February came around and the next Hogsmeade trip was falling on Valentines Day. Fred, like the gentleman he is, pretended to fire a spell at Haidee when she was defenceless, causing her to shriek and shield herself with her hands, only for the wand to turn into a bouquet of flowers which he offered her while asking her to be his Valentine's date.
She laughed and accepted, the two of them spending their time in Hogsmeade shopping around Zonko's, sitting in Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop as it was a discreet place to make out due to the large amount of Valentine's day dates being held there and then heading to the Three Broomsticks for some Butterbeers.
She enjoyed the date very much, and not long after that day, an article in The Quibbler was released on Harry's point of view and the real truth about Voldemort. The news spread around the school like wildfire, and soon, somehow, every student had read the article.
BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS
Any student found in possession of the magazine The Quibbler will be expelled.
Umbridge's control over the school was becoming impenetrable and immobilising. She did everything in her power to strip others of their humanity, punishing others for pathetic and dominating reasons and degrading the students and staff with her growing authority.
In her attempt to push her authority further, she had managed to fire Professor Trelawney, humiliating her in front of many students as she blubbered and cried over her forced departure. Umbridge was quite willing to simply remove her from the Hogwarts campus, however, when Dumbledore approached, and with what little authority he had left, summoned that she stayed.
They were all back in the Room of Requirement. Professor Umbridge had now required more help into discovering who and what was behind this mysterious appearing and disappearing door at Hogwarts. Malfoy and a few of his friends were recruited for the Inquisitorial Squad, and they spent most of their free time trying to catch one of the students in the act. It was often that Haidee would spot Malfoy stalking her as she walked, considering she was a slow and leisurely walker, she was an easy target, and knowing she was a close friend of Harry's didn't help.
She could feel his presence behind her as she walked, where usually he would quickly overtake her throwing a snide comment over his shoulder. His action had become very suspicious and she had to find secret ways to get rid of him so that she could entre the Room of Requirement without being seen. This is where she required the help of Fred, who had plenty of stink bombs in storage as he was no longer able to pull any pranks, on the order of High Inquisitor of Hogwarts.
They had a plan, that when she walked along the connecting hallway to the Room of Requirement, when she almost reached the end, she would jog to exit the hallway, leave Malfoy alone. Then, quickly, Fred, who would be hiding and waiting for Haidee to clear, would through a stinkbomb in his direction, leaving him in a cloud of odour. This gave Haidee and Fred enough time to enter the Room of Requirement without being seen.
She was quite excited about the upcoming lesson as it was the Patronus lesson, and she was quite eager to see her Little Owl again. It had been a while since she had produced the Patronus Charm for she had little time and little reason to.
Harry knew Haidee had successfully accomplished this charm, in fact, she had managed to do it before he had, so she didn't mind as she sat on the cushion for a while, watching others struggle to produce a Patronus. She liked watching Harry teach. He seemed in his element, as well as very proud of everyone as they developed. He was very patient and the happiest she had seen him in a while, which made her content.
"Haidee!" shouted Fred from across the DA room, "Can you help me?" he asked, making her smiled and wander over to him. She stood beside him as he practised, watching a silver mist escape the tip of his wand, but nothing formed.
"It's an extremely hard charm," she said softly. "So don't doubt yourself. Think of something that makes you very happy. The happiest you've ever felt."
"Yeah, I'm trying," he said stubbornly and she watched, by his side, as he continued to practice.
No one was able to produce a Patronus in the first lesson. Neither Harry nor Haidee were surprised at this, as it was extremely difficult to do. In the next lesson, however, people began to get more frustrated when they were not able to complete the charm successfully. Shouts of frustrations could be heard, wands being thrown in annoyance and Harry didn't know how to help.
"Can you demonstrate with me in front of the class?" Harry asked Haidee, in hopes that demonstrating the charm and revealing what memories they used would be helpful to the others.
"Me?" she asked softly. "In front of the class?"
"Yes, come on," he said, leading her to the top of the classroom as he gathered everyone's attention. "Uh . . . everyone, just a moment. I think we should demonstrate out Patronus charms and maybe share our happiest memory to help you, as it seems to be quite difficult," he announced. She had seen that some of the others had become disheartened at this.
"It took me much longer than this to successfully produce a Patronus," Haidee said softly.
"Wait," said Cho, "she knows how to do it?"
"Yeah, she learnt before me," said Harry. "Long story, shall I go first?" he asked Haidee and she nodded, eagerly stepping aside for Harry to produce his Patronus.
"Expecto Patronum!" Harry chanted, and from the tip of his want, burst silver mist which formed into a large Stag. It galavanted around the room and everyone awed at how pretty it was. "I think about my parents," he said quietly, but not many people were listening, to which he was grateful.
He moved out of the way as his Patronus faded, leaving the front of the classroom for Haidee. Without saying anything in warning, she released her Patronus.
"Expecto Patronum," she said with a sense of power, and from her wand, everyone watched as a Little Owl began to float around the room.
Cho and Lavander awed at it, reaching up to touch it as it flew past. From the back, Fred and George burst out into applause, making her smile softly as her eye followed the silver mist.
"Uh . . . " she said as her Little Owl Patronus faded and everyone had turned their attention back to her. "I think about my time with Fred," she said quietly. "Nothing imparticular. They're all happy."
"What we really need is a Boggart, that's how I learnt," Harry said, turning to Haidee. "What did you do?"
"Oh, I learnt just like this. But . . . one thing I think is pivotal when learning this charm is confidence. Think of a memory and be proud of it. Say the spell with determination. That's what Professor Lupin told me."
Everybody tried again, and it was not long until Hermione was able to produce a corporeal Patronus, and Haidee watched as a shining silver otter gambolled around her.
That was when Dobby the house-elf appeared, causing the members of the DA to fall silent. He wandered to Harry, who looked down at him, shocked. They spoke for a minute, Haidee was not able to hear what he was saying, before Harry bellowed, "Run!"
Fred held onto Haidee as everyone flew to the exit at once. It was only ten to nine, if they were caught out in the corridors they would not be out past curfew, but they had to get away from the Room of Requirement as soon as possible.
Haidee had a long way down to the Hufflepuff basement, and she was not the quickest of people. She thought her best option would be to find find a classroom nearby and hide, so she kissed Fred goodbye and headed in a random direction. If there was one skill she had learnt throughout her time at Hogwarts, it was sneaking. Once she heard footsteps fade, she headed back to the Hufflepuff common room.
BY ORDER OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC
Dolores Jane Umbridge (High Inquisitor) has replaced Albus Dumbledore as Head of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
She saw it the next day. It was the most horrid new Haidee had ever heard. She had taken complete control over the school, leaving bigots and bullies in charge. Hogwarts was no longer a place Haidee found safe, not without Dumbledore, not with her in charge.
Umbridge's piercing smile and over-confidence scared Haidee, cause she was too blind to see the truth that lied beyond Hogwarts. Voldemort was back and he was getting stronger, but she was using her authority to hide the truth with every chance she found.
She was stripping Hogwarts of its comfort. Portraits were taken from the walls, torture had been offered a suitable punishment for students and her rules and regulations became stronger and stronger until the halls of Hogwarts were bare of life. The hallways used to be a place Haidee always had a friend. Portraits were always welcome to a chat with Haidee, but now they were lonesome and cold and for some reason, she felt as if she deserved it.
It seemed her help to the Order was not as useful as she once thought she could be. She had visions of pink, overpowering and blinding, but they had not managed to stop Umbridge's control over the school. Even Haidee's less abstract vision of the outbreak in Azkaban had not been prevented and she wondered why she kept serving the Order when it seemed that she was no help at all.
Without Dumbledore's Army, Haidee was finding little joy at Hogwarts. She had found it harder than ever to spend time in the kitchen, especially now since the house-elves were under the authority of Umbridge, they would need to inform her if anyone entered the kitchen unauthorised and without Dumbledore, her past curfew deal had come to a halt once more.
She spent most of her time, head down, studying, trying to keep herself out of the eye of Malfoy, who seemed to relish in the power the Inquisitorial Squad had given him. He was taking points from everyone he could find; power-hungry, Haidee supposed.
Haidee thought that staying in the library and studying would be a way to avoid such abuse, but Warrington found her and took ten points from Hufflepuff for dating a blood traitor such as Fred Weasley.
She would really rather be any place other than Hogwarts.
Packing up her things, she went to find Fred and George, who she had found as she made her way to the Entrance Hall and they were heading in the direction of the library.
"There she is," said George, pointing to Haidee, who was walking in their direction. "I'll leave you two to it, then." She had no idea what he was talking about and watched as Fred approached her and kissed her forehead.
"What did he mean?" she asked Fred, the two of them alone in the hallway. It was eerily quiet and bare. No one was around as they stood in the shadows. "Sounds ominous," she grinned, making a small joke causing Fred to smile.
"It's not," he laughed, kissing her reassuringly. "I just wanna ask you something."
"Sure, anything," she replied.
"Well, George and I wanna open Weasley's Wizard Wheezes early," said Fred. "Don't worry, we have everything sorted. The Skiving Snackboxe's are finished, we have a location in Diagon Alley and with how the schools going, both George and I banned from Quidditch and that witch running the place, we don't really see any reason to stay much longer."
Fred watched Haidee for her reaction and was quite surprised when her lips curved into a smile. "Fred, that sounds brilliant! When did you do all this?"
"Well, George and I aren't exactly studying for our N.E.W.T.s like you, now, are we?" he laughed. "Thought we might use our time wisely."
"Well, I think it's a grand idea. You know I support you," said Haidee and Fred smiled.
"Of course I know," he laughed, thinking of all the times Haidee had helped them with their pranks. "I just wanted to ask because it means I'm leaving you at school," he looked at her for a second as a smile crept on his lips. "Unless you wanna come with me?" he asked hopefully. She smiled at him and he looked at her, wiggling his eyebrows at the pleasurable idea.
"I will be fine by myself, Fred," she smiled softly, giving his hand a squeeze. "There's only half a year left. I'll finish the school year and then-"
"Then you'll work with George and me as we have been," he said quickly and she smiled. She had been thinking about what her life would be like outside of Hogwarts ever since she met that werewolf in Mr Weasley's hospital ward.
Ever since she was young, she always thought that after Hogwarts she would a Herbalist or maybe own a sweet shop with all of her inventions. But as every young child does, Haidee changed her path when she agreed to help Fred and George with their pranks, and since then, she had planned to work with them, maybe even have her own section in their store filled with her own sweets. For many years, Haidee and Fred thought that would be what happened after life at Hogwarts.
However, after speaking to that werewolf, after hearing that the medical industry was having difficulty in the production of the Wolfsbane-sweets she saw that she had a set of skills that could be useful to others, not just for fun sweets.
But the thought of working with Fred delighted her beyond reason. Having her own section of sweets to develop and sell had always been a dream of hers. It would be grand, sweets stuck to every wall with unique powers and antidotes that would be every child's dream. She imagined people awing at the collections of sweets she made. People coming from all across the country, the world, to try her special items, only ever sold at the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.
"I don't know," she said through thin lips. Although she wished it with all her might, she saw another calling, one that was more useful.
"What do you mean, 'I don't know'," Fred said stubbornly. "That's the plan. That's always been the plan."
"I know, Fred, but . . . I've recently realised that I have a set of skill that could be useful to others-"
"Is this about the powder?" he asked angrily, but she shook her head furiously.
"No, no," she said quickly, knowing it was a touchy subject for Fred. "No, I- I mean my potion skills. My k-knowledge in herbology and my i-instinct for p-potion-making," she stuttered. "I can help others if I'm able to become a Healer-"
"This is the first I've ever heard of this," he said quickly, looking almost offended.
"It's recent," she admitted. "Ever since I spoke to that man in your father's hospital ward-"
"The werewolf?"
"Yes, the werewolf," she sighed.
"What did he say?" Fred asked instantly.
"Nothing," she replied quietly. "He said nothing of the sort to convince me, he doesn't know me. But . . . it just made me realise that- that maybe I have a set of skills other find difficult. Shouldn't I use it to help others i-if I can?"
Fred was silent for a moment. "Is that what you want to do?" he asked. Normally, Haidee didn't have to think of an answer and she felt horrid that she had. Was it really what she wanted to do?
"I mean-"
"No," said Fred quickly. "It's not, isn't it? It's not what you want to do."
"Fred-"
"No, stop, just listen to me. You have to stop this because it's going to make you miserable. Helping the Order when you know it's dangerous; when you know it hurts you. Changing career path cause you might be able to help others," Fred sighed. "It's not what you want. I know it's not what you want. What do you want?"
Haidee knew the answer, but it was so selfish she didn't dare say it. Fred waited for the answer, but she stayed silent as he stared into her eyes.
"Wouldn't it be fun to work with me? You'd be by my side twenty-four hours a day," he whispered to her, lightening the mood slightly. Her struck expression melted slowly into one of sheepishness.
"Oh, how delightful," she said quietly in a cheekily sarcastic tone; but the thought of it was marvellous. The thought of spending the rest of her life with Fred was breathtaking. There was nothing that she would wish for more. "Besides, it wouldn't really be Weasley's Wizard Wheezes if I joined, now would it?" she laughed.
Fred grabbed her hand and the two of them started to walk out of the Entrance Hall. She looked up at him and saw the cheeky smile on his lips. He felt him looking at her and he matched her gaze, their eyes meeting. Fred quickly slid a strand of her hair behind her ear and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. "That's not true," he stated, looking away from her and continuing to walk hand in hand. "I mean, we're not going to be dating forever."