Internal Conflict

Verra's Story

Hermione was sitting in a chair by the fireplace when she heard a knock at the door. Hermione snapped out of her trance, scrambled up, and opened the door. She was surprised to see Verra, who strode in and plopped down next to where Hermione had been sitting.
"Hey Herm!" Verra bubbled."
"Herm. That's a new one." Hermione thought. "Uhh... Hi Verra!"
"Did I startle you?" She asked. "You seem to have been lost in thought."
Hermione nodded, unsure of how Verra knew this.
" I wonder what you could be thinking about? Hmm... Maybe... Could it be... Don?" Verra asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Ron, actually. But yes."
"He is all you can think about, isn't he?"
Hermione didn't know why, but there was something about the way Verra said this that set her off.
"Well, yes." Hermione said defensively. "Do you have an issue with that?"
"No, no, no. I was just saying that I can relate!"
This took Hermione completely by surprise. Her mind suddenly flashed through a crazy cacophony of emotions. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Wait, RELATE? Oh, I'm so happy for you! Oh, I didn't apologize, did I? Well, I'm sorry. I just love him so much, and I guess I wanted to defend him at any cost. But who is he?"
"Goodness, Herm, calm down! Apology accepted. And that was wanted to tell you. So, I went to Hogsmeade, right? And you went off to Madam Puddifoot's, and so I was basically alone, since I don't really have a lot of friends."
Hermione hadn't thought about that. "Oh, I'm so sorry!"
"No worries. But anyway, I saw a big group of Slytherins who were walking down to Honeydukes and, since I kind of know them, I tagged along. We got to Honeydukes, and everybody split up: the younger students breaking off from the older ones who broke off from the pranksters and such. I stayed with the group of 6th and 7th years, and they decided to ditch Honeydukes and go to a back alley somewhere to play Truth or Dare."
"I don't like where this is going." Hermione interjected.
"Relax. I didn't get cursed, I didn't curse anybody, no important rules were broken..."
"Important?" Hermione interrogated, quirking an eyebrow.
"Well, only the out-of-bounds rule. And some minor hexing... but that wasn't me. Anyway, we were playing Truth or Dare- oh. I should mention that Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, and Draco were there- and someone dared Draco to go down another alley and kiss Crabbe, Goyle, or me. I guess I am considered to be one of three most vile people in Slytherin."
"That's not true!" Hermione defended, feeling anger towards Slytherins flare up in her heart.
"Eh, it's okay. I don't really fit in with the Slytherins anyway. Most of them *cough cough* Pansy and Draco-are jerks. But whatever. So Draco picked me, because he was NOT going kiss a boy and, like, taint his bloodline or whatever. And, keep in mind, I was not happy about being picked. However, I decided to make the best of it by embarrassing Draco."
"What did you do?" Hermione groaned.
"Well," Verra continued. "The plan was that I would put a weak Leg-Locker curse on him that would last about 5 minutes. During these 5 minutes, I would apply copious amount of blush to his face, mess up his hair, unbutton some of his shirt, etc, while making very loud make out noises."
Hermione was astounded. "That's... that's brilliant! Horrifically brilliant! I couldn't have thought of that if..."
"But I'm not finished." Verra interrupted. "You see, being the jerk that he is, Malfoy always finds a way to mess things up."
"Did he run?" Hermione yelled, standing up! "That cowardly git! That good-for-nothing..."
"Hermione!" Verra squeaked. "He did something worse!"
Hermione gasped. "Verra, what did he do?"
"He... he kissed me!"