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"Get out!" The elderly mad spat at his daughter.

"Dad, you can't mean that!" The girl said as tears welled in her eyes.

"You've never been part of my family! Your mother was the only reason you stayed here!" He said this time raising his voice.

"Dad-"

"Don't call me that! Take your stuff and leave! You've got a month to collect all of your things before I call the cops!" He snapped.

Axel Bennett stared at her bipolar father with tears streaming down her face. She'd had enough of dealing with his condition. She promised herself that she'd never leave her parent's side but that was before her mother died. She trudged to the second floor of the London home and began packing all that she could into her small messenger bag.

"Filth." Her father sneered before he pushed her out of the house and into the brisk November weather.

Axel pulled her thick sweater tighter around herself as the chilled breath of Jack Frost nipped at her skin. She swung her bag over her shoulder and began walking towards a nearby park.

"Ten pounds and a gum wrapper." She whispered to herself in disbelieve as she searched her pockets.

She had enough for a bus ride but nowhere near enough to support herself. The leaves crunched under her combat boots as she crossed the grassy patch of the park towards the swings. She was nineteen years old and homeless. Her father had been kicking her out of the house consistently since she was sixteen but she knew that this time was for good.

"Might as well read." She mumbled to herself as she sat on the swing. "Not like I've got anything better to do."

She opened her over-packed bag and pulled out her favorite book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The world of Harry Potter had become her safe haven from the wrath of her father. Just thinking of the nonexistent magical world brought her hope that maybe somewhere out there, magic was real. She sat on the swing reading until it got dark. Since it was late into the year the moon came out much earlier than usual. She sighed and packed her book before trudging to a nearby coffee shop.

"Do you know anywhere I can rent a room for cheap?" She asked the woman behind the counter.

"Sorry Darling, in central London you won't find anything for cheap."

Axel cursed under her breathe and left the shop. She loved coffee but wasn't going to spend her money on something as petty as it. Lugging her bag, which seemed to be getting heavier with every step, Axel walked over to a park bench. She lay on the bench and used her bag as a pillow. It was cold and Axel was uncomfortable beyond measure, but she had no other choices. She was about to drift into a restless sleep when the sound of a twig snapping grabbed her attention. She'd slept outside on multiple occasions of being kicked out but those were all during the summer where the chilly night air was welcoming against the heat of the day. She perked her ears up waiting to hear the noise again.

"Get it together." Someone mumbled to themselves.

Axel sat so that she could see who was speaking. When she got up someone jumped in the dark. She squinted her eyes and saw the silhouette of a young man.

"I didn't mean to scare you." She said still staring at him.

He sat on the far end of the bench and looked at her.

"It's alright."

The reflection of a nearby streetlamp met his eyes. They were gray and stormy, some of the most beautiful she'd ever seen. They sat in silence for a while. Axel thought it would be best if she didn't yell at the stranger for sitting on her new bed.

"What's a young woman like you doing out so late?" The man finally said.

'Haven't got anywhere else to go.' She said looking at the leafless tree nearby.

The man shifted a little as though having a mental argument.

"Can I get you a Hot Chocolate? It's cold out and I don't want you to freeze." He finally asked.

Axel looked up to see if he was being serious. When she saw that he was, she nodded and stood from the bench. Maybe it wasn't the smartest to go off with a strange she'd said maybe 5 words to but she was cold and willing to risk it all for a hot chocolate.

"There's a nice little diner a couple of blocks away. We can go there if you don't mind the walk." He said looking at her.

"Not a problem."

She wasn't much shorter than the man and she noticed that his hair was almost as messy as hers.

"Are you from London?" He asked trying to make conversation.

"Yup, I grew up here. How about you?" She said continuing their walk.

"Yup, I live in a small townhouse nearby." He answered.

The rest of their walk was silent until they reached the diner. He walked in first and held the door for her.

"Seat yourselves." The middle-aged worker said.

They took a booth near the window and sat in silence.

"What can I get you two?" The same woman said walking up to them with a small notepad.

"Two hot chocolates please." The man said.

The woman nodded and bustled off towards the kitchen. Axel noticed more about the man's appearance in the light of the diner. He was around her age and she would consider him more of a boy than a man. His hair was black and messy and his gray eyes were as enchanting as they were in the darkness of the night. He had dark circles around his eyes as if he suffered from lack of sleep and his clothes looked large on him as though he'd lost weight.

"Here you are." The woman said placing the cups in front of them.

They sat in silence until the mysterious boy broke it.

"You should try butterbeer sometime."

Axel's head shot up and she stared at him. Whenever she found a fellow Harry Potter fan, she was ready to talk. The boy however looked as though he had made the biggest mistake of his life by saying that one sentence.


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