Treacherous | Hermione Granger Book II

|54| Chapter Fifty-Four

F I F T Y  F O U R 

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Saffron felt as though she were in a nightmare as she was escorted up to the Gryffindor tower by Amanda later on that evening. After her sleep, she had been cleared to go and was shown Hermione, who had joined the ever-growing line of students who had been petrified. Her closed off bed was right in between Justin Finch-Fletchly and Olly Jowett, with Emilia Kallantar and Penelope Clearwater on either side of them. Hermione, of course, looked just as she had looked when Saffron found her in the library earlier on that morning. But that didn't make it any easier to look at her friend in such a state.

Hermione had been the one person to be friend with Saffron all the way through her time at Hogwarts. It had taken her a sizeable amount of time to befriend Lavender and Parvati, she had loathed Harry and Ron at first, she and Maya were going through a rough patch in their relationship courtesy of the Summer scandal, but Hermione had been there through all of it. Knowing that she wasn't going to have her for the next while was a difficult pill for Saffron to swallow. What made it worse was the circumstances under which Hermione had sped off to the library.

Hermione seemed to be onto something. As Saffron looked back on that ill-fated morning, she vividly recalled Hermione rushing off because she thought that she had figured something out. Now, they weren't going to know what she had figured out until Hermione would wake up. For all they knew, by that point, it could be too late. 

Amanda left Saffron at the foot of the common room and told her to not hesitate in contacting her if something felt off. Saffron wanted to tell her that the very thought of going into the common room felt off, but didn't, as she knew she was going to have to face whoever was in there at some point. She felt utter. dread at the prospect of having to walk into the common room alone. Undoubtedly, the Gryffindors were all discussing what had happened to Hermione and Penelope, and likely her too.

When Saffron plucked up the courage to enter, there was a wave of chatter directed at her. Students of all years seemed to want to know exactly what had happened, all Saffron said was that she wasn't petrified (as many people seemed to have speculated that she had been) and merely kept her sights firmly set on her dormitory. It was with relief that she changed into her nightdress and fell back onto her bed. The only part that felt terrible was the sickening feeling she got when she saw Hermione's neatly made bed.

She shouldn't have been surprised when Lavender and Parvati entered the room, but for some reason, she was. The pair too looked forlorn and shaken, notably because of the eerie bed that would no longer be in use for the time being. Even though Hermione was Muggleborn, Saffron had never truly believed that Hermione of all people could fall victim to the monster. She was simply too clever and the fact that someone as remarkable as Hermione could be attacked truly instilled the thought that nobody was safe. The same went for Penelope, for she was a Prefect and a highly advanced witch for her age. 

"How are you holding up?" Parvati took a seat at the edge of Saffron's bed nervously. The girl exchanged a glance with Lavender, who took looked nervously in Saffron's direction. 

"I feel cursed,"

"Cursed?" Lavender repeated.

"First I run in on Mrs. Norris, then Olly and Emilia got petrified because I didn't go with them, now Hermione, again, because I didn't stop her or . . . or go with her,"