Friend-Ship...?

"Uuuh... What-," Hermione groggily mutters as she forces her head off of her pillow. Her tiredness quickly dissipates as she recalls recent events. "W-what!?" she exclaims and rapidly sits up, but forces her panic down as she sees the closed canopies of her roommate's beds.

Wait, how did she get back to her room? Harry knocked her and Neville out after-... Her cheeks redden, remembering how heroic he'd looked risking his life to save her. It was like a fairy tale come to life, like she was the heroine in one of the many books written about him...

He'd cast so many spells she'd never seen or heard of before, until he somehow turned the entire troll to dust! To do that to a magically resistant creature was on the level of Dumbledore, or maybe even Merlin! And he was only an eleven-year-old boy!

She falls back into her bed and wraps her arm around her pillow, attempting to calm her heart. Then her mood falls as she remembers his attempts to remove her and Neville's memory... Why had he done that? It wasn't like he was trying to keep his abilities secret, right? In class he'd shown he didn't even need a wand!

But then, why did she still remember? Had he made a mistake?... Magic was made of intent, so, had he not wanted her to lose her memory...?

She hugs the pillow tighter as she feels her breath hitch, rubbing her legs together in a slight stupor.

She'd been trying to keep her distance from him after what he'd said about his parents, yet he'd still risked his life to save her... She knew the rumours that he'd not been friendly with a single other person during his time in Hogwarts. W-was she his only friend? Was that why his spell failed?

...

She'd been a horrible friend, and she desperately needed to make up for it... After she removes the gum from her hair...

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At breakfast in the Great Hall Hermione sits next to Neville, who had a black eye for some reason. Shaking her head, she leans closer and whispers surreptitiously, "Hey Neville, what happened yesterday?"

"Hm? Oh..." he grimaces, "I-er, sorry. I tried looking for you after you left at dinner but apparently I fell and hit my head." he rubs the skin next to his eye, "I don't remember much, but just know that I'm sorry for what Ron did, he was a jerk and you don't deserve to be joked around..."

Hermione smiles sweetly, but not for Neville. The revelation that she was the only one who still possessed her memory only emboldened her earlier ideas. She shoots an intense gaze at the Boy-Who-Lived who was quietly enjoying breakfast with his pet snake, occasionally forcing her eyes away when he catches her staring.

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Dumbledore climbs to his feet once most of the school was in attendance for breakfast, his mind still pondering how a Mountain Troll had gotten inside Hogwarts, but also how it'd gotten out without anyone's notice.

The portraits had told him that the troll had been chasing Miss Granger and Mr Longbottom, but he'd found both unconscious in the middle of the hallway, the nearby painting and portraits with their memories erased.

Even the house elves hadn't seen anything, leaving him with many unanswered questions. His first instinct was to blame it on young Harry of course, but he put such a thing to the back of his mind. The boy, despite his apparent magical potential, wasn't nearly strong enough to control or annihilate a fully-grown mountain troll.

Thus, his suspicion fell on the one who'd unleashed it in the first place. Professor Quirrel, the one currently being possessed by Voldermort. Yes, he knew, why wouldn't he? He might be old but he wasn't senile yet.

He'd only allowed the man to work as a teacher as it'd allow him to set up a trap that would hopefully remove the threat of Voldemort entirely. The specialised wards protecting the Philosopher's Stone should be able to trap any wraith or ghost caught in it, and if that didn't work, he'd manipulate young Harry to use his mother's blood magic protection to try and finish the job... Even if the latter doesn't seem possible upon the recent developments.

Running a hand through his long beard, he sigh and focused on the students below him, "Before you all trot off to class, I have an unfortunate announcement to make. Last night, it came to my attention that a mountain troll of all things somehow snuck into the castle-" he coughs loudly his fist as the hall bursts into chatter.

"So! For the time being until the halls have been declared safe, I must ask that students third year and younger be escorted between functions by a member of staff or your House's Prefects-, yes! I am aware that this will take away some of your personable freedoms, but your safety comes first and foremost!

I have already requested Mr Filch, our Groundskeeper Hagrid, and Madam Hooch to take time out of their busy schedules to assist in this. The school's ghosts and portraits are also keeper watch, which some of you should be mindful of next to time you wish to sneak into a broom closet..." his eyes gleam at a few of the more promiscuous wizards and witches.

"Last but not least, I am happy to say that no one was seriously injured, so let us keep that comforting fact true for the rest of this year and every year thereafter." he claps his hands, causing the candles to burn bright for a moment, "Now, I seem to have prattled on without thought, some of you have classes to get to?" he says, prompting many students to grab their things and run out, their Prefects chasing after them due to the lockdown Dumbledore had just started mere moments ago.