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I... what?
She had failed.
She could not believe her own eyes. Her flawless records of the last two years had been destroyed by a single stroke of quill. And that also, because in her hurry to insert everything she has crammed, she had misspelled a single ingredient.
And her whole paper was crossed out.
Surely, she didn't deserve that?
"Ah my, what is this? The exceptionally annoying know-it-all has received failing grade. Why am I not surprised?"
The whole class was shocked. Even the professor's favourite had forgotten to snicker. Every pair of eyes was invested on her.
Her own eyes were burning; she tried to reason with the Potions Master. "But sir, that is only one mistake…"
"Silence! Not only have you received those dreadful grades, but also arguing with a teacher? Ten point from Gryffindor."
Shell-shocked, she sat, while trying desperately to prevent the tears from falling. She did not want to lose more points from her house, her housemates generally tended to remember about the lost points for a longer stretch than the ones she had gained. Rest of the class went with her sitting motionless, some students looking positively gleeful at her performance, while some other throwing her concerned looks. (A certain red –head definitely belong to the former one, though he tried to hide it.)
She left the class as soon as the bell rang. She started the countdown….
One…
Two…
Three…..
"The mudblood finally gets the results she should have, doesn't she?"
There.
Those snickers.
Those insults.
Those people, never failing to mention that she didn't belong there.
And now, she had handed them the golden opportunity. There was a reason she needed those grades. After all, you could not exactly mock someone who, even with a low blood status, scored way better than you.
Her pace quickened. Was she running away? She didn't care if she was. Right then, the only thing that could soothe her was the shelter that had helped in protecting her stoic façade all along.
Library.
"Is little miss stuck-off fleeing?"
She won't look back. No, she won't.
"Oi look, she is going to the library once again."
She clenched her teeth.
"What, to look for more innovative ways to fail?"
She would NOT retaliate.
More laughter.
She failed. Again.
Whirling around, she said, "As if you would even know what 'innovative' means?"
The laughter died.
The sneers started.
Wand in hand, their leader advanced, "Why you, little…"
"I would stop right there if I were you."
She was fingering her own wand, when she looked up in shock.
"Professor", the platinum blonde snarled, quickly stowing his own wand away.
"And ten points from Slytherin for mocking and trying to attack a fellow classmate."
They were livid, but nevertheless, even they knew not to fight a lost case and left.
"I hope you are alright," the Professor said with a warm smile.
No, she was not. She was trembling. Firstly, she got a horrible grade (which was completely abnormal), than was bullied by those arrogant blood-purists (which was complete normal) and then was saved by the one who terrified her the most. She didn't know which was the worst.
She was definitely not alright. Time to put on the mask.
"I'm fine," she said.
His smile faltered.
"Listen, you should…"
"I'm fine!" This time with more force.
He inclined his head. "If you say so!"
"Hey!" Thank Merlin, her friends were coming.
But she could not call them her friends anymore, could she? After all, they were not talking for nearly three weeks. And none of them cared to reconciliate.
"Sorry, that slimy git had retained us to give detentions. Thank you, Professor, for stopping those bloody idiots. Hey, you alright? Why are you shaking?"
She herself wanted to know that. Why was she shaking so much? It was as if someone was…..
"Hey!"
"Get up!"
She woke up with a start. They stood her two best friends trying to wake up her from a horrendous dream. But they were not talking in reality as well, right?
The ginger awkwardly said, "You should go to bed. You have been studying way too hard and …..", he cleared his throat, "…..and look, I am sorry. I didn't mean to be so rude earlier, but you see…"
She got up.
And pulled them both in a bear hug.
"What the ….."
"Thank you."
OoOoOoOoOoOo
A/N: Hello! I am new to this fandom and I just hope for my sake that the characters were not too OOC. Were they? Please tell me. I would really like to receive some suggestions.
Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed.