Taking Chances and Making Changes
Disclaimer – I do not own anything from Harry Potter. Than honour goes to JK Rowling. I only own the ideas and any OC's. Anything you recognise does not belong to me.
Hayley (POV)
Over the next few days I slowly got back to my normal self. I was once again concentrating in class and spending more time with my friends. I was ignoring the comments from the other students and was the amount of detentions I was getting from Umbridge had slowed down on account of restraining myself and controlling my temper whenever she tried to get a reaction out of me. I still hadn't told anyone about what actually happened in the detentions and I intended on keeping it that way. The less people that knew the better although there had been a few times when my friends had noticed me rubbing my hand to relieve the pain a few times especially after the detentions but I just pretended that my hand was cramping from writing lines. They seemed to believe it but for how long they would accept the excuse was anyone's guess. So apart from a few problems things were going alright overall, so I really shouldn't have been to surprised when something went wrong.
It was a few weeks later and was now the middle of November. It was getting much colder and it had even started to snow. I had never much liked the cold. I personally found it really hard to sleep when I was cold. I could never get comfortable and would always lead to a bad nights sleep. I had a bad nights sleep and I was nit looking forward to the day ahead when I got up or more accurately when Hermione forced me out of bed saying that if I didn't get up now I would be late for class. After getting up I was left with just enough time to hurriedly eat two small pieces of toast that Neville grabbed from the Great Hall for me as we headed down to the dungeons for our double Potions lesson.
In the lesson we were learning about Dream potions. They were apparently used as a way to recall dreams to help better understand or decipher a specific dream. Because of this they were used mainly by seers. When brewed correctly the user would drink one small vial full before going to sleep and it would recall the last dream they had. It wasn't too difficult of a potion to brew but it could be quite volatile until the last few steps and if the temperature was too high the potion could explode and had the potential for unpleasant consequences if someone came into contact with either an incorrect or unfinished sample.
If that was to happen there was no telling what sort of hallucinations or nightmares one could experience. For this reason we were working in pairs. One person to monitor the potion and one person to prepare and add the ingredients. Snape had decided to pair us up randomly and I was paired with Susan Bones from Hufflepuff. She admitted that she wasn't the best at potions and didn't want to mess it up so I agreed to prepare the ingredients while she monitored the potion. I managed to stifle a yawn as I gathered the ingredients needed and began to prepare them according to the recipe.
Due to my tiredness I accidentally cut up too much of one of the ingredients and without realising I added it all to the cauldron believing it was the correct amount and in addition to this Susan had unknowingly made the temperature of the flame too hot for the potion.
The two of us continued without realising anything was wrong as the potion looked as it should be according to the book. Susan had accidentally knocked the vial we were supposed to place the potion in when we were done and she went to the supply cabinet to get another one. While she was dong that I was glancing between the book and the cauldron to make sure the colour matched the description in the recipe.
When I looked back at it I noticed it was bubbling quite violently and just as I noticed how high the temperature was, the potion exploded out of the cauldron splattering over me. In the shock of the explosion I jumped back and tripped over my own feet falling backwards hitting my head against the wall hearing a mixture of muffled voices before blacking out completely.
General (POV)
After the explosion Snape had called for everyone to remain calm and to stay away from Hayley. He told everyone to cancel their flames, gather their things and leave. While they were doing this he cast a patronus and used it to send a message to Madame Pomfrey as well as to Professor McGonnagall and the Headmaster. He checked on Hayley from a distance casting a spell to check on her vitals and sighed with relief finding that she was okay for the moment. Once everyone had left he levitated Hayley out of the classroom and up to the Hospital Wing. When he arrived Madame Pomfrey was already waiting ready. He lowered her down onto a bed and they started using various spells to both vanish the potion and to assess her condition.
"Severus what happened? "McGonnagall asked when herself and the headmaster arrived.
"My class was brewing Dream Potions and a mistake must have been made while brewing as it exploded and Hayley was splattered by it. She tripped backwards and hit her head as she fell" He explained
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow hearing Snape call her by her first name instead of Potter which was something he hadn't heard him do before but decided not to bring it for the time being.
"So what can be done?" Minerva asks
"Unfortunately not a lot. We've been able to clear the potion residue from her skin and clothes and we can treat both the burns and the head injury but all we will be able to do is wait for her to wake up. As for the side affects of the potion there is nothing we can do, Miss Potter is going to have to suffer through whatever hallucinations or nightmares the potion makes her experience until such a point that she wakes up." Madame Pomfrey explains
"And how long will that be?" Dumbledore asks
"There's no telling. She could wake up in a few hours or it could take a few days or more .It all depends on how severe the head injury is" Snape explains
Hayley (POV)
I opened my eyes and found myself laying in bed in the dorms and I immeditely knew something wasn't right. I wasn't in the Gryffindor dorms. Instead I was in the Slytherin dorms. I quickly jumped out of bed not having any idea what was going on. Thankfully no one else was here so I ran to the bathroom and took a few moments to compose myself. I started thinking on things for a while and eventually I came to only one conclusion. This was one of the nightmares or hallucination that I was experiencing because of the side effects of coming into contact with the Dream potion which Susan and I had accidently brewed incorrectly. I glanced at myself in the mirror and stood there in shock at my appearance.
I could hardly recognise myself. My hair was jet black instead of the brownish black colour it was normally and had purple streaks throughout. It was also slightly shorter than normal. My eyes were the same colour but there was something different about them. There was a dangerous look in them that I couldn't place and was honestly quite frightening. It was cold and calculating. I headed out of the bathroom and over to my trunk. I started looking through my things seeing if I could figure out what had happened and why everything was different.
I found a journal and started to have a look through it and suddenly things started making sense. Apparantly instead of taking me in after my parents death they left me at an orphanage. I had grown up in horrible conditions full of hatred and abuse. I had turned bitter and was filled with resentment and it frightened me. I had always tried to hold on to hope while with the Dursley's and was resolved to not give into the darkness no matter what. It seemed that one of my worst nightmares was seeing myself having broken that resolve and having given into the darkness inside me.
I sighed as I took a seat on my bed and continued to read through the journal. I had no idea how long it would be until I woke up and it made sense to know about this other version of myself. As I read through, things kept gong from bad to worse. It seemed that every good thing that happened for me, the opposite had happened.
Everything that kept me going and gave me something to fight for in my reality was flipped and was something that pushed alternate me further into the darkness. This alternate me didn't even seem to have any friends to rely on and it hit me just how much my friends were my grounding force and that without them the chances of me keeping the darkness at bay were extremely slim.
General (POV)
In Dumbledore's office the House heads were having their fortnightly staff meeting and it was coming to a close when the topic of Hayley's condition was brought up.
"How is Miss Potter doing Albus? "Professor Sprout asked
"I spoke with Poppy a few hours before the meeting and there had been no change in Miss Potter's condition. Poppy says that unfortunately there is very little that can be done at the moment apart from making sure she is comfortable and that her vitals are okay. The time that we will be of the most help is once she has woken up. People who have been exposed to unfinished Dream Potions often struggle with trauma for some time after" He explains
"The question is will she even want to confide in us. It isn't exactly a secret that Hayley has become very distrusting towards many people lately. We have all noticed how closed off she is becoming to all but a few. I worry this will cause her to withdraw further than she already has "Professor McGonnagall says knowing Dumbledore would know exactly what she was referring to.
"Be that as it may Minerva we must be there for her regardless" He says
In the hospital wing Madame Pomfrey had allowed a few of Hayley's friends to visit her at a time but she had strictly said no more than 4 at once. Currently Hermione, Ron, and Neville were there. Hermione glanced at the boys biting her lip slightly with a sigh.
"What do you think the potions showing her. I mean I know it's supposed to be a mixture of her worst nightmares and fears but what do you think that is?" She asks
"Is it bad that I can't think of anything. I mean Hayley's our best friend. Hell she's practically family and we have absolutely no idea what she could be experiencing right now." Neville says
"Don't feel bad Neville. Hayley feels like she has to hide this sort of stuff from everyone, even the people that mean the most to her because she doesn't ever want to feel like she's burdening us. Its just the way she is" Ron says
"But she shouldn't have to feel like that. People rely on her so much to be the one to fix thins whether they want to admit it or not. We've all had to have her be the one to get in the middle of an argument or to be the judge of which one of us is right and which one of us is wrong even if we don't realise it. Hayley needs to know that were here for her in the same way if she needs it" Neville sighs
"We've told her that countless times before but she's beyond stubborn. She won't admit when she needs help" Hermione says
"And how many times have we let it go at that point. We give her space and it never goes any further. I'm saying when it gets like that we need to show her that were not going to let it go. If she wants to be stubborn we'll show her that we can be even more stubborn. She might get annoyed and frustrated but she'll thank us in the long run. Sometimes the only way to get people to open up is to give them no choice but to open up." Neville says
"How do you know all this Neville?" Ron asks in slight shock
"Declan's mom is a halfblood and she's studying to be a muggle therapist. I spent a couple weeks with them over summer and I had a read through some of her books that she had lying around. It was actually quite interesting and I guess I remembered some of it" He explains shrugging slightly
They left a little later when t was time for dinner. They didn't really want to leave in case Hayley woke up but Madame Pomfrey insisted and practically shooed them out of the Hospital Wing.
Authors Note – Hey guys i'm so sorry for my absence. I had a lot going on between both work and my personal life and it left me with no time to do any writing. I'm hoping to get back on track with my writing and posting schedule but it solely depends on how my shifts work out. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.