Then, with an aura of melancholy shock between them, Fred, George and herself stopped listening, the Appararted into their own room. Everyone was stunned with silence for a moment as they comprehended what they had heard, sitting on their beds. Fred and George sat on one and Haidee sat opposite them, on the other. Haidee knew that there was that possibility for a while now, ever since she knew Harry and Voldemort's minds were somehow connected. She actually felt more ease knowing that Harry would be taking Occulmeny lessons.
"Give me the powder," Fred said firmly, yet not aggressively breaking the echoing silence. It was the first thing anyone had said since they entered the room, but she did not obey.
"Fred-"
"No," he said seriously, his hand outstretched for the powder, his tone now twisting with anger. "Did you not hear what they just said?"
"Yes, I did-"
"Good," he spat, "cause it sounds like you didn't. If we get rid of the powder, and Harry knows it's gone, Voldemort won't want you. Do you understand? Haidee, give me the powder."
"Haidee, I think Fred is right," said George.
"I already knew about Harry and You-Know-Who," she said quickly, her voice still soft. "But I'm of greater help with the powder-"
"You're in greater danger with the powder!" Fred boomed, standing from his seat. Instantly, Haidee rose too, but in fear.
"Dumbledore said-"
"I don't care what he said!"
"But Lupin-"
"Nor Lupin! Give it to me! Now!" He reached towards Haidee. He knew she always had it on her, but she moved out of the way before he could reach her, accidentally knocking over a trunk in the room causing a loud bang. She flinched, already on edge. She knew, after being with Fred for a long time, that after he grabbed onto her, she was practically helpless, so the best thing she could try and do was avoid his reach.
"Fred, please, this is bigger than me-"
"No, it's not!" bellowed Fred, reaching for her again, but she had moved. "Nothing is bigger than you, do you understand?!" He reached again, this time successfully. She had not moved fast enough and he had held onto her wrist, stopping her from moving. "Nothing is more important!"
He had her cornered, and she was frightened. George was about to stand to remove Haidee from Fred's grasp, but the door bounded open in a flash. Sirius was the first to enter, and the scene did not look very attractive.
Haidee was huddled in a corner, looking shaken, her wrist clasped helplessly in Fred's grasp, who looked red with anger. Instantly, he pushed Fred off of Haidee as she was pulled out of the room by a very distressed looking Mrs Weasley. Beside her, in the hallways, she saw Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione, all looking confused and somewhat frightened as shouting continued in the room between Fred, George and Sirius.
"I should speak to Fred-"
"Oh, no, sweety, you stay right here," said Mrs Weasley, holding into her firmly.
"No, he did nothing wrong," Haidee said desperately. "He's only frightened."
"Why don't you all take Haidee into your room?" said Mrs Weasley, who was preparing to enter the fight. "Go on, go!" she said, and all of them rushed downstairs and into Ron and Harry's room. Haidee had to be pulled by Hermione, as she was desperate to get back to Fred.
They sat in silence for a minute, listening to the screams. They were hard to make out completely from there, but they sounded violent. She would only make out a few words.
"Responsible for-"
"Get rid of it!"
"You don't grab-"
"Lupin doesn't-"
"Voldemort won't-"
No one asked her what had happened as she stared at the ceiling, and with a crack, she Disapparated from that room before they had the chance to stop her.
She appeared in between Fred and Sirius, who were both red in the face with screaming. She had her back to Fred, who once he realised it was her, wrapped his arm around her fiercely, pulling her into his chest as he continued to scream.
"Oh, Haidee! I told you not to come here!" Mrs Weasley screamed as she tried to pull her out of Fred grasp.
"Mum, let her go!" George shouted, making his mother release her.
"Sirius, please, stop," said Haidee before turning to Fred. "Please, this is enough now," she pleased over the shouting, tapping his chest as she spoke. "Fred! I'm right here, please, just stop shouting."
He had stopped moments after she asked, Sirius after that, and for the first time, it was silent. "Thank you," she muttered, releasing a breath.
Fred grabbed hold of her waist and the back of her neck, tilting her head so that she was looking directly into his eyes. His eyes were genuinely scared and his tone was one of pleading. "Haidee, they don't care about you-"
"Of course we do," shouted Sirius, taking Haidee from Fred's loose grip and pulling her behind him. "She protected at Hog-"
"You're protecting her cause she's valuable, not because you care!"
"Tell that to Remus-"
"If Lupin actually cared, he would do what I'm saying. All of you would!"
"Stop, please!" Haidee cried from behind Sirius. "I don't want you to fight. My position hasn't changed. I-I am still helping."
"But Haidee-"
"I-I wish I had n-never made that powder. I w-wish I had never done it. But I did, Fred, and it is here and whether either of us likes it or not, it is not something we can simply dispose of," she said to Fred. "And since it is here, it might as well be useful."
There was a moment of silence as the words lingered in the air until Mrs Weasley waddled over to her and gently pat her on the shoulder, guiding her towards the door. "Come on, dear," said Mrs Weasley. "We should go."
She went with Mrs Weasley, who looked just as shaken as Haidee and led her to the kitchen. Haidee went compliantly as the screaming had stopped and soon after Haidee and Mrs Weasley had entered the kitchen, Sirius had also. There, was also Mr Weasley, who looked very confused over the matter.
"Give me your hand, dear," said Mrs Weasley kindly. Haidee didn't know what she was talking about but showed her her left hand. "No, the other one."
Confused, Haidee retreated her left hand and extended her right, and she suddenly became very aware of what she was speaking about. Her wrist was red and bruised, only slightly, however noticeable and Haidee stared at it for a moment before speaking.
"He didn't mean that," she said quietly as Mrs Weasley flicked through a book called The Healer's Helpmate. She hadn't even noticed it until now.
"I wish that mattered, dear," said Mrs Weasley kindly, as she continued to flicker through.
"Fred did that?" Mr Weasley asked.
"Not on purpose," Haidee replied instantly, looking more frightened now than she had been standing between Sirius and Fred shouting. Mrs Weasley found the page she was looking for and with a simple flick, the bruise was gone.
Instantly, she stood up. "Thank you," she said quietly before quickly heading out of the kitchen and towards her room, where Fred and George both sat. Fred had his head in his hands, but he looked up quickly at the sound of someone entering the room.
When he saw her, he moved instantly to hold her and she moved towards him too. She always felt safe in Fred's hold. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, falling back onto the bed so that she was sitting in his arms.
"Your mum thinks I should sleep in Hermione and Ginny's room tonight," she whispered into Fred's chest. He looked down at her for a moment.
"Forget Mum," said George, listening from his bed. "What do you want?"
She didn't need to think of an answer. "I want to stay here," she said quickly, making George smile.
"There you go," he said before turning over in his bed. "Now, go to sleep."
Fred laid down, bringing her with him and she rested in his arms, her head pressed to his chest as they faced each other. It was silent for a while as they all waited for sleep until the soft snores of George alerted the two others, who were very much awake, that he was asleep.
There was silence for a moment longer. "I didn't mean to hurt you," Fred whispered into the darkness, not sure if she would respond.
"I know," she replied softly.
"I'm sorry." There was another pause.
"I know."
"I love you," he reminded, looking down at his chest to see her as she looked up.
"I know." He could see her lips had curved into a small smile. "And I love you." She crept up to place a gentle kiss on his lips. It felt natural. It felt safe. She knew he hadn't meant it, genuinely hadn't meant it, and to her, that's all she needed to know.
Fred, however, who was usually content with how effortlessly Haidee would forgive him, thought differently. He knew he had never meant to hurt her, but that hadn't changed the fact that he had. And the way she looked at him, frightened and scared, horrified him. And how he was removed from her, disgusted him.
"You forgive too easily," he replied. It was the first time he had complained about it, as it usually benefited him, but he began to notice how it harmed her.
"You may be right," she said after a moment of thought, "but not in this case."
They laid in bliss for a moment. Fred wanted to question what she meant, but for the first time in a very long time, he decided to keep the silence, scared of the answer that was before him.
What he didn't know was that if he had asked, she would have told him what he wanted to hear - which, to her, was the truth. That this incident did not define their relationship and she did not forgive him out of fear or obligation, but because she understood his side of the argument. Her empathy ranged from the depths of the oceans to the everlasting expansion of space for this man and she knew, with no hesitation at all, that Fred only ever had the greatest intentions for her. Therefore, she concluded that this incident was not malicious, not vicious but rather a misunderstanding. He did not understand. Understand her obligation to the war, to the friends and family she had made over the years that she was so desperate not to lose. He didn't understand her fragility, nor his strength. He just didn't understand as she did.
So, she forgave him, as she had forgiven him many times before.
There was a moment of silence as her words lingered. Was she correct? Or was she making excuses for her own incapability to commend him? Either way, she was convinced of her reasoning as she placed a kiss on Fred's lips once more. "However, in a wizard duel, I think you'd be fighting the losing battle."
Fred chuckled softly, as George continued to snore. He didn't respond as she rested her head back into his chest. Silence filled the room and soon, after finally feeling content, Fred fell asleep. Haidee, feeling completely safe and secure in his arms, followed after.
It was past midnight when Mrs Weasley went to check on Haidee in Hermione and Ginny's room, but when she saw she was not there, quickly hobbled to Fred and George's room.
She crept the door open, as to let as little light in as possible, and looked at Fred's bed. Undoubtedly, she saw her there, wrapped in Fred's arms, sleeping peacefully. She thought no different of her son. It was hard to see, no doubt, but just as Haidee had said, she knew he hadn't meant it. They were both still young, very young, and she knew mistakes were made in youthful relationships.
Haidee looked at peace in his hold. Mrs Weasley was glad to see it. Sirius had walked up behind her and looked at the two of them in bed and sighed.
"Maybe Fred was right," said Mrs Weasley. "Maybe the powder is more harm than good. If we get rid of it now-"
"You heard Dumbledore," said Sirius quietly. "She may be the difference between winning and losing this war." There was a silence as they looked back at Haidee, so innocent and young. "I don't think it's fair. Neither is it fair to Harry. Neither is it fair to me, stuck in this house. Nor is it fair to Arthur, getting attacked. We're all making sacrifices, Molly, even if they are unjust."
Things turned back to normal when they returned back to school. For a small while, there had been no DA meetings, leaving Haidee to focus heavily on her studies. Homework was piling, she would work in the library as Fred and George worked beside her on their new joke shop merchandise. They had invented something they liked to call Headless Hats. Clever inventions, she admired how smart they were, as once the hat was placed on one's head, their head goes invisible.
Harry had started his lessons with Snape. Fred and George suddenly became very interested in how well he was doing, to see if he was able to block out his mind. It turned out that Harry was not doing very well, but he had only had a couple of lessons and Haidee was not too focused on it. She repeated the words of Dumbledore, "You are safe at Hogwarts."
It was not long after they arrived back at Hogwarts that news of the mass outbreak at Azkaban spread. Haidee remembered when she saw that very vision and was surprised to see it in the news.
Why hadn't the Order tried to stop it? Wasn't that the whole point of her doing what she was doing? To help prevent these type of advantages towards Voldemort? When she saw the headline, she read the article, astounded. She wished to rush to Dumbledore and ask him the questions that boggled in her mind, but she felt it may have not been her place.
Umbridge continued to expand her authority over Hogwarts, implementing new rules.
BY THE ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS
Teachers are hereby banned from giving students any information that is not strictly related to the subject they are paid to teach.
Haidee was not sure, but the rule may have been inforced over the spreading news of the mass outbreak from Azkaban. Umbridge was making it very clear that she was certain that Voldemort had not returned, even to go as far as to ban others from speaking of it.
The DA meetings had returned, which Haidee enjoyed very much. She was learning new things and developing her skills quickly. Fred put her to the test, holding her to her word by challenging her to a wizarding duel. Everyone in the lesson stopped to watch as they circled each other, both grinning excitedly.
Fred was first to make a move, as always, and she had expected it. His Jelly-Legs Curse rebounded off of her Shield Charm, and she grinned at her quick reflexes. However, she did not play the offensive for long, sensing his moment of weakness as she dodged her rebounding spell, and she chanted, "Expelliarmus," causing his wand to fly from his grasp and land in her own.
The duel was rather quick. He was wandless in the spare of the moment. With a victorious grin, she wandered over to him and placed a single kiss on his cheek while she handed back his wand.