A Hogwart's Legend

The First Encounter

After watching Lavender shove her tounge down Ron's throat, Hermione felt like throwing up.

She angrily muttered to herself as she made her way downthe moving staircases. "That bastard! Ronald can't seem to go one minute without that daft bimbo on him!"

She didn't care where she went.

She simply wanted to be left alone. Hiding in the library would be too obvious, too easy. Instead, she opted togoing into the bathroom Moaning Myrtle currently inhabited.

Hermione was beginning to feel tears welling up in her eyes.

But she couldn't be caught crying in a corridor; rumors would begin to fly around.

Soon enough, she reached her destination.

The moment the door closed behind her, she broke down.

She hadn't remembered if she cast a silencing charm or not. Her cries echoed through the seemingly empty lavatory.

She didn't care about disturbing Moaning Myrtle.

She didn't care about abruptly leaving her friends behind.

She simply didn't care. And she felt broken inside.

The young girl slid down the wall, tears streaming down her once composed face.

Her mind kept replaying every moment that involved Ron and Lavender. Reminding her of the events leading up to her crying in a deserted bathroom floor. Suddenly, she heard a small click coming from a bathroom stall.

' Merlin, why hadn't I bothered on making sure no one else was here.' She felt embarrassed to be caught in such a state. Hermione, the golden girl, found running off into a bathroom to cry.  Pathetic.

She quickly wiped her tears on her sleeves and turned her back on whoever had just exited the stall. Hopefully, whoever it was would quickly leave.

However, a very familiar voice spoke out. A certain blonde ferret's voice. 

"Merlin Granger didn't realize you too were having trouble in paradise."

She tried to regain her composure before even facing Malfoy.

"Malfoy, are you quite aware that you are in a girl's lavatory?"

"To be fairly honest, I didn't think another soul would dare come in here."

She finally decided to turn and face him. His shirt was untucked, his once smooth hair was completely disheveled. His face had no trace of malice in them, which was very peculiar. A very rare sight, indeed.

"What happened to you?" She blurted out, shocked at her bluntness.

"I believe I asked you a question first Granger." He retorted back.

Looked like the ferret couldn't seem to hold back a remark.

She eyed him suspiciously, not sure if this was all happening in her mind. As if Malfoy would ever try to have a civil conversation with her, given that they were always throwing insults at one another.

Deciding to take on this rare opportunity she replied.

"I.. I guess you can say that." She looked down, not wanting to look at him, not wanting him of all people actually see how broken she felt.

' Then why in Merlin's name did you even say that?!'

"I bet it's that Weasel again, isn't it?" He took her silence as a confirmation to his question.

He shook his head before speaking once more. "I don't quite understand what you see in him. The Weasel has no qualifying factors. I can't quite understand how the brightest witch of our age would be so caught up on such a poor excuse of a wizard."

She looked up at Malfoy with wide eyes. Had he just given her an honest opinion? One that involved no insults thrown at her? Had he just complimented her? And why for Merlin's sake did she briefly miss that jab at her best friend? 

So many other thoughts were running through her head in such a short time. She was finally at a loss for words. She tried opening her mouth, but no matter, no word came out. For once, Hermione did not know how to retaliate. 

"C'mon Granger, you can't say I'm wrong."

She couldn't understand. Why was Malfoy being like this? He did have a point, though. 

"Why are being so... so .. civil with me? I frankly don't understand. If you are going to belittle me in an-"

"When someone runs into a lavatory bawling their eyes out, one does tend to worry a bit.  And sure enough, I managed to find the root of the problem."

Yet, she continued to look at him as if he had grown another head.

"Malfoy, are you feeling alright? Not once have you ever asked how I felt, or what makes my day go completely awry? It's a rare encounter, is all."

Malfoy scoffed. "Look, I'm simply trying to be nice for once. Don't let it go to your head, simply a consequence of our current situation. And given how shaken you looked, it would be of bad manner to simply walk out."

"How kind of you, really."

"Well, now that that's sorted out if you'll excuse me, I have places to be at Granger."

With that, he abruptly walked out of the lavatory, not waiting for another word to be exchanged. Not another look back to the girl seemingly stuck in her spot.

Hermione was still at a loss. " Bloody hell, what happened to Malfoy?"

She stayed in the lavatory a few more minutes before deciding to join her friends again. Hermione never managed to get an answer to her question. What had he been doing in a girl's lavatory?

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-m