Daphne walked into the hospital wing hoping to get some headache potion.
She had just been cornered by Draco Malfoy who, after telling her that he had chosen her to be his girlfriend and that she should feel honored, had tried to kiss her.
Daphne acted on instinct and headbutted the arrogant fool as he leaned his head towards her.
He fell to the ground in shock, giving Daphne the opportunity to pull out her wand and stun him.
She had left him laying unconscious on the cold stone floor near the entrance to the Slytherin dorms.
Someone would eventually find him and wake him up, at which point he was going to be pissed.
Daphne didn’t worry too much about that, she was not afraid of him and if he tried anything else she was going to show him why.
Painfully.
Her thoughts of revenge were interrupted when she noticed that she was not alone in the room.
Harry Potter was sitting in a chair at the foot of a hospital bed towards the other end of the room.
Hermione Granger lay petrified in the bed, the latest addition to Hogwart’s odd collection of petrified students.
Harry had not noticed her coming in and she considered leaving before he did notice her, but he looked like he needed someone to talk to.
“Are you ok, Potter?” she asked as his head jerked up in surprise.
Eventually he shrugged and motioned for her to sit down.
“I’m fine, but Hermione isn’t.
Neither are all of the other kids who have been attacked.
I wish I knew what to do.”
“What is there for you to do?
It’s not your responsibility to be everyone’s hero.” Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
“Maybe not everyone, but I think I owe it to her.”
“Ah, I see.
I didn’t know you two were together.”
“What?
No, it’s nothing like that.
Hermione is my best friend.
I never had any friends before I came to Hogwarts, my stupid whale of a cousin made sure of that, so when I got here and met her and Ron it was just really nice to have people who cared about you.
They are both like the family I never got to have.
Seeing Hermione like this makes me feel bad, like I had let my sister get hurt or something.” Harry said as he looked up at Daphne.
She had reacted to his statement much stronger than he thought she would, to the point where he thought he saw tears welling up in her eyes.
“Are you ok?”
“Fine, I just know exactly what you mean.” she answered while wiping her eyes with her hand.
“They are all going to be ok, Potter.
As soon as the mandrakes have been harvested the potion to wake them up will be ready and you will have your friend back.”
“You don’t like Hermione very much, do you?” Daphne was surprised by his question, but decided to answer it anyway.
“I wouldn’t say that I care enough to even dislike her, but no not really.”
“Why not?” Harry asked, interested in how others saw his friend.
“It has nothing to do with her being a muggleborn, if that is what you are asking.
It’s more in her attitude.
I bet she treats you and Weasley like you would be incapable of studying or passing your classes without her.”
“I wouldn’t be that harsh on her… and she does try to get us to study when we would rather do other things.” he said in defense of his friend.
“I thought so.
It doesn’t really matter anyway, who is going to notice if a Slytherin isn’t the best of friends with a Gryffindor?”
“True.
So what are you doing here?” he asked.
“Headache potion.
Malfoy was being a prick so I headbutted him.
I’m not bruising am I?” she asked as she pulled her hair away from her forehead.
Harry grinned when he saw the red spot where their heads had connected.
He also noticed, not for the first time, how pretty she was.
“It’s a little red, but I think you are going to live.” he pronounced.
“Well thank you, Healer Potter.”
“Actually, I prefer Doctor Potter.”
“You might as well be a muggle.” she laughed with a small shake of her head.
Harry had even broken out of his bad mood long enough to smile back at her.
“I really do hope your friend gets better, Potter.
Try not to worry so much.” As she said this she stood up and began walking out of the room, completely forgetting the headache potion she had come for.