August | Hermione Granger x OFC

Chapter 108

cw violence ahead(و •̀ ᴗ•́ )و

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Robyn had hoped to blend in when she returned to Hogwarts.

So, of course, the entire school – pupils, staff, and ghosts alike – stared at her as she walked into the Great Hall fashionably late with Lloyd and Draco flanking her (though, to be fair, the tables were a lot emptier than in previous years). "Cool entrance"? Maybe, if she wanted attention. But she didn't.

And for a second she told herself, 'it's because they all love your new hair,' but then she tutted, smiling slightly at her own joke.

Naturally, they all thought she was offering an evil smirk, because she was so evil and smirky. But she wasn't, honestly.

The smile was wiped from her face as Snape, who stood at the Headmaster's podium, continued to an audience who wasn't even facing him, never mind listening to him, "I might add that truancy will not be tolerated this year, thank you."

On her left, Lloyd shot her an amused look. On her right, Draco rolled his eyes. The two of them made their way towards the Slytherin table, furthest to the left as usual. Robyn, however, hesitated, because the looks she was receiving from the Ravenclaws (and the Hufflepuffs...and the Gryffindors...) weren't exactly screaming, 'welcome'. If anything, they were screaming, 'don't you dare sit here'.

Well, too bad. She wasn't just going to stand there like an idiot.

She sat at the end of the Ravenclaw table beside a girl in the year above, Mandy Brocklehurst. Mandy Brocklehurst then proceeded to budge so far along the bench she was practically sitting in Sue Li's lap. Anything to get away from Robyn, apparently.

Robyn pretended not to notice, pretended she was bored, unfazed, uncaring, but in reality, the wide space between them made her feel like she had a disease or something. And she was hyperaware of the eyes on her, but, even more so, the eyes not on her.

Willow, Olivia, and Luna were sitting diagonally across from her, so close yet so far. They were probably the only three people in the room not looking at her.

She pretended it didn't hurt.

Behind them at the Slytherin table sat Blaise, who blew her a kiss. She rolled her eyes and directed her gaze to Snape, who was still talking as if people were listening. Except, as she looked at him, it seemed to snap everyone else out of a trance and they, too, turned their attention back to the podium, like they were following her lead.

They weren't, of course. But it felt like it.

"Curfew will commence at eight o'clock, straight after dinner, every evening. This applies to all students bar Prefects. No student shall be allowed out their dorm or common room after this time unless under extenuating circumstances. Furthermore, in alignment with Ministry guidelines, Muggle Studies and Dark Arts are now mandatory subjects to be taken by all students, including those in their N.E.W.T. years. Lastly, Quidditch is henceforth cancelled."

If there was outcry and protest at the start of his speech, there was a full on uproar by the end. Students around the Great Hall were shouting and standing and shaking their fists and, well, protesting.

Snape, however, was unperturbed and, even more so, unsympathetic. He wasn't bothered, and he didn't care (at least, that's how it appeared. Who knows what he was really thinking). He simply stood at his podium, waiting for the school as a collective to have their little tantrum and be done with it.

"I'll Crucio the lot of yeh!" roared Amycus over the commotion, pointing his wand at the tables (excluding Slytherin) in a threatening manner. "Sit down and shut up, or I'll shut yeh up myself!"