Chapter; Sixty-One

Potter

"Hey love," Ron said leaning against the wall as Hailey looked up at him. She was sitting on the living room sofa with her knees tucked close to her chest. "Can't sleep?"

"Not really." She replied with a small shrug before he sat down wrapping his arms around her. Hailey immediately snuggled closer to his chest feeling much better in his warmth.

"Better?" He asked as she nodded. It was the first Christmas break after Sirius death. There was a comfortable silence between the two. Ron ran his finger through Hailey's hair as he felt her breath slowing down. "I love you."

"I love you too." She smiled against his chest before looking up. Her hazel eyes were dull due to tiredness. Of course she was tired, it was 2 am, but they were still loving and warm.

"I... I'm sorry." Ron confessed making her face scrunch up. "You know... The whole fight we had."

"Ronald I don't care. I forgave you months ago." She said as he shook his head.

"You don't get it. I need to get this off my chest. Hailey Potter, I love you with all my heart. And- And I was scared of losing you. I-I'm a no one. And you, you're you. The prettiest and kindest person ever. And when I saw you laughing with him... I... It was stupid of me, but I was jealous. And it hurt me so much because I could never apologize to yo-"

Hailey cut him off pressing her lips against his. "It's alright. I know you didn't mean it... And maybe I overreacted a bit as well. But forget it. It's fine. We're fine." She smiled. "And you'll never lose me. I love you a bit too much."

"That's quite flattering." He said as he dramatically flipped his hair making her laugh. Ron pulled Hailey on his lap before dropping his head on her shoulder. He felt her stiffen up. "Merlin, are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

"I..." He looked at her with a concerned look as she sighed. "It's just..."

"You can tell me anything you know... But I'm not gonna force you." She pointed at the place between her neck and shoulder. There are some scars. A big one on her collar bone. "They hurt?"

"No, it's just... I use charms to cover them up and... I-I don't like the way they look." She muttered fiddling with the hem of her sweatshirt.

"Love... If I could I'd kiss all your scars away. But there's nothing bad about them." Ron smiled pressing a delicate kiss on her collar bone over the mark. "I love every single thing about you. And I always will."

"That's s big commitment."

"And I'm willing to make it."

"God, you've become so good with your word." Hailey laughed as her face flushed making him grin.

"What can I do? Guess a man becomes poetic when he's in love."

"Oh just shut up."

A smile found its way on Hailey's lips as she saw a picture that Colin had taken during their fifth year. Ron had his head on Hailey's shoulder with their hands intertwined. He had fallen asleep after a Quidditch practice when they were all talking in the common room.

It was one of Hailey's favourite pictures and she always kept it with her. Maybe it was because of the way Ron looked so adorable or it was because of the way Harry too asleep in that picture. He was on the floor leaning against Hailey's leg. Or maybe it was because of how happy she and Hermione looked. They were talking excitedly about this new book that came out recently while the boys had passed out.

Hailey had to thank Colin for all the great pictures he had taken of them over the years. He gifted them to her each year on her birthday.

There was a knock on her door and she quickly shoved them in her side bag. The door opened revealing Draco. Just one day. Hailey spent time with the boy just one day and now he was entering the room without even knocking.

Manners? Who is she?

"Mother says we should visit the library. They moved in a few books today." The boy said. Hailey had asked him to show her the library. She said to him it was because she liked reading, but there was another reason behind it.

She actually wanted to look in more advanced magic. There had to be one way to break free the charm around the house. And the diary Dumbledore left for her. There must be a reason for why he left it. And Hailey was going to find out what magic he used. She needed to know what was inside it. She couldn't just sit here and do nothing while Harry, Ron and Hermione search for the Horcruxes.

"This place has more books than any library in the world," Draco said smugly as he walked her through the library. "Name the book. We have it." The boy looked excited as he showed her the collection of books they had. She wanted to burst his bubble by saying they didn't have Muggle books, but later decided against it.

"I didn't know you read," Hailey said making him roll his eyes.

"I'm not uneducated." He said.

"Really? I couldn't tell." She said sarcastically crossing her arms over her chest. "So what got you into reading?"

"Dunno... I like reading sometimes. Do it when I have nothing better to do. What about you?"

"I mostly read Muggle books. Didn't read them much before coming to Hogwarts if I'm being honest. Hermione got me into reading. She used to gift me all these cool books. One day opened one of them and became addicted." She said scratching her arm.

The clothes she was given were like the dresses the death eaters wore. Long, bland and Black. They were really heavy and itchy. Hailey hated them but she didn't have a choice. Narcissa was quite nice to her. Lucius was always outside. Sometimes Bellatrix would come over. But they never met face to face.

"Master Draco." Bobby the house-elf bowed. "Mistress asked to see you."

"Just a minute." The boy excused himself. Hailey thanked merlin for listening to her prayers. She now has the time to look around alone. Like Draco said, it was a big library. But there had to be at least some books about the dark arts. It took a while but she finally came across the self she was looking for. Most of the books were bound by chains. But one particular book caught her attention.

Secrets of the darkest arts.

The name somehow sounded familiar. Hailey tried her best to remember how the book looked and where it was because this was certainly not the last time she'll be here.

"Potter?" She heard a voice call. She quickly moved away. "Oh, there you are. Was beginning to think you made a run." Draco said with a small chuckle. She looked behind Draco and saw another boy. "Potter this is Blaise Zabini. And Blaise this is-"

"I'm Potter. Hailey Potter." Hailey said mocking how Draco had introduced himself to her and Harry on their first day. Blaise immediately caught on to what she did and couldn't help but snort. "Think my name is funny do you? No need to-"

"Okay that enough." Draco interrupted finally understanding what was happening. "No need to throw me under the bus. Anyways, Blaise here will be spending time quite some time with us for the next couple of months eh?"

"Months? What makes you think I'm gonna be here for months?" Hailey asked.

"Dunno. But I have a feeling it'll take loads of time for your great brother to come up with an idea to rescue you." Draco said with a shrug. "As the dark lord said, it could even take a year."

Even though it hurt, Hailey knew it was true. Even if Ron, Harry and Hermione knew where she was. It would take them time to make a plan. They couldn't take any risks or make bad decisions. It was a life or death situation. She just hoped they wouldn't take any impulsive decisions.

But who was she kidding? They all took impulsive decisions all the time.
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