Chapter - 15.3

"That little piece of..." Ron was in a bad mood... Very... Very bad mood by the end of the Charms class.

"It's no wonder no normal person can stand her," Ron grumbled to harry as they pushed through the crowd, "She's nothing but a nightmare. Did you see how she showed off?"

"But she is indeed smart. You couldn't even move the feather in the end," Despite Ron, his dear friend grumbling, Potter did not console him.

"That..." Ron was speechless for a second. He thought that after all the effort he had put in for Potter, taking a stand for him, the latter would take his side.

"She is still a show-off. I bet she was the kid in school who had no friends," but since Ron had decided to bitch Hermione, he was not going to back off. It was the same with Alex. Most chose to ignore Alex for the good or bad, but Ron did not. He would poke Alex every time they crossed paths. According to Alex, Ron was nothing more than a sore loser. And he could hold a grudge.

"That can be true," Harry laughed softly, agreeing with Ron. Potter was playing it safe, agreeing and disagreeing with Ron. He had the carrot and stick approach toward Ron.

While the two boys were demeaning the efforts of Hermione, someone walked past them, knocking into Ron.

"Who the hell does not have eyes to walk?" Ron cried out in anger. Because of the push, he lost both, his footing and his temper altogether. But when he turned his neck to look at the person, he held back from saying anything else. It was Hermione.

Without caring about anyone, Hermione hurriedly walked away, pushing her way through. Even Alex, who was not far from Ron, could only get a glimpse of her face. She was in tears. In fact, almost everyone around Ron and Potter could hear them. And everyone who heard Ron thought it was all because of Ron. Potter was just a mute spectator, listening to his rant.

Even Nicole, who was not far behind them, glared at Ron with accusing eyes before running behind Hermione. With her nature, she would have been locking horns with Ron, but Hermione was her priority right now.

"I think she heard us," As he watched Nicole leave, Potter commented.

"Must have," Ron nodded in all seriousness, "But so what? She must have known that I was right," Ron shrugged.

Ron did not care much about the consequences. What could Hermione do? Go running to Professor McGonagall? She had no one behind her except for the teachers. And teachers won’t bring them down to get involved with such trivial matters.

On the other hand, Alex felt that whatever Ron said was not called for, even by his standards. Even if he was dissatisfied, he could have pulled his buddy Potter to some corner and vent out his frustration. To be honest, Alex did not care much about Hermione. It was just that Hermione was good to his sister, so he hoped well for her. But since Nicole had already gone after Hermione, there was nothing he could do anymore.

In the evening when Alex came to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast. He found the Great Hall decorated with candles and pumpkins. Ghosts flew around dressed funny, chasing each other or picking up fights with the students. Overall, the vibe in the Great Hall was spooky yet funny.

As he walked down the tables, Alex looked towards the Gryffindor table and found Nicole eating alone. Hermione was nowhere to be seen.

'Should I?' Alex thought. He was hesitant to poke his nose around unnecessarily. But deliberating over it for a while, Alex decided to ask. He made his way to the Gryffindor table towards Nicole. And this time, when Seamus and others saw him, they chose to ignore him.

"Where is your friend?" Alex asked Nicole, who was playing with her food absentminded.

"Huh...?" Nicole was jolted out of her thoughts after hearing a voice. She looked up to find her brother standing beside her.

"What are you doing here?" Nicole was flustered when she saw Alex. She hurriedly looked around, ready to defend him. But to her surprise, no one was even looking at them.

"I saw you playing with your food," Alex said, pointing at Nicole's plate. She had barely touched anything, "By the way, where is your friend?" Alex asked.

"Hermione...?" Nicole sighed, thinking about her friend, "She has been crying in the girl's bathroom since this afternoon. I think she is really hurt. No matter how much I consoled her, she wouldn't leave."

"... You can understand from the fact that she even skipped classes. I never thought anything could make her do that," Nicole said as she turned her gaze towards Ron and Potter. They were sitting not far from her, enjoying their meal, "It is all because of that arse. Nothing but poop comes out of his stinky mouth."

"So why are you not with her?" Alex asked.

"I was just until now. But she wanted to be alone for a while, so I left," Nicole told Alex, "No girl would want anyone else to see her crying her eyes out."

Hearing that Nicole was with Hermione all this while, Alex was pleased. Hermione had been with Nicole in her hard times, and it was only right of Nicole to return the favour. But when he looked at Potter and Ron, especially Ron eating with gusto, Alex frowned. The red hair looked more and more scum to him than ever before. That guy was incorrigible in Alex's eyes.

"She will be fine," Alex turned his gaze away from Ron and told Nicole, "And you should also help her. But before that, don't just stare at your food, but eat it as well."

"Umm..." Listening to her brother's advice, Nicole nodded. Now the roles have reversed, and she had to support Hermione.

Saying so, Alex left the Gryffindor table and made his way to the Slytherin side. On his way to the Slytherin table, Alex thought of something and decided something.

As soon as he reached the Slytherin table, he pulled out his wand and, pointing it towards one of the handkerchiefs, whispered, 'Forma Mutatio.'

And in front of the naked eyes, the handkerchief turned into a paper bag. But Alex didn't look like he was done. He put his wand away and started putting everything that caught his eye into the bag. Be it baked potatoes, sandwiches, sausages, roasted turkey, Yorkshire Pudding, custard tart, ice cream, treacle tart or anything.

'I guess it's time for me to play the role of a big brother,' Alex thought. Alex was going to bring all this stuff to Hermione. He was going to return the favour, nothing more than that.

"Where are you taking all this food?" Alex heard a familiar voice. Daphne was enjoying the feast with her friends when saw Alex pack the food in a bag, excused herself and walked up to him to ask.

"... Why don't you join us?" Daphne suggested.

"I have somewhere else to be," Alex replied and turned around to leave.

"Where?" Daphne asked from behind, but Alex had already walked away.

As soon as Alex walked out of the Great Hall, he pulled out the useful piece of paper he got from Professor Snape, the map.

"Hermione Granger," Alex called out. And in no time, he found a pair of feet on the map. Now all he had to do was follow the map. And soon following the map, Alex found himself outside a girls' bathroom.

But Alex did not enter right away. He strolled in front of it for a while instead. Alex had to make sure that no one was inside. He did not want to be labelled as some pervert just to return a small favour. After Alex had waited for a while, no one exited or entered the bathroom. Now he was sure that other than Hermione, there might be no one. So he looked around, and when no one could be seen, he sneaked inside.

Inside, Alex walked through every cubicle and checked them one by one. It was only at the end that he found one locked.

'This should be it,' Alex thought and knocked. But there was no reply. So, Alex knocked on the door once more.

"Who is it? I want to be alone, so please leave," Alex heard Hermione's hoarse voice.

"It's me, Alex, Nicole's brother..." Alex introduced himself. Listening to her, it was easy to discern that she had been crying all along.

After a while, Alex could hear some scuffling sounds from inside before it finally stopped. Soon the door opened slightly, and Hermione peeked from inside.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, peeking through the gap between the door.

"Why don't you come out first?" Alex asked, "It's uncomfortable this way."

"Okay," Hermione agreed and was about to come out when she suddenly remembered the state she was in. She quickly closed the door.

"You turn around first," Hermione said from behind the door.

"What? Why?" Alex asked, confused.

"Just do it," Hermione insisted without offering any explanation.

Alex could only comply with her wishes. With his back towards the cubicle, Alex heard Hermione open the door of the cubicle and swiftly walk towards the sink. She washed her face vigorously, and when she was done, she walked back to Alex. Alex, when saw her walk towards him with her face wet, he pulled out his handkerchief and offered it to her.

"Why are you here?" Hermione took the handkerchief from Alex and asked again.

Instead of replying straightaway, Alex pulled out the paper bag from earlier and took out a baked potato.

"I heard you missed the feast today, so I brought some for you," Alex said.

"But I am not hungr..." Hermione was touched by Alex's sincerity. But as Hermione tried to refute, her stomach betrayed her.

"Well, your stomach says otherwise," Alex smiled, "Don't think I am indebting you or something. Consider it a thank you for being with Nicole all this time. I know she can be a major pain, so not many people can hang in there."

"You didn't have to..." Hermione was surprised as she looked at Alex with a complicated gaze.

When Alex saw her staring at him, he asked, "What is it? Something on my face?"

"Nothing..." Hermione shook her head as she looked away, "It's just that you have changed?"

"Changed?" Alex raised his eyebrows and asked, "In what sense?"

"Remember our first meeting?" Hermione asked, "That was a disaster."

"Is that so?" Alex smiled. It was indeed a disaster. But has he changed? Not in the least. He still did not care about Hermione. He was here because of Nicole. As for Daphne, who seems close to him. It was the same. Were they really that close? Nope, it was always Daphne taking the initiative.

Does indulging with Hermione and Daphne mean that he cares about them? Not in the slightest. All Alex is doing is trying to not stand out and avoid the fuss Daphne might cause if he ignored her.

And Alex knew one thing. The smile was just part of the act. With things right now, he wouldn't miss them even if they were to go missing. And he really believed that.

"Why don't we go somewhere else to eat?" Alex did not answer Hermione and changed the topic, "I don't think it's appropriate for me to be here," Alex said, looking around. There was always a chance that someone might walk in any second.

"No one ever comes here," Hermione shook her head, understanding Alex's worry, "You don't have to worry."

"Why won't they?" Alex asked.

"Because of Moaning Myrtle, she is not here right now," Hermione replied.

"Moaning Myrtle?" Alex did not know what Hermione was talking about. But he was not here for the moaning one, "Well if you say so."

Alex did not waste any time, and with a wave of his wand, all the dishes he brought with him were flying in mid-air. They had just learned this magic today... And it was already coming in handy.

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