Brooklyn awoke the next day, having a headache after the disaster yesterday, and mostly from the bright sun shining in his face.
Even though he had been getting used to sleeping at night without his transformation magic, he still didn't quite enjoy having the sun hit his face every time.
I should probably move this cot so it wouldn't happen all the time, he thought dryly, as he sat up and stretched. Brooklyn moved his eyes over to Harry's bed, hoping he was still there, but his heart sank when he saw that it was empty.
He gave a disappointed sigh, still sitting on his cot with his legs over the side, placing his hands on his forehead. This is going to be a very bad day!
Suddenly, the gargoyle spied Dean and Seamus both getting ready for the day.
"Hey, guys," he greeted them, his voice sounding somewhat melancholy. Dean looked over at him, his face full of pity and sympathy. Seamus, Brooklyn couldn't tell what he's thinking.
"Good morning. Doing okay?" Dean asked, trying his best to sound cheerful. Brooklyn lowered his head.
"Well, I want to find Harry and apologize. I never meant to yell at him. I was just angry and over emotional."
Dean winced, remembering that Harry had gotten up before Brooklyn had.
"Sorry, but he went down to breakfast already. But if I see him, I'll let him know you want to talk to him," Dean answered. Brooklyn nodded gratefully to him.
The two boys turned to leave, but Dean looked back.
"Coming with us, Brook?" he asked. The gargoyle shook his head.
"Probably just going to go for a walk. Not feeling very hungry right now," he decided. Dean then nodded. "See you later!" he called, leaving with Seamus.
Brooklyn made his own way out, wandering the hallways of Hogwarts, lost in his thoughts and guilt, grateful for the quiet in the hallways because they were all at breakfast, giving him time to think about what to say to Harry later.
Maybe now is the best time to tell him about the 'Demona' incident, his thoughts said. Brooklyn flinched at this. He always dreaded the day he had to tell him. He had mostly kept it to himself, not telling anybody, even his rookery brothers. They didn't know the whole story.
Before he could decide, a nasty voice spoke behind him.
"Well, well! If it isn't Potter's Protector Freak!"
Brooklyn froze at the new voice, growling lowly as he turned, finding himself face to face with the Slytherin Quidditch captain, Marcus Flint and two other players, all having ugly smirks on their faces.
"What are you lot doing here? Shouldn't you be at breakfast or something? I'm really not in the mood for this right now," he snapped, glaring at them.
But Flint just cracked his knuckles, giving Brooklyn a look that clearly spelled trouble, and drew his wand. "You have no choice, Freak. Somebody needs to pay for making Slytherin loose the match. We couldn't find Potter, so we decided to do it on his freak job friend!"
His thugs chuckled meanly as they too drew their wands. Brooklyn's wings spread out as he got into his fighting stance, eyes glowing.
"You don't want to take me on, Troll. I've been in fights more than you can count!"
Flint was undisturbed by his threat and held his wand up.
Thinking fast, Brooklyn pulled out his own wand and used one of his favorite spells.
"Expelliarmus!"
Flint's wand and his thug's all flew out of their hands. Brooklyn smirked in satisfaction while Flint gave a deadly glare.
"Oh, you will now definitely pay!" He growled, starting forward, Brooklyn readying himself for a fight, which looked inevitable.
"What's all this?" A familiar voice asked.
Brooklyn groaned inwardly as the Potions professor came forward. Just great! Snape looked between the Slytherins and Brooklyn.
Flint narrowed his eyes at Brooklyn. "The freak job attacked us, Professor!" He accused. Brooklyn was outraged. That never happened!
Snape gazed at Brooklyn with an unreadable expression. "What's your story?" he asked.
The red gargoyle blinked quite a few times. This was a totally different Snape from Halloween! Steadying himself, he explained.
"I was just minding my own business when they decided to do a little revenge on me for their team losing the match yesterday. I was merely defending myself," he explained as best as he could, praying inside that Snape believed him. Snape eyed him for a few minutes before nodding, then having his attention back on Flint.
"Lying and attacking someone from behind doesn't make a Slytherin. We are resourceful, not monsters. Five points from Slytherin for attacking Potter's protector, and report yourselves to Dumbledore's office before I take anymore. Yes, from my own house!"
Flint looked extremely furious as he and his cronies turned on their heels and left, muttering curses, and glaring at Brooklyn as he went.
Brooklyn was quite stunned. Why did Snape help him after speaking to him so coldly on Halloween? He just couldn't believe it. Was he really not so bad? Was the whole mean streak just an act?
Snape then gave Brooklyn a strange look. Yes, that same glare was there, but something else was in his eyes. It almost looked like appreciation. Understanding.
What are you hiding? Brooklyn thought after Snape left, stroking his chin. Are you just trying to throw me off your scent so you can get past that three-headed dog? Or something else?
Shaking his head, he then decided that he had to really find Harry and apologize after yesterday and for trying to run away. The gargoyle then proceeded his way back to the Gryffindor common room.
...
Climbing back through the portrait hole, he saw that it was almost completely empty except for Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were sitting on the couch near the fire.
Brooklyn took a shaky breath before approaching, his terrified nerves almost making him back out, but no, he had to do it.
Gargoyle and human stared awkwardly at each other before as Ron and Hermione both moved out of earshot.
"Harry, I wanted to say—"
"Brooklyn, I-I—"
They paused, feeling rather silly for both starting at the same time. Brooklyn rubbed the back of his neck. "You first," he muttered.
Harry looked pretty guilty as he began. "Hermione talked to me about what you did, and she also feels upset that she didn't tell me right away that you saved me. I would have noticed you, but there were so many people I-I just got so caught up with me winning. I've never won anything before. And I'm sorry that I made you feel left out, Brooklyn!"
Brooklyn's heart tugged a little at his words. He let him continue.
"When I didn't find you at the Gryffindor common room later, I was worried. And then when you came back looking angry, I was even more worried. You were right to be angry." Harry stated, looking sorry for himself.
Brooklyn could understand that, but he felt that he needed his own say in this.
"Harry, I'm grateful for your apology, but I feel like this was my own fault, too. I should have stepped up and told you how I was feeling, instead of going crazy and running away. It wasn't right. And I feel incredibly guilty for doing so. But-but I just had these feelings. And bad memories were making me lash out at you wrongly. I don't know if you will forgive me after that," he finished, lowering his head in shame.
Now that he looked back, he could admit that it wasn't like him to break down into a fit like a young kid. Harry placed a hand on his arm.
"We all have our own demons to face. And you and I just admitted ours. I guess we're both sorry." Harry smiled, and Brooklyn did, too, though Harry saw a shadow of another guilt in Brooklyn's eyes.
"You have something else to say?" He asked in worry. Brooklyn nodded, hot guilt that he didn't tell Harry sooner, threatening to overtake him.
"I should have told you this when I met you, Harry. Way back before I became Second in Command, while we were slowly adjusting to New York, I almost joined one of my greatest enemies, Demona."
Harry stared, eyes round. He couldn't believe that his best friend, Brooklyn, would do this! He didn't say anything, though, for fear of repeating their old argument.
Instead, he invited Brooklyn to sit on the couch near the fire with a small smile. "You'll feel better after telling me," he encouraged. Brooklyn's nerves rose as he sat down and began his story.
"I was young and naive back then. Demona had approached me and messed with my head about humans when she rescued me from bikers. She even showed me why all humans were the scum of the earth."
Harry was shocked at this. Anger rushed through him at Demona for trying to hurt his friend's trust towards others. He could see why he hated her.
"Demona also told me that Goliath could be hurt from blindly trusting humans, and that the only way to save him was to open his eyes about them, by using a spell from the Grimorum. She had me steal it and lure my leader into a trap. When she cast the spell, it-it didn't open up his eyes like I thought, but took over his free will, mind control." Brooklyn gripped a pillow tight in his hands, as though it were Demona's head. "She had used me for her terrible plans, and I won't be able let her off so easily for that."
Harry's heart welled with sympathy for his friend. He himself had been fooled by Dudley countless times, but this one was a much more emotional ride for the gargoyle, one he could never forget for the rest of his life.
Brooklyn struggled a little to calm down before he continued. "After realizing she had tricked me, I was able to fight her off, and brought Goliath back to the castle. Elisa helped by using the spell to free Goliath. Things turned out okay and I try not to let myself be consumed by my anger toward Demona, but I still worry about what might've happened if Elisa couldn't fix it and-and if—!" He gave out a frustrated grunt, hiding his head in his hands, and Harry took a firm hold of his arm.
"Brooklyn, don't finish that sentence! Please! We all make mistakes, but like you had said, we can't let our anger towards one person control us. The only thing to be able to break through our grief is to be able to learn from our mistakes and try to move forward in life. I'm doing that while I'm here at Hogwarts, and I want you to be able to do it, too."
Brooklyn looked away, now feeling rather guilty that he might have scared Harry if he had finished that thought, but a part of him was surprised that he wasn't mad at him for nearly joining an evil gargess.
"You're not angry that I didn't tell you all this sooner?" He asked in a shaky voice.
"No, Brooklyn. I'm just glad you were able to tell me now, that's all that matters." Harry said softly.
Brooklyn gave a small smile, some of his sadness lifting, and felt happy he had been able to meet someone to admit his fault too. "So, we're friends again?" he asked.
"More than that, Brooklyn, we're brothers now!" Harry announced, suddenly hugging him again. Brooklyn grinned, feeling his heart soaring at the idea of having a new human brother, which also had never happened to him before! And he liked it!
I told you, Demona! He thought triumphantly as he and Harry shared a hug together, feeling that long overbearing burden being raised from his shoulders. I told you Harry was different! He's now my new brother!
Brooklyn decided to tell them about his Snape encounter later. He didn't want to spoil this moment. Right now, the gargoyle was too happy to worry about anything else.
