final straw

April 5th, 1996

FRED TRIED HIS best to breathe as quietly as he could. He even tried to not breathe at all, afraid that the slightest puff of wind he exhaled would ruffle the thin fabric he was hiding under and one of Umbridge's Slytherin minions, currently running rampant to capture Dumbledore's Army members, would see it.

His wide eyes darted to the girl sitting beside him —Angelina, and pressed his index finger onto his lips. She nodded slightly, pressing her palms to cover her mouth.

They didn't know how long they stayed in Professor Binn's room like that. But surely, at least an hour had passed when Fred finally decided to lift the cover and peeked outside.

"Clear, I think," Fred muttered. He crawled out, still looking over his shoulders cautiously, offered his hand for Angelina and helped her up, "C'mon."

"Someone must've ratted us out," Angelina hissed. "Who could it be?"

"Dunno, but we gotta hurry back."

He could barely kept his anger and anxiety at bay. Anger towards Professor Toad and her oppression. Anxiety for his siblings and friends' safety...

He just... He just wished he could get out of here and get some fresh air.

But he had to find out about the others' wellbeing first.

"Probably Smith," Angelina continued as they tried to walk as naturally as possible towards the Fat Lady portrait. "Or not, I don't know."

"Who weren't there earlier? Did you notice?" Fred wondered out loud as he racked his memory from earlier afternoon, placing names for faces. "Smith was there, but he did act bit suspicious. Was Cho...?"

"I saw Cho."

"Right. Her friend?"

"Who? Marietta?"

"Yeah, she wasn't with us, was she?"

"Now that you mention it..."

"Bulbous fairy," Fred gave the Fat Lady a brief, courteous nod and entered the Gryffindor Common Room.

George, seeing them both, immediately stood up from his seat and sighed in relief. "There they are," he said, then again in a louder voice, "There you are!"

Lee, Alicia, Ron, Hermione, Seamus, Neville, Dean, and Ginny were huddled together, looking disheveled and shaken, but good.

"Where's Harry?"

"Maybe he got caught," Ginny said in a voice thickly laced with concern.

"We thought you two were caught, too," Alicia said, almost in tears. She threw her hands around Angelina's shoulders, "What took you so long?"

"We were just hiding, a bit too well," Angelina smiled assuringly.

"Well," Hermione plopped down onto an empty seat and patted her knees, "Let's wait for Harry. I'm sure he knows something we don't."

"Of course," Ron added, claiming the spot beside hers, "It's Harry."

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April 5th, 1996

"FRED, I CAN'T take this anymore."

Fred, who was also kept awake by that day's adrenaline rush, sat up and raised his eyebrows at his twin with a knowing smile. "Brother, you just read my mind."

"I've thought about it, long and hard. About Mum, Dad, our brothers, Ginny, our friends, Dee. Now that D.A. is busted, we're banned from playing Quidditch, and Professor Dumbledore's not here anymore..." George paused for a moment, "Let's take that spot in Diagon Alley, and start our business for real."

Fred grinned, "This is unlike you. Instigating trouble is usually my part."

"Hey, I claim my rights for half of our mischief!" Despite knowing the answer already, George still asked with a hopeful tone, "So? What do you say?"

"Of course! Let's get out of here."

"In style and with a bang."

"Definitely. Perhaps some advertisements while we're at it?"

"Brilliant idea!"

Lee stirred in his bed with a loud groan, but returned to his half-disturbed sleep almost immediately.

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April 7th, 1996

"SO YOU'RE GOING to Cambridge in September? Have you seen the dormitory?"

"I haven't," Daisy said, leaning back on her chair while gazing out of Grimmauld Place's attic window. "Orientation should begin on September 1st. I was thinking of visiting my Father then settle in by mid August."

"Wonderful. Have you heard from Lucy? How's your Father?" came Vincent's voice, replacing Taylor's.

"I have. Lucy and I speak every other day. Father's fine —I called him last week. Dominic called, too, and we promised to meet for coffee when I return."

"Well, that's hurtful. How come you call us only once every two weeks?"

Daisy chuckled, "You two are incredibly busy, aren't you?"

"Never too busy for you, sweetie," Taylor quipped. "We're just going to classes and gatherings. Oh, which reminds me, once you get into Cambridge, you HAVE to join AT LEAST two activity units and go to parties. Get drunk, kiss some guys, experience the fullness of teenage life, okay?"

Kiss some guys.

Daisy's cheeks flushed pink and she shook her head to disperse her thoughts elsewhere.

"Too bad we don't go to the same university. Promise me!"

"Yes, I promise!"

"Anyway, how is it, now, living with the Weasleys?"

The order was currently in a massive uproar after Professor Dumbledore dropped in out of the blue two evenings ago, asking for biscuit and tea, then announced that he had taken the fall for Harry's illegal extracurricular (which no one even knew about except for Daisy) and was now on the run.

"Wonderful thing you did on the house, Daisy," the old man remarked, running his finger on a daisy petal from a wildflower bouquet she had put together on her last trip out.

Daisy sat between him and Sirius, digging as much information as she could while serving Professor Dumbledore extra sweets.

Only when Mrs. Weasley came in, screeching, "Daisy! What are you still doing here?!" did Daisy bid her goodbye and retreated upstairs.

Fred and George had assured her that no one was harmed, including Harry who got to see Dumbledore's departure firsthand, but they seemed uncharacteristically distant.

They didn't write much, and when they did, she could feel that their minds were elsewhere. Like they were distracted.

With no one else to talk to and nothing else to do, Daisy cooped herself up in her aquarium bird cage.

She finally realized that Muggles' lives weren't that boring.

She used to think that the Weasleys' magic and her few number of friends were the only colorful paint in her dull, cold life.

But listening to their chatters —Dominic and his band of wild teenagers, Taylor and Vincent and their adventure in America, Lucy and her newfound love for History, Marisol and Muggle fashion trend and Atlas' clinginess— turned out to be very interesting.

Now, she truly looked forward to having adventure on her own. To be free and independent, as her own true self.

Don't get her wrong, though. Daisy still loved living in Grimmauld place and being a part of magic. She wouldn't want her life to go any other way.

"Well. I'm happy to be here."

She could hear the sincere smile behind her favorite couple in Boston's words, "That's good to hear, Jane. Really good to hear."

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April 10th, 1996

YOU KNOW HOW your body could detect the potential of harm before your senses grasped its surrounding completely?

Though all Daisy could see was Grimmauld's dimly lit hallway, her ears could only caught the sound of Regulus Black's bedroom door creaking slightly open and close, her nose smelled nothing but dust... She shivered under the cold, chilling atmosphere... The hair behind her neck stood up, and somehow, deep down, she knew that something was wrong.

Something was coming.

An emergency was issued.

She glued her back to the wall, then peered down the dark staircase. It felt weird, seeing 12 Grimmauld Place so barren and dark in a clear day afternoon. Barely any light was on. The curtains were uncharacteristically drawn shut.

And then the hair on her nape stood up, and she wasted no time to duck, running towards the nearest room while crouching.

"Impendimenta!"

There was a blinding turquoise flash and Daisy felt the hair on her head ripple as though a powerful wind had swept through. It bounced off the shelf an inch to her right, rebounding into the darkness.

With a knowing smile, she continued her run up the third flight of stairs and waited.

The silhouette of a bearded man followed suit, oblivious to the tiny, glistening neon string stretching half a meter above one of the steps. Tugged by his shin, the string went bust, followed by the sound of something dropping, something zipping, and something creaking.

"Woo-hoo!" Sirus whooped, falling backwards onto his butt. A makeshift net fell from the ceiling without catching its poor prey. "Wonderful try, Flower, but you got to do better than that!"

Knowing her trap had failed once again, Daisy continued her trip towards the attic.

"Accio books!"

She gasped as two dozens of books came flying out of the Black brothers' bedrooms. Swiftly, she jumped over some then ducked under some, and she shrieked in laughter as she threw herself towards the wall to avoid some more.

Sirius' plan backfired as Daisy heard him cussing and yelping, attacked by his flock of flying books.

She stood readily, waiting by the attic door... Until Sirius came into view, breathing heavily from all the running and jumping.

"Giving up already, Flower?"

She simply smiled.

"Stupefy!"

Swiftly, Daisy jumped over the Protego machine (as Tonks had named) placed in front of the door in advance and watched as Sirius' stunning spell bounced back towards its conjurer.

Of course, seeing that already, Sirius immediately shouted, "Protego!" dispersing the red light altogether.

What he didn't see was Daisy turning off the Protego machine, then throwing an unused perfume bottle filled with homemade tear gas right at him.

"Ow— What?! What is that?! What is th— this?!" He coughed, feeling the intense sting on his nostrils and eyes. "Okay, I give up! I give up! You win!"

And then it dawned on Daisy, that there was no instant remedy for tear gas. She grimaced, feeling the sting on her own eyes as well. "Oops."

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April 11th, 1996

"I CAN TRY to understand you sprouting more bruises and cuts from physical training —I do now, but I disapprove of your stupid self-defense game! Sirius, act your age! Wrecking the house, setting booby traps, rolling around the floor, jumping over the stairs—" Mrs. Weasley rambled, pausing to cough a little. "Infusing the whole house with spice! Godric! How are we supposed to have a meeting here now?"

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April 19th, 1996

"HARRY, I'M TALKING to you. Can you hear me?"

"Huh?" Harry broke out of his trance and looked around. Ginny, looking very windswept, had joined him at the library table where he had been sitting alone, thinking about his last Occlumency lesson and his interrogation with Umbridge.

"Oh hi," said Harry, pulling his books back toward him. "How come you're not at Quidditch practice?"

"It's over," said Ginny. "Ron had to take Jack Sloper up to the hospital wing."

"Why?"

"Well, we're not sure, but we think he knocked himself out with his own bat." She sighed heavily. "Anyway, a package just arrived. It's only just got through Umbridge's new screening process..."

She hoisted a box wrapped in brown paper onto the table. It had clearly been unwrapped and carelessly rewrapped, and there was a scribbled note across it in red ink, reading inspected and passed by the Hogwarts high inquisitor.

"It's Easter eggs from Mum," said Ginny. "There's one for you. There you go..."

She handed him a handsome chocolate egg decorated with small, iced Snitches which, according to the packaging, contained a bag of Fizzing Whizbees.

"Are you okay, Harry?" asked Ginny quietly, "You seem really down lately. You know, I'm sure if you just talked to Cho..."

"It's not Cho I want to talk to," Harry brusquely admitted.

"Who is it, then?" asked Ginny.

"I..." He glanced around to make quite sure that nobody was listening, then muttered in a low voice, "I wish I could talk to Sirius. But I know I can't."

More to give himself something to do than because he really wanted any, Harry unwrapped his Easter egg, broke off a large bit, and put it into his mouth.

"Well," said Ginny slowly, helping herself to a bit of egg too, "If you really want to talk to Sirius, I expect we could think of a way to do it..."

"Come on," said Harry hopelessly. "With Umbridge policing the fires and reading all our mail?"

"The thing about growing up with Fred and George," said Ginny thoughtfully, "is that you sort of start thinking anything's possible if you've got enough nerve."

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"

"Oh damn," whispered Ginny, jumping to her feet. "I forgot—"

Madam Pince was swooping down upon them, her shriveled face contorted with rage.

"Chocolate in the library!" she screamed. "Out— out— OUT!"

Harry, with a surge of hope blooming inside him, felt sincere laughter bubbling out of his lips as he and Ginny ran out of the library together with his books, bag, and ink bottle chasing and whacking them repeatedly over their heads, courtesy of Madam Pince's spell.