DISCLAIMER: Anything you can recognize is sadly not owned by me
Harry was walking through the halls and nodded to the Defense Professor as she went to step past him only to freeze as she suddenly felt a wand pressing into her back. "P-Professor," She said surprised turning slightly only to have the wand press roughly between her shoulder blades making her gasp in pain.
"Walk Harry Potter," he ordered as Harry started walking down the hall.
"Sir which way," She asked hoping that someone would see them.
"Go to the right, the third-floor corridor," He ordered.
She cringed knowing what was waiting for her. "Cerberus, waiting death lovely," she deadpanned masking her fear.
He just pressed the wand forcing her forward. "Move Potter."
"Yes sir," she responded taking off a charm from her bracelet and dropping it, leaving a slight trail. She fell purposely cutting her hand with her nail hoping someone would see the blood.
The fact that she was moving slowly angered the man and he gave her a slight kick. "Move girl," Quirrel ordered grabbing the back of her robes. She took a breath before entering the corridor and they went through trap after trap before going through the flames. "Get it...Get the stone."
She glanced at the mirror as he pulled away from her slightly. "What stone," she demanded not understanding what was going on. "What the hell do you want with me."
Suddenly a voice spoke up, seemingly from nowhere. Harry glanced around worriedly but she saw no one else. "Let me speak to her."
"Master you're not strong enough," Quirrell protested.
"I'm strong enough for this."
"Oh, bugger," Harry said knowing this would not end well as he removed the tarp and upon seeing the face on the back of his head she really knew it would not end well.
"Harry Potter...we meet again," The face hissed.
She glanced to the fire and around the walls looking for an escape, but she did not see any. "Look, sir I honestly have absolutely no qualms with you, no reason to fight, I'm a Slytherin to the core which means I am not a Gryffindor and I have self-preservation and I would prefer you know to stay out of the way," she tried having a feeling she knew exactly who was standing before her.
"Silence," he ordered and she wisely for the moment went quiet. "You are a peculiarity Harry Potter. The girl who lived, daughter of two very proud Gryffindor's placed in my ancestor's house, nothing to say girl?"
"Calculating," she returned, "I am a Slytherin after all. Your going to bribe me to get an object you want, play nice for a short time but I am not leaving this room alive. I am a threat despite not truly being a threat to you, I am a blackmark on your records and you cannot accept that. Even if here and now I swore I was on your side I am still a black mark and you will still kill me or worse."
"Smart, cunning a skill both your parents lacked but then again their precious heiress is a Slytherin," he hissed at her walking around her as her eyes followed him. "Hiding your terror little snake."
"I'm a Slytherin till death," she returned coldly, her mask in place. Perhaps if she could stall just long enough then she would be able to keep alive till help came. Surely there was a trace on a room such as this.
"She's stalling master," Quirrell stated. Harry mentally cursed realizing that they could likely read her mind or something of the sort.
"Get me the stone," Voldemort ordered.
"What stone," Harry demanded still not knowing what he was talking about. She didn't know anything about a stone.
"Crucio," he said hitting her as she screamed collapsing in pain, but he did not hold it long, instead, with another spell, he forced her back to her feet. "WHAT DO YOU SEE IN THE MIRROR."
She glanced inside the mirror. What was so special about this mirror? It didn't talk. There was writing but it seemed nonsensical and she was in too much pain to think clearly. There were people visible in the mirror, not just herself. "I s-s-see myself-f-f, st-st-standing but its n-n-not here," she said stuttering her way through her body shaking in pain. "T-t-two p-p-people are th-there b-b-but I th-think they are m-my m-mum and d-d-d-dad. Th-there are oth-other people."
"The stone," he ordered as she saw a stone placed in her pocket within the mirror and she suddenly felt a weight appearing in her pocket.
The last thing she wanted was the mirror to give her the stone and now she had something, he clearly wanted, and which was protected for a reason. "No st-stone, I sw-swear I d-d-dont know wh-where it could b-be," She tried.
"Liar," he said grabbing her by the throat as she tried to fight him off only to have him toss her as his hands burned. "Master...my hands..." Quirrell said as they burned.
"Get her," he ordered as Harry tried to run but her legs were still unsteady from the curse.
He came at her grabbing her throat as she fought him off. He smashed her shoulder onto the ground as she grabbed his face. Slowly, his skin turned to ash and he backed up screaming as Harry gasped for breath. With a dying scream, he was gone and the shade, the thing inside him left. As it left, others entered the room. She relaxed seeing that it was Snape who was quickly followed by Dumbledore and McGonagall.
"Haronna," Snape growled going to her side. "Look at me."
"S-sir," she stuttered shakily still gasping for breath, scratching at her neck. She could still feel his hands even though she knew they were gone. "I f-f-found out h-how th-the bl-blasted tr-troll got in," she said gasping.
"Stop talking Potter," he said realizing she was at least slightly fine if she was speaking. "You need to catch your breath."
"Cr-cruciotus is l-lot m-more p-p-painful th-then th-the b-b-b-b-books say," she choked out.
"I know Haronna," he said having already realized what she had been hit with it. "Let us not try for a third unforgivable."
"Yes s-sir," she said her voice still unsteady and scratchy. "H-hes d-d-dead right?"
"Yes, Miss Potter," he said running a quick scan over her to see if she could be safely moved.
"The...d-d-dark l-lord wh-who k-killed m-my pa-parents is n-not so d-d-d-dead."
He froze at the words, surely, she couldn't have realized that unless she had come to see him face to face, he sincerely hoped she was not saying what he believed she was. "What do you mean," Snape asked gently as Dumbledore was breaking down the flame wards.
"P-p-possessing Q-quirrel...ba-back of h-head un-under the bl-bloody turban." Snape paled glancing to Dumbledore who even looked surprised by her statement.
"I thought I said stop talking," Snape returned as McGonagall shot him a glare not liking the way he dealt with his students. Harry however just gave him a sharp grin. "Don't move Potter, you're going to reinjure yourself. Now are you breathing better?"
"Yes sir."
"I want a full report Potter, what hurts and how are you injured. I cannot move you till I know my scans have not missed anything."
"Broke a rib, with the thrashing but its n-not near my l-lungs," she stated as he cast a spell and fixed the easy injury. "I th-think I reinjured m-my shoulder. H-hurts l-like the D-dickens. Everything's shaky from the cruiciotus. Unforgivables suck."
"Gryffindor response Potter," Snape mocked. "Unforgivables are supposed to be unpleasant."
"Right, inner Gryffindork speaking, my apologies," she returned. "Th-thats it I think."
"With you in my house I think we had best higher bodyguards Potter," he said gently.
"Crabbe and Goyle would take the job at a lowered cost," she responded grinning lightly at the familiar banter. "They offered though they demanded hazard wages."
He nodded to her. He had done all he could here and with the wards broken, it was time to move her. He hated to do so knowing how badly her muscles would be aching after the cruciotus curse. Every move would be painful, but he had no choice. "Potter I am going to lift you up, it will be painful, hold your arm to your stomach so as not to extend your shoulder," Snape ordered.
"Yes sir," she said cringing as he lifted her up as carefully as possible, bringing them to the infirmary.
On their arrival, Madam Pomphrey shook her head. "Miss Potter, the amount of times I see you," Pomphrey said shaking her head.
"She has been crucio'd," Snape stated, "strangled and hit the ground rough enough to break a rib. She likely damaged that shoulder and the ribs fixed but she will likely need strengthening charms placed to ensure it doesn't rebreak."
Pomphrey heard crucio and froze. It had been many years since she had a student suffering cruciotus exposure and then it was from their homes or from Hogsmeade trips not within the school. "Merlin who," Pomphrey demanded.
"She was attacked by Professor Quirrell," Dumbledore stated as Pomphrey and Snape got to work. "Miss potter could you tell us what happened?"
It was Snape whom spoke first. "These would be yours," Snape said handing her the charms she had dropped. "Nicely done with the trail, it warned us that something was wrong and exactly who we were encountering. Of course, the blood was a nice touch."
She gave a slight smile as Pomphrey handed over the potions, "I wanted someone to see, I wasn't sure the protections on the room, whether people would know if we entered."
"When you are ready," Dumbledore said as she drank a muscle relaxer and an anti cruciotus. After a few minutes, she felt well enough to talk and was able to do so without stuttering.
"I was walking down the hall, second floor. I had been doing my arm exercises outside, I get some odd looks doing it in the dorms and the weather was nice. When I was coming back I passed by Professor Quirrell and he put a wand to my back. Told me to go, took me to the third-floor corridor. I made myself trip on the way. The corridor was off limits but if someone saw blood and a trail of charms, I had hoped they would think something wrong. It was more likely to be seen on the second floor then in an abandoned part of the school."
"Wise," Snape agreed. "We saw the blood before the wards went off and I recognized the charms."
"We went through the tasks, he did I just was held there, we got to the room and he started demanding I get some stone. He undid his turban cause the voice said it wanted to speak to me. Kept calling me Harry Potter. I quickly figured out who it was. It wasn't that hard and ran the odds of getting out of there and decided that no matter what I did he would kill me because I am a black stein on his otherwise perfect record. I hoped to distract him long enough for someone to get there. He wasn't happy since well, I guess I was being a bit to Gryffindor by verbalizing my analysis. He crucio'd me since he knew I was stalling. I am going to guess he legimized me or partially read me. Made me look in the mirror. Um this came out of it," she said handing them the stone. "I lied, Quirrel attacked me but his hands burnt, and he did so again and was strangling me but skin to skin contact burnt him and he well...dust and He left in a black cloud."
"Miss Potter, do you know what this is," Dumbledore asked.
Harry shook her head. "No and frankly I do not wish to," she said coldly shocking him. "I am not a Ravenclaw who needs to know every detail nor a Gryffindor who sticks my nose where it doesn't belong. That bloody stone is the reason Tracy almost died and my shoulder got busted. It is the reason I got attacked and Crucio'd. I do not wish to see it nor know about it because something that dangerous should not be in a school where children are since If my guess by looking at it its possibly that philosophers stone that Weasley and Granger were yammering about. I am a Slytherin and proud of it no matter if my parents would have been. I have self-preservation and sometimes the less you know the better."
Snape couldn't help but smirk, he was proud of his Slytherin, he wished it did not happen, but he was proud of how she handled the situation. "Well done Miss Potter, 20 points for staying calm and keeping your head," Snape stated nodding to her.
H
"You cannot be left on your own can you, not five minutes Lily growled as the Slytherin first years (the main group excluding Parkinson's but including Draco, Crabbe and Goyle).
"I was minding my own business walking through the hall it is not my fault," Harry protested sitting up in bed, her arm in a sling.
"Rumors are that you were attacked by Professor Quirrell and its somehow connected to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," Theo said as she looked him in the eye seeing his hesitance.
"I was and it was but does it matter."
"You mean after a death eater connected to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named attacked you, you will still be willing to be with us, children of death eaters," Theo demanded having been afraid that she would realize that associating with Slytherins was not worth it and she would fall in with everyone else.
"As long as you are still willing, you didn't attack me," Harry stated refusing to hold them in any way accountable. "You are my friends. So, what? He attacked me. If the war starts up again I am going to make it clear I don't want to be on any side. If no one can accept neutrality from me I will deal with it then. I am a Slytherin and I refuse to fight my friends on what may or may not occur for a war that ended when I was 15 months old."
This had the majority of them de-tensed at the assurance. "Told you Theo," Blaise returned, "Harry is not Gryffindor enough to blame us and is a bit too Hufflepuff to ever turn her back on her friends."
"I am a Slytherin," She returned smuggley. "Always, and Slytherins stick together."
"That we do," Theo said grinning at her as the other children of death eaters looked relieved and quickly nodded in agreement.
"When are you allowed out," Tracy asked.
Harry cringed at this knowing they'd not react well. "Two days."
"What happened," Blaise demanded knowing they did not keep you in the infirmary for days without it being serious.
"I'm fine..."
"Miss Potter, if you can say that after what happened perhaps you should have been sorted into Gryffindor," Snape returned from the doorway.
"Haronna Lily Potter," Daphne growled.
Harry cringed lightly knowing they weren't going to let it go and they were not going to take it well. "I may or may not have been crucio'd and I may or may not have hurt my shoulder."
Everyone gaped until Tracy lost her temper, "You said your FINE AND YOU WERE CRUCIO'D," Tracy shouted her voice getting louder as she went.
"I knew you would over react," Harry said.
"Over react, do you really think we are over reacting when you were hit with an unforgivable," Tracy demanded.
"I'm fine, I am only in here two days, I know who let in the troll now, so I know who to blame for both injuries and well…"
Malfoy decided to be nice and cut her off before she dug herself a whole she couldn't get out of. "Your digging Potter," Malfoy stated.
"I am aware but well, Tracy can be terrifying when she's pissed and I'm loopy on pain meds so my reasoning skills are rusty," Harry replied sulkily. "I'm fine Tracy I swear I am here for two days then I'm allowed to leave, heck I can probably even take my exams this time."
"You will not be getting out of it again," Snape returned.
Harry grinned at that, she didn't like exceptions being made and she was actually looking forward to escaping the infirmary and being allowed to do exams this time, she had been excused for the Christmas ones. "See Tracy, fine."
The other Slytherin through up her hands. "I give up. I really do. Your insane Haronna, your absolutely insane."
"But you still love me right," Haronna asked.
"Yes, always," Tracy said. "But your doing my head in. I'm too young to be this stressed. No more getting into life threatening situations."
"I promise I will do my absolute best," Harry said.