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Lessons were done for the day and Haizea Potter wanted nothing more than to go to bed, sleep and never wake up (that was barely an exaggeration although she did want to wake up). With Samhain coming up, she felt more drained than usual. Halloween had never been a fun day for her; with the Dursleys, she never got to trick or treating like Dudley and the other children. Once at Hogwarts, it wasn't until she talked to the Weasley twins that she found out when exactly her parents had been murdered but even before that, she never quite felt up for Halloween. She was always more tired and a little bit more apathetic on that day. It was like being reminded that not all of her survived on October 31st 1981.
Still, she faked it: she smiled and laughed at Ron's dumb jokes – Ron was more observant than anyone gave him credit for, he always showed more kindness around Halloween and he was quieter when Haizea felt down. She did her homework with Hermione and let her talk her into researching stuff for their Runes project.
After school, she would usually sit down with Dean and Seamus and play a game of cards but today, she didn't feel like it. Instead, after dumping her schoolbag on her bed, she went back to the common room and slumped on the couch with Parvati and Lavender. The girls glanced up and paused at the sight of the deep bags underlining her eyes.
"Hey..."
"You okay?"
Sometimes, the way they spoke reminded Haizea of Fred and George. It never failed to put her at ease.
She offered them a tired smile without opening her eyes.
"Yeah. I'm good."
Was it a lie or the truth, she wasn't sure. She felt happy enough considering the circumstances and the date of today but she wasn't sure she was "okay". Then again, was anyone in Gryffindor okay? If anything, the Dementors surrounding the school made sure that no one felt quite safe at Hogwarts.
Parvati looked sceptical but didn't say anything.
"Will you partake in the ritual tonight?" Lavender asked instead.
Haizea tilted her head to the side. No one ever looked twice at their House when it came to breaking the Law. Breaking the rules was expected of them but breaking the Law? Nah, they were adorable angels (no, she wouldn't say that McGonagall could certify that her lion cubs were little demons when they wanted to be). A Slytherin would be the prime suspect but a Gryffindor? Nah. Hell, when it comes to partaking in prohibited rituals such as those done during the Sabbaths, nobody would be surprised if the Slytherins were to be caught doing such a thing. As it is, Parvati was pretty sure they wouldn't be stupid enough to do that outside of their quarters, just like the Gryffindors.
"I think so," Haizea muttered.
She looked tired, Parvati thought. She looked like she was about to collapse and sleep for days. She wouldn't; they had lessons, no matter how tempting sleeping for days was. With a sigh, she changed position, lying down instead of sitting. She rested her head in Haizea's lap and put her feet in Lavender's. The blond girl protested, more out of habit than real annoyance and Parvati sighed with contentment when slender fingers carded through her hair.
They stayed like this for a long time – Haizea played with Parvati's hair and listened to the two other girls gossiping. The common room wasn't nearly as full as it usually was. Tomorrow was test day for the second and fourth years so some of them were probably in the library, just like Hermione. Others might have gone early to the Great Hall or been lost somewhere in the castle. Seamus was playing chess with Ron in a corner of the room, with Dean watching over them. A couple of first years were trying to levitate a candle with... various degrees of success.
Haizea suppressed a snicker; remembering what it took for Ron to achieve that particular spell. Her eyelids felt heavy but she refused to fall asleep. If she slept now, it would ruin her sleep cycle and she wouldn't fall asleep later tonight. Instead, she distracted herself by watching her friends. Lavender and Parvati were ridiculously pretty. The kind of pretty girls that would make you lose your mind.
Haizea was not oblivious. She knew exactly what was going on. She knew she had a crush on two of her roommates and she knew that the roommates in question had been flirting with her for a while. The question was: were they being serious or were they just having some fun? Haizea didn't know and part of her didn't want to know. She could play along; flirt back and maybe exchange a few kisses, like Fred told her. If they weren't serious, then that would be it. Haizea would not be hurt. She wouldn't. Or it could be more and the green-eyed witch felt her heartbeat jump at the thought.
"Is no one going to tell those kids that levitating a candle might not be the safest thing to do?"
Haizea glanced at Dean and shrugged:
"Hermione's job," she said.
Dean blinked.
"Hermione is in the library."
"I know."
They stared at each other until Lavender burst into giggles.
"Don't worry so much, Dean. Your big brother's side is showing. Percy put up some protection spells just in case."
"Like the mother hen we all know he is," Parvati added with a mischievous grin.
Haizea snorted and nodded. Percy might deny it all he wanted but they all knew he was a mother hen, as confirmed whenever he fussed over her before Quidditch games or when one of the twins got hurt during their experimentations or even that one time Ron ran from a large spider.
Longer fingers grabbed hers and Haizea saw Parvati's pout. Ah.
"My bad," she said, lips twitching as she went back to carding her hand through the girl's long hair.
She cherished moments like this, moments of peace when she could just relax and destress – she didn't have to worry about being called a dark lady in the safety of the Gryffindor common room. She didn't have to worry about other students thinking she was trouble because she had an insane escapee Death Eater after her.
Here, she just had to focus on her friends... and tonight's ritual. Did they have everything? Maybe she should swing by the kitchen and ask for some more fruits-
"You're thinking too loudly, Zee," Parvati mumbled.
"Yeah, Haize. We can almost hear your thoughts," Lavender added, grinning.
Haizea shook her head.
"You don't have to worry. Fred and George dropped by earlier. They said they were going to get everything we might have missed."
"They also said to let the older years handle everything and to just relax. That's what you're going to do now."
Parvati's tone didn't let much place to argue and Haizea's lips twitched again.
"You're so pretty when you smile, Haize. You should do it more often."
Pink dusted her cheeks and the Girl-Who-Lived swallowed nervously even as she heard Lavender chuckle beside her. The blue-eyed, blond-hair witch leaned forward, putting her arm over Haizea's shoulder to look at them both.
...
Haizea had never been good with the scrutiny.
"What?"
Lavender's lips turned upward.
"We should go out sometimes."
Huh?
"Huh?"
"I know you can sneak out of the castle, Zee. Don't play innocent. You, Parv and I should go out sometime."
Haizea felt her heart stop and stared at Lavender before glancing down at Parvati. The dark-skinned girl was looking at her in amusement but there was something else in her gaze, something more serious.
The raven-haired girl licked her lips nervously and shrugged:
"Sure. I'd like that."
She was thirteen. She shouldn't have to worry about dying or having an insane mass murderer after her. The teachers were right in that she had to be careful but that didn't mean she shouldn't be living her life to the fullest.
She had the feeling that Lavender and Parvati were good at doing just that. Maybe they would teach her a thing or two about it.
Whatever it was, she couldn't wait.