37
Alyssa
I was on the way to the Hospital Wing, having finally overcome my fear of confronting Taylor. As I got closer, I worried. Would she give me the cold shoulder?
I saw Seamus heading my way.
"If you're going down to the Hospital Wing, don't bother." He said, walking past me.
"Why?" I stopped, and turned to face him.
"Sounds like Taylor's killing someone, what with all the swearing she's doing." His eyes grew big with horror at the thought.
"hmm…Hey, is that Athena?" I asked, as he started to walk away.
"Yeah, I was bringing her down to see Taylor."
"Can I have her?"
"Why? You're not going to throw her at a wall like you did Taylor, are you?" He narrowed his eyes.
"Oh, no. I mean, um… Look, I'm going to go apologize to her right now, and I think her cat might be a peace offering and a shield. She won't kill me if I have her cat." I explained.
He took a second to think, and tossed the cat. TOSSED.
"See ya!" He bolted it down the hall, leaving me to catch the cat. She meowed indignantly at Seamus' retreating figure.
"Cat Abuser!" I yelled after him, before scoffing and turning to continue to the Hospital, holding the cat closely.
"Son of a B*tch!" I heard Taylor's voice yell loudly inside the doors, and my hand gripped the handle.
"Watch your language!" Madame Pomfrey, I assumed yelled. A thud, and an 'OW!' came from Taylor.
"Here goes." I muttered to Athena, who looked up at me. I opened the door, to see Liam in a bed at the far wall, as well as two other students.
One of them pointed to a backroom with wide eyes.
"Thanks," I mouthed, and headed in that direction.
I knocked on the door with one hand, holding Athena tightly so that she wouldn't fall.
"Who is it?" A cheerful and peppy voice answered.
"Um…Alyssa Anaya?"
"Oh f*ck." Taylor muttered, and I heard another thud.
"You know, it'd be nice if you stopped hitting me with your dam-dang clipboard." Taylor repaired quickly.
"Much better." I heard footsteps, and the door was opened. I saw Madame Pomfrey looking down at me expectantly.
"Yes…?"
"I just came by to visit Taylor. I brought her cat." I motioned down to my arms, where Athena meowed loudly, as if to say hello.
"Is that my cat?" Taylor asked from inside the room. Harry appeared behind Madame Pomfrey, and glared at me.
"Oh, I'm sorry, but you can't come inside at the moment. You might infect her."
"How? By breathing?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, she's in the middle of surgery."
"WHAT?" I tried to get past her, but she was strong.
"I'm sorry, but you can't come in." With that, she turned and tried to close the door. Harry squeezed through just as it shut tightly.
"We-"
"Need to talk, I know…" I muttered, following him out of the Hospital Wing, my head hung low.
When we stopped, I finally looked up. Harry was looking at me expectantly, arms crossed and glaring.
"Would you cut that out? Giving me glares isn't going to get me to talk to you any faster." I snapped.
"So? You have quite the bit of explaining to do."
"Cut the crap, and I will." I returned the heavy glare, leaning against the wall and crossing my arms tightly(I had left the cat safely locked inside the Hospital Wing).
"Fine." Harry gave first, sighing. The glare disappeared, but his face was empty.
"What do you want to know? AS far as I know, there's not much to explain."
"I want to know why it is your so sensitive about this whole 'Malfoy' subject." He said plainly and straight to the point.
"Um…Can we go to the next question?" I joked, but he didn't give.
"Oh come on, you KNOW there's nothing there. I just found it stupid that you wanted to know that crap. I mean-"
"Don't lie. You're horrible at it." He stepped closer, looking menacing.
Stupid Boy Who Lived(Don't tell Taylor I said that!).
"I'm not lying this time!" I scrambled, not really wanting to tell him.
"Suuure." He rolled his eyes.
"Look, if I told you what it really was, you would freak out on me and most likely disown me." I turned to move away, but he caught my shoulder, and turned me back.
"I don't think we're done here. If I promise not to do anything, like hit someone or laugh, or whatever you're afraid of, will you tell me?"
"…" I scuffed the floor, looking for a distraction.
"Alyssa. I wouldn't do that to you. You're one of my best friends. I don't care that you elbowed me so hard that you caused internal bruising, or-or anything else. Just… you worried me, you worried everyone. What's going on?" He looked sympathetic.
"You promise?" I muttered, ashamed.
"I middle-finger promise." He held out his middle finger.
I took it, shaking on it.
"Look…There's a slight possibility that…I might…have feelingsforMalfoy." I said quickly, looking to the side.
He didn't say anything, just sighed.
"Why would you care about what I thought? Sure, I hate his guts and I want to see him get run over by a car and die slowly-"
"Not helping."
"The point is, I don't care. You made such a big deal out of what's nothing." He moved, so that I was looking at him.
"Is that why you were protective over those flowers he gave you?" He said quietly.
I nodded, but blinked back a few tears because of stupid hormones.
"But it didn't mean anything to him. He was just apologizing. I thought…I thought that he…" I sighed, and sunk down to sit on the floor, leaning my head into my knees.
"That he felt the same way." Harry finished, sitting beside me.
"Yeah."
"I know this isn't the greatest moment for it, but all in all, he IS a douche. He treats girls like rubbish, because he's a prick. Would you want to be treated like all the other girls he's been through?" He advised.
"No. But, I figured that he would change. That he would be different, he would change for me." I explained, looking up at him.
"You want to know my opinion? I would bet you everything I own that every girl has thought that. They thought that it was different, that Malfoy would like them because of them. Not for their looks, or…slutty personalities. But he hasn't. And he never will." Harry was silent, and he stood up.
"Come on. I believe you have a best friend to go talk to." He offered me a hand, smiling down at me.
"Does this mean you forgive me?" I asked hopefully, and he chuckled.
"Yes, you're forgiven for turning into a bratty, self-centered Slytherin whore."