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We had officially entered the year 1995, and a week had already passed since the beginning of January, which meant the end of the Christmas holidays.
And with that all the students who had gone home for these holidays were returning to school this afternoon for the new term.
And currently I was walking through the corridors of Hogwarts having just left the Room of Requirement after an afternoon of training and research.
'Hmm, the other students must have already arrived at school' I thought, feeling more magical signatures in the castle than before.
But knowing it wasn't important to me I shrugged it off.
I then continued walking, however my walk was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Greengrass that had just appeared around the corner of the corridor.
"Good afternoon Greengrass" I said to the cold Slytherin girl, who was walking towards me.
However, she didn't answer me and just held my arm, before starting to drag me somewhere.
"Greengrass?" I looked at her confused, not trying to make any effort to get out of her hands.
I tried to feel her feelings, but immediately I grimaced as her feelings and emotions were in turmoil.
Relief. Sadness.
"Greengrass, you're acting strange" I said, but she remained quiet, "Greengrass?"
Pain. Tiredness.
"Greengr… Daphne, what's going on?" I asked, frowning.
Happiness. Concern.
And still without stopping she continued to drag me through the castle, going to an isolated part of it.
"Daphne, talk to me. What happened?" and at this moment I started to get worried, because she had never acted like that before.
Kindness. Gratitude.
And looking at the ice queen whose hair shadowed her face I began to try to guess what had happened.
And the only thing I could think of that could make her this way with her emotions so out of control was her sister.
"Daphne..." and thinking that Astoria might be in trouble I started to get anxious.
And she remained silent, and I realized she probably wasn't even listening to me, too caught up in her own thoughts.
And tired of this situation and irritated at not receiving any response from her, I stopped walking, no longer letting myself be dragged around the castle like a rag doll.
"Daphne!" I called her name louder, basically yelling.
And the sudden stop at my scream woke her up, making her raise her head while blinking slightly.
But I didn't have much patience, so I immediately grabbed Daphne's shoulders and turned her towards me, "Daphne, what happened?" I asked worriedly, looking into her eyes.
And it was at that moment that I realized that there were tears in her eyes threatening to fall, and it took me by surprise.
But what happened next was even more shocking.
Daphne, who never had a good relationship with me, and who was always cold, rigid, and calm, simply hugged me.
And if that wasn't enough, she then started crying on my chest.
"Da-Daphne?" I stuttered in surprise, not knowing what to do in this situation.
"..." she said something, but I didn't really understand because her voice was muffled because she still had her face against my chest.
"What?" I asked.
"...you" she repeated, still a little inaudible.
And then I felt her arms around my torso tighten, "...ank you... Thank you... Thank you."
"Huh?" I blinked in confusion, not knowing why she was thanking me.
But from her feelings I knew that her gratitude was true.
And now looking at the girl who was crying while hugging me, the only thing I could do was run my hand down her back gently in an attempt to calm her down.
And after a while I could feel Daphne's emotions calm down.
"Are you already better?" I asked, and she nodded, breaking the hug as she sniffled slightly.
"I'm sorry" she said to me, slightly embarrassed.
"Don't worry," I said, using my coat sleeve to wipe away the tears that were on her cheeks.
And normally she wouldn't let anyone touch her like this, but she was in a fragile moment, and besides, she didn't feel like backing away from my touch.
"Now that you've calmed down" I started to say, making her look at me, "Could you tell me why you're thanking me?"
And that question caught Daphne off guard, making her realize that she did all of this without even telling me why.
And knowing that only made her even more embarrassed.
"Oh, well... I was thanking you because you helped Astoria by healing her" she replied, looking away.
And hearing this I blinked, now understanding the reason for this whole situation in which we both found ourselves.
"So you found out" I commented, seeing no point in lying about it.
"Uhm" she nodded, "Tori told our parents and I about her being cured, and it wasn't too hard to find out that you were involved in it"
"I see" I said.
'So Lord and Lady Greengrass know that I cured Astoria' I began to reflect.
I didn't have a very favorable opinion of the Greengrass family besides Astoria, due to the whole issue of prejudice against Muggles and Muggleborns.
And now that they knew I cured their daughter of a practically incurable curse they'd probably want answers, which meant they'd try to talk to me.
'Well, it was inevitable that they would find out the truth' I thought, 'And that doesn't change my initial plan of saying that this was all thanks to Nick and Penny's help, which would take the attention away from me and onto them. '
And before I could continue thinking about it Daphne started speaking, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"Look, I'm really grateful that you cured Astoria, really, and I don't even know how to thank you" Daphne said sincerely, looking into my eyes, "But I want to know, why? Why did you help Astoria?"
"Why wouldn't I help?" I asked back.
"Because you don't gain anything by helping her" she replied, and I frowned.
"Do you think the only reason someone would have to help someone else would be to get something in return?" I asked.
And hearing this Daphne made a face, but before she could say anything I continued.
"If that's so, then tell me Daphne, why did you want to cure Astoria?" I asked, making her blink in confusion.
"What?" she asked.
"Why did you spend almost all day in the Hogwarts library looking for books that could help you cure your sister's curse?" I continued questioning, not giving her time to respond, "Why did you always look at Astoria with concern? Why did you always stay close to her to take care of her? Why do you care about her?"
And with that question I faced Daphne, without showing any emotion on my face.
"Answer Daphne. Why?"
"Because she's my family" Daphne began to respond, placing her hand on her chest, "Because she's my little sister... Because I love her! Because she is someone precious and important to me!" she said, passion in her voice.
"Well then there is the answer to your question" I said, smiling softly at Daphne, "I helped Astoria because she is my friend, which makes her someone precious and important to me"
"..." and that made Daphne stop, feeling the sincerity and truth in my words.
'So he did all this just because she's his friend?' she thought.
And at the same time as she felt happy that Astoria had a friend like that, she also felt sad and a little jealous, since she couldn't imagine any of her 'friends' doing something like that for her.
And looking at Daphne who looked down I felt her sadness.
"Daphne?" I called, making her look up.
"Oh... Uhm... I'm glad to know you like Astoria so much" she said, smiling at me. But I could tell that her smile wasn't entirely genuine.
"Well, I've already said everything I had to say, so I think I'll go now" she said, looking away, "And besides, I don't want to keep disturbing you"
And without waiting for me to say anything she turned and started to leave.
And I frowned at her feelings of sadness, and I began to wonder what caused this change of emotions in her.
'She was like that after I told her the reason why I cured Astoria' I reflected, but that only made me even more confused, 'But why would she be sad that I said I cured Astoria because I was her friend?'
And then I remembered that besides sadness I also felt jealous coming from her.
And thinking a little more I managed to connect the dots, finally understanding the reason for her sadness.
And with that I looked at the back of the depressed girl as she walked away, and I knew what I needed to do.
"Daphne" I called her, stopping her from leaving.
"Yes?" she turned to me.
And now that I was looking at her face I could see deep in her eyes the sadness, the loneliness, and the fear.
"You know, you can be a little annoying, arrogant, and snobbish sometimes" I started to say, making the girl frown, wondering if I called her just to offend her.
"But still" I continued, "After all our intentions and conversations, I don't think it would be wrong to say that we are friends, right?" I smiled at her.
And hearing that made her eyes widen slightly.
'Friends?' she thought, looking at my soft smile.
And the thought of having a true friend, who wouldn't be with her just for her family and money, who would want to spend time with her, and who would care about her made Daphne smile unconsciously.
"So?" I waited for your response.
And now feeling happier and lighter Daphne looked at me, "Well, I guess as a way of thanking you for healing Tori I'll allow you to be my friend" she said with a playful smile.
"Oh, I'm honored" I bowed to her in mockery, but the smile on my face showed my true feelings.
"Don't be cheeky Ethan" she said, calling me by my first name for the first time.
"I don't think that's possible" my smile grew, making her snort.
And at that moment, looking at Daphne, I felt that a great friendship had been formed.
End.
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