Taking Chances and Making Changes – Chapter – 29

Author's Note – This story is an AU. It follows canon events up until the events of Prisoner of Azkaban. Several canon events still take place throughout the story, but it does not comply completely with canon events.

Disclaimer – I own nothing excepts the OC's. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling. Anything you recognise from the books/films is not mine.

Hayley (POV)

The next weeks were mostly uneventful. I spent a lot of time in my room, practicing different spells from both the Malfoy and Potter family spell books. Hermione also decided to borrow whichever book I wasn't using at the time, and learn as much of the theory behind the spells as she could, until we returned to Hogwarts and could actually practice the spells properly. In between, Hermione decided that it would be a good idea for herself, Ron and I to spent time getting a head start on studying the curriculum for our fifth year from our textbooks, once we had done our school supply shopping. Despite his initial reluctance, Ron agreed that it was a good idea to start studying early, so we had some kind of an idea of what we were learning when we returned to school in a few weeks time.

It was around the 15th of August when our 4th year exam results arrived in the post. Everyone was eating breakfast when they arrived. Mrs. Weasley separated all the envelopes, handing them to the correct person. Everyone opened and unfolded their letter and looked at their results. Hermione achieved Outstandings in every subject other than DADA, which she got an Exceeds Expectations. Ron achieved Acceptable in everything other than DADA, which he also achieved an Exceeds Expectations. Fred and George both achieved a mixture of Outstandings and Exceeds Expectations, and Ginny achieved mostly Exceeds Expectations with two Outstandings. I took a breath and looked over mine. I was hoping I had done well, as I didn't want to have put all that effort in and it have all been for nothing. I was especially nervous about Potions and Ancient Runes, as they were the two exams I had taken after the final task. I found myself grinning as my eyes moved across the page.

"So how did you do?" Sirius asked.

"Exceeds Expectations in History of Magic, the rest are Outstandings." I said happily.

"That's amazing, Hayley." Sirius said.

"I'm not surprised; you worked so hard." Hermione said, giving me a hug.

Remus glanced at the various envelopes on the table. "Hayley, Hermione there seems to be something else in both of your envelopes."

We both frowned and pick up our envelopes, seeing what he meant. We both pull out a separate smaller envelope. After opening them, we realised what they were.

Hermione read her letter out loud as I was momentarily in too much shock.

"Dear Miss Granger,

We are pleased to inform yo that you have been chosen as a fifth year Gryffindor Prefect. Your prefect badge is included with this letter along with your prefect round schedules for the journey to Hogwarts.

Thank you,

Professor McGonnagall

Deputy Headmistress."

After she finished reading it, I had managed to come out of my shock enough to read through mine. It was the same as Hermione's, and I smiled as I took out my badge from the envelope, unable to believe it. I was both surprised as well as confused. Normally when prefects were chosen, a boy and girl were chosen from each house. I decided to voice my confusion to everyone, mainly Remus, as he had been a prefect in addition to teaching there for a year.

"Remus, aren't a boy and a girl normally chosen as the prefects from each house? How come they've chosen both girls for Gryffindor?" I asked.

"Usually it's a boy and a girl, but if the teachers decide that there isn't an appropriate enough male or female student, they sometimes will choose two female prefects or two male prefects. In my seventh year, they decided that there wasn't a suitable 5th year female student for Hufflepuff, so they had two male prefects that year. It'll have been the same this year." he explained.

I nodded, feeling that he was right.

Later that morning, Hermione left to go spend the day with her parents, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were taking Ron, Ginny and the twins into Diagon Alley to get the final few items on there school list. After everyone had left, I started to walk around the house, planning on doing some exploring. The only few people that were still in the house were myself, Sirius and Remus, as he wasn't working ath the bookstore today.

I was in the bottom floor hallway about to explore upstairs for a bit when Sirius got my attention from the living room. I was about to head inside to see what he wanted when he gestured upstairs with his eyes and mouthed "Top floor" to me. I nodded subtly, as Remus was in the kitchen reading the daily prophet and could see if he looked up. I took the stairs all the way up to the top floor of the house and waited for Sirius.

Shortly afterwards, Sirius came up to the top floor and took me into one of the empty rooms. He closed the door and was about to whisper when I took out my mum's wand and cast a silencing charm.

"There. Now, Remus won't be able to hear, even with his wolf hearing." I said

He frowned slightly as he watched me. "Why are you using your mum's wand?"

I drew up short. "You still remember what her wand looks like after all these years?"

"Of course. I could never forget. The same as I could never forget your dad's." He sajd with a small smile.

I explained why I was using her wand instead of my own in order to get around the trace, and he smirked, clearly impressed.

"Nice one, Hayley. At school, me and James were always trying to figure a way around the trace, but never thought it would be as simple as just getting hold of a second wand that didn't have the trace on it." he smiled.

I smiled. "Yeah. It's been useful to practice magic when I don't want anyone else to know. Also comes in handy if I want to get up to any mischief."

"You sound like your dad when you say that." he said with a smile on his face. "Now, speaking of getting up to mischief, have you given any thought to becoming an animagus?"

"Yes. I've decided that I'm going to start learning once I return to school. Being a prefect will actually help, as it will give me a valid reason to be out past curfew. Meaning I won't need to always use my cloak." I said.

"Good idea. Your mum and dad would be so proud of you, you know. Your mum was a prefect and then eventually Head Girl, and your dad became Head boy along with your mum in their last year." Sirius said, smiling.

"You really think they'd be proud of me? I know everyone says they would, be but it's so hard not to doubt myself. They both sacrificed everything to save me and I constantly feel like i'm letting them down." I sighed.

"Of course they would be proud of you, Hayley. In what ways do you think you would be letting them down?" he asked.

"Well, I know they both completely trusted Dumbledore, and I feel that they would be disappointed with how distrustful I am of him. Also, my grades. I know i'm getting better, but it seems that Mum especially, would want them to be better with how intelligent she was. Not to mention, I know Dad was always at odds with the Slytherins and I don't think he would approve much of my relationship with Blaise or my friendship with Draco." I explained

"In regards to your distrust of Dumbledore, they wouldn't be angry at you. With everything he's kept hidden from you, you have every right not to trust him and your parents would say the same. Your mum would be extremely proud of your grades, and you should be, too. You were made to participate in a tournament designed for people 3-4 years older than you and managed to not only win, but also achieve near perfect grades at the same time. I don't even think your mum could manage that." he said.

I laughed, smiling slightly at what he said.

"Your dad was at odds with Slytherins, and was always picking fights with them. But he eventually realised that he was a bully and a prat, and he agreed to stop for your mum's sake. He really did grow up a lot in 7th year, largely because of your mum, but I also think it was because he realised that he wasn't far from graduating and going into the world during the war. It was a big wake up call for him. If he were alive now, he wouldn't care who you dated, so long as you were happy. Your mum, as well." he said.

He took a pause before taking my hands in his and making me look up at him. "Listen to me, Hayley, there is absolutely nothing you could do that would disappoint your mum and dad. They would love the very worst of you until the end of eternity, and don't let anything convince you otherwise." Sirius said as he pulled me into a hug.

A few tears had began to form as he had been talking, but as soon as he pulled me in for a hug, I was unable to hold them back. I cried into his chest as he held me close.

"I miss them so much. I wish they were here." I said through tears.

"I know, darling. I do too. We all do." he said, rubbing my back.

At the end of the week, Ginny, Fred, George, myself and Ted were getting ready to go to the match between Puddlemere United and Tutshill Tornados. As it was being held in Dorset and Remus owned Potter Cottage in Dorset, he said that we could stay at the cottage that night as the match was due to end late. We used the Floo to travel over to the cottage that afternoon to get settled in before apparating to where the match was being held. The twins had passed there apparition tests, so Fred would side along apparate with Ginny, George would apparate by himself and Ted would side along apparate with me.

That evening, we all apparated to the match and got some things to cheer on our respective teams. Fred, George and I were cheering on Puddlemere and Ginny and Ted were cheering on Tutshill. We started making our way to our seats. The seats were in a better location than the ones for last years world cup, as we didn't have to walk to the very top of the stadium.

The match lasted for a whilea and didn't end for approximately three hours. Puddlemere ended up winning 250 – 210. After it ended, we made our way back to the apparition point and headed back to the cottage. We all got something quick to eat before going to bed, as we were all exhausted.

It was a few days later when, because of how nice a day it was, I suggested at breakfast that we could all go to Redwood Cottage in St Ives, as it had it's privately own section of the beach where it was situated, so we could all spend some time outside on the beach, enjoying the sun. Everyone agreed that it was a great way to spend the day, while also being safe and not attracting any unwanted attention to ourselves. Everyone packed what they needed and we used the Floo to travel there. Because of how private the area was, it was decided it was safe enough for Sirius to come along as well. Once we arrived, we all got settled in going off to relax. Hermione and Ginny went to lay on the beach with a book and magazine respectively, while I joined Ron and the twins and showed them how to play a few muggle sports.

Mrs. Weasley spent some time on the beach before making everyone a bit of lunch and bringing it outside. After everyone had eaten, I got an idea and started to round everyone up. Once everyone was together and after speaking to Ted, he conjured a rounders bat and ball. I explained everyone what the rules were and made two teams. Team 1 comprised of me, Sirius, Fred, George, Andy and Ron while Team 2 comprised of Hermione, Ginny, Molly, Arthur , Dora and Remus while Ted was pitching for both teams to make it fair.

We played for some time and ended with both teams drawing. After we finished playing, everyone went back to doing their own thing. I had spent some time in the ocean before getting out and heading onto the beach to dry off in the sun. I sat down next to Fred and George who were down relaxing, and we began to talk.

"Guys, I know you have been putting a lot of work into your joke and prank products, but have you ever thought of making it into a proper business? Like selling them properly and not just at school?" I asked them.

"Yeah, we've been talking about it for a while now. We really want to start a proper business selling them, but the only problem is getting the money together for it. There's a few shop fronts in Diagon Alley that aren't that expensive, but we still don't have anywhere near enough." George explained sadly.

I nodded and got an idea while messing with the sand. "Well here's an idea. I want you two to really consider this. How about I give you the money for it?" I suggested. They were about to refuse when I stopped them. "I know you guys don't want me to just give you the money, but I can see how much this would mean for you guys. So, instead of thinking of it as charity, think of it as me investing into the business?" I offered a compromise.

They frowned, thinking it over. "You would really want to invest in this, if we were to do it?" Fred asked.

"Of course I would. You two are my friends and I know for a fact that it would be a huge success. Your products are already extremely popular with the students at school. This would just give you the chance to do it on a bigger scale. You don't have to say yes now, I know it's a huge decision to make. Just come and talk to me when you've made your mind up." I said.

Author's Note – Hey guys. I hope you enjoy this chapter. It is a lot smaller than normal, but it is more of a filler chapter just to get through the end of the summer holidays. The next few chapters shall be more of the normal size, around 4000-5000.