Night fell sooner than expected, Hermione didn't show up for afternoon classes, and the boys heard from Parvati that Hermione had spent the afternoon in the bathroom, crying.
Ron looked somewhere between ashamed and guilty, but he was still stubborn.
At least he had stopped thinking about blaming Hermione, but he wasn't going to blame himself either, at that point he was just too proud to apologize.
Rigel ignored all that, went to the Halloween feast and ate quickly, then filled his plate and called Neville over. "Hey, Neville, come on, Hermione probably hasn't eaten anything yet, we'll take some to her."
He spoke loudly enough for others to hear, further increasing the credibility of his decision to leave for a valid reason.
Neville nodded, he also thought Ron had overreacted and felt sorry for Hermione, so he quickly followed Rigel.
Jack was playing with the twins, so he didn't even notice when Rigel left. Ron seemed unhappy about their departure, but he also felt a little better, if Rigel was going to comfort Hermione, it meant she would be okay and he didn't need to apologize.
In the end, he was very pleased with the arrangement and quickly forgot about it. His thinking was: 'Since Rigel went to help, it's as if I had gone myself, so, it's no longer my problem.'
Rigel and Neville went to the women's restroom on the second floor, the hallway was empty, only the torches remained lit and the portraits were moving.
Rigel approached the bathroom door and knocked lightly. No one answered, but he didn't give up and increased the intensity of his knocking.
"Go away!" Hermione's angry, tearful voice rang out from inside.
"Hey, Hermione, it's me, Rigel. Neville's here too. You haven't eaten all day, so we came to bring you some food." Rigel said.
"I don't want to! You just came to laugh at me too! Didn't you?!" Hermione shouted back.
"Hey, I didn't laugh at you at all, nor did Neville." Rigel rolled his eyes, finding the little girl very dramatic.
Neville nodded his head like a chicken, as if Hermione could see him nodding from inside the bathroom.
"It doesn't matter! It's true, isn't it?! Nobody likes me, I'm just an insufferable know-it-all!" Hermione's voice became more hysterical, also more choked, she had clearly started crying again.
Rigel felt bad for a moment, from beginning to end, he had only treated Hermione as a plot device, he wasn't even remotely interested in the dramas of these children.
Of course, it was easy to act like an observer, but at that moment, with Hermione clearly speaking directly to him and expressing such sadness, Rigel felt he had done something wrong.
However, he soon realized that although he hadn't helped Hermione, he had only kept his distance, he had never done anything bad to her, so the feeling he had now was just a reflection of Hermione's emotions projected onto him.
Rigel sighed.
Although he didn't consider himself a good person, he felt that this little girl was a bit too pitiful, so he decided to comfort her a little, in his own way, of course.
"Well, they're not wrong, you know?" Rigel said, leaving Hermione and Neville stunned.
Neville/Hermione: Is this how you comfort people?
Rigel didn't wait for them to question him, but continued. "You certainly only want to help, there's nothing wrong with that, but help is something given in the midst of need. You believed that this was a need of theirs, so you anticipated it by trying to help, but now look at our current situation."
"I'm out here with Neville, we can't even be called your friends, so the only reason we're here is to help you. Even so, you weren't happy at all and even took it out on us. What's the difference between that and what you do?" Rigel asked, shrugging.
Hermione remained silent.
Rigel let the silence deepen a little, then he continued. "There is a real difference. I'm not going to force you to accept my help, nor am I going to impose my ideals and values on you. I only came here because I felt bad for you and wanted to offer help. Whether you accept it or not is up to you. If you tell us to leave, we'll simply go, and I can promise not to bother you again."
Rigel wouldn't coddle Hermione or claim the whole thing was unfair, Ron had indeed been mean, but the root of the problem was that Hermione liked being an annoying know-it-all, that was still a fact, and if she didn't change, she wouldn't be able to make friends. It all depends on what she really wants.
More silence fell, and it remained like that for a long moment, until Rigel heard noises from inside and finally, the door to the girls' bathroom opened. Hermione's hair was even more disheveled, her eyes red from crying so much, there were even traces of snot on her clothes. Rigel almost took a step back, but he held himself back.
The troll hadn't arrived yet, he could only continue with the act.
Even so, seeing Hermione like that, he felt a little bad again.
Well, although he lied about why he came, the fact was that he was really there to help, so he tried to put that feeling aside.
Hermione looked at the two of them, then at the plate of food, sniffed again, reached out to grab it, and then slammed the bathroom door shut.
It took a few more seconds for a simple 'thank you' to come from inside the bathroom.
Rigel chuckled slightly and shook his head, looking at Neville, he said. "Come on, the job is done."
Rigel knew the troll was approaching, the smell already made that clear, so he could finish the act.
But at that moment the bathroom door opened again. "Wait!"
Hermione poked part of her head out of the door, looking at them, and said. "That... I'm sorry for yelling at you, but thank you for caring."
Rigel looked at the little girl who had been walking around with her nose in the air for the past few months and sighed inwardly. In the end, she was just a child. Compared to Ron, who was petty, Hermione, who had managed to accept his kindness and even apologize, was at the very least, much better.
"It's alright, anyway... we didn't know what you wanted to eat, so we brought a little of everything, although I don't mind, I don't think it's very hygienic to eat in the bathroom, why don't you go outside and eat? We can keep you company." Rigel smiled at her, since she could apologize, he also had no reason to act coldly towards her.
To be honest, even when playing the tough guy, Rigel still had a soft spot for that kind of look, were it not for that, Elizabeth wouldn't have taken such advantage of his indulgence.
Looking at Rigel's smile, Hermione froze for a moment, her little face turning red. She opened her mouth wanting to refuse, but also felt happy to finally be able to eat with 'friends'. She hesitated for a moment, but just as she was about to agree, a slight tremor stopped her.
Rigel and Neville, outside, looked at the intersection of the corridor in the distance at the same time, the sound of footsteps was heard first, followed by an extremely strong smell, it smelled like a musky, walking garbage dump.
It was only when the figure lightly crossed the corridor, looking directly at them with that little head, that Neville froze completely. Seeing their appearance, Hermione quickly left the bathroom and faced the troll with the same fear as Neville.
Only Rigel was smiling, the 'star' of the event had finally arrived.