I did it! I've finally written another chapter for everyone! I just can't believe it's going on five years next month! Speechless. But its been such a great ride! Well here it is. As always, this chapter isn't baeta'd.
::PREVIOUSLY::
As Fred and George mounted their brooms and shouted about their products, they said one last line before flying away for good. They said; "Give her hell from us, Peeves."
And Peeves, who had never taken orders from a student before, swept his belled hat from his head and sprang to a salute as Fred and George sailed off into the sunset leaving behind a chorus of cheers from everyone, except Haley.
::END PREVIOUSLY::
The story of Fred and George's flight to freedom was retold so often over the next few days, that Haley figured it would become a Hogwarts legend. Of course every time the story was told, the versions would change. And every time Haley heard the story, she would become that much sadder. She missed Fred more than she thought possible. It really is true what they say; you don't know what you're missing until it's gone. Fred has been a part of Haley's life since she was eleven, and she missed her best friend terribly. She'll never forget that Fred and George were the first non-Muggles she's ever met, and thinking about them always brings her back to her first train ride, and she can't help but smile through her tears. "Is that string on your face?" Ahh the memories.
On the other hand, it looked like Fred and George were doing well for themselves. Nobody knows this, but it turns out the reward money from The Tri-Wizard Tournament that Harry won, gave it to Fred and George. And with that money as well as all the money they made selling their products, they were able to open up their own joke shop in Diagon Alley.
The last week of May brought with it the last game of Quidditch; Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. Without their star performers, Gryffindor was only still in the match because Slytherin lost to Hufflepuff.
Just as the match was about to start, someone was whispering to Harry, Haley and Hermione. Looking around, they spotted Hagrid's face sticking through the seats. Hagrid was bent double as if not to be seen, but that was hard to accomplish seeing as he trampled all the students just to get to them.
Hagrid wanted them to follow him as everyone was occupied with the game. The gang only followed because Hagrid's nose was dripping blood, and both his eyes were black.
The three of them were growing more and more concerned as Hagrid led them deep into the Forbidden Forest. As they stopped for a breather, Hagrid started to fill them in on what was going on. He explained that when he gets sacked he needs them to help him.
After agreeing to help, Hagrid led them further on. After another fifteen minutes of walking, Hagrid had them stop as he told them to be quiet.
Haley looked around but didn't see anything except a large, smooth mound of earth nearly as tall as Hagrid, which Haley realized, might hold an enormous animal.
"Sleeping," Hagrid mumbled.
Sure enough, Haley could hear a distant, rhythmic rumbling that sounded like a pair of enormous lungs at work. What is going on! Haley thought to Harry.
No idea, he thought back as they turned to Hermione, only to see her gaze transfixed on the mound with her mouth slightly open, looking utterly terrified.
What am I missing? Haley thought.
You really are daft, aren't you? Instead of Harry answering her, it was Malfoy's voice she heard in her head.
Get out! Haley cried out.
How many times do I have to tell you that it's not me? You really are dense. No wonder you're related to the Potters, Malfoy sneered.
"Hagrid, who is he?" Hermione asked. Haley found this an odd question.
"You told us none of them wanted to come back!" Hermione cried out.
Haley was still lost, but as she looked over towards Harry, she could see understanding dawn on him as he looked between Hermione and Hagrid. Haley was still confused as Malfoy chuckled in her head, so she turned back towards the mound. Upon further inspection, she saw the mound was slowly moving up and down in time with the deep, grunting breathing. It was not a mound at all. It was the curved back of what was clearly…
"No, he didn't want to come, but I had ter bring him, Hermione!" Hagrid cried out. "I knew if I jus' got him back an' taught him a few manners, I'd be able ter take him outside an' show ev'ryone he's harmless!"
What an oaf! Malfoy cracked up inside her head.
"Harmless!" Hermoine shrieked out shrilly, as if on the urge of panic. "He's been hurting you all this time, hasn't he? That's why you've got all these injuries!"
"He don' know his own strength! An' he's gettin' better, he's not fightin' as much anymore," Hagrid tried to explain.
"Why did you bring him back with you?" Harry asked quietly, still trying to understand.
"I couldn' leave him, he's my brother!" Hargrid finally admitted.
Oh, ho! This just keeps getting better! I always knew it was more entertaining in your head than mine would ever be!
Not now, Malfoy! Haley sent out distractedly as Hagrid finally dropped his bomb shell.
"Well half-brother. Turns out me mother took up with another giant when she left me dad, an' she went an' had Grawp here," Hagrid elaborated.
After Hagrid went on to explain how he got Grawp home, and how he has to tie him up for his own protection, Hermione finally asked what it is Hagrid wanted from them.
"Look after him after I'm gone," Hagrid said.
The three of them exchanged miserable glances, still trying to process everything they've just learned.
Haley swallowed past the lump in her throat. "What—does that involve, exactly?"
"Not food or anythin'! He can get his own food, no problem. Birds an' deer an' stuff… No, its company he needs. If I jus' knew someone was carryin' on tryin' ter help him a bit… teachin' him, yeh know," Hagrid replied anxiously, hoping they would still agree to help.
"You want us to teach him?" Harry asked in a hollow voice.
Good luck to that! Malfoy snorted in her head. He was like an annoying gnat who kept buzzing around her head. If only she knew how to turn off this connection, life would be less stressful.
"Yeah. Even if yeh jus' talk ter him a bit," Hagrid replied hopefully.
"Kind of makes you wish we had Norbert back, doesn't it" Harry feebly joked, causing Hermione and Haley to chuckle uneasily.
"We'll do what we can, Hagrid," Harry finally responded.
"I knew I could count on yeh, Harry," Hagrid said, beaming in a very water way and dabbing at his face with his handkerchief. "If yeh could jus' nip down here in yer Invisibility Cloak maybe once a week an' have a little chat with him… I'll wake him up then,"
"Hagrid, no!" Haley cried out, but it was too late. Hagrid was already poking Grawp with a long stick.
The giant gave a roar that echoed around the silent forest. Birds in the treetops overhead rose twittering from their perches and soared away. In front of Haley, meanwhile, the gigantic Grawp was rising from the ground, which shuddered as he placed an enormous hand upon it to push himself onto his knees and turned his head to see who and what had disturbed him.
You've really done it now, Hales, Malfoy said.
Haley's mouth dropped in fright as she, Harry, and Hermione retreated as far as they could while still keeping the giant within their sights. Grawp knelt between two trees he had not yet uprooted. They looked up into his startlingly huge face, which resembled a gray full moon swimming in the gloom of the clearing. It was as though the features had been hewn onto a great stone ball. The nose was stubby and shapeless, the mouth lopsided and full of misshapen yellow teeth the size of half-bricks. The small eyes were muddy greenish-brown and just now were half gummed together with sleep. Grawp raised dirty knuckles as bug as cricket balls to his eyes, rubbed vigorously, then, without warning, pushed himself to his feet with surprising speed and agility.
Oh, shiii- Malfoy echoed inside Haley's head.
The trees to which the other ends of the ropes around Grawp's wrists and ankles were attached creaked ominously. He was at least sixteen feet tall. Gazing blearily around, he reached out a hand the size of a breach umbrella, seized a bird's nest from the upper branches of a towering pine and turned it upside down with a roar of apparent displeasure that there was no bird in it—eggs fell like grenades toward the ground and Hagrid threw his arms over his head to protect himself.
Haley was shaking as she and Hermione clutched to Harry in fright, as a rarely silent Malfoy watched in in fascinated horror.
Grawp let out another low roar as he now seized the top of the pine tree and was pulling in toward him, evidently for the simple pleasure of seeing how far it would spring back when he let go. Haley watched in silent fascination as the earth around the tree's roots began to crack.
The giant let go of the top of the pine tree, which swayed menacingly and deluged Hagrid with a rain of needles, and looked down.
"This," Hagrid shouted up at Grawp as he pointed to the shaking trio. "Is Harry, Grawp! Harry Potter! He migh' be comin' ter visit yeh if I have ter go away, understand?"
The giant had only just realized the others were there. They watched, in great trepidation, as he lowered his huge boulder of a head so that he could peer blearily at them.
"An' this is Haley, see? Harry's twin. And this is Hermy—would yer mind if he called yer Hermy? On'y 'cause Hermione is hard ter remember..."
Hermione could only shake her head.
"GRAWPY, NO!" Hagrid cried out as Grawps hand had shot out of nowhere toward Haley, and picked her up.
Haley screamed as Grawp brought her up closer to her face, and sniffed her. Haley cringed as she pounded on Grawps hand hard enough for him to let out a roar and he let go of her and Haley fell—into Hagrid's arms.
Haley was breathing too heavy as she ran back into her brother's arms, trying to get her body back under control.
Hagrid finally realized it was time for them to go, and he led them away from Grawp.
Nobody spoke for a while. Hermione's face was still pale, and Harry couldn't think of a single thing to say. For Haley, Draco was still unusually quiet. So quiet in fact, she wasn't even sure if they were still connected. Maybe high levels of stress and panic break the connection. Great, now all I have to do when he's in my head is panic, and I'll get rid of him. Haley shook her head as they continued to forge on.
At last they came out of the woods just in time to hear the sounds of cheering and shouting.
"Is that another goal? Or is the match over?" Harry asked as they paused by the stadium to get their breaths back.
"I don't know," Hermione answered miserably. Haley could see that she looked much the worse for wear; her hair was full of bits of twig and leaves, her robes were ripped in several places and there were numerous scratches on her face and arms. As Harry went to comfort Hermione, Haley looked down at herself and saw she looked the same, as did Harry.
"It's over. There are people comin' out already. If you hurry yeh'll be able ter blend in with the crowd an' no one'll know you weren't there," Hagrid mentioned to them.
As the trio walked over to rejoin the crowd, Hermione lost her calm and went on ranting, while Harry tried to soothe her.
As the crowd swarmed around them, they saw a figure being hauled up above the shoulders through the crowd.
"No way!" Hermione cried out as the figure got closer.
"YES!" Harry shouted out loudly as Ron got closer to them.
Ron was waving the silver Quidditch Cup in the air and looking quite beside himself as he was on the shoulders of fellow Gryffindor's. "WE DID IT! WE WON!"
That night as well as the next day, Ron was riding on high. He was loving all of the attention he was receiving everywhere he went. All he could talk about was the game, and Haley, Harry and Hermione had to pretend they knew what he was talking about, while trying to figure out how to fill him in about Grawp.
Because it was such a nice day out, they finally got Ron on his own, and broke the news about Grawp. At first he was mad they missed all of his spectacular saves, as well as how Ginny snatched the Snitch right out from under Cho's nose, however his feelings quickly changed when he learned what his mates had been up to. His anger turned into incredibility as he was in disbelief about what Hagrid was now up to.
However the four of them didn't have much time to dwell over this, as O.W.L's were now upon them, and they were too busy to even breathe as they were studying so hard for their exams.
Most of Haley's exams went okay, until one night when she made it to the Astronomy Tower for her exam. Haley was confident in her star gazing, until she—like everyone else—became distracted by the disturbance at Hagrid's cabin. Turns out Umbridge, followed by five others, made their way to Hagrid's. there was a distant roar coming from the cabin that echoed through the darkness right to the top of the Astronomy Tower. Just about everyone peered over in that direction.
Suddenly there was a loud BANG as Hagrid's door burst open and by the light flooding out of the cabin they saw him quite clearly, a massive figure roaring and brandishing his fists, surrounded by six people, all of whom, judging by the tiny threads of light they were casting in his direction, seemed to be attempting to stun him.
"Hagrid!" Haley cried out in shock, as murmurs rose through the crowds.
Jets of red lights were still flying beside Hagrid's cabin, yet somehow they seemed to be bouncing off him. He was still upright and still, as far as Haley could see, fighting. Cries and yells echoed across the grounds; a man yelled, "Be reasonable, Hagrid!"
Hagrid responded by yelling, "Yeh won' take me like this, Dawlish!"
Haley could see the tiny outline of Fang, attempting to defend Hagrid, leaping at the wizards surrounding him until a Stunning Spell caught him and he fell to the ground. Hagrid gave a howl of fury, lifted the culprit bodily from the ground, and threw him: The man flew what looked like ten feet and did not get up again.
Suddenly the front doors of the school opened as everyone watched the figure now sprinting toward the battle besides Hagrid's cabin.
"How dare you!" the figure shouted as she ran.
"It's McGonagall!" Dean cried out.
"Leave him alone! On what grounds are you attacking him? He has done nothing, nothing to warrant such–"
McGonagall was cut off as four Stunners had shot from the figures around the cabin toward Professor McGonagall. All the girls screamed in shock as the red beams collided with her. For a moment she looked luminous, illuminated by an eerie red glow, then was lifted right off her feet, landed hard on her back, and moved no more.
"COWARDS!" Hagrid bellowed as he lost his cool. He took two massive swipes at his closest attackers; judging by their immediate collapse, they had been knocked cold. Haley watched in shock as Hagrid doubled over, and she thought for a moment that he had finally been overcome by a spell, but on the contrary, next moment Hagrid was standing again with what appeared to be a sack on his back—Haley realized it was Fang's limp body draped around his shoulders.
"GET HIM!" Umbridge screamed, but her remaining helper seemed highly reluctant to go within reach of Hagrid's fists. Indeed, he was backing away so fast he tripped over one of his unconscious colleagues and fell over. Hagrid had turned and begun to run with Fang still hung around his neck; Umbridge sent one last Stunning Spell after him but missed, and Hagrid, running full-out toward the distant gates, disappeared into the darkness.
"Um… five minutes to go everyone…"
Numbly Haley randomly filled in the last of her answers until the exam finally ended and she followed everyone back to the common room, which was filled with the rest of the students who had woken up and seen the battle take place.
It was nearly four in the morning before everyone finally went off to bed, though Haley was too worried about Hagrid and McGonagall to get much sleep. The only good news was her last exam was at two o'clock in the afternoon, and O.W.L's would finally be over.
XOXOXOXOXO
(A/N: Sorry to leave it here, but the next chapter is FINALLY the chapters I've pre-written (omg about a year ago already!) The next few chapters will be the conclusion of book five. I'm still serious about finding a co-author or someone to take over for me, if anyone's interested.
Shoutouts: Dramione2000, lovesaphira, majoraan, MoonMaiden27, Sapphire Serina Riddle, paigematthewsdan21, xXMizz Alec VolturiXx, Skylar97, as well as everyone else who's reading/following this story.)