Harry Potter and the Sorceress of the Stars

After the twins' birthday, the Greengrass household gradually settled into a leisurely routine.

Naturally, Daphne and Astoria couldn't practise their magic outside of Hogwarts due to their Trace, and neither could Oleandra use her own magic near them without setting off her sisters', so they had to make do with mundane methods of training.

Every morning, at the crack of dawn, the sounds of clanging metal would ring throughout the house, as Oleandra and Astoria would spar with wrought iron fire pokers— it was Oleandra's way of teaching her younger sister Godric Gryffindor's swordplay, which she had learned from the Sorting Hat.

Due to Oleandra's and Astoria's inhuman strength, the metal rods would quickly end up bent beyond recognition, so they would frequently have to take breaks to bend them back into shape!

…

And it was on one such morning, exactly two weeks after Oleandra's and Daphne's birthday celebration, that news of the outside world finally reached the girls' hidden hideout; when Tonks finally returned, after having left the previous day.

"He's awake!" Tonks squealed excitedly, pushing open the gate to the front yard. "He's finally awake!"

"Who's awake?" Daphne asked leisurely, reclining in her lawn chair to better sun herself.

A few dozen feet away from her, Oleandra's and Astoria's pokers clashed against each other repeatedly, producing showers of sparks that rained down upon the wet grass.

"Ah, hold on," Oleandra suddenly piped up. "Give me a second…"

The last blow they had exchanged had twisted her fire poker into the shape of the capital letter 'L,' so Oleandra grabbed each end of the rod and effortlessly bent the metal back into the shape of a lowercase 'l'.

"Who else would I be talking about?" Tonks tittered nervously. "My cousin Sirius, of course…!"

Months ago, Bellatrix Lestrange had cast a Stunner in her cousin Sirius Black's direction; she had only wanted to incapacitate him, but she had ended up accidentally 'killing' him, since his unconscious body had fallen over backwards through the Archway.

What the Ministry called the 'Archway,' was in actuality a 'Gateway' between two worlds— one of Earth's eight, in total. Each Gateway would lead to its corresponding Gateway on the other side—one of the other worlds among the Nine Realms!

(Planet Earth being Midgard)

However, the Gateway hidden away in the Department of Mysteries was perhaps the most mysterious of them all. It led to Niflheim— the World of Mists and Death— and it was permanently stuck in a half-opened state from Earth's side, to allow the safe passage of souls into the afterlife.

That being said, passing through the Archway without first having mastered the magic of runes was effectively a death sentence— the Gate on the other side wasn't permanently activated, so it was basically a one-way trip to an inhospitable dimension, where the concept of time didn't exist.

When Oleandra had found him on the other side, Sirius had been in a comatose state.

Even though only half an hour had passed since the moment Sirius had fallen through the Archway and the moment Oleandra had followed him in, there was no telling how much time had passed in the World of Mists.

From Sirius's perspective, it could very well have been aeons.

After all, there was a reason why Dementors would strip humans of their earthly memories as they passed through the cycle of reincarnation— the human soul was not supposed to enter the afterlife while still attached to a living body, and neither was it designed to endure for so long.

Even Greater Fairies would eventually have to accept death, and pass on the torch to their next incarnation, remaining only as a shadow of their former self to teach them their powers…

…

"Parade!" Oleandra exclaimed. She twisted her arms and her wrists, angling her poker in such a fashion that Astoria's poker slid off hers and buried itself in the ground— before gently flicking her younger sister's forehead. "…and that's how you parry a vertical strike when your opponent overcommits!"

"When did you get so fast, Oleandra?" Astoria grumbled. "Being speedy was my only charm point, and now I've got you to compete with!?"

Oleandra patted her little sister's head affectionately.

"You're charming enough as it is," Oleandra said with a giggle. "It's not as if it was a competition, anyway."

"Yeah, yeah," Astoria pouted.

Looking over Oleandra's shoulder, Astoria finally noticed that Tonks had returned.

"Tonks, you're back!" she cried out excitedly, her expression brightening as she skipped over to the young Witch. "Did Professor Dumbledore send you on an adventure? Did he?"

"Wotcher, Astoria, Oleandra!" Tonks replied, flashing her a brilliant smile.

Officially, Tonks's duty was to guard the Greengrass sisters, but her job description was actually closer to that of a spy; to watch over them and report their actions to Scrimgeour.

However, in reality, Tonks's loyalty belonged to Dumbledore, which meant that she reported her findings to him first, and only then would she finally tell Scrimgeour what Dumbledore believed was appropriate for him to know!

"How about me?" asked Oleandra, as she walked up to them. "Do I get any medals for saving Madam Bones?"

Astoria subtly sniffed at the air as Oleandra drew level with her. Even though they had both gone through a good half-hour of high-intensity physical activity, her sister hadn't even shed a single drop of sweat. If it wasn't for the fact that she could see her standing next to her, Astoria would have sworn that Oleandra was not even there.

"That's a no to both of your questions, I'm afraid," Tonks replied. "I just left to report a few things to my superiors, and also to… fetch these!"

With an unnecessary flourish, Tonks produced a pair of letters from her studded denim robes' pockets.

"Ta-daa!" she proclaimed with great pomp, singing a little fanfare. "It's your O.W.L. results!"

Oleandra quickly snatched up the proffered envelope from Tonks's hand and tore it open, eagerly reading through her results:

Astronomy: O

Care of Magical Creatures: E

Charms: E

Defence Against the Dark Arts: E

Divination: O

Herbology: O

History of Magic: P

Potions: O

Study of Ancient Runes: O

Transfiguration: O

"That's six Outstandings, three Exceeds Expectations, and one fail grade for History of Magic," said Oleandra, sighing in relief. "Nine pass grades out of ten— what did you get, Daphne?"

"Nine Outstandings, and one Exceeds Expectations in Arithmancy," said Daphne bitterly. "Hermione will never let me live this down, will she…?"

"What in the world are you complaining about?" said Oleandra, bemused. "That's a far cry from what I'd have achieved…"