Waiting for @Simon Kincaid

Haley had summer break but it didn't feel a bit like it. Every day she had something else planned. For the first few days she told her parents everything about Hogwarts and what she had experienced. She talked like a waterfall without a point or a comma. Sometimes she remembered things she had forgotten in the middle of the night and she would like to wake up her parents to tell them everything. Also she had to write some letters, to Ian, to Aiden and to her grandfather. Then she helped with the finishing touches around the house and at the same time had to explore everything in her new home.

She loved it. It was huge compared to her previous house. It wasn't that they needed it but it would have been sad to leave the house empty. She used a lot of her time at home playing the piano with her father, practicing more than she probably had all year at Hogwarts. To her surprise, it didn't show. She had already explored the garden extensively on the first day and planted the last flowers and shrubs together with her mother, finally spending some mother-daughter time again. The events earlier in the year were forgotten and they again had the intimate relationship as before. After Haley had gained the knowledge of her mother's youth, it had even become a little more intimate, only Haley's mother didn't know about it.

It had only been a few days but it felt like a whole month. Today was the first day that Haley slept a little longer and as she was slowly awakened by the birds chirping and the bright rays of the sun, she stretched in her bed with pleasure. Her eyes fell on the retro clock next to her bed, which she had received from her father, and she jerked her eyes open. She jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom next door. While brushing her teeth, she looked out of the window and could see her parents in the garden having a coffee together. Thanks for waking me up, Haley thought to herself and rolled her eyes.

As soon as she was back in her room she put on one of the old records, it was Queen, one of her father's favourite bands and started to tidy up. Haley Rose jumped out of bed in the morning to tidy her room. Had she gone completely nuts now or had someone drunk Polyjuice Potion and was just pretending to be Haley? Neither, the red-haired girl was expecting a visit for the next few days from none other than Simon Kincaid.

Luckily for her, it didn't take long for her room to be tidied up, she dressed in something summery and put her long wavy hair in a high braid, a few strands hanging down her face. She skipped down the stairs on her way straight outside to her parents. "Well sleepy head?" her father teased her, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" his daughter grumbled, but her mother didn't give her another chance, "Looks like you were awake in time anyway." She winked at her and held out a bowl of fruit. But what if she hadn't? Haley thought to herself but she had no basis for argument and she realised that. She accepted the bowl with thanks and sat down cross-legged in the meadows. She had slept through breakfast and soon it would be time for lunch and so some fruit was enough for her.

She chatted with her parents for a while, enjoying the sun's rays on her skin and laughing out loud. Suddenly she opened her eyes and looked at her mother, startled, "Did you remember to do the spell?" and at this question the doorbell rang.

Was that the bell? Yes, that was the bell! "Oh by Merlin, that was the bell." Haley now remarked aloud and her parents looked at her incredulously. Excitedly, Haley got up and ran to the door while her parents also got up from their seats and went after her, but a lot slower. "Well, I wonder if he's worth it." Haley's father remarked in a whisper to his wife, who then poked him in the ribs, giggling. Haley didn't have a father who would forbid her to do anything, yet she was his little girl. Reaching the door, Haley straightened her clothes, fixed her hair and examined herself one last time in the mirror hanging on the wall. "You look good." her mother said, stroking Haley's hair briefly and giving her a motherly smile. "And yes, I did think of the spell." She remarked before Haley now turned towards the door.

It was silly that she was so excited but finally Simon would get to see her new home live. Not just her home, but her parents and most importantly Haley would get to meet Maggie too. Oh God, was she nervous about meeting Maggie. She had heard so many good things about her and she also knew how important she was to Simon and all the more Haley wanted to make only the best impression. The worst thing would probably be if she didn't like Haley. She swallowed her fears for once, wiped the sweat from her palms on her clothes and reached for the door and opened the it.

You would think that a girl who was expecting her boyfriend to come to visit for the next few days would be the first to greet him. But not Haley. Haley was already smiling broadly when she opened the door and instead of giving Simon a hug, her eyes stayed on the beautiful woman next to him. She was still very young, with blonde hair down to her shoulders. Haley smiled warmly at her, "Oh you must be Maggie!" she exclaimed happily and held out her hand to introduce herself. "I'm Haley, it's nice to finally meet you. Simon's told me so much about you." She babbled happily and as she mentioned Simon she realised she hadn't even said hello to him yet.

"Hey Mister." She greeted him now and took him into a short hug and at the same moment she realised that she had simply addressed his aunt by her first name. "Oh my god, I'm sorry, how rude." Haley now turned back to his aunt. "I didn't mean to just call you by your first name." She now said, looking down at the floor in embarrassment before her mother rescued her from the situation.

"Anyway, I'm Stephanie, Haley's mother and this is Daivd, Haley's father." The two now introduced themselves and extended their hands to Simon's aunt as well as Simon. "Haley has already told us a lot about you, it's nice to meet you." David now addressed Simon and smiled at him. "Maggie, would you like to come in for a coffee?" offered Haley's mother.

Haley, meanwhile, had joined Simon and in an unnoticed moment whispered softly to him, "Sorry, I'm kind of nervous." She admitted honestly.

"No more words needed." Haley said as she held out her hand for Simon to give him a tour of the house. Her parents and his aunt had by now sat down on the patio with coffee and cake and laughter filtered inside. Haley was relieved that they obviously get along well with each other and Simon's aunt at least didn't seem negatively averse to Haley. Her biggest fear would have been not getting along with the woman Simon was so fond of.

"Mister Kincaid, it's a pleasure to welcome you here." Haley now began to speak as she led him back to the entrance to begin the tour. She led him to the left into the large living area. High walls stretched over with many books. In one corner was the piano and in another was a cosy sitting area in front of a fire place. On the other side of the room was the dining area and through a large open archway one entered the kitchen. If you went out the other door through the kitchen, you came back into the hallway, which led out to the left into the garden and the terrace, and to the right again to the front door and the stairs. "Please follow me to the second floor." She asked Simon and jumped up the stairs.

She showed him the bathroom, which was right next to her room, the guest room, her parents' room and last but not least, of course, her own room. The house was big and Haley skipped a few rooms for now, as they were irrelevant to the tour and she wanted to finally show him her room. "And this is also the end of our tour." Haley said as she opened the door to her room and held it open for Simon to close it behind him. She shed the formality and hopped past him onto her bed, looking at him with expectant eyes. "So, what do you think?" she asked curiously, watching him as he looked more closely at her room.

It was full of plants, records and memories hanging on her walls. There was a desk on the wall next to the door, a hanging chair on another wall and books could be found everywhere. She was more than eager to hear what Simon would say and hoped he would feel comfortable here.

"By the way, you can sleep in the guest room or in my room." She didn't know which he preferred and after Cosmo had also slept in bed with her, she could already tell that there would definitely be room for two people there. Even with Cosmo, who liked to spread herself now and then, she found enough room in one bed. "And please don't worry about our big windows." Haley mentioned in passing as she looked out the window into the garden. "My mother took care of it and you shouldn't notice anything."

Haley had told her mother about Simon and of course not a little. She had been quite excited to learn that he was a Dhampir, as she had a best friend at school who was. She still knew a few useful spells and one of them she used before Simon arrived. It would prevent his skin from being damaged by the sun and the rays would not enter the house through the windows without having to darken it.

Haleys Room

Reducio

She nodded when Simon said he would take the guest room. She was a little depressed about his decision, she would have preferred to share her room with him, but she tried not to let on. After all, there were people who could sleep better alone or simply needed their peace and quiet. The latter would be more likely for Simon, since he rarely slept anyway. While Simon examined the record collection, she briefly left the room to take his bag to the guest room and was quickly back on her bed.

"It's complicated and I didn't quite understand it myself." Haley admitted but tried to explain it to him. "I told my mother about your problem with the sun and it turns out that one of her best friends back at Hogwarts was also a Dhampir. Well, I don't know where the spell came from but it was supposed to keep what was harmful to you of the sun out of the room." Her mother had explained it all to her in great detail, but once Haley knew she could do something for Simon, the rest hadn't been important enough for her to actively listen to or remember. In retrospect, not very polite to her mother but she obviously didn't hold it against her.

Haley waited anxiously to see what music Simon would choose and lay down in her bed, staring at the wall. It took her a moment to recognise the song, it was a record she hadn't heard in a long time. "The Cure, right?" she inquired, tapping the flat of her hand beside her to offer Simon to join her.

The two of them just lay on the bed for quite a while, listening to the music. At some point Haley closed her eyes, just taking in the sounds around her. Birds were chirping at the window outside, The Cure was playing in the room and she could hear Simon breathing softly beside her. Eventually the music would end and Haley would show Simon some photos hanging in her room. Many were from her childhood in Ireland.

The day went by far too quickly and dinner would be served. Haley knew that the food topic was not always easy for Simon and so she had requested something meaty from her father. She didn't know exactly what it was but the smell that crept up her nose was excellent. On the table they found two roast beefs, roast potatoes and some salad. "This looks excellent." Haley enthused, noticing that the table was only set for two. She had completely forgotten that her parents were going out tonight. At least once a month they got together with their group of friends and today was that time again.

"I forgot you had your meeting again tonight." Admitted Haley, now not wondering why her parents were dressed so fancy. "Have a great time." She said as she hugged them both and after saying goodbye to Simon and Haley they headed off. Some might have thought it unusual that they left their daughter alone but they had been doing it for a while. Haley was not a baby and there had never been any problems. Even if Simon was there now, her parents would hardly worry, after all, they were both only twelve and had great confidence in their daughter. "See you tomorrow, darlings." Haley's mother called out before pulling the door shut.

She sat down at the table with Simon and explained to him what her parents were doing and that they would usually be back late. "One time they came home in a taxi." Haley began to tell the story, barely able to hold back the laughter. "It was the middle of the night and they were both drunk." Usually her parents didn't drink that much, at least not around Haley and even though she shouldn't have noticed either, she did. "Those two were so loud it woke me up. They were wiggling and tripping around like toddlers and giggling silly to themselves." She continued, laughing but shaking her head.

The evening passed and eventually the two went their separate ways. Simon to the guest room and Haley to her room. It felt ironic, almost like Hogwarts, where they were separated by their houses, only here they parted ways a lot later.

Haley lay awake in her bed for a long time, she wasn't really tired at all and even though she tried to force her body to sleep, she didn't succeed. Her gaze was fixed on the clear night sky through the large windows when she eventually gave up. She got up and didn't have to make an effort to be quiet as her parents were not back yet. She carefully opened the door to the guest room and stuck her head in, "Simon are you awake?" she asked in a whisper. If he wasn't asleep, which would probably be the case, she would suggest that they go out into the garden and look at the constellations.

"Yeah, I like that too." Haley replied in a soft tone, and started giggling when she walked through the door into the guest room. It was dark and while Simon could probably see well enough, she was almost blind. However, the slight brightness carried by the moon through the window helped her walk up to his bed without tripping over or running into anything. Once there, she sat down on the free edge and pulled her legs to her chest to rest her chin on her knees. "So um, so if you can't sleep either," Haley began, realising at the same moment how moronic that statement was, since it was quite obvious, "I was thinking we could do something?" she now suggested, not sure if Simon wouldn't rather have his peace.

The empty space next to him in the big bed looked more than inviting, not because of the bed, but rather because it was an empty space next to Simon. Luckily for her, her face was hard to make out in the darkness, the expression on her face and the redness in her cheeks at these thoughts going unnoticed, but not her silences.

"Um, so, it's a clear night." the girl said as she looked out the large window, "There sure are a lot of stars to see." She continued, not understanding herself. She was almost like someone who nervously asked their crush out on a first date and while Simon was certainly her crush, she had no reason to be nervous though. But maybe it was because they were alone for the first time, not surrounded by professors or other students. That here they could be in the same room after curfew, even enter each other's bedrooms without having a password.

She let out a long breath from her lungs, "Do you want to go out in the garden and look at the sky for a while?" she finally spoke up. It reminded her of her little honeymoon trip to the lake at Hogwarts and a smile formed on her lips as she waited for Simon's answer.