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! chapter sixteen !
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HAVEN GENTLY TUCKED THE last article of clothing away in her trunk, before shutting it softly, and pulling it off her bed so she could put it in carry-on. She took one last sweep around her shared room, and her heart ached as she realized nothing would ever be the same again. Things were changing, rapidly at that, and every time she thought about it she wanted to vomit. This was real life. Soon everyone would be at war against Voldemort—and she was terrified to think of all of the lives that were going to be lost.
She took a few steps down the stairs, entering the common room. Her face broke out into a small smile when she saw both Malory and Luna waiting for her. The blonde pulled her into a hug first, and they exchanged goodbyes, before she left. Haven glanced over to Malory, who looked conflicted, before she spoke.
"You know... If you ever want to get away from your aunt and uncle, you can stay with me and my mum. I know a thing or two about losing people important to you. Sometimes you just need to be alone."
"Thank you," Haven told her sincerely. "Really. But I don't want to intrude."
"You wouldn't be intruding!" Malory attempted to convince her. "I promise. Besides, we have an extra room, and mum has been dying to meet you. I've wrote to her all about you. You told me you had to share a room with Harry, and times are tough right now. Especially since..."
"Sirius died," Haven finished. "It's okay, you can say it."
"Right. Grief is hard, and sometimes it's good to be by yourself," Malory patted her shoulder, squeezing her into a tight hug. "Just think about it, okay?"
"Okay," she said with the nod of her head, and the other girl began to make her way out of the common room. Haven let a heavy sigh escape, before she slung her bag over her shoulders, and stepped out into the hallway.
It was crowded, of course, it was the last day of school and everyone wanted to wish their friends farewell. Haven had made it down a second flight of stairs before a faint scent of familiar cologne loomed in the air. Haven recognized it after a moment, and she couldn't say she was surprised when she saw Draco standing a few feet away, his Slytherin buddies at his side.
She was half-tempted to walk over there and say goodbye, but she decided against it, not only because he was surrounded by people who hated her, but because she felt her nerves buzz at the thought of talking to him.
He caught her eye, and it was then that she realized she'd been staring. Offering him nothing except a forced smile, Haven went to walk away, only for Draco to mumble something along the lines of "I'll catch up," and he was making his way over to her.
"Hey," she greeted, clutching her bookbag strap to stop her hands from shaking. "Excited to go home?"
He let out a small scoff. "Sure. We'll say that."
There was a brief moment of silence that filled the air between them, and just like on Christmas, Haven did something without thinking it through. Although this time, it was a less bold. She reached over to grab his hand, and she was almost certain he would've pulled it away, but he didn't. And she realized it was only because they were the last people standing in the hallway. Haven was almost positive he would've dropped her hand if there were other people around. She gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Have a good summer, Draco."
Surprising her with a smile, Draco nodded his head. "You too, Haven."
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Hogwarts had gone back to normal. Well, as normal as a wizarding school could be considered. All of the paintings had been hung back up, making the walls look a whole hell of a lot less empty. When Umbridge had been in charge, she did everything to drain the fun from school. Now that Dumbledore was headmaster once more, the light had been returned to Hogwarts, and everything seemed better. Ignoring the fact that Voldemort had returned, of course.
Haven made her way to the train, meeting up with her brother and the rest of the friends along the way. Her shoes crunched against the ground as she walked, and she took in one last sight of the scenery. The trees had grown their leaves once more, forming a canopy overhead that was almost like a roof. They blocked out most of the sunlight, but there were bits and pieces of it poking out through some of the openings, leaving small specs of light that shone on the forest floor.
The train's whistle blew in the distance, and Haven was shook from her thoughts as Hermione nudged her. She realized that she had nearly crashed into a tree trunk.
"I've been thinking about something Dumbledore said to me," Harry stated, going to stand on the opposite side of his sister.
"What's that?" Hermione questioned, and Haven narrowly avoided stepping on a squirrel that had ran underneath her feet. She watched as it darted away, climbing up one of the trees a few feet over.
"That even though we've got a fight ahead of us, we've got one thing that Voldemort doesn't have."
"Which is...?" Haven pressed on when he trailed off. He sent her a fake annoyed look, rolling his eyes before growing serious again.
"We've got something worth fighting for."
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— AUTHORS NOTE
THE END
nah sike i'm still writing half blood prince u thought
literally the shortest chapter ever but i couldn't add it to the previous one cause that was nearly 4k words LMAOO
