The Great Hall glowed softly under floating jack-o'-lanterns, the warmth of the Halloween feast fading into sleepy satisfaction. The last of the desserts vanished as students pushed back from long tables, groaning contentedly. Around the Hufflepuff trio, the laughter still lingered — Iris gently teasing Dora for her pumpkin juice mustache, and Hadrian mimicking a dramatic faint from "too much treacle tart."
But as the cheerful chaos began to filter out into the halls, Hadrian's gaze lingered on the Gryffindor table.
One seat had been empty the entire time.
Hermione Granger.
There had been no troll this year — he had seen to that. But something inside told him that the absence still echoed a deeper pain. A quiet pattern remained beneath the changes. The pain of loneliness. Of being left out.
His eyes softened, and in his mind, the Book opened like always — pages gleaming with unwritten possibilities.
He dipped his mental quill into golden ink and wrote:
October 31st, 1991 – During the Halloween Feast: A Ravenclaw first-year girl noticed that Hermione Granger is missing. She quietly slipped away after dessert to look for her, hoping to make a friend.
The words shimmered and disappeared, woven into the fabric of memory and time.
Hadrian closed the Book, the page warm beneath his fingertips — or would have been, had it existed in the real world.
"Thinking again?" Dora asked, nudging him with a sleepy grin as they entered the Hufflepuff common room.
"Always," he replied, but smiled to show it wasn't anything bad.
They sank into the oversized sofa by the fire, the three of them a tangled pile of laughter and shared comfort.
Somewhere else in the castle, the story shifted.
Second Floor – Girls' Bathroom
The tiles were cold beneath Elara Finch's shoes as she stepped cautiously inside. The soft squeak of her soles echoed — too loud, she thought — as she walked toward the row of stalls.
There it was again. A muffled sob.
"H-Hello?" she called gently. "Hermione?"
A long pause.
Then the faintest whisper: "Go away…"
Elara hesitated, then sat cross-legged on the bathroom floor, outside the stall door.
"I just… wanted to say I noticed you weren't at dinner. I sit two seats behind you in Charms. You're really clever."
A silence.
Then, very softly: "No one likes clever."
"I do," Elara said. "I think it's brilliant."
The stall door creaked open an inch. Hermione's red-rimmed eyes peered out, full of disbelief.
"You… do?"
Elara smiled nervously. "Yeah. You remind me of my older cousin. She reads three books a day and always has ink on her nose. She's amazing. You're like that too."
Hermione opened the door all the way.
For a long moment, the girls just looked at each other.
Then Hermione stepped forward — and hugged her.
It wasn't dramatic. It wasn't showy. Just one lonely girl holding onto a kindness she didn't expect.
Back in the Hufflepuff common room, Hadrian leaned his head back, contentment blooming quietly inside his chest as he watched Iris and Dora argue over whether they could prank Filch using only pumpkin seeds.