[on hold] 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐓&𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍 → 𝑓. 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑦

x . little rumour doesn't hurt

chapter ten
LITTLE RUMOUR DOESN'T HURT

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

   THE UPCOMING weeks, unfortunately the interest of all the wrong people into Ruby Rose Perks grew to an uncomfortable amount for the Hufflepuff head girl. It wasn't only that Professor Umbridge had grown very suspicious about her special quills failing on Ruby again and a again, but that sudden attention Ruby suffered from now on whenever the chubby Defense Against the Dark Arts professor could have an eye on her didn't remain unnoticed as well.

   She felt like a deer in the headlights of a truck, while a beasty hyena was glued to her heels, getting ready for the final strike, and there was no way Ruby could hide.

   Jasmine Parkinson hadn't forgotten about what had happened last year for a single second, and you could say about the Slytherin princess whatever you like, but though being vile and evil, a cunning brilliance running with the house of the snakes was also an attribute that the dark haired girl called her own.

   As rumours about Ruby's new found ability to escape Umbridge's detention on a very obscure way grew louder, Jasmine furrowed her eyebrows as she always did when the Hufflepuff entered the room, only that now Ruby felt that it wasn't just hatred that was boiling behind her pale forehead.

   If Jasmine only added the strangely shaped pieces of that incident in the Entrance Hall before the Yule Ball and Ruby's skin refusing to part under the sharp pressure of Umbridge's cursed quills, she wouldn't be far from finding out the truth about Ruby's special effect. Soon Ruby felt that McGonagall's words should have been spoken before the Hufflepuff's mouth had escaped words that she couldn't take back no more.

   For now it was to late, and all Ruby could do was watch the scene and beg destiny for mercy.

   "Don't break your head about it", George said on a cold October afternoon, his words turning to small white clouds in that frosty air that not even a bright shining autumn sun could warm.

   "Well, maybe her concern isn't as quixotic as we want it to be", Fred replied, his hair as red as the fallen leaves of an old acorn tree covering the courtyard's ground. "Jasmine is still quite obsessed with you." He looked down at Ruby, and indeed, his eyes were filled with said concern that George had tried to brush from her shoulders. "She even had the nerve to ask me, if I knew anything about it."

   "She asked you?", Leilani echoed, one eyebrow towering the frame of sunglasses, that she always used to wear when she had had more Firewhiskey than hours of sleep the night before. "Why would she even still talk to you?"

   "Well, I'm charming, ain't I?", Fred snorted a laughter, but his cheeks, that had already gained a faint blush of red from the cold, were now enflaming crimson. "I was never on bad terms with her, you know?", he then quickly spoke, his words tumbling from fast moving lips. "Don't get me wrong, I know she's a vile creature -"

   "Death Eater daughter", added Leilani.

   "And wasn't she utterly mad with you after you chose Ruby?", asked George, his eyebrow mirroring Leilani's.

   Ruby remained silent, her face plain, as she watched Fred answering.

   "Funny thing, actually, but she was at first, but then she was okay with it." The older Weasley twin shrugged. "See, she is probably trying to use me to get at Ruby, I am well aware of that. But I thought - well, I thought that having her thinking we're some kind of friends would be helpful someday."

   "What do you think you are, some kind of double agent?" George slapped the back of his brother's head. "Blimey! I knew I was the one with the brains, but you could at least have told me about all of this, so I could have told you that this is the most stupid -"

    "But maybe it isn't", Ruby suddenly cut him of in a small, but firm voice. "I - and I can't believe I'm telling this, but I really think that Fred's plan isn't that bad at all ... No wait, let me speak", she quickly said, when she saw Leilani's lips parting. "I am sure that Jasmine is on just the right way to get my secret cracked. But what if Fred is going to feed her with some wrong information? Like I am affected by Umbridge's detention."

    "If you land yourself in detention again ..."

   Ruby shook her head to, again, cut George off. "Of course not", she said. "But spreading a little rumour, what about that?"

   "Little rumour never harmed anybody", said Fred, shrugging.

   "Except for poor ol' Kenny Towler, who's still said to have three balls", added George.

   "Each side", Fred closed with a snort, "But that's just proof that rumours are powerful weapons, aren't they?"

   Leilani looked from Ruby to Fred, then back to Ruby, blinking, as she said, looking startled, "But you are aware that he once had his tongue down her throat? You still remember that Jasmine had chosen him to get her revenge on you?"

   Slowly, Ruby nodded. "I do", she replied, biting down onto her bottom, as her eyes wandered to Fred. "But I also remember that in the end, he chose me." Watching his eyes filling with this well known warmness, she added, "And I trust him."

   Fred's cheeks all of a sudden turned into a even deeper shade of pink, as he sheepishly rubbed his neck.

   "Well, I might forgot to tell you a little detail of this story", he then spoke, nervously chuckling. "Funny thing, though. See, as we haven't spoken that much those past weeks, I think that maybe ... maybe Jasmine came to this ridiculous conclusion that - that you and I are ... are no longer ... a thing, you know?"

   Now Ruby felt her own cheeks being set on fire, the heat must have the air around her jittering.

   "And you haven't told her that we still are a thing?" With a clenched jar, she watched him run his fingers through his flaming red hair.

   "Not - not cut and dried ..."

   The seconds passed and Ruby's mind went from whirling with thoughts to utterly plain and empty.

   "Well", she finally said, "that's perfect, isn't it. Just play along and see what you find out."

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

you are so down to earth
& I'm up in the stars ...