during their afternoon break…when they would be out on the grounds.

That way no one would hear their shouting if they chose to make a scene. And they'd have to get all the way back to the castle—which Theo would not be able to do at a quick pace—which would give them time to cool off.

Draco reached for her bag as they exited the castle. "Are you finally going to tell us all what Ginevra said that's made you so antsy?"

Hermione sighed and reached for his arm. She leaned her forehead against his shoulder, "Yes. And I'll even be nice enough to let you get mad if you want to."

"My my, what a secret this must be if my rage gets to be unrestricted," Draco chuckled.

"Draco," Hermione urged, her tone suddenly quite serious. "Just let me get through it all before you let that rage off the leash."

Grey eyes met brown. "I promise. Are you okay? Do I need to be worried?"

Hermione pulled her lower lip between her teeth. "Not worried. It'll be fine in the end. It's just going to be…unpleasant for a bit."

They caught up with the others and sat down across from Daphne and Blaise. Theo was settled with his head in Pansy's lap. Daphne was charming Blaise's nails to be different colours.

Hermione hated that she had to ruin the mood. Again. She just wanted to live in this little bubble of normalcy. Ever since she started Hogwarts, she hadn't had a chance to be normal and have fun.

There was always something to figure out or fight against. And it seems this year wouldn't be any different.

"Right. No preamble. Ron told his family that I am the abuser and it seems the only one firmly on his side is Molly," Hermione blurted. No one ceased their actions or had any great reaction at all.

"Is that all?" Blaise asked while he gave Daphne his left hand to work on. "Granger, after everything you've told us…that is hardly noteworthy."

"Agreed. It's not like there's any love lost between you and the Weasley matriarch is there?" Pansy asked.

"Well, no. Molly and I never really agreed on anything. She always felt responsible for me because I was friends with Harry and Ron but…it was more like that neighbour you have than a motherly figure," Hermione answered hesitantly.

"Right, so no one else in the brood is on Ron's side?" Daphne clarified.

"Arthur seems undecided but I guess…that's true enough."

Draco pushed her hair over her shoulder and she turned to look at him. "You look confused," he observed.

"I guess I expected…more from you all," she said shyly.

"As happy as I would be to degrade Weasley, they aren't wrong. And we honestly expected him to do this eventually. He can't isolate you physically anymore, so he's trying to turn people against you," Draco explained.

"He's a prat. And he's doing prattish things," Pansy surmised. "I don't have the energy to be actively angry with him all the time."

"And anger gives you wrinkles," Theo added.

"Well, alright then," Hermione said.

"Hermione, could you separate from Draco long enough so that I can try new charms on your hair?" Pansy asked, tapping her wand on her chin. "I think I've discovered a combination to achieve a good half-up half-down look…"

Hermione shifted over to Pansy and let her play with her hair. Theo and Draco started playing Exploding Snap since their girlfriends had abandoned them.

Pansy alternated between charms and manually handling her curls. Hermione closed her eyes and just let herself relax into the moment while someone took care of her. It was quite nice actually, having someone just do her hair.

If one ignored Pansy's muttered curses when one of her curls refused to obey.

Hermione was used to that reaction. Everyone who had ever tried to do her hair had a similar reaction. Her mother used to pray for strength before starting on Hermione's hair for special events. Ginny gave herself a pep talk similar to her pre-match rituals. Pansy seemed to just soldier on and express her frustration quietly.

Hermione herself had tried reasoning with her curls as though they were sentient…because they sometimes acted like they were.

"Pans, are you styling Hermione for a ball in the 1800s?" Daphne asked, worriedly.

"What?" Hermione lurched forward and reached up to feel her curls. Sure enough, it felt like a mountain atop her head. She scrambled to her bag for a handheld mirror. Pansy had pulled all her hair up and the curls had been formed into tight ringlets. It reminded her of those powdered wigs people in period dramas wore. The ones that made them look vaguely like poodles.

"Oh wow…" Theo said dazedly as he poked at the mass on her head. "That is…solid. How much hair do you have?"

"How did none of you say anything about this before?" Hermione shrieked as she turned the mirror to get a better view of the side.

Draco was covering his mouth with his hand but his shaking shoulders gave away his amusement. She found a crumpled piece of parchment in her bag and threw it at him. "This is not funny!"

Draco openly laughed now as he made his way to her. "It's a little funny."

"Draco, I had no idea you had a kink for old-fashioned high society hair styles," Pansy teased.

"Neither did I. But there is something rather fetching about it," he responded and playfully ran his eyes over Hermione.

"I hate you all…" Hermione pouted and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Lies."

"Falsehood"

"Deception."

"Come here, I'll fix it," Pansy sighed.

"Absolutely not!" Hermione shouted and scooted farther away. "I don't trust you with my hair anymore. Daphne can fix it."

"I don't think I can. It's impressively complex," Daphne said in awe.

Hermione groaned and plopped back down in front of Pansy. "If you make it worse, I won't forgive you. Ever."

"Fine. Fine." Pansy began to pull apart the mass of braids and dismantle the charms holding her hair in place.

Hermione still had her arms crossed and her lower lip was partially jutting out. Draco reached over and pulled her bottom lip down with his thumb. "Don't pout. We're only teasing."

"I know," she replied curtly.

"Are you actually mad?" Draco was suddenly quite serious.

"No. I just…my hair has always been a thing and—I'm being silly," Hermione hedged.

"If you're upset, tell me," Draco commanded.

"I'm not. It's very odd to be in on the joke though. Especially with a bunch of Slytherins," she teased. Hermione didn't want to be the overly-sensitive one. She knew this was a playful prank. Rationally, she knew that.

But there was a tiny voice in her head she was trying to ignore. The one that sounded like Ron that told her they were trying to humiliate her.

It wasn't true.

She took a deep breath. "I'm fine. It just took me a bit to let it go." Draco nodded after a minute and then went back to cards.

Pansy worked on her hair for a bit before she spoke again. "I didn't mean to take it too far."

"You didn't. I'm just still deprogramming. Not everyone is out to get me and I need to remember that. Friends tease each other. It's all in good fun. I know that," Hermione replied earnestly. "I'm sorry for overreacting."

"You do keep things interesting. It's been years since I've been able to get a genuine reaction out of these lot. We all want to be so unaffected because we know that drives everyone else bonkers," Pansy explained. "Blaise usually just says 'thank you' anytime we tease him and walks away."

They both chuckled at the thought.

"So are you actually doing my hair now?"

"Nope. Just returning it to its free flowing glory," Pansy replied. "I honestly think getting your hair to stay in that pile was all the punishment I needed. They do not cooperate, those curls of yours!"

"Tell me about it…nineteen years of those curls. I'm very experienced with their temperamental nature." Hermione leaned her head back to look at Pansy. "And I think you're right. Working on them for this long is definitely your punishment."

Ginny had suggested that Hermione meet with her other siblings on neutral ground. That way people could leave in their own time if things got too heated.

Bill, Fleur, Charlie, George, and Percy would be meeting Hermione, Draco, Ginny, Harry, and the Slytherins at a Muggle pub in London. Hermione had called in a favour with a former primary school friend who worked at the pub to get a private room.

Ginny had prepped her siblings that they would be bringing Slytherins…and former Death Eaters. She had been met with fairly strong resistance. Ginny's response had been something along the lines of "Suck it up, buttercup. We're all here for Hermione so shove it."

Hermione had alternatively prepped Draco, Pansy, Theo, and Blaise. Daphne was a delight and they would be fools not to love her. The other four were told repeatedly to reign in the elitism. Even if it was in jest, the Weasleys would not see it as funny in this very early meeting.

Best behaviour was demanded of all parties.

Hermione was preparing herself for disaster.

When Hermione and her crew arrived, George was the only one present. He stood from his chair and held his arms open. She rushed into them without hesitation and let his warmth and height envelop her. Fred and George had been her safe place in the Weasley storm for many years. They teased her but they also praised her when her scores came in. They helped usher her out of loud rooms when she wanted a break with her books.

She'd missed that companionship. That safety and comfort. For all the joy she'd found, she missed the familiarity of this hug.

"Well hello, trouble," George said into her curls and squeezed her tighter.

"If I'm trouble, what does that make you?" she responded, continuing their usual ritual and pulling back slightly to look at him.

"Mischief," he scoffed with a wink. He looked over her head to the large group she'd brought with her. "Merlin, you'd think we were going to war again with the amount of reinforcements you brought."

"At least we chose the right side this time," Theo chimed.

Here we go…

A laugh came from the doorway and the group parted to reveal Charlie, Bill, and Fleur.

"True enough, lad," Charlie bellowed and clapped Theo on the shoulder as he walked past. With that one comment the tension had dissipated. Leave it to Charlie Weasley to bridge the gap as he moved between groups like the social butterfly he was.

Percy slipped silently in and greeted Hermione with an uncharacteristic but polite kiss on the cheek.

The groups had finally settled around the table in the room after all the hugs, introductions, and obligatory small talk. Everyone now sat in awkward silence as they tried to determine who would bring up the hippogriff in the room…

"Well this is just sad," Hermione finally said with faux-exasperation. "At least half of you are Gryffindors and I know some of you have no tact what-so-ever. The fact none of you have asked already is frankly, shocking."

"Perhaps all your mothering and insistence on manners finally rubbed off," Bill remarked with a small smile.

"Unlikely, but good effort." Hermione took a steadying breath. "I'm sure this won't shock many of you, but Ron isn't giving you the full story. Many of you already know this so if you could all just hold your comments and questions until the end…"

And she told them. She presented the entire history of her and Ron Weasley. Every fight. Every bruise. Every lie.

Hermione watched as Fleur, ever the composed witch, tried to keep Bill calm when she told them of how Hermione couldn't hold Victoire when they'd first brought her home because of her sore arms and sprained wrist.

George winced every time he remembered hugging her at a family function when she told him about the charms and long sleeves to conceal the evidence.

Charlie had begun to pace the room after Hermione recounted the first time she'd tried to leave.

Percy remained stoic but he kept adjusting his tie as though he could relieve the pressure of the truth if he only loosened the knot.

The individuals in the room who'd already heard this just stared at her, gauging whether they should cut her off and insist on a break. Draco and Harry were sitting on either side of her. Draco traced runes on her thigh and Harry held her hand.

Hermione found it easier to focus on Theo and Pansy when she faltered. Theo had been her confidant first and he was looking at her with support and encouragement. Pansy was just a good distraction as she feigned indifference or raised a judgmental eyebrow at the Weasley boys' antics.

When she'd said all she was willing to say on the subject, she reached for the glass of wine Ginny had brought her and drained half of it. Her throat was dry and sore from the talking but she also just needed the liquid courage.

"That's it. You can all speak now. Ask questions or…whatever," she concluded.

A beat of silence rang out as she made eye contact with the five new people who knew her secret.

"So when do we go kidnap him and feed him to one of Charlie's pet dragons?" Fleur said in a perfectly calm voice.

The room broke out into slightly tense chuckles.

"I don't want that. I don't want to make him the victim he's pretending to be," Hermione reminded everyone and stood from her seat to make sure they all knew she was serious. "I just wanted you to know the truth before it gets out. You all deserve that much."

George stood suddenly and walked over to her. His hand brushed the curls behind her ears. "Fred would've been furious with him for this," he whispered.

Hermione nodded, fighting the tears. "Did everyone know, then?"

George smirked and ran a thumb along her cheek to catch a lone teardrop. "Twins, love. I knew everything."

Draco cleared his throat and put an arm around her stomach to pull her flush to his chest. "Seems your twin had very good taste, Weasley."

What a jealous twat, she thought. But she indulged him by patting his hand and leaning her head back into his chest.

"You might not want to stick to last names tonight, darling," Hermione joked. "Too many Weasleys, might be confusing."

George smiled at them and with a small approving nod, he stepped away.

The rest of the room had apparently broken off into smaller groups. Theo, Pansy, and Charlie were tucked away in a corner. Blaise had sidled up to Fleur and Bill and based on his motions was describing some kind of violent death for her ex.

Percy and Daphne were talking politely at the table as Daphne flipped through a sketchbook.

George had just joined Harry and Ginny to presumably talk Quidditch.

"Not quite the disaster you imagined?" Draco whispered into her ear.

"No, but the night is still young," she responded. "You want to explain what that little show was about?"

"Hmmm?"

"The little possessive display of affection back there?" she prompted as she poked his arms firmly banded around her waist.

"He was being very…friendly. Felt like I needed to clarify the situation," Draco murmured in response.

"My my, someone was jealous…" she teased.

He spun her around in his arms, leaning his forehead against hers. "And I feel no shame about it. You're an affectionate person who I love and trust. It's the other people who I trust ever so slightly less. And I wanted to make it clear that you'd be leaving with me this evening. That I get to hold you in bed. No one else."

Well…"Fine. But you don't need to worry about George. It's him caring about someone that Fred cared about. He's a notorious flirt but he wouldn't act on it," she reassured him. Draco closed his eyes and nodded.

"Now, you need to let me go because I need to go make sure no one is plotting criminal activity on my behalf," Hermione said and gave him a quick kiss before backing out of his hold.

Hermione glanced to the corner where Charlie was and headed that way. She soon regretted this choice when she heard the conversation the three of them were having.

"...Pansy is pretty flexible but she's a dom—" Hermione cleared her throat loudly as she approached.

"Oh look, a fourth!" Pansy teased.

"Draco would quite literally strangle me in my sleep so, no," Theo rebutted. "May we help you?"

"I'm just checking-in but I see you three have turned to…other topics of conversation so I'll just head out," Hermione stammered.

""Mione?" Charlie called as she walked away, "I know I'm rarely around and I've never really regretted that until now. I'm sorry I couldn't be here. For you. For him. I just left you all and I'm sorry for that."

Hermione gave him a sympathetic smile. "I appreciate that. But don't feel bad for doing what you had to do. Even if you were here…I doubt it would've changed anything. I'm starting to see that now. I hid it for him because I was ashamed of my weakness. You couldn't have known, Charlie."

And so it went. Each Weasley she spoke to expressed regret and guilt for having missed it. For having looked past all the signs and red flags. While Hermione knew it wasn't her job to make them feel better, she'd realised that they weren't to blame. Just like she wasn't to blame.

Ron had presented an image of a perfect relationship, of a grieving brother, of a war hero. Hermione had presented a similar image. She'd thrown herself into helping the Wizarding World get back on its feet because it was easier than asking for help she didn't feel she deserved.

But now she knew she deserved to be cared for. She deserved the proper kind of love. She deserved better. More.

The night ended with everyone a little tipsy and all aligned to be there for Hermione when the story eventually broke. They'd stand with her.

Hermione had also extracted promises from everyone to not physically harm Ron. They could scold him if they wanted. George would likely find a loophole in her request, but she wouldn't let Ron control the narrative anymore.

He could rave and rant about her all he wanted, but she'd tell the truth. And people who knew her and cared about her would see that.

The rest of the world could go to hell.

The only thought running through Hermione's head the next day was "Be careful what you wish for."

She stared at the Daily Prophet that had been delivered that morning. The front page was an article by none other than Rita Skeeter.

Golden Girl Turns Out Tarnished

Hermione had headed to breakfast early that day. She'd wanted to do something nice for her friends and start preparing their plates for them. The early morning post, typically reserved for the paper or other periodicals, had arrived shortly after she sat down.

Theo was a subscriber and Hermione grabbed the paper intended for him from the delivery owl. The words stood out as if they'd been written in glowing neon.

As did the moving photo that accompanied it.

A photo she didn't remember.

In it, Hermione had her back to the camera but her dress was undeniably short, the hem didn't even fully cover her arse. And the thin straps were falling off her shoulders. But the men—yes, men plural—she stood in front of looked enraptured.

It was nothing too scandalous to be published. But Hermione couldn't remember actually doing anything like this. It couldn't be her. Just a look-alike.

Someone polyjuiced as her maybe.

"Convincing, right?" a harsh and familiar voice asked. Hermione looked up from the paper to see Ron standing there. The Great Hall was still relatively empty and Hermione cursed herself for being so careless.

"How?"

"Muggle joint has a show. One of the girls there is a short brunette with amazing curls. Didn't take much to convince Skeeter that it was you and this is what you did between freeing Death Eaters and trash-talking me."

"Why?"

"Because I can. Because you decided to ruin everything and make me look stupid. You made me look like a monster."

She felt her anger rising and pushed the impulse to suppress it aside. Hermione was done being scared and docile. "Because you are a monster, Ronald. Monsters hurt people for fun. You hurt people for fun. Therefore, you are exactly what I say you are."

"Too bad no one will believe you now, though. You were always going to be on the outside looking in 'Mione. Muggleborn girl who tried too hard in school. Made friends with Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. But you've had a few notable relationships…seems like you were just trying to find a way to belong," Ron taunted as he leaned forward across the table, bracing his hands on the edge of the wood. "And now, they'll finally have a reason to push you aside. They'll have all the confirmation they need that you are nothing more than a whore trying to sleep your way to the top."

Hermione opened her mouth to refute him, but he pushed on.

"Even Malfoy will be a mark against you. High-profile family. Pureblooded. Richer than sin. Good target for you." His smile was wicked and cruel.

He thought he'd won.

And Hermione wasn't so sure that he was wrong.

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