HARRY'S P.O.V.
"So, did Madame Pomfrey tell you how long she'll be in the hospital?" Ron asked as we left the Great Hall and headed for Divination.
"Yeah," I replied. "They'll let her out in a couple of days."
"Let who out in a couple of days?" came a voice from behind us. We turned to find Hermione walking towards us.
"She's going to go ballistic if we tell her," Ron mumbled out of the corner of his mouth.
"She's going to find out eventually if we don't tell her," I mumbled back, "then she'll be madder at us!"
"Who's in the hospital?" she asked again. Ron and I exchanged worried looks.
"Hermione," said Ron, "don't freak out when we tell you who it is, okay? We're going to break it to you slowly."
"Umm, okay," she said nervously. "Just tell me!"
Ron looked at me.
That was my cue.
"It's Cassidy," I said softly. "Cassidy's in the hospital."
"WHAT?!" she cried.
"I told you she'd flip out!" Ron said angrily.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she yelled. "What happened? Who did it? How badly is she hurt?"
People were giving us sideways glances as they passed us, looking at Hermione as if she was losing her mind.
"Hermione!" I cried, grabbing her shoulders and planting her firmly on the ground. "She's alright! She hit her head a little. Just be glad it wasn't any harder. She would've had a concussion if it had been any worse." Hermione covered her mouth in shock.
"Did someone purposely cause it?" she asked. Ron pursed his lips. I sighed.
"Telling you might not be the best thing to do right now," I said. "I think you should wait until you cool down. Or better yet, wait until Cassidy's out of the hospital."
Hermione grabbed my shoulders and pinned me against the wall, her fingernails digging into my skin. Ron tried to pull her off but, to mine and his surprise, he couldn't pull her off.
"Harry Potter!" she growled. "You will tell me who hurt my best friend right now or my nails will shred you down to your every last cell!"
I winced with pain. Her nails stung like ten little blue pixies were biting my skin.
"Don't tell her, Harry!" yelled Ron. "She'll kill him!"
"Him?" Hermione said, looking at Ron. Ron covered his mouth. Hermione retracted her nails and let her arms fall to her sides. I held my shoulders as searing pain shot through my body.
"Damn, Hermione!" I said through my teeth.
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" she asked, staring at Ron with a fearsome glare flickering in her eyes.
"I think you know the answer to that question, Hermione," said Ron quietly.
At that moment, we heard malicious laughter coming up the hallway and then, as if right on cue, Malfoy walked in, followed by Crabbe and Goyle. His nose still looked a bit swollen from when Cassidy had kicked him in the face.
"Hermione," Ron whispered, "don't." Hermione's hand began to slowly pull out the wand concealed in her robes.
"YOU VILE SCUM!" Hermione shouted. She sprinted towards him. Malfoy cried out in fear and bolted out the front doors into the Entrance Courtyard followed by Crabbe and Goyle with Hermione hot on their heels.
"No, Hermione!" Ron cried. He rushed after them. I had no choice but to follow behind them.
Looks like Hermione is the karma, I thought to myself.
She chased them through the Entrance Courtyard. Dozens of curious faces stared after the terrified Slytherins. Some cheered for Hermione to keep going, others just watched, and a few cheered for Ron and me to stop her before she got hurt.
She chased them across the bridge and finally had them cornered in the Stone Circle. She had the tip of her wand pointing at Malfoy's Adam's apple.
"How could you?" she growled.
"W-w-what did I do?" he asked, trying to sound scared.
All I can say is he would not have lasted a day in an acting class.
"Don't play dumb with me you foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach!" she shouted, pushing the wand in more. He coughed.
"Hermione, no!" Ron yelled. "He's not worth it!"
Silence fell. All that could be heard was our soft breathing and the wind rushing past our ears.
Hermione sighed and slowly lowered her wand. She turned away for a brief second, whirled back around, and punched Malfoy in the nose. There was a soft crunch, and Malfoy cried out in pain.
"You sdoopid Mudblood!" he screamed as he stumbled backward into Crabbe and Goyle. "Whad do you dink dis is, Mess up Malfoy Day?"
"Next time, it won't just be your nose," she growled. She pushed Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle towards the bridge. They bolted in fear just as Hermione shouted after them, "Stay away from Cassidy!"
Ron and I stared at her as if she'd gone mad. She smiled maliciously.
"That felt good," she said.
"Good?" Ron replied. "Hermione, that was brilliant!" She blushed. I nudged Ron in the side.
"Kiss up," I whispered. Ron scowled.
"C'mon, you two," said Hermione. "We're going to be late for Divination."
We walked back across the bridge and through the Courtyard. Neville Longbottom and Ron's twin brothers, Fred and George, came running up to Hermione.
"We just saw Malfoy run past, crying like a little school girl and holding his nose!" exclaimed Fred.
"What'd you do to him, Granger?" asked George with a sly grin.
"She gave him a good punch!" Ron replied.
"No way!" said Neville. "That's brilliant!"
"Wicked!" said Fred and George simultaneously. We all laughed.
We walked back through the front doors into the Entrance Hall to find Malfoy standing in a corner with Madame Pomfrey. His white dress shirt was coated in crimson. Blood gushed from his re-swollen purple grapefruit nose. Madame Pomfrey also seemed to be having a stern conversation with him.
"I really wish I didn't have to fix your nose, Mr. Malfoy," she grumbled. "After what you did to poor Cassidy, if I didn't know better, I'd say you deserved to get punched! Once your nose is healed, I will be escorting you to the Headmaster's office. Ms. McGrew told me about what happened and I think you need a good talking to."
Malfoy moaned with anger and pain as Madame Pomfrey shoved two sheets of Kleenex into each of his nostrils.
"Wow," I said, "two punches in the nose in one day. Must be a new record."
"Two punches?" said Hermione. "He was punched before me?"
"Yeah," said Ron. "Oh, you're going to love this story! Tell her about what happened, Harry!"
So, I told her the whole story about what happened between Cassidy and Malfoy. It wasn't until we reached Divination that I finally finished. Hermione was all smiles.
"I'm so proud of her!" she said happily. She jabbed herself in the chest with her thumb. "Taught her everything she knows."
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A/N: Hey my Sparkly Squad Members! Just wanted to say something real quick. I know Harry Potter is not as popular as it used to be (god those were the good ol' days wow I'm old) but I could seriously use some more reads on this. And I'm sure some of you might notice the writing style may be a TAD different than my other stories. I started this in the 6th grade and about a little over a year ago I found it again and kinda polished it up a bit. Trust me, while this may seem different than my usual writing style, the original was WORSE XD but again I was like 11 or 12!
Just wanted to get that off my chest. Anyway, my Sparklez Squad Memebers, you are dismissed. Be nice to people and stay sparkly!
~~C.S.