A/N: Mental unhealth is to be taken seriously. It has real consequences for people suffering from it. This comes from someone that's been dealing with mental breakdowns since she was thirteen.

But it gets better. It always gets worse beforehand, but we're finally on the way there.

Thank you for reading!

CHAPTER 10: Salvation and Retaliation

She woke up. Blinking back tears, she sat up slowly and took in her surroundings. Bright stone walls and grey stone floor, beds everywhere. She was in the Hospital Wing.

Memories from before flooded her mind and she gasped. What had she done? Oh Lord, what if Pansy—

Don't.

She looked at her hands. Her red hands. Her bloodstained hands. Instead of working herself into another panic attack, she calmly left the bed and washed her hands in the sink. The blood didn't disappear. She kept scrubbing until her heart clenched. Why wasn't it going away?

"Miss Potter, I advise you to go back to bed."

"The blood won't disappear," she told Madam Pomfrey. "I'll go back as soon as it's gone."

The medi-witch walked up to her and examined her hands. She didn't touch her.

"There's no blood, Miss Potter. Please go back to bed."

Henry paused. Looked at her hands. Was she hallucinating? She let Madam Pomfrey walk her back to bed.

The witch handed her a vial of something she couldn't identify. It was the Draught of Peace. Apparently the woman had forced her to take one already. Henry didn't want to know the details.

She had sustained no physical injuries, but Madam Pomfrey wasn't about to let her go. She handed Henry her Charms book, because Harry had come by to leave it.

"For some light reading," he'd said. "For when she wakes up."

He was the best brother she could have asked for.

She spent a few hours going through all the spells, again sorting which ones she should learn first. It got boring after a while, since neither of her friends nor Sirius or Daycrusher were there to keep her entertained. If she'd been any good at Occlumency, she could have gone to keep working on her layers. She had literally stacked layers upon each other, a bit like the castle from Sword Art Online. So far, she had three of them. She wanted a hundred.

Being bored was never good. Her thoughts kept coming back to the inevitable, of what happened to Pansy. Hopefully she hadn't killed her. She hadn't meant to, just wanted the girl to keep her distance, to not hurt her.

Sadness claimed her heart. She was disappointed, she realised, that despite her best efforts, her magic was still as volatile as when she was younger. It didn't matter that she had better control. It was frustrating.

It's going to be okay, she tried to cheer herself up.

How? another part replied. You hurt another student. You might have killed them. Remember Marge's dog?

She didn't want to remember. She wanted Harry to hold her and Draco to smile at her and Blaise to roll his eyes at them. But that wasn't possible anymore. She was a danger to others and had hurt someone. They must have expelled her already, and that had to be the reason they didn't let her out: Someone was coming to take her away, probably someone from the Ministry.

She blinked. Odd. She should be hysterical by now, but she was calm as a cucumber. Whatever Madam Pomfrey gave her, it worked even better than the Calming Draught. Could she persuade the witch to give her more? Or at least the recipe?

The doors opened. She sighed, defeated, and looked at her hands. Whatever they had to say, she hoped they would hurry up. She didn't want to stay here for longer than necessary. The plot was out of her hands now. Harry had to get through it without her. She could leave him her journal, she supposed, and send him letters. They had to be written in code of course, so no one could read them.

"Miss Potter."

This was the first time Dumbledore spoke to her. He sounded old, weary, like he shouldn't be there. Like he didn't want to.

She didn't answer.

"Do you have time?" He waited a moment before conjuring a chair to sit on. "We are in quite the predicament at the moment, care to guess why?"

Why was he even asking? Of course she knew.

"Miss Potter, I would greatly appreciate an explanation. We need to know why you attacked Miss Parkinson and Professor Snape."

She looked up at him. When had Snape gotten involved? Was he the one that dragged her away from Pansy?

"My girl, we need to sort this out."

My girl? She mentally sneered. Don't call me that. She wasn't his anything. He abandoned them to the Dursleys and had the audacity to pretend he didn't know exactly how they had grown up. And now he was trying to be nice?

Dumbledore sighed and stood. "I will be back. In the meantime, I hope you won't get in trouble."

She dearly wanted to retaliate, to rant about literally everything, but bit her lip. It was exactly what he wanted and she wasn't giving him that. Not right now, when she was angry. And not to him.

After he left, she counted the cracks visible on the ceiling. It was a dome and far up, so she couldn't see very well the paintings on it. Not that it mattered. Nothing did, right now. The only thing she felt was tiredness. She had no strength to do anything, and she was already bored with her mind. It kept going back to Pansy and Snape, and when she steered away from it, her mind suggested thinking of Quirrell. Like that did any good. Daycrusher's reports only served to assure her Quirrell wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. He was stuttering when together with someone and had one-sided conversations with himself when he thought no one was watching.

Forty-seven, she counted. There were forty-seven cracks in the ceiling visible from where she lay.

If only she had her wand. Snape must have taken it from her and handed it to Dumbledore for safekeeping. Would they snap it in half, like they did Hagrid's? She hoped not, it was a waste on such a marvelous piece of art. She wanted it now, to practice magic. She still had spells to learn, Confundo being one of them. That other spell she had used, Vulnera-something, she should learn as well. From what she remembered seeing, it was more effective than Episkey.

Madam Pomfrey checked on her once every twenty minutes. She never said anything about what happened or where Pansy was (probably St Mungo's), but knowing Henry wasn't alone made the visits feel better.

She finished the Charms book in time to get a visit from Harry. He looked tired, his face pale and his robes in disarray. He fell into the chair Dumbledore left behind and threw himself on her lap.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

Henry dragged her fingers through his hair. "Bored. There's nothing to do but stare and think and read. Speaking of which, I hope you brought a new book." She handed him the one she finished.

"How about Herbology?" He put hers in his bag and gave her his copy of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. "Um, Henry?" She waited for him to gather some courage. "What happened?"

"Good question, I can't remember half of it," she admitted. Whenever she thought back to the ordeal, her memories got fussy. That's Confundo for you. "How's… how's Pansy?"

She had been right, Pansy was currently in St Mungo's for her injuries. Her parents had complained to Dumbledore already, and the Headmaster was currently conducting an investigation together with someone from one of the Ministries, Harry hadn't asked which one.

Pansy was alive only because of Henry's use of Episkey and Vulnera Sanentur. Theo had told him that, according to what he had heard, she would make a full recovery, though it would take a while.

"That's good," murmured Henry. "What happened to the common room?"

"Nearly flooded." He tried to smile, but it turned into a sad grimace. "Merlin, Henry, what did she do to you?"

At least he was on her side. Now that the cat was out of the bag, she might as well tell him the whole truth.

Harry couldn't believe his ears. Henry had withstood Pansy's harassment for nearly a month and a half. Why? Why hadn't she just told anyone? Fred and George didn't count, because she had told them not to do anything and their prank didn't count.

"I was just tired. And besides, it gave me time to practice my spells in peace," was Henry's feeble reply. "And… I didn't want to burden you."

"That's about the dumbest thing you could do," Harry deadpanned. "We're family, you know, and we always tell each other everything. Or, at least I do. Dunno why I bother when you don't."

Henry glared.

"Don't look at me like that," he snapped. "For the time being, I'm fine. I haven't been this happy once in my life, so don't try to tell me you tried to protect me. I'm not that weak, not physically and not mentally. So if something similar happens, tell me."

"Alright… I promise."

"Great! Now, here's my notes for the classes you missed. These are Hermione's, Blaise's, Draco's… Theo isn't done copying his yet. And here's the homework. You can copy mine if you'd like."

She let him pour everything onto her lap, astonished so many people went out of their way to help her. They were her friends, she knew that, but she never expected them to do something like this.

"Does this… does this mean I haven't been expelled?"

Harry's eyebrows disappeared beneath his bangs. "Expelled? No, not until the investigation finishes, at least. A few Slytherin first-years came forward almost immediately to defend you, you know. Adam Beakley and… Choi, was his surname, I think."

"Finlei," Henry remembered. Why were they helping her? They'd only had one conversation, and Finlei Choi hadn't even said anything.

"Right, that's the one. I don't think the Parkinsons can do much about it. You have Draco and Blaise and even Theo on your side, as well as the Halfbloods and Muggleborns in Slytherin. Everyone's talking about Pansy harassing not only the ones in her own House, but others as well."

Henry must be dreaming, because this was too good to be true. Someone must be joking. It couldn't be this easy. The Slytherin students were tight, they wouldn't rattle each other out.

Harry read her like an open book and sighed. "They might be loyal to each other, but even that has its limits. Pansy overstepped."

Hery found she wished everything proceeded smoothly from here on out. She didn't have the energy to deal with more of this.

"How long was I out for?"

"Two days."

So it was Thursday.

"I see. Thanks for helping me."

Harry kissed her forehead. "Of course. Is there anything else you want?"

A chance to start this school year over.

"A hug." He immediately agreed and greeted Madam Pomfrey on his way out. The medi-witch asked to examine her again. She found nothing out of the ordinary. Henry asked for another dose of the Draught of Peace, which the witch got her.

Dumbledore returned that evening, sometime after dinner. This time, he had Snape with him. The old man took the chair while Snape stood behind him like a threatening bodyguard. Or angel of death, whichever one preferred.

"Pansy tried to touch me," she said calmly before they had a chance to open their mouths. "She was about to slap me."

Snape scoffed. He must have seen she was working on the Potions homework. "Excessive violence is not tolerated for any reason, Miss Potter. You ought to be expelled."

Then do it, you ugly cow.

His glare intensified.

"Now now, Severus. Don't be so hard on her. If she speaks the truth, she had a right to protect herself."

The hidden message, that she was still in trouble for nearly killing a student, was received and ignored. She had figured that out already. It didn't take a genius.

"Could you please look at me, Miss Potter?" asked Dumbledore gently.

"No." Her Occlumency wasn't very good yet, and she didn't want to risk looking into his eyes. "I have to finish these as soon as possible."

"Such a studious child," Dumbledmore murmured. "Miss Potter, what else has Miss Parkinson done to you?"

She cocked her head to the side, trying to remember. She had insulted her, her brother and her mother, treated Draco like she owned him, taken her things and ruined her books. She had thrown her out of her own dorm room so she had to sleep in classrooms, with Harry and Hermione. There was probably more, but those were the incidents she remembered most.

"But I have no proof," she said with a shrug. "Which was why, in case you wanted to know, I never told anyone."

"Thank you for your time, Miss Potter." Dumbledore stood. "I will not expel you for your actions, however I think detention for the rest of the year will suffice instead."

"Can they be on Friday afternoons or early Saturday morning?" she asked, not wanting her mistake to punish the afternoon class and Occlumency lessons.

"As you wish."

Before they left, Henry called out to Snape. "I'm sorry if I hurt you. I didn't mean to."

He gave her a long look she couldn't decipher. He sighed. "I understand, Miss Potter. Apology accepted."

She had a funny feeling it wasn't her he'd seen just now.

She was let go the next day, as well as excused from class. Snape escorted her to the common room, where the glass was now fixed, and inspected her room in case someone (Pansy) had rigged it with spells. He left after deeming it fit for use. Henry didn't comment on the missing fourth bed.

The homework she dumped on the bed, then she set off to the Room of Requirement to get the rest of her stuff. Thankfully, she had found a worn satchel with the Expansion Charm cast on it, so she didn't have to go a second time.

She finished homework and read through the notes, glad she had spent all those extra hours studying in advance. Daphne and Millicent returned during lunch, stating they thought she might not want to eat in the Great Hall. The truth was that she had forgotten the time. She followed them upstairs, where Draco (after asking for permission) gave her a hug. Blaise patted her on the shoulder. Even Theo gave her a relieved smile.

Instead of returning to the dorm after lunch, she went to see Dumbledore to get her wand back. It was when facing the stone statue she remembered she didn't know the password.

"Drat," she muttered under her breath. "Professor Dumbledore?" she tried calling. There was no reply, so she left for the library. Might as well study that spell Quirrell used in the movie to make the harp play by itself.

Shelf after shelf she looked through, and at one point even asked Madam Pince for help, but to no avail. It had to be an obscure branch of magic if even the Hogwarts librarian couldn't help her.

She was reading through a book about old Pureblood families when someone's shadow fell over her. It was Luciana. Today she wore a green and silver diadem.

"Good afternoon," she greeted the younger girl. "How are you doing, Miss Potter?"

"Depends on what you mean."

"Right now, how are you feeling? Can I sit?"

Henry nodded and Luciana took a seat opposite of her.

"I'm feeling calm. I couldn't get my wand back from Dumbledore—I don't know the password—and I haven't found the spell I'm looking for, but I can't work myself up about it." Thank you Jesus for the Draught of Peace. Whoever created it should have won a prize.

"The password is 'licorice lollipop'," Luciana said with an earnest smile. "What kind spell is it?" She nodded along to Henry's brief explanation. "I know of one, Musica Aeternam."

"Oh!" Henry exclaimed. How had she not thought about that one? "Thanatos Roserage, of course! I'm so stupid."

Luciana shook her head. "Not stupid, just preoccupied. Do you have time to learn it now?" She led Henry to the nook they usually used for Occlumency.

The movement for Musica Aeternam was an eight, or rather the symbol for eternity. Luciana transfigured a book into a harmonica and used the spell on it. Afterwards, she let Henry work on the movement while she herself sat down with homework.

Her break ended before Henry got the hang of it. She thanked the second-year for taking her time teaching her.

"Of course, it's an honour. See you on Sunday." She transfigured the harmonica back to its original form and left.

Henry kept working on the wand movement, but gave up after an hour. She didn't have an instrument to train on anyway.

But that wasn't totally true, was it? Hagrid had gifted Harry a flute in the book. It wasn't Christmas yet, sure, but that didn't mean he didn't have other instruments lying around. In the movie, she remembered him playing something when the Golden Trio came to interrogate him. If she was lucky, that particular detail translated to this world.

She hurried down to his hut. He was about to make his rounds to the creatures he cared for, and was happy to let her accompany him. They went to the Bowtruckles first. Hagrid recognised the one she played with the first time, and laughed when it reached for her again. She happily let it climb onto her shoulder while they moved into the Forbidden Forest. She was certain she wouldn't get in trouble with Hagrid protecting her.

"Oh, I know those," she said and looked at the little den close to a small pond. "You keep flobberworms, Hagrid?"

"Right I do! Snape need 'em for potions an' stuff, an' the elves for your food."

Henry stared at him, horrified. Had the house-elves fed them worms?

They moved on. Hagrid told her about the giant squid, the Grindylows and the pack of Hippogriffs that lived there. Feeding them was tricky, but she vaguely remembered how Harry had done it in the movie.

"An' lower," said Hagrid, "bow lower."

The Hippogriff she tried feeding accepted her acknowledgements and happily snacked on the dead ferret she threw it.

It was when they were on their way back she saw them, ghostly black horses, with their skin stretched so thin it was translucent. They had no hair on their bodies whatsoever and frankly, they looked creepy as all hell.

"Thestrals?"

"Hm?" Hagrid looked to where she was looking. "Yeh see summet?" He paused when he noticed the creatures. "Ah… Might want teh avoid 'em."

But Henry didn't want to. Compelled, she moved closer, careful to not make any sudden sounds or movements. The Thestrals saw her immediately and turned their milky white eyes her way.

"Henry, no," Hagrid hissed and grabbed her. "They're dangerous." The shrill shriek that followed his words got him on edge. "They dun like strangers, Henry, let's go." But they didn't get that far. A foal left the herd and went straight for them, slowing down the closer it got. Curiously, it reached forward to sniff Henry's hand, so she let it.

"Tell me about them."

As she remembered, they were only visible for those having seen death. The horrible shriek they just heard was a Thestral communicating.

"They're dead clever," Hagrid explained and patted the foal, "an' loyal to boot. Nothin' o' that mean talk the Ministry says, I assure yeh! They're not death omens, just different."

"They're beautiful in a macabre way," Henry agreed. "They look like Death's henchmen, so I can understand the sentiment though."

Hagrid scoffed.

"Can they be trained?"

"Hard to do, but possible," was Hagrid's answer. "They're XXXX classified, after all." At her frown, he added, "It's one o' five categories, yeh see. X is boring, XX is harmless, XXX says only experienced wizards can handle 'em, XXXX is dangerous and XXXXX are known to kill wizards."

"I see." She was definitely reading up more on magical creatures later. As of now though, she had other things to concern herself with. "Thanks Hagrid, for letting me go with you."

"Thank yeh for coming." He patted her back (and nearly sent her flying) before coaxing the Bowtruckle to come with him back to its tree.

"Aw, I like you too," Henry said when it refused, "but won't your friends worry if you don't go back soon?" It finally hopped onto Hagrid's big palm. "Thank you! I promise I'll come back." She left them and hurried back to Dumbledore's office. With the password still fresh in her mind, she wanted her wand back.

He was surprised to see her, but nodded in understanding when she stated her reasons.

"Why did you take it?" she asked and watched him retrieve it from an ornate cabinet behind his desk. She gaped at the amount of wards surrounding it. What was this, did they think it was a bomb?

"We couldn't be too sure," he said and turned, "what would happen if we left it in your possession."

She took the offered wand and smiled in relief. The wand sent that same pulse of warmth up her arm as when it first chose her, signalling it recognised her. That posed the question if wands were semi sentient, since they chose their partner and not the other way around.

Shaking her head, she looked at Dumbledore. "What do you mean, sir?"

"We wanted to make sure you didn't unconsciously use the wand, if you felt threatened and the like."

"I… Okay."

He gave a grandfatherly smile at her confusion. "What happened three days ago was extraordinary, Miss Potter. Rarely have I witnessed such a powerful outburst of pure magic. That wand of yours was pulsating rapidly when we confiscated it, and Severus nearly dropped it because it was so hot."

Did wands grow warm when used? She couldn't remember if it fit canon or not.

"That wand of yours is incredibly loyal," he continued explaining. "It reacted like that because it realised Severus was not you."

"I… am sorry for all the trouble I have caused."

"No need. But let me ask, do you still experience accidental magic?"

"Since getting my wand?" He nodded. "Well… no. It was rare even before that, the older I got, I mean. It's the same for Harry." She shrugged, avoiding eye contact. She looked at the bridge of his nose instead. "I've… always known my magic is volatile, but I thought it had calmed down over the years."

"Or what you perceived as threats changed," Dumbledore added.

She gave him a long, almost accusatory look. "Or that. Thank you for giving me my wand back, and for not expelling me."

"You have potential, Miss Potter. I would be sad to see you go."

Another odd look was sent his way before she disappeared down the stairs again. It was possible she would never trust him again, after being abandoned with the Dursleys and ignored for ten years. At least Henry wasn't going to fight to improve her view of him.

She headed straight for the library when a thought hit her. Stopping dead in her tracks, she cursed colourfully. The trip with Hagrid had side-tracked her from her objective! Darn it, she had to go back. She'd do it tomorrow, she decided. Right now though, she wanted to learn Confundo, Musica Aeternam and Vulnera Sanentur.

Long story short, she wasn't in the right mindset. She kept thinking back to how easily the promise of seeing magical creatures had gotten her off-track, then her thoughts spiralled out of control. It began with her thinking back to the Thestrals, then she remembered Pansy almost dying, and of course at that point she was too busy not drowning in panic to learn anything.

She downed a dose of the Draught of Peace Madam Pomfrey had given her, which immediately eased her. But she was exhausted from running around with Hagrid, the ordeals three days before, her almost panic attack and from sleeping too long that she went to find her friends instead of going back to the spells.

"You've looked better."

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks Fred, you really know how to make a girl feel special."

The boy grinned. "I was serious though, how are you?"

"In all honesty? Tired. I slept for two days."

He patted her head and she leaned against him. "Understandable. How are you room arrangements?" He was relieved to hear Pansy was assigned to another one. "Glad that's over with."

He could say that twice.

Henry let Fred steer her to their afternoon classroom, where George was currently doing… something she wasn't sure about. A quick explanation from Fred later, she groaned. Of course they were brewing experimental potions.

"It's not gonna blow, is it?" she asked suspiciously.

They laughed.

"It already has," said George, wagging his burned eyebrows. "Only scorched me a little, and I did turn blue for a few minutes, but I'm still alive!" He motioned for her to take a seat, which she did, to his right. Fred grinned before sitting down on her other side.

"We're trying our hands on the Alihotsy Draught," he explained.

"What's that?"

"Makes you laugh hysterically."

She wasn't sure how useful that was, except at boring parties maybe, but let them enjoy themselves. God, or rather Merlin, knew she needed a good laugh.

"Here, smell it," said George.

Reluctantly, she did. "Smells like cinnamon and vanilla," she murmured, before a low giggle escaped her lips. "What the heck?" Another, louder, giggle followed. "What did you do?" She pursed her lips tight together, because she felt the laughter trying to escape. For good measure, she covered them with her hands.

Fred and George were shaking from laughter themselves.

"Forgot to tell you you only need to inhale the fumes to start!" George tried to say, but laughed so much he had to repeat it three times.

The potion finished and Fred handed her a small vial of it. She rolled her eyes in annoyance, but hearing them laugh like that eased something in her chest, and she ended up drinking it. The hysterics began immediately. The three of them lay in a heap on the stone floor, laughing so much they cried. Henry gasped for breath, her stomach cramping, but it was fine. Everything was fine, and she had the Draught of Peace and Ali-what's-its-name to thank for it.

Fifteen minutes later, the effects faded and they lay panting instead, exhausted. She felt better, but even more tired than before, and wasn't sure if she had the strength to stay awake during dinner.

"We can take a detour to the kitchen later," said Fred, "if we can't get to the Hall, I mean."

"My stomach…" panted Henry, "is doing weird things." She whined a bit, which earned her a light pat on the stomach from George. "Not helping."

"Do you feel better now?" he asked.

"Much. Thank you both. Did you do it for me?"

They nodded.

"We figured you'd be pretty down after what happened," Fred explained. "Lee suggested this potion."

She had to thank the boy next time she saw him.

"I needed that. I needed a good laugh." She grinned at them both. "Thank you for being my friends."

"Of course!" Fred forced himself to sit up. "Now we have to clean this up, though." They let her help them with it.

"Oh, by the way, do you know the Confundo spell?" she asked off-handedly. "I tried learning it before Fred caught me."

"We do, why?" asked George.

"Care to help me?" Might be easier to concentrate if she had someone to force her back to reality when her thoughts drifted. If only she could stay awake.

"Now? You look ready to fall asleep were you sit."

"Tomorrow, then?"

They decided on tomorrow afternoon, during the afternoon class. She should probably start calling it the Saturday class though.

They covered the last of Charms first, before moving on to Transfiguration. Harry was an excellent teacher, and even Henry managed to turn her piece of stone into a needle. They didn't have matches, so they had to be creative.

Before he could move on to the next topic, turning a desk into a pig, Henry waved him over.

"Wow, really?" he asked and grinned. "Guys, we have special guest teachers here today." He bowed towards Fred and George. "Please shower us with your knowledge."

They snorted, but took his place at the front of the classroom. They went over the wand movement and incantation of Confundo, as well as the desired effect. Seeing how they had to train on each other, the twins carefully observed the results so no one got hurt.

Harry was paired with Draco. The Malfoy scion managed to Confundo Harry on his second try. Since he didn't know Protego yet, the spell hit him and he began to groan. Fred was there immediately to get him to lie down.

Blaise did the same to Theo, Parvati won over Patil and Neville would have broken his nose if George didn't catch him when he did. Henry walked over to her partner to see if he was all right. Confused, otherwise yes, he assured her.

Anthony Goldstein laughed at Terry Boot, who failed to sit on a chair and fell to the ground with a bang. Michael Corner rolled his eyes and cast the spell on Anthony in retaliation. The boy stumbled into a table. Hermione rolled her eyes at her partner.

Before the Ravens started a war, Fred and George ended their part of the lesson. Henry decided to end it all together since half of them were in no shape to continue, including Harry, today's official teacher.

"They look drunk," Draco chuckled. Harry grumbled and swatted at his arm. "Calm down and come here." The Slytherin boy let Harry lean against him.

"Everything's spinning." It was a wonder Henry managed to get down the stairs if this was what happened to her. She had four heads!

"We'll take him back," Michael promised. He, Parvati and Hermione were taking the rest of the Ravens back to their common room. Neville stayed back to once again thank her for letting him come. He did so every lesson.

"That was fun," said George. "What can we do next time?"

"I don't know, teach us the spells from your last year," Henry grinned. "Now, I'm going to visit Hagrid."

"We'll come with you."

Hagrid did indeed have a flute, but he wouldn't say more about it, except he played for fun and for Fang.

"What was that about?" asked Fred when they were walking back to the castle. "You asked him about a flute?"

"Of all the things," George added with a shake of his head.

Henry paused. "You know what? The lake. I'm going to take a walk around the lake. Wanna join?" She wanted Sirius, to cuddle him and pretend life was perfect.

She ignored Fred and George frowning as she downed her Draught of Peace.

They headed for the lake, where the squid was currently floating on the surface, lazing around. The boys said something about poking it with a stick, but one glance from Henry had them saving it for another time.

Sirius joined them halfway through. He wagged his tail happily and ran out of the Forest with such force that, when Henry caught him, all air left her and she fell to the ground.

"What a happy… wolf?" Fred eyed George, who shrugged. "Is it yours?"

"Kinda," Henry said, giggling because Sirius was licking her face. "He's a dog though, not a wolf."

"That's one big dog. Looks a bit like the Grim."

"Isn't that a churchyard spirit?" If she remembered her lore correctly, the grim was the spirit of an animal buried in Christian churches, guarding it from evildoers. She wasn't sure, but the Grim was always buried first, because it was believed that the first one to be laid to rest in a new graveyard would haunt it forever.

The twins glanced at each other.

"I don't know about that," said Fred, "but the Grim—"

"Is an omen of death," continued George. "It usually takes the form of a large black dog…"

Henry scoffed. Sirius was no Church Grim, that was for sure. He was most definitely alive, and he wasn't a shapeshifter. Grims weren't just dogs, they could be any kind of animal as long as it was the first to be buried.

Then she remembered this was JK Rowling's world and promptly wanted to read up on that particular lore. Rowling was British, meaning her version of the Grim was heavily inspired by English legends, but at the same time, she was the goddess of this world, meaning that whatever laws Henry's past universe obeyed didn't necessarily apply to this one. Take magic for example.

"But you're not a Grim, are you, Sirius?" she said like she spoke to a child, and ruffled his ears. He barked in reply. "See? A normal dog."

The twins wanted to tell her a normal dog did not follow its owner halfways across the country.

"Sure," said Fred.

"Whatever you say," sighed George.

"I knew you would understand!"

"Not really," they both deadpanned.

Henry laughed heartily. Fred and George in combination with the Draught of Peace were the perfect way to make her feel better. Her mood significantly brighter, she stood up, dusted herself off and had Sirius fetch a stick from the water. He didn't hesitate before he dove in. Fred and George took up both of her sides and waited for their turn to play with him.

Before they returned for dinner, they handed her a paper bag each, with candy.

"What?"

"It's from Honeydukes!" said George. "We promised to get you and Harry something, remember?"

She had honestly forgotten about it. Still, it touched her that they thought to buy them something. She definitely had to show this to Harry. He could have everything else if she got to keep the Chocolate Frogs. She loved those cards.

Vulnera Sanentur was officially ticked off the ever growing list of spells and things Henry and Harry had to learn, right before October 31st. They had Daycrusher bring them hurt animals from the Forest, which they tried it on, after making sure they got the pronunciation and wand movement down. Professor Flitwick had a few days before had to go over exactly why pronunciation was so important. If you were off even a bit, he said, you risked the spell either not work or do something completely different. Which was weird, since if intent was so important, why was the pronunciation so disastrous? As long as they focused on what they wanted to achieve, it shouldn't matter.

Either way, since it was a healing spell, they were adamant in getting it right. They didn't want to end up hurting (or possibly killing) the animals instead.

They said goodbye to Sirius, who was with them always to ensure they didn't in fact mess things up, as well as gave Daycrusher his promised rodent, before rushing off to the Great Hall. They were late, because they didn't want to leave until they learned the spell.

They entered through the entrance in the dungeons and rounded a corner. And came face to face will a big, ugly troll. The trio looked at each other in confusion for a moment, before Henry remembered exactly which day it was and the troll realised they were real. It swung its club towards them. Henry's magic kicked in like she was five again and protected them with a strong Protego.

"I-impedimenta!" cried Harry, successfully slowing the troll down. "Now go!" He pushed her back the way they came, but Henry threw him off her.

"Hermione!" she called and rushed to the toilets. What if it already got her? If Hermione died because Henry couldn't remember what day it was, she was going to freak.

The door opened with a bang, and Henry called out to her friend. A moment passed without Hermione showing up or calling back, in which Henry saw the bathroom was completely fine.

"You're mad," hissed Harry, having ran after her. "Oh Merlin, the troll! Get inside!" Not the smartest idea when you were being chased, but they had no other options. "Colloportus." He turned to Henry.

"She was supposed to be here," she mumbled to herself. If she wasn't, then where? Where was she? Gryffindor Tower? Already caught by the troll? Oh Merlin, no.

"Snap out of it!" Harry roughly put his hands on her cheeks, basically slapping her. "Look at me, not the bathroom, me." She did, and he gave a shaky smile. "Good, that's good Henry, focus on me. Now, is this canon?"

"Yes," she breathed.

"Good, and what happened in canon?" She muttered the event to him. "That's… also a way to do things, I guess."

They jumped at the sound of the troll breaking down the door.

"When it goes through, cast Locomotor Wibbly," said Harry. Barely had the words left his mouth before the door splintered and flew off its hinges. The troll leaned forward to get inside.

"Locomotor Wibbly!" cried the twins, and the troll collapsed into the wall.

"Petrificus Totalus," Harry added for good measure. Henry gave him a long look. "What? You always go on about learning useful spells!"

"Next time, please teach me as well," she deadpanned before they high tailed it out of there.

They didn't get far. The troll roared in rage, freeing itself from the Full Body-Bind Curse, and blocked them before they got out.

"Are they immune to magic?!" Harry screamed and threw himself at Henry. They fell to the floor, and the troll's club flew past where their heads had just been.

Trolls were rather dumb, so it might not be a stretch to think they were too dumb to realise a spell had been cast on them. But magic didn't work that way, did it?

"Flipendo!" Henry said, watching as the troll flew backwards. "Glacies!"

It growled, unable to stand up on the patch of ice slowly covering the floor underneath it. In rage, the troll rolled towards its club, and stood, no off the ice.

"Where are the teachers?"

Henry didn't answer, she was busy erecting a Protego. Thank Merlin for her magic. The troll kept hammering away on it, and Harry couldn't cast another spell until she disabled the shield, which would ultimately kill them.

If the Protego didn't give in first, that was. It was shattering rapidly. Henry's magic was being consumed at an astonishing rate to keep the shield up, but it wasn't enough.

Think, what could they do? Ron distracted the troll in the book, leading to Harry sticking his wand up its nose and its club to land on its head. But she and Harry stood inside her Protego. They couldn't do that.

What if Harry cast Flipendo? She let the shield down, he cast it and they ran. That would work, except the troll would go through the wall or land in front of the door, trapping them inside. She needed a spell to knock it out. Flipendo simply had to do. Possibly in combination with Bombarda.

"Bombarda?" repeated Harry. "I know it."

"Good. On three, you cast it while I cast Flipendo. Hopefully it knocks the troll out." She took a deep breath. "One… two… three! Flipendo!"

"Bombarda!"

The troll was again knocked back, but as she feared, it got back up immediately. A knock on the head was all it took in the book, but this troll was harder to get rid off than cockroaches!

"Flipendo!" Harry watched the troll get up again. "I hate this place."

Henry hated her next idea even more.

The troll lifted the club up in the air, about to strike them. Henry had only one shot at this.

Please don't die.

"Diffindo!" She threw herself and Harry to the ground. Several things slammed into the walls around them, spewing debris and dust around their bodies and into their lungs. Coughing, she sat up to survey the damage. The club was cut in four pieces, and the troll lay motionless on the ground.

"What in the world," came Professor McGonagall's shrill voice. "Hello? Anyone there?"

"Thank God," Harry breathed. "Professor!"

The four Head of Houses, as well as Professor Quirrell, came into view. Professor Flitwick swung his wand and the dust disappeared.

"By all mages," breathed Professor Sprout. "I'll call for Madam Pomfrey."

Professor Flitwick and McGonagall set to inspect the twins with basic diagnostic spells in the meantime. Snape went to check on the troll, limping like he was supposed to, and Quirrell stared at the damage.

"Never a peaceful moment with you two," muttered Snape. "What, if I may ask, compelled you to take on a fully grown troll by yourselves?"

They stared at him, incredulous he was suggesting they had willingly done so.

"I'm not answering that," said Harry and lay down again. "That's the stupidest question I've heard this year."

"Five points, Mr Potter."

"Professor Snape!" barked Flitwick. "Not now."

They helped the twins to their feet. Quirrell, in shock, sat down on a ruined toilet. As they passed him, the twins cried out in pain. Their scars were burning brighter than the night they got them.

"Mr and Miss Potter, what's wrong?"

"My scar," Henry screamed before fainting. She caught Quirrell's satisfied smirk before she hit the floor.

Sick bastard.

A/N: I'd like to think many of us, when faced with Henry's situation (reincarnated without memories of what happened etc), would also freak the f out every once in a while, and try their hardest to survive Voldemort, Hogwarts and the Wizarding War.

And honestly, if I was reincarnated into Harry Potter's world, I'd also move to the library and hoard all the books. Like come on, it's magic! Of course both Harry and Henry are learning everything they can.