The talk with the Headmaster the next morning went about as well as Tom had expected. He refused to let anyone else be out for the confrontation (as his mind insistently labeled it). Dumbledore was as twinkly-eyed as ever, which disgusted all of them. An eleven-year-old had been beaten to shit in a dungeon corridor, and he couldn't even look serious? Yes, Madam Pomfrey had fixed them up all right, but Tom had heard Snape and Pomfrey talking-Albus had seen them when they were first levitated in, their face a mask of blood and bruises, nose canted to one side. Not to mention the cracked ribs, the broken wrist, the broken toes...

Bet you anything it's because we're in Slytherin, Jay said acidly when Dumbledore had gone, and Madam Pomfrey was giving them a last once-over. You just know if his precious Boy Who Lived was in Gryffindor, he'd be all over finding out who did it.

Maybe, Tom acknowledged, fairly reluctantly. He kind of thought that the Headmaster would be this lackkluster no matter what House Harry had been Sorted into, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why. There was something about the way Dumbledore had looked at him, something about the timbre of his voice when he asked them questions...

But he couldn't figure it out and trying to puzzle it over was only giving him a headache. So with a sigh, he slipped back inside and let Raven come out. They needed to study, anyway.

Raven looked around the Hospital Wing with slightly detached interest as she got dressed in her school robes. It was still weird to her to look down and see a boy's body, but she was used to it by now. The Nurse lady gave her a funny look but let her go, admonishing her to be careful. Raven nodded. Of course she would be careful. She wasn't stupid.

She made her way to the library carefully. There weren't many people out and about. Probably in class. The Nurse lady had told her that she wasn't to go to class, even though she was let out of the Hospital Wing. She was supposed to take it easy and rest. Studying was resting, wasn't it? Raven nodded once, decisively, as she slipped into the library and simply stood there for a moment, her jaw dropping open in an inelegant gape.

Hogwarts library was amazing. She'd never seen so many books in one place, not even at the public library. She didn't know where to look first. All the new subjects, too, she noted with approval as she drifted among the shelves. Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Runes...it was brilliant. She finally resorted to finding a Potions text that looked interesting. It couldn't hurt to get ahead in Potions, considering their Head of House taught them. She wanted to impress him.

Raven looked around for somewhere to sit, holding the book tightly against her chest. Fatigue was starting to creep in, an unpleasant reminder of their recent injuries. Her eyes widened in surprise when they lit on the bushy-haired girl from the train, sitting tucked away in a corner. Granger, wasn't it? Hermione Granger? She'd been Sorted into Ravenclaw, a fact Raven deeply envied. But shouldn't she be in class?

"Hermione?" Raven asked tentatively. Her voice was higher-pitched than Harry's but not enough for most people to notice. The girl startled and looked up, trying in vain to hide tear-stained eyes.

"Oh, it's just you," Hermione said in a wobbly sort of voice, pushing her hair back behind her ears. It resisted her attempts though and sprung out, as untamed as ever.

"Is something wrong?" Raven asked awkwardly, sitting to the side of the girl, just enough to block anyone's casual view of her.

"No, no, of course not," Hermione tried to say, but the fresh tears sliding down her raw cheeks automatically gave lie to her statement.

"Something must be wrong," Raven stated with more surety. She was not very good at emotional interactions, but she was all Hermione would get at the moment. Harry was sleeping inside, as was Blue and Freak. Jay was...doing something, and Tom wasn't paying attention. It was up to her.

"It's just...Ronald," Hermione sighed. The hairs on Raven's neck prickled uncomfortably. "Ronald Weasley. You know? I had Charms with him this morning, you know, mixed class, and well, I got it right before he did, so he said I was a dreadful nightmare and I-I'd never make any friends, and he hoped I got...sent back to the M-Muggles." The girl's bottom lip trembled and more tears cascaded down her face.

"Oh," Raven blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry, Hermione." She leaned over and gave Hermione a clumsy, one-armed hug. Anger began to burn fiercely in the pit of her stomach. First Ronald called Harry the next Dark Lord, and now he'd called Hermione a nightmare, just for getting a spell right before him? Something had to be done about him.

First good idea we've had in a while, Jay sniped in her head, but she ignored him with the familiarity born of long practice.

She said a few more meaninglessly comforting things and asked Hermione about the book she was reading (and trying so desperately not to splotch with her tears), but inside, her thoughts were turning at a rapid rate. What could they do about Ronald Weasley? Raven wasn't very good at pranking. She had no taste for anything that would truly hurt him, either. That wouldn't teach him anything (and if he found out it was Harry Potter, of all people, who'd orchestrated it, well, the chances of seeing Harry as anything but Junior Voldemort would vanish like mist).

Weasel's brothers could probably help you out, Jay casually mentioned. Oh, what were their names? Fred and George?

But they're related to him, Raven said doubtfully. I don't think that's a good idea.

Yeah? They've already pranked him at least once, I heard about it yesterday, Jay snickered. Turned his hair green. It's worth a try.

Well...maybe, Raven conceded. But I'm not doing it.

Fine, Jay rolled his eyes. I will. But I'm telling you, I bet they'd like to get him again. And I wonder how they'd feel about him making first years cry, too. Granger ain't much, but you know? She can't help it. She's like you. Bookworm with no social skills.

Hey! Raven glared at him internally. I do, too, have social skills.

Really? Is that why you're hiding away in the library with a Ravenclaw? Jay smirked. Raven bit her lip to control the pout threatening to burst forth. He had a slight point there, but really, what did anyone expect? She hadn't been to the library yet, and it was brilliant in here, there was no doubt about that. And Hermione sounded like a real kindred spirit, too, gesturing animatedly about the first year Charms class that Raven had yet to attend.

Oh well. With the plan of what to do with Ronald Weasley tentatively settled, Raven turned her full attention to Hermione and books. Anything else could wait.