Brave { Neville Longbottom}

Chapter One Hundred Forty Two

Disregarding how many detentions she probably earned for herself, Kefira didn't bother to stick around for Potions after expressing how much Proffesor Snape had disappointed her. She left down the corridor in search of Hermione, hoping to comfort the girl. She had been teased as a child long before starting Hogwarts, and she hated how it had made her feel. Of course, she had solved her problems by either punching the other kid in the face or something along the lines, but now her mother's words were settling in her head. Punching people wouldn't solve all her problems and she couldn't punch everyone in the face that made her upset. 

She was witnessing the ugly part of the world, magic or not. Adults were capable of being bullies just as children were, the problem was, adults like Professor Snape were in the position where they were supposed to be helping children. He was supposed to be guidance and they were supposed to be able to go to him. His whole profession was about teaching and the only thing he taught Kefira was that she couldn't rely on him to be a role model.

Just because a person was an adult, it didn't mean they made the right decisions or did the right thing. Whatever had happened to Professor Snape in the past, she was sure was what caused him to be the person he was that day. But in her mind the past didn't give him excuse for what he was doing. The way he was treated children was inexcusable and once again, left Kefira questioning Professor Dumbledore's judgment to his criteria when it came to hiring professors.

She found Hermione in one of the corridors, near the Hospital Wing, the girl's hands clapped over her mouth, as she was trying to stop herself from crying. Kefira glanced around before walking over and sitting beside her quietly.

"I would ask if you're alright, but that seems like a really stupid question right now." Kefira told her. "But, I am sorry. For what Professor Snape said. I'm not apologizing for him, but I'm sorry that he made you feel like this. He had no right and Draco has another thing coming if he thinks he's going to get away with what he did."

Hermione wiped at her eyes before glancing over at her. She kept her hand over her mouth, refusing to show how large her front teeth had become. She didn't want to talk, not wanting to risk the teeth hitting her on the chin, rather she just gave Kefira nod, relaying a silent thank you.

"Do you want to head to the Hospital Wing? I'll go with you." Kefira said.

Hermione nodded again before standing up and following her down the corridor. Kefira could hear the girl sniffling beside her.

"I bet you it's not even as bad as you think it is." She said reassuringly. "I mean-"

When Hermione dropped her hand, it took everything in Kefira to stop herself from flinching at the sight of the teeth. She had seen some larger front teeth before, but nothing like what had been done to the girl. Keeping her face calm and not giving a reaction, Kefira placed her hand on Hermione's shoulder and gave it a couple of pats.

"It's going to be okay."

Remaining in the Hospital Wing with Hermione, Kefira kept the girl company while glaring in Goyle's direction as Madame Pomfrey helped him remove the fungus growing on his face. When Madame Pomfrey finished with him, she moved over to Hermione and began assisting to reduce the size of the girl's teeth by using the shrinking charm. When she finished, the girl's teeth were actually in better condition than they were before, shrinking all of them.

Kefira offered to walk her back to the Gryffindor Common Room, but Hermione said that she was going to take some time and remained behind. But she reassured Kefira that she would be just fine before thanking her.

Walking along the corridors, Kefira figured she would just head back to the Gryffindor Common room and wait for the others to return from double Potions. But as she was walking along, she heard her name being called, causing her to turn around. She saw a girl from Durmstrang walk over in her direction. She remembered her name to be Bisera. She was a tall girl, with sleek back hair that she normally kept back in a tight bun, that highlighted her strong cheekbones.

Curious as to what the girl wanted with her, Kefira remained in place until Bisera reached her.

"There you are." The girl said slightly winded as she caught up to her. " I was looking for you, but I thought you were in class."

'Well...I'm technically supposed to be but...oh well. Why were you looking for me?"

"I have a gift." Bisera said before holding out one of the fur robes to her. Kefira just stared at her for a moment.

"Wh-what? But that's part of your uniform." She said refusing to take the robes.

"No," Bisera smiled. "This is from when I first started, it is from my first year. It can fit you."

Kefira laughed as she took the fur robe in her hand. "Is that supposed to say something about how small I am?"

"Try it on?" Bisera told her.

Not hesitating, Kefira pulled it on and while it was still big, it was a lot better than Viktor's in size.

"Wait," Kefira asked. "Why are you carrying around your first year robes?"

"I used to use it as a pillow case." Bisera shrugged. "Kept my pillow warm."

Thinking about what the girl had just told her, Kefira came to one conclusion.

"Either you have a massive pillow or I'm a lot smaller than I thought."

When Neville returned from Potions, he was thinking about just having a lie down, and hoping that maybe Kefira would join him for a nap on one of the sofas. He came into the common room and found Kefira there already, much to his relief.

"Hey Nevs!" She greeted him brightly. "You have to see this, look!"

He saw her lift up one of the Durmstrang robes, which automatically drained all happiness from him as if she were holding up a dementor.

"Isn't it great?"

"Y-yeah, it's great."