'With a heart like that,

You deserve the world.'

><><

"This is a really bad idea, you know that, right?" Harry mumbled beneath his breath, footsteps crunching as they penetrated the untouched snow to the buried path, her nose and cheeks flushed pink beneath the Invisibility Cloak.

"Yes—a very really bad idea," Addie whispered in reply, though neither party hesitated in continuing.

The cloak covered Adeline entirely, given her short legs, stepping in Harry's already made footprints as he led the way to stay out of sight—given she wasn't exactly allowed to leave the Castle. Hogsmeade finally appeared in the distance, though stayed a silhouette for a few minutes, snow firing from the clouds like icy, white bullets. But there were two silhouettes—the second belonging to a familiar, malevolent phantom, whose black cloak rustled violently in the wind. Though Ad's invisibility, he stared openly in her direction, head following as the two preserved their trek.

She took a quivering breath to slow her heart rate, quickly averting her gaze the other way in order to maintain her composure. And, sure enough, he disappeared.

><><

After plonking down opposite Harry in a small, cushioned booth, Adeline delicately emerged from beneath the cloak as they reached a secluded area of The Three Broomsticks, taking extra care to remain inconspicuous as she tucked it discreetly beneath the table.

The pub glowed from flickering lanterns and homely fireplaces, an immensely popular place given the torrential weather outside, occupying mainly middle-aged wizards or the odd group of Hogwarts students, loud with laughter and talk. Addie untucked the hair behind her ear, permitting dull, white light to leak onto the side of her face from the fogged, grimy window to her left.

A young waitress squeezed past the crowded tables over to them, her short hair slightly dishevelled, sweat beaded on her forehead, as she dryly recited her usual 'What would you like to order?' for what felt like the thousandth time that day. Harry ordered Butterbeer's for the both of them; however, Adeline was perplexed by the name and refused to try it with a rapid shaking of her head, leaving Harry to laugh and order two hot chocolates instead—much to the waitress' annoyance.

Ron would have joined them if Hermione hadn't forced him to stay behind to finish, or, really, start his essay due the next day, leaving Harry to sneak Addie out beneath the cloak, lying to Hermione she'd gone to the Hospital Wing for her routine check-up. It was his idea, anyway.

"So..." He urged her to speak, though Addie avoided his look.

"Hmm?" She played innocent, brows raising in an act as she pretended to be busy staring outside the window—even though the condensation made it much too indistinct to see out of anyway.

Harry rolled his eyes; Ad knew he was going to bring this up, and found that delaying her response was much easier than facing it.

"So, why were you passed out at the Hospital Wing last night?"

"I was sleeping." She shrugged.

"With a giant bruise across your forehead?"

"It's not a bruise." Ad looked over to him.

"Then what is it?"

"...ink."

"Ink?"

"Yes."

A pause in their conversation arose as Harry studied her forehead.

"It's not ink."

"Yes, it is."

Harry grabbed a nearby napkin, dipped it in his untouched water, leaned over the table and brushed it over her forehead before Addie could stop him. She yelped, flinched, and proceeded to duck her head, wishing she could just shrink to a size too small to see; that he'd stop giving her that look. It wasn't ink, but rather the bruise formed from smacking into the wall the previous day. His eyes burned holes in her head, and she looked up, though kept her eyes trained to the table.

"I keep seeing him," Adeline admitted. For the first time in a long while, a weight lifted from her shoulders. Her heart, however, remained heavy—so, so heavy.

"Who?" Harry said as soon as he could get the words out.

The same waitress from before hurriedly set their hot chocolates down on the table, though neither party acknowledged her presence, the steam still swirling from the worn, overused mugs. Harry's drink slightly sloshed over the side, yet he paid no mind to it as she scurried away; his attention was completely and utterly focused on her—Merlin, she wished it away.

"...my father," She spoke quietly, though a rowdy group of wizards erupted in drunken laughter, beers sloshing over their reddened faces. Harry raised his eyebrow, motioning for her to repeat. He leaned in. Her cheeks reddened—he was like a spotlight, blaring into her; blinding her.

"My father," Adeline lowered her voice, leaning in. "Voldemort."

"...what?"

"I said—"

"I know what you said," He sputtered. "But...how? How could he be here, Addie? How haven't I seen him?"

"That's the thing—you can't."

Harry blinked.

"What? Why not?"

"It's a hallucibention,"

Even Addie's eyebrows scrunched as the words left her mouth.

"You mean 'hallucination'?"

"Yes, I think," She said, and despite their circumstance, the corner of Harry's lip upturned slightly. "That's what Madame Pomphrey said. She said something like...she said it was like a side effect thing."

Harry nodded in understanding, mouth shaped like an 'o', leaning back. He got the answers he wanted—though she didn't. Her head cocked.

"But I don't get it," Addie pressed. "Is there something I missed? A side effect of what?"

"I...I'm not sure," Harry cleared his throat, and although his abysmal lying, she believed him. She trusted him.

Addie reached over, given their conversation had derailed from its bumpy tracks, and grabbed her mug of hot chocolate. She took a large sip and swallowed instinctively, the drink most likely leaving scorch marks down her throat from its searing heat. Squealing, her tongue burnt, almost numb, she accidentally breathed some of it in as she failed to cool her mouth down, dissolving in a fit of both hysteric coughing and laughter simultaneously. Harry joined in with the latter as he took the mug from her shaking hand, setting it back on the table.

Their noise drew eyes—those drunken men who would uproar in laughter a few tables away were nothing when compared to these two.

a/n

hELLO

okay so,, this chapter is SOO long overdue, and i am so so sorry and though this is a very overused excuse, sooo many things have happened in my life since the last time i updated and,,, well, here we are.

to make up for it, however, i will be posting the next chapter a week early!

i love you all so much and i really hope you can forgive me for this!!

(hiii to all our new readers!) <3