Broken Bonds

Chapter 23

As the night wore on, the common rooms of Gryffindor and the dorms of Gryffindor fell into a heavy silence. In the dimly lit dormitories, the students tossed and turned, their minds consumed by the events of the evening.

Y/n found herself unable to sleep, her thoughts swirling with uncertainty and apprehension. She couldn't shake the memory of the confrontation with the Gryffindors, nor the accusatory glares that had been cast their way. There was another memory, Pansy, being by her side whenever she needed her, and she had let her down. Y/n let Pansy down. The memory quickly faded but then another came in. Her mom. Narcissa Malfoy. She

In the neighbouring dormitory, Mattheo sat on his bed, his expression unreadable as he stared into the darkness. The weight of the accusations against him hung heavy on his shoulders, and he couldn't help but wonder what repercussions awaited him come morning.

Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor dormitory, Harry, Ron, and Hermione huddled together, their voices hushed as they discussed the events of the evening.

"I can't believe that Slytherin had the nerve to punch Seamus," Ron muttered, his voice thick with anger.

Hermione nodded solemnly, her brow furrowed in thought. "It's troubling, to say the least. We need to be careful about jumping to conclusions, though."

"But did you see the way Mattheo looked? Like he didn't have a care in the world," Harry interjected, his frustration evident in his tone.

Ron's jaw tightened, his fists clenching at his sides. "I don't trust any of them. They're all just trouble waiting to happen."

Hermione sighed, her gaze thoughtful as she considered their next course of action. "We should let Professor McGonagall know what happened. She'll know how to handle it."

Harry hesitated, his expression conflicted. "I don't know, Hermione. Won't we look like cowards if we go running to a teacher?"

Ron nodded in agreement with Harry. "Yeah, mate. We need to handle this ourselves, and show them we're not afraid. We will look weak if we run to a teacher instead of handling things ourselves."

Hermione shook her head. "It's not about looking weak, Ronald. It's about doing what's right, even if it's not easy."

"We've handled worse situations than this, Hermione," Harry said, his tone firm with conviction. "We can't let them think they can just get away with anything."

Ron nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Hermione, we can't just sit back and let them walk all over us. We've got to stand up for ourselves."

Hermione chewed on her lip, torn between her desire to do what was right and her fear of making the situation worse. But the unwavering determination in her friends' eyes gave her pause.

After a moment of silence, she sighed, relenting. "Okay, you're right. We'll handle it ourselves, but we need to be smart about it. We can't let our emotions get the better of us."

Harry and Ron nodded in agreement, relieved that Hermione was on board.

As the trio sat in the Gryffindor dormitory, they knew they had to come up with a plan to prevent Percy from reporting the incident to the teachers.

"We need to make Percy believe that everything's under control," Hermione suggested, her brow furrowed in concentration.

Harry nodded in agreement. "If he thinks we've got it handled, he won't feel the need to involve the teachers."

Ron rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But how do we convince him? He's not exactly easy to fool."

Hermione tapped her finger against her chin. "We'll need to present a united front. If we all agree that things are fine, he'll be more likely to believe us."