Haven .|. H. J. POTTER✔

Chapter one

Haven sat on the edge of the bed, the rough texture of the blanket digging onto her thighs. It certainly wasn't comfortable to sleep under but it had to do. It was all she had and in those warm summer nights, she didn't need it most of the time anyway. The robe she had clung around her body after the refreshing shower kept slipping away as she stared at the letter in her hands, as if she was wishing it would go away with a foul look. 

Haven didn't want to make the decision but she had to. Haven never wanted to make any of the decisions that led her to the life she led this day, but she had no other path to go on. The life she led now had been her only option.

And living in the Leaky Cauldron wasn't that bad. Maybe the sheets were wrinkled and old, and the oaken beds creaked with every move, but at least Haven had a roof over her head and food every morning, afternoon and evening. Maybe the place smelled like old ladies and every step taken in the stairway right beside Haven's room echoed through the entire pub but Haven just didn't have anywhere else to go. 

Haven didn't have any high hopes for the place anyway, she just needed shelter, a place to live. After approximately a year of running and hiding, this made her as happy as a five-star hotel. 

Haven called the Leaky Cauldron her home for almost three and a half months now and knew she couldn't for much longer. The money her parents had left her was slowly running low to the point she would have to take an even cheaper room than the one she stayed at now. The letter in her hand was the only way out of the money problem but going back there would do her no good, she knew that. 

Haven shifted on the bed to stand up, used to the frightening noise the old wood made at the movement. Haven wished she could still pretend she had the choice not to go back but there really wasn't any time left to keep behaving like a fool. She already kept some of her money apart for the supplies she would have to buy in Diagon Alley, right outside her window, but had refrained herself from going there already. Haven wanted to feel in control of her life but she couldn't. Not when she was about to be homeless and live on the streets.

With an internal sigh and a quick shake of her head, Haven's eyes went over the letter again. She knew exactly what it said, word for word, but every time she reread it, she wished it said something else, or that the words would just disappear. 

Dear Miss Goldspear,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been given the chance to re-take your seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry due to the circumstances that year. As an eighth-year student, you will following the same curriculum as you would have followed in your seventh year. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July. 

Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Headmistress

There was only one thing in the world that Haven wanted less than go back to the place her mother drew her last breath, and that was living on the streets. Haven had already owled back to Hogwarts to announce that she was, in fact, coming that year but still told herself that she had the option not to go. Haven hated herself for allowing her mind to come up with other possibilities. There was simply nothing else that Haven would be doing in three days than getting off the Hogwarts Express and take the carriages to Hogwarts.

Haven threw the letter on her pillow and leaned forward to hide her face in her palms. The deep golden colour of her skin looked odd in the dirty mirror across from where she sat. Through her fingers, she could see her reflection staring back at her but quickly shook her head and closed her eyes to gather herself. She resembled her mother in every shape and form and she detested it. Haven didn't want to be reminded of the kind Ella Goldspear-Patil every time she looked in the mirror or at the reflection of a shop window.