I Know The End {Fred Weasley, ACT I}

Chapter 25- A Series of Slut-Shaming Events

November 1994. Sixth Year.

It all started with that stupid slogan. Maybe slogan was the wrong word. A chant? A rallying cry? Whatever it was, she blamed it. And she blamed Cedric. She was finally receiving retribution for the Too Quick Cedric jab.

The issue with that original joke was that although it was about Cedric, Eleanor's role was implied. Cedric was no good at sex, but Eleanor was the whore who let him fuck her. Which wasn't even true. She hadn't paid Cedric enough mind to have sex with him. He had been her boyfriend in name only. The way in which children play at dating. They'd tell anyone who'd listen they were in a relationship but skirted around each other in the hallways, fingers crossed that they'd kept their head low enough to avoid an interaction. A wave here and there, a date once a month, small talk, but nothing serious.

Their relationship felt like a game of truth or dare, with dares being dished their way repeatedly leaving no room for the truth. And I dare you to hold his hand! Their peers seemed to cry out, watching their every move with a mixture of envy and excitement. Now I dare you to kiss him! A first kiss, fast, awkward, uncomfortably wet. The hope that they'd never have to kiss again. No one ever asked, ok now truth, do you even like each other? Because the honest answer was no. They should have worked, everything looked good on paper, but they didn't. They were opposite poles of a magnet as a small child forced the ends to meet over and over regardless of the resistance.

Cedric was right to dump her. She should have done it herself, but she was a coward. She refused to tell her friends the truth of the matter and settled with playing the heartbroken victim if only to avoid the awkward questions she couldn't answer.

Well, why didn't you like him?

Is there someone else?

What's wrong with you? He was Perfect!

Are you just incapable of love?

I don't know, maybe, I don't know, maybe. She doubted her friends would ever actually ask her such questions, but some terrible anxiety persisted within her that kept her from trusting anyone to leave her be. So, she let the rumor spread, giving feeble attempts at putting a stop to it if only to create the impression that she tried.

Karma was a bitch.

Cedric and Harry's names being pulled from the Goblet created a resurrection of interest in Eleanor and Cedric's dating history. The older students liked including Eleanor in their taunts. Cedric will fuck Potter up, just like he fucked his slut sister. That was her favorite of all the word play. There were many iterations, all with the same point.

He's already fucked one Potter; he can fuck over the other.

Cedric's bringing disappointment upon that whole family!

Poor Cedric. He dated the whore sister, now he's dealing with the attention whore brother. Nothing can ever just be about him, can it?

They just got wordy after that. Began to lack the original creativity of the first few. Eleanor told herself she didn't care, but the truth was she did. She wanted to talk to her mom about the whole thing. Hey mom, it's Ella, the whole school is saying I'm a giant slut. What should do I do about it? Or better yet tell her dad and uncles. They'd come storming the school, maybe in their Animagus form, threatening any boy who spoke unkindly of her within an inch of their life while she stood behind her father grinning.

She remembered the first time she heard the taunts. Sitting at breakfast the day after Harry's name had been pulled. November 1st, 1994. Her seventeenth birthday.