It was early the next day that Haidee told Harry about the Room of Requirement. She sat with the Gryffindors at breakfast, sitting with Fred, George, Lee, Harry, Ron and Hermione, all of them bunched as Haidee brought the news so no others could hear.
"It's called the Room of Requirement. It's a room that changes to fit the desire of the seeker," Haidee explained as they all listened excitedly.
"That sounds too good to be true," Ron murmured with a mouth full of breakfast.
"It's Hogwarts," scoffed George. "We have a poltergeist that likes to wreak havoc and a Chamber of Secret hidden under the school that can only be reached by speaking Parseltongue to a sink in the girl's bathroom. I think a changing room fits the description."
"How did you find out about this room?" Hermione asked. "I presume not a lot of people know about it."
"No, hardly anyone knows about it. Dobby told me, last night, while I was in the kitchen. Did you get the sweets, by the way?" she asked.
"Yes, we did," Ron said happily and Haidee smiled.
"Perfect, where is it?"
"Dobby said it was on the seventh floor opposite the tapestry of Barnabas and Barmy being clubbed by trolls," she informed and everyone smiled. Everyone but Hermione.
"What?" Harry asked, quite annoyed at the look she was giving him.
"Well, it's just that Dobby's plans aren't always that safe," Hermione said.
"Do you have a better plan?" he asked.
"No, but-"
"I think it's worth a look. Thanks, Haidee," Harry said and she smiled in response, eating some egg from her plate happily.
"Did you see the new rules, though?" asked Lee with a scoff. Haidee, indeed, had seen the new rules set in place by High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, Professor Umbridge. It was posted on the Hufflepuff board in their common room.
BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS
All student organisations, societies, teams, groups and clubs are henceforth disbanded
An organisation, society, team, group or club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students
Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge)
No student organisation, society, team, group or club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor
Any students found to have formed, or to belong to, an organisation, society, team, group or club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled
The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-four
Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor
"That's not a coincidence," said Fred.
"We're still in if you're still gonna do it," George informed Harry, who nodded.
"Yeah," said Harry, "we're still doing it."
Fred, George, Lee and Haidee were asked to ensure some of the others who were coming to the class knew about the room and when to go. Eight o'clock, Harry said they would meet then, in the Room of Requirement. Haidee was one of the first to arrive, along with Cho. The room was spacious, lit with flickering torches similar to the ones that illuminated the dungeons eight floors bellow.
The walls were lined with wooden bookcases and instead of chairs, there were large cushions on the floor. There was a set of shelves on the far end of the room which carried lots of strange instruments Haidee had only ever read of in books, such as a Sneakoscope, Secrecy Sensors and a large, cracked Foe-Glass. It was brilliant.
Haidee walked up to the bookshelves with Hermione, both of them examining the books that she had never found in the library, and just as she waited for Fred and George to arrive, she sat on one of the cushions and read a past N.E.W.T. level book on advanced defences, some she was glad to see she already knew.
"It's bizarre," she heard Fred say, but she was so interested in the book, she hadn't looked up. "We once hid from Filch in here, remember, George? But it was just a broom cupboard then."
Harry began an awkward speech of welcome when he noticed Hermione's raised hand. Haidee had not gotten out of the seat as she continued to read.
"What?" Harry asked Hermione.
"I think we ought to elect a leader-"
"Harry's leader," said Cho at once, looking at Hermione as though she was mad.
"Yes, but, I think we ought to vote on it properly," Hermione said. "It makes it formal and gives him authority. So, everyone who thinks Harry ought to be our leader?"
Everybody raised their hand. Haidee had as she read the book.
"I also think we should have a name." Haidee did not care what the name was, but she rather enjoyed the sound of Ginny suggesting 'Dumbledore's Army.'
"Right, shall we get practising then? I was thinking, the first thing we should do is Expelliarmus, you know, the Disarming Charm."
It was quite an underwhelming start, as Haidee already knew how to do the Disarming Charm, but she was excited to practice. It was a simple spell, used to disable the opponent by removing their wand. Harry instructed everyone to pair up, and Haidee knew Fred would be with George, so she put the book away and looked around the room to see if there was anyone else who looked as lonely as her, and in need of a partner.
Soon, she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder and turned to see Luna Lovegood, a fourth-year Ravenclaw girl. "Do you want to be partners?" she asked kindly, her voice soft and melodic. Haidee smiled softly and nodded when she felt a tap on her arm.
"Next time, Haidee, we'll be partners," Fred ensured, looking at Luna oddly, sending Haidee a smile as she wandered off with Luna. She was a short girl, around the same height as Haidee, with blonde hair and soft features. She had remembered Harry had mentioned her a few times in conversations randomly, they seemed to be good friends. She had known her to be referenced as Looney Lovegood, an awful nickname, she thought, but Luna seemed to ignore it well.
"You must be Haidee," Luna said gently, her cheeks rosy and kind.
"Indeed, and you must be Luna," Haidee replied, causing Luna to smile.
"You know, I often enjoy your sweets whenever I get to have some. Harry had given me some a couple of times, so had Neville. I think you're really talented," she commented sweetly, holding out her wand. Her voice was so light, anything she said sounded like a song. Haidee enjoyed the sound of her voice, it was angelic in a weird sort of way.
"Thank you," Haidee replied, not knowing what else to say because, in fact, she knew hardly anything about Luna except that people thought she was looney. "You can go first."
Luna, who had her wand ready, nodded and flicked her wrist. "Expeliarmus!" she chirped, and Haidee felt her wand get pulled out of her hand. She smiled as she watched it fly across the room and land somewhere on the floor.
"Good job, Luna," Harry responded as he walked around the room, checking everyone's stance and their skill level.
"Thank you, Harry," she replied sweetly. Haidee watched as Luna walked over and picked up Haidee's wand for her, and handed it back to her, and she couldn't help but hope that one day they would be good friends. "Your turn."
"Expeliarmus," said Haidee, and just as Haidee's wand had, Luna's wand flew from her hand.
They continued to chat as they worked and Haidee had found that Luna had believed in the most peculiar things, such as Umgubular Slashkilters and Nargles. Haidee had never really heard of such creatures, but Luna insisted that they were real. Haidee was never one to say something wasn't real just because she had never seen it, so she comfortably listened to Luna as they dulled. Haidee was glad to practice magic so freely again, even if she was not learning anything new imparticular.
She looked around the room as she went to get her wand which was laying on the floor and saw Fred and George, who were standing several feet away from Smith, taking turns in pointing their wands at his back to disarm him whenever he went to practice.
"One of them is your boyfriend, aren't they?" Luna asked as she watched Haidee looking at the twins. Haidee smiled in response.
"Yes, the one of the left," she said, pointing to Fred as he disarmed Smith again.
"I suppose you will want to be his partner next session," Luna said but Haidee shrugged.
"It looks as if he's having an enjoyable time," Haidee laughed. "I'm sure he won't mind if I stay partnered with you."
"You want to stay partners with me?" she asked hopefully and Haidee nodded.
"Yeah, if that's okay?" Haidee smiled. It was obvious the two of them were quite inept at making new friends but together they seemed to work well. Haidee smiled at the odd laugh that Luna produced in her glee.
"Most people think I'm looney, so not many people ask if it's okay to be my partner," Luna explained and Haidee smiled sadly.
"Oh," said Haidee, "that's not very nice." Haidee was quite different from Luna in that respect. Luna was quite proud and loud about her differences and she never really minded that people thought her looney. Haidee, however, hid her differences behind a bed of hair for many years in hopes that no one would notice her, which worked.
The meeting ended and everyone snuck back to their house areas.
For the next few weeks, Haidee felt incredibly naughty, holding onto the fact she was a part of a secret society to learn Defense Against the Dark Art skills. It was like holding a cheeky secret above the authority's head and laughing.
Hermione had come up with a really clever way to discuss when the next DA meeting would be. She had made fake Galleon coins that were bewitched with the Protean Charm, which changed to read the day and time of the next meeting. It was very clever, no one but the other DA members would be able to understand it.
It was coming up to the first quidditch match of the season and Haidee was excited to watch Fred play again. He always seemed to have a lot of fun whenever he was there. It was also Ron's first game so she had wished him luck on her way down to the stadium, but he did not seem very enthusiastic.
She was sitting in the stands, it was Slytherin against Gryffindor and to say it was highly anticipated was an understatement. The match started and they all started to fly. The game was thrilling, unfortunately, Ron kept missing the Quaffle, letting Slytherin score.
She could see all the way from the stands Fred and George were holding back saying something as they played, striking the Bludger with all their frustrations at Ron for not saving a goal.
That was when Haidee had heard chanting coming from the Slytherin side of the stadium.
"Weasley cannot save a thing,
He cannot block a single ring,
That's why Slytherin's always sing,
Weasley is our King!"
It was a taunting song which made Haidee shiver to her bones. It was quite horrid to listen to, and she could see it affected Ron once he heard it. With every goal Ron failed to save, the Slytherin's got louder.
"Weasley is our King!"
Another scored goal for the Slytherin's.
"Weasley is our King!"
Another.
"He always lets the Quaffle in!
Weasley is our King!"
It was not long before Harry caught the Snitch, landing Gryffindor the win. Haidee sighed in relief, releasing the tension of suspense and anger built in her from watching the game and listening to the taunts as she made her way down to the field as she did after every Gryffindor match.
"We wanted to add another couple of verses," the voice of Malfoy said as she came running towards the Gryffindor team in celebration. "But we couldn't find rhymes for fat and ugly - we wanted to sing about his mother, see."
That was such a horrid thing to say about such a lovely, beautiful lady. It hurt Haidee's heart to hear and she realised how grateful she was to have been in the shadows most of her life, she would hate to feel this bitter and injustice regularly.
"We couldn't fit useless loser in either, for his father, you know," Malfoy continued just as Fred and George started to realise what he was talking about. Haidee was running towards the two of them, Fred was heading in her direction when he stopped and stiffened, looking at Malfoy.
"Leave it!" said Angelina at once, taking Fred by the arm. "Leave it, Fred, let him yell."
"Can't see how you stand the stink, but I suppose when you've been dragged up by Muggles, even the Weasley's hovel smells okay-"
Harry had taken hold of George, stopping him from seizing Malfoy. Haidee was running across the pitch as fast as could, no longer in celebration, but in panic, as she watched the pure hatred and fury increase of her boyfriends face.
"Or perhaps," jeered Malfoy, "you can remember what your mother's house stank smelt like, Potter, and the Weasley's pigsty reminds you of it-"
Harry had let go of George. Meanwhile, Alicia, Angelina and Katie took their efforts to stop Fred from charging at Malfoy like Harry and George were.
Haidee's attention turned from Fred once she saw he was restained and instead she wrapped her arms around George just in time; and tried to hold him back, her efforts were worse than useless, her feet making holes in the pitch as was dragged along by George's rage.
"George, please-"
"Haidee, get off-"
"You know he's just provoking you. Everybody loves your family-"
"Haidee, now!" He ripped his arm from her grasp causing her to stumble and trip to her knees, bracing her arms in front of her to prevent her head from colliding with the ground.
The girls were screaming, Malfoy was yelling. George was swearing as well as Fred, curing Malfoy from his restraints of the girls. They were beating Malfoy, and although rightly deserved, Haidee could also see Madam Hoock marching towards them.
In an instant, the two of them were removed from Malfoy. George was sporting a swollen lip when she rushed up to them, both of them being yelled at by Madam Hooch for attacking Malfoy. "Miss Deirdre, I dare say you are responsible enough to escort these two to their Head of House's office!" she said as the crowd jeered and cheered them. Haidee nodded, not saying a word.
George and Harry began to march off the pitch, both of them not waiting for Haidee who had to jog each second step to keep up with them. With such tension and hostility in the air, she was not sure if she wanted to keep up. They didn't say anything on the way to the castle and once they reached the Entrance Hall, the only thing they could hear was their own footsteps and their own panting. She was able to pull out her wand and heal George's lip and Harry's knuckles, too nervous to say anything as she observed the furious expressions on both of their faces.
They were about to reach Professor McGongallas office when she came marching along the corridor, just as furious, the sound of her heels clicking against the floor was one of the most intimidating things Haidee had ever experienced. She looked at the three of them with a scowl.
"Thank you, Miss Deirdre, that will be all." With that, she escorted the two boys into her office and Haidee was left to make the walk down to the pitch to find Fred.
It was later that day that Haidee found out that Fred, George and Harry were banned from playing Quidditch due to their actions. She rushed to Gryffindor common room from the kitchen after hearing the news from the house-elves with some cakes in her hand. When she got there, a Gryffindor that was passing by, let her in after seeing the cakes she had in her hands. The Gryffindor students were very accustomed to Haidee's visits now, as it usually meant that they were getting sweet treats. He took a small cake before letting her in.
"I just heard," Haidee said, placing down the cakes and rushing over to the twins, who were sunken into the couch as the slumped. She placed a gentle kiss on Fred's cheek as she sat beside him. "I'm really sorry."
"What's worse is that Malfoy only got lines. Montague was laughing about it at dinner," Ginny said miserably.
"And Banning Fred when he didn't even do anything!" said Alicia furiously, pummelling her knee with her fist.
"It's not my fault I didn't," said Fred, with a very ugly look on his face, "I would have pounded that little scumbag to a pulp if you three hadn't been holding me back."
"Yeah, sorry for making you trip," George apologised, and for a moment, Haidee didn't recognise he was speaking to her until she remembered falling on the pitch.
"Oh, George, it's hadn't even occurred to me," she smiled, reaching over Fred to place a hand on his knee kindly. "You are very strong."
"Stop flirting with my brother," Fred said softly, with a hint of a smile on his lips. The group laughed as Haidee recoiled back to Fred's side.
"What? You did tell me to get a girlfriend," George joked, sending a wink to Haidee.
"Yeah, your own. Not mine," said Fred, standing. "I'm off to bed." He placed a kiss on Haidee's forehead and started to sulk off to the bedroom. "You coming?"
At first, she thought he was talking to George, but he was by his side, chuckling as he ascended the stairs to their dormitory. Haidee laughed quietly and walked over to him and kissed him once more.
"I'll see you tomorrow," she said with a small smile.
Fred sighed before following his brother. "You're no fun," she heard him mutter as he disappeared behind the wall.