Kiss You Back
A week had passed before Snape had ordered another interrogation. His patience astounded me. My bruises had faded to light yellow. I no longer ached and my joints moved freely. The lack of pain must have annoyed the Headmaster so. So when a younger student interrupted my Hate Muggle class to inform me the Headmaster requested my presence, I got pissed.
I stormed through the halls of the castle. My angry, quick footsteps thundered through the corridor and passageways. My breathing was loud, more like huffing. Maybe anger would dull the pain.
I entered the office and nearly fainted. I felt my knees go week and angry huffing turned to panicked hyperventilating. My hand went to my wand on instinct, but stilled as three wands trained their aim on my chest.
"Now, now Henria. I wouldn't want to have to send you back to your father in a box." the Malfoy sneer penetrated my brain.
"Neville?" my voice rasped. I was too angry, scared and nervous to be calm.
"Oh, Longbottom is fine." Lucius looked over at him, sitting in the wooden chair, bleeding, "Of course, not as well when he entered this room." my chest hitched with a strangled sob.
"No need to cry, lovey." the other Death Eater wheezed out. My gaze slid over to his face. My lip curled in disgust.
"Who the fuck do you think you are?" I snarled viciously. My eyes narrowed, "Is this what is has come down to? Beating up helpless students who don't have any new information? Pathetic!" I spat the last word out with distaste.
"Language, Henria." Lucius drawled. I clenched my jaw shut. I will not play their fucking games.
"Miss Sownbinder, would you please take a seat?" Headmaster Snape conjured a wooden chair similar to the one Neville sat in. I ignored Snape.
"Neville? Can you hear me?" I felt desperate for confirmation that he was conscious.
"He is, unfortunately, ordered not to talk at the moment." Snape responded, "Now, sit."
"No." I could not keep my impulse to break the rules at bay. Snape sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Rowle, please show Miss Sownbinder her seat." he ordered.
"Yes, sir." the blonde man started walking over to me.
"I have never liked blondes. But you take the cake of disgusting." I sneered, "I thought it was Lucius with his foul smell, but I was wrong." Rowle's backhand came quick and out of nowhere. My face was stinging.
"Haven't learned your lesson, you insolent girl?" Snape snapped at me. I looked up at him through the strands of hair that shrouded my face. Rowle dragged me over to the chair and shoved my into the leather bonds.
"I chose to ignore that lesson, Professor!" I said through my teeth, glaring.
"Henria, have you heard anything about Potter and his...friends?" Lucius fingered his cane. I turned my glare to his silver grey eyes.
"You can go to hell." I replied in a low voice. My temper peeked its ugly head into my voice.
"Very well. Rowle?" he gestured to Neville and Rowle smacked his cheek. The resounding noise was loud and sharp. My eyes widened and my blood turned to ice.
"NO!" I screamed. I felt the tears gather at the corner of my eyes. Three smug looking wizards stared at me, waiting for me to work out my thoughts.
I fought to control the moisture threatening to roll down my cheeks. I slowly unclenched my jaw, causing the muscles to pop. I uncurled my fists, the crescent shaped gouges helping center myself. I forced my shoulders to loosen up and allow me to lean back in the chair.
I was the picture of calm, except for my eyes. I felt my heated glare warm the room.
"Now, where were we, Severus?" that smug drawl had me taking a calming breathe.
"Potter and his friends." the Headmaster replied, off-handily.
"Ah, yes, where are they?" Lucius pretended to examine his nails. Deep breathe.
"I don't know."
"Thorfinn..."
"Please, I really don't!" my desperation leaked into my voice. I saw Neville wince, "Yes, I made them stay here for almost a week, but I don't know where they are. The last time I saw them was before they left the castle. Please! Don't hurt Neville." I took a sharp inhale of air and held it. I had not meant to sound so desperate. I knew they would use something like that against me.
"Miss Sownbinder, I did not ask for you to recount information we already knew." Snape's voice was cool, "We want new information." I blew out the breath in frustration.
"Well, I'm the wrong person." my voice rushed out. I heard Lucius sigh impatiently.
"Come now, Henria." that arrogant drawl made me grind my teeth.
"What are they doing?" Snape snapped. I hesitated. And that was enough. They knew I knew something.
"Nothing." I scoffed, "Some boy wonder. Sitting on his lazy ass and doing nothing. A Savior in the making."
"I'm taking Longbottom to his Common Room. Get her to talk." the Headmaster pretended not to have heard me. He set about the room to get Neville loose and up to Gryffindor Tower.
"Of course, Severus. It will be our pleasure."
I know I have said it before, but Fuck. My. Life.
Ginny vision:
I entered the Common Room after my last class. I saw Seamus on the couch by the fire. I saw Neville leaning on his shoulder. Something was off.
"Neville?" I said gently.
"I'm alright." I heard him mumble.
I walked across the room and stood in front of the two seventh years. My fist curled so tight my knuckles turned white. His face resembled Henria's the first night she had come to use, looking for protection. Something I loathed to provide for her.
"They are still trying to get information?" I asked as I fished into my bag. I had a vial of Essence of Murtlap.
"'Course. Insatiable they are. Some Ravenclaws were talking about how one of the seventh years came back past curfew, all bloodied up. The poor sod wouldn't answer who done it." Seamus pulled a handkerchief from his robes, "Neville said they still have Henria." his brows scrunched in frustration.
"She'll be okay. If anyone could handle an interrogation a week that would be Henria." I soaked the kerchief in the essence and held it to a particularly deep cut. Neville hissed and then relaxed as it soaked the wound.
"She told them about Harry, Hermione and Ron staying here. She's fucking spilling all her secrets right now." Neville's expression was pained anger. I grimaced.
"Now Neville, did they hit you in her presence?" I kept my features collected. A contrast to the outburst bubbling in my throat.
"Yeah. Screamed bloody murder and begged them not to hit me." I relocated the foul smelling poultice to another cut. He winced and relaxed.
"Did she plead for your release?" I caught his eyes and pierced his gaze.
"I didn't get to stay long enough for her to." and then I saw something click behind his brown eyes, "Oh."
"She would never tell them any secret she didn't think they already knew. Her resolve is stronger than that." I took his hand and placed it over the handkerchief, "Now, clean your wounds. I'm going to the dungeons."
Henria vision:
I felt my body land heavily on stone. I was barely conscious. Lucius is a cruel man. His hatred and loathing runs deep in his veins. I felt it with each curse and hex he assaulted me with. Thorfinn Rowle was mad with power. My face felt his brute force through ever strike. Maybe I should not have told them about the Golden Trio's impromptu stay. That just seemed to make them think I could break.
I heard muffled curses and quiet murmuring. I stirred, trying to position myself to catch a glimpse of where I had landed. I was rewarded for my efforts with a boot pressing down on the base of my neck, painfully halting any movement. A groan of discomfort escaped my throat before I could swallow it.
"Could you kindly remove your boot from my neck? I'm afraid I don't find the gesture nearly as comforting as you had hoped." a sudden pressure increase had me hissing in pain.
"Filth!" Amycus spat.
"Have a good night also!" I tried to say brightly, but it came out strained.
The Carrows left with me, yet again, on the floor. I laid still, relishing in the fact that no one was trying to kill me at this moment. Oddly, it was comforting and relaxing. My body was shaking and twitching. I felt every curse, hex, punch and kick. The bruises did not hurt so badly. Probably because it was had only been a week. I rolled over, slowly, as my head started pounding.
Wait that was the Common Room door.
"Oh, no, it is alright. I'll get the door." I muttered, drenching my voice in sarcasm.
I slowly pushed myself from the floor. The strain on my muscles had me muttering and growling. I snarled at anyone who dared to catch my eye. I know I sounded completely mental and almost feral, but without anyone willing to help me, I had to use that much more energy to pick myself up. My body protested every jerk and twitch.
With my battered form fully erect, I turned towards the still pounding door and opened it. Red hair greeted me with a horrified gasp. I flinched at the sound.
"It only looks worse. I'm okay."
"The hell you are!" Ginny practically yelled.
"Oy! Get out of here, you filthy blood-traitor!" a voice came up behind me.
"Back off." Ginny growled. I flinched again.
"Or what, Weasley?" Ginny's face contorted into a grimace. I turned my body around, anger keeping from passing out.
"Or I'll hex your balls off. And they won't be able to reattach them." I ground out through my sore jaw. The sixth year boy scoffed. The gall of some kids.
"I wouldn't start slinging mud just yet, Sownbinder. You're a marked blood-traitor also, lest you forget." it was my turn to scoff.
"Is that supposed to be a threat?" I narrowed my eyes. I am seriously over this empty threat thing. If you wanted to hex me, just get it over with.
"Just a statement, you paranoid bitch." he replied lowly. I rolled my eyes.
"I'm done. To properly threaten someone, you need to have the backbone and the knowhow to follow through." I heard Ginny shift behind me, "Like when I say, 'I'm gonna knock your lights out', I have the knowhow to do it. Meaning, I can punch you in the face and knock you out, seeing as you have a glass jaw and no muscles to speak of." the boy's face darkened.
"You are completely mental." his voice was soft. I think I am eliciting emotions he has never felt before.
"Want a demonstration, of me knocking your lights out?" I raised an eyebrow. That was not the first time I have been called crazy, nor would it be the last.
"Get out of here." he ordered. Wrong answer.
My right arm swung hard and fast. I heard my fist connect with his jaw and he crumbled. I looked down at his dazed face and frowned. That felt good, but it hurt like a bitch. Not to mention he tried to order me around. I noticed two first years who looked positively terrified. My heart broke. My frown deepened.
"Feel better?" Ginny's soft voice broke the tense silence. I turned my back to the Slytherins.
"No, but I am ready to leave." I ushered her out of the doorway and started our journey to the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Was it bad this time?" her quiet question echoed off the empty corridor. I shrugged my shoulders and winced.
"Just different players. Plus the element of psychological warfare." my voice sounded tired.
"You look bloody awful." she murmured. I snorted.
"Think my true love will fall for my good looks?" I smirked, but my sore cheek made me wince and so I stopped.
"Neville will be all right. He is pretty banged up." her voice sounded small. My stomach twisted painfully and a wave of nausea washed over me. I felt the bile bubble at the back of my throat. The sickening realization that Ginny could be next had me leaning against a wall. I breathed through my nose to quell the vomit. But ultimately lost that battle.
As my vomiting turned to dry heaving, my mind whirled. Not Ginny. She cannot be submitted to any kind of questioning. Her voice was talking to me. Her soothing tones trying to calm my body and relax my stomach muscles. Those actions confirming that she was too kind to stumble into the Common Room bloody and bruised. I knew that she could take a punch or two, but I could not be trusted if she were to be questioned. My stupid feelings were getting in the way.
"Ginny, you might be next." I spat out the awful taste of stomach acid. She shrugged her shoulders.
"That's fine." she waved her hand nonchalantly, "I have no secrets to tell." her voice spoke finality.
"Ginny, I cannot let that happen." I bore into her eyes. She held my gaze steadily and confidently.
"You won't have a choice." she bit out. I clenched my jaw.
"Go to the hideout." I ordered. I saw the frustration leak into her cinnamon eyes.
"Like hell." she growled.
"Now." I narrowed my eyes at her.
"No." she crossed her arms defiantly over her chest. I decided to change tactics.
Seduction.
"Ginny, love, come now, see reason." I cooed. I conjured a goblet and a soft agumenti had it filled with water. I swished my mouth out and vanished the mess on the floor away, "I don't know what I would do if I lost you." I heard her snort indignantly.
"Bleed to death." she supplied. I caressed her cheek with my hand and stood very close to her body. To her credit, she did not react. So, I stepped until our bodies touched and I leaned into her ear.
"What would you do if I kissed you?" I purred into her ear. Her chest hitched and I felt like gloating. I was getting to her.
"Kiss you back." she whispered. I jerked back. I must be losing my touch.
"What?" I asked, shocked.
"How adorable, you thought seducing me could work." she smirked at my frown, "I will be going to the Common Room with you and Seamus will carry you up the stairs."
"Stubborn cow." I grumbled, "No wonder Harry has a thing for you."
"Mostly because I have flaming red hair." she started walking, "Did you know Harry's mum was a red head?" I looked at her curiously.
"Well, that is interesting. So, men really do fall for women who look like their mothers." I kept pace with her. Hell, if she could resist my charm, she could be knocked around.
"Why do you think Weasley's always have red hair?" she was good at distracting people.
"So, Harry must have a personality like your father. Because women do the same thing, but with their father's image." Ginny laughed lightly.
"Yeah, they have some traits in common." she had a small smile playing on her lips.
"Semper Fidelis." I said to the portrait as we walked up. Fitting given what is going on.
We entered the Common Room and I was greeted with a wand in my face. I held my hands up in an 'I surrender' kind of gesture. I stared calmly into baby blues. Seamus was playing the part of good soldier again. So long as I did not make any sudden movements or say anything too terrible, I could go to bed, because I was exhausted.
"Henria, what did you tell them?" I flicked my eyes behind Seamus to meet Neville's caramel irises.
"Nothing." I deadpanned.
"When I was taken away, you were quite willing to spill your guts about Harry's stay here at the castle. What else did you tell them?" he was looking pretty pissed. I clenched my jaw in annoyance.
"And like Headmaster Snape replied, they were looking for new information not old." I replied calmly even through my annoying feeling.
"So, what kind of new information did you pass along?" he narrowed his eyes at me.
"I think I told them my middle name, my bust measurements, and a new string of swear words that they never heard." I replied nonchalantly. I heard Ginny shift next to me before I saw him move. Her wand was jutting out in the corner of my eye.
"Neville Longbottom!" her voice was like a whip. The two young men winced painfully, "You will leave her by. She did NOT give anything away. How stupid do you think she is?" I bristled at her words, but said nothing.
"But, Ginny, she still cannot be trusted." Neville turned his attention to the fiery red head.
"Oh yes she can." she very nearly growled, "Seamus, take her up the stairs so she can go change." Seamus hesitated, "Now, Finnegan!"
I squeaked when I was suddenly in the air. I looked up and he gave me an apologetic smile. I raised my eyebrow, but allowed him to carry me. It felt nice to be weightless. I was beyond pain and stiffness. I was pretty numb.
"Neville has every right to be paranoid." I told him as he lowered me to the floor. I walked over to my trunk, "Thank you."
"Goodnight, Sownbinder." he said quietly before he shut the door.
A/N: I know, too much Seamus, but even though he was an idiot all the time, he makes my heart ache with all his cuteness. His goofy smile melts my heart. But never fear! There is going to be some Draco here soon. I promise. I do believe I will be writing some of him in the next chapter. And Henria might just see more of him than she bargained for. I never know. My brain works too much. All the time.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Henny, that lucky Penny!