A Muggle at Hogwarts

I sat at the Gryffindor table with my hand in my pocket. Beside my wand, I could feel the thin slip of parchment that Draco had slipped me. I haven’t looked at it yet, though I was very tempted to. However, I knew that it would be better if I simply threw it away. Things have been going so well. I just started to grow accustomed to not being with Draco. That urge to see his face—his eyes gazing on me—had finally started to fade. I admit that I still had feelings for him like Hermione said, but they are not as strong as they were a month ago. From the way Draco acted, it seemed as though he felt the same way, too. Then suddenly he goes and does something like this! I didn’t understand it.

“What are you thinking?” I wondered as I buried my face in my hands.

“Violet,” Harry said from beside me. “Are you all right? Are you still felling sick?”

“Oh, no,” I laughed as I looked up at Harry. “I’m—I’m not feeling sick.”

Hermione, Ron and Ginny then looked over at me to see what Harry was fretting about.

“Are you not going to eat dinner?” Ginny asked as she shifted her eyes to my empty plate. “You should probably eat something if you're not feeling well.”

“Yes,” Hermione agreed. “You hardly ate anything during lunch, and now you’re not eating dinner. This isn’t good for your heath, Violet.”

“No, I’m all right,” I smiled. “The medication that Madam Pomfrey gave me is still making me feel a little nauseous, that all,” I lied.

“Here,” Harry said as he reached out and grabbed a red heart-shaped cookie from the table. He smiled warmly as he handed me the sprinkled covered cookie. “Have a cookie, it will make you feel better.”

“Aw, giving Violet your heart now, are you?” Ron joked as he took a large bite out of his drumstick.

Harry’s face immediately went red. He didn’t reply to Ron’s comment, which simply made Ron laugh harder. Unfortunately for him, he shouldn’t have been laughing so hard with his mouth full of food. Because of his laughter, Ron started to choke on his food.

“Don’t eat so fast, Ron,” Hermione said as she handed him his goblet of water.

Ron coughed as he snatched the goblet from Hermione’s hand and gulped it down. He muttered a thank you to Hermione and he placed the goblet back down onto the table.

“Speaking of hearts,” Ginny began, “whatever happened to Lavender and her chocolate, Ron?”

“Oh, and what about Cormac, Hermione?” I asked as I turned to her.

Ron groaned as he let his head fall and hit the table. In a low voice, he said, “Please don’t mention that.”

Ginny then turned to Harry for an answer.

“He gave it back to her,” explained Harry as he looked Ron. “Let’s just say she didn’t take it too well.”

Hermione, Ginny and I then peered down the table to find Lavender sitting at the other end of the table with Parvati Patil, who looked to be comforting her. In her hands was the glass case that still held the chocolate heart she had given Ron. Her eyes were red and swollen probably due to crying. Despite the heartbroken image that she was portraying, her eyes were glaring at us.

“Whoa,” I gasped as Ginny, Hermione and I turned away. With a tiny smile, I said, “I swear I saw that glass case cracking in her hands.”

“She looks furious,” Ginny whispered.

“She looks completely horrifying,” Hermione commented. “Are you sure you just have her the present back? You didn’t say anything to her, did you?”

“Say anything?” Ron repeated. “Um…I—well, I did say that—well, um…actually…um…n—no, I—I didn’t s—say anything else to her,” Ron said trailing off at the end.

“Whoa, what’s with your face, Ron?” Ginny laughed. “It’s almost as red as your hair!”

“What did you say to her?” Hermione demanded.

“N—nothing!” Ron lied. He then changed the subject and put Hermione in the spotlight. “How about you? How did it go with McLaggen?”

The very mention of this made Ginny giggle. Hermione simply scoffed and looked down at her food.

“Hermione, what happened?” I asked eagerly.

“There’s nothing to tell, I simply refused him,” Hermione informed calmly.

“No way,” I said as I looked away from her and then to Ginny. “Something else happened, right? Please, Ginny, do tell.”

“She smacked him,” Ginny said with a grin.

“You did what?” Harry gasped.

“Did she really?” Ron asked with an enormous smile on his face. He turned his attention to Hermione and asked her if she really did hit Cormac.

Hermione sighed as she placed her silverware down and looked up at us. “Yes, I smacked that git—hard. He was completely unbearable to listen to—he has such a foul mouth.”

“What’d he say to you?” I asked.

“He was saying how I should be honored to be asked out by him, and how I shouldn’t listen to the words of a low-life Muggle,” Hermione replied with a stern look. Her expression suddenly softened as she said, “After I hit him, though, he got very angry. I walked away and then he—”

“He didn’t try to hit you back did he?” Ron quickly cut in. Before Hermione could say anything, Ron was up on his feet and scanning the room for Cormac. Lividly, he muttered, “That McLaggen. Where in bloody hell is he?”

“Ronald, he reasonable,” Hermione scolded. “He didn’t try to hit me!”

Just as Hermione said this, none other than Cormac McLaggen walked passed us with a small group of friends. As he passed us to exit the Great Hall, we all noticed the large bruise on his cheek.

“Bloody hell,” Ron gasped as he slowly sank back down into his seat.

“How hard did you hit him, Hermione?” I laughed.

“I didn’t do that,” Hermione informed.

“Then who did?” asked Harry as he looked away from Cormac.

We all eagerly waited for Hermione to reply, but she didn’t.

“Ginny?” I asked as I turned to her.

“She didn’t tell me anything other than hitting him,” Ginny replied to me.

We turned back to Hermione for an answer, but still, she would not tell us. Instead, she just stared sternly at me. I could only guess that she was trying to tell me something, but I didn’t know what it was. Then suddenly, a strange thought came to my mind. My eyes widened as I jumped to my feet and spun around.

“Violet, what’s wrong?” Harry asked.

“Um,” I stuttered when I realized that he wasn’t here. “I—I’m not feeling very well. I’m going to head to the bathroom really quick.”

“I’ll go with you,” Harry said as he started to rise.

“No!” Hermione objected as she too stood up. “I’ll go with her.”

With that, Hermione and I hurried out of the Great Hall. Once outside, I turned to her and asked, “Draco—was it Draco who did that to Cormac?”

“Yes,” Hermione replied. “He was passing by and probably heard what Cormac was saying about you. After I hit him and was walking away, Cormac grabbed my hand and wouldn’t let go. I ordered him to let go, but he was so livid that he wouldn’t listen to me. He kept saying that I couldn’t reject him. Before I knew it, Draco appeared and ripped my hand from Cormac’s grasp, and then he punched Cormac across the face!”

“Why would he do that?” I asked more to myself than Hermione.

“I don’t know. However, I do know that that you should read that letter Draco slipped you,” Hermione said.

“I—I threw it away, already,” I nervously lied.

“It’s in your pocket—I know it. You’ve kept your hand in that pocket since he slipped it to you on the way to the Hospital Wing. Just read it and see what he wants,” Hermione encouraged.

I smiled weakly at Hermione as I reached into my pocket and pulled out the small piece of parchment. Hesitantly, I opened up the note.

“What does it say?” Hermione asked.

“Draco wants for me to meet him in the Astronomy Tower at 7:30,” I informed.

“It’s eight,” Hermione said as she looked down at her watch. She then looked up at me and said, “Well, what are you waiting for? Go!”

“R—right,” I smiled as I turned and took off towards the Astronomy Tower.

“Tell him I said thank you!” Hermione called out before I disappeared around the corner.

It didn’t take me long to reach the Astronomy Tower. I got there as quickly as I could—hoping that Draco would still be there waiting for me.

“Draco!” I exclaimed as I reached the top of the stairs.

The smile on my face quickly faded when I saw no one waiting for me. Draco wasn’t there. I was too late.

“You’re late,” Draco said.

My eyes quickly scanned the room and out of the shadows emerged Draco.

“I thought you left,” I grinned.

“I was about to. But then I heard running up the stairs,” said Draco. “I couldn’t just leave after making you run up all those flight of stairs.”

I laughed at this. I looked down at my hands as I said, “Um…Hermione said thanks, by the way.”

He simply smirked and nodded. He then walked over to the rail and leaned on it—his back facing me.

“I want to say thanks as well,” I said as I joined Draco by the railing. “Um…thank you for helping Hermione with Cormac.”

“It was nothing,” Draco said without looking at me.

His eyes were staring at the dark sky. As he watched the stars, I couldn’t help but observe him. His pale blond hair and skin was glowing in the light of the moon. A relaxed and pleasant expression was placed on his angelic face.

“Can I ask you something?” I questioned. “Why did you help Hermione?”

“She’s your friend,” Draco said as he turned to me. “I—I couldn’t just walk away. Not to mention, he was bad-mouthing you.”

“I see,” I said. I leaned back on the rail before asking, “So, why did you want to meet me?”

Draco grinned as he reached his hand into his robe pocket and pulled out a familiar black box. “I wanted to give you this. Happy Valentine’s Day.”

I looked at the box and then up at Draco. I shook my head and pushed myself off the railing as I said, “I can’t—I can’t accept that.”

“Why not?” Draco wondered as he turned and faced me.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked. “We’ve been doing fine the past month. So, why all of a sudden are you doing this?”

“Because it’s—“ Draco paused. He sighed heavily as he continued. “I think we made a mistake, Violet. I don’t think I can give up what we had. It’s been killing me to pretend that there was nothing between us. Don’t tell me that a month apart has stripped you of all the feelings you had for me.”

“No,” I said shaking my head. “No—I still have feelings for you, Draco. I don’t think they’re going to ever go away either. Sometimes, I still find myself thinking about how things could have been, but you and I know that this is dangerous. More lives would have been at stake if we continued our romantic relationship.”

“People die every day, Violet!” Draco bellowed. “Why would it matter?”

“Because you’re life will become endangered!” I snapped back.

“My life is already in danger,” Draco replied. He then put his arm out and pulled his sleeve up to show me his mark. “I’m one of them Violet—I’m a Death Eater. I know their plans! I can protect you!”

“No,” I gasped as I looked away from the Dark Mark and up at Draco. I reached my hand up and cupped his face. “You cannot do that. If you try to protect me, you’re going to die. I can’t bear the thought of it.”

“And I don’t want you to die, either!” he whispered. “I don’t care if I die. I just want to protect you.”

A tear slipped down my cheek as Draco said this.

“You’re not supposed to die,” I sobbed.

“What?” he gasped.

“You’re not supposed to die,” I said while looking into his teary eyes. Dammit, I knew I shouldn’t say what I was going to, but I didn’t know what else to say. It took almost everything in me to not burst into tears to say, “You’re supposed live a wondrous life with your wife and son. So you can’t die, Draco. You just can’t.”

“My wife, my son—what are you talking about?” Draco questioned. “I’m not married—I don’t have a son.”

“Things will become clearer in the future,” I smiled weakly as I slowly removed my hands from Draco’s face. “You have a son and wife to think about. If you choose me, you will lose your life and your entire future. You won’t ever get married; you won’t ever kiss your wife; you won’t ever hold your son in your arms. If you choose me, you won’t get to experience any of this, and I can’t bring myself to strip you of all these wonderful things. It’s better this way, even if you can’t see that right now.”

“Violet,” Draco whispered as he brought his hand up to wipe away my tears. I quickly pulled away from him, though.

“Please, just listen to me,” I begged as I stepped away from Draco. “We can’t do this. We have to stop doing this.”

Draco walked closer to me and said, “I don’t care what you say. I don’t care about my future with some girl that I don’t even know. Right now, you are my future.”

“Stop it!” I ordered. “Stop saying these things! Just stop it!”

I wished he would just stop. I can’t stand hearing these words for him. Every time he says something like this, I find myself wanting to be with him even more. But if I am with him, he will die. He will die for betraying Voldemort. Draco’s parents will probably try to protect him and die by Voldemort’s hands as well. People who should live will die if I let this romantic relationship continued.

“Violet,” Draco whispered soothingly. “I want to protect you—I want to be with you. I—”

“STOP IT!” I cried as I brought my hands up and covered my ears. I shut my eyes tightly as I shouted, “DON’T SAY ANYTHING ELSE.”

“I love—“

My eyes suddenly snapped opened when I heard a loud lump. Before me, Harry stood with his hands formed into fists at his side. Draco was on the ground with blood tickling from the side of his mouth.

“She told you to stop it,” Harry snapped. Without another word, he grabbed my hand and hurried out of the tower.

As we reached the bottom of the stairs, Harry stopped and let go of my hand. I simply slid down and took a seat on the steps.

“How did you know I was there?” I asked looking up at Harry, who had his back turned to me.

“Tracked you,” Harry replied. “Hermione told us that Malfoy was the one who helped her. I figured that you would go looking for him.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered lowering my head.

“Don’t apologize,” Harry said softly as he sat down beside me. “You don’t have to be sorry. I should be the only apologizing. I overheard parts of your conversation as I was coming up here. Draco—it really does seem like he cares about you…a lot, actually.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said with a sad smile. “We can never be together. I don’t want him to die because of me—especially when he’s not supposed to.”

Harry turned and looked at me. Although I knew he was concerned about me, those emerald eyes of his were telling a different story. They were filled with sorrow and pain as he asked, “You really care about him, don’t you?”

“I do,” I answered. “I care for him a lot.”

Harry scoffed a bit. He forced a smile onto his face as he looked away. “I wished I was as lucky.”

“I care about you, too. I care about you a lot, Harry. That’s why I’m willing to give Draco up.” I smiled weakly as I placed my head on his shoulder and said, “I love you. You know that, don’t you, Harry?”

“Yeah, I know,” Harry smiled. He then added, “But not in the same manner as you do Draco.”

I just smiled. However, the smile didn’t remain long. I slowly broke into sobs, and then tears were running down my face. Before I knew it, I was balling my eyes out in Harry’s arms.