For You I Will #1- The Philosopher's Stone

47 Quidditch Final

The following morning rolled around and Y/N sat at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. He was the first from his house to arrive. He was still sore. Still tired. He had still gone alone for his morning workout. No excuses. No days off. He had to push through.

As he sat there quietly eating his eggs Katie Bell entered the Great Hall. She smiled to herself seeing Y/N alone and rushed over to him. She sat right next to him, side hugging Y/N and kissing him on the cheek before asking happily:

"Good morning Y/N. How are you feeling?"

"Shithouse" Y/N said with a dry chuckle.

"Can I ask you something Y/N?" Katie asked bashfully.

"You can ask whatever you want Katie. Doesn't mean I'll answer though"

Y/N smirked as he answered, Katie giggled and shook her head before asking with sincerity:

"Are the stories true? Did you really fight Professor Quirrell and You-Know-Who? Did you really kill the Professor?"

"Yeah. I did" Y/N answered emotionless.

"And they used the Cruciatis curse on you and you grinned at them?"

Y/N remembered the pain of Voldemort's curse. The searing hot steel being stabbed into him over and over and over. He remembered pushing through. Fuck Pain!

He answered again emotionless:

"Yeah"

The two sat in silence for a few moments as Y/N turned to Katie and asked:

"I bet you think I'm a monster now, hey?"

Katie looked into Y/N's eyes. Her eyes were warm, inviting. There wasn't a hint of fear in them as she answered with a smile:

"Are you serious? I think you're incredible".

Y/N was genuinely taken back as he answered sheepishly:

"Oh. Thanks. Didn't expect that to be honest".

Katie smiled warmly again as Harry sat across from the pair, with Ron joining him moments later. The redhead gulped at the fierce glare Y/N gave him.

"Morning Harry. Ready for the match?" Katie asked cheerfully.

Harry grunted in reply. Katie raised an eyebrow as Y/N chuckled.

"Don't worry about him Katie. Harry isn't a morning person".

Katie giggled at Y/N, batting her eyelids.

-~-

Hermione and Lavender walked into the Great Hall. Hermione had been awake since 5am. She had wanted desperately to go down and meet Y/N for his workout. In the end she chickened out.

As the pair walked in they saw Katie and Y/N sitting next to each other. Hermione turned to leave before Lavender grabbed her hand and dragged her over. Lavender sat two spots down from Y/N, pulling Hermione between the two of them and then pushing over, tightly squeezing Hermione up against Y/N's side.

Subtle Lav Hermione thought to herself. Y/N picked up on Hermione's discomfort at their physical proximity. The anger inside him grew, even more thoughts appearing in his mind, screaming at him internally:

She hates you now.

She's afraid of you.

Who can blame her? You don't deserve love. You don't even deserve pity. You are nothing!

Y/N didn't know where the thoughts came from but his mood soured even more. He felt so low, so alone. He'd lost Hermione, Jacob was furious with him. He'd failed his job, his duty, to keep Harry out of harm's way.