A/N: I promise I try to mix the fluff with the dark stuff, I swear.

CHAPTER 8: Bonding

Warning: Bullying (it gets better, I promise. Pansy gets what's coming for her).

The Herbicide Potion required four lionfish spines, two measurements of Standard Ingredient (which was a mix of different herbs), two measures of Horklump juice and two blobs of flobberworm mucus. It was a poisonous potion that damaged or killed plants—and made people sick if they drank it. Henry wanted to make it in case it worked against the Devil's Snare.

She marked the page in her textbook before moving on to Charms again. She still had Colloportus, Flipendo, Diffindo, Reparo, the Ice Jinx and how to make a pineapple dance left to learn. There was thirty minutes left of lunch break, and then Flying with Gryffindor started. She wasn't looking forward to it. Her acrophobia hadn't lessened since their flight with Hagrid all those years ago.

Speaking of him, he got a dragon in their first year, didn't he? She probably had to do something about it. Might as well pay him a visit after school.

Flipendo, also known as the Knockback Jinx, was primarily used in duelling. The wand movement was an outdrawn V with a tail. She was hiding in the Room of Requirement after excusing herself from her friends, and it was the perfect place for practice.

I wish for a dummy to test my spells on. Within moments, one appeared. She coaxed her magic to her fingertips and into her wand and pictured the dummy flying backwards.

"Flipendo!" she cried. Her magic forced itself out of the wand and knocked the dummy back a few centimetres. It wasn't much, but it was something. Next, she tried Ebublio again. It took her four times until the bubble held. Fred and George forgot to mention it could burst if she wasn't careful.

Since she was sure she'd mastered Ebublio, she went back to Flipendo. Before her thirty minutes were up, she'd learned it. Happy and excited, she skipped down to her next class.

"What's made you so giddy?" asked Draco.

"I learned a new spell."

"Well—congratulations. Which one?"

"Flipendo."

"Can you teach me that one? I'm having trouble with it." She promised she was free that afternoon (after her visit to Hagrid), and that he should meet her outside one of the abandoned classrooms.

Madam Hooch strode out of the castle, her yellow eyes glowing slightly in the sunlight. She looked the same as in the movies, with short, white spiky hair and a rectangular face. She looked stern, but not like Snape or Professor McGonagall.

"We're doing something simple today," she said, her yellow eyes scanning them, stopping on Henry. She arched a brow but didn't comment. "You see the brooms? Command them to your hands. All you have to do is say 'up' and direct your magic to your hands. Come on, with conviction!"

Henry held out her hand and said, "Up!" The broom vibrated, but didn't lift. "Up!" Next time she tried, she pictured the broom lifting into her grip. Without her command, her magic bled into her hands, dripping onto the broom. "Up!" The piece of wood nearly broke her wrist in its haste to get to her hand, but she made it.

Hermione gave her an impressed look. "Up!" she said to her wriggling broom. She sighed. "Up!"

Henry turned to look at Ron just in time to see his broom spectacularly hit him in the face. All the Slytherins laughed, but it was her he glared at. She was sure he'd be nicer if she'd been in any other House than Slytherin. Which hurt, but not too much for her to bother. Pansy's mean glares took priority. But she had to do something about Ron. He was one of the best characters in the series, and Harry's best friend.

"How did you get it to listen to you?" sighed Hermione.

"I imagined the broom flying into my hands. You have to focus on the intent—remember what Professor Flitwick said."

The girl nodded. A look of concentration flashed in her eyes. "Up!" Hermione almost shouted, and gasped when the broom obeyed. "Finally!" They giggled together.

Henry looked over at Blaise, Theo and Draco. Blaise already had his broom and was smiling in amusement at Theo's attempt at coaxing his broom. It just squirmed on the ground.

Draco was looking at her though. Then at Hermione. Then he looked at his broom. "Up." It gently obeyed.

"What was that about?" Henry asked herself.

Hermione looked between her and Draco. "Maybe he doesn't like that you're with me."

"Aw, come on, I sit by his side every lesson we don't share with anyone. Except Hufflepuff, because I don't know anyone there."

Hermione shrugged. She had only spoken once to Draco. She wasn't an expert on his behaviour; it was up to Henry to figure it out.

"Have you hung out with him?" she asked carefully.

Henry paused. They had had a deep conversation a few nights ago, but that was about it. Oh. Was he lonely? Felt neglected? She had to change that, then. Quickly, she excused herself, handing Hermione her broom, and walked up to Draco.

"What?" he asked. "Something wrong?"

"Nope," she replied, popping the p. "Just wondered if you wanted to spend some time tomorrow afternoon."

"Sure, I'll ask the others."

"I was referring to just the two of us, but if that makes you happy, then shoot."

He looked at her in mild surprise before blooming into a grin. "I'd like that. I'd like that a lot."

"Good. Then see you after Herbology." She turned back to him. "Do you know any wizarding games? I'm kind of curious about them."

"I'll bring some."

Hermione was grinning in amusement when she returned. She handed Henry back her broom.

Madam Hooch turned her attention on a poor Gryffindor, and Henry saw Ron kneel and pick up his broom with a scowl. She quelled a giggle, but again locked eyes with Draco, who was chuckling with Blaise. This time he looked much happier.

When everyone finally had their brooms, Madam Hooch instructed them on how to fly and what to do. It was like Henry remembered, and she mimicked the other students. She was the only one not surprised when Neville's possessed broom went off.

Her Potter instincts tingled. It was the same instinct, she was sure, that book!Harry and movie!Harry had suffered from, that had them make all those reckless decisions. Without consideration for her acrophobia and the trouble this would undoubtedly land her in, she set off after Neville mere moments after he'd left the ground.

People called her name, most notably Madam Hooch and Draco. Of course, she disregarded them, the idiot that she was, and took a hold of Neville's broom. "Fancy seeing you here," she joked. "Come here often?"

He stared at her, and she coughed, ignoring her flaming ears. "W-what?"

"Forget it." She concentrated on her magic as it coated his broom and commanded it to stop behaving like a madman. The effect was instantaneous. "That's better, isn't it?"

Neville, paler than the ghosts, nodded. "Th-thank you. Thank you. I… I thought I was… I was going to… to die."

Falling from this height could kill you, but Henry knew he'd get away with a broken arm.

She froze. He might get away lightly, but what if she fell?

Oh my sweet Jesus, went through her when she looked down. Big mistake. Her vision blurred and her heart began to race. She felt the hand on her broom sweat, and gulped. If she wasn't careful, she might actually die.

"Um. Potter? Henrietta Potter?" Neville carefully poked her shoulder, and she yanked so hard it hurt. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yes. Yes. Fine. I'm fine. Very fine. Fabulous. Jesus, we're really high up, huh? Maybe… maybe don't look down. Just a hint. Should we…" She gulped. "Should we fly down now?"

Neville nodded, and let her hold his sleeve until they were safely on the ground. Henry collapsed and crawled into a fetal position, closing her eyes and counting down from one hundred.

Draco was immediately by her side, speaking calmly about how good she was for never having flown before, and asked if she wanted to hold his hand. She did, and nearly broke it.

"Of all the reckless things—" Madam Hooch began, but Blaise silenced her with a death glare. She coughed. "Are you alright, Miss Potter?"

Henry nodded weakly. "Just a bit… you know… scared. Heights are wow. They're wow. Really high."

Madam Hooch connected the dots and had Draco help Henry to the Hospital Wing. He carefully helped her stand, which was a feat, considering her legs were the consistency of jelly.

They walked off the grass in silence, feeling the heavy stares from their classmates. It wasn't until a few minutes after they entered the castle that Draco asked what happened.

"Acrophobia," she whispered.

"What's that?"

"Fear of heights."

"Oh." Of course she'd reacted so strongly, then. He had to ask Harry if there were more things she didn't like. He doubted Henry herself would tell him, and he didn't really want to find it out like this again.

They entered the Hospital Wing, where Madam Pomfrey was scolding Fred and George. The twins looked at the new arrivals and raised their eyebrows in sync at the sight. Henry was afraid to look in the mirror. She could already see her hair turning white.

"And what can I help you with, dears?" Madam Pomfrey asked gently and directed them to an empty bed. Draco quickly explained everything to her, and she left to find a Calming Draught. "And you two," she told the twins, "are leaving without disturbing my patient, got it?"

"Yes Madam," they replied, looking like they were going to do the opposite. Both Henry and Draco hoped not.

"I know a few hexes," he whispered to her. "Give me a signal and I'll use them."

Fred winked at her before leaving the room. George gave her one too, but his eyes lingered a second longer, filled with worry.

"What… what did you do to your hair?" Draco asked in an odd voice, and Henry took a few strands to look at. They were the same colour as Fred and George's.

"Uh. It does that." Her hair immediately turned back to auburn.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Really? I didn't know."

She snorted. "Haha. Funny."

"Whatever, I wasn't asking about your Metamorphmagus abilities, I was asking why your hair turned into theirs."

"They're my friends, I guess that's why." She had little to no control over her abilities. They lived their own life. She had to read up on that too. Her to-do-list was becoming too long.

Madam Pomfrey returned with the potion. Calm and collected, Henry thanked her before following Draco out the door.

"Are you doing anything special today?"

Henry nodded. She was still going to see Hagrid. Not that she remembered if he was a critical character, but she had a soft spot for him, and knew for a fact he was emotionally attached to at least Harry. It was actually a surprise he hadn't sent a tea invitation yet.

Draco wrinkled his nose. Delicately, he asked, "Why are you visiting that oaf— I mean the groundskeeper?"

Since he tried to be civil, she looked past his blunder. "I remember him," was her cryptical answer. "And he seems to know us. He might have known our parents."

Draco accepted the explanation. "Then I'll see you at dinner."

"Of course. And Draco? Thanks for being my friend."

He blushed. "You too. Thank you for not giving up on me."

To say Hagrid was surprised was an understatement. He nearly fell flat on his back when he opened the door and saw the twins standing outside. The hut was small and the furniture big. Henry almost drowned in the armchair she sat in.

It wasn't a visit to Hagrid without his famous rock cakes. Henry whispered a quick Reducio and hid it in her pocket. If she ever figured out Hagrid's birthday, she was giving him a proper cookbook.

He was ecstatic at their visit, said he had thought of inviting them but was afraid they'd reject it, since they didn't know who he was. To ease his worries, Henry confessed she remembered him taking them to Privet Drive. He got so emotional he shed a few tears.

"Yeh have to tell me," he said, "How's school been?"

Harry's life at Hogwarts was all he could ask for. He had friends, everyone was nice (though he knew it was mostly because of his fame) and classes were fun. Except Potions and Defence. Snape was out to get him and Quirrell a stammering idiot. And he smelled so strongly of garlic one of his classmates fainted.

"Bah, Snape's a good teacher," said Hagrid.

Realising Hagrid would never see the Professors' flaws, Harry quickly changed topics to his friends. He hung out mostly with Terry Boot, Michael Corner and Anthony Goldstein. Sometimes Padma Patil and Su Li joined them. Fred and George caught him a few times after class. They usually spoke about pranks. Hagrid warned Harry they were troublemakers, but the boy was already fascinated with their work and ready to become their apprentice.

"Wha' abou' yeh, Henrietta?"

"Please call me Henry." She gave him a sheepish smile. "It's alright, I guess. School's fun. Potions could be better, but at least Snape doesn't take too many points from me. I have a few friends, too. Like Harry, I hang out with Fred and George."

"No one in yer own House?"

"Oh, sure I do. Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott are my friends. We met Draco in Diagon Alley, actually."

She wasn't surprised when Hagrid warned her about their parents and ideologies. "Be careful, yeh hear me?"

"Yes Hagrid."

Before letting them go, he promised to invite them to tea next week as well. They walked back to the castle in silence, their fingers intertwined. She had already told Harry about Norbert and her plan to befriend Hagrid so he wouldn't end up eaten by the creature. He agreed it was a good plan, but hadn't expected to actually like the half giant. He was looking forward to the next meeting already.

They decided to split the work. Harry was researching useful potions, both offensive and defensive ones. Henry was looking up the spells. She promised to teach him, Draco, Blaise and Theo the ones she already knew that Saturday after her detention.

Draco noticed, of course, that the twins were studying extra curricular subjects and Harry happily told him that you could never be too careful. So Draco volunteered to look up more information about Metamorphmagi, since Henry hadn't done that yet.

Blaise looked up from his advanced book on magical creatures. "I suggest learning Occlumency as well." He explained the basics to Harry. It was a protection of the mind, from Legilimens users with the ability to read minds. It could be both taught and hereditary.

"Something tells me half the teachers know Legilimens," said Harry. "We might need to learn it too."

"Most Purebloods learn it at an early age," explained Draco, "but only the basics. For example, I can't protect myself against Uncle Severus, because he's a Master Legilimens."

The twins stared at him. Snape could read thoughts? They cringed. He must have done that to them in Potions. Henry had double Potions the next day (Friday), and was looking even less forward to it now.

"We definitely have to learn it," she said.

Blaise nodded. "I know someone that might help us." And with that, he left.

"We should ask Fred and George too," Harry mumbled to himself. "They might know it."

"Why not invite that Mu—uuuggleborn as well?" Draco cursed under his breath. "Since you're inviting all and everything, I mean."

"Don't be snide." Henry patted his shoulder. "But that's a good idea. I'll ask her to join us on Saturday. She's my friend too, you know."

He sighed. "I know." He went deeper into the library to find more about her ability, leaving Harry and Henry alone.

"You should make a list of spells to teach us," Harry suggested. "On Saturday, I mean."

"Yeah, you're right. Otherwise I'll probably forget."

She wrote down all the Charms spells and sighed. She only knew a bit more than half. She had to take this afternoon to learn as many of the others as possible.

"See you tonight," Harry called as she left. They were basically living in the Room of Requirements. Henry had moved all her things to it, but since Harry didn't have the same problem as her, he decided he'd sleep there once every second day.

The Room of Requirement was quiet. Henry liked the silence; it was easier to concentrate when she didn't have to filter out the background noise. She asked the room for another dummy and looked up Diffindo in her book. It was used to cut or tear objects, with the wand motion being similar to Flipendo.

"Alright," she said to herself. "You can do this. Spells come easy for you." She stood in front of the dummy. Her magic vibrated in her wand, ready to obey her command. She imagined the dummy being torn in half. "Diffindo!" A light pink spark exited her wand. She shrugged it off, used to nothing working out on her first try. "Diffindo!" The force from the spell repelled her backwards. She landed hard on her back and hit her head on the floor.

Cursing herself and the spell, she sat up. And dropped her jaw. The dummy was cleanly cut in half.

Is it supposed to actually be that powerful? she wondered, standing up and looking through her book again.

'If used inappropriately, can cause death or injury,' it said. Well, there she had her answer. The spell was deadly. Good to know she could use it, though she didn't want to. She had long ago come to terms with the fact she might have to kill people (Death Eaters), but that didn't mean she was okay with giving them the goriest, most painful ends she could.

Only for emergencies, then, she decided.

The next spell she looked up was Colloportus, Alohomora's opposite. The room conjured a detached door for her and she sat down to memorise the wand movement, an unfinished rectangle with a straight line down. She practiced until she thought she had it down. Then she stood.

"Colloportus!" The door locked itself immediately. Surprised, she tried opening it. "It worked! Yes!" she cheered. "Haha! Suck on that. Alohomora." A gentle click later and the door was open.

Finally there was a spell she got the hang off immediately. Wait until she told Harry. Proud of her achievements, she quickly moved on to Reparo. That one they would definitely need. Sad how they weren't allowed to use magic outside school. Reparo was one of the most useful everyday spells Henry remembered. She hoped Dudley and Vernon wouldn't break too many of their things during summer.

When she was done with Reparo, she moved on to the Ice Jinx, Glacies. From her limited knowledge of Latin, it translated to "ice". What a surprise.

Her magic didn't get the hang of the spell until much later. She wrote in her notes that apparently her magic wasn't as apt at spells that controlled nature as other spells. She also stopped training. Her magical reserve was low and she was tired. It was also time for dinner, which her stomach was happy to remind her of.

"How'd it go?" asked Draco. Harry had told him what she was doing.

"I exhausted my magic before I learned the last spell."

"Can I pat your shoulder?" She nodded and he did. "You did good, Henry. I'm proud."

She was too. "Thank you! Look forward to Saturday."

Afterwards, Henry quickly found Hermione before she could disappear to her common room. The girl was delighted to be invited to their gathering and promised to come.

Before going to sleep that night, Henry took a gulp of both the Calming Draught and the Sleeping Draught. It was the best sleep she had had so far.

Double Potions was horrible. It was the first lesson of the day, a Friday, and Snape wasted no time in making their lives miserable. To no one's surprise, he began the lesson by throwing out questions to the class.

"Parkinson!" he barked. "How many sprigs of lavender does the Sleeping Draught require?" When Pansy failed to answer, he allowed Daphne to reply.

"Four, Professor."

"Correct. Beakley, what is the effect of the Pompion Potion?"

The boy blanched. "It… it turns the drinker's head into a pumpkin? Sir?"

"Excellent. One point to Slytherin. Mr Zabini, do tell me what I get if I mix salamander blood and crushed Wartcap powder to a cauldron with bursting mushrooms."

"The Fire Protection Potion, sir."

"Excellent. It seems most of you have done your homework." But he wasn't finished. "Miss Potter, what are the instructions for the Calming Draught?"

What were the odds he asked her that? "I don't know, sir. It's a fourth-year potion."

"One point from Slytherin for your unwanted sass, Miss Potter. Everyone, turn to page ten. Today we're brewing the Forgetfulness Potion. Pair up."

Draco went to get the ingredients while Henry prepped the cauldron. Now that she was here, she had to be careful with her thoughts. Who knew when Snape was listening in on them?

"I thought he liked Slytherin," whispered a boy whose name she didn't remember. "Why's he being so hard on us?"

"Mr Beakley, I suggest you take a look at your surroundings before speaking." The boys jumped at the sound of Snape's voice. He was right behind them. "I warn you once. Next time I'm taking points."

Henry looked at the dejected students and leaned closer. "He's strict because he cares. Can't have the other Houses be better at Potions than his own, right?" She winked for good measure. The boys gaped at her. The one Snape had snapped at, Beakley, nodded.

"You're right. I wouldn't be able to look my parents in the eye if Gryffindor bested me at this. Thank you, Miss Potter."

"Call me Henry. Nice to meet you, by the way."

The boy shook her hand. "Nice to meet you too. I'm Adam Beakley. This is Finlei Choi." The Asian boy nodded in greeting.

"Hello."

They returned to their own stations. Draco and Henry were two of the first to finish their potion. Snape begrudgingly admitted it was "passable". "Now, turn to page thirteen, you have another potion to brew."

"He doesn't like you," whispered Draco. "Otherwise he wouldn't be so strict. Passable, really? It was darn near perfect."

"Miss Potter!"

"Yes, Professor?"

"What happens if you add too much of the ingredients to the Draught of Peace?"

Her mind came to an abrupt stop. What was wrong with him? Singling her out like this—what good did it do except feeding into his disgusting self-satisfaction?

"You risk being put into a deep, irreversible sleep," whispered Draco, who stood with his back to Snape.

"If you do that, Professor, you get a similar effect to the Draught of Living Death. In other words, the one that drinks it might not wake up. Satisfied?"

"And how did you know that?"

"I read it in passing in a book at the library, sir."

He dismissed them and Henry sank into her chair. Honestly, Snape shouldn't be a teacher. They were supposed to be objective—he didn't even try. Should she give up on the class? No way he'd give her a fair grade.

She ignored Snape's angry gaze on her. "Page thirteen, what potion is that?"

"Herbicide Potion," replied Draco. "I'll go get the ingredients."

One eternity later, the four of them (Henry, Draco, Blaise and Theo) left the Potions lab with their peers, sure Snape had taken at least a year of their lives.

They ate a quick lunch, with Harry joining them this time, before leaving for Defence. It was as mind-numbing as yesterday. Henry spent the lesson enchanting origami cranes to peck on Theo's head every time he fell asleep. She'd found the spell in a book at the library.

Herbology was fun. They were learning about the Devil's Snare (why on Earth would they divulge that information when they used it to protect the Stone?). It's natural environment was dark and damp, which matched perfectly with the third floor. Henry was aghast to learn it was classified as semi-sentient, however. When she and Harry braved the trials, she had to make sure not to hurt it.

Finally school ended. The children felt they had aged significantly, but at least it was Friday. They only had a bit of homework, which Henry's group and Harry's friends finished within the hour. Henry and Draco excused themselves from the others and returned to the common room. Draco showed her a deck of Exploding Snap cards.

Henry had never learned how to play in her past life. Draco was more than willing to teach her.

The rules were simple. When you saw two identical pictures, you hit the card with the top of your wand—and you got one point. The player with the most points at the end won the game. The hard part was that the cards shuffled faster and faster.

"There are three versions," Draco explained, "but we're playing the classic for your first try."

It was hard. Fun, but hard. In the end, Draco won most games, because he was much more used to the pace.

"You have surprisingly good reflexes," he noted as he packed up the game. "Have you played something similar before?"

She couldn't tell him she developed them so Dudley wouldn't steal her stuff. "Similar, yeah. So, what's this?"

Draco held up his Wizard Skittles. "The goal of the game is to knock down as many pins as possible with your skittles," he explained and showed her.

After a few rounds, he asked, "Do you like Hogwarts?"

"Well, yes."

"You don't look like it."

She glanced at him. He was frowning. "I'm not used to all of this. I thought that once I came here, everything would sort itself out, kind off. But I realise that's wrong. Magic doesn't unite people the way I thought it would. Maybe it unites Muggleborns and Halfbloods, but not Purebloods. At least not your kind."

He snorted. "And what exactly is my kind?"

"The Dark ones, I guess." She wasn't about to call them for what they were, Pureblood traditionalists and conservationists. That would undoubtedly rub him the wrong way.

"Can't fault you there," he sighed. "Thanks for being my friend despite that."

"I saw the effort you put in, so I wanted to give you a chance. Why did you approach us that day?"

His father had been cross with him for offending her. Draco had essentially wasted a prime opportunity to get to know the famous Twins-Who-Lived, and the blunder set him back in his father's eyes. The only thing he proved that day was that he was indeed just a child, too immature for Lucius to take to social gatherings.

"What about now?"

He smiled. "Now I know you're not some fame-seeking moron, but someone that loves magic. Do you like to read generally, or just school-related stuff?"

"Generally, though I haven't gotten much of a chance." Petunia and Vernon didn't allow them to touch their bookshelf and if they borrowed books from the school library, Dudley ruined them. They had actually been banned from taking books with them when they were nine. "What about you?"

"I enjoy a book or two, mostly adventures of Merlin."

"I like fantasy."

"What're those about?" He laughed when she told him they were mostly about magic and magical worlds. It was impressive how many different systems the Muggles came up with though.

Since Draco likely wouldn't step foot in a Muggle bookstore, she told him about her favourite series, books and authors whose names she had forgotten but now resurfaced.

Right before she found herself here, she had finished reading Elizabeth Lim's The Blood of Stars duology, about Maia Tamarin, a seamstress dreaming of becoming the imperial tailor.

"Madam Malkin has scissors like that."

"I don't think they're exactly the same," laughed Henry.

"Tell me more about that angel series."

He was talking about Susan Ee's Penryn and the End of Days trilogy. Henry remembered being obsessed with it when it first came out. Afterwards, she wrote her own short stories centering around angels and the perception of religion. How she wished she could read them.

"Do you have a book series you detest?" she asked Draco. "It doesn't have to have bad writing, but maybe a bad story, execution or characters."

"Good questions…" He furrowed his brows in concentration. "I think that would be Damien's Ballad. The characters were rather thin, especially the protagonist. He was a blank slate, with no personality whatsoever. The story was something a three-year-old could write as well, very generic and cliché."

Henry whistled in surprise.

"What about you?"

"That would be… Either the Everlife books or House of Night. I never finished Everlife though. I forced myself through the first book, but the world didn't make much sense and the main character devolved into a boring empty sheet and lost all her interesting quirks. And I hated the love interest. Honestly, it would have been better if she ended up with her new best friend or no one at all."

Draco laughed. "That one sounds awful. Do you enjoy romance stories, then?"

"Yeah, most books I read focus a lot on them. Do you?"

"Not particularly. Again, I enjoy adventure stories the most. They usually don't have any serious romantic relationships. What's wrong with House of Night, then?"

Oh boy, he should be happy he hadn't read it. It started off well, with a likeable heroine and side characters, but already in the second book it went bonkers and lost all its charm. The characters died and came back to life, the heroine had a harem—and cheated on her boyfriend with a teacher. The villainess became good, then appeared a new villain, some random angel whose name Henry never learned to pronounce correctly, then came a new villainess, the gays could never be happy and honestly in the last book Henry detested Zoey Redbird so much she was angry she won the last battle.

Draco promised himself to never read House of Night. If just talking about it riled Henry up so much her hair turned blood red, he didn't want to know more.

"I'll give you a list of my favourite series instead," he said. "At least they're not that bad."

"Thanks!"

"Of course. Is there anything else you enjoy?"

"Taking walks. I haven't done much of that since we came here though."

"How about we take one now?"

They finished their match of Wizard Skittles and left the castle to walk around the Black Lake. Draco wondered if she used to take walks at home. She did, mostly with Harry. There was a field not too far away from the house where they spent most of their childhood running around or climbing trees.

Draco in turn told her about the magical creature reserve a few minutes from his own home and promised to show it to both her and Harry. Hopefully they could persuade Vernon and Petunia to let them visit over the summer.

He pointed out a black dog watching them from the treeline. Sirius moved farther into the forest when he did. Instead of calling more attention to him, Henry nodded subtly and pointed at the mers sticking their heads out of the water.

That night, as Henry waited for Harry in the Room of Requirements, she couldn't stop grinning. Though some things were tough, she wouldn't trade this life for anything. She could live with Pansy's mean antics and Ron's sour glares if it meant she could stay with Draco and Harry and the others.

"Someone's in a good mood."

"Harry!" She rushed into his arms. "How have you been?"

"Fine. Michael and the others taught me Wizarding Chess. It's fascinating, but they didn't know the spell."

She kissed his cheek before cuddling up in the bed. Harry joined her.

"Did something good happen?" he asked with a smile.

"Uh-huh. Draco loves to read! And we played games and took a walk, we saw Sirius and we talked so much!"

Harry laughed. Finally she was smiling again. He worried he wouldn't see her happy until Christmas. Thanks to Fred and George, he had gotten her present early.

Henry took her dose of the two Draughts and snuggled up against him. If things kept going this way, Harry hoped she wouldn't need them by the end of December.

At 10AM the following day, a Saturday, Henry stood outside the Potions lab. Snape unlocked the door and ordered her inside. Immediately he put her to work: she was to clean the cauldrons and do inventory. Her detention lasted until she was done, he said.

Careful in keeping her thoughts in check, she set off to clean the overgrown kettles until they sparkled. She was forbidden from using magic, but that wasn't really a problem. She had been in charge of washing the dishes at the Dursleys for as long as she could remember.

While she worked, Snape sat behind his desk, looking through homework. They didn't say a word for two hours before Snape offered her a sandwich for missing lunch. She accepted it, secretly wondering if he put something in it.

"Don't be alarmed," said Snape after sitting down again, "I am merely precautious. I don't want you to faint from hunger."

"I see. Then, thank you Professor." She finished it and decided to be brave. "How old are you, sir?"

"And why is that of any relevance?"

"Because I wonder if you knew my parents."

The shrill sound of something tearing made her look up. Snape had accidentally ripped someone's homework in two.

He leveled her with a murderous glare. "And why do you ask?"

She shrugged. "I have no memory of my father, and only one of my mother. My aunt and uncle refused to speak of them, but Harry and I have always been curious. I figured that if my Head of House doesn't know them, then he knows someone who does."

It took a long time before he answered. She gave up after a while, figuring he still wasn't over the ordeal, and went back to cleaning the last cauldron.

When Snape spoke next, he was quiet. "I knew them."

She looked at him. "Really? What did they look like?"

"Like you," he spat. "You're practically her twin."

Henry absentmindedly touched her hair. She figured she resembled at least one of them a little, but to know she was a miniature version of Lily was unexpected. It didn't make her happy. It was a hassle, because of course Snape didn't like her if she looked like Lily's ghost.

"I see. And dad?"

"Your brother resembles him so much it's scary."

"Did he also have green eyes?"

"Blue," spat Snape.

Henry took a deep breath. "You didn't like them, did you?"

"Enough, Miss Potter. I suggest you finish your task if you don't want to be stuck here all day."

"Yes, Professor." She finished the cauldron. Before she disappeared into the storage, she gave him another look. "Thank you for telling me about them." She didn't stay to see his reaction.

After finishing her detention (an hour later), Henry went to find Hermione. She stumbled upon Fred and George, who whipped out their trusty map and pointed her to the direction of the abandoned classroom they would use. So Hermione had been brave and went there without her? Henry admitted she was proud.

Outside the room stood a lot more people than she initially anticipated. There was Draco, Blaise, Theo and Hermione, as well as Harry, who were all supposed to be there. Then there was Anthony Goldstein, Padma Patil, Michael Corner and Terry Boot, who were not invited.

Henry arched a brow at Harry and he scratched his neck nervously.

"They followed me here," he admitted sheepishly. "I'm sorry."

"Harry's been acting odd since yesterday," explained Padma, "so we wanted to make sure he wasn't getting into trouble, being bullied or something."

Henry gave a smile of appreciation. "Then are you joining us?"

"Why not?" Anthony Goldstein followed her and the others inside. The other Ravenclaws followed his lead.

"So, what are we doing?" asked Terry Boot.

"Henry's going to teach us the spells for Charms," replied Harry. "Go on, Henry."

And thus began her first day as teacher. She had them all line up so she could see them all, then she performed Flipendo, told them its effect even though they just saw it, showed them the movement and had them repeat it until she was satisfied. The problem was, except for Harry and Hermione, the others had varying degrees of difficulty performing it. She didn't understand, until Draco said not everyone were born with perfect control of their magic.

Oh. So they have trouble making it obey them? That was a problem she hadn't expected. She'd forgotten how it was in the books and movies, and kind of assumed most children learned control from dealing with their accidental magic.

"Alright then…" she mumbled. "Harry, I need to talk to you. The rest of you, free play until we get back." Some of them giggled.

Harry let her drag him out of the classroom. She asked what she was supposed to do now, and he suggested teaching them control. The thing was, she didn't know how. Their control came from years of suppressing their magic whenever it tried going out of control. Henry especially had had a need for it, since her magic was so violent.

"We usually searched for our magic," Harry said helpfully. "Might do them some good to do the same."

"You should take over."

"This was your idea, so you should take charge." He opened the door and pushed her inside. Henry immediately had everyone sit down, and explained to them they had to manually find their magic. If casting a spell made it easier to reach it, then they were free to do so.

Hermione was the only one that, after an hour, managed to grasp her magic. Henry had her consciously move it around her body, like she herself used to do, before ordering her to cast Wingardium Leviosa on a pebble. The girl could already use the spell flawlessly, but this time her magic was more cooperative.

Spurred by the Muggleborn's results, the others kept up their work, some casting Wingardium Leviosa on repeat to make it easier.

"I played with my magic when I was younger," she explained when Hermione asked about her own control. "I could make it do stuff, but at the same time it randomly exploded without my consent." She also reminded them of Professor Flitwick's words about focus and intent. She explained what she did when she tried new spells. They had to envision something concrete, in this case how they literally grabbed their magic. The magic could be represented by a string of some sorts.

Blaise immediately got a hang of it. Draco and Michael Corner followed suit after a while. Harry went to coach Theo, Anthony Goldstein and Terry Boot, while Henry oversaw the others casting Wingardium Leviosa. When she was sure they got a hang of consciously moving their magic, she showed them Flipendo. Again, Hermione cast it without difficulty, while the others struggled in varying degrees. Most of them managed to cast the spell after a handful of tries, only to then struggle again. Henry figured they might have trouble concentrating. At the top of her head, she didn't know any good exercises for concentration, so she decided to look it up later.

Harry's group joined them some time later, and she taught them Flipendo as well. They had similar problems, but Harry didn't know any good solutions either. At the end of the day, her students (she giggled at the thought) only learned three spells, Flipendo, Alohomora and Colloportus.

She was about to wrap up the session, but Terry Boot wanted a go at another spell. Apparently it didn't matter they had been doing this for five hours.

"Fred and George taught me Engorgio, does that sound good?"

"What's that?" the boy asked.

Henry nodded at Blaise, who replied. "It enlarges the target. Right, Professor Potter?" Everyone laughed.

"Really?" Henry asked, exasperated. "I'm nowhere near good enough to be a teacher."

"You're leagues better than some of them," Draco insisted, thinking of Quirrell.

Harry nodded in agreement. "If it wasn't so hard to get a hold of potion ingredients, I'm sure you could tutor us in that too."

This time she laughed. She might know how to read a recipe, but she was no Mistress, and she certainly didn't know enough recipes to teach them anything.

"If you say so. Now, about Engorgio…"

As they wrapped up the session, Padma asked when they would meet up next. Surprisingly enough, everyone was eager for another lesson. They set up a date (Saturday next week around the same time and place) and were on their way.

"What should I teach next time?" Henry asked Harry.

"More Charms, and exercises for concentration."

"Except that."

He grinned. "No, trust me, we won't have time for much else." They laughed, and Henry took his hand.

"You're right. And we didn't finish with the spells I planned for today either."

"I'm such a genius."

A/N: Honestly, I love this version of Harry. He's just so Done with everything. Writing him is a blast.