Starting Over – Chapter 10

Disclaimer – I do not own anything to do with either Harry Potter or Twilight. Those honours go to JK Rowling and Stephanie Meyer respectively. The only things I own are the plot and any OC's.

Hayley (POV)

I didn't sleep very well the night before the meeting as even though I had gone to sleep quite early I was really stressed about it so I had been very restless throughout the night. I got myself ready and used the floo to go to New York. I did the same thing as I had before Sirius's trial, making sure to get a large coffee this time before heading to the MACUSA building. While Christina and I went over one more time while eating breakfast and drinking our coffees she looked at me.

"Hayley there's something I should tell you before the meeting starts" She says

"Okay what is it?" I asked curiously

"I was going over our counter arguments making sure we had covered every possibility and I thought of something that they might try to use against us. They might try and force you back to Britain because even though you are living in America under a special visa status, you are still a British citizen" She explains

"Okay so what would we do if they tried that?" I asked worried

"The only way we would be able to counter that is if you were an American citizen. That way you would have dual citizenship unless you ever wished to renounce your British citizenship" She tells me

"But I'm not a US citizen. Because of the special visa status I didn't think I needed citizenship yet" I said frowning

"Normally you wouldn't but they seem desperate enough to try anything. As for you not being a US citizen, that can be rectified pretty quickly. The wizarding and non magical governments in America have a much closer relationship than in Britain. I explained the situation to the non magical president and was able to get these approved and drawn up. All it will take is your signature" She said taking out a few documents from her desk drawer along with a pen and sliding them across to me

I looked at her in shock before quickly reading through the documents and hesitating slightly as I picked up the pen. "This won't get rid of my British citizenship will it?"

"No. You will have both US and British citizenship. Nothing else will change" She says with a reassuring smile

I took a breath as I signed where I needed to, noticing that both Christina and the non magical president had already signed it in advance before putting the pen down.

"Congratulations, you're officially a US citizen. We will sort out your other documents after the meeting" she says, making me smile.

It was about 10:45 when Christina was informed that the minister and his guests had arrived and they were sent in. I took a nervous breath as the three of them came inside and took their seats on the opposite side of the table. The first thing I noticed was how nauseating Dolores Umbridge was even before she had said anything. The matching all pink outfit was bound to give me a headache and she was wearing a very strong sickly sweet smelling perfume that was absolutely going to contribute to the headache. She looked very annoyed in fact all three of them did so that was already going to plan.

After the greetings and introductions were out of the way Fudge looked over at the two of us clearly wanting to get this over with as soon as possible. "Well I suppose we should get down to the reason we are here. Miss Potter must return to Britain and continue her magical education at Hogwarts until such a time as she is ready to defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named"

Christina looked at him raising an eyebrow "Can you tell me why she must return?"

"Miss Potter is prophesied to defeat Voldemort and has been since before she was born and in order to make sure she is properly trained she must resume her studies at Hogwarts" Dumbledore says

"Mr Dumbledore I am very aware of the prophecy and I will share my opinion on that in a moment but firstly I am curious as to why you feel Miss Potter must return to Hogwarts to continue her magical studies?" She asked

"Well where else would she attend?" Umbridge said confused

"Ilvermorny is just as excellent a school as Hogwarts if not more." Christina says

She didn't say anything but there was a look on Umbridge's face that meant she clearly thought otherwise.

"As for this prophecy, it states that a child born at the end of July to those who have thrice defied him, would have the power to defeat the Dark Lord. Originally this could have pertained to two children, Miss Potter and Mr Longbottom. He believed it was Miss Potter and targeted her family thus making her the chosen one. That would mean Miss Potter would have to defeat him as the only one with the power required to do so." She says

"Correct, that is the idea. So you understand why she must defeat him' Dumbledore says interrupting her

"Excuse me Mr Dumbledore but I wasn't finished. That may be your interpretation of the prophecy but as far as we are concerned Miss Potter already fulfilled the prophecy when she defeated Voldemort the night he attempted to kill her" Christina says giving Dumbledore a pointed look

Dumbledore looked at me directly. "Hayley I know that this is difficult for you and understand that you are probably very scared but you can't just run from your destiny'

I couldn't believe that he had the nerve to say that to me. I wanted so badly to curse him but I settled for glaring at him instead. "With all due respect sir no you don't. You don't know how difficult this is because you're not the one going through it. Also don't try acting all sympathetic and sorry now because it isn't going to work. Up until now you haven't cared about me or my well being at all so there's no pont starting now"

"Hayley every decision I have made has been in your best interest" He says

"Who are you to decide what is best for me? I lost my parents at 15 months old and you left me, on the doorstep in November I might add, with people that hated my very existence despite my parents' will stating that I was never to be given to them due to their hatred of anything magical. Then you didn't even bother to check up on me at all for the next 10 years. Then every year I beg you not to send me back there and I come back every September skinnier than when I left . If none of that doesn't worry you enough to check that i'm okay then I don't know what does" I said to him getting more and more upset

"I promise you if I had any idea of what was going on I would have put a stop to it" He says

"I know that Mrs Figg was reporting things back to you not to mention the amount of times Madame Pomfrey must have reported the old injuries that hadn't healed properly and how skinny I was. So don't bother saying that you didn't have any idea because I know the truth Dumbledore. You knew yet you chose to ignore it" I said sighing

"Hayley i'm truly sorry that you feel that way but you had no choice but to stay with your aunt and uncle. The blood wards created by your mother's protection only worked so long as you were living with maternal relatives. There was no other alternative" He explains

"There are other wards and protection spells you could have used and placed me with someone that actually cared about me. Then I wouldn't have grown up not knowing anything about my heritage" I said sighing

"It was for the greater good. You were better off away from it all until you were ready to handle it all. I didn't want to burden you with so much at such a young age" He says trying to get me to see his point

"Well that backfired, didn't it. I grew up hated and mistreated because of things that I couldn't control and had no idea about. I had to grow up fast, I didn't get a childhood. So much for not burdening me at a young age. Plus you just said it Dumbledore. For the greater good. You cared more about the greater good than my wellbeing." I said shaking me head

"Are you saying that he should have put your needs above everyone else's. Don't you think that sounds selfish?" Umbridge pipes up

"To the 5 year old child being forced to cook and clean and only getting scraps to eat. The 8 year old who has no friends or anyone to confide in. Or the 11 year old clinging for dear life onto anyone who shows her the smallest shred of kindness because she's had to face the world alone almost her entire life, no I don't think it's selfish" I said feeling tears pool in my eyes desperately trying not to cry

I looked back over at Dumbledore as he had chosen not to say anything." Do you know how many times I begged for everything to just end. How many times I went to sleep hoping desperately that I didn't wake up so I wouldn't have to go through it all again"

"Hayley, if you felt this badly why didn't you say anything?" He said slowly his eyes wide not realising it had been this bad

"Why would I. By the time I started Hogwarts I knew that no one would believe me or take me seriously so I just kept it to myself." I said looking down blinking away the tears before looking back up

"Be that as it may Miss Potter you still need to return to Britain to deal with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" Minister Fudge said completely ignoring everything else I had just said

I shook my head laughing slightly, unable to believe it. "No Minister, I do not. I will not be returning to Britain or Hogwarts. I will be staying here"

"This is not a matter up for discussion Miss Potter. You will cease this insolence and return to Britain at once" Umbridge said sternly

"Tell me Minister, how exactly do you plan to force a US citizen to return somewhere they do not wish to return to?" I asked curious smirking

"What are you talking about? You are a British citizen and as such I can force you to return" He says frowning

"Incorrect. If I were just a British citizen you would be able to force me to return but unfortunately for you I am also a citizen of the United States" I said smirking as Christina took out my citizenship documents that were signed by myself, her and the muggle president for them to look at.

"Now because Hayley has dual citizenship, legally you cannot force her to do anything, least of all return to Britain. You may request that she return but she does not have to agree" Christina says taking back the documents after the three had finished looking at them

"This is preposterous. Surely she can't do this, Minister?" Umbridge says to Fudge

"I believe you'll find that I can. Besides this wouldn't have happened if not for your mistakes" I said calmly looking between the three of them mostly at Dumbledore and Fudge

"How is this our fault?" Fudge asks

"Firstly if you had admitted that Voldemort was back in the first place instead of accusing me of lying and slandering my name all summer I might not have come to the conclusion that the witches and wizards of Britain didn't appreciate anything I did" I said to Fudge

"Secondly if Dumbledore hadn't decided to have my friends and family abandon and ignore me all summer when I needed them the most, I might have felt that there was actually things in Britain worth staying for" I said looking at Dumbledore

"So no, I will not be returning to Britain or Hogwarts and will not be made to feel guilty about it. This was caused by your cowardice and reluctance to do the right thing as well as Dumbledore's inability to see beyond the greater good. I will say this as a final warning, I do not like being pushed about or forced into doing something but if I am pushed I will push back just as much. Meaning I do not wish to do so but if you do not cease your attempts to try and force me to deal with Voldemort I will be left with no choice but to revoke my citizenship and denounce any and all ties and alliances to Britain" I said calmly giving them an even look

"You are not serious. You wouldn't dare" Umbridge says

"Do you really wish to test that theory?" I questioned her with a glare

"Is she bluffing Dumbledore?" Fudge asked looking at him

Dumbledore looked over at me and I narrowed my eyes further and folded my arms showing him I was serious and that I was certainly not bluffing." Miss Potter is capable of a lot more than people give her credit for, I wouldn't like to guess what she would do if pushed too far"

The smile on my face quickly turned into a smirk as I looked between the three of them." So balls in your court, Minister, what will it be?"

"Fine we will agree to leave you alone, but the question of what we do about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named still remains?" He asks

"Well you could start by calling him by his name. It's pointless to call him He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or the Dark Lord or anything else other than his name. A because it's pathetic to be afraid of a name and B because it's not going to matter, he'll try and kill you either way" I said bluntly

"Minister Fudge as of right now Voldemort is Britain's problem and MACUSA is not getting involved, should he or any of his forces make any attempt to attack the US or a US citizen that will change" Christina says

The three of them leave soon after and I lean back in my chair sighing in frustration. It hadn't ended in physical violence so in my eyes it had gone well but it had still drained me emotionally. Christina and I talked for a while as we sorted out all my documents now that I was officially a citizen of the US. Once that was all finished I left and instead of going straight home I decided to have a walk round New York for a bit and get some lunch. Despite it still being the middle of November the city was in the middle of getting decorated for Christmas. It was very beautiful but it seemed way too early. Even at Hogwarts we didn't start decorating until the beginning of December.

I found a nice place where I could sit inside out of the cold and get some lunch. After lunch I decided that after the day I had I was going to treat myself to some retail therapy. I went from shop to shop buying pretty much anything that I liked the look of within reason. There were also a few birthdays coming up so I decided to get the presents sorted. Alice's birthday was on the 26th of November. Fleur's birthday was on the 5th of December and Jasper's birthday was on the 19th of December.

Once I was done in the muggle shops I headed into the shops in the wizarding centre to buy a few things before flooing home when I was finished. When I got home I started putting everything away that I had bought into my wardrobe before putting the presents away to wrap in a few days' time. I sat on my laptop and now that I was an official citizen I decided to go about starting the process to get my drivers licence. After some research I found out that first I would need to take a permit test as well as a vision test. After passing those I would get my learners permit which meant I would only be able to drive provided I had a fully licensed driver with over 5 years of experience in the car supervising me.

Then in order to get an intermediate driver's licence I would have to be at least 16, have held the learners permit for at least 6 months, have completed at least 50 hours of supervised driving and a Washington driver's education program before I was eligible to take the driving test. I didn't mind having to wait till I was 16 to take my drivers test and drive unsupervised because it was only 8 and a half months away and it meant that I had plenty of time to learn how to drive and to also get comfortable behind the wheel.

Due to my eyesight I sensed it might be a problem so I decided to see if there was anything magical that could be done to improve my eyesight. I knew that there were spells and potions that could permanently improve my eyesight so I decided that I would make an appointment at the wizarding hospital in Seattle for this coming Saturday to see what could be done. The wizarding hospital in Seattle was quite different from St Mungo's. It was called Wolfe Medical Centre, named after Xavier Wolfe who founded it back in the 1920's. It had many different departments and dealt with both muggle and magical injuries and illnesses with many of the doctors and nurses having trained as healers in the wizarding world along with some level of training in the muggle world.

Once I had an idea of what could be done about my eyesight and when I would be able to book my permit test and my vision test. I also started thinking about who I could ask to help me learn to drive and I eventually decided that I would ask Carlisle or Esme next time I saw them. I got up to get myself a glass of water and when I sat back down I saw that I had an email from Christina which confused me considering I had seen her only a few hours ago. I shrugged and clicked on the email wondering if there had been a development since this afternoon. As I read through the email I sighed heavily at what I read.

"Dear Hayley,

Given the things you said in today's meeting I think it would be worthwhile if you spoke to somebody about everything. Even if you don't think those things now or if you don't think it is that bad anymore I highly suggest it. Talking to someone, especially an impartial third party, can be very helpful in working through your trauma. I am not going to force you into talking to someone if you really don't want to but I do hope you give it a try. I have included the contact details of a licensed therapist who works at Wolfe Medical Centre in Seattle.

Her name is Dr Willow Carver and she was in the same year as my older sister at Ilvermorny. She is a muggleborn witch and after graduating she went on to become a psychologist in the non magical world before training as a healer in the magical world. She is highly recommended and I think you would benefit from making an appointment but it is completely your decision.

Christina"

I sighed knowing that she was right. I would benefit from talking to a professional about everything it was just difficult for me to admit when I needed help. Which was another reason why therapy would probably help. I sighed reluctantly as I wrote down the contact details and made a mental note to get in touch with her soon to see about arranging an initial appointment.

I went upstairs and wrote a letter to Sirius and Remus explaining how the meeting had gone as they had been eager for me to tell them. I also sent Neville a letter to see how he was as it had been a few days since I had last written to him because I had been so preoccupied with everything going on. I made something simple for dinner not really feeling like cooking anything complicated and watched TV before going to bed that night fairly early because I was extremely tired from the day's events and because I had school the next day.

General (POV)

Unbeknownst to Hayley as she was sat writing her letters and getting ready for bed that night there was someone perched in the tree, that looked into her bedroom, watching her. Regardless of if she had been paying more attention or not she wouldn't have been able to see the tall pale redhead figure that was watching her closely from afar using their supernatural sight. Even as Hayley turned out her light and went to sleep she carefully kept watching her.

She was exercising every ounce of her limited self control that she had not to pounce on her chosen prey there and then despite how much every instinct in her body was telling her to so she would get to finally taste the blood that she had been obsessed with for months. She stayed there all night watching over to make sure her prey remained alive. She didn't care about the girl's well being nor did she have any plans to keep her alive in the long run. She just wanted to make sure no one else did her harm. The only person who was allowed to kill this girl was her, which would be when she finally got to taste the girl's blood. By the time the sun began to rise in the early morning and the girl began to wake up the figure was long gone as if she had never been there at all.

Author's Note – Hey guys. Happy 2023! I am so sorry about the prolonged delay. I have been extremely busy with work and personal life giving me very little time to sit down and write. I would love to be able to promise a more stable upload schedule but unfortunately I'm not at a place where I can do that but I will try to upload at least once or twice a month but no guarantees. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I certainly had a lot of fun writing it especially the end. I am slowly starting to include some more of the plot points and ideas from the Twilight series now that some of the more major ideas I wanted to cover to do with the Harry Potter side of things are out of the way for now. Some of you may know where I am going with this idea but if you don't there will be more information to come in the next few chapters. So stay tuned and I'll see you next time.