A/N: No warnings this time, just fluffy moments... was what I thought, but nope. Also, I'm battling a serious case of on/off writer's block right now, and my current life situation is not making it any easier. To update you on that, my parents are separating (this has been going on for months), with dad moving this Saturday (tomorrow!) and me and mum in the beginning/middle of February (don't worry, mum and dad are still friends and I'm not angry).
Not only do I have to deal with moving, I have upcoming exams, tests and a ton of assignments to finish, courtesy of my university professors. Oh, and a funeral, because someone really close to me passed away recently… haha… and I thought 2020 sucked. Ha, 2020 doesn't hold a candle to all the BS 2021 has thrown at me.
But this A/N is long enough already, so let's end it here. I hope you enjoy chapter 12!
CHAPTER 12: Heaven and Earth
Warning: a mental breakdown, because we can never have anything nice.
Fred and George didn't see the twins until Sunday. The first-years behaved like everything was fine, but Fred and George noticed how their eyes darted around every room they entered, and how they always held hands or touched shoulders. When they asked about it, Henry played it off and blamed nightmares.
Fred and George didn't believe her for a moment, and decided they had to brighten the mood somehow. They decided on something simple: visiting the kitchen. They persuaded the younger twins to follow them to a painting, and when Fred tickled the pear, Harry laughed in disbelief.
The kitchen was big and warm, with house-elves milling around everywhere. They were preparing lunch, that much was clear. One house-elf walked up to them and poked Fred in the knee.
"And what wants the students this time?"
"Hello there, Blue. We'd like to borrow a part of the kitchen, if it's not too much of a bother." Fred felt Harry and Henry's curious eyes on him.
"Blueberry fix. You waits here." The house-elf darted off somewhere, and Henry moved closer to Fred.
"There's so many," she said.
"Oh, yeah. You should see the difference after dinner!" He saw how uncomfortable she was and patted her head. "It's fine, Henry. They won't touch you." She gave a nod, but didn't tear her eyes away from the shorter creatures.
Blueberry returned and showed them to a corner. "Here is space. What wants students to make?"
Fred and George gestured for Harry and Henry to decide. The twins frowned, thinking hard.
"Blueberry pie," said Henry. "I want blueberry pie."
Blueberry snapped her fingers and the ingredients appeared out of thin air. "Call if you needs help," she said and joined her friends.
Fred took charge, telling Harry and George to make the crust while he and Henry made the filling. Harry mixed sugar, oats and flour while George diced the butter. Fred stirred the blueberries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and lemon juice together in a large bowl. Henry went to ask the house-elf for some space in the oven. When she came back, she decorated the pie and then she placed the pie in the oven. While they waited twenty minutes for it to bake, George dug up a set of Exploding Snaps.
Henry won only one time, but she was proud of it. By that time, the pie was ready to be served. The house-elves conjured a small table and four chairs for them, and they happily sat down to eat. They talked non-stop about everything between heaven and earth, from Fred and George's Quidditch training, to classes, the Burrow and Harry's favourite food.
They offered to clean after themselves when they were done, but the house-elves shooed them away before they could.
"I don't think I've ever offended someone for trying to do the dishes," Henry said. "Do they love to clean that much?"
"I don't know about that," said Fred, and steered them away from the kitchen, "but they love the work they do here."
Henry didn't understand, but then, they didn't live with Petunia and Vernon. They said their goodbyes at the enchanted stairs, where Fred and George went to Gryffindor and Harry and Henry went to the Room of Requirements. They sat on the comfortable sofa the room provided them.
"I like Christmas," Harry proclaimed. "I've never gotten so many presents before!"
"Likewise." Henry held up parts of the blue scarf and grinned. "And Mrs Weasley gave us clothes! I can't believe a stranger gave us something!"
"I hope we'll get to meet her one day. I want to personally thank her for doing this."
Henry nodded, and they relaxed a bit. A burning fireplace appeared before them, and Henry figued Harry had wished for it.
"Do you think the next trials will be as easy as these ones?" she asked with a yawn.
"I don't know… If you're right, and they're designed for us—or me, whatever—to clear, then the new ones can't be that difficult."
"What if I'm not right? What if you were just partially lucky, or something?"
Harry didn't know what to think, but he'd rather think much of it was due to dumb luck. The alternative, that his book counterpart had been engineered, was much too frightening.
"If that's the case," he said slowly, "then I hope you're good at improvising."
"I don't think I am… I've been using what I know all this time. I didn't expect us to not get the Stone. I… I didn't plan for this. I don't know what'll happen. I don't know what to do."
"We're on the right track, I think. I mean, we've studied so hard we should get a prize or something. It's ridiculous how far ahead the curriculum we are. I hope what we've learned so far will be enough, because we can't do much else without any information."
"I'll ask Daycrusher again," sighed Henry.
"Good idea. And why not Fred and George, too? They're third-years; they should be able to help."
Henry hesitated. "They don't have anything to do with this though," she said. She didn't want to involve them, in case they got hurt.
Harry snorted. "So protecting them is fine, but letting me be isn't? Ouch Henry, you wound me."
She rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop a smile from blooming. "Dork."
"But you still love me."
"True." She looked at the non-existing roof. "Last time, they covered some of their trials in class. Professor Sprout taught us about the Devil's Snare, for example. And in the book, it felt like Dumbledore handed you the Invisibility Cloak so you could find Erised. Hopefully they'll give us hints this time too."
Harry and Henry walked to the Black Lake early the next morning. As per usual, Sirius was there, waiting for them. The three of them kept close to the border of the Forbidden Forest, with Harry and Henry occasionally calling for Daycrusher. Since it was December, and it was extremely cold, they weren't sure the snake would come. Or it might be hiding in the castle for all they knew.
"I read somewhere that snakes go into brumation," said Harry when they walked back to the castle.
"They what?"
"Brumation, basically a lighter form of hibernation."
"I wish I could hibernate."
He chuckled at that. "What I meant to say was that Daycrusher is most likely asleep." If they wanted to meet him, they had to catch him while he was out and hunting. Snakes had to feed every once in a while, even while brumating.
Since there weren't many students left in the castle, they went on a hunt for the snake, under the Invisibility Cloak (after eating breakfast with Fred and George, and also convincing them that they needed some alone time), sometimes calling out to the snake in Parseltongue.
They gave up sometime right before lunch, and sat hidden in an alcove on the fourth floor, with the Cloak covering their legs.
"What do we do now?" asked Henry. They needed Daycrusher to spy on the teachers, in case they discussed remaking the trials.
"I… I'll think about something," said Harry. "Maybe there's some kind of golem magic? Like, we can infuse magic into objects and make them temporarily sentient?"
"Harry, that would be too advanced for us."
"Doesn't hurt to try," he said, but didn't believe his own words. "It's alright, we can try again later. Right now though—" Voices from another corridor drifted over to them and he snapped his mouth shut. Quickly, they hid underneath the Cloak. They didn't want to lie to anyone if they asked what they were doing here.
To their surprise, Fred and George rounded the corner, Fred holding what Henry recognised as the Marauder's Map.
Seriously? Now of all times! Exasperated, she pressed closer to Harry, hoping the Cloak was unplottable. I mean, not even Death could find the third brother, so of course it has to be.
"Where'd they go?" asked Fred, his eyes moving from the map to the empty corridor. "They were here a second ago!"
"Maybe they found a hidden passage?"
"Like the map wouldn't know it."
"A, uh… an unplottable passage?"
Fred gave his brother a tired look. "Seriously?"
George shrugged. "How else do you suppose they disappeared into thin air? They were here, and we didn't see them leave, nor did they move, at least according to the map. Their names just disappeared."
Fred looked at the map again. "Ugh, I don't know. Let's just keep going. They have to be somewhere." George followed him around the corner. Harry and Henry managed to take a relieved breath when the older twins screamed and came running back. After them came Daycrusher.
"Wait, come back," he called. "Have you ssseen the ssspeakersss?"
"That's a boa constrictor!" shrieked Fred. "What's it doing in Hogwarts?" George didn't reply, he simply kept running. They shot past the twins and turned down the corridor they came from.
Harry threw the cloak off when Daycrusher was about to slide past them. "Fancy ssseeing you here."
"Ah, ssspeakersss." Daycrusher curled around himself at their feet. "I heard you calling for me."
"That'sss right," said Henry and reached down to pet him. His tongue glided over the back of her hand. It tickled. "Have you heard anything from the teachersss?"
Daycrusher informed them he had. During the few times he woke up to hunt, he stayed with the teachers if he could. As the twins had feared, they knew someone had broken into the third floor and nearly gotten the Stone.
"We really need to know what kind of trialsss they come up with," said Henry to Daycrusher. "Whenever you have the time, pleassse check up on them, and if you can, come find usss."
"I promissse I'll try." Daycrusher made some excited noise when Henry presented him with a dead mouse. He swallowed it, thanked them and left, presumably to find the professors.
"Hopefully Daycrusher finds something out," Harry said and gathered the Cloak. "Right now though, I'm starving. Let's go."
Henry laughed and followed him. They rounded the corner to the same corridor Fred and George took, only to stop at the sight of the older twins gaping at them.
"You're Parselmouths!" exclaimed Fred. "How long…? What did you say to the snake?"
Harry and Henry looked at each other, unsure what to say.
"We, uh… we… told it it had nice scales…?"
Harry's shoulders started to shake, and Henry wanted to step on his foot in retaliation. She wasn't a good liar, so what?
Fred groaned and massaged the bridge of his nose. "You know that's a really Dark ability, right?"
"Figures," muttered Harry.
"Does anyone else know?"
"George does," Henry said.
Fred gave his twin an accusatory look. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Wha— I didn't! Henry, don't say that."
She blinked up at him. "But George, you saw us at the zoo, you said so yourself."
"I didn't hear you speak to it!"
"Oh. My bad." She tried to play it off with a goofy grin, but neither of the Gryffindors found it very funny. "Alright… So we brought him here on purpose, but Daycrusher's very nice and polite, I promise!"
"It's name is Daycrusher?" George shook his head. "Of course it is."
"Daycrusher's a he, you big meanie. And he wasn't trying to hurt you, he was looking for us."
"And why is that?"
Henry looked at Harry. Had she said too much? The boy shrugged in reply. It's your choice, the gesture said. Henry sighed. Fred and George wouldn't stop pestering them until they told them the truth.
"Because we needed his help. He's spying on the professors."
Fred frowned. "Why? Has it anything to do with you trying to steal—" he quickly looked around before casting Silencio "—the Philosopher's Stone?"
"Well—yes."
Fred and George looked at each other, and Harry and Henry saw a silent conversation ensuing. When they were done, the boys looked at them with determination.
"What do you need help with?" It was Fred who spoke.
"Help?" asked Harry.
"Duh, we're not letting you do this alone. You obviously didn't make it last time, so this time, we're helping you," replied George. "Now, what's the plan?"
"We kind of… we kind of don't have one," Henry said, not fully registering what happened.
"Alright, we need some privacy. Let's go."
"Henry," hissed Harry, dragging her with him. "Should we tell them about the Room of Requirements?"
"What?"
"Are you okay?"
She shook her head to straighten her thoughts. "Sorry. I just can't believe they willingly put themselves through this. And I don't understand why?"
Harry gave her a small smile. "Why else but friendship? Hey Fred, George, I know someplace we can go, but you have to promise not to tell anyone."
Henry watched him lead their little group to the seventh floor. Her chest felt lighter, like a weight had been lifted from it. She didn't have to do this alone now. She happily walked up to them and put her arm around Harry's shoulders. He snaked his around her waist. They both laughed at Fred and George's gaping expressions when the door materialised on the wall.
"This is neat!" Fred exclaimed, and whipped out his trusted Map. "And it doesn't show on the map!"
"It's unplottable, just like this," Harry explained, and held up the Cloak. While he gave a demonstration, Henry asked the room to prepare two couches and a fireplace. George noticed and whistled, impressed.
"When did you find this place?"
She averted her gaze. "Around the time Pansy threw me out of the room." He patted her head with a smile.
They all took a seat, and Harry began explaining the trials, and how and why they failed. He told them about Daycrusher's report, and that they worried the new trials might be too much for them to handle. Fred and George promised to look up more advanced spells and potions, but couldn't do much more due to the lack of information. Still, them being there was enough for Harry and Henry to feel safe and relaxed. Hopefully, this would all somehow work out.
Christmas break ended and the new school year began. Draco, Blaise and the others came back and showered the twins with anecdotes and hugs. Harry and Henry in return thanked everyone for their presents and hoped theirs were to their liking.
School started up again, and soon everyone found themselves busy revising last term's curriculum as well as continuing with the current one. January bled into February without news from Daycrusher. Instead, the Weasley and Potter twins focused all of their attention on the classes held by six of the seven teachers responsible for the trials guarding the Philosopher's Stone. Every bit of information could be crucial.
Snape taught them new potions, and kept making Henry's life miserable. She wondered if any of the potions would be used in his trial, or if he scrapped that theme entirely. At least he taught them how to identify unknown potions. Neville had done something wrong, and to set an example, Snape wanted everyone to try and identify the telltale signs of the potion they were supposed to make. There weren't a lot left.
Nothing in Professor Sprout's lessons seemed usable either. She only went through the standard curriculum and never strayed, not even to tell a personal story. It made Harry worry, wondering what in the world she was planning.
Fred and George informed them Quirrell had had them read a whole chapter dedicated to dragons, and then something called an Erumpent. Harry hoped that, if they had to fight any kind of creature, Quirrell was opting for the exploding hippo-elephant chimera rather than the dragons.
Professor McGonagall was like Professor Sprout, and didn't offer anything extraordinary. It didn't really support Henry's theory of everything being tailored to make Harry the Chosen One, but she was still sure it was true, at least in the books. Several times over she had to remind herself this was not the same, that this was real, and the books were now only prophecies. If there was something she remembered without Trelawney's help, it was that prophecies only worked if you believed them.
In hindsight, Henry must have royally screwed herself from the very beginning.
Harry and Henry kept quiet about their planned theft if they weren't in the Room of Requirement. For one, they didn't want random students or staff hearing about it, and they also didn't want to involve more people. Stealing the Philosopher's Stone was definitely illegal, and if Draco or Blaise or anyone else got caught, it would be a scandal. Henry didn't want to burden her friends with that responsibility, so she kept a smile on her lips and spent as much time with them as she could, outside of studies, extra curricular classes and secret plottings.
Draco was very happy with her attention, and the two of them spent a lot of sleepless nights playing wizarding games. Sometimes, if Draco felt brave enough, they went stargazing. He once pointed out the constellation he was named after.
"You seem better," he said, his eyes scanning the night sky for other constellations. "Do the Draughts help?"
"Yes, they do. And yeah, I'm feeling a bit better."
"Fabulous. I hope it stays that way. Next time you can't sleep, let's build a pillow fort."
Henry giggled and apologised. She had taken the last dose of Sleeping Draught the night before, and hadn't realised until she was about to take it tonight. Tomorrow, she had to get more from Madam Pomfrey.
Times like this, when it was just her and Draco, were her favourites. There were no megalomaniacs trying to kill her, the Philosopher's Stone wasn't a priority and she didn't have to worry about Occlumency or homework or Harry. It was simply her, Draco and the vast sky. And gossip.
"So, Pansy's back," Draco mumbled.
"Ouch. So, how is she?"
He wrinkled his nose. "Pale, but alive. Millicent and Daphne spoke to her during dinner, and apparently her parents are thinking of transferring her to Durmstrang."
Henry cringed. "I suppose I should apologise, but do you think she'll even speak to me?"
"Doubtful. If not because of fear, then because she thinks you're mad."
Henry sighed in defeat.
They kept coming back to the same place, watching the stars and talking about everything between heaven and earth. It was refreshing, not having to think about anything special at all, to be only Henry, herself.
Daycrusher reappeared at the end of February. He came sliding out from the Forest while Harry and Henry visited Hagrid for their weekly tea time. Harry distracted Hagrid while Henry heard the snake out.
"Ssspeaker, I have found out one of the trialsss."
"What? Really? That'sss amazzzing!" she exclaimed. "What isss it?"
"The old man, he sssaid he isss keeping the mirror. Isss that of any help?"
It was. At least she knew to be prepared to face those people again, though she loathed to do so. But she wished he had found out one of the new trials, but this was better than nothing.
"Thank you, Daycrusssher."
Harry was more worried than her about the mirror, but at least he didn't have to look at it again. He refused to tell her what he had seen, however much she pestered him about it. Henry wasn't sure if she should worry about it or not, and decided to keep it at the backburner for the time being.
Their Saturday classes went smoothly, much to the thanks of Fred and George, and Luciana whenever she had time to stop by. She had been intrigued by their little gathering, and sometimes gave Henry and Harry charms to research for it.
Regarding the Occlumency however… Blaise managed to leave his landscape without Luciana's help. Just like Draco, he wasn't entirely sure how he did it, but he knew for a fact he had wished to leave. That didn't help the others a lot, except Hermione, who got another dose of motivation and dove into her mind immediately.
And then there was Henry, who focused more on her layers than on being able to leave. She had ten now, but they were more caricatures of what she had in mind than finished products. This time, she wanted to explore the original layer, to see if she could find her memories. She teleported herself there, and looked around. It was still the same milky surface as ever; nothing had really changed.
Henry sat cross-legged on the ground and pressed her hands to it. She felt a warm, rhythmical pulse beneath her palms. She had noticed it a couple weeks ago, and wondered what it was.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and coaxed her mind to follow the pulse. In the blink of an eye, she was somewhere else entirely. It was also dark as heck, and Henry realised she was below ground.
That's a first.
She willed light to life and looked around. Circular discs portraying ever-changing images floated around in the space. She giggled nervously. Of course her memories were buried. Where else would they be?
She touched the one closest to her, and suddenly she was back at the Sorting. She froze, terror seizing her heart, before she remembered this was just a memory, that all of this had already passed. She moved, and separated from the body in her memory.
"Oh Merlin," she winced, seeing how awful she had looked that day. It was odd, seeing herself in a memory. How was that possible, when she hadn't seen herself? Shaking her head, she looked around the room, and caught sight of Snape's disdain. He must have though Lily came back from the dead.
Henry didn't want to relive this. How did she get out? She put a hand on her body's shoulder and was sucked out of the memory.
"Thanks," she muttered. Now that she knew where the memories were, it was easier to hide them. There was no reason to move them above ground, but she wanted extra layers down here, in case someone thought of digging them up.
She made a cave of darkness. It was hard to fully describe it, but the dark walls weren't solid; they moved at all times, the shadows coiling around themselves. Some of them looked like compact mist. It took a lot of energy to bend the void. She didn't come far before giving up and deciding that she might as well try and leave. It didn't work (what a surprise), and she left the cave, tired of the light. There she tried again, willing herself back to her body, hyper-focusing on her wish to leave.
Something abruptly tugged at her chest, and she felt herself leave the ground, only to fall flat on her face. She looked at the ground, dazed, and grinned. She had nearly done it! If only she tried again—
The world was ripped from her grasp and tumbled back to consciousness. She hit her head on the bookshelf behind her and cursed.
"It's time to end the lesson," Luciana calmly informed her. Sometimes Henry forgot the girl was supposed to be twelve.
"I see. Thank you. But next time, I might be able to do it myself." She followed the group out of the nook and stretched her poor back.
"Did it go well?" Luciana asked.
"Yes! I found my memories, you see. And I almost made it back without help, so I'm feeling quite accomplished right now."
Luciana gave a proud smile. "That is great to hear. You are all wonderful students."
Henry couldn't help but feel happy about the praise. As of the new year, it was easier to feel better, to think positively about everything. She wasn't sure if there was a special reason, more than knowing she wasn't alone in her quest to save the Stone from Voldemort.
Oh. That might be it, actually, she realised. I'm not alone. And Voldemort won't get the Stone either, if the trials become harder from here on out.
Luciana was taken aback by the gleeful smile on Henry's face, but didn't question it. Instead, she smiled back, and patted the girl on the shoulder.
The first Monday of March, Henry exited Transfiguration with her friends, feeling slightly better than usual. She had managed to transfigure her poor mouse into a snuff box, something she had been struggling with since day one. That book, Transfiguration for Dummies, was really helpful.
"I'm beat," Theo complained. "Where does she get all the mice from?"
"Probably the grounds. And why are you so tired? You were excellent," Blaise replied with a small smile. Theo pouted and argued that he could be tired even if he was a genius. "When did I ever call you that?"
"That's rude!"
Henry rolled her eyes in amusement and tuned them out. Instead she glanced at Draco. He smirked and asked if she needed to borrow his notes.
"Dork." She playfully nudged his arm.
"What? You're worthless at Transfiguration, of course you need them." He laughed at her blowing him a raspberry. "Very ladylike."
"Ugh, boys," she complained, which funnily enough ended the argument.
They walked to their rooms, where they dumped their school supplies. Today it had been decided they wouldn't spend the evening studying, instead the four of them were going to play some Exploding Snaps. Henry sighed, because she knew she was finishing dead last, and she was right. That was, until Adam Beakley and Finlei Choi wanted to join. She and Adam were now competing for the last place, while Finlei and Theo battled each other for the top spot.
All in all, it was a fun evening, and the six of them went to dinner together. Henry broke away from the group to say hi to Harry (and embarrass him in front of his friends by kissing his cheek) and to sneakily throw some itching powder in Fred and George's robes.
"Merlin!" Fred exclaimed and jumped to his feet. "Woman, that's evil!"
"Just what we should expect from a Slytherin," said George before the twins ran for the nearest bathroom. Henry chuckled down the table and hugged Hermione, who rolled her eyes at her.
"Was that necessary?" she asked, but couldn't hide her amusement.
"Of course! Strike when they least suspect it, you know."
"I didn't think you liked pranks."
Henry waved her goodbyes and grinned. "I mostly don't. But today I'm in a good mood." At least until she saw Ron's disgusted scowl. Her own grin froze. What was his problem? Next time, she was spelling his robes Slytherin green.
"What happened?" Draco asked.
"Ron Weasley." She sat down and accepted the Shepherd's Pie Finlei handed her. "Thanks."
"I see. Next time, hex him. I can teach you the ones I know." They kept bad mouthing Ron throughout dinner. If Henry hadn't been upset at seeing his ugly face, she would have stopped them. As it was, she thought he deserved it.
A sudden shrill pain echoed in her mind. Her fork clattered on the table as she clutched her head. Someone was trying to enter her mind.
"Henry?" Draco asked somewhere far away. "Henry, what's wrong? Are you alright? Hey, look at—"
She dove into her mind and blocked whoever was trying to enter. She landed on the top layer she had created, and waited to see if the Legilimens was going to rip open her mind or not. Moments bled into seconds and seconds into minutes. Nothing happened. She took a deep breath, and then she cursed. How the hell was she getting out of here?
I want t e, she ordered her magic, with more intensity than ever. She envisioned a string of magic hooking to her back and reaching up above the endless clouds of her mind. It mentally pulled her up, and then she felt her real mental body jerk.
She miscalculated. She resurfaced with enough force to slam her head into the table, or rather the pie on her plate. People yelped in surprise. Henry lifted her head to look at Blaise, Theo and Adam, who were sitting opposite of her, Draco and Finlei. She met Theo's wide, surprised eyes.
"What in Slytherin's name happened?" demanded Draco. He pulled out a handkerchief and began cleaning her face.
"Someone used Legilimency on me," she whispered, and took the tissue Finlei offered and picked up food from her lap. "Oh, and I managed to get out of my landscape without help. Congratulate me."
Draco snorted. "Congrats. Now, let's get you to the bathroom." He got as far as standing up, before Millicent and Daphne took over the duty of cleaning her up. Hermione, who saw them leave, hurriedly followed, not really trusting Pansy's former lackeys.
"Scourgify," said Hermione, and the food disappeared. She gave the greasy spots on Henry's robe the stinky-eye. "I thought this was a cleaning spell."
"It is, but it doesn't always help on greasy things," said Millicent helpfully, and waved her wand. With a quick "Tergeo!" the spots disappeared as well.
"I wanna learn that spell," Henry said.
"It's very advanced," the girl warned. Henry pouted. "But I can give you my notes on it."
"Yes please! And… Thank you for helping me out. It was really nice of you." The two of them accepted her thanks and returned to the Great Hall. Henry didn't move, which meant Hermione stayed back as well.
"What is it?" the Gryffindor asked.
"Someone tried to break into my mind. I'd rather not go back there."
Hermione gave her a stern look. "How much did you eat?"
"Excuse you, I ate two servings of pie," Henry said with a smile. It was immediately replaced with a worried frown. "But I'm serious, I'd rather not return. I don't know who the perpetrator was, and they can still be in there."
Hermione nodded in understanding. "Then let's go somewhere else," she said, and dragged Henry to the library. She giggled. How typical. "We both know you love it as much as me."
"The truth has been spoken." That earned her a well-deserved eye-roll.
They found an empty couch and relaxed against it. Hermione played with her sleeves for a moment, gathering courage, before stating, "You look happier."
"So I've been told."
Hermione resisted rolling her eyes again. "What I meant to ask was, are you happier? Or are you pretending?"
"What makes you think that?"
She shrugged helplessly, suddenly looking very worried. "I don't know, it's just… you've been looking so sad all this time, and then I come back to find you smiling and laughing and… I'm worried you're taking too much Draught of Peace."
Henry's breath caught. "What?" How had she noticed she was taking it?
"Promise you're not going to be angry." Henry nodded slowly. "Harry told me."
"Uh, what?" Since when were they so friendly with each other? He had yet to apologise for being rude the first time they met. She hadn't expected Hermione to forget that.
Hermione gave a small smile at that. "He apologised months ago, Henry. You were just too busy worrying about… whatever it is you're worrying about. Is it anything dangerous?"
"It's my middle name," she grumbled. At Hermione's odd look, she blushed. "Well, in one way, yes. But Fred and George and Harry are helping me fix it. But thank you for worrying."
"You're my best friend, of course I'm worried."
Henry couldn't help grinning at that. Her, Hermione's best friend? It was something she had never thought of. She was honoured.
"You're one of mine too."
Hermione got a smug look in her eyes. "Oho? Who else holds the title?"
"Harry, Draco, you know, those I spend most time with."
"Fair enough." They laughed. "But to clarify, you truly are as happy as you look?"
Henry nodded. Truthfully, she felt free, relaxed, and she hadn't felt this great since they got here. It might only be for a short period before her pessimism dragged her down again, but she was damned if she didn't enjoy it for as long as it lasted.
Madam Pince chased them out a few minutes later, and they hugged in goodbye, Hermione leaving for Gryffindor and Henry for Slytherin. She skipped rather than walked down the corridors, sometimes smiling, sometimes doing weird, excited gestures with her hands. She was Hermione's best friend! And Harry was happy, and Draco was happy, and Fred and George were helping her with the Stone! Things were going well.
"Hey, you."
Henry turned to look at Ron in annoyance. Why did he have to interrupt her now? Was it because she was in a good mood?
"What?"
"What did you do to Fred and George?"
He was upset about that? It was a joke! Everyone knew they were her friends, and that she hadn't meant any harm.
"I stuffed itching powder down their clothes. What of it?"
"Keep your hands away from them. Actually, don't go near them at all. You're corrupting them."
Not this again.
"Ron, seriously, it was a harmless prank. They've done much worse. And if anything, they're corrupting me." All their pranks throughout the months had inspired her.
"They, corrupting you? With what, Light?" he sneered.
"I'm not having this conversation again." She turned on her heels.
"Epoximise!"
Henry's feet came to an abrupt stop.
N o
no
no
N O
Never again was she getting trapped by a delusional First Year. She hunched over her chest, pressing her hands against it because Merlin she couldn't breathe and the edges of her vision were darkening and her ears ringing and Ron was laughing ho he?
It was a feeling, rather than a command. A shockwave, more than an incantation. But her magic answered either way, and undid whatever Ron had done. Filled with rage, she slapped him, hit him, kicked him, all the while screaming to stop bothering me what have I eve to you?!
He was crying, saying something, but she didn't hear, didn't care, and finally, when she'd had enough, yelled "Ebublio!" Horrified, Ron stared at her like she was a monster, as the bubble around him rose from the ground. How sad there weren't any windows here, or else she would have opened them.
"Please, don't!"
She must have said that out loud. Oh well, whatever. She left him there, and walked back to the common room, her chest still tight, her ears still ringing and now feeling like vomiting.
She couldn't breathe.
"Henry."
"Expelliarmus!" she cried. George's wand was ripped from his grasp, and he immediately put his arms in the air, appearing disarming. For once, there wasn't a hint of amusement in his eyes.
"Henry, please put down your wand. Won't you do that for me?"
"Why? Why should I? Did you find Ron? Did Fred? It's his fault. I was happy. For once in my life I was HAPPY!"
George nodded. "I know that. We all know. Kinda hard to miss when you're as radiant as the sun." He tried giving her a smile. It was stiff. "But Henry, you're hurt. You're bleeding. Please let me help you."
"No, don't touch me, not with your magic or spells or hands or wand or whatever. I don't want you here and I don't want him here and I just want to be happy."
"Alright, I can do that. I don't have to touch you."
"YOU ALWAYS TOUCH ME!"
He grimaced. "Ah, well… How about we… uh… stay six feet from each other? I'll take you to Madam Pomfrey and you keep the distance. How 'bout that? Sounds good?"
Henry sobbed. "I don't want to go back there. I'm always there. Always hurt. Always sad. I'm tired of that. I was happy, and he ruined it."
George's brown eyes softened. "Oh Henry, I'm so sorry. He's an arse. I'll have him grovel in front of you tomorrow, begging for forgiveness, but right now—"
Henry's breath hitched, and another wave of panic hit her. Ron was more hurt than her. He was going to Madam Pomfrey. She wasn't going if he was there! No way. Screw Ron Weasley, she was tired of him, tired of his eyes, his glares, his sneers. She didn't want to see him or hear him or about him, just get away, begone, leave.
"Henry, am I Fred or George?"
She gave him a dumb stare. "What?"
"Who am I? Fred or George?" he asked again. How was he staying so calm? "It's a simple question for you, right?"
She nodded. "You're George."
"I am. How'd you know?"
Hadn't he asked that before? Or was it him? She didn't remember. "I just do. You feel different from Fred, and he feels different from you. You can never be him."
George grinned. "Please teach mum your ways, Mistress." She snorted, and he relaxed a bit. "Henry, can you put down your wand now? My arms are hurting."
She did, and he massaged his limbs. She threw him his wand too, which he nearly missed. Giving her a loopsided grin, he gestured for her to follow him. She didn't.
"I'm not going there, George. Not when he's there."
"Yeah, I figured that out. We're not going there, though. We're going to your unplottable room." He held out his hand, and she took it after hesitating a moment. It was warm, soft, and gentle. Next thing she knew, she was in his arms, bawling.
George held her tight and let her cry to her heart's content, one hand holding her back and the other tangled in her hair. Right now, seeing her like this, made his blood boil. He was having a serious conversation with Ron tonight. Last time obviously hadn't been enough.
He waited for her to gather herself enough to follow him to the Room of Requirement, where he stayed until she fell asleep. Fred came through the door around that time, stating that Madam Pomfrey was taking care of Ron but was reporting it to Professor Dumbledore.
"No surprise there," George said and yawned. "Dear Merlin, I feel too old for this."
Fred nodded in agreement. "Feels like we've aged a lifetime, doesn't it? What should we do with Ron? My choice is to write to mum about it, but honestly I don't know if that'll help any." Sure, they all respected (and feared) their mother, but with Ron being like this, it was doubtful he would realise his mistakes, even if she sent him a Howler.
George looked at the sleeping Henry and motioned for Fred to leave. They leaned against the wall outside, letting the chill air cool them down.
"Go tell Percy," George said. "We're going to have a serious conversation about bigotry, blood status and bullying. And remind him what happened to the last person that upset her."
"We're not threatening him, George."
"Of course not, but do you want him to look like Parkinson?" Fred winced. "Thought so. Now, get Percy. I'll talk to Ron in the meantime. Merlin, what the bloody hell happened to him?"
Fred didn't know what to say, and the question was left unanswered.
A/N: Regarding the Invisibility Cloak. I have a hard time buying something man-made besting an object made to trick literal Death. It says on the Harry Potter Wiki that the Marauder's Map was not tricked by invisibility cloaks, but then again, there are two kinds: those made by humans and one made by Death. So I came to the conclusion that Death's Cloak is unplottable, as per Ignotus Peverell's request.
I mean, the Wiki said the map apparently didn't show unplottable rooms like the Room of Requirements (which was why Fred and George in earlier chapters were so confused whenever Henry went into the room), so I don't think my choice here is too far-fetched. *Cough* I know Remus saw the Golden Trio on the map when they wore the Cloak, but honestly I call bull on that.
Also, if we go by the movies, Death made the Cloak from its own garments. If the Cloak was actually plottable like in the books, that means the Marauder's Map should be able to detect Death. It doesn't sound possible that a group of teenage boys managed to best Death like that, even unintentionally.
And I suppose I should mention I'm disregarding the movie version of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. They're co-ed, just like Hogwarts, and there was no reason for the movie to change that. So I'm sticking to the book versions, where Ollivander is a Beauxbatons alumni and Durmstrang is not a boarding school for boys.
Sorry for the long A/N, but I felt it necessary to explain these things, since they might not be explained further in the fanfic. And yes, I mix info from both books and movies, if you haven't noticed already.
