Taking Chances and Making Changes – Chapter 10
Authors Note - This story is an AU. It follows canon events up until the end of Prisoner.
Disclaimer - I own nothing except my OC's. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling. Basically, if you recognise it from the books/films then it is not mine.
Hayley (POV)
It was a few days after the task and things were thankfully back to normal. I was glad that the next task wasn't for another 4 months I was looking forward to getting back to some form of normalcy. Even though all the champions had been told that we would be excused from taking our end of year exams I was determined to still do them. I knew that I would be able to do them as the exams would start on the 19th of June and end on the 26th. Almost all of the exams I would be taking would be out of the way before the final task. There would be only two taking place afterwards which were Potions and Ancient Runes. Having four months before the final task meant that I was able to focus on studying for the exams. After classes ended today I was planning on talking to Professor McGonagall and explaining that I still wanted to take the exams. Luckily for me, my final class of the day was Transfiguration and so when class ended and everyone started to file out of the day I stayed back. While slinging my bag over my shoulder I stood up and walked over to where she was sitting at her desk.
"Miss Potter is there something I can help you with?"She asked
"Yes. I know that the champions have been told that we will be excused from our end of year exams but I was wondering if it would be possible for me to still take them?" I explained
She looked at me slightly puzzled."Are you sure Miss Potter?"
I nodded."I'm sure. I mean most of the exams will be done two days before the task and then I have two on the Monday after the task. I think I can do it"
She nodded."You are more than welcome to do so if you wish, Miss Potter."She says. "May I ask what has prompted this sudden change in behaviour regarding your academic performance?"
I sighed."At the beginning of summer, I was looking at some of my previous homework assignments and end of year tests and I realised just how much I was holding myself back. I knew I could do better so I decided to do something about it"I explained
Professor McGonagall smiles at me."I am glad that you realised you were holding yourself back Miss Potter"
"You knew?"I asked surprised
"I had my suspicions. I knew that you couldn't be stupid given how intelligent and talented your mother was. Your father was also quite talented. Although he did have a tendency to focus his talents much in the same way as Mr Fred and George Weasley" She smiles
Apart from ending up in the Hospital Wing things had been going well for me over the past two weeks and so it should have been no surprise to me when things started to go wrong.
Over the next 7 days, I had started having strange dreams and nightmares again. The last time I had them had been towards the end of summer. I had completely forgotten about it as it hadn't happened since and I wanted to focus on school. The dreams were the same as the one at the end of summer only they seemed to last for much longer. It would start off showing a really old house with an overgrown garden. It then switched to being inside what I assumed was the house going up the creaky wooden stairs. I would hear people whispering in a room at the top of the stairs. I was never able to fully make out what they were saying but I was able to make out a few words. My name was one of the words I was able to make out along with tournament,portkey and ritual. I had no idea what it meant but I could guess that it wasn't good. After arriving at the top of the stairs a large snake slithered past and headed towards the room. The door was slightly open but all I could see was the back of a person's head. As the snake slithered inside the door there were a few moments of silence before the door fully opened and I was rooted to the spot in fear. Before I was able to do anything all I saw was a blinding green light and I would wake up in bed panting and covered in sweat.
The dreams happened every night for a full week. The lack of sleep was causing me to become irritable and I would get annoyed and angry at the smallest of things. It was Monday the 6th of March and things went from bad to worse. In addition to not sleeping properly again, I had a major headache and my scar had been burning since the dreams started. I hadn't felt like eating that morning and was struggling to properly pay attention in class. During the first few classes, Ron and Seamus had seen I was in a bad mood and had decided to make it worse. It was during Potions when I finally snapped. I was trying to do my potion correctly but was struggling to focus properly due to the lack of sleep combined with my bad mood. Professor Snape had been walking around examining everyone's Potions and after seeing mine he commented on how bad it was. While he was walking away I muttered under my breath, "Snarky prat".
He had obviously heard me muttering and turned back around so fast I was surprised he didn't have whiplash."What was that Miss Potter?"
At this point, I was unable to hold in my temper and looked straight back at him."You heard me. I said 'snarky prat'"
"30 points from Gryffindor for your poor potion and detention with me for the next 3 nights for your insolence "He barks
"Whatever" I growl under my breath
"Another 10 points for your disrespect. I will not be spoken like that in my own classroom. Collect your things and leave, Miss Potter" He says turning back towards his desk
"Gladly". I collect my things and leave slamming the door on my way out.
I sighed as I walked away from the classroom. The further away I got from the dungeons I felt my anger slowly melt away. I decided to head up to the library to do some work on my assignments as it was supposed to be a double Potions session and I knew that I wouldn't be able to get much homework done over the next few days with having detention with Snape for the next few days. When class ended that day I was surprised when Hermione didn't come and find me to lecture me about my behaviour. I had a feeling that Neville had convinced her to give me some space. I knew that by dinnertime pretty much everyone would know about what happened and even though I was feeling a little bit calmer I knew that I would end up snapping if Hermione gave me a lecture or if people started staring and whispering so I decided to skip dinner and stay in the library. I knew it would be best to send Ted and Andy a letter explaining things so I wrote them a letter while in the library and during dinner when I knew that I could avoid people I sent Hedwig off with the letter.
Authors Note - Hey Guys I'm back and I hope everyone had a great New Years and that 2019 is going off to a great start for everyone. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Once again if you have any suggestions or ideas please feel free to review or PM me.