A Muggle at Hogwarts

When Draco dropped me off at my room, we gave each other one final kiss. I would think that after so many goodbyes—bitter and sweet—Draco and I would be able to depart easier. However, that was not the case. When it was time for Draco to leave, neither of us could move. We simply stared at one another unable to let go of what we have.

But eventually, with Hermione stirring in her bed, Draco thought it would be best if he departed. Before he did though, he took my hand in his own and gently placed a kiss upon it.

“Your hands are freezing,” Draco said as he looked up at me with that sweet innocent stare. “Go warm yourself up, okay? I’ll be angry at you if you get sick.”

“You should have thought of that before you came and swept me away in the middle of the night,” I smiled sweetly as I leaned my forehead against his.

He smirked. “Still, I’ll be angry at you.”

“No you won’t,” I whispered as I glanced up at him.

Draco smiled sadly. “You’re right—of course I won’t. Worried sick is what I’ll be. But I’ll have to act like I don’t care, won’t I?” Draco then drew his eyes away from me. “Anyways, I better get going before Granger wakes up.”

“You probably should,” I agreed as I took my hand back and leaned back into the room. “I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah,” he said, “I’ll see you around.”

With that, Draco quickly flew off. I leaned out of the window a bit and watched him leave. Once he had disappeared, I remained on the windowsill—my eyes glued to the direction that Draco had flown off. A sort or sinking feeling filled my heart as I did so.

“Violet?” Hermione croaked from behind me.

I quickly turned around and found Hermione starting to get up from her bed.

“Why are you on the windowsill, and why is the window opened—it’s freezing!” she exclaimed. Following a big yawn she lied back down in bed and snuggled herself into the warmth of her covers. She then said, “Anyways, aren’t you afraid of heights? You should be careful—you might fall.”

“O—of course. Sorry,” I said as I quickly climbed down and closed the window. I then stepped down from the windowsill and heading into the bathroom to freshen up.

Once I had finished my morning routine, I stepped out of the bathroom to find Hermione still in her bed. I walked over to the alarm clock and looked at it—it was 6:30. Usually, she would be up by now.

“Hermione,” I said as I gently shook her. “Hermione, wake up.”

“W—what is it?” she asked half-asleep. She rolled over in her bed and stared up at me with drowsy eyes.

“It’s 6:30, Hermione,” I said softly. “Shouldn’t you be up and getting ready?”

“Oh!” she exclaimed as she jolt up in bed. She quickly threw her covers off as she apologized, “Oh, I’m terribly sorry. Um—I’m sorry. I’ll get ready as soon as possible so that I can go with you to Dumbledore’s office.”

“No,” I objected as she frantically ran to the bathroom. “Y—you don’t have to do that. Since I’m already ready, I can go by myself. Just take your time, Hermione. In the meantime, I’ll go talk to Dumbledore.”

“I’m terribly sorry,” Hermione apologized with a heavy sigh.

I smiled warmly at her. “There’s no need to apologize, Hermione. See you at breakfast, all right?”

With that, I left the room. As I headed out of my room and into the common room, I found someone sitting on the couch. A small smile faded onto my face as I tiptoed over to the person before lightly tapping them on the back.

Harry spun around and stared at me. He smiled weakly as he greeted me.

“Scared you, didn’t I? Why are you sitting here so early in the morning?” I asked as I walked around the couch and sat beside Harry.

Harry didn’t reply to my question. He just looked at me sorrowful eyes and just stared.

“Harry, what’s the matter with you?” I questioned as I shifted in my seat. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You—last night—you were with him. You snuck out with Draco last night, didn’t you?” Harry asked.

“How—how do you know about that?” I stuttered.

“I was awake last night and saw him flying past the window,” Harry explained. “There was only one place he was heading. So, I grabbed by broom and I followed the two of you until you two stopped on the roof. I returned to my room and tried to get some sleep. But—” he paused and turned away from me. “I couldn’t sleep, so I came here. I just—I couldn’t get that image of the two of you out of my mind.”

“I’m—I’m sorry,” I apologized. “I’m so terribly sorry, Harry. I should have told you about Draco and me. I just—I didn’t know how to tell you.”

“It’s all right. To be honest, I’ve known about the two of you for a while now. Or at least I had my suspicions about the two of you. There were so many hints—the Quidditch match, the fight in the Great Hall, Hogsmeade,” Harry weakly laughed. “I’ve tried to deny it, but I can’t anymore.” He then looked up at me and asked, “Do you love him?”

I sighed heavily as I turned away and looked at the fireplace. Slowly, I nodded my head. “I do—I love him.”

“That’s why you constantly come to his defense, right?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore, Harry,” I said as I turned my attention back to him. “It’s over between us. I’ve come to realize that there are more important things than trying to make my relationship with Draco work.”

“But it does matter,” said Harry. “Even after all of this—everything that he has put you through, knowing that your life is in the palm of his hands—you still love him?”

“Very much so,” I replied.

“Aren’t you afraid of him—afraid of what he can do? He is, after all, a Death Eater,” Harry pointed out.

“No, I’m not afraid of him,” I answered. “But like I said, it’s over between us. I can’t be occupied with Draco. There are more important things that hand, you—actually.” Harry looked at me as I said this. “I’m here because of you—I’m here to help you, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

“No, you’re wrong,” Harry said as he flashed me a small smile. “I’m to protect you, Violet—because you are the most precious thing to me.”

“Harry—“ I gasped.

“You don’t have to say anything,” he grinned he stood up, his hand holding onto mine. “Come, now. We need to go talk to Dumbledore about how to send you home.”

I nodded as I got up and followed Harry out of the room. As we left the tower and headed down to Dumbledore’s office, no one was out and about yet. This made it even harder to believe that school was actually resuming and that break was over. However, it was not like anyone was really looking forward to start school again, anyways. Well, other than Hermione, maybe.

When Harry and I reached Dumbledore’s office, the door was already opened. Dumbledore called from inside and asked Harry and me to come inside. As we walked in, Dumbledore greeted the two of us warmly.

“I was expecting you, Ms. Bell. And I see that you brought Mr. Potter with you,” Dumbledore said as he glanced up from his desk. “Do you have something you would like to talk to me about?”

“Yes, we do, Professor,” Harry said as he and I walked up to Dumbledore’s desk. “We would like to know if you know how to send Violet back home—to her world?”

“A Universal Portal will be required,” Dumbledore informed. “But if she jumped into any random one, she would end up anywhere.”

“Does that mean that I would have to return to the Weasley’s place to return home?” I asked.

“No, it is more complex than that, Ms. Bell,” Dumbledore chucked. “Universal Portals—the reason why they are so rare to find is because they can transport somewhere else after they have been used. This means that are never in the same place twice.”

“So, how exactly are we supposed to return Violet to her world?” Harry asked. “I’m sure you’re aware of what happened to us on Christmas. If Death Eater comes for Violet again, we need to be able to send her home as soon as possible!” Harry exclaimed.

“Yes, that’s very true,” Dumbledore said. He then opened up a drawer and pulled out a tiny bottle. It looked like there was some kind of dust in there—a small pile of violet-blue dust.

“What is that Professor?” I asked.

“This is your way home,” Dumbledore informed. “After Professor Snape informed me of the events that took place on Christmas, the two of us worked to create this,” Dumbledore said referring to the potion.

“How exactly will it send Violet home?” Harry questioned.

“It will call the portal that you fell through to you. You will have a limited time—fifteen minutes max—before the portal closes and transports elsewhere. You can use this whenever you want to return home, Ms. Bell,” Dumbledore explained as he took the bottle and held it out to me. “But let me tell you this—the moment you step through this portal, it will close immediately. So I suggest you say your goodbyes before you leave.”

I sadly nodded and simply looked at the bottle before me. This is what was going to send me home—send me back to my reality.

“Personally, I would like to stay here as long as possible,” I informed. “At least until the end of the school year, I want to stay here.”

“If time permits,” Dumbledore smiled as he placed the bottle down onto his desk, “we would love to have you at Hogwarts.”

“Thank you, Professor,” I smiled.

“Now, is there anything else you and Mr. Potter would like to talk to me about?” Dumbledore asked as he looked away from me and to Harry.

“Yes, there is,” Harry quickly replied. “It’s about Draco Malfoy.”

“Harry?” I whispered.

“He’s a Death Eater,” Harry quickly said.

The relaxed expression on Dumbledore’s face did not change the moment Harry said this. He just remained silent and nodded.

“I see,” he finally replied. “That is some accusation, Mr. Potter. What makes you say this?”

“I saw it earlier this year at Diagon Alley. I saw him hiding his mark before he headed to the Quidditch shop,” Harry informed.

“Hm,” Professor Dumbledore said. “And what would you like me to do with this information?”

“Professor!” Harry gasped. “Are you honestly going to sit there and act as if this isn’t a big deal?”

“Despite young Mr. Malfoy being a Death Eater, Hogwarts is a school that provides children with an education. I cannot deny him an education,” replied Dumbledore.

“But Violet’s in danger with him—“

“Harry!” I exclaimed. “Please, j—just stop; please, just stop it.” I then turned to Dumbledore and said, “Thank you for your time, Professor. Harry and I will be going now.”

Dumbledore nodded.

Before we walked out of the room, Dumbledore called out to us. Harry and I turned around and turned to him.

“Mr. Potter,” he said, “I know that you may not agree with my decision about Mr. Malfoy, but there will come a time when you will come to understand. Maybe it will not be through me, but through someone close to you,” Dumbledore said as he glanced at me.

“Whatever do you mean, Professor?” Harry asked.

Dumbledore simply smiled. “Things will reveal themselves in good time." He then looked at me and said, “Everything will be fine.”

Harry simply nodded. “Whatever you say, Professor. Come on, let’s get to breakfast, Violet.”

“Um…could you wait for me outside for a moment?” I asked Harry.

“May I ask why?”

“Personal reasons,” I replied. “I’ll just be a moment.”

With that, Harry agreed and headed downstairs. He moment he left, I walked back into Dumbledore’s office and closed the door.

“Professor,” I said as I walked up to him, “does this mean that you knew about Draco?”

“Yes,” he replied. “I knew about Mr. Malfoy, and now you know as well. I’m sure that you know about what’s in store for me as well.”

I nodded.

“I want you to help Mr. Potter once I’m gone. He’s going to need guidance,” Dumbledore informed. “He’s going to need guidance from someone he trusts—someone like you.”

“I’m supposed to help him? But what if I have to leave before—well, your assassination?” I asked.

“Then things will work out the way they are supposed to,” Dumbledore replied.

“I—I see,” I replied.

“Now, you really must not keep Mr. Potter waiting,” Dumbledore said.

I nodded. “Goodbye, Professor.”

“By the way,” Professor Dumbledore said before I walked out. He held up the bottle with the potion and said, “I’ll keep this in my drawer here. Come to me if you ever decide that you want to leave.”

I nodded before turning to leave once again.

“Oh yes,” Dumbledore called out again. “How are things with you and Mr. Malfoy?”

I completely froze. Slowly, I turned around and face Dumbledore with a forced smile. “Things are great, really. I don’t think that it’s necessary to require that Draco and I spend time with each other any longer.”

“Ah, I see,” Dumbledore smiled. “That’s a pleasure to hear.”

“That is it,” I replied. “I really must be going now. Harry’s probably getting agitated waiting for me.”

“Oh yes,” Dumbledore smiled. “Please, be on your way.”

I smiled. With that, I hurried out the door and left.