Flora And Fawna [HARRY POTTER]

8

Regulus hadn't been kidding when he said he would spend every night with the two Ravenclaw first years, whether they wanted his company or not. Rosie didn't seem to mind at all, no matter what he did. It was Penny that was quickly becoming irritated. Since that first morning where Rosie had turned Penny into a piglet, Penny had looked up to Rosie in a way she had only looked up to her brother. Rosie was strong, fearless, and until Regulus began sitting with them she didn't take crap from anybody.

But Rosie let Regulus do whatever he wanted, simply telling her friend that it wasn't worth the fight. Penny just couldn't understand, until she and Rosie got cornered coming out of the bathroom weeks later.

********

Penny was talking up a storm, apparently deciding between classes was the best time to spill every thought she had had during the day, when it had happened. All Penny had seen was a bright light out of the corner of her eye before a shield charm had formed in front of her, making the hex bounce away and hit a wall across the corridor. Penny's shock kept her from seeing the caster for a few seconds. When she did she knew they were in trouble.

Three slytherin fourth years were standing a few feet away from the entrance of the girls laboratories, wands in hand and cruel smiles on their faces. The one who still had his wand pointed, who had obviously cast the spell, stepped forward.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? A mudblood and a piglet?"

The other boys cackled at their fearless leader's words, taking out their wands and taking a threatening step towards the two ravenclaw first years. Penny was about to open her mouth and defend herself, and her best friend, when Rosie stepped in front of Penny and shook her head.

'No,' the look Rosie gave her seemed to say. 'Stand back and I'll handle it.'

Penny didn't know how a first year was going to 'handle' three fourth years but Penny didn't really have any other options. She knew she had no chance against a fourth year. She was barely passing her charms class. Rosie gently moved Penny to stand a few feet behind her, before she straightened her back, squared her shoulders, and stared the three fourth year boys right in the eyes.

"That wasn't very nice," Rosie said flatly. Penny couldn't see Rosie's face, but if she had been able to she would have been terrified to her very bones. Rosie had worked hard to look approachable since she had made friends with Penny. If sweet little Penny had wanted to spend all her life in Rosie's presence, then the least Rosie could do was make sure she didn't drive off anyone else Penny might have wanted to make friends with. But seeing three fourth years trying to hex a couple of 'helpless' first years brought the ongoing war to the forefront of Rosie's mind.

There were people fighting and dying outside the stone walls of Hogwarts. Every second Petunia, Vernon, and their baby were in danger. Rosie couldn't protect them from the school, but she could sure as hell protect Penny from having to see the war.

Rosie's face had gone from angelic to nightmarish in seconds, and the fourth years didn't quite know how to take that.

"Life isn't nice, filthy mudblood," the leader took the initiative again and took another threatening step towards Rosie. Rosie didn't even flinch. "Now my mates and I are going to hex you and your fat little friend can't even stand, then we're going to leave you here to rot. How's that sound?"

Before Rosie could give whatever response was forming on her tongue, the leader flung his wand out and sent a curse flying in Rosie's direction. Penny screamed, hiding her face behind her hands so she didn't have to watch her best friend fall to the ground. There was no thump.

Penny cracked her eyes back upen to see Rosie standing completely unharmed, glaring up at the slytherin boys with a cruel little smirk on her face.

"You're going to have to do better than that, slytherin, if you're going to make good on your threat." Rosie's voice was colder than Penny had ever heard it, and for the first time since Penny had met Rosie all those months ago, Penny began to understand. She understood Rosie, her actions, and she began to understand just what Rosie was capable of.

The two other boys stepped forward and began to shout hexes at Rosie, each one hitting an invisible shield and ricocheting harmlessly onto a wall. With every curse sent Rosie's way, every shot that missed it's target, the boys only seemed to get madder, their motions only getting more frenzied.

After a few moments, Rosie seemed to tire of their little stand off and she waved her hand casually. Three wands flew from their owners hands and disappeared. Rosie waved her hand again and the three boys froze, and fell to the floor with a loud thud. Then Rosie turned around to see if her friend was alright. Penny was white.

"Are you okay," Rosie asked, her voice no longer that cold one she had used only moments before. "I tried to block both of us but if one of their hexes got through then we can take you to Madame Pomfrey-"

Rosie was cut off as Penny sprung forward and took Rosie into a tight hug. Rosie couldn't actually say anything after that, all the breath had been knocked out of her lungs.

The hug lasted for longer than Rosie thought it would, and just before Rosie began to feel faint Penny let go, and Rosie stumbled back into the wall, so that she could use it to support her weight again. Her green eyes peered questionly towards Penny.

"What?" Was all Rosie could bring herself to say. Penny smiled brightly.

"That was so cool, Rosie! They went 'whoosh', and 'swoosh', and you went 'bang' and then they went 'thump'!"

Rosie smiled at her friend's reenactment of the entire scene as the two of them walked down the hallway towards their next class, leaving three frozen boys laying on the floor.

********

That night, Penny and Rosie sat together in Penny's bed, talking long after they should have gone to bed.

"Rosie," Penny began hesitantly. "If you could do all that all along, why do you keep letting Regulus call you names?"

Rosie thought for a minute, before the turned and looked right into Penny's eyes.

"Did you hear the hate in those boys' voices earlier? They truly hate muggleborns and I believe if they had been given the chance or had the skill, they would have gladly killed us and hidden our bodies in a broom cupboard. Next time Regulus comes to bother us at dinner, listen to how he says it. There's no hate. It's become a sort of nickname. He saw it didn't bother me so he quit using it as an insult." Rosie explained. Penny forced herself to look back, remember all the times Regulus had come over and invaded Rosie's personal space. Penny locked past the hate she had for the slytherin seventh year. And Rosie was right. Like always.

Regulus never looked at Rosie with anything less that fondness. His eyes swam wich mischief but he wasn't ever cruel. He liked to tease but he always stopped right before Rosie got angry. Rosie hadn't done anything about Regulus because she didn't need to. And this new information only made Penny admire her new friend more.