𝔖𝔢𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔡 ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢 (18+ ℭ𝔬𝔪𝔭𝔩𝔢𝔱𝔢)

I Heard It Through the Grapevine

     "It's a rumor, nothing more," Hermione said in her matter of fact tone that carried down the short hallway attached to the Gryffindor Common room. I slowed my pace and stopped short of the corner.

     "Did you see the size of that rumor? It's gotta be five carats—it's massive," Ginny said.

     "Well, Malfoy has disposable money," Ron said.

     "He doesn't like Pansy," Hermione insisted.

     "And how would you know who he likes?" Ron asked.

     Hermione cleared her throat. "I told you that we had a nice talk in the library. He might have mentioned who he has a thing for."

     "Who?" Ginny asked.

     "I...I'm not at liberty to say. But it isn't Pansy. In fact, he isn't interested in a female."

     "It's not me, is it?"

     "Don't be an idiot, Ronald."

     Ginny chuckled. "You know, with Draco's light hair and Harry's dark, they would make a cute couple—like yin and yang."

     "Eww, that's disgusting." Ron howled. "Why would you even say something like that?"

     "No, it's not." Ginny insisted.

     "Yes, it is."

     "What, do you have a problem with gay people?" Hermione asked.

     "No, but that's Harry and Malfoy you're talking about."

     "What if they liked each other? Would you be okay with that?" Ginny asked.

     Scrunching my eyebrows together, I held my breath. The tension intensified the longer I waited for Ron to respond.

     "Now who's being an idiot?" Ron's laughter filled the air.

     I slowly let the air out of my lungs as I walked into the Common room and looked at my friends gathered on the couch. "Hey, guys."

     Hermione's eyes darted to me. "Harry, hi."

     I moved close and squeezed in next to Ginny. "What are you talking about?"

     "Pff, apparently Malfoy proposed to Parkinson," Ron said as he threw his arm around Hermione.

     I shook my head. "No way."

     "He did, and we were talking about the ring, it's massive."

     Ginny and Hermione glanced at each other before giving me a look filled with pity. "They aren't together, it's just a rumor," I said.

     "Tell that to Pansy," Ron mumbled.

     Hermione adjusted the open book on her lap. "I said it was a rumor too, but Ginny seems to think the ring size proves it's true."

     "I didn't say it was true, just that it was huge. And Pansy keeps saying it was the most romantic proposal ever. Have you heard her? It's a bit annoying, really." Ginny's warm-brown eyes studied me.

     My stomach knotted. "It's not true, Draco told me that Pansy and her family think that they should be married because of the Twenty-eight and bloodline nonsense. But they aren't engaged or ever have been."

     Hermione leaned into Ron's side. "That's not good, Harry."

     "What's not good?"

     My friends exchanged awkward glances amongst themselves before Ron said, "You know that the Twenty-eight set up Pure-blood matches, amongst other things, right?"