Pansy should have known that someone like Granger was not easy to get rid off. She was too proud and stubborn to lose one fight and not come back, so next Saturday night, she stood outside the door again. And what's more, she even showed up a few hours early for dinner.

"I invited her," Ginevra said with a shrug. "I think she's nice."

"She has a sad aura around her," Luna added, her big eyes watering as she chopped some onion.

"You think, babe?" Ginevra kissed Luna's temple and grabbed the big pot from the cabinet above her.

Pansy rolled her eyes and left to open the door, because apparently she was supposed to greet Granger every time.

"Hello Pansy!" Granger said cheerfully behind many layers of scarves and messy hair. The colors suited her, though.

"Hi," Pansy replied in a bored tone. She wasn't in any mood to deal with people; her week had been terrible, and her Saturday wasn't turning out all that great either. "Ginevra's in the kitchen, make yourself comfortable."

"Thanks! So how have you-" Granger began as she stepped inside and closed the door behind her, but Pansy was already halfway through the stairs and didn't look back.

She closed her bedroom door behind her and threw herself on the bed. She needed to change the sheets.

It wasn't enough that her week had begun with a full, hands-on investigation by the CRCN; the Commission of Regulations for Charities and Nonprofits. Apparently, they'd been told that Pansy was using the donations they receive, which were already next to none, to build a fancy women-only gym and not to help people in need. A group of internet trolls had even uploaded pictures of this alleged 'Spa-inspired Female Sanctuary', which they must have stolen from a Swedish five star hotel website or something, and then used some candids of Pansy herself running through the park. They commented on her visible muscles and body shape, heavily implying that she was just a predatory lesbian who used her non-profit as an excused to be surrounded by girls.

Pansy scrolled through the article on her phone, again, for no other reason than to torture herself.

Also, didn't the fact that she was running in the park and not a gravity-free treadmill or whatever, proved that she didn't have a fancy gym?

She had been enraged and humiliated all week, wondering who these bastards were, sending the government to snoop around her house, lurking in the bushes to take pictures of her, making up lies about her and her girls.

And implying she would ever, ever hurt any of them.

As if that wasn't a terrible enough start to her week, on Tuesday a couple of teenage girls showed up at the door. One of them was bringing her friend along, having been kicked out by her parents for coming out as trans, and when her friends parents wouldn't accept her either, they both ran away.

They were staying in guest room number three. They hadn't had any teenage runaways for a while.

Pansy searched through the music on her phone, but she wasn't really in the mood for anything.

And then on Thursday, Ginevra and Luna had stayed in all day, switching between hanging out in the living room to watch movies, and locking themselves in their room to…

Pansy groaned into her pillow.

She had accidentally hit shuffle and (insert song) started playing. She didn't stop it.

After a few minutes of trying to clear her mind, there was a knock at her door.

"Dinner's ready!"

Great. Granger.

"I'll be right there," Pansy called out and noticed by the shadow that Granger remained in front of her door for a few seconds before leaving.

Unlike Pansy's mood, dinner was a lively affair. Ginevra and Luna prepared tacos, and Granger had a playlist of Mexican music to go along. And despite her best intentions to remain sulking, Pansy couldn't help but smile when she saw how cheered up Jessica and Angela, their teenage guests, seemed to be.

The only part that Pansy didn't enjoy about having guests was having to come up with ways to keep them away from the house on Saturday nights, as there was no way she would let them find out about Fight Club. Particularly impressionable young girls who were already experiencing violence in their homes, but really anyone that they didn't all trust completely. If word got out that they had regular fighting meetings, Pansy could just imagine the headlines.

Dangerous Lesbians Battle to the Death in Supposed Women Sanctuary.

Feminist Organization Incites Violence Amongst Women.

You Won't BELIEVE What These Lesbians Are Hiding In Their Basement.

But at least for tonight she didn't have to worry because they were sending the girls out to the movies.

"Are you ready for tonight, Parkinson?" Granger said while she washed the dishes. The rest had left the kitchen and they stayed to clean up.

Pansy raised an eyebrow at her. "Parkinson?" Granger smiled. "What's with the formality?"

Granger shrugged. "I figured, if you're going to call me Granger, might as well reciprocate."

Pansy finished wiping the counter and left the rag on the sink where Granger was. She leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. "Do you always do that?"

"What?" Granger asked, her voice lowered and if Pansy was not mistaken, a spark in her eyes. "Reciprocate?"

A second ago Pansy was sure this was going to be an annoying conversation about how she should call her 'Hermione' now or something along those lines, but it had suddenly turned into something completely different and for once she was caught off guard. What was Granger doing?

"Or," Pansy said as carefully as she could. "Do you always do what other people do?"

Granger turned the water off and shook her hands over the sink before turning to face Pansy. "If I like it, then yes."

Pansy searched Granger's face for any signs of innocence or naivety. Perhaps she wasn't aware of how her words sounded. "Does that mean…" Pansy trailed off, because she didn't know how to ask this without it sounding frankly bad. "That you like it when I call you 'Granger'?"

Pansy bit her tongue in the silence. Granger's eyes looked down at the movement.

"Pansy, they're doing reruns of Wipeout!" Ginevra called out from the living room. She remembered it was Pansy's favorite show.

Granger stepped away and dried off her hands before walking out of the kitchen, leaving Pansy to wonder what the fuck had just happened.

.

It was hard for Pansy to stop thinking about what happened with Granger, but she had to if she was going to focus on tonight's meeting. It would be an intimate one, since most girls had plans, so only Luna, Ginevra, Granger, Millicent, and Hannah were joining.

Pansy realized she called everyone by their first names except for Granger. She didn't really know why, she guessed Granger just had a ring to it, while Hermione…

Well, Hermione was a pretty name.

"So have you ever organized a tournament of sorts?" Pansy heard Granger's teacher's pet voice asking and she turned around abruptly. Unfortunately, she was talking to Millicent and not her.

Unfortunately?

Millicent shook her head and pulled her hair up in a ponytail. "We've all fought with each other on so many different times and situations that we already know who'd win a tournament."

Pansy scoffed before Millicent even finished.

"Really?" Granger asked curiously. How could someone so smart be so naive sometimes?

"Me." Millicent used her scary voice, which truly was terrifying, and she stared down at Granger as she was a tiny little weakling girl.

Granger's eyes went huge.

Millicent couldn't hold it for long and she began cackling loudly, making everyone look at her. Granger's shoulders dropped and she regained some color. Pansy smirked.

After that Granger became even more interested in the ways and history of their fighting meetings, and she pestered Millicent endlessly about it. Pansy wondered why Granger hadn't asked her about all of this, but the fact that she usually gave one word answers was probably the reason. Still, Millicent was being strangely patient about it, because Granger would not shut up even while they were drawing the straws.

"How many fighting disciplines does an average girl usually know here?"

Pansy rolled her eyes. No one in this house ever talked so much and Pansy was sure she would hear her voice even in her sleep.

When Millicent and Luna stepped up to the center, everything was quiet. It was an interesting fighting duo that had only happened once before to Pansy's recollection. Millicent was big and experienced while Luna was small and rather new to this. Ginny had been training her and she had improved, but her best attribute was that she tried to be as unpredictable as possible. One week she tried to be technical and straight forward, the next she could go crazy on the offence and hit really hard, then she'd throw you off by ducking ever single punch you try to land. It was basically a wild game of trying to read Luna's intentions.

In any case, it was always entertaining to watch.

This one was no exception, and seeing them hit each other with so much energy filled Pansy with excitement for the next fights. Luna was being very quick and trying to go for Millicent's arms, which was usually a mistake because that wasn't as painful for her as other spots. Millicent's weak points were her delicate ears. One blow to the side of the head and she'd lose all balance and crumble down.

Of course, only Pansy and Daphne knew that.

Hannah gasped when Millicent knocked Luna down with one precise punch in the face, but Luna bounced right back up and continued to strike. Ginny didn't look nearly as worried about her girlfriend as Hannah, though. She was completely immersed in the fight, concentrated and even analytical of it, like a trainer watching their student perform.

Or like someone watching the person they loved and wanting them to do well.

Pansy forced herself to look away. Next to Ginevra, though, was Granger, and Pansy found her already looking at her with curious eyes. Pansy wasn't sure what expression she had when looking at Ginevra, but she tried to seem as neutral as possible now just in case Granger was getting any ideas.

The fight escalated rather quickly and soon both girls were panting heavily and sporting rapidly swelling bruises. Luna was giving it her all tonight and it was hard to look away; even Granger looked like she didn't have any questions to ask.

"Oh," Luna said suddenly as she dodged Millicent's right hook. "Let's try some wrestling moves!"

Pansy had to try really hard not to roll her eyes. Luna could never do a straightforward fight.

Millicent didn't answer but she nodded briefly, and before Luna could even blink, Millicent had her trapped in a headlock that looked rather painful.

Luna struggled with all her might but there was no way out of this one, Millicent was way too strong for her, hell, even Pansy would have a hard time escaping her grip.

"Okay, okay!" Luna called out, raising her arms up. "Stop. It was a bad decision."

Millicent let her go and Luna caught her breath for a moment before hugging Millicent as the rest of them clapped. Luna always hugged her opponents after a fight.

"Next time we fight, we can start with that same move! I'll work on it," Luna told her.

Millicent smiled. "You've improved a lot once the last time we fought, so you're on Lovegood."

Luna walked over to Ginevra, who was waiting with open arms and a grin.

Pansy turned around to find the straws, but she still heard all the compliments Ginevra gave her girlfriend.

"Alright, let's see who's next," Pansy called out as she wrapped her hand around the straws.

Granger, Hannah, and Ginevra gathered around her as Luna and Millicent tended to the worst of their bruises.

Granger had come down to the basement prepared his time, already in sport bra and shorts. Her knuckles were bandaged too, and her hair already in a ponytail, which overall gave the impression that she was more than ready to beat someone up, and for a moment Pansy found herself wishing that someone was her.

Not that Granger had the ability to beat her up yet, but it would be interesting to see the development during her second time, specially because she looked like she was a quick learner.

Everyone pulled out their straws and displayed them on their palms. Granger smiled widely right away as her head snapped up. "Hannah, right?"

Hannah nodded. "Indeed."

Hannah and Granger. That should be fun, Hannah was a solid fighter and a real stickler for proper technique, something that Granger would probably appreciate.

When the two of them walked away to get ready, Pansy's stomach flipped over at the realization that this meant she would be fighting Ginevra at the end. She turned to look at her and found her smiling warmly like she usually did around Pansy.

"I'm going to kick your ass, Parkinson."

Pansy raised one eyebrow and smirked. "It'd be a nice change of pace to give your ass a break for once."

With a friendly but challenging look, they both took back their places in the circle where Granger and Hannah were stretching. Pansy tried not to feel happy, she really, really tried, because it was downright pathetic. She couldn't help it, though, fighting Ginevra had been one of her favorite things ever since she arrived here. It was one of the reasons she fell for her in the first place; the passion and intensity with which she faced the fight, like a hot red blaze blurring all of Pansy's vision until there was only Ginevra.

But that was in the past, she told herself. She had fought Ginevra a couple of times and it had always been a rush of adrenaline and feelings like no other, but that was before Ginevra chose someone else and Pansy decided it was time to move on. She wasn't great at it, she knew, but maybe this fight will help her see how much progress she had made so far.

Pansy felt her insides tremble.

"Ready?" Hannah asked Granger.

She nodded and took a deep breath, giving her shoulders one final stretch.

Hannah, ever the sweetheart, let Granger hit first, but avoided Granger's fist easily and then slammed Granger's chin with a precise uppercut, bouncing from one foot to the other. Granger touched her jaw for a moment before shaking her head and attacking again.

Perhaps it was because she was looking at it as an outsider, but Granger seemed to have improved a lot. She no longer second guessed every punch and was able to keep up with Hannah's rhythm.

Granger hit Hannah's shoulder and the sound it made was impressive; she was using her force more effectively. Hannah looked down to inspect her shoulder and Pansy remembered something unpleasant. Hannah's fights were usually short because she bruised easily, so every time she was being hit too much or too hard she called it quits. There was an awful reason for that too.

Seeing bruises on herself triggered traumatic memories from the time she was abused. Pansy hated thinking about that.

Hannah got Granger back with a series of quick punches to the gut that left her breathless and folded in half for about a few good seconds.

"You alright?" Hannah asked, panting.

Granger nodded and straightened up with difficulty. She was lucky Hannah was being so nice with her, because if it had been Pansy, Granger would already be on the ground. This wasn't her first time after all.

They resumed the fighting with a good rhythm, Hannah blocking most of Granger attacks, but Granger still managed to land a few blows here and there. It was clear that Hannah had the upper hand, though, if she had wanted to she could stop defending and kick Granger's ass for a while, but it seemed as though she wanted the fight to last longer.

"She has improved, hasn't she?" Millicent asked as she rejoined the circle. "Did she take one of your classes?"

Pansy shook her head. "No, but it looks like she did." She turned to look at Millicent, who was holding an ice bag to her cheek. "Sorry she was annoying you with questions earlier."

Millicent shrugged. "It's alright. I like her, though. Seems like there's no bullshit with her."

Pansy turned back to the fight to watch Granger get docked in the face really hard. Her eyes visibly watered and she might have bitten herself as there was a drop of blood coloring her lower lip, but she carried on through it and continued trying to penetrante Hannah's tight defenses. They were both sweating head to toe, with Granger hair coming out of her ponytail and sticking to her face in a way that seemed utterly uncomfortable. That was another reason Pansy liked her short hair.

But it looked good on Granger.

Hannah held on a little longer as Granger kept on punching her forearms trying to get to her face (and Pansy made a mental note about teaching Granger how to get past that without stubbornly repeating the same move over and over again) but her pale skin was looking redder by the second and she had her usual worried frown on.

"Okay," Hannah said through gritted teeth. "I'm done. Stop."

Granger dropped her arms and held onto her knees, doubling over to catch her breath. "Fuck," she breathed out with a hoarse voice that Pansy hadn't heard before and for some reason it gave her goosebumps. "You definitely won this one."

Hannah threw her arm around Granger's shoulders as the steadied herself. "It's alright, no one needs to win every time."

Pansy had heard that many times, and in her head it made logical sense. It also seemed healthy. There isn't always a winner, right?

But for some reason she never seemed to internalize it. In every situation of her life she kept looking for winners and losers, and sometimes she won, sure, but lately she was been feeling like a complete and irredeemable loser.

She looked at Ginevra.

She had already begun to stretch and warm up, that determined gaze that Pansy adored so much coloring her face. It made Pansy ache, so she tried to bury the feeling and prepare herself to fight, because that was always her moment to shine; her fifteen minutes of glory that sometimes carried her through days.

When she was always a winner.

Millicent helped Hannah and Granger get some ice and bandages, and when Granger caught Pansy's eye she smiled broadly, the kind of smile that only comes from pride and accomplishment, and even though she looked a bit silly smiling like that with half her face covered in ice, Pansy couldn't help but smile back. Granger's lips were swollen and red

"Ready, Parkinson?" Ginevra called out, making a point of saying her last name, something she never did. Before Pansy whipped her head around, she thought she saw Granger frowning.

"Oh, are we using last names now?" Pansy asked, relishing in the chance to trash talk. There weren't a lot of people she could do this with before fights. "Then I guess I'll wipe the floor with you, Weasley."

Ginevra scoffed. "That's the best you could do? Oh how the mighty fall. Make sure you save some from when you teach your kindergarten classes."

Millicent, Luna, and Hannah giggled and rolled their eyes at their antics.

Pansy walked up to Ginevra in the center of the circle and gave her a look of fake pity. "Did you do your homework, by the way? Because you're supposed to at least know how to make a fist."

Ginevra narrowed her eyes. "My fist will reach parts of you you didn't even know existed."

Loud hoots and wolf whistles ensued. Pansy smirked.

"Alright, alright!" Ginevra raised her hands. "I heard it. Let's just get started."

When Pansy turned around to take her position, Granger was still in the sofa looking down at her foot distractedly. Perhaps she had hurt herself more than she had let on.

But Pansy had a fight to win.

Ever since the first time Pansy and Ginevra fought, Pansy had let her take the first hit. Ginevra didn't mind at first, but eventually she claimed she was ready to stop being treated like a newbie, but Pansy still enjoyed goading her until she hit first, even if it was out of annoyance more than anything else.

This time, though, Ginevra didn't wait for Pansy to do anything. She punched Pansy straight in the nose before Pansy even had a chance to blink, and she was so shocked afterwards that Ginevra landed another blow, this time to Pansy's cheek. And even though Pansy didn't understand what was happening she knew it was time to react.

She blocked Ginevra's upcoming fist and hit her shoulder, knocking her back a step, but she was ready the next second and attempted to hit Pansy in the face again. Luckily, Pansy ducked and was able to move back to assess Ginevra without her throwing more punches.

Pansy was simply bewildered. None of her fights with Ginevra had ever played out like this; they usually fell in a rhythm of attack and defence that would slowly build up to an exciting and rather close fight, as Ginevra had gotten really good. But now she wasn't even trying to defend herself and wouldn't give Pansy the chance to attack, it was just pure madness.

Pansy tried to give her a meaningful look basically asking her what the fuck was wrong with her, but all she found in Ginevra's hazel eyes was pure, undiluted determination.

And it scared her.

Ginevra threw herself at Pansy once more, and Pansy had to jump out of the way. She had never felt like she needed to take a break from an ongoing fight, it was either beat or get beaten, but right now she wished they could pause and talk without everyone else staring at them. It was useless, though, Ginevra was completely ignoring Pansy's looks and simply kept trying to hit her while Pansy ducked and avoided her.

And then she sent a killer kick straight to Pansy's face and it missed by a mere inch.

Pansy's fingers curled into a fist so hard they cracked.

She kicked Ginevra in the shins and didn't give her a chance to steady herself before she was throwing her best right hook directly at her cheek. If Ginevra wanted a fight, Pansy would give her one.

It was hard to tell the passage of time while you were fighting, sometimes each second would feel eternal and sometimes half an hour would be lost in just a few punches. This time felt like the latter; Pansy could barely keep count of how many times she had successfully hit Ginevra and she was usually very good at that. The number would pile up in her mind like tokens, like little trophies she received for doing a good job, having a nice form, using the right strength.

But now they felt like questions she desperately wanted the answers to. Was Ginevra mad at her for some reason? Had she found out about Pansy's feelings for her? Or was she trying to tell her something else? Pansy couldn't figure it out, so she kept hitting and punching and hoping that the feeling of crashing her knuckles against her skin offered her some peace.

Ginevra looked tired and breathless, but somehow even more determined than before. She was moving fast and using strength Pansy didn't know she had, and for the first time in a long time Pansy feared she might not win. The girls around them were a blur of worried and concentrated faces, but also deadly silent; it was clear Pansy and Ginevra were putting on quite a show and the rest could only watch.

Pansy's reflexes were on fire and she saw an opening to strike when Ginevra prepared to hit with her right hand, as it was her non-dominant one and she unknowingly exposed herself more. She punched Ginevra above her chest like she had done with Granger last Saturday, but she miscalculated and ended up hitting her in the clavicle. Pansy's blood ran cold when she heard a crack.

She stood there dripping down sweat and waiting for Ginevra to crumble down, because a fractured clavicle would definitely send her to her knees in pain.

But amazingly, she stood up straight after the blow, looking pained but not in agony and she was ready to continue.

As relief washed over Pansy, so did a sharp and almost mocking pain; her hand was immobilized with a hot throbbing that could only mean one thing...the crack hadn't come from Ginevra after all.

She was doomed. Without her right hand she didn't stand a chance, and it would only take a few more seconds before she had to give up. She cursed herself for her stupidity, as this was just a rookie mistake that she should have seen coming in such a reckless and power-hungry fight.

Ginevra's fist was unstoppable and when it collided with Pansy's jaw she bit her tongue and tasted blood. The anger and impotence surged through her like an electric shock and before she could stop herself she had curled her left hand into a fist and directed all the strength she had left straight into Ginevra's nose. The effort made her tighten her right hand and the pain shot through her like fire. She landed on the floor.

There was blood.

She immediately glanced at her hand but the bandages were fine; damaged and almost broken but definitely not soaked in blood. A drop fell heavily on the floor next to her and when she looked up she saw Ginevra, face covered in red as Luna and Hannah rushed to her sides.

"I'm fine!" she said as she tried to get away from them. Pansy knew it was just a broken blood vessel from the nose punch, it had happened to her before, but shit, Ginevra looked straight out of a horror movie with the amounts she was bleeding.

Pansy got to her feet, swaying with a headrush, and walked closer to Ginevra. "Fuck, I'm sorry. Let me get you some napkins."

"No!" Ginevra all but shouted. "Let's keep going! I'm okay!"

Pansy opened her mouth to tell her that she was insane, but Granger beat her to it. "You're not, Ginny, you could pass out!"

Luna was trying to calm her girlfriend, taking her by the arm and whispering something to her, but Ginevra didn't listen, and the more upset she got, the more blood was poured out.

"I can keep going, I've done this before!" She shook off Luna and got in front of Pansy. "Let's finish this."

Pansy wasn't thinking about her possibly broken hand, or about the scarlet river that had reached Ginevra's chest and stomach. All she could think about was how different Ginevra seemed from when she first met her. How much she'd changed. How much they'd both changed, and still somehow Pansy had been functioning on stale, unreciprocated feelings for over a year. Ginevra's dangerously insistent stare was looking for something that Pansy didn't understand, and that she definitely couldn't give her.

And somehow she knew that this really wasn't about her. Ginevra probably didn't hate her, or thought about her much. She was just a girl, like Pansy, getting through her own shit the best way they each knew how.

And she really, really wanted to win too.

Pansy thought about punching her with her left hand again, because it was in her nature to hand out fights to whoever requested it, after all she had basically made a living and a hobby out of it for the past years of her life, but this time she knew she had to do the opposite.

She dropped her arms to her sides and shook her head softly.

"Stop."

Ginevra frowned and wiped some of the blood with her forearm. "What?"

Pansy wanted to tell her that she wanted to keep fighting, to size every moment with her because it brought her a fleeting sense of happiness and control, but it was clear it wasn't healthy. For either of them.

So she had to let it go.

"You win." Pansy raised her injured hand. "I can't fight anymore, I think it's broken."

Ginevra stood there, mouth agape and still bleeding, though significantly less. Luna came around her with a bunch of napkins and pressed them under Ginevra's nose as she continued to stare.

Millicent took Pansy's hand in her own and examined it. "Might just be a bone bruise, but you definitely shouldn't keep fighting."

Luna managed to get Ginevra sitting. Pansy wasn't sure because there was still a lot of blood and sweat in her face, but she thought Ginevra might have been crying.

She turned around, though, and thought about whether she should go to the hospital or let this play out and not lose hundreds of dollars.

Pansy saw Granger sitting alone on the same spot as before, looking like she had just lost a fight.

"Did you break something too?" Pansy asked her, genuinely worried that there was something wrong with her.

Granger looked up, a bit startled. "What?" She glanced at Pansy's hand. "Oh. No. But you should go to the hospital."

Pansy nodded, now feeling on top of everything, some unexplained disappointment.

"I know."