"Your punishment will be to spend this Saturday working in the Hufflepuff Graveyard," Professor McGonagall's eyes flashed as she stood before Haylie and Damon. Snape had just informed her of their meeting in the graveyard the night before, and from what Haylie could tell, McGonagall was angry. Damon gulped beside her, obviously part scared of McGonagall's reaction and part annoyed at Snape, who stood beside McGonagall grinning.
"You obviously enjoy your time there, so you will clean the graveyard from the very first gravestone to the very last. You will be raking leaves, polishing headstones, picking up sticks, replacing dead flowers with fresh daisies, and fixing broken parts of the fence. You will keep working until all the work is done. Do I make my self clear?"
"Sure," Damon grunted, glaring at Snape. Haylie just nodded, not caring what she had to do, only hoping that the cloaked man would not return. Once McGonagall was assured that both children understood, she excused them from her office. As Haylie walked through the door she saw Corinne waiting for her near the statue of Godric Gryffindor, one of the four founders of Hogwarts.
"So...How bad is it?" Corinne asked as both herself and Haylie continued down the busy hallway. Dinner was about to begin in the Great Hall, so all students were to report there immediately. The First years seemed to be the only students who followed all directions when they were meant to be followed. The older grades didn't listen as much.
"I have to spend all Saturday in the Hufflepuff Graveyard with Damon," Haylie sighed, walking into the Great Hall with a huge group of other Gryffindors. Corinne's nose wrinkled in disappointment. Both girls sat down near the end of the Gryffindor table and waited for more of their friends to arrive.
Haylie snatched her small book bag out of Corinne's hands. The time was 9:30AM, the Saturday Haylie and Damon were supposed to clean the graveyard. As usual Haylie's friends couldn't help but insist upon joining her.
"Don't even think about coming with me," Haylie ordered both Eileen and Haylie," I wouldn't want you to have to spend any of your time in detention!" Eileen let out a strange noise that told Haylie she was annoyed directly after Haylie said this. Eileen had always been one to say her mind and never minded telling people what to do.
"We can't leave you there with Shockley for... a whole day! What kind of friends would we be?" Eileen shook her head and grabbed her own stuffed book bag from the foot of her already made bed. Haylie wouldn't allow it.
"I don't want you to get in trouble," Haylie exclaimed, walking to the door, "I'm serious Eileen, don't follow me!" Something about Eileen's eyes changed. The spark that had flashed only a few moments ago had burnt out. Haylie didn't understand what had happened, but she knew that Eileen wouldn't follow her. Her conscience wouldn't allow it.
The chilly November breeze whipped Haylie's hair across her face. Small soft pink circles appeared upon her cheeks and she wrapped her coat closer to her body. Even in the short hours before breakfast students were running around the courtyard, studying or hanging out with friends. Her eyes squinted as the breeze once again approached Haylie's face.
"Why is it so cold?" Haylie mumbled quietly, longingly turning her neck to take one last look at the students having fun behind her. Grudgingly, Haylie pursued her journey through the Hogwarts grounds toward the Hufflepuff Graveyard. As she moved further away from the courtyard the joyful noises of kids talking and laughing dyed away and the bright sunshine became gloomier beneath the trees. Once she could finally see the graveyard from a distance, Haylie sighed and froze. She closed her eyes and hoped that Damon had already reached the graveyard. With Damon there Haylie knew that the cloaked figure wouldn't attack her or even come close.
"Come on Haylie!" Damon's voice reached her frozen ears. She could see him waving to her from behind a gravestone and she smiled. The immediate feeling of fear she had felt before had been blown away with the wind. The figure couldn't harm her now.
"All right" Haylie yelled, hurrying to the entrance of the graveyard. During the daytime the graveyard seemed less foreboding and creepy. In fact, Haylie felt no sign of unwelcomed feelings of fear commence her. She saw Damon hunched over near one of the tombstones, polishing every inch of the tarnished marble. When Haylie entered Damon turned his head to face her and lifted from the ground. He wiped off some dirt that had stained his jeans and handed her a clean dishrag. Haylie's smile faltered and she reluctantly took the soft rag. Damon started to laugh and handed her some cleaner as well.
"Sorry Hun, but we aren't allowed to use magic here," Damon laughed, "Did you think we wouldn't have to get our hands dirty?" Haylie began to deny that accusation but realized that that was exactly what she had expected.
"Yeah," Haylie muttered, "Why do you have to call me Hun?"
"Because..." Damon lowered down to the Earth and continued to polish.
"Because why?" Haylie demanded, placing her fists on her hips. Damon just shook his head, never taking his eyes from the stone, with a huge smile plastered upon his face. Haylie couldn't help but smile as well as she walked to the tombstone beside Damon and began to deeply clean the stone.
"So..." Haylie started, glancing at Damon, but quickly returning her gaze to the imprinted words on the dirty marble, "How are you doing with the classes?"
"They're okay, but I don't think I'm very good at Charms," Damon responded, finally completing his tombstone and moving to the next, which was unfortunately even filthier than the first.
"Yeah Charms is hard, but it's really fun. I don't like Potions," Haylie told him, shaking off a small black spider that was crawling slowly up her pant-leg. Damon shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't mind Potions," Damon said, smirking as h looked at Haylie, "But Snape doesn't hate me like he hates you."
"Well, I can deal with him," Haylie said knowingly, completing her cleaning and standing up. Both children continued to clean the headstones with little or no talking between them; until Haylie reached the one headstone she desperately wanted an answer about.
"Is that your mother?" Haylie whispered, pointing to the next gravestone ready to be polished. Damon's eyes seemed cloudy as he peered at the gravestone Haylie was motioning to. Sadness seemed to overcome the boy who Haylie had never understood or even cared about. It would be a few seconds before Damon finally cleared his dry throat and answered her question.
"Yeah," Damon 's voice cracked. Under his brave act, Haylie could tell that there was another emotion rushing through Damon's body. The emotion of true hurt and pain had never been present in Haylie's life. Of course she had felt sadness and grief in a collection of very few instances, but never had Haylie dealt with an emotion of pain so powerful that it consumes your entire body and soul. Although Damon looked perfectly fine, this deep feeling seemed to waft from him, it showed through his hazy eyes. Even though Haylie understood that opening his past wounds would hurt him even more, Haylie's curiousity reigned over her compassion and she asked the question that had haunted her.
"How did she die?"
"She died a long time ago," Damon responded almost immediately, "My mother was a muggle-born, as was my father. You remember when Weasley told you about the Muggle-born defeaters, right? You remember what they did and who they were, right?" The gloomy fact was that Haylie did remember what the muggle-born defeaters had done, but she also remembered Damon's instant and horrified reaction to them. From what she could remember, Ron had said that the muggle-born defeaters were followers of Voldemort. He also told her that their targets were muggle-born witches and wizards. Over one hundred brutal murders were committed.
" Yeah I remember," Haylie reassured him, bowing her head low. He then continued with his story.
"Well, my mother was murdered by them. I was very young at the time, but I do still remember. Mom and me took a trip to Hogsmeade to buy some stuff...I don't even remember what we had gone there for. It was such a nice day to, all sunny and bright. Anyway, we were walking down the street near the Hogs Head and all of a sudden we could hear a loud, blood curdling scream arise from one of the stores. Then four people dressed in a disguise came out with their wands in hand and headed right towards us. My mother instinctively pushed me into a bush beside us and the next thing I knew I was in the dark, hearing my mother die from within the needle sharp branches of the bush."
"Oh...that's horrible!" Haylie cried, an unwelcome tear trickling down her already cold cheek, "Did your father come get you."
"No," Damon continued polishing the headstone, even when it was already as clean as a whistle, "My father was killed...murdered by them that same day. Only he was at home. His grave is in the Gryffindor Graveyard." Haylie couldn't believe what she was hearing or witnessing. How could Damon not be breaking down into fits of incessant crying? How could he not be effected by his brutal past in the least? Haylie turned away from him, not wanting him to see her crying. Already an hour into her detention and she had had enough.
"That's it!" Haylie jumped to her feet throwing her rag and cleaner to the dirty ground, "I've had enough of cleaning. I don't care if we need to hide in our dormitories until dinner! I will not stay in this stupid graveyard all day long." With that determined speech she took out her wand.
"Alles Cleanarmis," Haylie shouted, flicking her wand slightly in the direction of the tombstones. In an instant all the stones were cleaned, shining in the sun with no dirt or dust covering them. Next, Haylie moved on to the fence. Soon she had cleaned the whole entire graveyard with just a couple flicks of a wand and one powerful spell. Damon stood up and smiled.
"Good job Granger," Damon tilted his chin upwards, "I never thought you had it in ya!"
"Oh believe me," Haylie said proudly, "I am very surprising when I want to be." Damon's smile told her that she had definitely impressed his own large ego.
"Now if you don't mind," Haylie began to walk away, "I would like to go hang out with my friends in the nice, warm dormitories of Hogwarts."
"Oh wait," Damon halted her, "I almost forgot to give this to you." Haylie spun on her heel and stood a few inches from Damon. In his outstretched hand he held a small white envelope with the name HAYLIE written neatly on the front. Her eyes grew big as she stared at the letter. Then she looked up at Damon.
"What...What is this?" Haylie stammered, all her happiness draining from her body. Damon shrugged his shoulders and pushed the letter into Haylie's hands.
"I don't know. I swear I didn't read it," Damon told her, " I found it on the floor in the Library and I guessed it was for you, since it says Haylie and all."
"Well, thanks," Haylie turned and ran away from him. She now knew her deepest concerns were answered. Damon was the cloaked figure.