Hayley and her friends were in high spirits when they made their way into the Hog's Head pub a few weeks later. As planned, they had purchased new dresses for the upcoming Christmas party, and Hayley was now genuinely looking forwards to it.

The posters that had gone up around the school had made it clear that this was an informal party, i.e no need for dates and that everyone was invited. Hayley had never been to a Christmas party and she was hopeful that her and the girls were going to have a great time.

After they made their way to seats in the pub and had a few sips of their butterbeer, Hayley listened with rapt attention to Hermione's and Harry's (mainly Hermione's) speech. There was no denying the seriousness of the topic, and even that idot Zachary Smith seemed to realise it - with a little help from the Weasley twins.

Hayley was distracted a little when she noticed the frown which appeared on Ginny's face when Cho Chang spoke up in defence of Harry's abilities, and she knew that her best friend was not over her first crush, no matter how happy she appeared to be with Michael who was currently sat hand in hand with her. With a small sigh at her friends predicament, Hayley turned back to the group who were standing up and signing a piece of parchment to confirm that they wanted to join this "defence club" in secret from Umbridge.

Hayley joined in at the back of the queue and deliberated. She knew what Harry was saying was true, Voldemort had returned and it was a very dangerous time to be unable to defend yourself against the dark arts these days. Especially for her, considering that Voldemort was already, what was the word Snape had used, intrigued by her because of her heritage and her 14 years of missing status. In addition to that, terrifying, fact Hayley also had to think about how much trouble she would be in if Voldemort discovered the truth about her mind magic, something that Snape loved to remind her of every chance her got. All in all Hayley knew she would be a fool to turn down Harry's help.

On the otherhand, Hayley's relationship with Harry was decidedly on very shaky ground. Hayley hadn't exactly been friendly or even civil to him in the 2 months that she had known him. How could she ask for his help now, after practically avoiding all contact with him since the Hogwarts express?

"Something wrong Hayley?" came Hermione's soft voice.

Hayley snapped her head up; she hadn't realised that she had reached the front of the queue.

"No...no" said Hayley quickly snatching up the quil, only to hesitate again before writing her name.

"look, if you're not sure..." Hermione began kindly.

Hayley looked up slowly, finding herself catching Harry's eye. He was watching her, with a strange expression on his face. Was it pity? Or apprehension?

Hayley knew she couldn't accept his help this way. She had to apologise first, but how was she supposed to do that now, in front of 30 of her fellow Hogwarts students.

She opened her mouth, though she didn't know what she was going to say.

"I-"

"Oh bloody hell, it's not that hard" snapped Ron "Either you want to help fight against You-know-who or not!"

Hayley looked up in shock at him. They had always gotten on well in the summer, though now that she recalled it, he hadn't actually spoken to her since the incident on the train either. He was clearly offended on Harry's behalf.

"That's not the point-" Hayley began, putting the quil back down for a moment.

"Of course it is!" Ron continued angrily, ignoring Hermiones hushed "Ron, don't!" "Are you on our side or not? Or are we finally getting to the bottom of your private chats with Malfoy! Getting ready to join the dark are you?"

"What? No, how could you even think that?"

"Why else do you hate Harry"

"I don't hate Harry"

"Oh please! It's so obvious, you have hated him since the moment you met him. Hasn't she, Harry? "

Harry stood up slowly. Hayley had a sudden urge to flee the pub, all eyes were on her and she couldn't help but wonder how many of them thought the same as Ron. Usually she had a firey side when it came to confrontation, but in this instance, she felt so small, caught completely off guard because she knew, deep down, that she was in the wrong. Not for having secret chats with Malfoy because, she bloody well wasn't, but for her treatment of Harry.

"Look," Harry began "I don't care if you like me or not, but I know that you are not dark. We all do" he added with a significant look at Ron, before continuing in a louder volume to the group at large.

"And, I will help anyone who wants to learn to defend themselves"

He looked back at Hayley, who suddenly felt as if she could burst into tears.

"Thank you Harry" she said quietly.

He merely nodded at her before picking up the quil and handing it back to her.

She signed her name without any further hesitation.

A few days later, Hayley was thinking things over as she made her way the Owlry to send her usually weekly letter to her dad.

Things were still a little awkward with her and Harry, but they seemed to have reached an understanding now and were at least civil with each other after the Hogs Head.

Hayley was grateful to Harry for letting her be a part of the secret defence group and for setting the record straight about her not being a dark witch, and Hayley knew that she really did still owe him an apology for how she acted since meeting him. But, she also knew that Harry had no idea why Hayley had acted the way she did. Or why she had instantly taken issue with him when they met. He had no idea how much it hurt her to see how well Harry and her dad got on, how close the bond between them was, and is, when she's still only just starting to build her relationship with her dad himself.

How could she apologise to Harry without having to explain all of her complicated worries and insecurities? Without bringing to light her biggest fear, that her dad loved Harry more than her?

Crash

Hayley crashed into a tall figure as she rounded a bend into the Owlry. She hadn't realised that, in her agitation about Harry her pace had quicked significantly, meaning that she turned a corner like a tornado; resulting in a crash of bodies that sent her tumbling to the floor. The wizard she hit wobbled, but managed to keep his tall frame vertical.

"Hayley, gosh, sorry I didn't see you, are you okay?"

Anthony held out her hand and huled her back to her feet.

"Anthony!! Don't worry, it's my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going".

"Hey no problem, as long as your not hurt?"

"I'm fine" Hayley reassured him as she pulled two large owl feathers out of her hair and dusted down her grey knitted jumper and jeans in panic "I'm probably covered in owl mess now though, is it all over my back? "

She twisted herself around to see if she had sat in anything unsavoury, realising in her horror as she did so that she had basically just given Anthony permission to check out her bum!

He seemed to realise it too, for her let out a hearty chuckle before glancing down at her and saying "Nope, it's fine" he looked back up at her then, continuing to grin (probably at the blush that had crept up her cheeks) and said softly "You're fine".

Hayley coughed awkwardly and looked away. "Right, well, thanks"

She stepped around him and made to head as far away from him as possible. Thinking she might as go and stick her head in a patch of hay and hide until her humiliation subsides. To her surprise though Anthony reached out and caught her arm, spinning her back around to face him. She felt as if her arm was burnt from the contact. Merlin she was pathetic.

"Hey, before you rush off, I wanted to ask you something. About the Christmas party"

"It's casual" Hayley said quickly "We don't have to have dates. Not that you worried about finding a date. Because you're obviously not, and you shouldn't be, look at you, I, I mean..., you don't have to worry. It's casual. Says so on the posters"

Why couldn't the ground just swallow her up! She was hopeless as well as pathetic. She could hear herself rambling like an idiot but couldn't stop herself.

To his credit, Anthony just looked more and more amused, and was watching her with sweet interest.

"I know" he said with his arms raised as in mock surrender "No dates. But I was thinking, there is a pretty cool girl who I know and I was thinking of asking her to save me a dance or two. What do you think about that?"

"Oh, you mean Summer" said Hayley, aware of how falsely enthusiastic her voice sounded, even if she could feel her insides shrinking.

"Summer?" Anthony asked, with a confused look on his face.

"You should ask her" Hayley continued, oblivious. "She does really like you, and she is such a cool girl, like you said"

"Hayley, I didn't mean-"

"I think you two would be perfect for each other" she forced herself to swallow away the lump in her throat, before managing to smile up at him, "Honestly, you should go for it".

"Oh" said Anthony still looking confused, and was she imagining it or did he also look disappointed. "Yes, I suppose I could ask Summer... "

"Great" said Hayley, in a horrible fake cheery voice that she didn't recognise. "That's settled then. Well, I've got to get going now. Have a nice dance, I mean day! Bye, Anthony."

She turned and practically fled to the otherside of the Owlry and this time Anthony let her go without bother.

Four days later, Hayley was sat in the common room alone, trying and to finish her Potions homework; Ginny, Summer and Quin had finished theirs and gone to bed hours ago. Despite Hayley undoubtedly being the best at the subject, she just couldn't concentrate enough to get hers done. She could just imagine Snape's glee at grading her with a T, she thought as she angrily scratched out a word and scribbled down her corrections about how much salamander juice needed to be added to a Confusing Concoction. Finding her mind wandering once again to the source of her woes.

Summer has been practically gushing for days. Anthony was finally taking notice of her and she was feeling very hopeful about her chances of finally "getting him to make a move" at the dance. The fact that there was just under a month for her to plan her course of action, meant that she would undoubtedly be successful.

Hayley had done very well in hiding her thoughts from Summer. In fact, she didn't even think Ginny or Quin knew either.

The truth was, she was jealous of her friend for finally getting attention from her crush and that jealously had made her realise that she had actually had a crush herself. Unfortunately that crush was on the same boy. On Anthony. The fact that she knew she had pushed the wizard towards her friend also made her feel like a total idiot. Now she had time to play the scene of the Owlry over again in her head, she realised that there was a possibility that it was her that he had been interested in. Well, she had completely ruined that now.

She ran her hands through her long blonde hair, hitting several tangles as she did so and letting out a groan of frustration. Why was nothing ever easy for her. It's so unfair.

"Everything okay?"

She looked up, Harry had sat on the chair opposite her, and had a friendly but concerned look on his face.

"Harry, Hi" she answered slowly, still finding the new found truce with him a little strange. "Yeah, fine, I'm just trying, and failing to finish my essay for Snape"

"Don't envy you there" he answered. "My advice to you would be; give up, it's not worth the stress and he'll probably find some way to fail you anyway."

She couldn't help but chuckle a little in response. Harry smiled at her before they went silent again, and Hayley noticed that as he looked solumly into the fire, he looked a little troubled himself.

"Everything okay with you Harry?" she asked kindly.

"Yeah fine, I'm just having trouble sleeping" he answered and then at her puzzled faced he elaborated "Wierd dreams...but nothing I can't handle"

Was she imaging it, or was he now avoiding her gaze.

"Nothing else?"

"You know, I'm going to get myself off to bed. I think I might be sleepy enough for a dreamless sleep" Getting up and quickly saying goodnight, Harry began making his way his way towards the boys dormitories.

Something was niggling at Hayley. What wasn't he telling her?

"Hey, Harry?" Hayley called suddenly, stopping to look around the common room and continuing when she was satisfied that no one else was there. "Have you heard from...erm...Snuffles recently?"

That was another thing that was upsetting Hayley. Her dad hadn't answered her latest letter. It had only been four days, not long enough to worry her, but enough for her to feel put out by it.

Harry, also did a quick sweep of the common room before coming back to her, sitting back in the chair next to the fire.

"Why do you ask?" he replied quietly.

"He just hasn't answered my last letter yet. It's not like him"

"Well, erm" he began, looking very sheepish all of sudden and rubbing his hand behind his neck awkwardly.

"What, Harry?"

"I spoke to him a couple of days ago, on the fire. We talked about the defence club, and somehow things got a bit heated and I don't think he's too pleased with me...but he was talking about sneaking out of the house to meet up at the next hogsmade weekend and I don't think he's too happy that I told him not to and - whats wrong?"

Harry stopped suddenly by the expression on Hayley's face, which she knew had gone from casual interest to angry and hurt in the space of 2 seconds.

"Let me get this straight" Hayley began, standing up to face Harry properly. "You've been having chats in the fire with my dad and didn't think to tell me or include me. My dad was planning to risk exposure and capture to come here to meet you. Yet he isn't even answering his own daughters letters?"

"Hayley, wait, let me explain -"

"No! Goddammit, no!! I'm sick of this, I'm so sick of it" Hayley walked away from Harry and began pacing up and down the common room, trying and completly failing to calm herself.

"What is it with you two? Just what is it? He's my dad! Mine. Yet I'm the one who's left out?"

"Hayley, no one is leaving you out. The call on the fire was arranged last minute, I didn't see you that day or else I would have invited you -"

"No, it's not just that!" Hayley said, finally reaching breaking point over that which had been weighing on her for months; her eyes were welling with tears many emotions but she chose to focus on anger. "Even over the summer, it was always you two. And, even before you got there, it was Harry this and Harry that! And then, when you did get there you too were inseparable and I, I was just an afterthought!"

"That's not true" Harry yelled back, his anger rising with Hayley's. "You avoided us, you pulled away-"

"No" Hayley cried, "I was pushed"

"You have no idea" Harry yelled, also standing now, "No idea how much it hurt him that you wouldn't spend time with him, when you avoided him, avoided us. I tried to be friendly and you just instantly took a dislike to me"

"Because you're always taking him away from me. I've just lost my mother. Do you ever think about that? My entire life was destroyed and the only person I had, the only person I have in the whole world is him and, I... I need him. But I'm scared. I'm so, so scared that there isn't enough room for me. That he loves you, more than he'll ever love me"

Hayley's voice cracked and she couldn't continue. She flopped down onto the couch and put her head into her hands.

After a moment, she felt Harry come closer and tentivly take a seat next to her.

"Hayley. I'm sorry that you feel this way, that you've been feeling this way. But you're wrong. He loves you so much, and I'll never come between you too and I don't want to"

She heard the boy take a deep breath before continuing, "Don't you understand that it's the same for me. I don't have anyone else either. My parents are dead, I've never had a happy home, never known family until Sirius. I need him, just as much as you do."

Hayley looked up slowly. Brushing her tears away as she did. Harry looked so hurt, trying desperately to contain his own emotion.

Merlin, how could she have been so selfish. All this time feeling sorry for herself, all this time hating Harry, yet she never really thought about the reasons why he was so close to Sirius. When she heard Harry explain things like this, she realised just how similar the two of them where.

"As for him not loving you. That's rubbish. You're so important to him. And you know that, don't you?"

Hayley didn't speak. She knew his words were true, she just needed to hear them from Harry, she realised. She just needed that reassurance that there was space for both of them in her dad's heart.

At her silence, Harry continued softly. "I think, this battle between us, doesn't serve anyone. It's only hurting us and it's hurting Sirius"

"You're right" Hayley said, softly. "I don't want to fight anymore. I can't."

"Well then" said Harry "What do you say?"

He held out his hand to her. "Friends?"

Hayley accepted his hand gladly. "Yes" she answered with a genuine smile and with one of complete relief. "Friends."

Phew, a friendship is built, for now.

I always wanted Hayley and Harry to be close, but realistically it was always going to be a struggle for them. They do both rely so heavily on Sirius after all.

Next up, the first meeting of Dumbledore's Army ends disastrously for Hayley!

Many thanks for your continued support.