As the days passed by excruciatingly slowly, there were only a few things that kept Analeigh's mind off of Cedric. One of them was Fred and George's pranks; ever since Dumbledore left, the twins had made it their mission to wreak even more havoc in the castle. They filled an entire corridor with a sticky swamp, released water balloons in random places, and apparently even snuck in nifflers inside Umbridge's office. The other thing was that Analeigh dove deep into her studies; it was a good way to keep herself distracted while being productive at the same time. These worked to an extent, but she found herself being snappier towards her friends while she was at it.

It was a busy day as the students of Hogwarts bustled in an out of the library and Great Hall to balance their studies and eating their meals. Analeigh, Hermione, Harry, and Ron were included in that demographic — the four of them had just finished an attempt at a group study session in the library, but they found themselves losing energy and decided to have dinner instead.

"Why do I have to know about the Goblin Rebellion of 1216?" Ron complained as they went down the stairs.

"1612," Hermione corrected.

"What's the point? I'd rather be learning how to do real magic than reading about some goblin stuff."

"That stuff is important in knowing how the relationship between us and goblins work, you know."

"Why don't we just ask Fred and George what came up in their O.W.L.s for that?" Harry suggested before the two of them could bicker any further.

"Er, didn't they both get P's there?" Analeigh said hesitantly.

"It was either that or Troll, so I highly doubt that they'd be reliable sources," Ron scoffed. His face then brightened up as if he got a new idea. "Hey, I know what to do! Why don't you ask Cedric, Leigh? I'm sure he probably got a —"

Ron stopped short at the sight of Harry aggressively shaking his head with warning eyes, while Hermione crossed her hands as if to say "stop." He pursed his lips, having momentarily forgotten that Analeigh and Cedric fought and weren't on good terms. Analeigh had come clean to them and spilled all her problems on the day after Cedric suggested they go on a break — still, Ron ended up forgetting that.

"I mean..." he started again.

"Oh, sure, splendid idea," Analeigh said sarcastically. "Why don't we go talk to my supposed boyfriend who refuses to even look me in the eye?"

Harry patted Ron sympathetically, knowing that his best mate had just dug himself into a hole. They could all tell that Analeigh had really been on edge ever since her relationship with Cedric became rocky, but they couldn't do much to help her out aside from being understanding of her situation.

"Women are truly scary," Ron whispered when Analeigh was a short distance away from them. Hermione sent him a scolding glare, only causing him to shrink back even more and turn to Harry. "See? Absolutely frightening, I tell you."

Before Analeigh (or Hermione) could snap at the boys again, they came across a certain half-giant in the middle of the hallway, and he looked even more bruised and battered than when they last saw him.

"Hagrid?" they chorused.

"You four doing alright?" he said, looking fidgety.

"Yeah, just studying for our O.W.L.s," said Hermione slowly. "Is something wrong?"

"Er, you got some free time right now?" The fifth years shared curious looks with one another before nodding at him. "Okay, great. Um, follow me."

As suspicious as Hagrid sounded, they obeyed and followed him anyway. At first, they thought he was bringing them to his hut at the grounds, but he ended up not walking up to his door; rather, he just kept going straight past it.

"We're goin' in here," he explained, jerking his shaggy head to the trees.

"Into the forest?" Hermione said, perplexed.

"Yeah. C'mon now, quick, before we're spotted!"

Analeigh and the others tried to keep up with Hagrid as they moved deeper into the Forbidden Forest. With every stride that he took, they would take at least three, resulting in them having to jog. Every time they reached at a small clearing, Analeigh thought they had arrived at wherever Hagrid was taking them to, but she always ended up being wrong.

"Any idea where he's taking us?" Ron asked, but the other three could only shrug.

"Hagrid, why can't you just tell us?" Harry pressed. Just then, a group of centaurs came running past them, looking extremely angry and determined.

"I've never seen the centaurs so riled, and they're dangerous at the best of times," Hagrid mumbled vaguely. "The Ministry restricts their territory much more... they'll have a full uprising on their hands."

"Hagrid, what's going on?" Hermione repeated.

"I'm sorry to be so mysterious, you four. I wouldn't be bothering you at all with it, but with Dumbledore gone... I'll likely be getting the sack any day now."

He didn't give them a chance to say another word before he turned around and continued walking. The four teenagers sighed and made their way after him, still wondering what in the world was going on. By then, the path was increasingly overgrown and the trees grew so closely together that the atmosphere had become considerably darker.

"Bit further," Hagrid said over his shoulder. "C'mon, you lot... we need ter keep together now..."

It was a struggle to keep up with Hagrid due to all the branches and thorns that would snag at their clothes. They started getting small cuts here and there, but Hagrid was having no trouble at all as he navigated his way through the forest.

"Would it be all right if we lit our wands?" said Hermione unsurely.

"Er... all right," Hagrid whispered. "In fact..."

He stopped suddenly and turned around. Hermione walked right into him and was knocked over backward, but Harry caught her just before she hit the forest floor.

"Maybe we bes' jus' stop fer a momen', so I can... fill yeh in," Hagrid said. "Before we ge' there, like."

"Lumos!" they murmured, and the tips of their wands lit up. Hagrid's face illuminated through the gloominess, and it was then that Analeigh noticed how nervous and sad he looked.

"Right," Hagrid began. "Well... see... the thing is... well, like I said, there's a good chance I'm goin' ter be gettin' the sack any day now."

"But you've lasted this long," Hermione said worriedly. "Why —?"

"Don't worry, it's not the end o' the world. I'll be able ter help Dumbledore once I'm outta here, I can be useful ter the Order," Hagrid reassured them. "An' you lot'll have Grubbly-Plank, yeh'll — yeh'll get through yer exams fine..."

"Hagrid..." Analeigh and Hermione said sympathetically.

"Don' worry abou' me," he said hastily when Hermione patted his arm. He pulled out an enormous spotted handkerchief from the pocket of his waistcoat and dabbed his eyes with it. "Look, I wouldn' be tellin' yer this at all if I didn' have ter. See, if I go... well, I can' leave withou'... withou' tellin' someone... because I'll — I'll need you four ter help me."

"Of course we'll help you," Analeigh said. "What do you want us to do?"

Hagrid gave a great sniff and clapped her on the shoulder so strongly that she was knocked sideways into a tree. Ron winced as if he felt her pain, and then he pulled her away from the tree to help her regain her balance.

"I knew yeh'd say yes," said Hagrid into his handkerchief. "But I won'... never... forget... well, c'mon, jus' a little bit further through here... watch yerselves, now, there's nettles..."

They walked on in silence for about another fifteen minutes. Harry was about to open his mouth to ask how much longer they had to go when Hagrid threw out his right arm to signal them to halt.

"Really easy," he said in a low voice. "Very quiet, now..."

There was a noise like twigs and leaves cracking. Actually, it sounded more like huge branches being snapped in half on the forest floor, but what or who would be large enough to do that?

"I just couldn't leave without telling someone about him," Hagrid went on nervously.

"Who's him?" Analeigh said, the anticipation killing her. It was only then that she noticed the large mound of mass a few feet from them. It seemed to unfold itself and grow bigger, causing more wood and leaves to crumple under its weight. She gawked at it with wide eyes as it grew larger and larger — no, it was standing up. Finally, it reached its full height, revealing a living, breathing giant.

"Grawpy!" Hagrid chirped while the giant was still facing the other way. "Down here, you great buffoon."

The giant — Grawp, apparently — spun around but still didn't seem to notice Hagrid and his company. Instead, he was fixated on a bird that was flying by and attempted to catch it with a clap of his hands, which he did dangerously close to where Analeigh, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were standing. They all had to duck to avoid getting hit by his massive hands.

"Grawpy, I brought you some company."

Grawp stared down at them. Then, he took one heavy step, and another, and a few more until he was running towards them. The four friends staggered backwards, nearly tripling over the roots on the ground just to get away. However, Grawp stopped abruptly, which was what made them realize that he was tied to a tree with thick, sturdy-looking ropes.

Hagrid turned to Analeigh and the others again and said, "I couldn't just leave him, because... because he's my brother."

"Blimey," Ron breathed out as Grawp leaned down to inspect them.

"Well, half-brother, really. He's completely harmless, just like I said. Little high-spirited, is all."

Without warning, Grawp reached a hand out and enclosed it around Hermione's body. She screamed as he lifted her up in the air while Analeigh, Harry, and Ron panicked for her.

"Grawpy, that is not polite!" Hagrid reprimanded.

"Hagrid, do something!" Ron said desperately.

"We talked about this: you do not grab, do you? That's your new friend, Hermione."

Meanwhile, Ron had picked up a wooden branch off of the ground and was now running towards Grawp. With a grunt, he swung it at the giant's leg, but it did nothing to him and the branch merely broke in half.

"Grawpy!" Hagrid tried. Grawp didn't listen and simply kicked Ron out of the way.

"Grawp!" Hermione said firmly. "Put... me... down! Now!"

Surprisingly, Grawp seemed to understand her. His eyes even showed some degree of guilt for what he had done. At long last, he lowered Hermione back onto the ground and released her. She stumbled back to stand among her friends.

"You all right?" Ron asked her worriedly.

"Fine," she answered. "Just needs a firm hand, is all."

"I think you've got an admirer," said Harry.

"It looks like burly men who don't speak much tend to crush on you, Hermione," Analeigh teased. Hermione narrowed her eyes at that comment while Harry smiled in amusement.

"You just stay away from her, all right?" Ron warned, although his voice was shaky.

Grawp seemed to have calmed down slightly. He wasn't swinging his arms or grabbing things madly anymore. He then reached down to retrieve something from the bottom of a tree where other random items were cluttered. He picked up the handlebars of a bicycle and rang its bell while walking back to the group of humans there. He handed it to Hermione, who carefully took it from his hand. Everyone else waited anxiously for something to happen. Finally, Hermione rang the bell, too, and Grawp cracked a smile.

"He gets his own food and all. It's company he'll be needing when I'm gone," Hagrid continued in a bittersweet voice, watching as his brother slumped down to a sitting position. "You will look after him, won't you? I'm the only family he's got."

They did not need to utter a word to announce that they were all on the same page. All it took was for Harry to nod his head; that was enough for Hagrid to know that he could rely on them.

★ ★ ★

The Hufflepuff Common Room felt like white noise to Cedric as he mulled over his thoughts. It was the evening before yet another one of his N.E.W.T.s that he should have been studying for, but he was finding it insanely difficult to concentrate because his mind was a mess. Why was he constantly running away from everything? Why was it so easy to overcome academics and sports-related obstacles, and yet he couldn't find it in him to resolve his relationship problems? Holy hippogriff, even the Triwizard Tournament was easier than this.

Suddenly, Alden sighed loudly, bringing Cedric out of his stupor.

"Would you quit doing that?" he said.

"Doing what?" Cedric frowned, puzzled.

"Well, two things, actually. The first is that you've been bouncing your leg annoyingly for the past five minutes. It's getting on my nerves."

"Oh, sorry. I zoned out a little there," he said sheepishly, causing Alden to roll his eyes. "So, what's the second thing?"

"To stop being such an idiot."

"Excuse me?"

"You've been avoiding Heart for weeks, mate," said Alden, almost sounding like he was the one who was tired. "Are you going to keep this up the entire month? Do you even still care about her?"

"Of course I care about her," Cedric replied, slightly offended that Alden even had to ask him that question. "I do — a lot."

"Then why aren't you trying to make up with her? What's the big deal?"

"I... well..." he spluttered. "It's complicated. I told you, we fought."

"All couples fight," said a new voice from behind them.

"Yeah, it's normal," another one said.

Cedric and Alden turned around to find Heidi Macavoy and Tamsin Applebee, two of the Chasers of the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team, making their way towards them in front of the fireplace.

"Were you ladies eavesdropping on our boy talk?" Alden accused.

"How could we not? You two are awfully loud," Heidi shrugged.

"Besides, we couldn't help but be curious," added Tamsin. "Cedric sounds like he's got a real dilemma."

"He does," Alden nodded while all Cedric could do was rub his temples stressfully.

"So, mind if we join the discussion?" Heidi asked. Alden answered in Cedric's place, nodding and motioning for the girls to continue. They eagerly sat down beside them, ready to share their thoughts.

"Well, we don't know what you and Heart fought about, and we won't force you to tell us," Heidi began. "But I just have a couple of questions: did she cheat on you?"

"No," Cedric said instantly.

"Did you cheat on her?"

"What? No bloody way!"

"Okay, then there's still hope for you guys," Heidi said simply.

"What she means to say is that since it wasn't any of those reasons that caused the fight, then you can always fix things by talking about it," Tamsin cut in softly.

"We did talk about it once, but we ended up shouting at each other," Cedric said frustratedly.

"Did that happen right after Umbridge caught you guys?"

"Huh? Er, I suppose. It was the day after, but that was the first time we saw each other since it happened."

"That means you two were most likely just emotional since the incident was still fresh," said Heidi.

"Yeah, you were both stressed and overwhelmed, so that must've blinded you back then," Tamsin said. "Now that you've cooled off, you'll have clearer minds the next time you see each other."

"Analeigh actually tried to bring it up again, but this numpty over here said he wanted some space," Alden piped up, elbowing Cedric.

"What? Why'd you say that?" Heidi exclaimed.

"Do you not want to be with her anymore?" Tamsin questioned.

"No, no, that's not it," Cedric groaned.

"Then what is it?"

"It's just... well... if we discuss what happened, I'm afraid things will actually get worse," he muttered. For a second, that threw Alden, Heidi, and Tamsin off just a little bit — the boy in front of them always seemed to know what to do in every situation, but he sounded utterly lost right then and there. "What if she realizes that we aren't compatible after all? What if she still thinks I'm a coward? What if we disagree with one another again? What if —"

"You'll never know unless you try," Heidi stopped him. "Why do you keep saying it'll turn out badly? What if it works out this time around?"

"Exactly. Honestly, Cedric, I think you're just torturing yourself at this point," Tamsin remarked. "I'm pretty sure Heart is feeling all over the place as well because of that fight. You'll both probably go mad if you don't confront one another about it soon."

After a few seconds of silence, the girls stood up and decided it was time to take their leave.

"You can do it, Cedric," Tamsin tried to cheer him up when he didn't speak again.

"Yeah, stop moping around. We can't have a sad captain during training," Heidi said with a hint of humor. With that, they left the two boys and returned to their dormitory.

"They're right, Ced," said Alden once they were gone. "You keep saying you're scared of losing Heart, but all you're doing is pushing her away when you really love her."

Love?

★ ★ ★

The O.W.L.s and N.E.WT.s seasons were well under way. The fifth and seventh years were incredibly preoccupied with last minute revisions and taking their tests that they barely had time for anything else. Fortunately, it wasn't long before they had taken majority of them and were already down to the last few.

But Cedric Diggory had to squeeze in one more task that felt even more important than acing his exams — talking to Analeigh. After his friends practically gave him both a slap on the face and a pep talk, he decided that it was time to stop beating around the bush. There was no telling whether his relationship with the girl he cherished so much would grow or fall apart unless he faced the issue at hand.

Cedric had asked some of the Hufflepuffs in Analeigh's year level for their exam schedules so he would know when he could find her. He waited in the corridor just before the Great Hall on the afternoon that they were going to take their Charms O.W.L. Sure enough, a flood of fifth year students began making their way through that area when the clock struck 4 o'clock.

Cedric craned his head and searched frantically for that familiar head of dirty blonde hair. It luckily only took a few minutes for him to spot her walking next to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. He weaved through the crowd quickly, trying to catch up to her before she vanished from sight.

"Analeigh! Wait, Analeigh," he called out, grabbing her wrist. She turned around, looking mildly surprised to see him there.

"Cedric," Analeigh acknowledged. She eyed her friends and motioned for them to keep going. When they left, she glanced down at Cedric's hand still enclosed around her wrist, but he didn't seem to have any plans on removing it. "Look, I have a test in a few —"

"Can we talk after?"

Analeigh paused. She'd waited for what felt like an eternity for Cedric to look her in the eye again, to say anything to her, to just be with her. Despite being angry at him and confused by his actions, she still wanted all of that.

"Please?" Cedric added when she didn't respond. "I know I've been a prat for avoiding you —"

"You mean wanting 'space'?" Analeigh raised her eyebrows. Cedric's ears turned red, almost as if he was embarrassed by his choice of words back then.

"Er, yes. But I'm serious, I really need to talk to you. I want to clear things up, and I... I don't want to run away anymore."

Analeigh wished she could say no just to get back at him for making her suffer in silence the past few weeks. But as easy as it was to mess with other people like that, she couldn't find it in her to do the same to Cedric. And regardless of what he was planning on telling her — whether it was good or bad news — she just wanted to hear him say it straight to her.

"Okay," she gave in. The corners of Cedric's mouth twitched upwards as he felt his body fill up with relief.

"Great. Can we meet in... in the place that we always go to?" Cedric said vaguely, not wanting to be too specific with their secret location. Thankfully, Analeigh wasn't daft and caught his drift. It had actually been a while since they both went to that room — she quite missed the comfy couch by the window and the shelves full of books you couldn't find in the library.

"Alright," she nodded. There was a short pause during which neither of them moved or said anything else.

"Good luck on your test," Cedric said at last, loosening his grip on her and sliding his hand down. It lingered on her hand for a moment before he reluctantly pulled away. "I'll be waiting."

With that, Cedric and Analeigh parted ways. After properly soaking up each other's presence in those couple of minutes, they both found it much harder to separate. However, Analeigh tried her best not to dwell on that and instead directed all her attention to her upcoming exam as she entered the Great Hall.

Just like it was set up during the D.A.'s detentions, the four house tables had been removed and replaced with single desks lined up in neat rows and columns. Umbridge was going to be proctoring the O.W.L.s; she was already standing at the front and center of the room with that distasteful smile on her face, which made Analeigh involuntarily cringe — at this point, the sight of that woman always made her react that way.

Analeigh soon found her seat and sat down, feeling a little nervous like any student would be before a test. Eventually, everyone settled down as well, and then the test commenced.

For the next half hour or so that passed, all that could be heard were the sounds of quills scratching on parchment and the occasional sighs. Analeigh was so focused on her paper that everything else around her didn't matter — that is, until a distant, booming noise caught her attention, which she suspected was something exploding. She looked over her shoulder and found that some of her other classmates had also heard it and were doing the same.

Umbridge furrowed her brows at that but did not move. However, when another boom sounded, she had enough. She pursed her lips, stepped down from the platform, and began walking down the length of the hall to reach the doors. Her heels clacked loudly on the stone floor as she did so. It was only a matter of seconds before everyone started whispering curiously because the exploding sounds did not stop. Finally, Umbridge reached the end of the hall, swung open the door forcefully, and stepped out. By then, nobody was answering their tests anymore, all of them just watching Umbridge curiously.

A tiny, orange spark floated its way towards Umbridge. It flew around her head a bit before moving into the Great Hall and exploding into a few smaller sparks above the heads of the students. It was oddly quiet for a moment as everyone held their breaths for something else to happen. And then, there were two loud, triumphant laughs that reached their ears, and suddenly, two human-sized blurs came racing into the hall.

It took a second for Analeigh to register that it was Fred and George Weasley on their brooms. The speed from their flight caused the test papers on the desks to fly away, but nobody really cared — they were all busy gaping at the twins. Fred and George released a few more fireworks that were more colorful and wilder than the last. Some rained down on them while others continued to zoom around the room like tiny comets.

Everyone stood up to admire the show and completely abandoned their exams. Analeigh couldn't help but smile at the pretty fireworks and bursts of light that surrounded her. Even Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked to be in awe at them. Perhaps after being controlled by Umbridge for so long, having this much color in their lives — literally and figuratively — was enough to ease their worries for a while.

Analeigh laughed with her friends when they saw one spark singe Crabbe on his behind, while another nearly hit Malfoy's face.

"Ready when you are!" Fred said excitedly. George beamed and gave him a thumbs up. Fred then threw one more set of fireworks up into the air, which was significantly larger than the others. It created a huge cloud of glitters that soon took the shape of an orange dragon. The spectators all gasped and clapped at it, highly impressed.

On the other hand, Umbridge looked furious. Her face quickly morphed into one of fear when the dragon growled and began chasing her. She yelped and tried to outrun it, but it was no use. Analeigh laughed heartily as the dragon closed its mouth on her, releasing a set of more sparks that flew in all directions. They shot and broke the ridiculous proclamations that Mr. Filch had nailed up on the walls. Then, the proclamations came tumbling down and shattered loudly upon hitting the floor.

Fred and George came streaking out of the hall and into the open air, quickly followed by the fifth years. A bunch of students from other years and even the teachers and staff took notice of the commotion as well, exiting their classrooms to see what was happening. Everyone gathered at the courtyard within seconds, cheering and clapping at the spectacle that the twins had just pulled. Fred and George flew higher and farther, and just when Analeigh thought they would leave without a trace, they threw their final firework into the air. This was the biggest one yet, even more massive and impressive than the dragon that chased Umbridge. This one had set off at least five other fireworks before simmering down and forming a sparkling, orange-colored letter 'W' in the sky.

"They're amazing," Analeigh breathed out, looking up at the sky. Fred and George waved one last time before turning around and disappearing into the clouds.

"Yeah, I suppose they are," Ron grinned. His older brothers might annoy him on a daily basis, but there was no doubt that he admired them, and that feeling only heightened after seeing them leave Hogwarts with a bang. All of a sudden, his smile dropped when a thought hit him. "Oh no."

"What is it?"

"Mum is so going to blame me!" he said.

"What for?" said Analeigh in confusion.

"For that!" Ron pointed at the sky. "Fred and George leaving Hogwarts! Bloody hell, she's probably going to send me a Howler asking why I didn't grab their brooms to stop them or something."

"I'm sure even Mrs. Weasley knows you couldn't have stopped the twins from doing all that," Analeigh chuckled. "You can blame it on someone else, like —"

"Like Harry! Great idea, Leigh. Mum never gets mad at him."

"I was going to say Umbridge, but alright," she shrugged. She and Ron both turned around to look for Harry and Hermione, but their hearts stopped when they saw them on the ground. Immediately, Analeigh and Ron hurried over to them in concern.

"Sirius," was all Harry said.

"What? What about him?" Hermione asked. He didn't even respond as he got back on his feet and started pushing his way out of the crowd. "Harry! Wait!"

The three friends ran to catch up with Harry who seemed adamant on getting somewhere as fast as possible.

"Could you please stop and tell us what's going on?" Hermione said as they darted through the corridors.

"Did you see something?" Analeigh guessed, recalling the dazed look in Harry's eyes earlier.

Harry nodded and said, "I had a vision about Sirius. Voldemort has him."

"Harry, are you sure?" Hermione asked.

"I saw it," said Harry firmly as they trudged up a moving staircase. "It's just like with Mr. Weasley. It's the door I've been dreaming about for months."

"Hold on, you've been seeing that door in all of those dreams?" Analeigh said.

"Yes, but I couldn't remember where I'd seen it before. Sirius said Voldemort was after something — something he didn't have the last time, in the Department of Mysteries —"

"Harry, please, just listen!" Hermione interrupted him breathlessly. This caused the bespectacled boy to finally stop and stare at his friends. "What if Voldemort meant for you to see this? What if he's only hurting Sirius because he's trying to get to you?"

"What if he is? I'm supposed to just let him die?" Harry challenged. He took in a deep breath. "Hermione, he's the only family I've got left."

Analeigh, Hermione, and Ron shared knowing glances. As outrageous as this whole ordeal seemed, they all knew that there was no way they were going to let Harry try to save Sirius on his own.

"What do we do?" Ron said.

"We'll have to use the Floo Network," Harry answered, bursting into a run again.

"Umbridge has the chimneys under surveillance," Analeigh reminded him.

"Not all of them."

The four Gryffindors sprinted through the castle like their lives depended on it. When Harry slowed down to a brisk walk, Analeigh realized where they had arrived: Umbridge's office. She had a bad feeling that things were going to go downhill from here, but she supposed that there was no harm in trying.

"Alohomora!"

The wooden door to Umbridge's office unlocked with a click. They pushed it open and poured into the pink room adorned with photos of cats and more pink decorations and accents.

Harry went straight for the fireplace and crouched down before it.

"Alert the Order if you can," he said.

"Are you mental?" Ron blurted out. "We're going with you."

"Do you seriously think you can handle this alone?" Analeigh said in disbelief.

"It's too dangerous," Harry told them.

"When are you going to get it into your head?" said Hermione. "We're in this together."

"That you are," someone said from behind. They all whipped around to find an infuriated Umbridge standing by the door. Analeigh's heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. How in Merlin's name were they going to get out of this?

A/N: A long chapter to make up for my slow updating pace :')