Just Breathe || Ron Weasley

t h i r t y - s e v e n

Chapter: Thirty-seven

Safe and Alive

Harry sat on the bed as he aimlessly stared outside the window of the burrow. He had arrived here about a week ago. Dumbledore had dropped him off here. Thank god he did cause he hated the Dursleys. Especially since Hailey wasn't there.

Everyone was trying to move on with their lives, pretend they are okay. But in reality, no one really was okay. Harry was trying to make convince himself it was all some sick prank. That Hailey would walk in any minute and say it was a joke. Laugh at his face for falling for it. Call him an idiot.

He tried so hard to be positive. He wanted to believe she was somewhere out there.

But he couldn't. He lost the last bit of family he had. Voldemort snatched everything from him. His parents, godfather and his sister. Every bit of happiness he had was forcefully taken from him.

Harry turned towards Ron who was sleeping on the floor on a mattress.

He wondered how he felt. Harry remembered the look on his face when they saw each other for the first time. It was like he was guilty. He wanted to know why, but he settled on the idea that it was just a look of pity. He was used to it. People looking down at him with pity. Coming up to him and telling him how sorry they were for his loss.

Hailey was always there when it all happened before. She was his shoulder to cry on. Telling him everything was going to be okay. Assuring him that he always had her. The summer after Voldemort had returned, she always held him while he had nightmares. It was funny how Hailey took care of him like a mother. Hailey always joked that she was his guardian angel.

He felt like it was his fault that she was now gone.

It was the first birthday Harry spent without Hailey. He missed how she would hug the life out of him every year. The first person to wish him. He remembers how excited she was for their sixteenth birthday.

"Oh, you wait till I turn sixteen," Hailey said as she lied down on the bed with her hands behind her head. "It'll be so fun."

"Any why is that?" Harry asked who was sitting at the desk finishing some of the holiday work.

"It's our sweet sixteen Harold. In the wizarding world, it isn't a big deal, but we were raised in the muggle world. So it's a pretty big deal." She said looking up at the ceiling. "I really want to celebrate it you know. Maybe with Sirius, Remus, the Weasleys and Hermione."

"What do you want for a gift?"

"Oh, I don't know. A ticket to see Leonardo DiCaprio would be fun." She said with a laugh. "But of course that's not possible. But, I don't know. Anything would work."

And the fact that she couldn't celebrate her birthday hurt Harry, that he blew out her candles. He looked up to see the package on his trunk. It was a gift from Hailey. Remus had owled it to him on their birthday.

This was a gift Hailey had bought for you. She had begged me to take her shopping to buy this leather jacket. Your dad and Sirius both used to wear leather jackets and she wanted to you carry on the tradition. She gave it to me to keep it safe. So here it is.

He had tried it on and it looked ridiculous. He wasn't the type to wear leather jackets, he never even had one before. He could clearly imagine Hailey laughing at him.

Harry had visited the Weasley twins joke shop the other day. Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes. Hailey would've loved it. She was really excited for them. "The twins have great potential. I see them shining." Those were her wise old words. Fred and George had said that she promised them that she would be their first customer.

Hermione avoided talking about it as much as she could. The last time he had bought up Hailey in front of her, she had broken down in tears. It made sense, they were best friends. Inseperateable. Just like him and Ron.

Harry looked up at the clock and saw it was 3 am, he should get some sleep. They would be leaving for Hogwarts this morning.

Wherever Hailey was, all Harry wished was that she was safe and alive.

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