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. Many characters will be OOC.
Hayley POV
It was Monday morning and despite the lack of need for me to get up until just before lunch I still woke up at nine which was the time that History of Magic was starting. After spending about 10 minutes after I woke up laying in bed debating whether to get up or not I finally forced myself to get out of bed. I took my time getting a long warm bath and then slowly got dressed. Once I was properly dressed it was just turning ten. I was starting to get a little bit peckish but because lunch was in two hours I decided to call Dobby to bring me a quick snack up to the common room. I was sat eating a sandwich while reading through the book from Lucius when Professor McGonagall came into the common room. She didn't look surprised to see me so it was obvious that someone had told her that I could be found in the common room.
"Miss Potter, can you please explain why you are not in class?"She asks obviously not happy that whoever had told her that she could find me in the dorms and not in class was correct
"Because it's pointless. I don't exactly learn anything in History of Magic anyways. I'm still doing all of the homework and reading through the textbook so I know what's going on. It's not as if Professor Binns notices that I'm not there and besides excluding today I'm usually in the library during History of Magic reading various books to try and figure out ways to not die in this crazy tournament that I'm being forced to compete in"I say heatedly before taking a breath to calm myself down.
Professor McGonagall at least had the decency to look a little bit guilty before she spoke again."I suppose given the circumstances I can look past it."She says
I nod."Thank you, Professor"
"Now that isn't why I came. Professor Dumbledore would like to speak to you in his office" She explains
I frown and internally groan and sigh before nodding."Okay just give me a few minutes"I say standing up. I call Dobby to remove the empty plate and goblet before taking my book back up to my dorm and putting it in my trunk. I grab my robe from on top of my bed and put my shoes on before going back down to the common room and following McGonagall out of the common room and to Dumbledore's office.
When I arrived I sat down declining Dumbledore's offer of a lemon drop before I asked him what it was that he wanted to talk to me about not wanting to be here any longer than necessary. I still respected and trusted him but there were a lot of things that he kept to himself always claiming that it was for the greater good. Over the year I had started to doubt some of the things that Dumbledore said and ever since the meeting back in September regarding the events of the summer I had been getting the feeling that he was annoyed that I wasn't blindly trusting him as I had done for the past 3 years but I wasn't sure as to why.
"Professor McGonagall said that you wanted to talk to me about sir?"I asked having an idea that as it was only the first day back the chances of it being about school were quite slim.
"Yes, my dear I heard that you were at the Malfoy's New Years Eve party and I was curious as to why you attended given the recent history between the family and yourself?"He said looking at me with a twinkle in his eyes
"I figured that it would have been rude not to accept given the Malfoy's reasons for the invitation in the first place" I explained
"And their reasons were what exactly?"He asked
"Mr and Mrs Malfoy were unhappy with their son's actions towards me during the past few years and wanted to try and make amends for them. The Malfoys are very political and they knew it wouldn't do well for their reputation or their image if the press got word of some of the things that have occurred between two of us. Now they never said any of this but it was pretty obvious considering many of the guests in attendance were very high profile" I explained. Lucius had told me to stick to the story if Dumbledore asked any questions about it and Narcissa had given me some advice on how to explain things politically and vague.
I noticed his frown and the twinkle dimmed slightly as he thought about what I had said and how I had said it but it was only for a moment before the twinkle was back and he looked back at me.
"That is fine Miss Potter I was just concerned when I heard that you had attended considering who the Malfoy's are loyal to, "He said giving me a piercing stare.
"I know sir and I appreciate your concern. I myself was slightly worried but I know that they couldn't very well do anything to me with everyone there. They wouldn't risk damaging their image like that."I say smiling
He nods and allows me to leave. Once I have left his office I quickly head back to the common room. Looking at my watch on the way back I had just over an hour before lunch so I would be able to read some more of the book.
Saturday morning came around and I was in the library looking up different charms that could help me with the second task. Cedric had secretly handed me a small piece of parchment the day before after I had left dinner. I had read it that night in the dorms.
"Hayley I found out that the secret to listening to the egg is to listen to it under water. The message said
'Come seek us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground, and while your searching, ponder this; We've taken what you'll sorely miss, an hour long you'll have to look, and recover what we took, but past an hour - the prospect's black, too late, it's gone, it won't come back'.
I'm not exactly sure what it refers to but we should be able to figure it out. I'm not sure if Fleur or Viktor have figured it out so it would be best to see if they do. I know that we are competitors but it was only right to tell you considering you told me about the first task.
Cedric "
I had spent some time thinking about what it could mean before I got an idea. The first part obviously referred to mermaids and thanks to reading A History of magic a few times over the summer I knew that there was a mer-village at the bottom of the Black Lake. So it meant that something or somebody dear to each of the champions would be taken and placed at the bottom of the lake and we would have an hour to retrieve them.
My first priority was to find a spell or charm that would allow me to breathe underwater for a minimum of an hour. While I was searching through various books to find different spells I noticed someone take a seat opposite me. I knew without even having to look up that it was Blaise.
"Potter we need to talk about what happened last week," Blaise says quietly
"Why?"I responded
"You know exactly why. We kissed Hayley. We can't pretend that it never happened"He whispers
My breath stopped and I tensed slightly. This was the first time he had actually called me Hayley. Even at the party, he had called me Potter.
Blaise POV
I watched her tense up and I saw her eyes stop moving across the book she was currently reading. I watched as she slowly looked up at me for the first time since I sat down and I realised why. I had called her Hayley and not Potter like usual.
Sighing I looked at her."Hayley, we need to talk about it"I say again
"Okay let's talk, "She says
"So why did you run off after we kissed?"I asked her. I was hoping that it was just out of shock and not because she didn't like it or that she didn't like me. I wouldn't exactly be telling the truthful if I said that Hayley wasn't pretty. It wasn't just how she looked either it was the way that her smile could light up a room and how her eyes sparkled with joy when she laughed. It was also how no matter the situation she was always ready to put others before herself. It also hadn't gone unnoticed that since the start of the year she seemed to be more confident in herself. She was also very bright too, the fact that she took and passed the Arithmancy and Ancient Runes third-year exam with Exceeds Expectations and Outstanding grades respectively at the end of the summer was proof of that.
"I guess I was in shock. It was so sudden and I needed time to process what had just happened"She said sheepishly looking down at the desk nervously messing with the bracelet on her wrist.
Silently I breathed a sigh of relief. I was hopeful that this meant that there was a chance that something could happen between us. I took a breath steadying my nerves before looking back at her."Hayley, I really like you and I would like it if we could give us a try?"I asked her tentatively.
Hayley POV
I was once again shocked and was unable to formulate a sentence for at least a minute. It took me that long to actually process the fact that Blaise had said he liked me, I looked up and found Blaise's deep brown eyes staring straight back at mine. "You really like me?"I said still unable to process it properly
He nodded and hesitantly took one of my hands in his own."I really do"He says smiling
I nodded back."I like you too"I admitted before I could stop myself. I felt myself blush but couldn't stop a smile from spreading over my face."Id like to give us a try too"
After we spent a few hours together in the library we headed to lunch separating as we left the library. We had agreed it was best to see if things would work between us before telling people that we were dating.
(Large Time Skip)
It was the second week in February when I felt confident that I was able to properly cast the spell that I was using to be able to breathe underwater for the second task. I had decided to go with using the bubble head charm and Blaise had helped me research spells a lot and Tonks had helped me learn and practice the spell once I told her what I was planning on doing. She had even helped me practice a locator spell that I could cast once I was underwater to get to the mervillage as quickly as possible. Blaise and I had only been dating for about three weeks when Tonks found out. I had tried to keep it a secret but she had been suspicious that I was keeping something from her for a while until she walked in on the two of us kissing in the astronomy tower. She had interrogated Blaise for about a week before she was sure that he wasn't using me. She did say that I should expect the same thing from Andy and Ted. We both knew that as soon as we told our friends that it would be all over Hogwarts within a few hours or less and we decided that we should tell our families before we broke the news to our friends. We had both sent letters to our families last night and were anxiously waiting for their replies. I knew that as soon it became known that we were dating that Blaise would be used in the second task if it was indeed the person most dear to us that would be 'taken from us'.
During the months since we had been dating, I noticed that although it was sometimes hard to find time to be together it was very much it. When we were together we would spend talking and curled up together reading. In the beginning, I had been hesitant to open up not really knowing exactly how I had felt but after getting to know each other for a few days and spending time together it became clear to me how I felt. Blaise made me feel safe and I could be myself around him.
It was on Friday the 10th and I was leaving dinner with Hermione and Neville when I noticed a large crowd of people gathered in front of the stairs and there were raised voices so we walked over to see what was going on. When we were able to see what was going on I internally groaned and knew that it wasn't going to end well. Ron had picked a fight with Draco and some of his friends Blaise included. It luckily hadn't gotten physical and was just endless insults going back and forth. It wasn't until Ron said something to Blaise about his mother that I got angry and decided to get involved.
"Ron back off. How many times are you going to cause Gryffindor to lose points from picking fights to realise it's pointless and completely unnecessary" I say
"Are you seriously defending Slytherins now Hayley?"Ron asks angrily
"No Ron but you have been acting like a prat since September and I'm frankly sick of it" I shot back glaring at him
"So have you, Hayley. You hid away during summer making everyone worry and then you change your guardians so you can get all the attention from that. Then you enter your name in the goblet and lie about it and act like your so innocent then you go to Malfoy's party even though the two of you are supposed to hate each other. And now you're defending Slytherins of all people. I can't believe you would disgrace the Potter name like that. Your mum and dad would be ashamed of you. I bet there rolling in their graves" He said heatedly
As he finished the crowd was silent and tense as they looked to me wondering how I was going to react. I felt all of my self-control leave me and before I could stop myself I had stepped closer to Ron and punched him in the face. Time felt like it was running in slow motion and I watched as Ron's hand went to his nose which was bleeding and I noticed the shocked looks on everyone's faces. I took a small step backwards and the realisation of what I had just done came crashing in full force.
I heard Professor McGonagall raising her voice and watched out of the corner of my eye as she started to push through the crowd. I quickly took off towards the Astronomy Tower needing to be alone. I knew that they would eventually look for me but it wouldn't be the first place they would look for me giving some time to calm down.
It was less than an hour later when Tonks came up to the Astronomy tower and sat down next to me. "Dumbledores wanting to talk to you in his office. McGonagall is waiting for you downstairs. They also called mum and I should warn you" She says
I nod silently and slowly get to my feet looking at Tonks. "He deserved it you know" I muttered
"I don't doubt it," She says smiling
I smiled hugging her and began heading down the stairs to where Professor McGonagall was waiting for me.
Authors Note - Hey Guys hope you enjoyed the chapter. The next chapter should be uploaded next Sunday as it is going to be a shorter one compared to some of the others but after that, the next one will go up on either the 30th of December of the 6th of January. It depends on how long it takes me to write it as it is going to be quite long as I'm writing the second task. Thanks for reading.