Hogwarts without Fred and George didn't seem real to Haidee. Many times she would finish her studying and think to find Fred and George; it had become a habit, one she now needed to break. Nor was she able to simply head into the kitchen when she pleased, or speak to the portraits that she was friendly with. It was as if she had reverted to her old self and the old way, before she knew Fred, except with fewer options. Now, her only option was studying.
All of her other friends were too busy for her company, she was sure of it. Harry, Ron and Hermione had their O.W.L.s to study for, and, well, Harry Potter being Harry Potter, she was sure he was busy with some kind of trouble. Sometimes she would pass Luna and Ginny in the halls and they would wave and she would wave back, but that was the end of the interaction.
Sometimes, when her brain and eyes hurt from studying, she would simply walk the halls as she used to without purpose, avoiding Peeves as best as she could, praying with every corner she turned that a random portrait might be awaiting her company.
She was glad, however, to hear how the story of Fred and George went around the school. People had not stopped talking about it for weeks on end, as if they were speaking of legends.
As school life became more miserable, she would hear people say, "Honestly, some days I feel like jumping on a broom and leaving this place." Haidee could not agree more with that person.
People had started doing little pranks to annoy Umbridge, nothing at all of the extravagance of Fred and George, however, annoying. One person put a Niffler in her office, causing it to tear everything upside-down in her office in hopes to find something shiny.
Haidee was seeing Skiving Snackboxes more and more often. It grew to a point Umbridge was incapacitated with students fainting, puking, with rising fevers and bleeding noses. Shrieking with rage and frustration, she attempted to find the source of the symptoms but when she asked the children, they would reply that she had a case of Umbridge-itis.
Slowly but surely, after Fred and Georges departure, the school was falling into chaos. She was sure they would be proud.
Sometimes as she studied in the library, she would become conscious of the heavy weight in her pocket. The jar of rose gold powder. She had not used it in a while, specifically since Dumbledore's departure. Was what she could do really that important if they could go this long without a vision? Was she as important as they made her out to be? Maybe, she wasn't, and Fred was right. She had been holding onto the jar, as Dumbledore had asked, but Dumbledore wasn't here anymore.
"Don't be stupid," she said to herself. "You must do as Professor Dumbledore has asked. If you can help, you will do so."
She watched the Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw Quidditch game even though Fred and George weren't there. It was the third Quidditch game she had ever watched without Fred but she thought she would watch in support of Ron, who was certain he was a horrid Quidditch player.
She was not sure why, but when she got to the stands, Hermione and Harry were not there. She felt a little disheartened at this, but sat and watched the game and quickly became astounded at the magnificent growth Ron had made between the games. He was flourishing, saving every score. The Slytherins, who were chanting the 'Weasley is of King' chant died off at his success, which only boosted his confidence, and after screaming with joy after Ginny caught the snitch, she excitedly went to the pitch to congratulate them as well as give them some Rejuvenation sweets. They were not freshly made, but they would work all the same.
"Ginny," Haidee smiled and she handed her a sweet, "you were brilliant! I never knew you could play that well."
"Thanks, Haidee. I used to sneak out after the boys had finished playing to practice at home," she announced and Haidee nodded.
"It paid off beautifully," said Haidee before moving on to congratulate Ron, who seemed very enthusiastic about himself.
From that day, Ron would continue to recount the story of the match and how he saved all those goals to whoever would listen, which was always Haidee, as she was finding his company soothing from her constant lonesome.
It was not long after that match that Haidee's N.E.W.T. exams arrived. She had been studying and preparing for them constantly, to the point where she would barely see the light of day. Every spare moment was surrendered to the library where she would bury herself in books and quills and study until her brain no longer comprehended the words she was writing. She would spend her classes practising practical magic and even managed to practice a bit of Defence Against the Dark Arts in abandoned classrooms during the day.
Her exams went for a period of over two weeks, very similar to how the fifth-years were doing their exams. Haidee was not sure if she even remembered speaking to anyone within those two weeks, except for the examiners, who were kind and calm and they enjoyed chatting to her a bit. They found her odd but sweet, in a charming sort of way.
She left every exam feeling accomplished. She had learnt over the years not to dwell on her exams as once they were done, they were done, however, with exams as pivotal as those, she could not help but dwell.
They were stressful beyond belief, but she managed to get them done and soon, after she had finished her last exam, she was left with absolutely nothing to do.
This was when her mind would wander to the powder. One night, she laid in her bed and stare at the almost filled jar. Questioning its power over her. How it was made. How it worked. Why it worked. She would stare and stare until the jar in her hand became meaningless just as a word repeated over and over no longer sounded like a word, but instead just a sound.
In the library, studying for the sake of passing time, her eyes involuntarily wondered to the jar she had placed on the desk. She was not sure why she had placed it on the desk instead of inside her pocket, but as she sat down, she pulled it out of her robe pocket and placed it down, just in view. Every time she dipped her quill, it caught her eye, and she wondered why she was compelled to take it out of her pocket. She wondered why she wasn't compelled to put it away.
She remembered being so terrified of the powder. Incapacitated with fear, and yet now, in the boredom that compelled her, she thought the pain would be a way to keep her occupied. Could it really be that harmful, for she was sure that if Dumbeldore was there, he would have asked her to do it multiple times.
It could only be beneficial, after all.
Swooping the jar into her hand, she packed her things had headed to the closest bathroom to do it in peace. Shutting herself in the bathroom stall and sitting nervously on the toilet, she looked at the jar in her hands. This was very spontaneous of her. She had never really been spontaneous before.
As the moment came to reality, and she was finally in the correct position to consume the powder, the fear that was hidden inside her revealed itself. She sat, terrified, her legs shaking as she held the powder in her hands, staring at it with repulsion and terror. She had an instant urge to drop it. Drop it on the floor and watch it crash to pieces or pour it down the toilet and flush it away.
She thought of what Dumbledore would say if she had done it. His disapproval, anger, even, at her blatant disobedience to a man she trusted. Or Lupin, his disappointment at her cowardice. With one cowardly action, she would compromise the advantage she had given the Order over Voldemort for selfish reasons.
She didn't know how she managed to convince herself, especially with Fred's voice in the back of her head egging her to flush the powder, but she tasted it once again, but this time, alone. As her body froze up, she began to wonder if that was wise.
Her vision went black. It was blank for a while before she saw something. It was a dark room, the only light was a hue of blue which was only illuminating enough for Haidee to see swooping clocks of blackness. They moved fast and threateningly until they took the formation of people, one she had seen before, Mr Malfoy.
Then, her vision cleaned back to darkness as if Mr Malfoy had never been there. Suddenly, a figure popped up from the blackness, a familiar figure to Haidee. He had shaggy long hair that reached his shoulder and a sunken face with bags under his eyes, but he was well dressed and looked rather healthy; well, all except his eyes, which were glazed over and frosty, staring back at Haidee. His mouth open ajar, his face pale.
His eyes stared at Haidee, blank and emotionless. His glazed eyes bore into her soul and she was unable to more, forced to watch what was in front of her. She braced herself, for she was expecting that at any second, this completely still and immobile vision of Sirius would jump, move, scream, anything, but as she stared for what felt like hours, he didn't move, not an inch, as if he were dead.
The thought scared Haidee to the bone, and just as she entered the trance, she escaped it. Her heart pounding and her palms sweaty, she didn't even bother to gather her things she had left on the floor of the bathroom, only shoving the jar back in her pocket, before she ran out of the bathroom in a desperate rush to find Harry.
She had no idea where to look for him. He could be in the middle of an exam, or in any classroom at Hogwarts but she though the Great Hall would be the best option to start, considering she can not get into the Gryffindor common room. As she ran, the stairs moved with her, creating a straight path to the Great Hall, but he was not there.
Frantically, she searched, ignoring the looks from students and calls from professors as she ran. Skidding around corners with her speed and sloppily falling over steps as she climbed, she had never moved so fast in her life. As she ran past a window that overlooked the forbidden forest, she saw people walking, spotting the recognisable Weasley hair colour. Maybe it was because she was so used to the colour, or maybe because her top running speed was not very fast at all, but she had time to recognise that both Ron and Ginny were there. She saw who was there. It was Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna.
Wildly, she ran off in their direction, hoping to get to them before they rushed off in whatever direction they were heading. Haidee ran outside, the wind pushing her hair in all directions, her small voice calling out to them which was getting lost in the wind. However, thankfully, the sight of frantic and mess Haidee, furiously running towards them with her hand outstretched was enough to catch their attention.
Ginny ran up to her, grabbing her hand and pulling her forward until she was with the group. Her lungs were airless, and all of the stared in anticipation for what she had to say. As she gasped for air, she looked Harry in his worried and impatient eyes.
"Sirius," was all she was able to pant before needing to gasp for more air. Harry's eyes looked around the group desperately, as if he already knew. She had only now noticed that Harry and Hermione were covered in blood as they stood at the foot of the forbidden forest. "Are you all right?"
Harry did not answer her but instead spoke about her vision. "I saw it too. Sirius and Voldemort," Harry said in a rush.
"I didn't see Voldemort," Haidee continued, still not completely recovered. "It was just him, his eyes glazed and blank, like . . . like . . . " she didn't have the guts to say it, nor the breath, but Harry knew what she meant which only made Harry panic more.
"Okay then," Harry said in a rush, walking over to the edge of the forest. "Ron and I will take these two and go ahead, and Hermione can stay behind and she'll attract more Thesterals." Haidee hadn't the slightest clue what he was saying until he mentioned the word Thesterals. She knew of said creatures, and yet she had been through some trauma in her life, she had not witnessed any death and they were, therefore, invisible to her.
"I'm not staying behind!" said Hermione furiously.
"There's no need," said Luna, smiling, "Look, here come more now . . . you two must really smell." The blood that Harry and Hermione were covered in was attracting them. Haidee had read about it when she was studying Care of Magical Creatures.
"All right," Harry said angrily, obviously frustrated at the lack of speed that was occurring. "Pick one and get on, then."
"Here," said Luna, taking Haidee's hand making her flinch. "I'll help you on." Haidee didn't really know what was happening or where they were going, but she could see Harry was in a desperate rush and she thought that it would be better to just comply than anger him more.
She followed Luna to what she thought was an empty space, but as Luna hoisted her upwards, she fell onto the back of a horselike creature. Her delicate hands brushed over the skin of the Thesterals, feeling how boney and skeletal they were. Nervous, she bucked her knees inwards to hold herself to the creature, as before she knew it, they were all taking off, upwards towards the sky.