TW: Mention of Abortion and Violence

Astoria had no clue what was coming to her. When Draco broke it off, ruining her plans, we all thought that was the end of that. We thought wrong. Our hidden joy was cut short only a few weeks after Draco dismissed her. She acted heartbroken, wailing through the school, but we knew she was just pissed her "hard work" was all in vain. Draco told her with the ending of school, that he didn't know what was to come, and he wanted to be a free and single man going into college. Astoria was a year younger than us, so she would still be in high school, and too childish for Draco, he said. The last few weeks went by peacefully, until a rumor started spreading that Draco only dumped Astoria because she had been pregnant and he didn't want anything to do with their baby, causing her to get an abortion. She had painted Draco in the most horrible light, and he was getting a lot of hate. People were spewing hateful comments at him, trying to destroy his personal belongings, and even going as far as saying comments to his mom, calling her a whore who raised a piece of shit whore son. That was just too far. Graduation was ruined for Draco and friends, oddly enough including me. There was a dark cloud growing over us that would remain all summer until we all went off to college.

I had a feeling simmering just below the surface that I couldn't place, until my best friend called me out the week after graduation. We were sitting around the pool at my house, enjoying the first peaceful day, when she decided to ruin it.

"Alright, Hermione, what's up?" Ginny accosted.

"Nothing. I don't know what you mean."

"That's shit and you know it. You're agitated, aggravated, whatever you want to call it, but you are. You're restless and you've been sighing without realizing it and you haven't turned the page in your book for over ten minutes now. So, I ask again, what's up?"

"If I tell you, you can't say anything to anyone. I mean it, Ginny." She turned serious, and when she nodded, I let it all out. What I overheard at the party, what happened when I told Draco, and the series of events that followed.

"So, I don't know, Gin. It feels like there's something slithering under my skin. I'm uncomfortable, and anxious, and I don't know why. I feel like I need to do something, but I don't know what I need to do!"

"You're pissed." She simply put.

"What?"

"That's what you're feeling. You are pissed off at Astoria, on behalf of Draco fucking Malfoy. I can't believe it!" She laughed. "I kind of saw this coming. I mean, you should see the sexual tension rolling off of you two when you're near each other. It's obvious, but this is more. So much more. Let me ask you something, and now it is your turn to get out of your head and just answer as honestly as possible. What would you like to do?"

I was confused. "I don't know what you mean." Ginny sighed.

"If there were no consequences, what would you like to do about this? To Astoria? Or for Draco? In fact, what do you think Draco would like to do?"

"Oh well that's easy. If this was a guy, Draco would just kick his ass. No one would dare fuck with Draco, because they know he has no problems taking care of anyone who talked shit. But he can't do that with Astoria, and she knows it. He'd never hit a woman. God, I'd love to show her that she can't get away with this, and that Draco's got people to defend him too."

"So again, what do you wish you could do?"

"With no consequences? I'd kick her ass. I don't like fighting, you know that, but I could defend Draco and have a hell of a lot less consequences than he would. And honestly, even selfishly, and I can't believe I am even saying this, I want to hurt her Gin. I want her to feel the pain and suffering that she is making the Malfoy's feel. Narcissa is an angel on this earth, and Draco said he came home to her crying one day. She didn't want him to see, but he did, and it killed him. It isn't JUST for Draco now, it's for his family. They've always been so good to me and mine, and I hate that they are hurting too because some dumb bitch decided to run her mouth and spread lies. The Malfoy's even asked legally if there was anything they could do, but there isn't enough proof one way or the other, so it wouldn't be 'worth' it, said their lawyer. Astoria can't just get away with this. She can't." I put my head in my hands, and rubbed my eyes, which had apparently started to tear up.

"So do something, Mione. Kick her ass." I looked at Ginny, and she just shrugged.

"Yeah, Gin. I'll just randomly go up to her in the middle of the street and start a fight. The cops certainly won't be called. I've seen her at the gym, and in my fighting classes, but if I started something there, we'd both get kicked out, and I love it there. So, I really don't want to do that."

I could see Ginny's eyes light up, and she excitedly turned her entire body to face me. "I know what you can do! I know you've got no clue because you think the entire thing is asinine, but Astoria is a part of the Battle of the Brawls. She fights on a regular basis."

"Why are you excited about that? Do you think she'd kick my ass?"

Ginny scoffed. "Would you let her win?"

I rolled my eyes. "No."

"Exactly. So shut up because no I don't think she'd kick your ass. Look, anyone can sign up for the battles at any point. You've never been, so I know you don't know how it works. At the very beginning of the night, anyone who wants to brawl gets signed in. Then they do a random generator to pick two fighters, the winner moves forward to fight again. So on and so forth. It's a bracket, and eventually the two top fighters go against each other for the championship round! Astoria goes all the time, and she fought the last championship and won, so you know she'll be fighting this next Battle of the Brawls too. Sign up, Hermione! Then you can kick her ass, and there's nothing anyone can say because you both willingly signed up for it. So, there'd be no legal repercussions."

"Unless the entire event is found out and we're all arrested."

"God, Hermione, that isn't going to happen! There are a few cops who are in on it, and they are the ones who field any complaints. It would be fine. I'm just saying, if you truly want her to pay, and you feel like it's your responsibility to defend Draco Malfoy and family, then this is your chance."

"I'd have to fight other people too, Ginny. Who's to say I'd even make it that far?"

"You know that uncomfortable slimy feeling under your skin that you just can't place. That's your rage. Use it and you'll be just fine. You don't have to, Hermione. It's just an option."

I sighed and made eye contact with her. "No one knows I can fight Ginny. Everyone is going to look and think, 'Oh there's dorky Hermione Granger trying to fight. This will be pathetic.' Then everyone will never let me live it down. I don't want to embarrass myself."

"Mione, look at me." I had dropped my eyes to my clenched hands, but looked back to Ginny. "You are underestimating yourself. If it was me, and I actually had the training you did, would you think I'd fail and embarrass myself?"

"Well, no." She cut me off before I could finish. "Exactly. This isn't you doubting your ability to kick some ass. This is you having a ridiculous fear of failure. Well guess what Granger, failure isn't an option. You're going to go this Saturday to the Battle of the Brawls, you're going to sign up, and you're going to fight and win until you are faced with Astoria. Then you are going to beat her mother fucking ass, tell her to quit running her mouth about the Malfoy's, and then you don't have to fight any more! Problem solved."

Saturday Night

That conversation is what led me here, to Astoria's downfall as I liked to call it. Ginny came with me, along with our other friends Susan and Luna. They sighted moral support, but I heard Susan whispering about how she's never seen me violent and she can't wait to watch. Luna was just along for the ride. I should have been nervous, or on edge, but after what I found out this morning, I was ready like Draco was ready. I wanted to hurt her, and I wanted to protect Draco.

Apparently, Astoria wanted to spread more rumors, and now she brought me into it. Apparently, the real reason Draco left her and demanded she kill her baby, is because he wanted to be with me. Astoria and her little posse started calling me a homewrecker, and that Narcissa, being the bitch she was, contracted me to ruin Astoria's life, and steal Draco away from her. I found out because Narcissa called me sobbing, apologizing that my name had got brought into things. Narcissa, the same woman who defied her family and got disowned for love, who was as strong and protective as could be, and who never let life get her down, was reduced to tears because of some lying, conniving little bitch. I was done. The entire day I felt my rage simmering. It was a scary kind of rage. I was calm, calculating, and clear headed. It was exactly what I needed to forgo my nerves. Ginny was right. Failure was not an option. I would do whatever it took, fight through whoever I needed, go through as much pain as needed, to face Astoria and destroy her. I wanted to channel my inner Draco, because if there was someone who was terrifyingly resilient, it was him. He could put the fear of God into someone, and that was my plan for the night.

"You ready Mione?" Ginny asked. Straightening my shoulders, I nodded, and made my way to the registration table. A mutual friend of Theo's and I's, Anthony Goldstein, was running the booth.

"Holy shit. Granger, what the hell are you doing here?" He asked.

"Signing up, Anthony. What's it look like to you?" He paused before giving me the sign in sheet. Oddly enough, my name was right under Astoria's. Apparently, Anthony noticed this as well.

With his brow raised, he looked straight at me and asked, "Hmm. What a coincidence that you decide to join for the first time right after Astoria starts talking shit. Don't like her running her mouth about you?"

"I can honestly say it has nothing to do with her running her mouth about me."

His brows rose even further. "Interesting. Well good luck Granger and kick some ass, yeah?" I gave him a nod and went to wait. There were only a few rules to follow:

No outside weapons of any sort.

When the ref stops the fight, it is done. If you keep fighting, you're disqualified.

If you get an opponent's blood on you, you have to change before fighting your next round.

"Good to know they care about hygiene." Gin joked.

"Kind of wished I knew about that. I didn't bring anything to change into." I had only brought my gloves and wrap from my classes, and a bottle of water to sip. I was wearing athletic shorts and one of my big t-shirts. As I had never been to one, I didn't know what to wear or what to expect. Looking around, I was in shock actually. I didn't realize these things had such a large turnout. I could feel nerves starting to kick in, so I attempted to shake them off. Luckily, I didn't have to wait long for the games to begin. The first fight was about to be announced. I noticed the girl Ron had cheated on me with was signed up, and her name was pulled first.

"We've got Brown v. Granger!" Ginny's head whipped around to face me with a shit eating grin.

"Holy shit. You get to beat Lavender's ass finally. This is going to be so cathartic for you." She laughed. I just shook my head in disbelief as I made my way to the mat. Although I admit, the look on Lavender's face was priceless.

"Hermione! What are you doing?" She asked as we faced each other.

"Oddly enough, I'm not here for you Lavender. This is just a happy coincidence. It's nothing personal."

He ref told us to fight, and I zeroed in. I concentrated on breathing, and watched Lavender's footwork. I focused on why I was here. Draco. Narcissa. Astoria's smug little face.

When I came back to, Lavender was on the ground, and the ref had my hand in the air announcing I was moving forward. In a daze I walked back to Ginny, Susan, and Luna, all who were grinning.

"Holy. Fuck. That was incredible! Hermione you were insane out there! I didn't know you could fight like that." Ginny exclaimed.

"I just blacked out. I don't remember anything about the fight. I just focused on the Malfoy's and next thing I knew; my hand was in the air."

"Well God damn. This is going to be interesting."

The rest of the night went much the same. I stood and watched the other matches, zoning in on Astoria. She knew how to fight. She was good, but she was cocky and it showed. Fight after fight, I kept reminding myself, this was for the Malfoy's. It didn't matter how many hits I took, I just had to keep moving forward. Before I knew it, it was the semifinal match. I was up against one of my childhood friends, Hannah Abbott, who I was surprised to see. Hannah had always been quiet and reserved, and that's why we got along so well. I was impressed with her fighting skills, and I told her as much.

"Hannah! Who knew you were such a badass." She laughed.

"I could say the same for you, Hermione! It's so good to see you. We'll have to talk after this match."

"Definitely. Don't go easy on me now." I joked, and she laughed before we faced off. It was a challenging match, and I was incredibly impressed with her, but unfortunately for Hannah I had a purpose for being here. I finally took her down, and the ref called it. Her and I were on the sidelines watching Astoria fight Katie Bell, someone who we had also gone to school with, and Katie was giving her hell. In fact, I didn't think Astoria was going to win. Astoria landed a punch, Katie landed two. It wasn't long before the crowd got restless because they could see it too. The reigning champ was about to lose. Astoria was getting panicky, and in a move that was incredibly questionable, she took Katie down and slammed her face into the ground. Blood gushed from Katie's face as Astoria stepped back and grinned down on her. It wasn't technically against the rules because Astoria didn't use an outside weapon, but it wasn't like she used herself either. Finally, our names flashed across the screen to prepare for the next match. The championship match, and I watched the realization set on Astoria's face. Her grin dropped, and she turned to face me. Blood drained from her face as she realized mine was set as if it was stone. Now was my chance to show her she couldn't fuck with the Malfoy's. They were my family, and she wasn't going to get away with what she did. As I walked to the center of the ring to face her, she did something completely unexpected. She "accidentally" shoved Katie into me, and I of course caught her because she could hardly see. However, this inadvertently got her blood all over my shirt.

"Granger can't fight me." Astoria said smugly. "She's got Bell's blood on her. She's DQ'd."

The ref, who was a few years older than us named Lee, faced me and asked, "That is true Granger. Do you have something you can change into? Otherwise, we're going to have to disqualify you."

"Er, I, uhm," I sighed. "No Lee, I don't have another shirt." He gave me a pitying look and went to call the match when oddly enough, Anthony's voice rang out.

"Lee! Shirts aren't technically required. The guys don't fight with shirts on, so why do the girls? There isn't a rule stating that."

Lee turned to look at me. "That is a fair point. If you feel comfortable enough, taking off your shirt to fight will suffice and you can continue into the final match. It is your call."

I was pretty physically fit, and didn't really have a reason to be self-conscious, but I was. I hated bathing suits, I always wore baggy clothes, and I especially hated to be exposed in public, but I couldn't back down now. So, with a heavy sigh, I took off my shirt. My black sports bra was soaked in sweat, and was practically stuck against my body leaving nothing to the imagination. Wolf whistles rang through the building, which seemed to only piss off Astoria more, and I tried not to get distracted or embarrassed. The time was now, and I couldn't afford to mess this up. Astoria finally stepped into the ring, and we faced off. No words were said, we both knew what was about to happen and why. The ref's hand went down, and I zeroed in on Astoria's face. I conjured up every single thing she had said about Draco and Narcissa. The devastation on Draco's face and the heart break on Narcissa's. She made the first move. I dodged. She made the second, and I dodged and struck. The blow landed. I was calm, clear headed, and concise. I was going to make her feel every single second of this. Punch after punch, we went back and forth. I could feel sweat running between my breasts, and I felt utterly disgusting, but I knew it was almost over. I had played long enough. My punches got harder, and she couldn't duck or dodge them anymore. She was swaying, and I noticed the ref start to come onto the mats. I had to finish this, and finish it now. I had learned a leg swipe in my MMA class, and now was the chance to use it. Astoria didn't see it coming, as I hadn't used any leg moves yet, and she went down hard. I climbed over her. Knees on her hands, and continued my attack.

In between punches, I muttered out, "If. You. Ever. Go. Near. Draco. Or. Narcissa. Again. I. Will. Make. This. Look. Like. Child's. Play. You. Will. Never. Be. Able. To. Walk. Again. Do. You. Understand. Me." After a millisecond of contemplation, she nodded and I moved my leg off of her so she could tap out. And she did. As the ref yanked me up and announced a new champion of the Battle of the Brawls, I couldn't help but sneer down at Astoria as I stood over her beaten body.

"Now you know your place you stupid bitch. You're scum. The bottom of the barrel. You were lucky Draco even gave you the time of day. This will be the biggest mistake you ever made, and I can wait to watch you fall from grace. The Malfoy's are my family. Mine. And I will always defend and protect them."