Chapter 27: Guilty and Chicken Sandwich

It didn't take me long to get to the girls' bathroom and when I was a few meters from the door I found Parvati Patil coming out of it. When she saw me she was a little surprised, but I didn't care much about her surprise and I went over to ask her.

"Hermione is inside?"

"..Y-yes" he stammered a bit because, as I was a little irritated by today, I didn't show as much kindness as usual.

"Thank you"

She left but not before turning her head one last time to see how she made her way towards the girls' bathroom.

When I opened the door, as quietly as possible, I could hear sobbing from inside. I tried to walk quietly so he wouldn't hear me. I closed my eyes and tried to use my [Sense Life] skill so I could determine exactly which cubicle he was in. When I located her, I placed myself right in the cubicle that was next to hers and sneaked in thanks to my [Thief Essence], I sat on the toilet and started thinking about what I would say to her.

-3rd person POV

Inside the bathroom cubicle was Hermione Granger, still crying for what happened this morning, it was already late, but she was in no condition to get out of it to be seen in this state. Possibly, she would have kept crying for a while longer, if it wasn't for a hand holding a sandwich coming out from under the cubicle wall.

"Chicken sandwich?" The voice of a child was heard.

"Net?!" I exclaimed in surprise "What are you doing here?! Go away!" Excited scream.

"It's clear what I'm doing, I'm offering you my chicken sandwich" Her ex-friend replied.

"Go away!" She shouted again the desperate girl, she was in a bad situation and this only afflicted her even more.

"I won't" Red replied as she began to give off two of her auras, calm and paternal, very, very slightly, having the plan to start raising her power almost imperceptibly.

"Why can't you leave me alone?" Hermione sobbed.

"Because we are friends"

"WE ARE NOT FRIENDS" she almost lost voice with her howl "A friend doesn't do what you did"

"I know... I was wrong and I can't find a way to fix it, but I still don't want to walk away from you. It has hurt me a lot since we haven't seen each other, we haven't worked together, we haven't talked to each other..." said the boy with real pity.

"Just go…" she kept sniffling, trying not to hear what they were saying.

"No, I don't want to leave until we talk about this"

"But I don't want to talk about this..." she said as she wiped her tears with her sleeve "I almost thought I went crazy, I couldn't stop seeing her everywhere, I've never felt so evil"

"I know, I went too far. I really think I have serious psychological problems"

"You got it!" I cry assuring it.

"Yes... I must learn to control myself, but it turns out that it's not as easy as it seems. You know, about all those rumors... it wasn't by chance, well, maybe at first it was, but later it was all my own hand" he told her, causing her to stop crying for a moment.

"What did you do...?" She said something shocked, she didn't want to talk to him, but what he mentioned caught her attention.

"It's not what you think, I didn't sleep with any student or teacher, but… after the rumors spread that started with our talk in Gryffindor…"

When he mentioned that she felt a little guilty, since she knows that if it wasn't for her confusion there wouldn't be such a rumor, but then she remembered what he did to her and got angry again, still she didn't stop him and I let it continue

"When I heard the rumors, I didn't look for a way to clear my name, in fact I used those rumors to get what I wanted. I asked Tonks for help and we made it seem more real, we went out at night with her with a way different every time and we acted out a whole play. When we got caught I told a lot of lies so that the blame doesn't fall on me, many think it's a sad accident, but it was all part of my conspiracy. I get to the 'prophet', you know, he's one of the most important newspapers in Europe, the reputation of Hogwarts would be completely stained if it were not for Dumbledore"

"Because you did?" I ask somewhat surprised at what I had just heard.

"To have something to extort from the director, with everything that happened, if I did the right things it could get him into big trouble and that way I was able to negotiate some things with him. It only worked because I knew what the director was like and everything I assumed It was almost exactly what happened, I won my bet. It was all very risky, but I still did it. I feel like sometimes I can't control myself, after what I did to you I continued with that big scam, I'm not sure live a long time if I keep this up" He told the truth about what happened.

"...Why are you telling me all this?" It was something that really intrigued her, this seemed to be a secret of those who take to the grave in her opinion. She kind of hates him, but she didn't expect him to come out with all this, which confused her a bit.

"Because I want to show you my sincerity, if you want at any time you can go tell everyone the truth and I am possibly the most hated by all of Hogwarts, mainly the teachers who believed my lies and took pity on me even though I ruined their reputation by categorizing them as ' child molester'. Easily, they'll expel me at least, I did a lot the truth, maybe they'll also lock me up in Azkaban" He mentioned as if he didn't care about those consequences.

"Humm... They should..." she said with a frown after huffing angrily though she truly didn't believe it inside of her. She may hate him for what she suffered, but still she wouldn't go so far to send her friend to prison, although from what I hear she may have deserved it, but she didn't want to be the one to put him through. . Even with all the resentment stored, I also did not consider that the expulsion was necessary after thinking about it for a while, since she herself thought that this is one of the worst punishments that she could receive. She hated him, but that didn't change her good heart and deep down she felt confident that they would tell her something so important that she could decide someone's life.

"Maybe" Red said before frowning at his clone's situation.

"..."

"..."

-On the other hand, with the clone-

Running down the hall toward the great hall was another Red. Though there was still some time before dinner, he decided to hurry, but when the main body ran into Patil and learned that Hermione was in the bathroom, I slow down.

There was little left of the journey when another red light jumped on him, only this time his instincts allowed him to react in time to avoid it. As he turned around holding his wand in his hand pointing at his attacker, he realized that she was a girl he knew.

"Oh Gemma, why am I not surprised"

"We didn't expect you to free yourself, if I had known I would have taken off the rest of your clothes so you had to walk around the castle naked, but some thought it was too much" he said without lowering his wand.

When the clone headed towards the great hall from the tower he didn't take the most crowded paths, so he couldn't feel many people around, but that couldn't last long and anything they do could attract attention, so Neither of them did anything.

"One question" Red said to the Slytherin prefect "Is this just your thing or is it all Slytherin's revenge?"

"There were quite a few of us when we hung up on you, you have no idea how many people you've upset. It was really annoying having to wait until now just to do that, but some of them don't want to trigger the anger of the teachers. But now I was the lucky one." find you, at least I can make sure you miss Halloween dinner for now" I don't hide his complicity with the other snakes, this was a plan for days and although it wasn't enough for them, for the moment it would work.

"I think I can't let things go like before, some heads will have to roll" Sigh "You do know you've reached the point of no return with me, right?" He asked very sure that this girl could regret it in the future, he already knew who to address her hatred for and he was not a person who did simple things.

"As if that mattered" she didn't feel threatened in the least.

For a second, they both stared at each other motionless until they made the slightest signs of movement and cast their Spells.

"Evere Statum..." (Gemma)

"Bombard..."(Red)

Both Spells were cast. Gemma was a little surprised that her opponent used that Spell. She used 'Everte Statum' because they couldn't draw too much attention and it doesn't cause lasting damage, so she could save herself from any trouble later, even if they get caught. But the redhead used a spell that she did just the opposite, even if she avoided it she couldn't stop her from drawing the attention of the people nearby. For a moment she thought that she wanted to make a suicide attack and that neither of them would be saved from her, but that changed when she saw that the spell was not directed at her.

Gemma's Everte Statum went straight at Red as he cast her spell without dodging. The 'bombardment' that he fired was not directed at the girl in front of him, but at an armor that was on the side. When his body received the spell, he was thrown backwards, but in the air his body turned into a red liquid that ended up vanishing. While that happened, his spell hit the armor against the wall, causing it to explode making a loud noise that caught the attention of all the nearby students.

Gemma had to open her eyes wide when her rival disappeared, leaving her alone in the corridor after that thunderous sound and with a damaged armor.

"Bloody Weasley" she roared furiously.

She had to quickly use magic to repair the armor and flee from here before Filch or a teacher arrives, it was too late to avoid being seen, since several students from different houses had already found her. She alone could hurry up as she gritted her teeth hatefully.

-Going back to the bathroom-

Red was thinking about her recent acknowledgment of the culprits behind her attack, as well as rejoicing at the situation she had left the prefect in. She also realized that she lost the clone again and although she returned to her full strength, she would have to wait to recreate it. But those ideas left her mind when she heard Hermione willingly speaking to her without yelling at her, not so loudly.

"I don't know how to go back to being like before, you were my only true friend and you hurt me a lot" he said while the tears came out of his eyes again "How can I know that it won't happen again, I won't be able to bear it again, still I have nightmares and I fear that everything will start again"

"I can't assure you that it won't happen again because I can't control the future, but I can promise you that if it happens to be me I will let you know"

"Why do you say that? That doesn't comfort me at all" she moaned hearing him.

"I know, but I don't want to lie to you. I'm a horrible person, I can't discern boundaries, I don't usually care about people I don't like, and even if I do I can end up hurting them like you. Also, I'm very manipulative, like with Snape to give you points or with the director after me 'Prostitution' and possibly many other people, I'm not a good person" He said looking up at the ceiling "but I don't want to lose you for that, I'll try to change, or hide it more, or maybe be good, but only with you" he didn't lie, he didn't believe in his heart that he could truly change, not in a short period of time.

It was a moment where they fell silent. Red's auras were working and she wasn't as upset as before, but there was still a great struggle inside her.

"...I didn't want it to end like this either, you were my first friend and a very good one. You cared for me, you took care of me more than one should expect, you helped me with everything I needed and even when you bothered me you still loved me." I had fun with you... I don't know why you did what you did" she said as she remembered their little time together and how much she enjoyed having a friend after spending so much time alone.

"It was a mistake and we all make mistakes. I only made one, but it was so big that now we are where we are" he said as he congratulated himself for doing everything he did with Hermione in the beginning, even if it was with bad intentions, since now I was giving him a chance to get her back" I was able to do all those things because I really appreciate you, but I also couldn't help doing what I did, I already told you, I think I can't control my limits"

"..." She was silent for a while after hearing that, she didn't know what to answer, all her emotions were too mixed to think clearly, but she could still feel a clear sense of relaxation as she started talking to Red , plus a rare sense of familiarity with him.

"You don't want to be friends anymore? I don't plan on forcing you if it's not what you want, but if even one part of you still believes we can be, then I don't plan on giving up" she said with great firmness and longing.

"Do you know why I was crying?" He asked, he didn't know what to answer, so he decided to take out something that was stuck in his chest and that was the reason why he is here now "Today your brother was talking to Harry about me, he didn't know that I was listening to him, but I think if he knew he would still say it, he's an idiot" I grumbled.

"I concur"

"He said that I was an insufferable girl, that the reason we were always together was that we were both freaks and that even if we both were, you still walked away from me because you couldn't stand me either. When he said I couldn't help but feel really bad, I couldn't help but think for a moment that maybe I was the one exaggerating things, I really liked spending time with you and when your brother mentioned that you left me because you couldn't stand me I couldn't help but cry" She counted starting to cry again .

"Yes, I know, I was there, I also felt that his words hurt me" he told her being sincere.

"You were there?!" I ask surprised, I never expected him to be there too, since there was no reason for it

"I was watching you to see if you were okay. I've been doing it since we parted ways, I don't want anything to happen to you because of me, so I try to protect you from a distance, even if the most dangerous thing for you is me" he said as he grew slightly the power of his fatherly aura, causing the girl in the next cubicle to feel a little warm inside her" And don't worry about Ron, I punched him in the face after that and broke his nose"

"Did you break his nose?!" I almost exclaimed, I couldn't believe it. As she remembered, Red always fought with nothing more than his words. That he used his fists was something new for her and even more so to go this far knowing that he can be punished considering what happened recently, but remembering what he did to him, she realized that he may be right in that he cannot control your limits.

"Yeah, ever since we broke up I've been a little sensitive about certain things and when I saw you start to cry I couldn't help myself. If you asked me I'd go break his other nose if that would give me some of your forgiveness" I mention as if It was nothing and it was completely normal.

"the other nose?" I ask confused.

"Is an expression"

"..."

"..."

"Net?" Asked the girl realizing something, then she clenched her fists very hard and you could see how her eyes were red.

"Yes?"

"Don't lie to me" she said in a trembling tone "Did you use your ability with me? I can feel that I'm not as angry as before, if you really love me as a friend, tell me you didn't use your powers with me so I can forgive you" she said to the verge of tears, full of sadness and fury, he no longer wanted them to play with his mind.

"You know I have to touch you for that to happen, and I haven't since that day" she gave as an answer.

The girl opened her hands, revealing the mark of her nails, gave a kind of sigh and almost seemed to leave a great burden and fear.

"Can you give me a chance?" Red asked him.

"I don't know… I think we could try, but I won't be able to put up with another thing like that" she said what she really thought, she wanted her friend back, but her fear persisted.

"Okay, I'll work to get your trust back, and I'll try not to do things like that with you."

"Um" she nodded with some happiness inside of her, but a little doubtful when she heard that she wouldn't do something like that 'with her' again.

"Would you have the chicken sandwich now?"

"Noo, I don't want to eat in the bathroom" she complained a little with the usual tone they had before, but it was still far from being the same.

"It will do you good, it can help you calm down, you've been crying for a long time and I'm sure you're starving now that you've calmed down. By the way, were you crying from Charms class until now?" I ask to try to lighten the mood, although I was also intrigued.

"Yes...?" She replied somewhat embarrassed as she realized that if she was really hungry so she took the chicken sandwich from hers, now again, friend of hers.

"How did you do it? You're not exhausted from just crying, I couldn't last that long without getting bored"

"Don't make fun of me" she complained as she took a strong bite of the sandwich, angry and embarrassed "You said you would treat me better" she scolded him.

"Sorry, sorry...it's just that I found it interesting" she replied with a laugh.

At this point they were both somewhat pleased. This talk began to take the form it had before, the teasing and laughter returned, bringing some joy and tranquility to both children. It may take a little longer for them to get along as well as before, but that's enough for now.