Nala's flying lessons had gone exactly as expected: abysmally. She wasn't going to sit and weep about it. Everybody had a weak point and it just so happened that hers was sport. Susan had surprised everybody by showing outstanding talent on the broomstick. She was so good that she was picked for the Hufflepuff quidditch team. Perhaps it would have meant something, had Nala's cousin not been chosen earlier that same day. Nala felt sorry for her friend who had finally shone in something and was now being shunted to the side because of Harry Potter. Nala felt a strong surge of jealousy for her trouble-causing cousin.
"Nala!" Nala turned to see Hermione calling her. She headed over to the girl.
"Hey, Mia, you okay?" Nala asked. It was clear that she was not. Hermione Granger was white as a ghost. Her hands, clasped together in her lap were shaking as if they were stuck in an earthquake.
"No... Not really, no."
"What's the matter?" Nala asked quickly.
"Perhaps somewhere more private?"
"Sure. I know somewhere."
Nala led Hermione to the Room of Requirement. Hermione gasped in amazement. The room was a library as Nala had typically created. Nala had been coming here every day since she found it and was therefore getting quite good at finer details.
"This isn't in..."
"No it's not. I guess it's part of the room's magic," Nala mused.
Hermione did not need prompting, "So a couple of nights ago, I followed Harry and Ron after curfew. I was trying to stop them and when I realised my efforts were futile I went to go back but the Fat Lady was gone so I had no choice but to go with them and then-and then- and then Flich..." Hermione broke into tears.
Nala's brow furrowed, "Calm down, Mia."
Hermione nodded and hiccuped before continuing, "Well, Filch was on our tail and so we ran and ended up on the third floor corridor and Oh My God!!! There was a three headed dog in there but it was standing on a trapdoor which means it's guarding something and AHHHHHH!"
"Calm down, Mia."
Hermione peered up at Nala sheepishly, "Sorry."
Nala smiled.
Hermione's hand flew to her mouth, "Merlin's pants! Harry told me specifically not to tell you!"
Nala's stomach churned uncomfortably. She looked down, her face flaming red. If you'd thought that Nala's outburst would go all cliche and then Harry would see the error in his ways and become kind, then think again. Harry's hatred towards Nala had grown even stronger.
"Mia!" Nala exclaimed suddenly. "Charms starts in 30 seconds!"
Hermione headed towards the door but Nala noticed another door appear in the room.
"This way's quicker!" Nala beckoned. The two sprinted through the door and down the passage. They ended up just by the entrance to the charm's classroom. Huffing and puffing, they joined the queue. Nala smiled weakly, "We made it."
"We are going to be making objects fly!" Flitwick jabbered on. Nala smiled and perked up again only when the partners were announced. Hermione had ended up with Ron. Harry with a boy named Seamus and Nala with Holly. Hermione and Nala shared sympathetic glances.
Nala looked at Holly to see that she was painting her nails, typical. She rolled her eyes and took out her wand, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The feather rose. Nala looked up to see that so had Hermione's.
"Well done! Look here everyone, Miss Granger and Miss Dursley have done it!"
Holly spat at Nala, "Congrats, Mudblood."
Nala faced upwards and blinked back tears.
When the bell to signal the end of the lesson sounded, Nala grabbed up her satchel and sprinted to the girls toilets. She didn't care that she was missing the feast. She couldn't be seen like this.
She lost count of how long she'd been sat there for. It could have been seconds, minutes or hours and she would have been none the wiser. Suddenly she heard a bar being slid across and realised that somebody had locked her in there. She opened up the cubicle door to reveal an enormous troll.
It was a horrible sight. Much worse than ho it had been described in all of the textbooks. Twelve feet tall with skin of a dull granite grey, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs, thick as tree trunks with flat horny feet. It was holding a club which was dragged along the floor because the troll had such long arms.
Nala recalled reading something about a patronus. She thought hard about how happy she was when she was given the locket and imagined a patronus forming. She sent it with the message, "Help! I'm in the girls toilets with the troll!"
Meanwhile, Harry and Ron were outside dancing happily at the thought that they had sorted out the troll. Suddenly, a ghost-like dolphin swam out of the room with the troll. It flickered and died. The boys were confused until they heard a yelp coming from the bathroom. Harry's heart stopped. It was Nala!
"Ron, quick!" Harry yelled. The two went into the bathroom to find Nala laid unconscious. Dodging and screaming, they managed to escape the room with Nala's limp body. They trapped the troll in agin and sat down out of breath.
"Potter! Weasley! What are you..." McGonagall had arrived. She trailed off when she spotted Nala. Her expression turned stony. "Potter! This feud has gone on long enough! You can't attack a fellow student! And to think..."
"Professor," Harry cut in. "I think you misunderstand! You see, we knew Nala was down here ad when we heard about the troll we simply had to get her safe. I don't like her but she is family."
"How very... Noble of you. Now if you'll excuse me. You will go up to your dormitories and I will let Madame Pomfrey tend to her wounds."