Might not be an update next week, because we're moving then. Obviously, I'll have to focus on that and on my studies. And sorry for the shorter chapter this time. It was a struggle to write, and sometimes I forced myself.
CHAPTER 13: The Essence of Friendship
Ron was in pain. A lot of pain. All because of that psycho, Henrietta Potter. She was bloody mad! Attacked him out of nowhere when he just wanted her to stay away from his family. She was bad news, why didn't anyone realise that? No one that survived You-Know-Who was getting sorted into his House without something being majorly wrong. They couldn't have one of the Potter Twins being evil! There was no saying how much she had corrupted Harry Potter already.
He was interrupted by the doors to the Hospital Wing opening. George strode inside, looking tired and haggard.
"Ron, why did you do that?"
"How about a 'are you okay, Ron'?" he grumbled from his bed.
George didn't smile. He sat down on a chair and gave him a look of disappointment. It wasn't often Ron saw that expression on his prank-loving brothers. It made him itchy.
"I don't feel sorry for you," George said gravely, "because you should have seen this coming." He gestured to Ron's swollen face and bandaged knuckles.
"What? George, she attacked me!"
"Henry doesn't like violence, so I doubt she threw the first punch. Not even with Pansy Parkinson. Tell me, Ron, when you confronted her about whatever it was, were you prepared to face her outburst? How were you so sure you wouldn't end up like her own Housemate?"
Ron bit his tongue. He hadn't thought of that. It had been months since Parkinson was hospitalised, and Henrietta Potter had remained fairly calm since. He thought back to her punches and realised he had been lucky. Had she used her magic like with Parkinson, he'd probably be dead.
George saw the moment Ron had his epiphany, and nodded. At least he understood the gravity of the situation.
"When Henry calms down, I'm taking you to apologise to her."
"What? Are you mad? Why would I?"
"Uh." George hadn't expected him to argue. "Because you provoked her for no reason, probably attacked her, could have been severely wounded, and you're causing trouble for our whole family and the school. You're in the wrong, Ron, and you should apologise for that."
"But I'm not! Henrietta Potter is evil."
George dragged his hands down his face and groaned. Had they done something wrong? Neglected him? He didn't understand why he suddenly attacked one girl because she… was in Slytherin? Was their friend?
"Nothing she's done so far can be chalked up to being evil," he stated, leveling his brother with another disappointed look. "She's hardworking, intelligent and tries her hardest to fit in. Did it look like she wanted to be in Slytherin?"
Ron remembered how pale she had been, and how her face and hair had gone pure white. But she was a Slytherin, and they were evil.
"She's friends with Malfoy, Zabini and Nott," he argued. "You can't tell me she's not bad news."
"Merlin, Ron, have you ever had a conversation with them?"
"Why would I?"
George wanted to hit something. Preferably Ron. But he was his brother and he wasn't about to hurt him. Henry had done that for him.
"Not everything is as it seems, you know. Sure, they come from old traditionalist families, but they try hard to bridge the gap between them and Henry."
"Because she's famous! Don't you think someone like Lucius Malfoy would use someone like her for his own benefit?"
He was right, of course. No way Lucius Malfoy hadn't already tried taking advantage of his son's friendship with Henry. On the other hand, she was a smart girl, and George didn't doubt she could see through his schemes if he tried anything.
"Still, Henry isn't someone that would let herself be used. If you tried to talk to any of them, you'd know that," George said sternly. "And you know what? Before you start assuming things about someone else, go see for yourself if it's actually true. Who knows, you might even like what you find."
At that moment, the doors opened again, and Fred and Percy entered the Wing. Ron lost all his colour, and had to sit through another lecture about embarrassing the family, the school and himself.
Percy was so mad his face turned red, and he promised retaliation if Ron's behaviour damaged his own reputation. Fred pinched his arm then, and Percy instead said he'd take five points from Gryffindor for the trouble Ron caused.
"Weasleys are not bullies," the Gryffindor Prefect stated. "We are noble, better than the likes of Malfoy, and I refuse to hear more about this. Do you understand, Ronald?"
Ron cringed, but nodded. "I do."
"Perfect. And if you don't apologise to Miss Potter, I'll be forced to take another five points. Are we clear?"
"Yes, Percy."
"Good. Fred, George, can you see that Miss Potter hears it?" They promised they would, and Percy left the Wing to do damage control with Professor McGonagall.
When Henry woke up, Harry was sitting on the bed, reading a book Draco recommended them. He said nothing as she scooted closer and hugged his waist. She relaxed into his warmth, and for a moment, was blissfully happy again.
But she couldn't stay like this forever.
"How long have you been here?" she asked quietly.
His hand came to rest on her head, playing with her hair. "About an hour, I think. How do you feel?"
"Like crap. I punched him. Ron Weasley, I mean."
Harry snorted. Of course she did. "I hope he's in pain. And before you chide me for that, think about it. He had no reason to come after you. But let's not think about that. Do you need a Draught of Peace?"
"No, I'll manage." To her surprise, she wasn't as upset as she had thought she'd be. She wasn't exactly proud of it, but she did understand Ron was wholly in the wrong. "By the way, how did you know?"
"Fred told me. He and George forced the truth out of him." He gave a tired smile. "Weren't I supposed to be the one getting in trouble all the time? Are you trying to outdo my book counterpart?"
She giggled. "Of course not, but our name seems to be cursed, otherwise I don't know how to explain all of this. Can we go see Sirius?"
"I'm afraid that has to wait. The Headmaster wants to see you."
"Of course he does." They slowly left the bed. Harry put his arm around Henry's shoulders, and she put her around his waist. They hugged like that, a bit awkwardly, which made them both grin, before leaving the room.
"I suppose this turned into a bigger deal than Ron thought it would," said Harry. Henry ignored his gleeful tone.
"Of course it did. Firstly, we're super famous, and the wizarding world won't sit idly by if someone harrasses us. Secondly, Dumbledore already knows what happens when I'm pushed too far; he'll want to make sure I'm alright and won't retaliate."
"Thought about this a lot, have you?"
She rolled her eyes. "No, but even a blind person could figure that out."
He laughed.
Snape waited for them outside Dumbledore's office. Henry refused to look at him, not wanting to ruin her already fragile mood, and together with Harry, followed Snape up the spiral staircase.
The office hadn't changed much since last time, though she now noticed how full of stuff it was. She saw a big telescope, and other trinkets that looked like they belonged in the Astronomy Tower. But what caught her attention the most was the tiny tree on Dumbledore's desk, encased in glass. Except for the bark and shape of the leaves, it looked like a bonsai. Henry had never seen such a tree before.
"Mr and Miss Potter, good to see you again," the Headmaster said. "Please, sit down."
They did, though their dubious expressions made it clear they didn't want to be here, and that they didn't trust him.
"Miss Potter, how are you?"
"Fine, thanks, now that I've calmed down."
"Wonderful! Now, my child, would you kindly tell me what happened?" She sighed heavily and told him and Snape her version of the story. Snape sneered from beginning to end, while Dumbledore frowned thoughtfully.
"And that's what happened," she finished.
"What will you do now?"
She blinked. She was going to finish her homework, then go cuddle up with Draco, Blaise and Theo in the common room and play games.
"What do you feel about Ronald Weasley, Miss Potter?"
She grimaced. "He's a bigoted child that should learn some decency. It's not entirely his fault though, the whole system of Sorting and Houses is designed to breed rivalry, but he made the choice to attack me."
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Let me ask you bluntly, my child. Will you get revenge?"
"Ew, God no. I'm not evil, Headmaster, whatever Mr Weasley might have said. If you're thinking about Pansy, that was a mistake. I didn't do it this time."
"I never suggested you were evil, and I can assure you I do not think you are. But children can be sensitive, and with what has already happened, I have to make sure you don't plan on retaliating."
Henry gave him an annoyed glare. "I didn't consciously hurt Pansy, and I didn't want to hurt Mr Weasley either, Headmaster. He attacked me, and I reacted. As far as you and the professors know, I have never willingly hurt someone. So why are you suddenly assuming I might?"
"Henrietta Potter, that is no way to speak to the Headmaster," Snape said angrily. "Apologise for your insolence."
"It's a valid question, and nothing in my behaviour suggested I meant to be rude, professor."
"Ten points from Slytherin!"
"Now now, Severus," sighed Dumbledore, pinching the bridge of his nose. "She is right. I apologise, Miss Potter, for assuming the worst. I have my own opinions of Slytherin, and acted as if they were true. Again, I apologise. But to clarify, you will not go after him?"
She nearly rolled her eyes. "No, Headmaster, I will not. I'm tired of being hurt, and I'm tired of hurting others." She glanced at the tree again. "Is that all?"
Dumbledore nodded. "It is. Do you like the tree?"
"Yeah, it's cute. What's its name?" She and Harry stood up.
"It's a special type of ash, as you can see on the leaves and bark. It only grows in Scandinavia and Iceland."
"Really? Is it magical?"
"Well, it doesn't have magical properties, but it is a potions ingredient, right, Severus?"
Snape gave the Headmaster a sour glance. "That is correct. It is one of the rarest," he said.
"How come?" asked Harry, now also interested.
"As I said, it only grows in Scandinavia, except Denmark, and there are not a lot of them. If you plant a single tree, it will grow a forest within a few years."
Henry immediately thought of the swamp from Avatar: The Last Airbender. It had been a single organism as well, originated from the tree in the middle.
"Then why are they so rare?" she asked. "I mean, if they grow an entire forest, there should be plenty, right?"
Snape sighed in exasperation. "They're considered national treasures in Norway, Sweden and Iceland, meaning it is incredibly hard to get permission to harvest them. Not only that, but there are only five forests in total, two in Sweden and Norway, and one in Iceland. What do you think that means, Miss Potter?"
That you're an arse. She wanted to smirk when Snape didn't react. He couldn't read her thoughts anymore! Ha!
"That there are currently six of them in existence?" She looked at the one on the table, "since there are five planted, and this one."
"That is correct," said Dumbledore with a kind smile. "I have the privilege of being friends with one of the caretakers in Sweden, and they helped me get a sample. It fits right in, don't you think?"
Harry and Henry mumbled in agreement. What an eccentric old man.
"Do you want to know its name?" Dumbledore asked, and ignored Snape's warning glance. "Yggdrasil."
Henry laughed. Of course a tree like this was named after the world tree in Norse mythology.
"Do you understand the reference, my child?"
"Of course I do. Yggdrasil is said to be an ash tree." She looked at the encased one and smiled, a sense of nostalgia and homesickness washing over her. She had been Swedish once. Had she liked Norse mythology as well?
She shook it off and took Harry's hand. "Thank you for entertaining us, Headmaster, but we won't tie you up any longer." And with those words, they were excused. It wasn't time for dinner yet, so they parted ways with a hug. Draco, Blaise and Theo were hanging out on one of the couch groups when she entered the common room.
"Hey, how are you?" Draco asked and let her lean against his shoulder.
"Tired," she whined. "Have any rumours spread yet?"
"About you? Yeah." He shook his head. "Some say you punched the life out of Ronald Weasley for no reason, others say he deserved it. The majority of Slytherin agrees he had to have upset you."
"True that," she muttered. "Theo, stop hogging the pillows. I want one." He grinned and threw her one of the softest. She put it in Draco's lap. "You make an excellent bed," she told him.
"If father saw me now…" he sighed, but let her rest. He even began playing with her hair. Why did everyone love it so much? Because it was red?
Draco woke her up sometime later, grinning at her sleepy face, and told her it was dinner time.
"Are you eating with us, Gryffindor or Harry?" Blaise asked on the way there. Adam and Finlei joined them with cheerful greetings.
"I dunno. Who did I have it with yesterday? And the day before that?" Adam said she ate with them both days. If that was the case, she might as well eat with Harry.
"See you later," Draco said as they entered the Great Hall. Henry blew him a kiss. "But ew." He followed the others with a laugh. A pair of seventh-year Ravenclaws stared at her in chock.
"What?" she muttered, refusing to feel embarrassed. "He's my best friend." She rushed past them to find Harry, who was today sitting with his back against Gryffindor, instead of Slytherin.
"Hello, princess," he joked. "Has Draco told you the rumours?"
"Only summarised them. Why, are they bad?" She sat down, and Terry Boot immediately handed her steaming potatoes. "Thank you."
"A friend from Hufflepuff said you broke Ron's nose," said Padma. "My favourite is that you rejected his love confession."
Henry guffawed. "It hasn't even been four hours, how did that happen?"
"Rumours spiraled," the girl replied.
"Tell me more!"
Ron was ignoring her, she was sure of it. For the past several days, whenever they had lessons together, he moved as far away from her as physically possible, and never looked at her for longer than a moment. Fred and George said it was because he was ashamed, and promised to deliver a proper apology from him soon.
"Please don't do anything harsh," she begged them and threw a rock in the Black Lake. Sirius dove after it.
"Of course not! Who do you think we are?" said Fred.
"Yeah, exactly! But we might turn his hair green, or what do you say, Gred?" replied George.
Henry rolled her eyes, but trusted them not to traumatise their brother too much.
That afternoon, Slytherin had Charms. Professor Flitwick jumped on the nostalgia train when a student asked about dueling spells, and he couldn't stop talking about his days as a dueling champion. Henry had actually forgotten he used to be one, and found herself engrossed in his tales. Theo and Adam even managed to convince the teacher to show them a few spells.
Professor Flitwick transfigured a book into a dueling mannequin. "We used to train with these," he explained to them, and shot Expelliarmus at it, disarming it. "They move according to a predetermined pattern, and mostly the one dueling them isn't the one charming it." That earned him a few laughs.
At the end of the day, they were still talking about it. Draco and Theo talked about starting a dueling club, but Blaise shot down the idea by reminding them they had enough on their plates already.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure to throw in some useful dueling spells," Henry promised. They already had the afternoon classes, no need to start a club. They could practice dueling there, too.
When she told Harry about it a few hours later in the Room of Requirement, he frowned.
"You said they left hints, right? In the book, I mean. We already suspect they might do the same now, so… do you think that was his hint?"
"Harry, that wasn't a hint, that was straight up giving the answer."
He grinned. "So? He's pretty clever, hiding it in plain sight like that. And it was fortunate that student asked him about dueling, otherwise who knows when or if he had told you?"
She shook her head at that, but agreed Flitwick's challenge probably had to do with dueling. In other words, she had to take time off studies to read up on dueling spells.
Going to Astronomy that night, Henry felt lighthearted again. Ron was (hopefully) dealt with, and things were looking good with the Stone as well. She truly hoped the rest of the year was going to go as smoothly as these past months, because frankly, she was tired as all hell of feeling bad all the time.
The next morning, Henry was eating breakfast with Fred and George and Hermione. Ron was sitting a few rows down with Neville, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, trying his best to ignore Henry.
"He still hasn't apologised?" Hermione asked, throwing him a glance.
"Nope, but I'm sure Fred and George have that covered."
They nodded, a twin pair of gleeful grins on their faces. Henry was grateful she wasn't on the receiving end of them.
"Might want to tone down the serial killer grins, guys," she said and smiled. "You kind of give off certain… mad vibes." More like murderous.
"Oh, don't worry, Ron's our dear little brother, no way we're hurting him," George assured her.
"A lot, at least."
"Fred!" Henry sighed. "You really don't need to force it. Let him take the time he needs. And I don't need an apology; I don't care anymore. I was in the right, at least more than he was. It's enough that I'm aware of it." Just like with Pansy, she was done dealing with this. Ron had been punished for what he did, and she saw no reason to make it worse on him.
"When you've done wrong, you should apologise," said Fred, no longer grinning. "It's the proper thing to do, to actually show that you've learned your lesson."
"Fine, I'll stop talking about it."
As to save her from the topic, the owls arrived. Hedwig left a letter in her lap and took some bacon as pay, before flying over to Harry to beg for more.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Errol, the Weasley family's owl, drop something in Fred's food. She looked up to see him leave a letter with Ron too.
"Oh, crap," George muttered to her right. "Did you see the colour?"
"What about it?" asked Henry, who thought the thing Errol dropped was red.
"It's a Howler. It's an enchanted letter, and if he opens it here…"
Henry was out of her seat before he could finish. She remembered the embarrassment Ron suffered in the Chamber of Secrets when Molly sent a Howler. She had meant what she said when she thought there was no need to make it worse for Ron. That included sending raging letters. Molly lost a bit of respect with that, because who sent a screaming letter to their eleven-year-old son to be heard by the entire school?
"RONALD WEASLEY!" the letter bellowed. "HOW UTTERLY DARE YOU TO—"
"Incendio!"
The letter burst into flames and Molly Weasley's rage filled voice died. The Hall was completely silent, enough for a needle to be heard if dropped.
Seeing the silent tears falling down Ron's face, Henry had had enough. She dragged him out of the Hall and all the way to one of the secret passages, where she let him cry in peace.
What utter bullshit was that? she thought. He's her son! She shouldn't humiliate him like that. Thank Merlin she had learned Incendio, or they might have had to listen to the whole letter ranting about Ron's actions.
"Why did you do that?"
She glanced at him. "Because I'm tired of hurting others."
"You didn't send that. Mum did."
"Yeah, but it feels like it's my fault, and… and I don't think you deserve any of this. I mean, I don't forgive you, because it was a shitty thing to do, but I don't want to put you down either. If you've learned your lesson, then that's enough for me."
"I'm sorry I cast that spell," he mumbled, with his face against his knees. "I was… It's not a valid excuse, but I was angry, and I wasn't thinking. And I ended up hurting you and everyone else."
Henry nodded, glad he realised at least this much. She wasn't expecting him to change overnight, such things never happened, but from now on, she hoped Ron would change for the better, to learn from this experience.
"Do you still think I'm evil?" she asked quietly.
"I dunno… You were always odd, a Halfblood hanging out with the Pureblood elite, and you're a know-it-all, troublemaker and—"
"I'm the troublemaker?" she exclaimed. "What! Is that how you see me?" He nodded. "Oh Merlin. I've made one prank, one, and suddenly…"
"Well… you did land yourself in detention for the whole year, and you're always rude to teachers."
"I'm rude to Snape, and can you blame me?" She winced, hearing how horrible that sounded. "Okay, I admit, that's pretty immature, but he has it out for me, so really it's just a reaction. But… Aw, crap."
"What?"
"I'm trying to prove a point here, and you bring up the only man in this entire school I cannot stand at all." She sat down opposite of him, leaning her head against the cold stone wall. "Fine, I'll try to be the bigger person."
Ron smiled faintly. "Trying to make yourself seem better than others, Potter?"
"Shut it, Weasley." Her grin took the edge of her words. "Alright, you're right, I'm a troublemaker. Blame dad, I heard he was much worse… What? Do I have something on my face?" Ron was looking at her intensely, and it was weirding her out.
"I thought you were going to cry."
"Because I thought of dad?" He nodded. "Well, no. I'm feeling quite good at the moment, so I don't really miss him. Or… I don't miss the concept."
Ron frowned, not understanding what she meant.
"I don't remember him, so how can I miss him? But I do miss something, and that's the concept of a father. James Potter… is a stranger."
"That's… sad. Don't your aunt and uncle have pictures?"
She laughed without humour. Petunia and Vernon, having pictures of witches and wizards? She'd like to see that! No, there were none, and if there were, they were hidden well.
"I'm sorry to hear that. They don't sound that nice," Ron offered.
"You don't have to say that. I didn't tell you to earn sympathy."
He got offended at that. "So? Of course I feel sorry for you! No one should live like that."
Not even the evil Slytherin princess? she thought dryly. "Thanks."
"Uh-huh. Now, why are you telling me this? Shouldn't you talk about this with friends? Like Fred and George?"
"There's no particular reason I told you. You asked, and I answered."
"Aren't you oversharing?"
She shrugged. "Again, if you ask, I answer. It's not like I try to hide it. Rather, I wish Dumbledore would do something about it."
Ron blinked. "Is that why Fred and George asked mum to let you stay in the Burrow over the summer?"
"What? No, that's because of something else entirely." Though if they ever heard of her circumstances, she was sure it would become another reason. "But I've told them not to bother. Dumbledore won't let us stay."
"But why?"
She looked away. Because of the wards surrounding Number Four. That house was the perfect place to hide them, to keep them safe. Until Voldemort blasts the wards to kingdom come. What book was that, again? Or did it actually happen? She'd read up on that later. Thank Merlin she had a journal.
"Because of reasons. I mean, if he hasn't placed us somewhere else after ten years, why would he now?" She stood and dusted herself off. "Feeling better? If so, let's go back. I think class is about to start."
After the first lesson, DADA, where they learned about Erumpents (that Henry vaguely remembered from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), they had Potions. In reality, they were supposed to have Transfiguration, but Professor McGonagall was suddenly unavailable. Snape still sneered at her when he saw her, but since she had made up with Ron, she ignored it. Why bother with someone so childish when she could concentrate on her studies?
"Miss Potter," Snape said as everyone left the classroom. "A moment."
Hesitating for only a moment, Henry walked up to his desk. "What is it, Professor?"
"I took the time to sort through some photos, and thought you might want these." He handed her a worn album. Feeling like she was suffocating, she took it and slowly opened it.
The album was full of pictures of a young Snape and Lily. They were arranged from oldest to youngest, meaning that on the first page, they were only toddlers. Lily looked so happy, grinning side by side with a young Severus Snape.
Transfixed, she flipped through the album, landing on a particular picture. Lily was wearing a flowery summer dress, with a flower crown on her head. Beside her sat Snape, also wearing one. They were surrounded by flowers, obviously sitting in a field of sorts. The year was written underneath. It was the summer before they went to Hogwarts.
Snape leaned forward and offered a handkerchief. She took it with a silent 'thank you' and wiped her tear streaked face. She still didn't like him, but she was grateful.
"I really do look like her," she said. "You were right—I'm her spitting image. No wonder…" No wonder he hated her so much. She knew already, of course, that she looked exactly like Lily, but she had never seen pictures of her, and she didn't remember what she looked like. That fateful night Voldemort killed her had long since faded, and now she only remembered that it had happened.
Snape sat silently for a moment, letting her look at the pictures some more, before he broke the silence. "Her maiden name was Lily Evans. We grew up together."
Something came over Henry just then, and she looked at him. "Do you hate it that much, the fact that she married dad?"
He nodded begrudgingly. "Your father and I… We never saw eye to eye."
She looked at the album. "Why give me this, Professor? You don't like me, and I certainly don't like you. I don't… I don't understand."
He cocked his head to the side. "It was… in the spur of the moment. You are free to go, Miss Potter."
She nearly bowed before rushing to the exit. Before leaving, she turned one last time to look at him. "I'm sorry you didn't see eye to eye. I'm sure… I'm sure mum regretted that."
"Miss Potter." She threw a glance over her shoulder. He was standing up now. "Do you know what Occlumency is?"
How was she supposed to answer that? Should she tell him the truth? No way, just because he did one good deed didn't mean she could trust him, or that he was suddenly a good person.
"I have heard of it, why?"
"Nothing. Now hurry. If I hear you're late for your next class, I'll remove two points from Slytherin."
She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Professor."
Hurrying to History of Magic, she pressed the photo album to her chest and squealed. Wait till she told Harry!
Harry was having a conversation with Daycrusher when Henry found them. They were at the bank of the Black Lake, on the opposite side of the Forbidden Forest. Daycrusher greeted her warmly, and Harry threw his arm around her shoulder, puller her close.
"Daycrusher just told me something interesting," he said and kissed her temple. "Daycrusher, can you—" Henry shoved the album in his face, and he yelped. "What's this?"
"Opeeeeeen." She leaned against him, eagerly waiting for his reaction.
Harry laughed and shook his head. Whatever was in the book, it must be good if Henry behaved like an excited puppy. Curious about the content, he opened the book.
Henry looked at her brother's face, not wanting to miss his reaction.
Harry was surprised at first, because he didn't know who the toddlers were. Then he read the caption, and the date. Then he flipped through a few other photos.
"Henry," he said calmly and closed the album. "What is the meaning of this?"
"What?" She took the album, but the pictures were the same. "I don't understand, why are you angry?" It's just pictures of Lily. She thought he'd be happy seeing her face.
"I don't need parents! Henry, didn't I tell you? I don't care! As long as I have you, I don't care about them or what they looked like. You're the only one I need!"
No, wait, why is he angry? Harry, why are you angry?
"I thought you wanted to see them," she mumbled. "I mean… No, forget it. I'm sorry." She packed the album in her bag and stood. "Sorry, I didn't think it meant you didn't even want to see them. Ssso, Daycrusssher, what were you talking about jussst now?"
The snake looked between the twins, clearly uncomfortable. "The turban teacher, he went to the third floor yesssterday. There are creaturesss and a big tree down there, and a big empty ssspace."
"Do you know what kind of creaturesss?"
Daycrusher shook his head. "Winged onesss. I have never ssseen them before."
"Alright, thank you ssso much." She glanced at Harry. "I'm sorry." Since he didn't reply, she bid Daycrusher goodbye and left. Hopefully he calmed down if she left him alone for a while.
She stopped by Hagrid to see how he had it. He had come back from the Forbidden Forest, and promised to take her with him if she came by a bit earlier next time. She took him up on his offer for tea, but didn't feel like telling him about her argument with Harry. If she didn't understand why he had gotten upset, then Hagrid wouldn't either.
Spending time with him didn't make her feel as good as it used to, and she returned to the castle with a feeling of disappointment.
"Oh!" she exclaimed once inside, nearly running into someone.
"Sorry," Ron said. "Didn't see you there." He paused. "If you're upset, Fred and George are in the Tower. I'm on my way there, so… Would you like to see them?"
"Yes please." She followed after him. "Thank you."
They walked in total silence, neither knowing what to say or having anything particular they wanted to talk about. They weren't close enough to talk about their true feelings, and commenting on the weather was so cliché just the thought left a bad taste in Henry's mouth.
They climbed up the moving stairs, and finally found themselves in front of the Gryffindor entrance. Ron hesitated to reveal the password, since Henry wasn't a Gryffindor, and in Slytherin.
"Cast Muffliato on me," she said helpfully. "Then I won't hear a word you say."
"I… I don't know that spell."
"I see. How about Silencio?"
"That's the one you use all the time, right?"
She nodded. "It renders people in the vicinity temporarily deaf to your voice, so they don't hear what you say."
"That's neat."
She grinned. If he wanted to learn more about it, he was welcome to the afternoon class on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
"Neville is in it, so just ask him to take you there," she said. "I'll cast Silencio on myself now, by the way." She didn't catch what he tried to say, but she did notice the guilt-ridden expression.
He led her inside without repeating his words, and she didn't ask. He obviously didn't feel like repeating it.
Fred and George were sitting by the burning fire, with Lee Jordan telling them a funny story. Henry wondered if it was as hilarious as Fred and George made it look.
"Guys," Ron called. "I brought you someone."
"Move!" said Henry and threw herself across the couch. Fred and George let out something between groans and laughs.
"Hello there little snake, it's an honour to have you squash us to death." George patted her head as he said it, and she gave him a wide grin in reply. "Did you become friends?"
"Nah, we're just not enemies anymore," she replied and stood. The twins gladly moved so she could sit between then.
Ron shook his head, but couldn't hide the small smile on his face. "I'm going to look for Neville, see you."
"Don't forget the afternoon class!" Henry called after him. "Now, pat me some more."
Fred snorted. "What's made you in such a good mood?"
"Yeah, you look positively radiant," George agreed. Henry glanced at Lee, who made a thumbs-up.
"Well, I'm currently trying not to think of my argument with Harry, and what better way to do that than pretend everything's fine?"
The three of them gave her expressions in varying degrees of "are you serious?" and she giggled nervously.
"So, since keeping everything to yourself didn't work the first time…" said Fred in exasperation.
"… You try to pretend instead that it wasn't a big deal and that everything's a-ok?" continued George.
"Well, yes."
Lee shook his head. "Do we need to tell you how bad of an idea that is?" They really didn't. She understood that keeping everything inside wasn't going to work in the long run.
"What am I supposed to do then?"
"Tell us the problem first."
She handed Fred the album, and it took only a moment for him to realise what it was.
"You gave your brother pictures of the most hated teacher in Hogwarts?"
"Uh, no, I showed him baby pictures of mum," she corrected him. "But he obviously didn't appreciate that, because he blew a fuse almost immediately."
"So he was upset because… what, exactly?" asked Lee. "I mean, sure, you've been together forever, and I don't think even You-Know-Who can break you apart, so why is he going mad over baby pictures?"
"That's what I want to know." Henry leaned her head on Fred's shoulder. "Do you think he felt I betrayed him? I mean, he said he doesn't care if he has parents as long as I'm here, so…"
"You're afraid he feels like you're forcing your parents on him," Lee guessed. "I guess that's one way to look at it."
"It's the only way I can think of right now."
"I suggest you talk to him about it," George said. "That way, you'll get a definite answer."
"True that. Now, can I stay here until dinner?"
"But of course! You're welcome anytime." None of them missed the sour looks their fellow Gryffindors threw them. "Don't mind them." George winked at her, and she laughed.
So… I forgot an entire subplot in this draft… Those of you that read the last one might remember Valentine's Day, which is totally absent this time. That's because I forgot it even existed, and only remembered because I wrote Dean Thomas' name in this chapter. So, I guess I'll put it in the second book. Oops.
