Hermione felt ill the week following the Yule Ball. However, despite truly feeling and looking horrible, she simply refused to lay idle in her bed and chose to attend classes, something her friends were adamantly against. She had greatly considered what they’d said to her the first day they noticed she looked a bit discoloured, but she ultimately ignored it. It was funny how her abnormal level-headedness never got the better of her when she needed it to most. She kept attributing the constant headaches, jolts of nausea and bouts of dizziness to something in the punch the night of the ball when she knew it was much more than that. There were various reasons causal to Hermione’s perpetual desire to hide herself to under the covers and the bulk of it all was because of it was Cedric, as well as Rita Skeeter and that dratted apparent article.

Hermione had wondered if the boys really managed to prevent the editorial from being published. It was now mid-January, and no article had appeared yet. Maybe they had pleaded with Rita and had come to an agreement. Well, that was what she would have liked to think. There was no stopping the woman. She’d printed a nasty, unfair article on Hagrid and his gigantism, and he had subsequently gone into hiding. Even then, Hagrid refused to speak to anybody and only had Fang for company in his little hut. Hermione felt bad for not being more concerned, but she too had virtually lost her appetite thinking of the horrible things Rita would write about her in the article, and it didn’t help matters that practically everybody was giving her the evil eye over going to the ball with Viktor Krum in secret. Hermione was well-aware of the gossip that floated around her these days, with or without Rita Skeeter.

I’m not surprised if they’re calling me a slag of some sort, she thought miserably as she kept a wary eye on a group of Hufflepuff girls huddled together near the marble staircase outside the Great Hall Thursday morning. They all glanced at her with immense curiosity and…was it disgust? Hermione didn’t stick around long enough to figure it out. She walked as briskly as she could into the Hall for breakfast.

“Morning, ‘Mione,” Harry mumbled with a small smile as he noticed her plop into a seat next to his. What was going to be a proper morning greeting turned into a barely audible grunt on Hermione’s part, which caused Harry to frown slightly at her. However, he didn’t comment on her lack of conversation when he noticed how green she appeared.

“Hermione, are you okay?” Ginny asked her tentatively. “Look, I know I’ve asked you this every morning for the past three days, but you haven’t answered me yet.”

“She thinks she’s too good to have a chat with us,” Ron muttered bitterly, not glancing up from his plate of food. He had barely touched it. The times this Weasley chose not to feed himself were the times people knew he was upset about something.

In a flash, Ginny retrieved her Herbology textbook and slammed it on Ron’s head, causing him to shout in pain.

“What the hell was that for?!” he exclaimed, rubbing the top of his head. A small, purple bump was beginning to surface.

Ginny stared at him, poker-faced, deciding to let him figure it out on his own. She then turned her attention to Hermione, spooning a small amount of food onto her friend’s plate.

“Well if you don’t want to say anything, just eat something, will you?” she urged. “It’s scary how you’ve gone with nearly no food.”

“I-I-I’m just not hungry,” Hermione squeaked, compulsively running her fingers through her bushy hair.

“How can you not be?” Harry argued. He was intending to say a lot more than that, but not before catching a glimpse of Ginny’s strict expression. He practically buried his face in his food after that.

The ethereal hooting of the post owls soon resonated throughout the Great Hall as speedy dashes of grey, white and brown circled above, showering the students with packages, letters and newspapers. Hermione felt her stomach clench as a copy of the Prophet bonked her squarely on the head. Just the thing she was looking for. Picking it up from where it had landed in the tureen of oatmeal, she gingerly untied the thin rope wrapped around it and unfolded the paper. Her stomach then went from clenched to feeling like it was being put in a blender. Her face turned a sickly shade of asparagus.

THE DAILY PROPHET

OH YOUNG LOVE!

by Rita Skeeter

Or in Hermione Granger’s case, it isn’t just for one person. Previously reported to be the long-term girlfriend of the Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, Ms Granger has been a busy girl indeed. And a lucky one, considering who she’s been linked with recently. Not only has she kept up with her first love Harry, Ms Granger has also reportedly been in a relationship with renowned Quidditch Seeker Viktor Krum, Golden Boy of Hogwarts Cedric Diggory, as well as an unnamed student at Albus Dumbledore’s celebrated institution. With her contact book filled to the brim with such all-stars, it’s a wonder how Ms Granger does it. Fellow Hogwarts student, Slytherin House’s Pansy Parkinson, gives us some insights:

“It’s no wonder she’s with such big names with her abilities,” Ms Parkinson eagerly spills the beans on her classmate, who is apparently an ace at Potions. “She’s ‘so ahead’ of our class – in fact, her secret to success happens to be her love potions. I hear she brews up a storm in the dungeons. Out of class, it’s like she barely keeps her knickers on or something.”

Looks like Harry Potter will have to keep fanning the flames to this love if he doesn’t want it to go out by Valentine’s Day. Or rather, maybe he should just blow it out soon.

Harry, who had been reading over Hermione’s shoulder, nearly fell out of his seat. His face flushed crimson and he put his face in his hands, feeling the embarrassment creep up his neck and ears. Ron had stolen Seamus Finnigan’s newspaper and was now reading the editorial with wide eyes. Ginny refused to have a look at it. Simply watching Hermione’s expressions was enough to know what it was about.

The whispering began. The staring began. The laughing began. Well, only the Slytherins laughed, and one could definitely make out the smug appearance plastered across Pansy Parkinson’s pug-like features, but it was enough to make anybody want to jump off a cliff considering the level of humiliation the piece imposed. The words just wouldn’t stop resounding in Hermione’s head, even after she’d crumpled the newspaper up into a ball. She too held her head in her hands, too scared to look up at any of her friends.

Nobody said anything for a long time. Hermione barely moved. She feared every subtle movement of hers would trigger the insults. The jeers. The derision.

“So am I the ‘unnamed student’?” Ron suddenly questioned. He sounded oddly offended.

“Well, it’s not as if you’ve done anything to make yourself legendary or anything,” Ginny snapped. “Even simple popularity is out of your reach.”

That got Ron completely riled up. “So I’m worthless, is that it?!”

“Oh for heaven’s sake, this isn’t about you, Ron!” Ginny angrily stood up and gathered her books. “I’m leaving before you turn this into some ridiculous argument like you usually do.”

“Now wait just a minute!” Ron had to jog to keep up with Ginny’s brisk strides. That left Harry and Hermione, and a few scattered others who were gaping, waiting for something to happen.

Hermione would give anything to be deprived of any ‘alone time’ with Harry at the moment, which explained her abrupt action to leave the Great Hall as soon as possible. Besides, she felt as though she would vomit all over the table if she didn’t get to a bathroom soon. It was too sickening.

However, as she was about to head up towards the dormitories, she caught sight of Cedric. Immediately, she remembered exactly who were the players in this twisted game and spun on her heels and practically sprinted to the second storey girls’ lavatory. It was a place she knew she could be alone.

Author’s Note: I cut out the last two bits. The Pansy bit and the thing with Cedric, so this is SUCH a filler with no real content in it and I don’t like it at all, but it’s all I’ve got. There was more but it was left unfinished for MONTHS and I didn’t want to let people wait any longer. Although honestly, reading back on my work in this story, even though I love the story and how it’s unfolded, my writing style has changed yet again. It’s no wonder I found it difficult to edit the chapter while trying to stay in the same mentality I was last November or so when I first started writing this story.

And...I don't know when I'll be able to update again. My flame for Potter has somewhat dissipated (IT'S STILL THERE, JUST NOT AS MUCH!), and I've been having an affair with King Kong. But seriously, I haven't written anything fanfic-y for at least three months. I don't know how to start up again, honestly =/