Christmas was nearing. It was hard to believe how time flew so quickly as she worked/ lived with Fred and George. There was always something happening, whether it be store-related or not. There was hardly ever a quiet moment with them.
Haidee spent her times either working the store or making sweets. She had finished making very many one-month batches of Wolfsbane-sweets and sent them to Lupin, who was not there to receive them as he was last time, presumably working underground as he had previously told her. So, she left them in a large, present-like box at the front of his door, hidden by magic, but she was sure that once he returned home he would see it.
She had finally finished, to its entirety, completing her kitchen. It was now overwhelmed with the number of things she had managed to hoard in there. The shelves were warped with a number of jars she had managed to clench in there, as well a trinket and equipment she needed were huddled in cupboards and the corner of counters.
Where her cauldron stood turned into a very colourful and lively place, with shelves above the cauldron holding a variety of potion ingredients of all colours, along with the abundance of green plants she had hanging around the room. Next to her cauldron, she had a brown cabinet filled with dead and alive magical bugs and creatures she would need for potion making, as it had come to some of her older customer's attention that she was quite the skilled potion-brewer, and would often request a potion every now and then, paying a little extra for it.
Due to this she also had a shelf in her kitchen filled with books, mostly, her old potion textbooks. She would look through them when needed, adding more notes and annotations as she skimmed through it since her skill had improved and she had new annotations to make.
She quite enjoyed what her life had become, even with the impending war against Voldemort nearing. Diagon Alley - although gloomier than usual seeing that Florean Fortescue's had disappeared from his ice cream shop, supposedly the work of Death Eaters, as well as Garrick Ollivander, who was now also missing, leaving his wand shop unattended - was a place George and Haidee would sometimes find themselves strolling down peacefully, chatting and shopping. Fred would not usually join their strolls, she was not sure why, but most of the time it was just George and herself. Sometimes George would find Haidee in a daring enough mood to stroll down Knockturn Alley. The twins were very excited to explore that area, especially since they were never allowed to when they were younger, giving them all the more motivation to enter it now that they could.
Haidee and George were on their way back from one of their walks. Haidee had bought some lovely new books for her to put on a shelf in Fred and her's bedroom, as it was currently bare of books. George carried the heavy box for her as they walked up the stairs to their apartment for her, looking quite smug as he did so as she wasn't able to carry them up the stairs herself, especially with her trembling hands.
"You know, I could have just levitated them up?" she hummed from behind George.
"Now, what type of man would I be if I let you do that?" he asked teasingly, looking over his shoulder to meet her gaze.
"A compliant one," she replied in a whisper, which he happened to hear.
"Since when have I ever been compliant?" he jeered as they reached the top of the stairs. "Where would you like them?"
"In my room, please," she said as she led him towards the room so she would be able to open the door for him. "Thank you."
George looked to her with patronisingly raised eyebrows and she shook her head with laughter at his expression. "You are very welcome."
She opened the door for him. "You can just place them- oh my!" she gasped, her hands instantly flying over her mouth in shock. George had dropped the box of books in his state of bewilderment before he burst into a fit of laughter.
"Okay, that's enough," said Fred, who was sitting on the bed once they had entered the room, but stood in his appal at the sound of the door opening. There before the both of them, Haidee's laughs muffled in her hands while George had no problem roaring with laughter loud enough for the entirety of Diagon Alley to hear, stood Fred, fully dressed in black lace lingerie, complete with a sheer bra and thigh garter.
"Oh, this is brilliant," roared George, now doubled-over and holding his stomach in the pain of his howling, crying even harder at the slightly amused expression on Fred's face.
"F-Fred, what are . . . " She really didn't know what to say, not that she was able to get much out between her giggles.
"I think I look quite good, don't you think?" he asked, flaunting himself to the two of them.
"Stunning," Haidee replied as George shielded his eyes.
"Where is the camera when you need it?" George rushed out of the room to find the camera, causing Fred to quickly close the door and lock it behind him.
"I need your help," Fred said quickly, hoping to fix this situation before his brother returned with a camera and he was sure that if he managed to snap a picture, it would be the talk of the coming Christmas dinner. "I can't get them off."
"Of course you can't," replied Haidee with a cheeky grin. "They're bewitched so that only your significant other can remove them."
"Oh," said Fred, becoming less aware of the situation he was in as he imagined being the only one able to remove the lingerie from Haidee, slowly peeling it from her skin. "Spicy. So you can remove them, then?"
"Of course," she replied, moving toward him. "Lift your arms, please." He did as he was told and Haidee began to strip him from his clothing. As she was doing so, a bang on the door brought their attention. George, who had obviously found the camera, had tried to open the door and in his excitement, ran into it.
"No!" cried George, who was not able to open the door with the Unlocking Charm. "Are you seriously going to deprive me of this?"
"Piss off, George. I'm already changed," lied Fred loudly, as Haidee continued to undress him.
"This was meant to be a surprise, you know?" said Haidee as she undressed the last of him. "And it was hidden securely."
"Obviously not, because I found it," he smirked, standing there naked before her as comfortably as if he had clothes on.
"You were looking for it again, weren't you?" she asked, looking up at him with accusing eyes.
"Of course not," he replied.
"Hm," she hummed, not in agreement but not necessarily in denial, either, as she began to place the new books she bought on to the shelf.
"Since I'm already naked . . . " Fred said suggestively, causing Haidee to laugh, looking over her shoulder at her naked boyfriend who had a cheeky grin on his lips.
"How convenient for you," she chuckled, continuing to put her books away.
"You could be naked too if you just stand still for me," he replied, walking over to her and raking his hands up and down her body as she continued to move back and forth between the box of books and the bookshelf.
"Believe it or not," she replied, turning to him as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her to his naked chest, "I have things to do and a potion to make." She pecked his chest.
"Boring," Fred scoffed, letting her go and returning to put on his clothes. She laughed and unlocked the door, making Fred rush to put on his clothes faster. He watched her as she continued to stack books, rearranging things on the shelf before standing back and admiring what she had done to complete the aesthetic.
"Three . . . " Fred said, looking away from Haidee as he finished putting his shirt on, moving toward putting on his first shoe.
"Pardon?" Haidee looked over to her boyfriend, who was tying his shoelace. She had heard what he had said, but she did not know what it meant and coming from Fred, she knew it could mean anything, so she watched him carefully.
"Two . . ."
She was starting to get a bit apprehensive, although his actions were unthreatening as he placed his last show on his other foot and began to tie its laces.
"Fred?"
"One."
At a moment's notice, Fred's head shot up to Haidee with a wicked grin, frightening Haidee. He lunged towards her and she cried out, leaping for the door as his hands outstretched towards her.
She had been with Fred long enough to know that surprise tickle fights were often, and if she was not lucky enough to escape his first lunge, she would be in his mercy for a long time.
Feeling his fingertips dig into her side to tickle her, she felt only slight remorse as she swung the door open, knocking him in his side.
"Sorry!" she called over her shoulder, grinning as she ran for safety, which now that they lived together, was harder to find. Usually, it was George, which was a considerably risky option as the outcome depended on his mood. Considering his attitude of 'non-compliance', she decided to go with her next best option, which was to circle around the couch until one of them pulled out their wand.
"Not the couch!" shouted Fred sarcastically as she created distance between her and Fred by standing behind the couch, swallowing nervously as Fred rounded the corner. Ordinarily, when this situation occurred, they would chase each other for a bit, but it seemed that Fred was not in the compliant mood either, and simply jumped over the couch, reaching her in a matter of second.
He dragged her onto the couch and began to tickle her, causing her laugher to erupt from her body.
"Please! I have a potion to make!" she pleaded, her trembling hands no match for Fred's strength.
"But this is so much more fun!" he laughed, holding her down, watching her squirm and laugh. Her face filled with ecstasy as she desperately tried to reach for something in her pocket.
Without warning, she shoved a red sweet into Fred's mouth. She did not know what sweet it was, she had many just laying about her pockets. Using this as a distraction to crawl out from underneath him, she watched as steam started to rise from Fred's ears and she immediately knew which sweet she had shoved into his mouth. It was not a pleasant one, and her eyes filled with shock and she quickly pulled out her velvet bag in hopes that she would find the antidote in there.
Fred's face began to redden as the steam continued to rise, along with his tongue swelling and his eyes watering. "Oh, Fred, I'm so sorry," she gasped, finding the green antidote and shoving it into his mouth.
Frantically, she watched the swelling and redness decrease, leaving Fred panting uncomfortably.
"What was that?" he asked, scraping his tongue with his fingers as if to decrease the burn.
"A new sweet. It's meant to be a prank candy where there are two identical red sweets in a container. One is strawberry flavoured and the other . . . well, is very spicy," she explained. "Obviously, too spicy."
"No, I think that's a brilliant idea. People love to take chances," Fred nodded. "You got another antidote?" She chuckled and handed him another.
"Seems that the antidote needs to be stronger, then?" she asked and Fred nodded, tears spilling from his eyes in his discomfort.
"You could say that," he coughed before eating the next antidote, walking to sit down at the dining table, where Haidee had just noticed the letter that sat there.
Fred watched as her eyes drifted over to it before he sighed. "It's for you," he said dishearted.
"Dumbledore?"
"Yup. Came while you were out."
"Is that why you were looking for it?"
"I said I wasn't looking for it."
"Hm."
She walked over to the already opened envelope and read it, and as expected, it as another request to see her in a weeks time. Knowing Fred was harshly biting his lip to uncharacteristically hold his tongue, she kissed his forehead reassuringly.
She stood in Dumbledore's office a week later. He was not there when she arrived, but she was allowed into his office to wait anyways. She stood politely in the middle of his office, holding her transfigured jar, not touching anything, yet observing the trinkets around the room, even greeting Fawkes as she entered.
She was not waiting long before he arrived, but the sound of the opening door behind her startled her.
"I apologise for the wait, Haidee," said Dumbledore as he entered, walking to his desk.
"It's perfectly all right, Professor," Haidee replied, her eyes snapping to Dumbledore's blackened hand and seeing it had gotten worse than the last time she had seen him.
"I hear you have been expanding your business," said Dumbledore with a quaint smile, but Haidee was not exactly sure what he was speaking about. "I've heard, mostly through rumours, of an upcoming Potioneer who can be found residing in the back corner of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes."
"Oh."
"Yes. I must say I have only heard good reviews. Punctual. Reasonably priced. Always effective. And quite obscure, which is always preferable for customers with dishonest intentions," said Dumbledore honestly.
"N-no, Professor, my last order was Burn-Heal Paste a-and Skele-Grow. Most people have been asking for protection potions o-or healing potions. I-I can assure you, I have never made anything for anyone with that intention," Haidee stammered.
"And I would never accuse you of it. I was merely just stating some facts," Dumbledore said, with an air of caution.
"S-shall I stop?" she asked, swallowing a nervous gulp.
"Oh, no, on the contrary. No, in fact, I would like you to report any suspicious orders to me, if I may ask. Any Pollyjuice, Veritaserum, Felix Felicis even Mopsus Potion," replied Dumbledore and she nodded.
"Mopsus Potion?" whispered Haidee. "I thought that was a myth."
"There had never been any known cases of it working," Dumbledore said. "But there are desperate people in desperate times, and from what I have heard, this new Potioneer is quite proficient." He sent her a quick smile. "However, I would be surprised if anyone with suspicious backgrounds would find themselves in a store clearly labelled 'Weasleys'."
"Yes, that is true," she nodded, scratching the back of her head.
"However, we can never be bold enough to assume anyone's audacity." There was a moment of pause. "Please," he said, pointing to the jar. Haidee nodded as Dumbledore's request became clear, and she unscrewed the jar and consumed the powder.
Instantly, she was taken to the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts; she recognised the location instantly. However, it was eerie, dark and cold. Standing at the ledge was Professor Dumbledore, looking feeble, his blackened hand much worse than it was before, indicting to her it was not in the near future.
She stood before him. Although weak, he remained composed to all recollection, staring at a figure behind Haidee. She turned, seeing something she already subconsciously knew, yet it stunned her anyhow. Draco Malfoy stood before unarmed Dumbledore, his wand raised and his dark mark flaunted, slightly quaking.
She had seen it before, when she was with Voldemort. It was the first thing she saw when she with him, the Dark Mark meek and hurt and then Draco, looking unpleased and frightened, just as he did then.
"I have to kill you! Or he's gonna kill me!"
He was frightened, his hands quivering just as much as Haidee's. It was clear he did not want to kill Dumbledore; Dumbledore knew this. Perhaps that was why he was so calm, he knew, just as he always knew, what would happen next. He would not die that night. But the flash of green light that erupted though Haidee's view.
Turning to Dumbledore, she watched as if it were in slow motion, as he flew from Astronomy Tower, dead before his feet left the floor, leaving him tumbling to the ground.
Haidee cried out in shock, not able to believe her eyes. Her heart clenched in grief and disbelief, her hands outstretched for him in the hopes to halt his fall, thinking that if she caught him, she could prevent his death; but she knew there was nothing she could do.
She turned around in shock and disgust, expecting to see a distraught Draco staring, horrified, at his mistake. However, when she turned, she was met with the stare of her old Potions teacher, Severus Snape; the same Severus Snape she watched halt the curse from spreading through Dumbledore's body.