Dirty Laundry

2

Hermione couldn’t do it. Who was she kidding? She was Ginny’s best friend; she couldn’t do this to her, not at her engagement party.

She found the nearest bathroom and shut the door. Flicking on the light, she stopped at the sink and looked into the mirror. Maybe it was her overactive imagination, but she looked horribly disarrayed. She turned on the faucet. After a good few splashes of cold water to her face she felt much, much better.

And when her eyes rose from the running water back to her reflection in the mirror she laughed. She couldn’t believe she had come back to Harry and Ginny’s engagement party to ruin it, to air Ginny Weasley’s dirty laundry, and humiliate her in front of everyone; she probably would’ve caused a lot of trouble between Harry and Ginny, and ruined what was supposed to be one of the happiest nights of their lives.

She was an awful friend for even considering it. It made her no better than Ginny if she were to carry out her initial intended plans. In fact, it would make her worse. That was simply not her style or in her character.

Hermione returned from the bathroom to discover the party was emptying slightly. She scanned the room for Cho or anyone else she recognized, but found no one. That is, until her eyes landed on Ron not too far off.

“Ron!” she exclaimed, hurrying over.

“Hermione. I thought you were looking for Ginny?” he asked, frowning slightly.

“I am! Was! I was…” She trailed off there, clearing her throat. “Err, have you seen Cho?”

“Why are you two so close so suddenly?” Ron asked. “You’ve never been fond of Cho before tonight.”

Hermione shrugged. She wasn’t really sure of the answer herself. “Well, we bonded at the Three Broomsticks. Though, at the moment, my mind is a bit blank about it.”

“She’s gone, you know. And what’s the deal with you being so tipsy? Cho seemed perfectly fine and sober,” Ron said.

“No, she’s in worse shape than me. I suspect that’s why she’s gone home.”

“Whatever you say, Hermione. Listen, I’ll talk to you later. I haven’t really talked to Luna all night,” Ron said, walking away. Before Hermione could reply, he was long out of earshot.

Hermione stared after him, scowling. She didn’t know how or when Ron had started to take a fancy in Luna, but it certainly was bad news for her. For years, since her sixth year, it had always been Harry and Ginny, and Ron and herself. Now that Ron was drifting off and Harry and Ginny were marrying, where did that leave her?

She was the leftover, as always.

“Hermione, I didn’t know you came back,” Neville said from behind.

Hermione turned around, thinking it was Harry. Logically that thought made no sense; Harry was still off with Ginny somewhere.

“Neville,” she said. “Hi.”

“Hey!”

“Enjoying the party?” she asked, thinking of the first topic that came to mind.

“Oh, yeah! I love the appetizers. Really delicious,” he replied. “Can you believe Harry of all people is getting tied down? I didn’t think he ever would. And Ginny too. They’re a bit young. We all are.”

“My thoughts exactly, Neville,” Hermione said. She was beginning to feel a bit drowsy again, but she shook off the feeling.

“But you’re Harry’s best friend.”

“Yeah…I guess I am.”

“Aren’t you supporting them getting married?” Neville asked, bewildered.

Hermione shrugged. “Oh, Neville you know what I mean. We’re too young for marriage. Right now Harry needs to establish his career. It isn’t a joking matter. This career will have to be his job for a good forty years. He’s well off, but he still needs to work.”

“Yeah…”

“And, anyway, Ginny’s hopeless with so many things. She’s convinced everything needs to be done with magic, and Harry’s just about the opposite. I just think they’re a bit too different in so many areas. I think it’s a mistake,” Hermione said honestly. If sober, Hermione would’ve known better than to tell Neville all of this; Neville Longbottom, as nice and friendly as he was, was terrible with keeping secrets, lying, and holding the confidentiality of others. “Ginny couldn’t be worse for him.”

“I guess so,” Neville said, clearly uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going. He cleared his throat, scratched his chin, and looked off into the distance of the engagement party.

Just then Cho caught Hermione’s eye. She had appeared between Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnegan, and Roger Davies. The three smiled at the short girl and soon the four were immersed in conversation. Hermione couldn’t figure out how Cho had left one moment and reappeared the next.

She didn’t hesitate to walk over and interrupt their conversation.

“Excuse me boys,” she said to Dean, Seamus and Roger. “I need to borrow Miss Chang for a moment. Cho.” She grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the three blokes, leading her off toward the doorway that led to the entrance hall. “Where have you been?” she asked suspiciously.

Cho seemed somewhat hesitant, somewhat bashful to answer. “I was upstairs in Harry’s bathroom.”

“And why?”

“I shouldn’t have drunk all that fire whiskey,” Cho replied, blushing. “I’m back now. I’m fine now. So, have you confronted the wench about it yet?” she asked excitedly, her almond-shaped eyes shining.

“No…”

“Oh. Well, why not?”

Hermione opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by the clinging noise of a utensil colliding gently with a wine glass. Everyone in the room looked toward the front, where Harry was standing, Ginny by his side. Cho’s eyes narrowed while Hermione simply looked on curiously.

“Well, sorry to be rude and interrupt,” Harry said, and a few people, women who were obviously fawning over Harry, giggled. “But, I have a thing or two to say.” He looked to his left, at Ginny and smiled.

She beamed in return; Cho scowled; Hermione had the urge to.

“Firstly, I’d like to thank all of you who have actually bothered to show,” Harry said. “I thought ‘the Chosen One’ hosting an engagement party would have gotten a bit more publicity in Witch Weekly and the Prophet, but I guess I’m old news. Thank Merlin.”

Again, a few of those annoying hero-worshipping women laughed. They made Hermione sick; they were worse than Ginny, and that was saying something.

“Secondly, I have to talk about my lovely and beautiful fiancé Ginny Weasley for a moment,” Harry said, smiling handsomely; Ginny beamed once more.

“Hermione,” Cho whispered, nudging her. “You have to do it. You have to! Ginny’s going to get away with it all. We can’t let that happen. We’re partners in crime.”

Hermione more than agreed. She couldn’t explain why she did it, what made her do it; why she couldn’t simply go back to the bathroom, splash some more water onto her face, and cool off, logically reminding herself she was behaving pathetically. It was hard to fight her urge for honesty; too much fire whiskey did that to a person, specifically person’s named Hermione Granger.

She stepped forward and raised her hand in the air.

At first Harry was very obviously confused by this and tried to ignore her, but she wasn’t going to be ignored. She put her other arm in the air and began waving both of them in the air, clearly calling for attention. Soon all of the party guests had turned or at least looked over their shoulder at her, in curiosity. Finally, Harry exchanged a look with Ginny and then looked over into the crowd of guests where Hermione stood.

“Uhh…yes, Hermione?” he said.

She smiled modestly at anyone who was looking at her, and took the opportunity to move up to the front of the room, where Harry and Ginny were standing. The look on Ginny’s face was priceless; her eyes were wide, her mouth open in quite an unattractive way, and the vain on her right temple was bulging; that was an infamous sign of her very infamous temper.

“Hello,” Hermione said to the party guests. She waved, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. “I’m Hermione Granger, one of Harry’s closest friends. Well, I guess you can say I’m…his best friend? Along with Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley’s brother. We’re both his best friends.”

“Erm, Hermione,” Harry said as quietly as possible, so only she could hear, “is there a point to this?”

“Oh, yes, Harry,” Hermione replied loudly for the entire room to hear. “There is a point to this.” She looked back at the audience of party guests. “I’m also Ginny Weasley’s best girl friend. We’re quite the opposites, but we’re still very good friends. And this has been an amazing party thus far.”

“Hermione,” Harry said.

“Buuut….I have something to say,” Hermione said, ignoring Harry. She scanned the audience for Cho, but couldn’t find her. She frowned, pausing in her speech, as she searched for her “partner in crime”. Cho was nowhere to be found. Again. Hermione’s insides churned. “A-And what I have to say is about Ginny Weasley, Harry’s…I guess, fiancé?”

“Hermione,” Ginny said, stepping forward. She was clearly using all of her restraint to keep her voice polite and even. “Maybe you should let Harry finish what he was going to say. It is his party after all! He’s throwing it for me.”

“Oh, no…I think this is fairly important, Ginny,” Hermione disagreed, smiling at Ginny. “See, I saw something I shouldn’t have seen.”

“Hermione!” Ginny growled, not a hint of courteousness left in her voice. She sounded absolutely infuriated. “Can you shut up?”

“Not until I say this!” Hermione insisted. She looked from a very angry Ginny to a confused Harry. “I’ve seen something I shouldn’t have seen,” she repeated.

As she prepared herself to voice just what she’d seen, what had caused her to think of Ginny as a no good wench in the first place, she took one last look into the crowd of guests. Everyone seemed incredibly attentive about what she had to say; they were hungry for the juicy piece of information she was about to reveal. But then her eyes fell on Neville, who was looking uncomfortable and apprehensive, and then Ron, who was looking just as confused as Ginny. And then finally Hermione looked back to Harry and then to Ginny.

Harry, who had thrown this party thinking it would be one of the happiest nights of his life, who thought he was beginning a new chapter in his life after this night, who was her best friend and expected her to be happy for his happiness. And Ginny, who was finally getting what she’d dreamt of for so many years, who was supposed to have a wedding in the near future, who was also her friend, and didn’t deserve to have anyone take away her dream. Who was she, Hermione Granger, to take that away from either of them?

She sighed, feeling completely ashamed of herself.

“I saw…a week ago…that Ginny Weasley cannot in fact do laundry,” she said at last, watching the people exchange baffled looks. “Yes, that’s right! Ginny Weasley cannot do laundry. Ha…but who can? It’s very hard, actually. I’m sure she’ll learn.” She turned to look at a very shocked and confused Harry and Ginny, and said, “I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have.”

With that, she left. It was for good. She couldn’t bear to show her face again.

                                                    

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