Everlasting ⁂ Harry Potter [1]

Chapter Twelve

At first, Liv had some issues locating Hermione. But after hearing one of the Patil twins commenting on how she had been hiding in one of the girls' bathrooms all afternoon, she quickly made her way there. And it was a slight relief once she entered the bathroom to hear Hermione's shuffling in one of the stalls. But it wasn't a relief to also hear her quiet sobs.

"Hermione, it's Liv. Do you want to let me in?" She gently asked, leaving a light knock on the only closed door among the stalls.

"No." Hermione answered weakly.

"Okay then, would you rather we talk like this? I mean, we don't have to talk if you don't want to. Or we can talk about something completely random." Liv suggested. She just wanted to make her feel better.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to Olivia, I'll be fine." Hermione said dismissively. Her mind flashed back to Ron's words. Maybe they were true. Maybe Olivia didn't really want to be friends with her, but her Hufflepuff kindness didn't make her just shoot Hermione down directly.

"What I want is for you not to be sad. So even if you don't want to talk, I'll just sit down here and wait." Olivia said with determination, ready to sit down on the other side of the door, however, the sound of it creaking open brought a small smile onto her face as she moved inside, sitting opposite of Hermione and letting her back lean against the wall.

"You really don't have to do this." Hermione tried to say again as she watched Olivia take a seat, but the girl only gave her a pointed look making her quiet down and hold back whatever else she would have said had she been allowed to continue.

"Will you stop that? I want to do this, okay?" Liv asked, wanting to make it clear that there was no other place she'd rather be. Even though she had heard from Gwen and Cedric that the Halloween feast was one of the best things throughout the year in Hogwarts, it didn't feel right to her to go enjoy herself while her friend was upset.

"You shouldn't listen to Ron. He is wrong. I really like being your friend Hermione." Olivia said openly, sending the girl a wide smile as she spoke.

"Really? Even though I can come across as a know-it-all?" Hermione asked in surprise. She had heard the term being used to describe her many times before, and she was aware that sometimes it may come across wrong. But it was something she was trying not to do so much.

"Ah, but are you a know-it-all or do you just know all?" Olivia asked jokingly, and the words made Hermione give out a small laugh. "You're smart, so what? I like that about you. Ron's just jealous." Olivia dismissed. She wasn't really sure whether Ron truly was jealous and was that the reason he said those mean things, but it seemed like a possibility. She herself was aware that Hermione's intelligence can be a bit intimidating at times, but she didn't mind it. She liked having a friend as smart as the Gryffindor girl.

"So you still want to be my friend? Study together and all that?" Hermione asked curiously, remembering the plans they had made right before Ron's outburst.