Chapter Two- Confrontations.
The Next Morning Harry woke to the sound of silence, so he sleepily grabbed his glasses from his nightstand before checking the time on his clock which read 9:00am Saturday 9th September. Realising his dorm mates must of gone to breakfast Harry got out of bed, put on a pair of red converses and grabbed his wand before leaving the Gryffindor tower for the great hall not even bothering to change out of his PJs.
Once at the great hall Harry sat down beside his best friend Hermione Granger at the Gryffindor table ignoring the strange looks he was receiving from his classmates and made himself a plate of breakfast. Harry had just started to eat when the great hall suddenly went quiet as a hand tapped him on the shoulder.
Turning his body to see who had tapped him on the shoulder, Harry came face to face with someone he didn't expect to see, the girl he'd helped the night before, Daisy Flint. She smiled happily and said softly "Potter I just want to re-thank you for saving me last night from those Gryffindor boys, I truly appreciate it as no one has ever stood up for me before". Harry smiled back and replied "it's ok, I was happy to help, you seem like a sweet and bright young girl. Plus bullies are horrible people".
Daisy hugged Harry before going to the Slytherin table and sitting down on the bench opposite Draco Malfoy. She began to eat her breakfast unaware of the drama that she had unknowingly started. Turning back to his fellow Gryffindors Harry was met by surprised and in Ron Weasley's case angry faces. Seeing Ron was about to explode Harry internally winced as he knew he was about to be yelled at.
And just as he thought Ron suddenly started yelling "WHAT THE HELL POTTER, WHY WOULD YOU SAVE AND DEFEND A FILTHY SLYTHERIN, ESPECIALLY ONE FROM THAT FAMILY, YOU ARE MEANT TO BE A LOYAL GRYFFINDOR THAT HATES THOSE FILTHY SLYTHERINS JUST AS MUCH AS THE REST OF US, YOU'RE A DISGRACE TO GRYFFINDOR AND TO YOUR PARENTS TOO, THEY'RE PROBABLY WISHING IT WAS YOU THAT DIED INSTEAD OF THEM!". By the end of Ron's rant Harry had tears in his eyes as his parents was a hard subject for him.
Hermione seeing Harry was getting upset glared furiously at Ron before slapping him around the face and declared "Harry did the right thing. That poor girl doesn't deserve to be treated horribly because she's a Slytherin or because of who her family are, no-one does. We're all Hogwarts students we come to this school to learn and make friends not to be judged and bullied. Harry is not a disgrace to Gryffindor or to his parents. His parents would be proud of him. To say that they probably wish it was him that died that night instead of them is just cruel and hurtful. Truthfully I'm glad someone is standing up for the other houses, I'm starting to wonder why Harry and I are friends with you in the first place as you are always insulting me and abandoning Harry when he needs you".
Once finished speaking Hermione was shocked to see that most of her house agreed with her and was even more shocked when she saw her head of house, professor McGonagall and the head of Slytherin house professor Snape had come over to the table. Surprisingly it was professor Snape that spoke first, he said "Mr Potter for your actions last night I am awarding you 20 points, I saw what you did for that girl and can assure you now your mother would have been proud. And Miss Granger 20 points to you as well for standing up for your friend and being there when he needed you".
Professor McGonagall smiled down at her favourite students and said "Miss Granger well done for being there for Mr Potter through thick and thin I'm incredibly proud of you. And as for you Mr Potter, like professor Snape here has said your mother would be proud of you as would your father, I know I am. Oh and Mr Weasley you will be doing a month of detention with professor snape here and you have had your prefect badge renounced for abusing your power".
Harry smiled weakly and thanked the professors as they left as well as Hermione before quietly saying "I'm not hungry anymore, I'm going to go and get some air" and leaving the great hall. Neville Longbottom looked at extremely worried Hermione sitting opposite him and said "don't worry, he'll be ok, he's just a bit hurt at the moment, the comment about his parents was a low blow for him, he probably just needs some space right now". She sighed resting her chin on her folded arms and replied "he's been through so much Nev, those words are probably ripping him apart, I can't help but worry for him, he means the world to me".
Neville looked at the girl before replying "Hermione look at me, I may not be that close to Harry but I do know this, he wouldn't want you to worry about him, he's a strong guy he'll be ok, if we don't see him in the next hour or so we can go find him OK". Hermione looked thoughtful for a minute before nodding and saying "you're a great guy Neville, I'm glad you care for Harry he deserves to have a great friend like you in his life". She nearly didn't hear what he said next which was "he's my godbrother, I'd do anything for him, he's always been there for me when I needed someone and now I'm returning the favour".
Smiling the two Gryffindors left the great hall and made their way back to their tower to get ready for the day wondering where Harry Potter had gone off to.