𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐌𝐘 - 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫

eight | the troll

-EIGHT-

Hermione continued to cry, venting as Khalida patted her back soothingly. She checked the time and said, "Lilith shall keep you company. I'll get us something from the Great Hall." 

"I'm not hungry." Sniffed Hermione. Khalida sighed and sat back down, saying, "Well you've got to eat something. You can't quench your thirst on tears and snot!" 

She laughed at that and Khalida continued, "It happened to me once, actually! I think a little bird had died in our orchard and I cried so much that I did indeed, end up quenching my thirst on tears!" 

A loud thudding from under them made Hermione look down, worried, but Khalida distracted her, "Honestly, boys are such idiots. I really hope one of these days Ron gets hit over the head hard enough for any smartness he had to come back."

Hermione smiled at her friend and replied, "I don't really know too much about your family. Tell me about yourself! You're almost always with Malfoy so I never really got to know you." Her flood of tears had slowed down, and she sat, simply sniffling as her Animagus friend narrated. 

"Well, I'm a half-blood. My father's a wizard, my mother was a muggle. She and Papa got a divorce in 1984. They married quite young, actually. Papa was 20, she was also 20. I was born a few months after they married in January 1980. I celebrated my birthday a day early, considering the fact that my birthday's on September 2nd. My mother abandoned me and Papa, taking all our money, so we had to leave our nice apartment in London to move to the country. He bought an apple orchard, though. In Sussex. Well, the wizarding part, of course." Khalida smiled at Hermione, shuffling closer in order to let the latter lean her head on the former's shoulder. 

"What's it like?" Hermione asked, eager to know more. This was a pleasant distraction indeed. "The orchard, I mean."

"We've got a good four acres of land. Our house is a little cottage on a hill next to a stream. We've got atleast seventeen apple trees growing all around the meadow, and there's a road which goes down the hill, away from the house, leading to the woods. It's got beautiful blue skies filled with puffs of cloud, and you can hear the rushing of the stream on a warm and still day. On the winder afternoons, you can hear the trees in the woods rustling loudly, as well as the apple ones we have all around. And if you're very quiet at night, you can hear the soft jingle of faerie's bells as they travel down the creek." Khalida explained everything, smiling as she described her home. 

"Faeries? Like the real faeries who live under the earth?" Hermione gasped. 

"Yes." Khalida nodded. "Now come on, woman up. Let's go to the Great Hall, hm?" 

The bushy-haired brunette wiped her eyes and stood up, walking out of the stall with Khalida, but the stench and sight of a huge mountain troll made them look up with a terrified gasp. They rushed back into the cubicle, only to have it smashed into bits with the troll's club. Ron and Harry appeared, and the latter yelled, "Hermione, Lia, move!" 

Both girls escaped the stalls, and Hermione ducked under the sink while Khalida grabbed a piece of wood and chucked it at the troll. It turned around and looked down at her, blinking stupidly as Ron and Harry chucked more wood at it. She shifted shape and snarled viciously, the hair on her back standing up. She let her ears go flat against her head as a savage glint in her eye made her look terrifying. Lilith yowled in fright and hid under the sink with Hermione, curling up into a ball under the girl's robes. 

In a series of leaps, Khalida's sharp claws dug into the troll's thick flesh as she climbed up, biting on the softer spots and barely holding on when it roared in pain, shaking to get her off. She held on for dear life, but was thrown to the ground by a flying piece of wood knocking her square on the shoulder. She yelped as she hit the stone floor, and turned back with whatever energy she had left. Her head was bleeding down the side as she and Hermione both called out to Ron, "Swish and flick!" 

He raised his wand and said, enunciating carefully, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The club was lifted out of the troll's hand and hovered just above his head. Khalida shuffled out of the way, clutching her head as pain shot through it like a bullet. It came down with a 'thud', knocking the troll unconscious. Harry crawled away, and reached into the troll's nose for his wand, which was covered in mucus. 

"Ugh," He grumbled, "Troll bogies." 

"Is it dead?" Hermione asked. 

"Maybe not. Probably just knocked out." Said Harry. The trio noticed Khalida leaning against a wall, clutching her bleeding head, making Ron exclaim, "Oh Merlin! I think she cracked her head against the floor when that wood piece hit her!" 

"You think?" Hermione scoffed. She looked at Khalida's pupils and said, "I think she might be concussed..."

Just then, McGonagall, Quirrell, and Snape rushed in. McGonagall gasped at Khalida's state and turned to Quirrell, saying, "Get her to the hospital wing, immediately!" The turbaned man nodded and took Khalida by the hand gently as he guided her to the hospital wing. 

Madam Pomfrey nearly passed out at the sight of Khalida, who's entire right side of the face was covered in blood. "My head hurts and I feel so nauseous." Khalida groaned. "And everything's so bloody fuzzy..." 

"She's wonderfully concussed." Sighed Madam Pomfrey. "You may go, Professor Quirrell. I'll handle this." 

Khalida was lain on a white infirmary bed, and she closed her eyes as Madam Pomfrey mended the horrific state of the girl's head. Khalida's dark brown hair was sticky with blood, and she hissed in pain when the hospital wing door burst open with a 'slam'. 

Madam Pomfrey glared at McGonagall, who had just entered and said in a whisper, "The child is concussed, Minerva! I'd appreciate it if you kept your volume to the lowest!" 

"My apologies, Poppy." Said McGonagall. "But I had to check on her. Is she quite alright?" 

"She will be, in about a day or two." Said Madam Pomfrey. Khalida's bronze eyes glowed gold all of a sudden, as she yelped out an exclamation of pain. She sat up, clutching her head and wailing, "He's back, he's here..." 

Shocked, McGonagall pulled out her wand and said, "Somnus!" Sending Khalida into a magically made slumber. 

"What was that?" Asked Madam Pomfrey. McGonagall shrugged, "I don't know, Poppy. But I do know that I must contact Remus. If you'll excuse me." With a majestic sweep of her emerald green robes, McGonagall walked out swiftly, worried about what Khalida kept repeating. 

"Who's back?" She wondered aloud. "And who's here?" 

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OMG TF JUST HAPPENED-?! I'll explain it soon, loves don't worry <3

This chapter is dedicated to: -veggie-, who commented first <3 Now, you know the drill, loves <33

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Daisy Rose