I woke up in the Hospital Wing, alone. I felt weaker than I had ever felt in my whole life. It took all I had to even move a finger. Madame Pomfrey explained that I had anaemia, an aftermath of practically denying my body of the simple pleasure of eating. It wasn't like I didn't eat; I just skipped lunch and dinner. Even so, Hermione gave me a big speech, like a big sister should, I suppose. She went on and on about how only eating breakfast was just as bad as eating nothing at all, among some other things. She also swore that she was going to kill Malfoy with her bare hands. I didn't want to throw all the blame at him, but I didn't have much of a choice. Who else would have the fault? Malfoy was the one harassing me and my sister was fully informed about it.
So, now, not only had I made the fight between Malfoy and Harry worse, but I also had quite possibly worsened my situation in Slytherin too. And that was just what I needed, of course.
It was my second night at the Hospital Wing. My sister had just left and I was once again alone in the vast silence of the room. I would lie if I said that sleeping in the Hospital Wing felt safer than sleeping in my room inside Slytherin's common room. While I was under constant observation from Madame Pomfrey (she practically sat by my side until I was done eating), I didn't like the feeling of being in a place where people came to be sick and maybe even to possibly die. Well, maybe that was an exaggeration but I didn't like any of it.
I mean, ghosts were an actually thing in Hogwarts, but, if anything, I felt less safe here. It was weird, but I wanted to run as far from the Hospital Wing as possible. I don't know how Madame Pomfrey deals with this place. I would never be able to.
"Still awake?" said a voice that seemed pretty close by. I jumped slightly. I didn't want Malfoy anywhere near, even less if I was in a hospital bed, weak and naked underneath pretty thin clothes. I was suddenly too scared to even look for the voice, so I pretended to be deeply asleep. Hopefully, if I got attacked, Madame Pomfrey would catch Malfoy and he would be sent home to never return to Hogwarts again. Oh, but hoping was too easy, and Malfoy was not stupid. He was an idiot, but somehow he had some intellect. If monkeys had the potential to learn, then Malfoy could too, I suppose.
"C'mon, Granger, I'm not gonna hurt you" the chair beside my bed, the one Hermione was practically glued to, moved; indicating that someone had taken a sit. I regretted almost forcing Hermione to leave. It was in these kind of scenarios where I wished I had just listened to my sister instead of pushing her to do what I thought was best for her. Screw being a nice younger sister.
"I'm not Malfoy, if you must know."
That caught my attention, and, cautiously, I turned slightly; only so that I could see who was here in the middle of the night, whose voice I recognized but not enough to fully know said person. It had to be someone with whom I shared some sort of contact with; otherwise that person (presumably a "he" for the tone of voice) wouldn't know I was Granger, or that I was in the hospital, for that matter (because I would bet my life on Slytherin not being bothered about my mental or physical state).
But it was dark, and all I could see was some sort of shape sitting on a chair, watching me. It bordered on creepy, and I am not fond of creepy. Even so, in some wicked sense, it didn't strike me as someone who wanted to hurt me. Quite the contrary, his presence didn't seem threatening, it somehow seemed soothing, calm. Almost as though it was water or a hot bath. I really wanted a hot bath.
"So you are awake. Good, that means you're alive." His tone was almost mocking me, but that still didn't give me any clue as to who he was.
"Who are you?" I said. I didn't want to seem rude, (I suppose it's always appreciated that someone bothers to sneak out of his or her dormitory to come and check on you while you're in the hospital. But I wouldn't know) but I couldn't think of anything else to say. I didn't have the slightest idea of who he was.
He chuckled. It wasn't the you're-pathetic-chuckle that Malfoy often uses. No, it was more of an amused chuckle. However, that still didn't give me anything.
The silence lingered between us, then he finally said: "Fitzgerald, at your service."
The moment I heard his name, or more like surname, I almost fell off my bed. Not in a million years would I ever expect someone from Slytherin to ever come visit me. Much less anyone who was at Malfoy's level in the hierarchy of Slytherin's monarchy. I was at the very bottom and he was at the very top. It was crazy. What would every other Slytherin think about Matthew's actions? They would kill him. I was sure of it. I know I said Slytherins were not killers but I do not think that committing treason would be taken lightly, because let me tell you something: if there's one thing that Slytherins can't live without, that's pride. Oh hell no. You do not mess with the pride of a Slytherin because you will pay the consequences (you need to only look at me to know that). Now imagine one of Slytherin's finest specimen-or whatever- turning his back on the pack! If Malfoy hadn't killed me before, he would surely do so now.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, trying to cover the panic that was quite possibly evident in my face, but thank god for darkness!
"Just came to check on you. Figured it wouldn't be a good idea with your sister near, but since she left I thought it'd be an appropriate moment."
"Are you stalking me, or something Fitzgerald?"
"Oh no. I've got better things to do, really." His tone was ice cold, and it made me think of Malfoy again. I hated Malfoy and his stupid ice, cold tone.
"Then leave." I said turning my back on him. Stupid Sltyherins and their stupid heads.
He didn't answer, but instead he obeyed quietly. I heard the echo of his footsteps leaving the Hospital Wing and immediately the silence and loneliness of the room filled me up again.
I didn't like being alone. I guess that's the main reason why I hated Slytherin so much. I didn't have a single friend. Everyone treated me like I was either invisible or something lower than a pile of rubbish. Each was as bad as the other. I honestly didn't know which one was the worse: people knowing you exist but hating you with all their guts without even knowing you or people not even knowing you are sharing part of the world with them. Both made my self-esteem go lower and lower. I didn't want to be in Hogwarts anymore. I was going to wait for the Holiday vacations and I was not coming back. Screw magic, it wasn't worth everything that Malfoy was putting me through. Hermione could swear north and south that she was going to make him pay and that she was going to protect me all she wanted, but, in the end, she doesn't have any sort of power over Malfoy. She could do all she wanted outside Slytherin territory, but inside… it was a completely different story.
That night, the last night I was going to spend at the Hospital Wing, I couldn't sleep. For some reason, and I didn't know which, I didn't want to leave. I know I said I didn't feel save inside the Hospital Wing, but I'd take the Hospital Wing and it's unattractive atmosphere over Malfoy's harassment any day.
I turned on my bed for hours, and I even remember seeing the sunrise through the window. So, apparently, I didn't sleep at all.
My sister, her friends and Ginny came to help me once Madame Pomfrey announced that I could finally leave. She gave me a couple of potions, to level the nutrients that I was lacking, and a rather worried "Good luck".
I didn't really have too many stuff to carry (because I didn't have any friends) but they offered to help me anyway, and I was a little too weak to refuse. I would allow it for today.
The Slytherin Common room portrait, whose name I still didn't know, did not allow my sister to accompany me. Hermione would keep on screaming at the poor portrait, but it wouldn't give in. Like I said, once inside Slytherin territory there was nothing that my sister could do to protect me from the nastiness of the stuck-up purebloods. They thought I was disgusting, but to me, they were repulsive.
I managed to get to my room unnoticed, and I thanked whoever was up there for that. I had been in the Hospital Wing for 3 days now, but that didn't mean that I had all my strength back. Quite the contrary; I felt tired and I only wanted to sleep and not be bothered by anyone. So that's what I was intending to do. Especially because I had managed to not sleep at all.
I put away my things, which weren't many, and I blissfully decided to lie on my bed. It was more comfortable than the ones at the Hospital Wing. It was almost like sleeping on a feather. Pure bliss.
As soon as my head touched the soft pillow, I was gone. I don't even remember falling asleep. It happened so quickly and spontaneously that my brain didn't record it, it just followed through like: "hey, good idea. I'M OUT."
I don't know how much I slept, but it was probably too much. I didn't make any appearances in class or in the Great Hall. In fact, I woke up to darkness. I woke up to find that my roommates were already sleeping. I didn't know what time it was, but I was starving. I needed to get some food.
After tying my shoelaces and putting on my most comfortable hoodie, I decided to sneak out of my room and look for some sort of refreshments. Of course, I didn't even know where to start looking. Not my brightest idea, but maybe someone left some pastries somewhere in the common room. Maybe Crabbe, maybe Goyle, either way, it was worth the try. However, it was rather disappointing that whatever those two pigs did with all the cake they managed to get into the common room, wasn't anywhere near sight. And of course it wasn't. Everything Malfoy had of nastiness, they had on appetite.
I sighed and decided to just sit on the sofa. It was made of leather and it eradiated the most comfortable heat that I've ever been exposed to. I suppose that if I wasn't a muggle-born, I would probably actually enjoy it here. The place was very elegant, and somewhat dark. It didn't have many colours, in fact most of the stuff that adorned the room where either black or a dark shade of green. I don't think my sister would like this place. It was more often cold than hot; maybe due to the fact that we were pretty much underground, and the structures of the place-architectonically speaking- were very dramatic. It had a very gothic style, like most of the castle really. But, contrary to Hogwarts as a whole, the Slytherin common room didn't seem too inviting. It was luxurious, comfortable even, but not to outsiders. I think you need to be a Slytherin to find this particular common room welcoming. I didn't have a problem with the rather mysterious, cold and even dark atmosphere that the common room provided because it seemed like home, really. I've never been a fan of bright colours, so it doesn't really bother me. My sister, however, would probably hate this place. She would even find it depressing. What would you know; maybe I was a Slytherin after all. The simple idea scares me a little.
"Thought I heard noises." A voice said much too close to me. I jumped slightly, ready to make a run for it if I had to. "Always the scared cat. Again, I'm not Malfoy."
I got up with the intention of returning to my room. But then, I stopped. Fitzgerald said he was at my service the night before, and I was hungry. Maybe he knew how to get food. That was an opportunity that I was not willing to pass.
"Say, do you know how to get food?" I asked, crossing my arms so that he knew that I meant business. Or so that my stomach didn't growl to the mention of food.
"I do." He answered as calm as the Lake.
"Well, can you get me some?"
"Why would I do that? Students aren't supposed to be out of bed this late."
"Oh, please. You were out of bed yesterday and went all the way to the Hospital Wing and back. Surely you can get food at this hour, too."
He chuckled, "you're weird. What do you want?"
"Food, what else?"
He shrugged, muttered all right and left. I wasn't really expecting him to come back with something, but it got me angry that not even someone that seemed relatively nice would help me. He knew I had just gotten out of the Hospital Wing, and he also knew I had lost weight because I was not eating properly. He could at least have some sort of empathy and try to help. But no! There goes Slytherin showing how little sympathy they can have for another human being. Honestly, what did their parents even teach them? My parents were always firm about helping people that needed it. Even muggle parents were better, pureblood my ass!
As I was done having my mental rant, Fitzgerald magically returned from God knows were. He lighted his wand up and handed me a bunch of sweets. From cupcakes to some things that Ron once called every flavour bean, or something.
I looked up at Matthew with suspicion in my eyes, but he was only faintly smiling.
"Where you get those?" I asked trying not to drool at how delicious those cakes looked. I loved cake.
"Crabbe and Goyle think they're too smart, but their hideout is really not that hard to find."
Ha! I knew those two pigs hid their desserts somewhere. I just didn't know them enough to know where. It was understandable; I was only a first year, a rejected first year. Matthew was a second year, and he was, as I had mentioned before, part of the Slytherin royalty. He obviously knew his way around.
"Go on, then. You were hungry, right?" he said pushing the heavenly things closer to me. My stomach growled in anticipation, but I was so hungry that it wasn't even embarrassing that Matthew probably heard it. I grabbed the first cake and could properly hear the angels sing.
From that moment on, Matthew became my friend. I questioned it, at first. Why would a second year hang with a first year? Moreover, why would a second year Slytherin royalty hang with a first year that was considered lower than dirt? Ginny thought that it was probably because he fancied me. But, of course, he didn't (and I knew this because I had shamelessly asked him myself. He laughed in my face.)