Disclaimer: Me no own HP. Yet.

Author's Note:

HELLO, EVERYONE.

I'm so sorry for the delay with this chapter. I've been so tired with work constantly calling me in and sleeping so little thanks to my demon of a dog. I'm surprised I managed to wrangle this chapter out. I'll do my best to get this weekend's chapter up for all of you!

I'm so glad you guys were proud of the Pansy vs. Hayden fight last chapter! To be honest, I was a little worried I wasn't elaborate enough or didn't make it last, but your kind words have definitely proved me wrong. *Hearts* Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Let's get this ball rolling! Here's the new chapter! Enjoy~!*/

No Promises.

Chapter N.I.N.E

_"Lesson"_

"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." -Wayne Dyer

One of the sleeves on my robes was ripped to high hell. I don't know how I didn't notice, but I went through two class periods ignoring the strange breeze that caressed my arm all morning.

I slowly turned the fabric over and over in my hands. It was a rather long tear, torn at the middle of my forearm and going all the way down the sleeve. Luckily I knew some handy home spells that would easily patch this, but it was disconcerting to me to think that Pansy's nails had torn through the sturdy fabric of my robes. Madam Malkin's robes weren't cheap or cheated in anyway. Anything short of spell work shouldn't have ruined my robes and yet the evidence was in my hands.

Pansy had some dangerous claws. They needed a serious trimming. And to have whatever spells she had enchanted them with nullified. There had to be some rule that was against such fortifications on our body that could obviously cause pain. A brief flash of her nails coming dangerously close to my face had my face pulling down darkly. She would've done serious damage if her nails had gotten any closer to my eyes than they had. Despite her anger, she had to have known that her nails could have seriously hurt me if she'd gotten close enough.

McGonagall nor Snape hadn't made an appearance all morning. And with something as serious as students fighting and visibly leaving damage, I would've been stopped before I even went to breakfast this morning if Pansy had went straight to them like I had expected she would. Not that I even went to breakfast, but I went through two classes with no sign of either Head of House. I couldn't help but be suspicious. That gave me two obvious options.

Pansy either hasn't been seen by any teachers today, or she's just playing it off as an accident and not trying to land me in trouble.

I'd seriously doubt that latter option if I hadn't already seen the girl heading towards Transfiguration, lip split and her cheek one gigantic bruise on full display for everyone to see. She was purposefully not ratting me out and I had no idea why.

What the hell is she even playing at?

I sighed, dragging my wand over my robes and watching dispassionately as the torn edges hemmed themselves back together. I was seriously debating skipping lunch to take a cat nap before Transfiguration. Sleep had barely caught me last night and it showed every time I looked in a mirror or I saw my reflection in a window. The bags under my eyes were far more pronounced and my hair was up in a lopsided ponytail with lots of flyaways that I didn't care to tame.

I was exhausted. Charms had been tiring with us learning the Silencing Charm and don't even get me started on Arithmancy. It was painfully awkward to walk in and see the Twins at the front in their usual spot with my seat wide open. I'd bitten my lip so harshly I'm surprised the skin hadn't broken as I took an empty spot at the back of the class. Hermione and Professor Vector were the only ones who noticed the change and my silence, though neither approached me.

I'd been so cruel to Fred and George. I'd let my temper get the better of me and now on top of dealing with my out of wack emotions, I had to deal with the guilt that ate at me every time I saw or heard them in the halls. Meals were out of the equation as that meant seeing them at the Gryffindor table, so I'd taken to just having Letty bring me food in the morning and at dinner. The poor Elf was worried about me and I felt awful for making the kind creature worry.

"Next time if I want you two to come to my rescue, I'll owl you."

I scowled at the burning sensation in my eyes and furiously rubbed the corners, wiping away the salty tears and thankful that I had forgone all of my make-up today. I didn't feel up to fixing myself up every time my eyes watered, which was annoyingly often today.

God I was such a fucking bitch when I was angry.

"Hey, Hayden?" Lavender's soft voice came from outside my closed curtains. I restrained from sniffling and tried to force my voice into something more normal.

"What'd you need?" There. I was proud. My tone was even, if not slightly shaky, but I felt that was barely even noticeable.

"A Ravenclaw is asking for you outside the Fat Lady. She's got an owl on her. He looks like yours." My curtains were pulled back in a heartbeat and I tore out of the dorm, robes forgotten and taking the steps two at a time and nearly running over a first year that accidentally got in my way. He yelped and just barely dodged my running form.

Terra stood there, tapping her foot impatiently and absently running her hand over Finny's feathers. Her cheeks were stung red and she couldn't hide the tremors that wracked her frame. She had on a thick jacket over her uniform, but she still looked cold. Had she been outside?

"About time," She grumbled with no real heat. "You have no idea the trouble I went through to get your bird before he could reach the Owlery and let Filch nab him." She held her arm out, letting Finny hop across the expanse of it so he could settle on my shoulder. He hooted a greeting, nibbling the edges of my ear affectionately and pressing as close as he could to the side of my face. His feathers were ice cold, but I didn't mind. He wasn't hurt.

"What did you do?" I asked. "Thank you for getting to him before Filch."

Terra flushed and looked away. "It wasn't a problem." She gave a small cough and cleared her throat. I hoped she wasn't getting sick. She couldn't afford to get sick right now, especially since her health was still sketchy at best. She pulled a letter out of her jacket pocket, which I gratefully accepted. "I had to lure him to me with the help of the Thestrals."

I blinked and looked at Finny, who looked perfectly serene and not like he had just been chased by gigantic and skeletal winged horses.

"He wasn't happy with me," Terra said, reading my face. She moved her hair away from her ear and I immediately saw the dried blood at the tip. She shrugged sheepishly, letting her hair fall back into place. "I deserved it, but I didn't have any other ideas other than spelling him out of the sky and I wasn't about to do that. The Thestrals were happy to help, anyway. Smart creatures."

Who had Terra watched die for her to see the Thestrals?

I gently flicked Finny's beak in a reprimanding manner. He reared back indignantly and hooted angrily. "Don't give me that," I said sternly. "She prevented you from getting attacked. You owe her an apology, mister." Finny merely preened the feathers on his wings and refused to look at the two of us. I assumed that meant he wasn't going to give any sort of apology in the near future.

"Don't worry about it," Terra reassured as I frowned at my stubborn bird. "I don't blame him for it. I would've done worse if I was in his position and chased down from the sky by a group of Thestrals." I cringed as she did a slow once over of my form. She frowned. "You look awful," She said softly.

"Thanks," I said somewhat snappishly, mildly offended that she pointed out the obvious. I knew I didn't look so put together today, but it was something entirely different for someone to actually point it out to me, even if that person was Terra.

She scowled at me. "Don't give me that bullshit," She said in a clipped tone. "Did you really expect me to just say you look like you're ready to go to a ball or something? You look dead on your feet."

I sighed. "I didn't sleep well last night," I admitted. "I had a lot on my mind."

"Is it because of yours and Parkinson's fight yesterday?" I nodded, not meeting her eyes and not overly surprised that she knew. Word travels fast when the originator was Pansy Parkinson. Her frown deepened when I did look at her. "It's not just that, is it?" She asked perceptively, brown eyes seeming to peer through me. "Is it the Twins?"

"Why do you guys always assume my mood swings are centered around the Twins?" I snapped defensively, irritated. Why was it that people always came to that conclusion? It couldn't all just be because I was always with them. That was a stupid reason and completely ridiculous.

Terra arched a blond brow, but didn't elaborate. "So it is about them? Does it concern the fight you three had last night?"

"How did you—"

Terra jabbed a finger to something behind me. The Fat Lady's eyes widened and she quickly darted out the side of her portrait and disappeared. "The portraits see everything," Terra said bluntly. "You'd be surprised how a fair few of them are a bunch of gossipers and love a good drama when it comes up."

I loved how my fight with the Twins was a good drama to the Fat Lady and whatever portraits she had told. I silently resolved myself to be as short with the portrait as I could in the future.

"Don't get mad at her," Terra admonished, reading the expression on my face. "I only found out because I was passing her and the pretty girl in the wedding dress on the first floor and overheard her talking about it. It wasn't hard to convince her to tell me what she was talking about." She stepped closer to me. I averted my eyes from her piercing gaze. Her eyes were so sharp and perceptive. It made me uncomfortable. "So what's going on?" She asked softly.

Should I tell her? It's only Terra. She's not Lavender, who can't keep a secret, or Hermione, who will give me a whole list on what I should do to fix it. Maybe...

I was a predominantly private person. I liked having my space and keeping my problems with just me and not anyone else. Even at home, I preferred sitting in my room and reading or drawing or doing any one of my few other hobbies instead of socializing with my parents and Hailey. My family never took it personally; I always participated in family activities when asked and that made up for my anti-social behavior.

Terra was invading that aspect of me right now with her probing, but I couldn't find myself to be angry or irritated with her. If it had been my Mom or even Hailey, I would've dismissed them and played it off as nothing important. But with Terra...I couldn't fool her. She'd know I was lying to her and I wasn't a liar. I'd never lied to her since I first met her in Defense this year up until now and I found that I couldn't even muster up the will to lie to her about my dilemma with my guilt and how I felt it was literally eating me alive.

Maybe she can help me...

I sighed tiredly and ran a hand through my ponytail, wincing as it caught a snarl. Terra noticed and pushed me into a sitting position on the first step, Finny leaving my shoulder to glide to the floor at my side. She slapped my hands away and instead of using magic like I expected, her fingers pulled out the hair tie and gently began pulling through my hair, carefully detangling the snarls. I recognized a stalling attempt when I saw one.

"Talk," Terra encouraged. I was a sucker for anyone playing with my hair, so I had no problems blaming Terra's gentle fingers for my loose mouth.

"I feel guilty," I admitted quietly, focused on my bare feet. My toes absently wiggled at me as I put my letter beside Finny, who merely eyed it before dismissing it as the original letter he had brought.

"About?" I held back a wince when she caught a particularly bad snarl and she apologized quickly. I sleep one time with my hair not in a braid and it's an utter mess the next day.

"Snapping at the Twins. I said some cruel things to them."

Terra hummed, not responding for a second. Her fingers were lulling me into a state of drowsiness. My eyes closed against my will and I relaxed completely against Terra's knees. They buckled before holding against my weight. I had caught her by surprise. "So apologize to them," She said simply. "I've only ever talked to Fred and George a handful of times, but they seem to be very understanding people."

It's not that easy.

"How can I look at them after saying what I said?" I said dejectedly. The horror on Fred's face and the absolute heartbreak on George's face made a fresh wave of tears pool at the corners of my eyes again. I didn't stop the one that managed to escape. Finny hooted sadly and wedged himself into my side. My fingers automatically smoothed over his head. "I wouldn't blame them if they wanted nothing to do with me."

"You're being overdramatic," Terra said bluntly, ignoring how I stiffened. "I don't take the Twins to hold grudges against you of all people because you lost your temper and accidentally took it out on them. It was a wrong time wrong place situation. Surely they'd come to that conclusion on their own."

Was I being overdramatic? Yes, I felt like I was. But that was something I had a hell of a time controlling. Mom liked to call me a people pleaser at times and when it came to Fred and George, I couldn't understand why they put up with me and it baffled me as to why they kept coming back around. Was it all just some elaborate prank to them? To pass the time until they graduated? To alleviate boredom? Despite those thoughts, I enjoyed the company Fred and George willingly gave me and I found that I wanted nothing more than to keep them happy and hope that they stick around.

It felt like we were meant to be friends. Maybe even something more.

I banished that last thought. I wasn't about to get into that with Terra right now.

"I don't know," I said lowly, feeling both sheepish and embarrassed. I couldn't find the correct words to explain my thoughts to Terra. "I still feel like I don't really deserve to confront them about what happened."

Especially since it's only been a day since I snapped at them. It feels like it's been so long.

"That's just your own hesitation and insecurity," Terra said. Her fingers were now finally running smoothly through my long hair, her nails gently caressing the skin on my scalp. God, it felt so amazing. She began parting my hair. "I understand that not all Gryffindors are brave despite what your House signifies and I'm not saying that you're not brave either, but maybe it's time for you to steel yourself and confront this."

It hit me suddenly. It was obvious why Terra was in Ravenclaw. She had a majority of the aspects Rowena Ravenclaw valued in her House, mainly her intellectual prowess and the wisdom in her words as she spoke. She didn't know the whole story since I didn't completely disclose everything, but she correctly deduced what was bothering me solely through what proof she did have and because of how well she knew me despite how little time had passed.

I had never understood why Terra was in Ravenclaw. I wasn't dissing how smart she was, but anyone in the other Houses could be very smart. Ravenclaw was mainly for those who were dedicated to learning anything and everything, spending a lot of their time reading and reading and looking for answers to their questions. Terra never gave me that vibe. She didn't seem to care for that. If anything...Terra reminded me of a Slytherin with her wit and her sharp tongue.

But now I understood why the Sorting Hat had placed her in Ravenclaw.

"You just need a good push," Terra continued. I tuned back in to her words. "Something that will force you into talking to the Twins."

"You can't force me into anything," I said sarcastically with no real heat. Fred and George could never force me into doing anything I didn't want to do, especially when it came to them forcing food on my plate. Terra wouldn't be any different.

I couldn't see her face, but it felt like Terra was smirking at the back of my head. "You'd be surprised," Was all she said. Part of me didn't doubt her words. She gave my hair a slight tug before it thumped against my tailbone. I was surprised to feel a comfortably tight fishtail braid starting at the crown of my head run all the way down to the ends that grazed my uniform skirt. I could never fishtail my own hair. It baffled me too much to even comprehend doing.

Speaking of baffling...

"Terra, what year are you in?" I asked, looking over my shoulder. She blinked down at me, brown eyes confused. "I know practically everyone in our year and I didn't know about you at all until this year. If you were a transfer, that'd make more sense, but I don't recall any recent news about transfers over the past year or two."

Terra looked like she was close to laughing at me. Her cheeks tinged pink as her lips twitched. She coughed into her hand to hide what I knew to be a laugh. "That's because I'm not a fifth year."

Now I blinked in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"Technically, I'm only a fourth year, but I was so far ahead of my studies my second year that the teachers began to notice and my Mom badgered Dumbledore into moving me up a year to give me more of a challenge. I'm really a fourteen year old in fifth year classes."

And my mind was officially blown.

But I felt so much better now than I had last night thanks to Terra.

I gave short knock and Professor Umbridge's voice echoed out to me. "Come in, Miss. Walters."

Her office disgusted me the second I walked in. Everything was a disgusting pink color, from the lacy covers and clothes that covered all the furniture to the luridly flowered robes Professor Umbridge had decided to wear this evening. There were vases filled with dried flowers everywhere in the room and the wall was covered with ornamental plates that had different breeds of kittens with different colored bows on all of them. It smelled way too strongly of cheap perfume that made me want to sneeze and of sweetened coffee.

"Good evening, Miss. Walters," Umbridge greeted, not looking up from the parchment she was scribbling across. "Please, have a seat." She indicated the front of her desk, where there was a noticeable space cleared for me no doubt and a blank parchment with a long, thin black quill with an unusually sharp point beside it.

"You will be doing some lines for me today, Miss. Walters," Umbridge began as she put her quill down and looked up at me, resting her chin on her crossed hands. She was forcing a smile on her face and it made her look like she was grimacing, "and you will be using one of my quill sets instead of your own if you don't mind."

I hid a scowl as I picked up disgusting quill, poised over the parchment. "What do you want me to write?" I asked with heavy reluctance.

Professor Umbridge straightened and said slowly, "I want you to write 'I must not be disrespectful'."

I'll show you fucking disrespectful, lady.

Fuck, that was a mouthful and a half. That was going to cover my whole hand despite my small handwriting. The quill scratched slowly across the parchment and I held in a strangled hiss as the sharpest pain I had ever felt cut across the back of my hand. Words that looked so much like my own handwriting carved themselves at a painstaking pace in my skin, irritating the skin around it immediately and drawing the faintest traces of blood to the surface.

How had Harry done detentions with her so many times? This was painful.

I ignored the pleased grin on the evil woman before me and continued to scratch across the parchment, my hand twitching violently when a particular line hurt just a bit more than the last.

I must not be disrespectful.

I must not be disrespectful. The last line drew a thin bead of blood from the last letter. I felt it trail down the side of my hand and curl into my palm, but I didn't stop the steady pace I had developed.

I wanted this to end so bad. I had thought my pain tolerance was average at best, maybe even close to above average. I could tolerate a good degree of pain, but this. This wasn't something that I had ever felt. I don't think getting a tattoo would compare to this. God, I hoped a tattoo wasn't this bad. I was so looking forward to getting quite a few in the future and this detention was putting me off the idea strongly.

I must not be disrespectful.

I must not be disrespectful.

My hand was shaking violently and the spasms made the wounds ache fiercely. I itched to pull out my wand and try to numb the pain, but didn't dare do it in front of Umbridge. Her beady eyes rarely left my face, only looking away to scratch across her parchment or to open a drawer every once in a while. She was being annoyingly watchful.

I wanted nothing more than to just burn this quill to high hell and run from the room and never look back, hoping that my Head of House would keep the evil toad away from me, though I knew that was a misplaced hope.

I must not be disrespectful.

I must not be disrespectful.

Time was something I ignored as I continued to write the lines Umbridge wanted. I knew it was getting dark when Umbridge flicked her wand and a small lamp in the corner flicked on and the curtains were pulled close to hide the darkening sky from my view. I never carried a watch, so that left me completely at her mercy. I hoped she wouldn't keep me over.

I wanted to leave.

"Come here, Miss. Walters," Professor Umbridge said after what felt like eternity. I stiffly stood from my seat and walked around her desk, stopping before her. She held her hand out expectantly. I struggled not to snarl like a rabid dog at the offending limb. "Hand." I placed it in her thick, stubby fingers that were decorated with gaudy and ugly old rings. I barely stopped a cry of pain from leaving my lips when she gripped my hand a bit too tightly than strictly necessary.

"Yes, it hurts, doesn't it?" She asked softly, looking at her work. My hand shook in her grasp and I knew she could feel it.

You sick bitch. I HATE YOU.

I was relieved when she released my hand and waved me towards the door. "I think I've made my point, Miss. Walters. You may go."

I fled the room as fast as my feet could carry me, cradling my bleeding hand to my stomach and barely suppressing a sniffle as the pain flared with a vengeance. I didn't know how I was going to keep this from my parents. Being Muggles, there was very little they could do to contact the school to complain and even if they could, there was even less Dumbledore could do thanks to Umbridge being so high up there with Fudge supporting her every move.

I had seen Harry's hand in passing glances and with his recent detention, the scars had reopened and were agonizingly fresh against his pale skin, but I could still picture the white, jagged lines after the wounds had fully closed. These would stick out sharply against my skin despite my inability to tan.

I hate that woman with a fiery and burning passion.

I took the one secret passage that would take me as close to the seventh floor as it could and was shocked to see Hermione waiting for me outside the Fat Lady, arms crossed and expression carefully blank as she watched me climb up the stairs. Her eyes latched onto the hand close to my stomach and her eyes softened sadly. She sighed, sounding painfully exhausted as I stopped before her.

"Here." I was surprised at the green apple that was in her hand, but accepted it nonetheless. "You'll feel better if you eat something," Hermione instructed. "I didn't see you at dinner, so don't try and say that you already ate."

"There's no point in lying about my absence from meals," I said, taking a bite of the apple. It wasn't as fresh as the ones Letty always provided me with, but it was still a good apple. I felt much better than I had before now that I had actually eaten something.

"Give me your hand," She instructed quietly, not sounding like her usual bossy self. I extended my hand. She took it with a feather light grip and pulled it closer to her, inspecting it as she reached into her robes and pulled out a vial. I recognized the Murtlap Essence instantly. She poured a steady amount and the skin smarted painfully under the potion. She carefully directed the potion to cover the wounds with her wand, watching as it dried.

"Why are you out here?" I asked softly. I was grateful that Hermione had thought to keep a batch on her and was using it on me, but this was out of character for her.

"I knew you were going to need this," Hermione answered, not looking up. Her eyes were focused entirely on my hand. The skin was beginning to lose its redness.

I felt like there was more, but I didn't say anything else. I hoped she would explain herself some more. This was so out of Hermione's normal character that it was throwing me for a loop.

"You know, I overheard Fred and George earlier." I froze and she had my entire attention as my eyes narrowed on her. "They weren't happy with Angelina that she hadn't cancelled practice with the weather being as bad it was and they were seriously considering tricking her into eating something from those awful Skiving Snackboxes of theirs to get out of it."

"They're not stupid," I defended unconsciously. "I think they're quite genius."

Hermione smiled at my hand and continued speaking. "Turns out one of their products that causes an increase in temperature will also cause massive boils to appear all over their bodies and they haven't quite managed to recover from them." Hermione giggled under her breath, amused. "I had to laugh at them. They were complaining all night about how riding their brooms had caused the boils to get worse, but they were still laughing despite their obvious discomfort."

My heart seemed to squeeze in my chest and it was getting harder to keep looking at my Hermione as the tears I'd held back in Umbridge's office filmed over my eyes. The half eaten apple in my hand seemed to weigh a ton more and sagged against my side. I suddenly wasn't so hungry anymore.

"They've been a little off lately, those two," Hermione added absently. "Normally I'd catch them doing something against school rules at least ten times a day, but they've been subdued today." She hummed. "I wonder why that is."

I shifted uncomfortably, understanding what she was trying to get at without directly telling me. "Why are you telling me this?" I asked lowly, willing my eyes to stop tearing up. It hurt to hear about them from a third party instead of from one of them. She had to know that.

Hermione finally looked up at me, releasing my now dry hand. Seeing how I wasn't eating the apple anymore, she pointed her wand at it and Vanished it promptly. She pushed the remainder of the Murtlap into my other hand, making sure my fingers grasped it before pulling away completely. "Someone has to keep you informed," Was all she said before turning on her heel, saying the password, and disappearing into the Common Room.

"A meeting?" Terra asked, eyebrow arched. Both of us had just finished our last classes for the day—Terra had Ancient Runes and I had Astronomy Theory—and were slowly making our way through the Transfiguration quad after meeting up with each other when Ron had caught sight of us and ushered us towards his position beside the portrait of Giffard Abbott, who I knew had a shortcut behind him that led to the Grand Staircase.

Ron nodded his head hurriedly, scanning the halls fervently. "Tonight at eight o'clock on the seventh floor across from that Barmy tapestry." His eyes lit up as he spotted Neville and rushed off through the crowd of students.

"Well, he was in a hurry," I commented idly, watching him whisper in Neville's ear before disappearing again.

"No kidding," Terra agreed, scowling. "He gave us little to no information about the meeting." She cast me a hopeful glance. "You do know what he's talking about, right?"

I frowned, mentally mapping out the seventh floor and what few paintings I could remember. "I think so," I said hesitantly. "There's not that many paintings that close to Gryffindor Common Room, so it can't be that hard to find."

"If we both somehow manage to miss a crowd of mixed House students wandering around the seventh floor lost, we need our eyes checked," Terra said bluntly. "Let's go get food. I'm starving."

I stuck with Terra for all of dinner, refusing to look at the Gryffindor table and once again eating little. I made Terra promise to let me know if the Twins ever made a move to come over, which she agreed to reluctantly. After dinner, we headed to the Library under the ruse of doing some homework, though neither of us had any intentions of doing homework since we were still caught up with the workload and could afford to slouch a day.

At a quarter till, we packed up and left the Library. The halls were empty and quiet with no students around to chatter. Fifth years were allowed out until nine, but it felt weird to me and I was unconsciously looking over my shoulder half expecting Snape to loudly proclaim that he was putting me in detention for a week.

"Stop doing that," Terra hissed when I looked behind me again. "You're making me nervous. We aren't breaking any school rules, so quit it."

"Someone's touchy," I grumbled and grunted when her elbow planted itself in my gut.

Reaching the seventh floor, our steps slowed as we looked around for signs of other members. Terra gripped my sleeve and pointed ahead. I recognized the Barnabus the Barmy's tapestry, but instead of the blank wall that was supposed to be opposite it, a highly polished door was there. I exchanged a startled look with Terra before hesitatingly approaching the door and pushing it open.

The room was huge and lit with what looked like the torches that illuminated the dungeons eight floors below. Wooden bookcases lined the walls and silk cushions were scattered all over the floor, many of which were already occupied. Shelves carrying strange instruments that buzzed and hummed filled the room with a low whirl of noise that reminded me of Moody's classroom last year.

"You made it!" It seemed that we were the last ones to arrive because all but two of the cushions were taken. I avoided the two sets of blue eyes that looked my way.

"What is this place?" Terra asked breathlessly, still looking around in awe.

"The Room of Requirement." Harry seemed small from his place in between Hermione and Ron, but he met our eyes squarely. "It only appears to those that have use of it."

"This is incredible." I plopped down beside Luna, who gave me a dreamy smile that was oddly adorable. I gave Harry my full attention, as did the others.

"Well," He began nervously. "This is the place we've found for practices and you've obviously found it okay—" Cho interrupted him with her loud agreement, which caused several of the others to murmur their agreement.

"It's bizarre," Fred said, frowning. My eyes moved to his relaxing form beside George and Lee as he looked around the room. "We once hid from Filch in here, remember, George? But it was just a broom cupboard then."

"Harry, what's this stuff?" Dean asked from behind me, pointing at the Sneakoscopes and a glass instrument strangely similar to a mirror that I didn't know the name of.

"Dark Detectors, Thomas," Terra said, brown eyes focused in particular on the mirror. "They show when Dark wizards are around, but they aren't to be trusted. They're quite easily tricked." A shadowy figure moved in the mirror, though I knew nobody had moved from their spot. I hastily looked away.

"Well, I've been thinking about the sort of stuff we ought to do first and—" Hermione's hand shot in the air. "What, Hermione?"

"I think we ought to elect a leader."

"Harry's leader," Cho said instantly, looking at Hermione like she was crazy. Terra snorted under her breath and I restrained a giggle.

"Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly. It makes it formal and it gives him authority. So, everyone who thinks Harry ought to be our leader?" All of our hands were raised in the air, though from the expression on Terra's face, she looked like she didn't really care who the hell the leader was so long as it wasn't Cho.

"Um...thanks, Hermione," Harry said, blushing. "Now—what, Hermione?"

"I also think we should have a name," She said brightly. "It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?"

"Careful, Granger, you're starting to sound like some hippy Hufflepuff," Terra muttered, rolling her eyes. I slapped her arm reprimandingly, but couldn't stop a grin from making its way across my lips.

"Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?" Angelina asked.

"That's too close to the Justice League," I said off-handedly. I got many confused stares, but they were ignored. "We aren't some super hero group, Angelina. That name's too cheesy."

"What about the Ministry of Magic Are Morons Group?" Fred suggested. Many of us laughed at that.

"I was thinking," Hermione said reproachfully, frowning at Fred, "more of a name that didn't tell everyone what we were up to, so we can refer to it safely outside meetings."

"The Defense Assocation?" Cho offered. "The D.A. for short, so nobody knows?"

"D.A.'s good," Ginny agreed, "but let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it?"

I didn't like that idea, but I kept my silence. Terra had no qualms and I realized that we were along the same thought process. "That's just asking to paint a target, though," She objected. "What if someone got ahold of that list?" She pointed at the parchment in Hermione's hands that held all of our names. "All eyes will be turned to Dumbledore and if he gets the boot, the school will fall for good."

"It's Hermione who's got it," Ron said dismissively, shrugging his lanky shoulders. "We'll be fine." Terra frowned, but didn't say anything else and glanced towards me. She didn't like that idea anymore than I did.

Harry wasted no time in taking over again and asking us to split into pairs to practice the Disarming Spell, which raised a few eyebrows, but only Zacharias Smith verbally complained about it, though he was quick to be put in his place by Harry. I latched onto Terra and let her lead us to a corner of the room beside Harry and Neville, who was a known hazard with his wand at times.

"This will be interesting," Terra said across from me. She raised her wand. "Let's try this." Three seconds passed before we both moved in sync.

"Expelliarmus!" My wand was tugged violently from my hand, but I was happy to see Terra's doing the same thing, clicking loudly against the floor behind her as my wand did the same.

"Great job, you two!" Harry praised, watching as we fetched our wands. We both preened under his praise and grinned at each other. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something off happening to Smith. Every time his mouth opened to disarm Anthony Goldstein, his own wand would go sailing right out of his hand, but Anthony wasn't even making a sound.

Non-verbal magic, maybe?

That was a little advanced for our age, but not unheard of for one of us to have read ahead of our designated chapter.

It turns out that it wasn't Anthony using non-verbal magic. Fred and George were several feet from Smith and taking turns pointing their wands at his back and disarming him discreetly. My laughter seemed to echo in the room and both boys looked towards me. I gave them a hesitant smile and turned away, though their stares were still heavy and hot on my back for the longest time.

My heart felt much lighter afterwards.

"Look at her." Terra pointed at Cho and her friend, Marietta, who were both being watched by Harry. Cho's face was red and she was butchering the spell so bad that she accidentally caught her curly-haired friend's sleeve on fire. The look she was given was nasty. "She's so far up into Harry's business that she can't even focus properly." Terra rolled her eyes. I snickered before we began practicing again.

Harry dismissed us a little after nine, having lost track of time. He let us leave in groups of three or four, anxiously looking at a ragged and old piece of parchment in his hands for a couple minutes before sending the next group. Terra and I had just barely gotten out the door when hands tugged on the back of my robes. I knew instantly who it was, but steeled myself for the upcoming conversation.

"You go on ahead," I said steadily when Terra's brown eyes cut to me inquisitively. "I'll see you tomorrow." Her expression didn't change, but I got the impression that she was proud of me as she left me behind and made her way towards Ravenclaw Tower on the west side of the castle. Harry, Hermione, and Ron passed by me, but only Hermione looked back before she disappeared around the corner.

I sighed and turned to the face them.

Fred and George were not the types to look nervous. I had never seen them look like they did now. They were always so confident and proud and slightly arrogant, but never worried. This had to be a change for them and I felt bad that I was more than likely the cause for them to be feeling like they were. Blue eyes latched onto mine and didn't look away.

"I owe you two an apology," I started, glaring at them when their mouths opened to interrupt me. They clicked shut. "I shouldn't have gotten angry with you two like I did. It was directed at the wrong person and completely uncalled for."

"Stop sounding so professional," Fred said and my whole body warmed at the sound of his normal, teasing voice. "It's an apology, not a letter to the Minister himself."

"Besides," George muttered as he reached forward to grab my hand. It was warm and large and completely overwhelmed my smaller one, "we shouldn't have pushed you like we did."

Fred nodded his head in agreement, grabbing my other hand. The same feeling sang through me and my cheeks burned. "We should have given you space."

"I need to learn to control my temper," I corrected them, squeezing my fingers as best as I could around their grips. They immediately returned the action and it brought a feeling of relative completeness and safety with it. It was a strange combination.

"Who'd have thought our Hayden had a temper, George?" Fred teased.

"We never would've guessed," George agreed, grinning.

I rolled my eyes and tugged my hands free from them. "Shut up and accept my apology already." In the next second, arms wrapped around me and the scents of mint and sugar surrounded me. My shoulders drooped and my arms subconsciously reached around both sides of the boys squeezing me to their chests.

"Apology accepted," Was all they said.

It had only been two days since we had last talked, but it had felt like an eternity.

I missed you guys...so much...

Author's Note:

OH MY GOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDD.

Lots of hearts and appreciation to:

ElementalGirl1: I AM SO HAPPY YOU APPROVED OF THAT FIGHT. IT GAVE ME SUCH ANXIETY WRITING IT.

Savage Kill: I have to agree with you there. I, unfortunately, am much like Hayden, though I have considerably more control and refuse to let myself lash out at my friends because I'm pissed off at someone else. In a way, Hayden's temper reminds me a lot of my sister, who gets provoked by the smallest of things.

Ussmaple: I'm so glad you liked it! I tried my best to make it as realistic as possible!

Mrs. Shawn: NEW REVIEWER. HELLO. No worries! Hayden definitely pulled through with a little help from Terra the Guru and Hermione the Pusher.

End of Responses!

Two chapters ago response: Motherfucking Pettigrew.

Question for this chapter: Who is the better option, Dumbledore or Severus?

I will do my absolute best to get this weekend's chapter out just like I promised in the author's note above! I actually have some days off this week, so once I can catch up on some much needed sleep, I'll get right back to typing up another new chapter!

Thanks so much for reading, everyone! Reviews are so appreciated, though aren't necessary to fuel my desire for this story to continue. *Hearts* Any love given is accepted and treasured!

~OQ