Chapter 17

Everything happened so fast that by the time anyone reacted, Harry and Grace had already passed out.

When Grace woke up, she was already lying in the hospital wing. She tried to recall what happened after she cast the spell. She remembered fighting off the Dementors, then feeling incredibly dizzy, and hearing Hermione calling her name.

She closed her eyes to rest. Maybe it was because her body was only fourteen years old. Casting such powerful magic had taken everything she had, and her body just could not keep up.

Just as she was drifting off to sleep, she woke up again because of the noise around her. She looked over and saw the Quidditch team, Ron, and Hermione all gathered around Harry’s bed.

She listened quietly with her eyes closed. It took a while before they finally left. Then she heard footsteps coming closer. She opened her eyes and saw Hermione standing there.

” You’re awake.” Hermione looked her over, clearly worried and checking for any injuries. ” How do you feel?”

“Just a little tired,” Grace said softly.

“That’s good.. by the way, thank you for protecting me earlier, Grace.”

Grace smiled and shook her head. Truth be told, she felt that the Dementors target was her and Hermione had just happened to be standing beside her. ” It was nothing. How about you? are you okay? and Harry?”

” I’m totally fine thanks to you,” Hermione answered with gratitude,” Harry is also fine, he’s just tired just like you,”

” That’s good,”

Hermione was about to say more when Madam Pomfrey stepped in and told her it was time to leave.

” I’ll come back and see you and Harry later,” Hermione promised.

Grace nodded. After watching Hermione leave and say goodbye to Harry, she realized that aside from the time they spent together, Hermione’s attention was always focused on Harry. And if she remembered correctly, Hermione had been this way ever since their first year.

~

Pansy was walking down the hallway with a group of fellow Slytherins when she heard students whispering about what happened at the Quidditch match.

At first, she was not interested even when she heard Harry’s name mentioned. To her, he was just some boy who happened to be famous. Aside from his scar and the fact that he survived as a baby, he had nothing special about him. He doesn’t have a good grades, always late to class most of the time, and somehow always ended up in the middle of the dangerous things that kept happening at Hogwarts.

But she slowed down when she heard another name she knew well, Grace Ashworth, another Gryffindor, but she was different from the rest. She was smart like a Ravenclaw, never started trouble or got involved in unnecessary drama, and always thought before she acted. Most of all, she carried herself with the grace and manners of a true noble. Even though Pansy knew Grace was Muggle-born, the way she moved and spoke was so elegant and polite. She knew exactly how to talk to anyone without making them feel awkward or out of place.

The first time Grace really caught her attention was when she pulled Draco out of danger. She had been calm and in control the whole time. She was clearly annoyed by Draco’s behaviour, yet she never shouted or used rude language. She was sharp with her words, yes, but that was just how Slytherins liked to be.

Pansy thought that was rare. Most students from other houses were either scared of Slytherins, looked at them with disgust like Ron Weasley, or just disliked them simply because of the house they belonged to.

She knew very well how others saw them, but she was proud of it. She was born into this status, and she had the talent, the brains, and the ability to stand above everyone else.

But Grace was different. After that incident with Draco, Pansy started watching her closely, just to make sure she was not some rival trying to get close to him.

She noticed how attentive Grace was in class. She would help anyone who asked and explain things patiently with a smile, making everyone feel comfortable around her. She was humble too, and treated everyone exactly the same. Even when she was paired up with a Slytherin, her attitude never changed. A lot of Slytherins actually liked her for it, because she never judged anyone based on their house and was always kind.

Pansy hated that. As a pure-blood from an old noble family, she could not stand seeing other Slytherins treating Grace like she was one of them, forgetting she was actually a Gryffindor. She could not really do anything about it, so she just ignored it, until she finally complained to Professor Snape about her.

She expected that after that, Grace would get angry with her and start treating Slytherins differently. And sure enough, Grace started looking at her differently, but not with the anger Pansy had expected.

Grace would blush every time their eyes met. At first, Pansy thought she was just upset, but then she realised something else. After blushing, Grace would get all flustered and would not even dare to look at her. It happened every single time, and Pansy was not stupid. She knew exactly what it meant. Even though she did not have much experience with these things, it was obvious.

She felt quite pleased with herself and stopped being so guarded around Grace. Now that she understood Grace liked her, not Draco, she did not have to worry about her being a rival anymore. In fact, she started wondering if Grace would ever make a move if she gave her a chance. But then she noticed Grace became very busy after the attack by Sirius Black. She also realised that no matter how nice Grace was to everyone, she did not actually have anyone she could call a close friend.

Hermione was always running around with Harry and Ron and rarely spent time with Grace. It was like there was an invisible wall around Grace that kept everyone at a distance.

Thinking about it made Pansy frown. From what she heard, Grace had been in some kind of accident and was now in the hospital wing. With no real friends to stay with her, it must be lonely there.

As a proud pure-blood, she told herself a Muggle-born was not someone she should be paying this much attention to. But every step she took toward the Great Hall felt heavier and heavier.

“Pansy, are you alright?” Daphne asked, noticing how bad her mood was.

Pansy looked at Daphne, shook her head, and kept walking.

” Are you sure?”

Pansy finally stopped. She felt uncomfortable and confused. She was absolutely sure she did not like Grace, not really. But deep down, there was this feeling that made her want to see her.

” You guys go ahead. I want to be alone for a while,” Pansy said, giving in to the feeling.

After watching them walk away, she turned around and headed toward the hospital wing.

‘ I’ll just take a quick look and then leave,’ she told herself.