Chapter 39 - Fragile Peace

It took two more days before Hermione was totally healed and ready to leave the infirmary.

Harry had spent all that time beside her bed and no amount of persuasion by either Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor Minerva or Professor Flitwick managed to move him from his post as her guardian.

And she might have been have just imagined it in her drowsy state but she felt that Professor Minerva was looking at Harry with a small amount of fear.

During that time, another older Ravenclaw girl named Penelope Clearwater, the Prefect of Ravenclaw house joined them a few times as well, if only to teach Harry about the Ancient Runes.

Harry had later told her that he was paying the older Ravenclaw in order to learn the basics of Ancient runes from her but from the way they both looked at each other, she realized that they had moved beyond the relationship of a employer and an employee and were now good friends.

A part of her felt betrayed and sad over the fact that during their time apart, Harry had gained another friend but another part of her was happy that he had gained someone else who also cared a great deal about her.

And now that she was getting discharged from the infirmary, she realized that she had missed something very important regarding her condition. Something that she should not have missed at all if she have not been actively trying to push the subject out of her mind.

So she went closer to Penelope and whispered in her ear "Umm… Do you know what happened to the Troll after… you know."

The question was hard for her to ask as she was a little traumatized by that event but she had not expected Penelope to pale at her words.

What had really happened to the troll for her to get so pale at it's mere mention. Not to mention that she looked a bit sick as well.

Did it try to attack her too?

Before her thought could turn any wilder, the older Ravenclaw turned to her and gave her a weak smile and whispered 'Later' before she left the room in a hurry.

It was only later that she would know how brutal Harry could be when the people close to him were hurt. And even though the unexpected death of the Troll disturbed her a bit, she did not let it show in her face and didn't let it come between her and Harry's friendship.

Because at the end of the day, Harry had done what he had done because he cared for her so it would be hypocritical of her to berate him for his actions.

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Her housemates were scared of her.

Hermione came to that conclusion as soon as she entered the common room and that thought was later confirmed when the rest of the girls refused to enter their room while she was in there.

The fear in their eyes made her uncomfortable but she knew that she would now be spending most of her time with Harry so there was no point in thinking about it.

As long as they stayed out of her way and let her go about doing her own thing, she was satisfied.

It was only later that she would know why they were so scared of bothering her.

But the sight like that would traumatize anyone and quite a few teachers had felt uncomfortable about the whole event and had come together to talk about it.

As it so happened, their whole talk was over heard by some older Gryffindor students who had then later told the truth of the Troll's demise to other students of their house and the rumor spread from there.

How Harry Potter destroyed the Troll in his rage because the troll hurt Hermione.

In essence, the teachers never leaked the news knowingly so the magical oath didn't effect them in any manner so no one was able to confirm who spread the rumor and so, the few skeptical students still did not believe the rumor.

But the Fred and George Wesley asked Headmaster Dumbledore about the truth in front of the whole school at the Great Hall and even though Dumbledore didn't gave any reply, the expression on the face of the staff members sitting beside him and their silence confirmed everything for the students.

This all happened while Hermione was still in the infirmary and by the time she was allowed to leave, she had come to a whole new school where all the students were now terribly afraid of Harry Potter.

It must be said that a lot of older witches, while afraid of him, were also terribly impressed by him and would bother Hermione a bit so that she could set up a blind date for them with Harry Potter but a curt reply was all that it took for the girls to leave her alone because even though they wanted to be together with such a powerful wizard, they were also scared of him.

But as with all things, a few weeks later, the rumors started to die down then the attention of the other students was taken from Harry Potter to other things like Quidditch and other day to day matters.

Still, the rumors had done their job and it would a long time before anyone would dare to antagonize Harry Potter and his friends.