Hermione continued to sob. She had lost track of time, hiding in the bathroom. All she knew was that she ran to the bathroom after Charms class, wanting to be alone in her misery. The stress from being in a completely new and different environment, being away from her mother and father, keeping up with her studies was eating away at her. Being yelled at by Seamus and hearing what Ron said after pushed her to the breaking point and she ran away in tears.
She looked up when she heard someone say her name. "Wh-what?" she said, trying to stifle the sobs and failing.
"Hermione, it's Lavender. Are you okay?"
Hermione sniffled and scrubbed at her eyes. "I-I'm f-fine," she lied. "L-Leave me a-alone!" She looked at Lavender with astonishment when Lavender walked into the bathroom and saw Hermione tucked away in the corner, hiding behind the sink.
"You don't look fine," Lavender said apologetically.
Her already tenuous façade crumbled and her tears ran once more. "F-Fine! I'm not! Are you h-here to laugh at me too?!"
Lavender walked over and sat against the wall beside Hermione. "No, I'm not."
"Then what are you doing here?"
"Talking to you. What Seamus and Ron said was really rude. They shouldn't have said it."
Hermione stared at her. "Why didn't you say that sooner?"
Lavender shrugged. "I don't like talking to Seamus, he's annoying. And he and Ron are friends. But I could have said something sooner and I'm kinda sorry I didn't."
"Only 'kinda'?"
Lavender winced. "Well, I, uh, goodness this is going to be rude too, but you do get kinda snooty about school stuff Hermione."
Hermione glared at her. "It's because we're in school and we're here to learn!"
"I know that but you really are intense about it," Lavender said, holding her hands up in a peaceful gesture. "Like, super intense about it."
"That's not a bad thing!" Hermione protested.
"Not saying it is! But it's hard to talk to you sometimes! You get things so fast and are really smart and when Parvati and I don't get it, you get this attitude about it." She flushed at Hermione's angry look. "Sorry, said it'd be rude too."
"What are you even doing here then," Hermione spat. "If that's how you feel, you can leave me alone!" She started crying again. "Just like you and Parvati have all this time."
"It's not like we were trying to leave you alone," Lavender said hurriedly. "But you're more interested in school stuff and we aren't as much. We tried to include you at first but you didn't seem to care about what we did either."
"Of course I'm interested in school stuff, it's magic! Magic is incredible and everyone seems to not care about it or take it for granted!"
"Parvati's whole family are magicals so she's used to it, she grew up with it. There was a time I didn't really know about magic but I learned about it earlier on and got used to it too. So you're right, we might take it for granted some."
Hermione looked away, falling silent.
"We did try to include you," Lavender repeated.
"I'm not that interested in make-up or clothes or those things," Hermione muttered.
"That's fine, but like we aren't as interested in school stuff so it was hard to talk to you." Still hard if I'm being honest, she thought.
Hermione sighed and deflated. "That's… fair." She wiped her eyes again. "I was only trying to help."
"That's good but you might want to be a little more… nice about it?" Lavender suggested.
Hermione snorted and regretted doing that. Lavender reached into a pocket and fished out a handkerchief for Hermione to use, but not the one Harry made. "Thank you," Hermione said quietly as she wiped her face. "I'll clean it before giving it back."
"Thank you," Lavender said awkwardly.
"Why did you come talk to me then?" Hermione asked, looking at her directly.
Lavender took a deep breath. "Honestly? Harry asked me to. He heard that you were crying in here and asked me to talk to you."
"Why would he care?" Hermione asked, perplexed.
"Because he said he knew what it was like, to hide and be upset by being treated badly by others," Lavender said with a frown. The frown melted a little. "And he reminded me that I knew what it was like too so I came to chat with you."
"Oh. That was nice of him," Hermione said softly. "And you," she added awkwardly. Her confusion returned. "Why would he know that though? I've read about him."
Lavender looked at her questioningly. "You've read about him?"
"There's stuff written about him, the Boy-Who-Lived," Hermione explained.
"Oh, that's weird." Lavender thought about what Harry told her earlier. "I don't know if that stuff is all that accurate about him."
"Oh." Hermione wiped her face again, her sniffling subsiding. "You said you know what it's like too?"
"I do."
"Oh."
"Mmhmm."
The silence was soft and less awkward.
"Thank you," Hermione whispered.
"You're welcome," Lavender whispered.
.....
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