Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, only the Archard family belongs to me. The French words/phrases will be italicized, as well as the spells. Please review!

Chapter 10: All Hallows' Eve

Esme POV

On All Hallows' Eve, I awoke to the wonderful smell of baking pumpkin in the air. It managed to put every one of us in a good mood, even first thing in the morning. Parkinson and I didn't even argue or exchange insults this morning! I was really looking forward to this evening, as not only was there a feast planned for dinner, but before dinner I would be meeting my siblings in the courtyard for a couple hours or so. I'd seen them passing through the corridors sometimes, but it felt like it had been forever since we were all together just to talk.

Blaire had planned it and threatened the boys to show up on time (she didn't even bother threatening me, I was always punctual if I could help it). I had a smile on my face all morning just thinking about the wonderful day ahead of me, and I refused to let anything spoil my mood – not even Miss Know-It-All.

Charms class came around and everyone was buzzing about Professor Flitwick's announcement that we were ready to practice the Levitation Charm. The professor put us into pairs himself, probably in an attempt to separate some of the more talkative friends so we would all focus better. I was thankfully paired with Blaise, though Theo was paired with Draco (much to Parkinson's irritation) and Daphne was paired with Tracey Davis. I was slightly upset I wasn't paired with Daphne, but she seemed to be doing alright with Davis; I didn't know her that well, but at the least the girl wasn't a complete imbécile.

I looked across the room and failed to recognize the Gryffindor Neville was paired with, and to my amusement, Weasley was paired with Granger of all people. Neither seemed pleased with this arrangement, but I honestly couldn't tell who was angrier about it. I ducked my head to hide my grin at this, hoping neither would think I was laughing at them as they struggled.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick from his usual perch on top of his pile of books. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important too. Never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

I didn't believe I would ever get over the irony of a wizard with such a name summoning a similar sounding animal on accident.

Blaise turned to me with a charming smile and said, "Ladies first, mon ange."

I scoffed lightly while preparing my wand, holding it gracefully above the feather in front of us. "I am not your angel, horrible dragueur."

I cleared my mind and then enunciated clearly, "Wingardium Leviosa," while flicking my wand in the proper movements. Our feather rose off the desk and hovered just above our heads, floating gently as I pointed my wand at it. I let it hover for a moment before letting it slowly drift back down to where it started.

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick while clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Archard's done it! Ten points to Slytherin!" I ignored the various sharp looks people were sending me and smiled politely at Professor Flitwick, though I would confess I had to force myself not to look smug. I was proud, yes, but I never wanted to seem arrogant (even if I was acknowledged for finally doing something first).

Not even a few seconds later everyone was distracted when a Gryffindor boy set his and Potter's feather on fire. I was amazed he managed to accomplish this, considering the only fire charm I was aware of was Incendio, but that incantation was nowhere close to Wingardium Leviosa. I did have to admire him at least for a moment; it took skill to light something on fire when you had no idea how to do it.

The next person to perform the spell successfully was Granger, though she was obviously pouting she was not first and missed out on earning house points. It's her own fault really, she wasted time doing nothing but criticizing Weasley's wandwork. Her expression starkly contrasted with Weasley, who was glaring red faced at his desk and mumbling something I couldn't hear. He was in obvious mad temper through the rest of the class.

As Blaise attempted the spell from beside me, I glanced over at Neville, who seemed to be struggling to perform the charm. I wished things weren't so complicated that I could've been his partner. I would then be able to offer to help correct his poor wandwork instead of just watching it from across the room.

Class was finally over with most everyone performing the charm correctly eventually. I waited for Daphne in the doorway and then we pushed our way into the crowded corridor. We were discussing when we would be able to work on our newest Charms assignment when we caught the end of a conversation from the group in front of us. They were far enough ahead of us that we couldn't really see who was talking, but their voice was loud enough to carry over the crowd.

"So? She must've noticed she's got no friends."

I glanced at Daphne, but she was as confused as I was. She lightly shrugged her shoulders and I decided it wasn't important, whatever it was. It wasn't a Slytherin that was talking, and it wasn't a Slytherin they were talking about, all of us had friends; therefore, it was a girl from another House and not our problem then.

The corridor thinned out as we got closer to our next classroom, and I could see Parkinson was up ahead loudly complaining about how annoying Granger was. She was probably just bitter she was never able to perform the charm properly by the end of class. I was grateful she had chosen to make fun of Granger instead of me, even though I had achieved the charm first; I didn't want her attempting to ruin my day.

Draco caught up to Daphne and me as we turned into the next corridor, his ever-present shadows behind him as usual. "Well done earning us House points, Esme. It was nice to see Granger shown her place beneath us."

"Merci, Draco. Honestly though, Granger really needs to get a clue." Draco's talk of Granger's 'place' didn't sit well with me, but I let it go with a shake of my head. It was not like she was a friend of mine, so why should I stand up for her, especially against my own friends?

Draco chuckled, and the others joined in, though I didn't think it was all that funny of a comment. I was just hoping Granger would figure out how to get along with at least her own House soon, not that she was hopeless at everything.

Daphne interjected, moving things forward, "I agree with Esme, that girl might make friends with her Housemates if she wasn't so insufferable. Just because she memorizes the textbooks doesn't mean she is smart."

This time I joined the others in their laughter. As we arrived at our next class, it occurred to me: the girl that group was talking about earlier who had no friends could very well be Granger. I internally snorted. That made it even less of my problem. I couldn't care less about that annoying girl.

As the day continued though, Granger failed to show up for class. I believed she had probably never done that before in her life. Something told me she was the kind of person to go to class even when she was sick or something, and she had seemed perfectly healthy this morning.

I overheard some of the Gryffindor first-year girls discussing that they had no idea where Granger was. I didn't want to, but I couldn't help but feel concerned. But I didn't have the time to worry about someone I didn't even care about. As soon as my last class was over, I quickly dropped off my school bag before hurrying up to the courtyard to meet my siblings.

Blaire and Alaric were already there when I arrived. All thoughts of Granger fled my mind when Blaire engulfed me into a hug, surrounding me with the familiar smell of her perfume. I knew we were at the same school, but I never saw them or got the chance to speak with them properly with us being in different Houses and years. I felt like I'd been terrible at reaching out to them too. I had at least been great at writing to Fain and Gérard every week, and they in turn had kept their promise to write back just as frequently.

Alaric and I quickly hugged before I settled down in front of Blaire. She wasted no time and began to intricately braid my hair, just as I did with Maude at home. It was so relaxing, I leaned back on my hands, soaking in the warm sun. The twins arrived not long after me, chatting with each other as they came. They each gave me a kiss on the forehead before settling near us to complete our little circle.

We all naturally switched over to French, not because we were trying to keep our conversations secret (there weren't many students around anyways), rather I think we all just missed speaking it. It was hard sometimes to remember to speak English all the time. Each of us shared what we'd been up to and especially the friends we had made in our different Houses, trying to be patient but talking over each other sometimes anyways.

"We met our cousin Ernest," said Dustin suddenly.

Carlisle added, "Who goes by Ernie of all things."

"What was he like?" I asked.

"He was friendly enough, I suppose."

"Though overall he's quite boring," commented Dustin.

I giggled at the blunt way he said it, but Blaire didn't appreciate it, judging by the little tug on my hair. "It isn't polite to laugh at others, Little Butterfly." I stopped giggling (out loud at least) and shifted to pay attention again. "And you two," Blaire scolded, "be nice, he is family after all. Mother wants us to get along with Ernie." Her scolding was slightly ruined by the lack of anger in her voice.

"Fine," they said together, though Carlisle looked sorrier than Dustin did.

"So Carlisle made a spectacular dive the other day," said Dustin with an impish smile on his face.

"Really, do you have to tell them about that? Enough people know about it as is," our brother groaned, knowing full well once Dustin got started one story, nothing was going to stop him from telling it.

Dustin continued, pretending he never heard Carlisle, "We were in Divination class when Carlisle tripped and accidentally flung his pot of tea all over Professor Trelawney. It was hilarious!"

The three of us laughed while Blaire asked in concern, "Oh! Was she alright?"

Carlisle answered, looking embarrassed still and running a hand over his face and through his hair. "She was alright, just surprised mostly and well, upset she had tea dropped on her head."

"Don't worry too much about it. We both smoothed things over with the professor. She didn't give him detention or take points for that matter," said Dustin.

"I'm sure you flirting with her had more to do with it, Casanova," teased Alaric, crossing his legs under him on the grass and putting his elbows on his knees.

"Who said anything about flirting?" Dustin asked mockingly, putting his hand over his heart dramatically.

"Don't you even pretend. You could charm a dragon to you give you its egg," I said while rolling my eyes, careful to hold my head still as Blaire was still braiding my long hair.

"We've made friends with a boy in our year, Cedric Diggory," Carlisle continued, suddenly bursting as though he had just remembered what he was going to say.

"He helped us get onto the Quidditch team, he's the Seeker. I'm a Chaser and Carlisle is a Beater."

"Congratulations, little brothers. I look forward to seeing you both on the pitch," said Alaric with a wolfish smirk on his face.

"You're on the Gryffindor team? I thought they already had all their spots filled?" asked Dustin in confusion.

It was Blaire that answered, "There was an accident during practice and Angelina Johnson, one of the Chasers, was injured. Madam Pomfrey forbid her from Quidditch for the rest of the year and is making the poor girl heal the Muggle way. Apparently Angelina injures herself quite often during practice and games, and the Madame is tired of patching her up- "

"-so now I'm the newest Chaser," Alaric continued proudly.

"Well, Gryffindor is gonna need all the help they can get against Hufflepuff this year," bragged Dustin, puffing out his chest slightly as if to show off his yellow and black necktie.

"Oh, it's on little brothers," said Alaric with a confident smile on his face. He thrust his hand out. "May the best team win."

Carlisle and Dustin both grabbed Alaric's hand at the same time with confident smirks of their own. "We intend to," promised Carlisle.

Blaire finished braiding my hair and moved so she was sitting next to me. I saw her shake her head at our brothers' antics. I shook my own head with a wry smile on my face. When I didn't feel my hair move, I figured Blaire did some sort of braided bun. I loved my hair, but sometimes it was nice to have it out of the way for a while.

Blaire turned to face me and asked in a louder tone of voice (to catch the boys' attention, I was sure), "So, Little Butterfly, how are things with your crush?"

The boys stopped their debate about which team was better and stared at Blaire and me with a sort of focused interest only protective older brothers could achieve. I felt my cheeks burn in embarrassment and quickly fired back, "How are things between you and George?"

Now it was Blaire's turn to blush in embarrassment as the boys shifted their focus to her, going back and forth between the pair of us.

"What did she mean by that, Bee?" Alaric asked with an almost accusatory tone, crossing his arms with his eyes slightly squinted.

Blaire stuttered in response while waving her arms as though she could pull an answer out of the air around her, "N...nothing. Nothing at all, we are just friends."

Alaric stared at Blaire hard. "Are you sure?"

She must have gathered her bearings because her voice was steady as she replied, "Ric, George and I are just friends."

Taking pity on her (and rejecting the urge to say "sureee"), I interjected with my large puppy eyes for added effect, "I was just teasing her, big brother. I'm sorry for upsetting you."

Almost instantly, Alaric lost his stare and began to reassure me that no harm was done. Thankfully, Carlisle quickly moved the conversation forward. "How are you doing, Esme? Have you made many friends?"

"I've been really well. I've made friends with my housemates Daphne Greengrass, Theo Nott, and Blaise Zabini." My siblings smiled and nodded, vaguely recognizing the names. "I can easily call Daphne my best friend. I enjoy spending time with them and we have fun together. The only downside is this annoying girl who just won't shut up."

The boys laughed at my complaining while Blaire got a disapproving frown on her face, but she didn't admonish me as she did before. I opened my mouth to share my own funny story when the bell tolled, alerting us the All Hollows' Eve Feast was to begin in thirty minutes.

The time really flew by. As we all got to our feet to make our way to the Great Hall, I looked toward the sun as it was setting, sighing in contentment with my family around me. As we entered the Hall, we each gazed in wonder and excitement at the decorations. A thousand or so live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling, while more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins on the table stutter. I bid my siblings goodbye and hurried over to the Slytherin table, taking my usual seat beside Daphne. We talked for a few minutes as the rest of the tables quickly filled, students getting to their places just in time.

Right as the bell began to toll, the feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates as it had not so long ago (but what felt like forever ago) at the start-of-term banquet. I was reaching for the spoon to scoop myself a serving of mashed potatoes when my robe sleeve dipped into the gravy bowl. I scowled at my sleeve as if blaming it for getting in the way.

I turned to my friends. "Excusez-moi," I excused myself to go to the lavatory to clean up. "I'll be back in a moment."

"Would you like some help?" asked Daphne.

"Merci beaucoup, mon amie. I will be fine."

I gracefully got up from the table and left the Great Hall, sliding quickly out the door and down the corridor. As soon as I entered the girls' washroom, I heard sniffing. Since this wasn't the second-floor washroom, it couldn't be Moaning Myrtle (whom I had been very startled to meet just last week), so it had to be a student. Thinking I might know who it was, I tentatively called out, "Granger?"

The sniffling stopped suddenly, proving my guess was correct. I heard a muffled 'go away' in reply, followed by the rustling of robes as she shifted around. I sighed in exasperation while turning to leave. I would just find somewhere else to clean the gravy off my sleeve I supposed, though now it would take me even longer to get back to the feast. However, I hadn't even taken a single step when the sniffling started back up. I couldn't make myself leave, feeling similar instincts to when I knew my younger siblings were upset. I groaned to myself while rubbing the sides of my eyes, careful not to spread the gravy further than it already had. I turned around and marched to the only closed stall, my mind made up.

"Look, Granger. I don't like you. You're an annoying and bossy Know-It-All, who can't mind her own business. Which is why I'm guessing no one else in your own House likes you as well, despite the House Points you occasionally are able to earn in class."

The sniffling then became crying. Through the stall door I was able to hear her stutter out between breaths, "I just…wanted…to earn…Points…so then…they…would…like me. I don't…understand…why…they…hate me."

Now I understood what was going through her head and I shook my head at her predicament. "You're an Imbécile."

"No! I study…so hard- "

"Not that kind of idiot," I interrupted, then sighed and explained more gently, "You're an Imbécile because you stupidly went too far and overdid it. It's one thing to show you can do things and its another to be a show-off. You are not and will not always be right." I heard her take a shaky breath, so I knew she was actually listening to what I was saying. "Don't interrupt. You need to back off a bit. For example, if someone is doing something wrong with school work, offer your help instead of just telling them what they are doing wrong. If they don't accept your help, leave them be. If they accept it, then go ahead. Just because someone needs help doesn't mean they will always accept it."

I stopped talking and listened carefully, but I couldn't hear anything. I was quickly growing tired of talking to a door, figuring that if I was taking the time to talk to her it should be in person. "Now open that door and let's get you cleaned up, you're missing a wonderful feast that I'd like to get back to, and I'm sure your quite hungry by now as well."

I heard some shuffling before the stall door slowly opened. Granger stepped out and I got a good view of the damage. Her eyes were very red from crying, and despite her rubbing her face (going by her slightly red nose), there was some snot under her nose. I forced her out of the stall and over to the sink, turning on the water. I took out my hanky and ran it under some warm water before turning back to her and gently rubbing it around her eyes and nose. I focused on my task ignoring the wide-eyed look she was giving me.

I finished up and stepped to rinse out my hanky when I heard "Thank you."

I glanced at her over my shoulder before turning back to the sink. "It was literally the least I could do. I still don't like you, Granger, and if you tell anyone about any of this, I will deny it and put a dung bomb in your bag."

I glanced up at her in the mirror and she looked worried but quickly responded, "I promise! I won't- " She screamed loudly, making me jump so hard I banged my hip against the sink.

I turned off the water, as I had finished cleaning off the gravy from my sleeve and turned toward her. "Honestly Granger, was that really necess- " I caught the look of terror on her face and turned to what she was staring at. I felt my blood turn cold. There was a troll standing in the doorway, blocking our only way out.

I grabbed Granger and backed us up toward the opposite wall as it took a few stumbling steps toward us while raising its club. I pushed Granger ahead of me and we scrambled into the nearest stall. I grabbed onto her and took her with me as I dived toward the ground – not a moment later, the top of the stall came crashing down. Broken wood planks rained down on both of us. Granger let out a startled yelp at the slight pain.

I heard someone else yell, "Hermione, move!" In the chaos, I couldn't' figure out who had yelled, and evidently whoever it was didn't know or notice I was there as well.

Neither of us hesitated and started crawling to the other section of stalls further away from the troll. More wood planks rained down on us, but we kept crawling until we reached the far wall and could go no further. Since I was closer, I crawled out first, just in time to see the troll raise its club about to bring it down right where Granger was struggling to get out of the wreckage.

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her to me as hard as I could, rolling us both backwards and out of the path of the club. I grunted when landing on the stone floor with Granger on top of me, but we quickly scrambled up and pushed ourselves into the far corner. I realized that Granger was gripping onto my arm tightly the same moment that I was holding onto hers, knuckles turning white.

I looked up at the troll in fear as it gazed down at us. Suddenly a plank of wood hit it in the head. I turned toward the door and saw Potter and Weasley, looking very small.

The troll also turned its head toward the boys. I could hardly believe my eyes with what happened next. Potter took a running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind, clinging desperately to its back as it began to move. His wand ended up jammed in the troll's nose. The troll started freaking out, howling with pain while twisting and flailing its club around with Potter clinging on for dear life.

Granger whimpered in fright, her grip tightening around my arm. I tensed up and tried to think of something I could do, but I couldn't think of anything that might be even remotely useful; I was too scared.

I then heard the cry, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The club suddenly flew out of the troll's hand and rose up high into the air. It turned slowly over and dropped, with a sickening crack that I would not soon forget, onto the troll's head. The troll swayed on the spot before it fell flat on its face. It must have dropped Potter at some point because he was scrambling up onto his feet, shaking his head as though to get his bearings back.

"Is it…dead?" Granger asked hesitantly.

Potter was the one that answered. "I don't think so, just knocked out."

As Potter took his wand out of the troll's nose, Granger and I crept closer to the boys. His wand was covered in what looked like lumpy grey glue.

"Urgh…troll bogies," said Weasley, leaning away from the now disgusting wand.

I was suddenly filled with the realization that we were all alright and that Ronald Weasley of all people had saved us. I launched myself at Weasley and hugged him tightly, momentarily not caring whether or not he liked me. "C'était incroyable, Ron!"

A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made me let go of Weasley and jump backwards. Weasley's face was bright red, but for once there was no anger in his eyes. A moment later, Professor McGonagall came bursting into the lavatory, closely followed by Professor Snape, with Professor Quirrell scurrying in last. Professor Snape eyes flashed with surprise when he saw me, but that quickly changed to anger, his face darkening.

Professor McGonagall was glaring at all of us, looking quite angry with her lips turning white from her piercing them so hard. As she stood there, Professor Snape moved forward and bent to look over the troll. As he got up, we made eye contact and I could see the anger still swirling in his dark eyes.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall with cold fury in her voice. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitories?"

I refused to break eye contact and look guilty, but her hard stare was intimidating, and I found myself looking down to the floor.

From behind me, a small voice suddenly spoke out. "Please Professor, they were looking for me."

"Miss Granger!" exclaimed Professor McGonagall in surprise.

Granger took a few shuffled steps forward, putting herself between the professors and the rest of us. "I went looking for the troll because I…I thought I could deal with it on my own, you know, because I've read all about them. I led it here, but I didn't know that Esme was here, she must have missed the announcement. If Harry and Ron hadn't found me, I'd probably be dead. It was about to finish me off despite Esme's efforts to protect me when they arrived."

I glanced over at Granger in surprise before looking at the three professors, acting as if this wasn't news to me. Even under their piercing scrutiny, I kept myself from revealing Granger's lie.

"Well.. in that case…" said Professor McGonagall as she stared at the four of us. "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"

Granger hung her head in pretend shame, her still red face making it all the more believable. I struggled to keep the bewildered surprise off my face, looking away from her and finding the boys doing the same. Here was Granger lying to professors to keep others out of trouble – even me who she had no reason to try to help. If I didn't know better, I would think she was Confunded.

"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," continued Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you better get off to Gryffindor Tower. Students are finishing the feast in their Houses."

Granger left without looking at anyone else, ducking through the partly broken doorway. Professor McGonagall turned back to the three of us. "Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first-years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll and live to tell about it. You each win your Houses five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

I moved to leave when Professor Snape spoke up, uncrossing his arms suddenly to gesture to me, "If I may, Miss Archard is injured. I will be escorting her to the hospital wing." Everyone, including myself, looked down to where the professor was looking to see some blood running down my hand. I hadn't even noticed, and out of the corner of my eye I could tell the boys were surprised as well.

"This way, Miss Archard," Professor Snape said, turning sharply out of the room. I scrambled to follow after him. Once we were clear of the lavatory's corridor, he quickly turned to me. "Was Miss Granger telling the truth? Did you risk yourself to protect her?"

Keeping my voice and face steady, I replied, "Yes, professor. She was frozen in fear when the troll became enraged. I couldn't very well leave her there to be killed."

He didn't say anything in response but continued to stare at me, his face not revealing his thoughts. Despite my act, I was still jittery from what had happened. Also, technically I didn't lie – I just didn't specify which of his questions I was saying yes to, and Granger did freeze when the troll became enraged.

The Professor started walking down the corridor once again. I quickly hurried after him. Before too long, we arrived at the Hospital Wing. Professor Snape called out upon not seeing Madame Pomfrey instantly, "Poppy! You are needed, I have an injured student." She quickly emerged from her back office and hurried over to the bed Professor Snape had me sit upon.

"Oh dear me, was this from the troll?" she asked, carefully turning my hand over to look at both sides.

"Miss Archard was caught between the troll and a trio of foolish Gryffindors."

She pursed her lips at him (from what I guess was annoyance) and then turned to me. "Let me see your arm, Archard dear?"

I carefully pulled back my robe sleeve and held up my arm for inspection. Madame Pomfrey took my arm gently with her one hand and waved her wand with the other, muttering too softly for me to hear. The blood on my arm vanished, revealing a small series of cuts on my forearm.

She tutted softly before saying, "Just a few shallow cuts, no need to worry, dear." Turning her gaze to Professor Snape, she said almost accusingly, "Honestly Severus, with the noise you were making I thought her arm was broken or she was bleeding to death."

He didn't respond to her comment, just continued to stare at her dispassionately. Shaking her head, Madame Pomfrey briskly walked over to the cupboard and took out a vial with a dropper in the top. I think she even muttered something about mother hens, but I had no idea what chickens had to do with anything.

She returned and gently took my injured arm again. She took the dropper out and squeezed the top so the liquid was sucked up into it. Pausing, she told me, "This will sting a bit." I nodded my head in acknowledgment, but she was already looking back at my arm and bringing the dropper over to the nearest cut.

I prepared myself for the sting and only flinched the first time she dropped some of the liquid onto my arm. The liquid caused my skin to knit itself together almost instantly, and I couldn't help but watch in fascination. Madame Pomfrey repeated the process for my other cuts, and soon my arm was back to normal with no signs of any injury.

I thanked her for her care before Professor Snape ushered me out of the wing. He escorted me to the Slytherin common room, for which I was thankful, as I had not eaten dinner and was starting to feel quite famished at this point.

We were almost to the doorway when Professor Snape said to me, "Don't let this happen again."

"Don't worry Professor, I'll leave the rash heroics to the Gryffindors." He smirked back while releasing a quick breath of amusement.

We soon arrived at the entrance and he whispered the password, then directed me through the passage ahead of him. Inside the common room I saw Farley attempting to placate my worried looking friends. Many others were eating at the various tables set up in the common room, my stomach grumbling slightly at the sight.

All conversation ceased when everyone noticed Professor Snape, and I tried to make myself as small as possible beside him. I was suddenly aware that my face most likely had dirt on it, and my hair was not as nice as it had been just a few hours previously (though Blaire was nothing if not good – the braided bun was still firmly in place). "The troll has been handled. Classes will resume as normal in the morning; all students are still confined to the common rooms for the remainder of the night. As you were." With his announcement over, the Professor turned and stalked out of the common room.

Various people looked at me briefly before the conversations and eating resumed. I moved over to my friends, only to collide with Daphne as she moved to give me a hug. I was startled at the contact but squeezed her back lightly before letting go. I hadn't realized that they would be this worried about me. "I am alright, I promise."

Daphne pulled me over to the table where our friends were already sitting with several plates of untouched food. I settled down into the available seat the saved for me and lightly dug into the dishes. I was the first to break the silence. "What happened after I left?"

Draco was the one to respond. "You were gone for only a few minutes or so when the blundering fool Quirrell came sprinting into the Hall, looking a right mess and reeking of fear. Everyone stopped talking and stared at him as he yelled brokenly about a troll being in the dungeons before fainting flat on his face in the middle of the Hall."

Daphne jumped in. "Everyone began screaming in panic. Some ran for the door to escape while others stood frozen. The Headmaster was able to establish order and had the Prefects escort each House to their dormitory while all the professors went to the dungeons."

Blaise continued, "We were taken this roundabout way through a secret passage behind a tapestry to reach the entrance in an effort to avoid the troll. We all had to remain completely silent and walked in pairs, it was awful."

"We tried to tell the prefects you were missing, but they would only hush us," Theo said, reaching around me for a bread roll. "It wasn't until we got to the common room that they did finally listen, but by then it was too late for them to do anything since no one was allowed to leave at that point; it was considered too dangerous since we didn't know where the troll was or if it was still in the dungeons."

"We were so worried that you unknowingly ran into the troll and were hurt or even killed," stated Daphne, her face showing more worry than I had expected.

"Now what happened on your end?" asked Draco.

I explained what happened – the true version because I refused to lie to my friends, but with Draco there I did leave out a few details.

"I came upon Granger crying in the girls' lavatory, and I was about to leave when the troll entered. I moved away from it but ended up trapped in the stalls. It destroyed most of the lavatory swinging its club at me and a screaming Granger, who is completely unhelpful in a crisis in case you were wondering. Potter and Weasley showed up looking for Granger and distracted it. Weasley managed to cast the Levitation Charm on its club and knocked it out just before the professors arrived. Granger lied about the incident to protect Potter and Weasley from trouble. She lost Gryffindor five points, while Potter and Weasley were each awarded five points for sheer dumb luck in knocking the troll out. I was awarded five points as well for my trouble."

Draco made a disgusted face and sneered, "Of course those three fools were involved."

"Were you hurt?" Daphne asked, scanning me for possible injuries.

I chose to ignore Draco's comment and replied to Daphne, "I was scraped a bit along my arms, but Professor Snape took me to Madame Pomfrey. She took care of me." I pulled up my sleeves and showed them my arm. "See, there aren't even any scars, you can't tell anything ever happened. I am alright, truly."

With nothing else to really talk about, Draco went on about how he thought Weasley and Potter set the troll loose for a chance to earn points by fighting it. The rest of us just let him rant, none of us taking his words to heart since they were so unrealistic; though I did remind Draco that Slytherin earned the same amount of points as Gryffindor in the end from the incident. That seemed to placate him, so we focused on eating the rest of our dinner and dessert.

As the events from earlier finally caught up to me, I felt tired and drained of all energy. I excused myself early and headed to bed. My friends were not surprised by my choice and left me alone, happy that I was safe.

After a quick shower, I laid in bed staring up at my green canopy but focusing more on my thoughts than on what I was seeing. I was amazed at the course of this day, and I wondered if Professor Snape would be informing my parents of what had happened. I sat up as panic seized me at the thought of them wanting to pull me out of school. Merlin, I hoped that wouldn't happen; I didn't want to leave! Though if Professor Snape didn't inform them, Blaire and Alaric would, unless they didn't hear about what occurred…nonsense they would hear about it. Something like this would not fall through the cracks of the school gossipers. I prayed Maman and Papa wouldn't react too badly. Perhaps I ought to say something to them first, so they got the (mostly) true story…

I finally managed to calm my racing heart and drift off to sleep with one final thought – perhaps Ronald and Hermione weren't so terrible after all…

Imbécile=idiot

Mon ange=my angel

Horrible dragueur=you horrible flirt (male)

Merci=thanks

Excusez-moi=excuse me

Merci beaucoup=thank you very much

Mon amie=my friend (female)

C'était incroyable =that was incredible

Extra POV

Hermione POV

Ronald's hateful words had hurt, much more than they should've. It just brought up everything I had felt back at school when the other kids would tease and exclude me for being different. I had thought I had finally found a place where I would fit in, but even here I was an outcast. I tried so hard and I just didn't understand why everything had to be so difficult!

Once I started sniffling, I couldn't stop the tears from following. I quickly ran off to the bathroom, not wanting anyone to see or hear me cry. I locked myself into the stall and let out all that I had been holding back these past two months. I knew I was missing class, but I couldn't stop, and I refused to let others see they were getting to me so much. I even yelled at Parvati to leave me alone when she came to check on me.

I hadn't realized how much time had truly passed until my stomach began growling and I figured it was around dinner time. I had finally gotten my emotions under control, but I still couldn't stop sniffling. I didn't feel better, only lighter and slightly dehydrated. I was thinking about if I wanted to go to the Great Hall or to the dormitory when I heard someone enter the bathroom.

To my surprise it was Archard, and instead of teasing me further or just leaving me there, she tried to help. That was the last thing I had expected her to do – I thought she hated me, but she was nice and kind to me, in her own way. While some of the things she said hurt, they clashed with the gentle way she washed the tears from my face with her own hanky. It got me thinking that maybe she was nice but acted like the other Slytherins just to fit in. Maybe…maybe this was what the beginning of friendship felt like.

Snape POV

I had known as soon as the troll was released that it was a diversion for someone to attempt to sneak passed that Merlin-forsaken three-headed mutt. I checked on the passage and the thing was still guarding the door with no signs of anyone being there, though that blasted animal managed to bite me in the split second I was there. It was only a graze, but I did not have time to treat it, as I heard Minerva calling that she found a trail leading toward the Great Hall. The bumbling fool was with her. When I saw him suspicion entered my mind; as he had been the only one left behind in the Great Hall, if he faked his fainting, then he was in the prime position to go after the stone. I didn't have any proof of my suspicions but made a note to keep a closer eye on Quirrell.

The three of us hurried to follow the trail and came upon a shocking scene. That four first-years managed to take down a fully-grown Mountain Troll was unbelievable and unheard of. But the shock quickly made way to anger and fear when I saw one of my own snakes there. Worse yet, it was Miss Archard, one that I had great hope for. Of course Potter and the youngest Weasley boy were involved; I bet Potter dragged her into this mess. Just like his father, always causing mayhem and destruction.

When I noticed the blood on her hand, the only emotion I could feel was anger. How dare she be the only one injured! They probably left her to be the human shield…I gritted my teeth and bit my tongue to push down the surges of anger and old grief that were coming forth. I focused my mind and the burdensome emotions vanished.

First I would see to Miss Archard, then I would deal with the other consequences of this night.

Ron POV

Harry and I watched Esme leave with concerned looks on our faces, I hadn't even noticed she was injured. Though I hadn't even noticed she was there until she wandered over with Hermione. When I first noticed her, I was shocked to see her and thought I was seeing things until she hugged me.

We soon hurried out of the girls' bathroom ourselves, not saying a word. It was a relief to get away from the horrid stench of troll, though I hardly noticed it near then end. She was all I could smell. Even covered in dust and what not, she still smelled of flowers, especially her hair…

I didn't think Esme would thank me, let alone hug me. Her smile was so different from her usual ones. It lit up her whole face, and I swear to Merlin her bright eyes were sparkling. I couldn't even try to stop the blush that covered my entire face and neck. I only wished I hadn't frozen when she hugged me and had the sense to hug her back.

I hadn't wanted to like her after she was sorted into Slytherin. It felt like a betrayal when she was, like she was playing me for a fool on the train; like she was pretending to be nice to me while actually laughing at how pathetic I was.

But…

Seeing her smile at me like that…that wasn't faked, and it made my stomach feel tight and fluttery like it had back on the train. I knew I liked her, but I shouldn't like her. She was a snake, the enemy. But when she smiled that way, it was hard to remember that.

Thank you to my Beta Readers: TheSparker and evadnekapaneos!