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𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐘-𝐎𝐍-𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄
chapter three ─ freedom
(ain't nothing but missing you)

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"HEIDI! GET THE FUCK UP!"

Angelina stood over Heidi, glaring and holding a pillow in her hands. Somewhere, in the background, Celestine Warbeck's powerful voice belted out 'You Stole My Cauldron But You Can't Have My Heart' from Lydia's wireless, and Heidi could vaguely hear Alicia mumbling along.

"Right, I'm up, I'm up," Heidi mumbled, rubbing her eyes in a desperate attempt to open them. She ran a hand across her mouth, and winced when it came away wet with saliva.

"Was I drooling?" She asked Angelina.

"Like a waterfall," Angelina answered, and then hit her with a pillow again. "Get up."

As Angelina strode into the bathroom, Heidi was approached by Lydia.

"Thought you might want a glass of water," Lydia said, as she placed a glass on Heidi's bedside table. Lydia was up and dressed already, and looked as immaculate as she always did ─ not even a hair out of place. "No offence, but your voice sounds like a squirrel pulled it out of you."

"None taken, my dear Lydia," Heidi said as she picked the glass up and downed it in one go. Heidi rubbed her eyes again ─ she'd spent most of the night awake, missing Roger and hating herself for missing him, since he was an asshole.

Celestina was still warbling ─ "You claimed that you loved me, said we'd never part, then you stole my cauldron ─"

"Oh, you stole her cauldron," Alicia mumbled.

"─ But you can't have my heart."

"Turn that shit off!" Angelina called from the bathroom.

"Make me!" Alicia called back.

Half an hour later, all four were ready, or as ready as they could make themselves ─ Heidi had forgotten how to tie her tie over the holidays, and as a result, it was simply knotted around her neck.

On entering the Great Hall, they were met with the sound of a large group of Slytherins in hysterics over Draco Malfoy, who had invaded their compartment the night before and now captivated the Slytherins' attention with a story that looked to be at the expense of one Harry Potter.

Harry Potter and his friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, were all two years younger than Heidi. Harry had stumbled on fame early on in life for accidentally vanquishing the darkest wizard known to mankind, and was known in school for losing all of Gryffindor's house points throughout the year and earning them all back in the last week. He had made an enemy of Draco Malfoy extremely early on in his school career, because neither had any worthwhile hobbies ─ or so Heidi had concluded, and her mother was a therapist, so she was known to be right about people.

Lydia left to collect their timetables as the four girls dropped into their seats at the Gryffindor table, next to Fred and George, who were usually the first down in the Great Hall at mealtimes. "How'd you sleep?" Alicia asked politely, already filling a bowl with cereal and pouring an alarming amount of sugar over the top. Heidi winced as she caught sight of Roger at the Ravenclaw table, and desperately tried to look engaged in the conversation ─ she didn't want him to think she was obsessive.

"I had a wonderful sleep." Fred grinned over the top of his pumpkin juice, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

"Best sleep I've had since that time Percy got lost in London and we thought we'd never see him again," said George. "Don't you agree, Freddie?"

"I agree wholeheartedly, Georgie."

"Is everything a joke to you two?" Heidi demanded, looking up from her breakfast. "How old are you, five?"

"Yeah, five heads taller than you," Fred joked. Heidi glared at him. "I'm sorry, please don't kill me."

A shout rang across the room, and all six heads turned to see Pansy Parkinson ─ also in third year and far more confident than her age and stage allowed ─ shrieking at Harry Potter, who had just entered the room. "Potter! The Dementors are coming, Potter! Woooooo!"

Heidi had, of course, heard all about how Harry had fainted upon the Dementors invading the train. She had heard it from Alicia, who had heard it from Lee, who had heard it from Tess Robbins, in seventh year. No one knew where Tess had heard it from.

The three third years sat down next to Heidi's group just as Lydia came back with the timetables. "Has anyone seen Jules?"

"He's with Lee, they'll be down in a bit," said Fred.

"Lee's ordering something from Zonko's," George continued. "Jules went with him. Personally, I think he wanted to make sure nothing in Lee's order was explosive. It's like he has trust issues." He grinned up at Lydia.

"Right." Lydia began handing out timetables, finding three third year timetables for the younger kids among them.

"What's up with you, Harry?" George asked, noticing Harry's glum expression.

"Malfoy." Ron pointed across the room, and all ten heads swivelled to look at the Slytherin table, where Malfoy was pretending to faint again.

"That little git." George turned back, continuing calmly. "He wasn't so cocky last night when the Dementors were down our end of the train. Came running into our compartment, didn't he, Fred?"

"Nearly wet himself," Fred said poisonously. If looks could kill, Draco would be dead ten times over, which really wasn't such a shame.

"They're awful things, those Dementors," Lydia said, pouring herself a cup of tea and shaking her head. "Find your worst memories. Dumbledore should never have let them in the school, not that he looked too pleased about it."

"None of you passed out though, did you?" Harry said, his voice low.

"Forget it, Harry," George said, reaching for more toast. "Dad had to go to Azkaban one time, remember, Fred? And he said it was the worst place he'd ever been. He came back all weak and shaking . . . They suck the happiness out of a place, Dementors. Most of the prisoners go mad in there."

"In any case, fainting's not the most embarrassing reaction," Heidi said. "I'm still not entirely certain I didn't wet myself." Harry looked over at her, blank. "Oh, I'm Heidi Wood. I'm Oliver's sister." This prompted a discussion on Quidditch, sending Heidi into a deep, dark pit of despair.

The first class on their timetables was Transfiguration; therefore, following breakfast, the group began the climb up to McGonagall's classroom. While Alicia looked anxious to be beginning the year with Transfiguration, Heidi was grateful ─ this, she could do.

On entering the room, she made a beeline for the back seats. Lydia would want to sit near the front, as would Alicia, but Heidi and Angelina had faithfully filled the back of the classroom since first year.

"Miss Wood, if you could hold on for a second," a voice said behind her, and Heidi turned to see Professor McGonagall standing at the front of the class, no doubt having just transformed from a cat. Heidi stalled as the rest of the class filled in, and McGonagall directed them to stand against the wall.

"Now. At the end of this year, you will be sitting your O.W.L.s ─ your Ordinary Wizarding Levels. As a result, I will have no tomfoolery in my class this year, only work. Am I clear?"

Some of the class nodded their assent, and there were some scattered 'yes, Professor's.

"I have drawn up a seating plan, organised alphabetically. Please come forward in an orderly fashion, and locate your seat."

The class, made up of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, shuffled into a vaguely organised line, and moved forward every time someone moved away. Heidi desperately tried to think of people with similar last names, but came up desperately short ─ there were precious few 'W' names in her class.

That distant thought grew alarmingly close as she remembered only two people in the whole class had 'W' names ─ Fred and George Weasley. Oh, Merlin forbid.

As fate would have it, Heidi's worst nightmare was about to become reality; for right there in black and white was her name, thankfully at the back of the class, spelled out in swirling calligraphy next to George Weasley's.

Heidi grabbed hold of Lydia's arm before she could move away, staring at her with wide eyes. "Fuck me gently with a chainsaw. I am going to die."

𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 ─
this chapter's a lil bit
shorter —sorry about that!!
also, happy birthday to
fred and george, who are
both a pain in heidi's ass
but are all-round good chaps
nonetheless.