Hermione lay awake in the silence of her dormitory. Every so often she could hear one of her dorm mates roll over in their sleep, or an especially deep breath or sniffle, but other than that she was alone with her thoughts, and loud they were.
Madam Pomfrey had discharged her with the simple prescription of taking it easy lest the shock settle in. That would be when she was in most danger. Hermione hardly thought she would go into shock- she had had her embarrassing, moment of freaking out when Harrison first killed the troll. She did not look at herself favorably in that moment- already she was basking in the mortification. And he had so coolly brushed her off, though she had not missed the taunting amusement in his eyes.
It was all making her rethink however.
She had, of course, heard what had happened in the Library some weeks ago- the same week Lily Potter died in fact, and though it was only rumors she had heard, it had begun the questioning of just what Saeviour, and everyone else in Gryffindor had been telling her. She was smart, she had always prided herself on that, so she knew when she heard the rumors that she had made a fatal mistake. She had taken the word of a single body, and not looked at it from both sides of the argument. Of the feud.
She had never enjoyed Ronald's presence. He was loud and brash and rude, not to mention jealous of just about everything he could not have and could not be. He covered it up by pretending not to care about his grades, about school in general, nor the legacy is brothers were leaving behind them. Though she did not approve of Fred and George's past time, she could not deny they were intelligent, just as Percy was and just as she had heard Charlie and Bill were. She could admit that his inferiority-complex was well-founded but she had stopped caring the second he had lashed out at her so violently.
For two months she had been a friend to him, helped him with his homework. Practically wrote it for him, but that did not stop the hurtful words spewing from his mouth. Saeviour had not said anything, though he had not said much since his mother died, except when he was cursing and cat-calling his brother and blaming him for her death. She understood why Saeviour didn't speak out- he didn't want to lose Ron just as he lost his mother- but that didn't stop it from hurting any more than Ron's torment. So she had done what she had always done with the bullies back in primary school. She had run.
When the troll came in, she had frozen. Her endless study and practice of magic had not helped her when she needed it most and she had stood there gaping as her life flashed before her eyes. She had screamed and run though she had not run to the exit like she should've. Nor had she tried to defend herself. She had been pathetic. She had been so helplessly weak.
That was when Harrison had come in. He had strolled in, looking so calm and collected- pausing before he took out his wand. He had coughed, grabbing the troll's attention, side-stepped its efforts and swiftly killed it with a fourth-year spell.
And Hermione had freaked.
Lying there in the dark, she blushed still, thinking about it. How humiliating. She was the best in her year but at the slightest hint of danger and she was nothing but a child playing at make belief.
Harrison had passed off his presence as curiosity for her shriek. She believed this. But what she wondered on was why he had stayed and chosen to help. The troll hadn't noticed his presence. He could've turned and walked away. Allowed her to be killed. No-one would've known any different. But he hadn't. He had saved her.
Now this was where she was at a conundrum.
Harrison Peverell-Slytherin, the so-called mass murderer, recently dropped of all charges though nobody wholly believed it, the big-bad Slytherin, the Dark Wizard, the Death Eater, had saved her. And mudblood. Someone he despised. Could barely stand to be around.
And so, it was this she wondered.
Maybe Harrison wasn't so evil as everyone made him out to be.
Just maybe, he wasn't so bad after all.
....
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