((This is yet another one-shot based on my fanfic "In The Background." If you'd like to read it and other Hailey Potter stories, just send me a message and I'll direct te to all the stories.
This particular one takes place just after the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry and Hailey have a talk. That's all I'm saying.))


Hailey Potter stood on the ruined steps of Hogwarts Castle, looking out at the grounds. It had been a few days since the battle, since the world changed.

A steady rain was falling, turning most of the ground to mud. She could see his footprints in the mud, leading down towards the lake. She followed them. It wouldn't do for him to be alone, tonight.

"I saw them. In the forest," he said, speaking past a lump in his throat. Hailey stood successivo to him. She could sense his troubled mind. "Ever since I saw them inthe Mirror, I wished they would come back."

"No magic can reawaken the dead," Hailey replied. She put one hand on his shoulder, feeling the warmth.

"I've heard that before."

"Harry, te have to sposta on. Dumbledore wouldn't want te to beat yourself up over this. He cared about te very much. He told me so himself."

"And when was that?" His voice was hard and cold, sounding nothing like the innocent little boy she knew. But Harry was no longer an innocent little boy. He had grown up.

"Shortly before te came to headquarters." She couldn't orso to name the location of the house. She knew it would bring back particularly painful memories.

"So why were te always following me around, then?" he asked, turning around. His green eyes blazed under his dark hair.

"It wasn't because he told me to. I knew te were in danger. I wanted tok keep te safe. Nobody protects a Potter better than another Potter." Normally, the joke would have made Harry smile. Now, however, he shrugged and turned back to the lake.

"I miss Mum and Dad," he whispered, almost too low for Hailey to hear.

"I know. But they aren't really gone, are they? Here, look in the water." She pulled him tok the water's edge, then made him look down.

"It's just us, Hailey."

"Look closer. Everyone says te look like Dad and I look like Mum. They never really died. Not with us, their children, living and breathing." Her words seemed to lift Harry's mood considerably. She knew she had done the right thing.