Taking Chances and Making Changes

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

I decided to leave it a few weeks before trying to figure out the clue inside the egg and let things calm down. I noticed that the bullying from the other houses started to calm down after the first task. The Slytherins continued it but it wasn't as bad as it had been a few weeks prior especially as they had stopped messing with my potions in class. I still hadn't talked to Ron or Hermione and I wasn't going to. I was willing to attempt a friendship with them but I wasn't willing to apologise for doing nothing wrong. It was the 10th of December and we had been told yesterday about the Yule Ball which would be taking place on Christmas Eve. It was mandatory for all champions to attend with a date. All students from 4th year and above were invited to attend but third years could attend if they were brought as a date. I still had no idea who I wanted to go with. I sighed as I left Arithmancy and began heading to History of Magic. On my way there I noticed Fleur heading in the direction of the library on her own clearly not having any more classes for the day. Since the first task, we had talked a few times. Deciding to skip history of magic seeing as it was pointless I headed in the same direction hoping to talk to her.

After catching up with her outside of the library she admitted that she was trying to figure out the clue inside of the egg. I nodded and smiled."I haven't figured it out either. If you like we can research together"I said

She frowned."I know we have been talked a few times but were 't we be against each other"

"Fleur I'm not bothered about winning or losing. I don't even want to be a champion.I'm just doing enough to stay alive" I say as I sit down at a table inside the library. "Besides it's nice to have another girl to talk to. I don't really have many girl-friends to talk to. Most of my friends are boys. You and Ginny are the only girl-friends I really have"

She smiles slightly."You consider me a friend?"She asks slightly shocked

"Why is that such a shock?"I ask curiously

"Well we haven't known each other long and most girls are jealous of me due to my veela heritage" She admits

"I don't care that you're a quarter veela. Besides when I was announced as a champion apart from the other champions and a few of my close friends you were one of the few people that didn't harass me about it or call me a cheat. You believed me straight away when I said that I didn't put my name in the cup" I explained

An hour later the two of us began to head out of the library. We hadn't done any researching choosing to talk and get to know each other instead. As we started to walk down the stairs Fleur turned to me."Hayley do you have a date for the Yule Ball yet?"

I shake my head."No one's asked me yet and I have no idea on who to ask. What about you, do you have a date?" I ask kindly

She shakes her head too much to my surprise."A few boys have asked me but I turned them down. I don't know any of them and most of them are only interested in me because of my looks."She explains

I nod"Well is there anyone you have got your eye on that you might like to ask?"I ask her

She blushes."Well, there is one person I have noticed. He's in Slytherin and I think that he's called Declan" She tells me.

"You mean Declan Longbottom, the 5th year"I clarify while smiling inside

"Yes, do you happen to know him?"Fleur asks hopefully

"Yeah, I do. He's a friend. His cousin Neville and I are really close"I explain to her

"What is he like?"She asks me

"He's nice. He can be quite reserved and quiet but that's just because he doesn't have many friends in Slytherin or in the other houses. Most people think that he is a typical Slytherin but he is just really misunderstood. He means well and has good intentions" I tell her

She nods."Thank you, Hayley"

As we get down to the ground floor she meets up with a few of her friends and waves goodbye as she heads off to where the Beauxbaton students stay while I head to meet up with Tonks.

Authors note - Hello Everyone sorry for the delay and for the short chapter. I haven't been well and I have been extremely busy so I haven't had a lot of time to write. Because of this, the Yule Ball will take place in Chapter 14 rather than Chapter 13. Thank you for reading.