Innocent

c h a p t e r f o u r t e e n

"TRUST ME, YOU HAVE GOT TO SEE THIS!" 

Hermione shoved the flasks in her pocket and turned around. Ginny was shifting from one foot to the other excitedly, pointing towards the door. 

"I can't. I have some things to take care of."

Ginny huffed. 

"You're always busy. Come on! Take a break from studying."

"Ginny, it's kinda important."

Ginny rolled her eyes. 

Hermione thought quickly. Ginny's innocent gaze made Hermione's stomach churn in guilt. Maybe this time, she would only tell her part of it. 

"It's something about a... boy."

"Oh my-"

"I'll tell you afterward."

She wasn't sure what to call him, so she tried to avoid saying his name out loud. It felt like she was taking back all those years of rivalry. They still existed in her mind, but she knew he was different now. 

"Mhm!" Ginny said. Before laughing. "Go get him!"

"I will."

Ginny shot her a huge thumbs up, and Hermione smiled. 

                               *********************************

"Oh gosh..." Hermione said to herself. 

Her heart was cracking into pieces and scattering throughout her bloodstream. Hermione shoved her hand against her chest. It was pounding normally- 1, 2, 3. It must have been another side effect. Any second, she could transform, and she had no way of anticipating it. Somehow she already knew the transformation was coming- even a little early. It wasn't even dark outside. The cold bathroom stall surrounded her. She pulled a flask out of her pocket and examined the liquid. It was murky and lightly pigmented. Her hands wobbled uncertainly as the world melted away.

A dreadful sensation spread through her limbs. She tipped the flask down her throat. It was bitter. Hermione remembered learning somewhere about how bitter was the number one clue for poison. Her eyes were bags of sand. She tried to stand up, but her body was molasses. 

"Wait-"

She fumbled with the door handle. No matter how she twisted it the door didn't move. Left. Right. She turned it again. It clicked. Her vision was hazy streaks of black through a tunneled camera lense. The girl in the mirror was as pale as a ghost. Hermione forced herself through the door. 

Her legs forced themselves toward a familiar place. She needed Draco. His honestly sobered her. He could sit next to her by the lake. They could talk. The room swirled around her. Hermione blinked and realized she was face down in a bookshelf. Right, she needed to focus. Focus. Focus. Focus. The words wiggled like fish through her mind. 

Staples pierced through her hand, and water dripped off it. She looked down and realized the water was blood. When she'd fallen against the bookshelf, the other flask must have shattered. A horrid realization spread over her, but she was too groggy to sort it out. 

Her head hit against the edge of a bed frame. She was out cold. The memories began filling the cell of her brain. Each one sped through her. 

"Get away from me, filthy Mudblood." 

The voice came with a face. Malfoy loomed over her with a smug look on her face. She tried to resist, but words were caught in her mouth. He held a youthful boy look. 

"Why don't you mind your space next time? I don't like being around you either." She heard someone say. She realized it must have been her. 

The insult was barely reaching it, but she saw the look of disgust his eyes held. 

"Come on boys, I'm tired of breathing in her air."

The vision faded out as he walked away smugly. She wanted to run after him, pull him down, and throttle him. Her hands were still glued dumbly to her sides as she took it on. 

Proverbs 10:12 -  Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.