The Lost Souls

Ch 11 // sorta understanding life

Pansy walked down the largest hallway of Hogwarts with Hermione. They headed towards the doors of the Great Hall where the boys would, no doubt, have already saved seats for her. When they finally walked through the doors, Pansy saw Harry look at them right away. He seemed nervous and it was obvious why. He didn't know how Hermione would react and he wanted to be her friend.

Hermione, however, was looking at only the ground because she didn't feel too confident after revealing her darkest secret to Pansy. She only felt even worse than when no one knew about it at all. She was a bit happy that she has told someone, but she was also scared of her 'father' finding out that she told someone about it. It was the last thing that he wanted, and he would definitely break her neck or something just as bad if he heard she told someone.

Pansy walked a few steps ahead and made sure to sit on the side next to Draco while Hermione sat next to her. Millicent Bulstrode sat on the other side of Hermione. "Hello, Hermione" greeted Harry with a nervous smile. She ignored him and just started to take a bite of the food that had appeared when she took a seat. "Good morning Hermione" tried Draco. Pansy rolled her eyes at the boy she had once been best friends with, but now barely thought of him as an acquaintance.

Draco turned to Harry and they both were confused and frustrated that they couldn't even get a 'hello' from her. "Morning Hermione. Did you sleep well?" asked Dudley. Harry and Draco both turned their heads away because they figured she still wouldn't respond. "Good morning to you too, Dudley. Yes, I did have a good rest. Thanks for asking. What about you?" asked Hermione. Draco and Harry turned their heads to Hermione at once. They couldn't believe that Dudley had gotten her to talk but not them. What did he say that got a response? What did he do that was better? Or was it what he didn't do?

Dudley was surprised he got her to speak as well as his cousin and friend. "Uh, I had a decent slumber, yes" said Dudley. He looked at Harry and Draco and they all shared a looked of confusion and wonder. Why was she talking to him of the three? "Hermione, look at this lame Gryffindors. They're wearing red like it's cool. The only way anyone will like that color on them is if it's their blood" said Draco. She only put her fork down after her third bite of food and took a sip from her glass of orange juice. "Hermione, please talk to us" begged Harry. Again, she only put her glass down and turned to Pansy as if no one were in front of her. "Hey, want to go by the Great Lake after classes?" she asked her friend.

Harry realized she really was being unfair to them. She wasn't even acting one but attentive to him. Not even listening to Draco's usual commentary during meals about the Gryffindors. "Sure" answered Pansy. She clearly was not a fan of Draco's annoying opinions of every last thing in existence. "Hey, look at those Ravenclaws. Thinking they're all so smart with their books" said Draco. Still, he got no response or reaction from her. Which to anyone listening was believable. "Why don't we go by the Great Lake right now?" suggested Pansy. "Great idea" said Hermione before they stood up and left.

Draco and Harry groaned simultaneously. Why was it so hard for them to get her to listen? They wanted to make amends for what they did. "What are we going to do? She won't even look our way" wondered Harry aloud. Draco looked at the girls leaving the doors. Harry looked the same way. "We'll do anything and everything. We're Slytherins. It's what we do" said Draco. "Yeah, okay" said Harry.

Dudley grabbed his glass of apple juice and finished the last of it before standing up from his seat. "Where are you going?" asked Harry. Dudley looked at them, then towards the doors where the girls just disappeared seconds ago, then back at his cousin and friend. "I don't know about you guys, but Hermione actually is on speaking terms with me. I better go and make sure she's alright so she'll still accept me as a friend" said Dudley. Then he turned and walked to the doors, rushing to catch up with the two girls in his year.