It Started With an Insult (Hermione x Pansy Parkinson)

The Slytherin Learns a Lesson

"What in the bloody hell happened to you?" Draco interrogated. I was sitting on a bed in the medical wing when Draco came in after being informed that this was where he could find him. Blaise trailed in behind him. Mortified, I had snatched a pillow off of the bed and covered my face and hair, well the lack of hair. But I was too late. They had already seen me.

"I'm fine, Draco," I answered, slightly annoyed at his tone. As if it was my fault. 

"That bloody mud blood Granger girl cast a spell on me!" I spat her name disdainfully. Draco's lip curled in disgust. He sat next to me on the bed and gingerly touched my smooth head. Blaise let out a stifled snigger, and I shot him a glare.

"Mud bloods."Draco muttered as he continued to rub his hand on my head, somewhat fixated on the smoothness. I pursed my lips and swatted his hand away. 

"Draco! You cant possibly be enjoying this!" I yelped, slightly offended that he didn't have more sympathy. Draco kept his eyes on my bald head.

"Im not Pans- bloody hell," He paused to look me in the eyes, only for his gaze to gravitate upwards to hairless scalp again.

"I- Its just, so smooth..." He muttered, reaching his hand up to touch it again. Defeated, I let him. Blaise still stood there, staring as if he was in shock.

"Oh, get over it!" I tossed the pillow I was still gripping at him. I missed, and the pillow continued to fly past him and landed on the bed of a sleeping student. Still, it broke him out of his trance. We all paused to look at the student, seeing if they would stir. To our relief, the student stayed fast asleep. 

"Now leave, or you'll attract more people. I had enough rude stares in the hallway on my way here!" After Granger had cast the spell on me, I had sprinted to the medical wing. I had breathlessly begged Madame Pomfrey to restore my hair, and she told me to wait in the medical wing for her to concoct a hair growth serum. It had been 30 minutes since she told me to wait for her, and she still hadn't come out from her office.

I shooed Draco and Blaise away and flopped backwards onto the bed, reflecting on the days events. It was barely past afternoon and already it had been much more eventful than I had expected. I shut my eyes. I hadn't expected Hermione to hex me, that I didn't see coming. I had expected her to argue back, maybe even cry... but nothing like this. It was quite impressive, really. Had she known that spell off of the top of her head? I couldn't imagine what I would've done. And earlier this morning, when she woke me up in the library, was she going to study? At 6am? On the first day of classes? I sighed. It was admirable, really, the amount of dedication she put into school. I could never...

I sat up. What was I saying? Granger was a mud blood. A filthy mud blood. Mud bloods aren't as magical as pure bloods. It was just a fact. Just like the sky was blue, and the grass was green. Mud bloods aren't powerful. So of course the filthy mud blood had to overcompensate, especially with an ego like hers. I rubbed my eyes and ran my hands across my smooth head once again. Sighing, I wondered when Madame Pomfrey would be back with the growth serum.

...

Hermione hastily walked away from the screaming Slytherin. 30 points from Gryffindor? For a simple hair loss spell? Her face burned from the heat of the moment. What had gotten into her? Normally she would have used her words, convinced Parkinson to see reason. But her anger had gotten the best of her. No-one, not even Ron had the ability to make her lose her temper so easily. That was when Hermione lost it. Ron! Harry! She couldn't wait to tell them what had happened. 

Something in her stomach bubbled, and made its way to her throat. She burst out laughing and stopped in the middle of the hallway. A few first years passing by looked at her strangely. She walked over to the nearest wall and leaned onto it for support. Sliding down the wall she continued to laugh hysterically, wiping tears from her eyes. Just as she had started to gather herself, Pansy Parkinson came sprinting through the hallway in a panic, desperately covering her bald head as passerby's giggled and pointed. Hermione doubled over once again, her frizzy hair quaking, possibly getting even more strange looks than Pansy had gotten. 

...

I peered into the handheld mirror that Madame Pomfrey had given me, gently poking and prodding at my hair. I was almost scared that if I pulled on it even slightly it would fall out all over again. Bloody hell. Granger had really done a number on me. I couldn't even feel angry anymore, just bewildered. Madame Pomfrey had instructed me to go back to my dorm and get some rest, so that the potion could take full effect and ensure that my hair was exactly as it had been pre- Granger.

I sulked through the hallways, desperately hoping that the rumors of my bald head hadn't spread too far. I was lucky, Granger wasn't known to be a gossip. I straightened my back slightly, feeling much more like myself now that I had my hair back. 

But before I could get to the entrance to the Slytherin commons, someone put their hand on my shoulder. I spun around, only to find that it was Crabbe who had tapped me.

"I heard what happened!" He remarked.

"Yeah, well its none of your business, Crabbe. "  I snapped. His face fell, and I could tell that he was confused about why I was being so hostile towards him. If I had to be honest with myself I wasn't sure why I had been so hostile towards him either. I softened. 

"Look, Crabbe, Im sorry for snapping at you," I reached out and touched his arm, "Its just that I've been in a bad mood lately, and its almost that time of a month, and I didn't get any sleep last night..." I rambled on and on, making up excuse after excuse. The truth was that I had been expecting someone else to approach me, to apologize maybe...

Crabbe's face lit up a little as I spoke, as he realized that it wasn't him that I was angry with. I smiled at him, and turned towards the Slytherin entrance. 

"Calvitium luter." The portrait that marked the entrance swung open and I climbed inside. The common room was empty, most of the Slytherin students were in class at this time, and so I decided to curl into a large emerald green armchair, letting the enchanted green fire in the hearth warm me as I drifted in an out of consciousness. 

...

Hermione, Ron and Harry snickered and giggled between themselves, still not having gotten over the Pansy fiasco. They were walking down the hallway, having just finished classes. Hermione stopped at the library, telling her friends that she would catch up with them later. 

"Blimey, Hermione," Ron groaned, "Spend some time with us at least! Its the first day of classes, I'm sure Flitwick will be fine if you're essay isn't turned in two weeks before the due date." Harry nodded in agreement.

Hermione hesitated, wanting to spend time with her friends, but also wanting to reunite with the massive collection of magical books that the Hogwarts library held. 

"I said that I'll catch up with you later. Just give me an hour." She remarked, waving off a sighing Ron and Harry.

She entered the library, feeling a sense of calm wash over her as she took her first step inside. The first two times she had attempted to reunite with her precious books that day had been interrupted by Pansy Parkinson. Hermione huffed at the thought of the Slytherin girl. So cruel... No wonder her and Malfoy spend so much time together, they're perfect for each other! 

Hermione found a book and slumped into an armchair by a window to read it. The warm light shining through the glass panes cast on the book as she read. As she read, her mind kept thinking back to how Parkinson had reacted to being woken up, to how she had threatened her from across the room in potions, to how she had slammed into her on purpose. Mud blood, she had called her. Hermione shivered and desperately tried to concentrate on her book, trying not to let Pansy ruin her third attempt at spending time in the library.

Hello :) If you've gotten to the third chapter, wow thankyou so much I hope you like this fic! I know that this chapter was a little less eventful but I hope that you still liked it! Dont forget to vote and add it to your bookshelf! Comments also help the algorithm and help this fic reach more people! 

-Bianca

(P.S. It'll get spicier soon)