Remember your words can plant gardens or burn whole forests to the ground.

- Gemma Troy

Did I feel guilty about the things I said to Eleanor? Yeah, a little bit. I mean, she deserved it after flaunting her win in Potions like that, but the things I had said to her even surprised myself.

Eleanor never showed how she was feeling, which made it easy for me to get over it. She didn't look hurt, so I assumed she wasn't and shrugged it off. But when she didn't show up for lunch, I knew I had gone a little far. She was just so incredibly annoying. Everything she did was always perfect and she had to rub it in my face every time.

I didn't care about her at all, but when she returned from detention, looking exhausted, I felt a little sting. I couldn't come up with many positive adjectives to describe her, but if anything, she was determined and fiery. Today I had extinguished her fire.

Daphne walked up to her, but she just brushed it off and walked to her dorm room. Daphne looked sad and our eyes met very shortly before her look turned cold again. I didn't really like her all that much, but me hanging out with her annoyed Eleanor greatly, which was worth it. But seeing her so miserable, I wasn't so sure anymore. It had just been a week ago that I sent her to the Hospital Wing. Maybe it was getting a bit out of hand this year.

I checked my watch and stood up with a sigh. Time for patrol.

It was October and the weather had become rather unpleasant lately, so I grabbed my coat and buttoned it up as high as possible. Quidditch season began this week, which would mean months of flying in this terrible weather. I liked quidditch, really, but why did the season have to start in October? Eleanor walked down the stairs, her coat in her hands. She was very pale and she looked tired, as if she hadn't slept well for a couple of days. She pulled the sleeves of her jumper down to cover the wound on the back of her hand. Right, I had heard about detention with Umbridge. It was kind of my fault, again.

"Just go to bed, I'll do patrol", I said as she reached the exit of the common room. She just ignored me as she put on her coat.

"Eleanor, just get some sleep. I know you're tired. I'll do it alone, it's fine", I said, gently pulling her back.

"Let go of me", she hissed, but even her voice sounded weak. She pulled herself from my grip and walked out. I sighed and followed her.

She immediately turned left to patrol her part of the dungeon, so I gave up and walked the other way, like we always did. It was better that way. All we did was fight anyway. We just didn't get along. We were forced to compete from birth. All I heard since the day I was born was Eleanor achieved this; Eleanor did that; Eleanor got a perfect grade again. And I had to keep up. Less than her was not good enough. My parents didn't pressure me to be better than her, one of the few things they didn't pressure me about, but I didn't want to be ... less.

And then I heard the silent sobs.

I frowned and turned a corner, seeing a Hufflepuff girl sitting against the wall, her head in her arms, sobbing silently.

"Shouldn't you be in your common room?" I asked and she looked up surprised. A scared look appeared on her face and she quickly stood up.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, please don't get a teacher", she said, sobbing loudly again. I stood there awkwardly for a bit, not sure what to do. I just now noticed she was absolutely soaked. What had happened to this girl? Merlin I was not the right person for this.

"Just, just wait here, okay? I'm not going to get a teacher. Just wait a little while and I'll be back." She didn't respond, so I took that as a yes and turned around. I hated myself for doing this, but she would know what to do.

"Selwyn?" I asked as I found her strolling through the hallway, rubbing her eyes.

She turned around and looked at me confused.

"I need your help", I mumbled. I could see the hesitation in her eyes, but eventually she nodded and walked over.

"There's this Hufflepuff girl sitting in the hallway, she's crying and soaked", I said, recalling the uncomfortable situation.

She didn't say anything, but just followed me to where I had found the girl. She was still there, but she had sat down on the ground again, arms wrapped around her knees, shivering. Eleanor gasped slightly at the sight and immediately made her way over to the girl.

"Hey there", she said as she kneeled down. The girl looked up and looked scared for a brief moment, but then Eleanor smiled at her and she relaxed.

"What's your name?" Eleanor asked, getting out her wand.

"I-It's Rose, Rose Zeller."

"Well, let's get you cleaned up first and then you can tell me what happened, if you want that, okay?" Eleanor asked. I watched as she cast multiple spells to clean and dry the young Hufflepuff's robes. She did so with a constant, warm smile on her face, causing the small girl to look a little less sad than she did before.

"Well, Rose, can you tell me what happened?" she asked, sitting down with her legs crossed so she was at the same height as the Hufflepuff.

Rose explained how she had crafted an origami swan and how she'd given it to a second year she had a crush on. The boy and his friends had laughed in her face and told her that swans were lame. The girl had tried to get back to her common room as fast as possible out of shame, but due to how upset she was, she had messed up the knocking sequence and got drenched in vinegar, the defence system of the Hufflepuff common room. This caused another load of mockery, which caused her to be too scared to enter the common room, even after curfew.

Eleanor gently wiped the tears off the girl's face and I could clearly see the pained look in her eyes. She cared a lot about people. I always mocked her for being unworthy of Slytherin because of it, but it was one of her best traits. Another thing she was better at.

"I don't think swans are lame at all. They're my favourite animal in fact", Eleanor said, taking out her wand again.

"Want to see something cool?" she asked. The girl nodded slowly, looking at her expectantly. Eleanor closed her eyes and smiled as she swished her wand. The whole room lit up as bright swirls danced around the room, slowly taking shape.

She was producing a full-body patronus, and it was a black swan.

The Hufflepuff stared at the patronus in awe as it flew around the hallway and for the first time that night, she smiled. She had forgotten about the nasty situation and the tears.

And when I saw that smile, for the first time in my 15 years of existence, I felt bad for the way I had treated Eleanor. Sure, she was obnoxious, snobby and arrogant, but she had a good heart. She cared for people and wanted to protect them from any harm. She was like the little Hufflepuff girl and I had been one of those boys who laughed at her.

"I told you swans were not lame", Eleanor grinned as she pocketed her wand again.

"I hope that's my patronus too", the girl said, still smiling. She then noticed me, still standing a couple yards away.

I wish I could produce a patronus.

"How about you tell me the names of those boys", I said as I approached them. I wasn't used to talking to kids younger than me, but I could be nice too, sometimes.

"I ... I don't think they'll appreciate me ratting them out", she said silently, looking down again.

"Well, then I guess we'll have to make sure they don't dare speak to you again", I grinned slightly, but she just looked scared.

"He's not going to hurt them", Eleanor laughed. "I think so, at least." Our eyes met briefly and her smile faltered a little, before she quickly looked back at the girl.

"We're just going to make sure they don't get away with it. A boy should never treat a girl like that and they need to learn a little lesson, don't you think? Otherwise they might treat another girl like that someday."

The girl nodded and stood up eventually, taking a deep breath. I tried to copy Eleanor's way of handling the situation, because it seemed to work.

"How about you tell me the names and then I'll walk to your dorm with you so no one can bother you again, is that okay?" I asked awkwardly. How did Eleanor do this? It felt so ... strange. I quickly glanced in Eleanor's direction to see if I was doing alright, but she just looked at me strangely.

"Yeah I guess", the girl mumbled.

I watched curiously as Malfoy walked down the hallway to the entrance of the Hufflepuff common room, Rose trailing by his side.

"You better not get us soaked in vinegar, okay?" I heard him say.

"No, no I won't", Rose said panicky. She was a little young too understand his sarcasm as she was only eleven, but Malfoy meant well and that was something very strange to me. I hadn't really seen him like this ... ever.

I was surprised. I didn't even know he had one nice bone in his body, let alone for a first-year Hufflepuff girl. If he could be nice to her, then why not to me?

Malfoy came back and rubbed his neck awkwardly.

"Did she get to her dorm safely?" I asked and he nodded.

"Good", I mumbled. "I'll do the round one more time and then I'm going to bed", I said, rubbing my hands against the cold.

"Selwyn?" he asked as I turned around.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry", he mumbled. "About what I said. It was too much. You're not ... You're not worthless."

I blinked a couple times, not sure where this was coming from.

"Okay who are you and where has Draco Malfoy gone off to?" I asked, still blinking.

"Yeah, yeah, I said it. Shut up about it or I'll take it back", he said.

"Well, thank you, I suppose." He shrugged and turned around.

"Malfoy?"

"What?"

"Why do you hate me so much?"

Malfoy stopped and turned around again. He frowned, but didn't say anything.

"I don't hate you."

"Oh please, Malfoy, don't come at me with that crap. You and I both know you hate me." I sat down on the cold stone ground, too tired to keep standing. Malfoy walked to the wall opposite of me and leaned against it, genuinely thinking about my question.

"You're right, I do hate you", he said eventually. "But you hate me too."

"I do, but I only hate you because you hate me. You always start with the insults." It was quiet again and I wasn't quite sure if he was going to answer.

It stayed quiet.

"Well, thank you for the nice conversation, but I'll be heading out", I sighed and stood up.

"Everything is just so easy for you."

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. You're good at school, all teachers like you, everyone respects you, you make friends easily."

"Weren't you the one to tell me that no one liked me?" I sighed, crossing my arms. He was nice again. Would he reach the 24 hour mark this time too before turning into a snake again?

"I was angry. You shouldn't have rubbed your win in my face like that." Another awkward silence rose in the hallway.

"Well, just so you know, it's not easy", I sighed. He raised one eyebrow, clearly not believing me.

"I'm serious. I study a whole lot and I never allow myself to genuinely have fun because I have an image to uphold." I don't know why I said that to Malfoy, but the words just slipped out. They were true though. I could never act as silly or as spontaneous as I sometimes wanted to. I had to be calm and collected, like a true Selwyn.

"I guess I get what you mean."

"Draco Malfoy, do we actually have something in common?" I sniggered. I stopped myself immediately. This was still Draco Malfoy, the bloke who called me worthless and a disappointment just this morning.

"Oh, you know that we're a lot alike. That's why we clash so much."

"That's where you're wrong, Malfoy. I don't think we're alike at all. We have similar families and they'd like us to become similar people, but we're not alike."

"Yeah, I guess", Malfoy said, pushing himself from the wall. "Goodnight."

I watched as he walked into the hallway, repeating the second ever not hateful conversation I had had with Draco Malfoy in my head.

_

Those with a black swan as a patronus are likely very graceful and loyal people, sticking to those important in their life through thick and thin, and protecting them in any way they can. Black swans sometimes have negative connotations, but it doesn't have to be thus. They are very loving people but can take a while to open up, meaning not everyone gets to see this side of their personality which can lead to false impressions. They tend to have a cool passion about them, leading them to pursue their goals and interests with a sort of natural furor, compared to the more calm pursuits of their white counterparts. It's not uncommon for someone with a black swan to be "blunt", giving and taking criticism with honesty and grace, but not afraid to tell things like they are. On the whole, they are quite deep, steadfast people with a desire to improve at the things they love.

Pottermore Patronus Appreciation