Flora And Fawna [HARRY POTTER]

7

Regulus continued to watch Rosie after that night. For the first few days he half expected the ministry to show up in the slytherin dorms and tackle he and his friends to the floor. But they didn't, so he turned his attention to a certain mudblood. Rosie didn't act any differently than she had before she pointed out his dark mark. If anything she seemed to be opening up and flourishing. Regulus had overheard that she was at the top of all of her classes. Slughorn had even spoken of moving her up a class, because she had worked through her entire potions book.

The longer the pureblood wizard watched the muggleborn witch, the more curious he had become.

*******

Rosie hadn't spoken to Regulus since the night in the room of requirement, when he had refused to drink the potion. She felt his eyes on her though. Watching. Waiting.

For the first few nights after Rosie had revealed her knowledge she half expected Regulus and his death eater friends to sneak into the Ravenclaw dorms and murder her as she slept. She had feared they would do the same to Penny, to spite her, so Rosie had slept on the couch in front of the fire.

But Rosie should have known that murder in the night wasn't Regulus' style. Instead Rosie began to notice more and more that the seventh year's eyes followed her. She felt them in the halls between classes, in the great hall during study time, in the library after classes. Rosie actually began to question whether the boy had any classes of his own to go to. But then one night, after almost six weeks of feeling his eyes on her any time she left her common room, Regulus approached her.

Rosie was coming back to her dorms one night after she had studied a little later in the library than she had planned. Madame Prince had given her a note should any of her teachers stop her in the hallway, the librarian having grown quite fond of her during the time she spent there. One minute Rosie was walking briskly down the seventh floor corridor, the next she was pulled into a room.

Rosie's magic reacted violently at her fear, and whoever it had been that had grabbed her flew away, banging loudly against a wall. It took Rosie a few seconds to recognize the room they were in, it was the same room she had brought Regulus to a month and a half ago. Then it took her another couple of seconds to recognize the figure slumped against the far wall. Rosie didn't feel particularly bad as she took in the pureblood slytherin, slowly getting to his feet. He had scared her after all, and he had probably done it intentionally.

Regulus groaned in new pain as he slowly got to his feet and moved to look at the mudblood that had just thrown him thirty feet across the room without a wand. The more time Regulus spent around the first year the more he wanted to know her. He was weary of her as any smart wizard would be, but he also recognized skill when he saw it.

Rosie didn't like the look Regulus was using on her. To her it looked like adoration, and that was dangerous. Regulus seemed to recognize the close off look on her face, so different from the one she had been using in the last month, and his face fell into a slytherin blank stare.

"Why didn't you tell anyone about the dark mark," Regulus asked, more demanded. The question had been bothering him since he first began to realize there wasn't anyone coming up put him in Azkaban. Rosie was a mudblood. He was a follower of Voldemort. She owed him no allegiance.

Rosie quirked one of her eyebrows, and moved to sit on a faded green couch in the corner. The room wasn't exactly how she had seen it last, the backless chair was gone and there was less light, but it was close enough that Rosie could tell what Regulus had been going for. It was probably a great deal like the slytherin common room.

"Because it doesn't concern me."

Regulus' face goes blank in shock. Not concern her?

"I am a death eater. I kill muggles and muggleborns alike. Someone you know will probably die by my hands by the end of this war!" Regulus surges towards her, but stops at a distance he knows she will be at least slightly comfortable with. "I could have killed you that night and you would have never seen it coming!"

Regulus actually doubted he could have done anything to Rosie that she didn't see coming, six years of experience or not. There was just an air about her that made her seem unphased in all situations. 

"We're in a war. People fight, and they die. Sending a couple of seventh year death eaters off to Azkaban before they've even done anything will do nothing. People will still die and the earth will still circle around the sun. My actions will be completely inconsequential so unless you try to kill me, my friend, or my family I'll leave you to  live your sad little life until an Auror gets you."

*******

"Hello, mudblood," Regulus sat himself next to Rosie and her little friend Piggy, as they ate their supper. "I will be eating supper with you and your little pet from now on. To keep an eye on you."

Rosie had no reaction to Regulus' appearance, since they had talked in the Room of requirements and Rosie had shared her rather cynical view on the war between muggleborns and the Dark Lord Regulus had just been popping up at the strangest times. Rosie didn't seem to mind Regulus' words, but her friend did. As soon as Penny had heard the foul term fall through Regulus' lips she had leapt out of her seat and had her wand pointed at him. Regulus didn't even have a chance to respond before Rosie was sighing, a deep sigh that meant she felt very put out by the entire thing, and pulled Penny back into her seat.

"Let the boy say whatever he wants, as long as it's not one of the three unforgivables," Rosie advised, going back to eating the chicken in front of her. "His mother never taught him any better."

Regulus felt a swirl of irritation in his stomach, wondering just how impressive Piggy was compared to her friend, but he smiled all the same. Rosie was irritating and ruined his fun, but she wasn't like the stories his mother had told him about mudbloods. Walburga had told him muggles and their slightly magical offspring were mud beneath his shoe, that they were timid little creatures that would bow down and do the work of a house elf if a pureblood asked them to. Rosie was the only muggleborn Regulus had met, but thus far she had proven his mother wrong on all accounts. And Regulus had a feeling if he tried to order Rosie to do something she would throw him into a wall again.

"But he-" Penny began to protest, before she was silenced by a look. Regulus found himself looking on at the scene with great amusement. Rosie had her pet trained well.

"His words only matter if we let them. He's no one of consequence so so long as he isn't hexing us we shouldn't let anything that comes out of his pretty little mouth affect what we think of ourselves. If being a mudblood means that my parents taught me manners then so be it."

Penny took in her friend's words and nodded, like they were the gospel and Rosie the prophet.

Regulus felt the irritation swirl again, so he decided to make Rosie as irritated as he was. He put one of his arms (which were practically as thick as one of her legs) around her shoulder and pulled her into his side. Piggy went to leap up again but Rosie shook her head and turned her blank face to Regulus.

"Was there a reason you came over here, or did you just need a change of scenery?" Rosie questioned bluntly, but she made no move to remove his arm. By that time she had been to at least one slytherin quidditch team practice to watch and she knew it would be useless. Regulus was a seeker, and he was quite strong to be able to fling himself this way and that on a broom.

"Just wanted to come see you, my little mudblood," Regulus smiled charmingly, and Rosie grimaced.