In the morning, Harry and Ron describe the previous night's adventures, while Hermione says nothing, clearly disapproving of them wandering around past curfew, even though she was with them. Turns out that Malfoy's "duel" was just a trick to try and get Harry and Ron caught by Filch. They managed to get away, but had to hide in the restricted section of the third floor to do so. And what they found there was the most surprising part.
"It was a giant, three headed dog!" Ron explains excitedly over breakfast. "And then it tried to attack us and nearly bit my head off!" I look at him doubtfully. "Okay, well, maybe it didn't try to bite my head off, but we were still lucky to escape with our lives!"
In fact, their little adventure is the only thing they talk about for weeks. During this time, the Weasley twins watch me extremely closely. I bet they think I'm gonna have another breakdown or something. It's certainly kind of them to watch out for me, but I don't think I'm at risk of one anymore. I haven't thought about… That since I testified. It's safely locked away in the back of my mind now and I doubt it will escape any time soon. They give up on it a week before Halloween, realizing that I'll be okay and it was a one-time occurrence.
On Halloween, a holiday that I really don't understand, we learn about floating spells in Charms. Each of us is given a feather that we're supposed to levitate by swishing and flicking our wands, along with saying "Wingardium Leviosa."
We're split into pairs and I end up with a girl named Lavender Brown who, to be completely honest, I find horribly annoying.
"And you won't believe what he said after that," she tells her best friend, Parvarti Patil quietly, while everyone is trying to cast the spell. "He said-"
"Do you mind?" I interrupt. I know I sound impatient, but really, it's been going on for nearly ten minutes.
"Just give me one more second," she says, before returning to her conversation.
With a sigh, I look back down at my feather.
"Wingardium Leviosa," I try, bored. It doesn't move a centimeter. "Wingardium Leviosa?" Nope. "Please just move…"
"Oh, well done!" Professor Flitwick cries across the classroom. I look up, then see Hermione's feather floating high in the air. A grin comes across my face. Of course it would be her. She's talented at almost everything she does. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"
By the end of class, I'm no closer to raising my feather up. In fact, barely anyone else does it successfully. For those who do, it's very weak and doesn't float up all that high. Everyone needs a lot more practice.
I catch Hermione before the classroom empties completely.
"Hey, good job on the floating charm," I tell her as we start walking out the door. She beams.
"Thanks," she says, sounding very pleased with herself. "I wasn't sure-"
But she stops talking midsentence. It takes me a moment to realize why.
"It's no wonder no one can stand her," I hear Ron say. "She's a nightmare, honestly!"
Oh no, he did not just say that. I know Hermione was trying to help him with the spell in class when he didn't ask her to, but that's no reason to insult her. Especially when she's standing right behind him!
Without saying anything to me, or even looking in my direction, Hermione takes off down the corner, bumping into Harry as she goes by. To my horror, I can just barely see that she's crying.
"Hermione!" I try to call after her, but she doesn't turn around. Anger filling me, I march up to Ron and shove him so hard that he falls into Harry. Harry, in turn, comes dangerously close to collapsing onto the ground. "Look what you've done! What has Hermione ever done to you? Hm?" Ron can't seem to be able to look me in the eye and doesn't reply. "Just remember if she doesn't show up next class, or even to the feast, it is all your fault!"
Not waiting for a reply, I take off down the hall after Hermione, following her retreating figure into the girl's bathroom.
"Go away," her choked up voice calls out from the corner stall as soon as I enter.
"Hermione it's me, it's Rose," I tell her gently, trying to use the same voice Fred and George used when they helped me during my break down. "And don't try telling me to go away. I'm not leaving. Do you want to come out?"
"No," she tells me, sniffing. "No, I can't…"
"That's okay, take your time," I tell her patiently. It's quiet for a moment and I sit down on the floor next to the stall. "Do you want to talk about it?" She doesn't reply. "It's alright if you don't, I completely understand. It's just… Sometimes it's better to just let it out."
"I… I thought I was starting to fit in, make friends, but…"
"Hermione, you are making friends," I protest. "I'm your friend, aren't I?" There's a silence. "Oh, come on, why else would I be here? I'm your friend, Hermione."
"But… You're my only friend. And you've got tons! You have the twins, Ron, and Harry."
"I'll only still have Ron and Harry if they apologize to you and become your friends, too," I tell her. "Otherwise, that's done with. And I expect they'll do that soon. I already took care of yelling at Ron for you, so don't worry about that."
Hermione laughs shakily, but she's still crying. There's a silence for a few minutes.
"Rose, you'll be late for class," Hermione finally says.
"I'm not going to class."
"You aren't?"
"No, I'm staying here and making sure you're okay."
"But what about the feast? What if… What if we're not out of here by then?"
"Hermione, we have six more Halloween feasts after this one. I'm not worried about it. What I am worried about is that you're crying in the bathroom and I'm really not sure how to comfort you."
Hermione laughs again. There's a silence, then, "Thank you, Rose."
"Anytime."
We sit in silence for a very long time, only interrupted by the soft sound of Hermione crying. At one point, Parvarti Patil comes in and says that the feast is about to start. Hermione refuses to come out and I tell Parvarti that we'll be fine. She leaves and we're alone again. It's been a couple hours now, I think. There isn't exactly a clock in here to check.
"I think… I think I'm ready to come out now," Hermione says about an hour after Parvarti leaves. "Just… Just give me a second."
"Take your time," I tell her, pleased.
As she calms herself down fully, I take a deep breath of relief, then wrinkle my nose in disgust. It smells horrible in here now, like rot and dirty socks. It's not a pleasant combination, not at all. But what could possibly be the source of that smell? I turn around in search of it, then stop dead.
"Hermione, whatever you do, don't come out of the stall," I order in horror.
"What? Why?"
The answer to her question is standing right in front of me. About twelve feet tall, with lumpy gray skin and short, stumpy legs, it stares down at me in brief curiosity. I notice a large wooden club in its hand, so big that it touches to floor. A troll.
"Don't scream," I order urgently.
"Rose what's going on?"
"It's a troll!" I yell, rapidly stepping backwards, away from Hermione. The troll follows closely, no longer curious, but wanting to crush me with its club. "Hermione, get out of here!"
There's the sound of a stall door opening and closing, then quick footsteps. Luckily, the troll's attention stays on me.
"The door's locked!" she calls, panicked.
What?
"Get back in the stall!" I scream. The troll turned its attention back to Hermione as soon as she started talking. Naturally, as soon as I finish speaking, it turns back to me and immediately tries to hit me with its club. I drop to the floor with a scream as it flies over my head, just missing it. I get up quickly, but the troll's already heading towards Hermione.
"Rose, it sees me!" she shrieks. "What do I do!? Rose!"
Only one thing to do.
Taking a deep breath, I rush towards the troll, screaming my head off to get its attention. It turns and just as it finishes turning around, I leap up and try to jump onto the thing. Unluckily, it sees right through my attempt and bats me away with its arm. I land with a thud next to Hermione. Ow, that fall really hurt. Looking up, I see the troll advancing even more, knocking the sinks off the wall as it comes.
I pull myself to my feet, unsure of what to do next. I don't know any magic, really. The most I can do, if I'm lucky, is make the troll fly. Somehow, I don't think that would help the situation much.
Just as I'm about to rush the troll again, the door opens. Looking over, through the troll's legs, I see the scared faces of Harry and Ron. Did they lock us in here in the first place? If we survive this, I'll kill both of them.
"Confuse it," Harry tells Ron. Then there's the sound of a tap from one of the broken sinks being thrown against the wall. The troll turns towards the noise and moves towards Harry instead.
"Come on, Hermione, come on!" I urge, but she doesn't move, petrified with fear.
"Oy, pea-brain!" Ron's voice shouts. There's a clunk as something hits the troll, then more of its heavy footsteps.
Suddenly, Harry's here with us, trying to get Hermione to move.
"Come on, run, run," he yells, trying to pull her towards the door. Wait, there's too many of us in one place. Too much noise. The troll will focus on us, then we'll be trapped. That can't happen.
I barely form a plan before running towards the troll again. It raises its arms, ready to hit me when I jump, but I don't. Instead, I drop to the floor and slide right between its two tree trunks of legs, ending up right in front of Ron. He quickly helps me up and pulls me back with him to the wall again.
Fortunately, my plan worked. The troll's attention is no longer on Harry and Hermione. Unfortunately, it's now focused on me and Ron.
"What do we do now?" Ron asks, panic on his voice.
"Good question," I say nervously, backing up as the troll comes closer. There's no escape route, not here. I guess the best plan would to be to distract it so we can get through, but I have no idea how to do that.
It seems like Harry does though. I watch through the troll's legs as he launches himself up and wraps his arms around its neck, his wand going up its nose.
"Oh my god, it's gonna kill him," I whisper, horrified. The troll is trying its best to shake Harry off and it's only a matter of time before it rips him off his back and hits him with its club. Hermione is slowly sinking down to floor in terror behind the troll and Ron is taking out his wand. Wait, his wand. What if… "Aim for its club!" I advise, knowing which spell he's going to perform.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouts, doing exactly what I told him to.
Just like I thought, the club floats out of the troll's hand and rises higher and higher until –
THWACK!
The club falls right on the troll's head, then onto the ground. The troll sways once before falling over with a thud, apparently unconscious.
As soon as it hits the ground, I relax, sinking against the wall in relief. It's quiet for a moment.
"Is it – dead?" Hermione asks, the first to say anything.
"I don't think so," Harry speculates. "I think it's just been knocked out."
As he leans down to pick up his wand, I finally find my voice.
"What the hell just happened?" I ask, running over to Hermione and pulling her off the floor.
"Troll attack," Ron says.
"Really? I didn't realize -"
I'm cut off by the slamming of the bathroom door and thunderous footsteps filling the room. Of course, the teachers. We were making such a racket I can't believe they didn't arrive earlier. It's McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell. Quirrell, of course, doesn't react well, having to sit down on a toilet in shock.
"What on earth were you thinking of?" McGonagall asks furiously, staring at Ron and Harry. Hermione are saved from the brunt of her glare by hiding next to the wall in the shadows. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"
Uh oh. They'll get into trouble even if they tell the truth, for making fun of Hermione. I have to do something.
"Professor, they were looking for us," I say truthfully, stepping farther into the light with Hermione. McGonagall turns to us, looking stunned. "We had to use the restroom during the feast so we left. I guess that was before the troll announcement was made?" I look at Harry and Ron, who nod. "Anyway, the troll came in here when we were about to leave. Harry and Ron must have heard us saying where we were going at the feast, so they came to find us and warn us, I think. If they didn't… Well, Hermione and I would probably be dead right now."
"It's true, Professor," Hermione agrees. "If we knew a troll was wandering around, we would've stayed with our House. Really, Harry and Ron saved our lives. The troll was very close to finishing us off when they arrived, they didn't have time to fetch anyone."
"Well – in that case…" McGonagall just stares at the four of us. "I suppose I can't take any points, seeing as you two didn't do anything wrong. You may both go back to Gryffindor Tower. Students are finishing the feast in their Houses."
"Thank you, Professor," I say, before Hermione and I leave the bathroom. When we round a corner and get out of earshot, I start giggling quietly.
"Rose?" Hermione asks, probably questioning my sanity. "Why are you laughing?"
"We… We just fought a troll," I manage to explain between gasps. "And we… We won!"
"I really don't see how that's funny," Hermione tells me, even though a smile comes across her face. "We were this close to being killed before Harry and Ron came in."
"Please, if they didn't lock us in we wouldn't have been," I point out, calming down slightly.
"It's not like they knew where the girl's bathroom was," Hermione says in their defense. "They probably saw the troll come in, then locked the door without thinking."
"Hermione, are you defending them?"
She turns slightly pink.
"Maybe," she admits.
"You're right though, they did save our lives," I agree. "I really wouldn't want to end up as a stain on the troll's club. Did you see that thing? It was giant!"
We continue discussing the troll until we get back to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Then I look down at my messy, dust covered robes, then over at Hermione's.
"Maybe nobody will look at us when we go in," she suggests doubtfully, noticing our appearance at the exact same time.
She turns out to be wrong. The moment we enter through the portrait hole, every head turns in our direction. Turning bright red, I look down at my dusty shoes.
"Where have you been?" Percy asks both of us after a moment. Even he was taken aback by our appearance at first.
"…Bathroom," I say truthfully.
"And why are you so dirty?"
"Er…" I turn to look at Hermione, who shrugs unhelpfully. Thanks. "Well, there might have been a troll in the bathroom with us."
The once silent room erupts into shouts of disbelief. Percy looks like a fish gasping for air, his mouth opening and closing without any words coming out.
"What happened?" someone shouts over the rest of the noise.
"That's a question for Harry and Ron," I tell them. I look back at the portrait hole. "They're probably coming along now, you won't have to wait long. Now if you'll excuse us," I look down at my robes again, "We're gonna go change."
As we head up the stairs to our dormitory, I hear more shouts and look back. Harry and Ron are entering the Common Room now, and everyone's already begging them to tell the story. The pair look up at me and Hermione and smile. We return the gesture and wave before continuing up the stairs.
"That was one of the craziest things that's ever happened to me," Hermione admits, once we're in the dormitory.
"Yeah, that was pretty… Interesting," I agree. We both quickly change into clean robes, without any dust from the bathroom on them, then go back down to join the small feast occurring in the Common Room.
"And then I raised my wand and shouted 'Wingardium Leviosa,'" Ron's saying to a large group of fascinated listeners. With a laugh, I lead Hermione to the food. I'm starving.
"Well, here's to the most interesting Halloween in the history of Halloween's," I tell Hermione, holding up a glass of pumpkin juice. She smiles.
"Cheers!"