The Girl Who Hid | George Weasley

ch 4 : the blood traitor

After the chaos that your summer ended in, it felt like you were back at school far too soon. Your first day of classes went smoothly, and you had a majority of your classes with Susan, and even a couple with the Gryffindors.

For your chosen subjects, you decided to take Muggle Studies and Care for Magical Creatures, which was one of your favorite classes after hearing about what Ron's older brother Charlie did as a dragonologist. You loved the idea of being able to care for creatures for a living.

After your last class finished for the day, you made your way down the hallway towards the library to do some studying for potions. That's when you saw Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle cornering a first year. You abruptly turned and moved down the hall, clenching your fists at your sides when you saw the fear in the boy's face.

You stormed over to them and snipped, "You three are weak cowards for picking on someone so much younger than you."

The three of them whipped their heads towards you with rage and disgust twisting their features. Malfoy spat, "I should have known the blood traitor would have come to ruin our fun."

He sauntered over to you with disgust in his eyes, but you just jutted your chin up and tried to summon any courage you had. He stepped up to you, but you swallowed your fear and declared, "It shows how insecure you are to try to bring down another person to make yourself feel better."

His nostrils flared, and he whipped out his wand. You grabbed your wand just as soon as he reached for his, staring at him with slightly shaking hands, but you continued to look him in the eyes to feign confidence.

His eyes shifted down to your shivering hands, and he laughed. He pointed and cackled, "Oh, look at the Hufflepuff shaking like a leaf. I guess the hat was right; she really isn't a Gryffindor. She's just stupid."

Crabbe and Goyle laughed along with Malfoy while you tried to just stare at him calmly and swallow your fear. You took a deep breath before calmly announcing, "Listen, I get it, Malfoy. If I had a father as terrible as yours, I would have a hard time connecting with others too. You don't have to be this way though. People will still want to be friends with you if you start acting with human decency."

Malfoy rolled his eyes before laughing, "At least I have a father."

You swallowed at the deep cut.

Crabbe and Goyle gave him high fives as the three of them cackled. Your eyes drifted to those two, and you noticed that the first year had gotten away. You just shook your head at his hurtful words and left them there laughing. You headed to the girl's bathroom that no one went to on the 2nd floor. As soon as you crossed the threshold, you felt tears collecting in your eyes.

Myrtle exited a stall crying but stopped once she saw you. "Y/N?" She called out.

You wiped at a couple useless tears as you sighed, "Hey, Myrtle. Can we just complain together? I've had a rough day."

Myrtle agreed, and the two of you sat complaining together, and it helped you feel a bit better to rant about it all.

Many people would avoid that bathroom and Myrtle, but you enjoyed hearing about her life and her experiences before she died. You believed that everyone had a right to be heard, and she appreciated you for that, greeting you whenever you came into the bathroom upset or just wanting to talk about your day. Many people found this strange, and other houses would make comments grumbling, "What a Hufflepuff..."

You didn't let it phase you. If people wanted to gossip about you for your kindness, that was their problem as far as you were concerned.

After a few minutes of talking with Myrtle and hearing about some of her similar experiences with students bullying her before she died, you gathered yourself and splashed some cold water on your cheeks. You waved goodbye to her and headed back to your dorm. When you came into the common room, a bunch of fellow students were gathered there, laughing and talking. You saw Cedric and Susan there, and normally you would go talk with them, but you kind of just wanted to lay down.

You moved quietly past them, hoping they wouldn't see you. You moved to your dorm and took off your robe once inside. Soon after you'd gotten into the room, it opened, and Susan came in with a worried expression. She wondered, "Are you ok? Your eyes are red, and you didn't say hello."

You just smiled gently at her and sighed, "Yes, I just wanted to lay down. Malfoy was being a jerk is all, but that's to be expected I guess."

Susan gave you a knowing smile and sat down on her bed. She wondered, "What happened?"

You pursed your lips and sat down on your bed as well. You explained, "Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were cornering a first year, so I confronted them to try to help the boy. I tried to point out that he doesn't have to act this way just because those around him do, but then he made a jab about me being fatherless. I guess I hit a nerve for him. I talked to Myrtle in the bathroom for a bit after to cool down."

She clarified, "Moaning Myrtle?"

You corrected, "I just call her Myrtle. Labels like that could be hurtful."

Susan chuckled softly, "I don't know why anyone ever wondered why you're a Hufflepuff because you are just about the kindest person I know."

You grinned at her in thanks while you collected some clothes to go take a shower. After reassuring her that you were truly alright but just wanted to sleep it off a bit, she left you again. You took a quick shower and laid down under the covers for a nap. As you laid there, you stared at the ceiling, turning Malfoy's words over in your mind.

He was right though. You wished more than anything to have parents around to take care of you and care for you, but you knew that you had made your own family in the Weasleys', Hermione, and Harry. As much as you wished to have your father in your life still, you knew that you would never want Lucius Malfoy as a father after seeing how he treats his son.

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