The Cat & The Canary

CHAPTER TWO - THE REACTION

- Hermione's Point Of View -

The rest of the day was no better - Professor Mc'Gonagall allowed me to spend the day in her quarters so that I could get used to the fact I was half-cat now; we sat and talked over tea and biscuit but I still felt no better, I was still in shock over what happened with Harry, Ron, and Ginny. How could they have done this to me? I was their best friend, the one who let them copy my work when they didn't know or didn't want to do it, the one who racked up most, if not all, of the Gryffindor House's Points - That Hourglass of Rubies is because of me, not the Boy-Who-Lived or his Weasels Buddies - Great. Now, I sound like Malfoy.

That night - Professor Mc' Gonagall was kind enough to walk me to the Dormitories when someone looked at me, she would glare at them as if she was daring them to say anything that would result in points getting deducted and detentions being dished out - no one uttered a single word. I went to my dorm and sat on my bed as I looked at the mirror, at my reflection - it sickened me. Not how I looked, how everyone that I once trusted turned their backs to me when something this bad happened. I closed my eyes and thought back to what Madame Poppy said - Merlin was showing me who were and weren't my friends, that he has planned something grand for me. I wonder what that could be. The sudden feel of something furry brushing against the back of my hand caused me to open my eyes, locking them with the golden eyes of my friend - Crookshanks. He nuzzled his head against my hand, a light purr coming from his throat, it was like he was trying to tell me that he was not going to leave me nor forsake me, that made me smile.

"At least I still have you, Crooks," I said as I gathered the cat in my arms and laid on my bed looking up at the ceiling before I closed my eyes and drifted into slumber.

- The Next Day -

The Morning was hell for me - The moment I woke up, I could hear mummers of discontent and discouraging things coming from the fellow lions in my pride, names that I have never heard anyone call another living being: Dog-Bait, House Cat, Rat-Eater, just to name a few, but each and everyone was just as hurtful as the last. I closed my eyes tightly, refusing to let any tears fall from my face before I tied my long brown curly hair in a ponytail and walked out for the Common Room with narrowed eyes; I was not going to let these traitors get the best of me.

As I went throughout the day, it only got worse - No one wanted me to sit next to them at breakfast in the Great Hall, leaving me on the edge of the Gryffindor table with a large space that could seat at least 5 people. I could hear it...the comments...the insults...the judgment.

"What does the House Cat sit at the table? She's a cat. Cat's eat on the floor." - Said a Gryffindor, my own house.

"Do you think she is contagious? I don't want to catch whatever that thing has." - I heard a Hufflepuff say and they're supposed to be kind & loyal.

"You don't think that freak will try to eat one of us, do you? Cats love to eat birds." - Quoth a Raven.

"Hey, look - The Mudblood is all alone. I guess Potter finally decided to kick her filthy ass to the curb." - Slytherin. Fucking Snakes.

"You didn't hear? Potter and the Weasel Siblings told her to her face that they didn't want to hang out with her because she was a fucking freak. I mean, just look at her - who would what to sit with her?"

"Wow. Filthy & A Cat. She might as well be a stray." That did it for me.

I got up and walked out of the Great Hall but before I could leave, I heard something that I didn't expect to hear.

"She doesn't deserve this kind of treatment. Not after everything she has done."

I wanted to go back and see who said that but I refused to go back in that room and headed to My Potions Class.