fred weasley and athena potter sort of have a requited-unrequited love for one another, they're so madly in love with each other yet they think it's one-sided.
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Isabella Ridley is several things, and yet, a coward will never be one of them.
So, when Isabella had nearly died from the Cruitatus curse, she wanted nothing more than to go straight back into action, make sure what happened to her wouldn't happen to other muggle-borns. Unfortunately, the majority of the Order wasn't so keen on letting her do so, which left the girl to be stuck in the Hosptial Wing of Hogwarts.
"Why won't you let me out, Poppy? Please?" Isabella begs, looking at the healer with pleading eyes, as the Ravenclaw was sure she would go insane if she had to stare at the beige walls one more time.
The Healer gives the curly-haired girl a small smile, "The Order insisted that you rest, and frankly, I agree." She says.
"Today is the first time since you've woken up where your vitals are stable, and I would prefer to keep it that way." She tells Isabella, making the girl give a weak smile before beginning to fidget with the deck of cards that George had given her for entertainment.
Isabella hated being trapped inside the hospital. All they ever did was remind her of terrible memories, her mother's death, Cedric being in the coma, Athena getting knocked out after the Department of Mysteries. And not to mention, she really, really, really, hated looking at the beige walls- she always did find them ugly.
"In fact," Madame Pomfrey says, bringing Isabella out of her thoughts and back to reality, "It's best if you take a nap, I'll draft you up a draught, it'll help you sleep better."
"Actually," Someone else says, the sound of a new voice making both Isabella and Madame Pomfrey turn around. "I would like to talk to Isabella if you don't mind,"
Isabella's eyes widened slightly as they met Hermione standing behind Madame Pomfrey. A small smile appearing on the Gryffindor's lips when the Healer nodded in approval, walking away to give the two ladies some privacy.
Isabella had been surprised to see Hermione. The two had been close during Isabella's time in Hogwarts. They have several things in common, so much so, that Isabella always saw part of herself in Hermione. Both muggle-borns with a thirst to prove themselves. However, Isabella was rather surprised that Hermione had visited her.
"Hermione?" Isabella asks, genuine confusion laced in her voice. "What are you doing here?" She continues, making the Gryffindor smile sheepishly.
"I actually wanted to talk to you," She says, "If that's alright."
***
At least ten minutes had passed since Hermione had shown up at the Hospital Wing, and while Isabella had been grateful for the visit- especially considering that the girl had skipped class in order to visit her, and Hermione Granger does not skip class, all she had done since arriving was fiddle with the ends of her sweater.
"Mione?" Isabella asks, "As much as I like your presence, why are you visiting me?" She continues, staring at the bushy-haired girl.
Hermione hesitates for a moment, almost as if she's contemplating something before beginning to speak, "I'm scared," The muggle-born blurts out, "I'm really scared Isabella, and Ron and Harry- I love them, but I can't tell them how I'm feeling right now. They'll never get killed over their blood-status. Ron's a pure-blood, and Harry's a half-blood. And while being a blood-traitor is frowned upon, they'd never get killed for it..."
Her sudden confession had come out in such a rush, Isabella's heart couldn't help but ache upon hearing them.
Isabella's mind couldn't help but wonder, thinking about how many times Hermione had felt like this growing up, especially as the war begins to grow increasingly worse. Isabella's mind went back to what Athena had said a few days ago, about how unfair it was that the Wizarding World had gotten to the point where it was unsafe for muggle-borns, muggle-born children, at that.
"I know how you feel, Hermione," Isabella says, knowing that in her time at Hogwarts, she had been in a fairly similar situation to Hermione.
Cedric and Elliot both came from pure-blood families, and Athena was a half-blood, they never had to face being called a mud-blood, or get treated differently just because of their blood so Isabella understood why Hermione struggled to go to Ron and Harry about this.
"Growing up," Isabella says, "Athena, Cedric, and Elliot never went through what I went through. And as much as I knew they'd hex anyone who even dared call me a mudblood, it didn't stop people from doing so." The girl's mind then goes back to a couple of days ago, in Hogsmead, and the agonizing pain she had been in, "And now, I almost got killed because of it."
Hermione clears her throat, shifting in her seat uncomfortably, before starting to talk "That's why I came here, Isabella. I don't want to live in a world like this, we can't live in a world like this, where muggle-borns have to worry about their lives every single day over something we can't control. I want to take action. How do we take action?"
"We fight." Isabella answers back sharply, "We fight in this war, just like everybody else. But we fight for more than just getting rid of You-Know-Who." She says, "We fight for the muggle-borns, we fight for every time we've been called a mudblood. And we don't back down, and you know why we don't?" She asks, making the girl in front of her tilt her head.
"Cause we're smarter than that, Mione."
***
When Hermione Granger had reappeared in the Gryffindor common room, a content smile had been plastered on her face.
Ron was the first to spot the girl, the presence of his favorite bushy-haired girl making his face light up instantly. "Mione?" He asks, "Where did you go?" He continues, hinting at the fact that the girl had been noticeably missing in their Advanced Potions class.
"Suck it!" Ginny shouts out suddenly, making everyone in the common room look at her. "I won, Ron! I won! I never win!" She exclaims excitedly, making Ron scoff, turning away from Hermione and at his sister. "Oh sod off, Ginny! You only won because I was busy talking to Mione!" He cries out, refusing that someone as horrible at Wizarding chess could ever beat somebody as good as him.
Hermione sighs in content, watching as the two Weasley twins bicker about who had actually won the back. Because for the first time, Hermione Granger wasn't worried. She felt as if weights had been lifted off of her shoulders. She needed that conversation with Isabella, because even though Hermione Granger is not one for reassurance, just this once, she needed to be reminded that she wasn't going to be alone in this war.
The girl takes a seat in the space next to Harry, where the bespectacled boy looks over at his best friend, "How was your conversation with Isabella?" He asks, wiggling his eyebrows knowingly. Nobody had known that Hermione had gone to visit the Ravenclaw.
"None of your business, Potter," Hermione says, a smug smirk on her face as Harry just rolls his eyes and bringing the girl who had grown to be his sister to his side.
***
A/N: Sorry for the short chapter! I needed a filler between the last chapter and what I plan to write in the next chapter. Also, this chapter might not be my best- but I wanted to try writing a chapter from a different perspective that isn't Athena or Fred, and I really liked how it turned out.
Also, this book is almost at 20k reads! That's insane. Thank you so much for reading this story! I never thought I could get so many reads.
