A/N: This one ended up being one of my favorites. Henria is showing her more gentle side. It's called growing up. Hehe

Happy reading!

Henny, that lucky Penny!

Growth

The week went along without a hitch. I did my homework among the Death Eaters and the Death Eater children. Of course, none of them ever admitted such crimes. Or, at least they never admitted them to me. I had a fairly good guess who was who in the ranks. Most of them were not subtle with how they walked and their awful words. Normally as I sat in the Common Room, they would throw nasty glances my way. If I 'accidently' caught their eye, I would get a nasty hand gesture as an appropriate response. Life was on the up.

Wednesday brought a sickening realization that Headmaster Snape was beyond annoyed with me. Instead of me being called, Seamus had been my replacement. Knowing that he was not as connected as I was, Snape grilled him for hours about the missing children. Being a good Gryffindor, his resolve was firm. He braved the hexes and the physical assaults. I felt considerably guilty about his predicament and so I saw to his healing. Ginny let me push her to the side as I cooed and soothed Seamus. By the time he was done bleeding and shaking, I had him smiling. See? I can be a nice person.

Since Wednesday, I had been staying in the Room of Requirement. Seamus was in no condition to bring me up the stairs and I scoffed at Neville when he volunteered. His actions on Sunday had irritated me immensely. I saw him bristle at my rude refusal, but I was annoyed enough not to care. My only fault in my elaborate plan was clean clothes. I had to strip down to my birthday suit and perform cleaning charms on my clothes. I had to do all of this in a lavatory. I had to do it all quickly or be forced to answer unusual questions from gossipy slags who had never encountered someone roughing it. It was humiliating, but satisfying. I refused to be helped by Neville until he apologizes for trying to rip my scalp open.

Saturday morning found me in the Slytherin Common Room, pretending to do my Charms essay. Honestly, I had completed it already, but I needed an excuse to be in the dungeons. The non-supporters had been getting serious looks by the older kids. The looks told me they had been contemplating whether the first years were sympathetic to Voldemort or if they were 'blood-traitors'. That meant trouble was brewing for the innocent children not yet touched by the gruesome thing called war. They were only witness to the aftermath of the behind the scene going ons. Mainly my bloody body and bullies trying to convert everyone.

I had to do something. So, I pulled them aside and asked them about their views. For my efforts, I got laughed at. My retaliation to being laughed at might have been a bit rash, but no one ever died from the leg-lock jinx, right?

"Stay away from the first years, blood traitor!" Zabini's voice crawled over my skin. I felt my back go rigid and my shoulders tensed. My gut twisted into knots.

"Yeah, blood traitor!" a fourth year boy echoed. I slowly turned around to the pair of them. My cool was beginning to warm.

"Oh Merlin! Are we still on that?" I rolled my eyes, "You should come up with better insults. I'm getting bored over here." my tone suggested I had not a care.

Zabini stepped closer to me, pulling himself to his full height. Let us not forget I am all of 5'2" tall. Suddenly becoming two heads taller than me does not intimidate me. What does intimidate me is picking me up by my sweater and trying to make me a fixture on the wall. So, while his first try to make me submit did not work, the second try certainly made me think about it harder.

"If you wanted excitement, you should have stayed with the Gryffindorks. Here, we sink out fangs in you and watch the poison slowly kill your body." his voice was deathly quiet and his dark eyes were dangerous. My pulse quickened in mild fear. The fading bruises on my torso ached sharply at the hard contact.

"You're right. That does sound a bit boring." I retorted slightly winded. My hands wrapped around his wrists as he pressed my shoulder blades further into the stone. I felt my left eye twitch as pain surged through my body. His smirk was evil. He was enjoying my pain. I felt slightly more afraid. This was a man who would not stop hitting you unless you passed out. He would only stop hitting you then because he could not get his satisfaction from your reaction.

"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" his dark smirk deepened. I felt his knuckles dig even deeper into my pecs. It felt like my vertebrae were being ground into dust. I clenched my jaw and gritted my teeth together to keep from crying out, "Come on pet, no scathing response? No witty retort? No cutting reply?" more weight, more pressure, more pain. A sharp intake of breathe gave away how much he was hurting me. A wicked, ugly grin morphed his face into the Devil's likeness. I stared at the change from mischievous school boy to cruel and dangerous man. I did not need to see any Dark Mark. I knew this boy was a Death Eater.

"I think I found one." I finally said quietly. I was working around the pain that grew more uncomfortable by the second, "I'm actually quite comfortable. It is a pity I have to end your interesting brand of foreplay, but places to be." even more weight, even more pressure, even more pain. A small whimper came from the back of my throat. A look of sick glee came over his features. I almost cried out in fear.

"And how are you going to do that?" his voice was low and still dangerous. I summoned up all my strength to keep myself calm. I was clearly easy prey what with my tiny body. I suppose that was a correct assumption. He easily brought me to his mercy. The way he was trying to make me a permanent part of the wall was testament to his strength. So, I had to use his weaknesses against him in order to best him.

"By my own kind of foreplay. Do you like it rough?" I purred. And then I brought my foot up hard and fast. Pain shot up my leg as I connected with my highly sensitive target. I suddenly found my body heaped on the floor. Zabini was on his side holding his bruised male parts. To say I felt satisfied, well, that is exactly how I felt. The severe pain was etched on his face in a deep grimace. It was my turn to smirk, "Prick."

I slowly brought my tiny frame up and leant it against the wall. I kept my eyes trained on Zabini. The way he was moaning told me that he would not be getting up anytime soon. I was pleased to notice that the male population was giving me a wide berth. The annoying fourth year boy who had first came up behind Zabini to echo his thoughts about my blood status looked mortified. His mortification stemmed from my muggle fighting tactics and my lack of respect towards the dark skinned boy. I realized that those who had been brought up in Wizarding Society's elite were not as prepared for the more physical side of my kind of justice. That bit of knowledge made me grin as big and bright as a Cheshire cat.

"Aw, pet, did I hurt you?" my tone was mocking, "What? No scathing response? No witty retort? No cutting reply?" I tapped Zabini's Oxford with my trainer, "Never fear. Just run along to your master and inform him how inadequate you all are at physical violence. That might open His eyes to what kind of war he is really fighting." I drawled. One more sweeping grin and I left the Italian on the floor, moaning in pain.

"Semper fidelis." I growled. I ignored the withering look from the Fat Lady as I stepped into the familiar red and gold.

"Rough morning?" Seamus asked from the couch.

"You could say that. Are we keeping a list of students who are Death Eaters?" my short frame flopped onto the couch next to him in front of the fireplace.

"No. We just assume everyone in green is a Death Eater." he replied with a slight shrug.

"Good logic." I replied honestly, "I have no reason to go to the Slytherin Common Room. They all have chosen sides. Not the good side either." I grimaced at the fire, my tone was bitter. Most of those children were so young and innocent. It pulled at my chest.

"There's nothing more you can do." Seamus said softly, sensing my hopelessness.

""I always feel like I could do more." I muttered. I heard him sigh. I decided to change the subject, "Can you bring me up so I could shower and change?"

"I think I can manage." his ignored the shift and got up from his perch on the couch, "Neville says you refused his help. Why?" I followed him to the base of the staircase.

"I didn't care for his attitude last weekend." I felt weightless as he picked me up, bridal style, "My pride was wounded." I huffed. Seamus chuckled.

"He's just a little rough 'round the edges. He's had a rough life and when Harry didn't come back to school, he realized he needed to lead this rebellion. And then you came, rearing for a fight and bossy beyond belief. Not to mention crude and unreadable. You put him off." our ascent was slow. His expression was pained. I blushed.

"Well, of course I did." I clipped my words, "It's called my personality."

"I think it is what you wanted us to believe. Either you didn't want us to get close to you or you honestly thought we would roll over and let you take over our school." Seamus opened the door to the dorm room. He let me down gently and looked at me expectantly. My eyebrow quirked into an arch.

"Well, those both blew up in my face, if they were my goals." I responded dryly. My brow fell and I took off my outer robes, "What did Neville mean by all the things that the Slytherins did to Hermione?" Seamus shifted uncomfortably.

"They're pureblood supremeists, what do you think they have done to her?" his eyes grew tight. It looked like he was trying to control his temper.

"I don't know. I'm from a small town where prejudice doesn't exist. We squabble over who is better at magic or who has more money. I've lived a semi-charmed life where my blood status is not called into question. I get to run around town like I own it because I happen to be fairly powerful and have the magic to back it up." I shrugged my shoulders. Since when do I tell people about my home life? Seamus sighed.

"Aren't you a lucky one then? No one invades your home and kills your parents in front of you because they are muggles? No one to look down upon you because they believe you have dirty blood? Semi-charmed indeed." his tone was hard.

"They've called her a mudblood to her face?" I whispered in horror. Seamus flinched.

"Among other things. They have always been intimidated by her. She has always been first in marks for our classes. She has been practicing spells beyond our level for years now. You think someone like Draco Malfoy will stand for a muggleborn to surpass him in studies? You think someone like Blaise Zabini will take kind to someone who can hex him where he stands before he can even raise his wand?" his tone became even harder.

"That's terrible. What the hell kind of place is this?" I grew angry. Despite her punching me in the face when they stayed, Hermione was kind and fair. Her vast knowledge surprised and impressed me.

"The kind of place that is caught in the midst's of war, or have you forgotten?" his voice had a nasty undertone, "We have grown up in this environment, so we don't get the luxury of being naive. The sooner you open your eyes to the details, the better. How long do you think Malfoy will coddle you before he will make you chose? How long do you think it will be before there is a battle that most of us won't walk away from, calls us? Neville, Dean, Ginny, me and the rest of us already know that we are ready to die so You-Know-Who does not govern our land. Are you ready? Have you made your choice? Do you want to live in freedom or in fear?" Seamus' words became softer, "Because I believe that we will live in freedom. Even if I have to make a sacrifice, I will try my damnedest to make it so. For witches and wizards like Hermione and Harry's mam. For witches and wizards like me mam and Harry's dad who fall in love with someone not of 'favorable birth'. Because we all deserve peace."

How do you answer that? As I stood there, rolling the words over my tongue, I found out you do not. In that moment I realized I did not know what the fuck was going on. I knew the outline; a way, good versus evil. But the details had eluded me. I was blindly going about, patching what I could together. Uncle Albus had prepared me to be a soldier. He conditioned me to understand the military side. I was a blockade that was to stand between the dark and the light. My main goal was to protect, serve and obey. Well, we all know what I think about that last one.

My arms wrapped themselves around his broad torso. My forehead rested above his collarbone. I pulled in burnt wood, singed hair and fresh ocean air through my nose. The burnt wood and ocean air were pleasant and made you forget about the singed hair. I felt his strong arms wrap themselves around my back. He pulled me close, comforting me and warming my chilled heart. My shoulders relaxed at the soothing contact. Damn it if he was not right; sometimes all we need is someone to take care of us when we are not feeling ourselves. I smiled into his shoulder as he laid his cheek on top of my head.

"Go get changed." he whispered into my hair, "You need it." I took one more lungful of him and pulled away, "What are your plans for today?"

"I feel like getting a drink." I replied with a sly smirk.