A Muggle at Hogwarts

As I sat in the Great Hall, my eyes kept wandering to the staff table in hope of seeing Snape. However, no matter how many times I looked, he was never there. I had hoped that what happened earlier this evening was nothing but a hallucination brought on by stress. Unfortunately, with his absence, I knew that what happened was real. He had advised me to leave Hogwarts and return home, although he did not tell me the reasons. He was genuinely concerned about something—that expression on his face made it all too clear. That look on his face—it was something that I could not get out of my mind.

“Violet, are you all right?” Hermione asked.

When I had snapped out of my thoughts, I had realized that the Great Hall was already clearing out. Dinner was over.

“Well,” I began with a heavy sigh, “Snape asked me to leave Hogwarts and go home. I was just—occupied—“

“Wait a minute!” Ron exclaimed. “You aren’t seriously considering leaving are you? I—I mean, Harry’s not back yet. He would be completely devastated if you left without saying goodbye to him!”

“I don’t Violet would be cruel enough to do that, Ron,” Hermione pointed out.

“Of course I wasn’t considering it,” I replied. “But what bothers me is why he was asking me to leave. Not to mention, he had some of the potion that would send me home with him. It was as if he was expecting me to leave or something.”

“Maybe he has it in case something happens,” Hermione suggested. “I mean, in case something happens and you can’t get into Dumbledore’s office for some reason.”

“I guess that makes sense,” I said the three of us headed out of the Great Hall.

“Is there something significant about today?” Hermione asked.

I didn’t have to think too long on the subject. I quickly shook my head. “No. Nothing.”

“Well, then we have nothing to worry about!” Ron gleefully exclaimed. “I mean, it’s not like Death Eaters are going to be attacking or anything—right?”

“Of course not,” Hermione answered. “With the new defenses that the school has put up, I don’t think that Death Eaters will be able to penetrate the school. Also, I’ve heard that some members of the Order have been placed around the school as well.”

As we walked down the corridors towards the Gryffindor Tower, Ron and Hermione had gotten into some sort of debate on how Death Eaters could get into the school. Hermione thought that it was highly doubtful, while Ron argued that there could be ways to get in. He then went through an endless list on theories on how Death Eaters could get in—seeing as Fred and George could get their products into the school undetected.

I, on the other hand, was pondering about the other thing that was bothering me: The whereabouts of the missing Draco Malfoy. I couldn’t help but feel horrible about not realizing until now that he has not been present at Hogwarts. Heck, if Hermione didn’t tell me he wasn’t here, I would have never noticed. I’ve been so busy with Harry and the attacks that I completely forgot about him.

As the three of us headed up the stairs to the Gryffindor Tower, a horrid thought came to my mind: Draco hasn’t been here since Valentine’s Day, and that’s when the Death Eaters began to attack!

In a shaking voice, I whispered, “It can’t be.”

“See, even Violet agrees with me!” Ron exclaimed. “Look at her, she’s so baffled at the possibility!”

“There’s no way that they can smuggle themselves in through mail, Ronald!” Hermione argued. “All the owls are being checked. Not to mention, the protection spells detect any Dark objects—including their Dark Mark! There’s—“

“I have to go!” I suddenly exclaimed as I turned around and headed back down the stairs.

“VIOLET!” Hermione screamed as I jumped onto a staircase that was moving away from the platform I was on.

“What in bloody hell are you doing?” Ron yelled after me.

“Don’t worry about me!” I called back. “I have to go see if Dumbledore’s back!”

With that, I disappeared. I raced through the halls towards Dumbledore’s office. I had to tell him that Draco might be involved in the Death Eaters attacks. Although I didn’t want to believe it myself, it was a possibility that it was true. Dumbledore was the only person who I knew would know what to do.

“Violet!” someone called from behind me.

I quickly spun around—thinking that I had heard Draco. However the person standing behind me was not Draco, but Harry.

“I’ve been looking for you for half an hour now,” Harry said as he walked up to me.

“I just came down from the Gryffindor Tower,” I replied. I tilted my head to the side as I asked, “Where in the world have you been, Harry?”

“Um…with Dumbledore,” Harry replied.

“He’s back then?” I asked. “I—I have to go talk to him, then.”

“No, wait!” Harry exclaimed as he suddenly appeared in front of me so that I could not pass. “I have to talk to you, Violet.”

“I’m sorry but it’s going to have to wait,” I replied as I tried to get around him. “I have to talk to Dumbledore. It’s about Draco.”

With the mention of Draco’s name, Harry’s emerald eyes widened.

“Please don’t say anything!” I quickly said as I saw the expression on his face. “I—I know you still don’t like him despite everything I have said to you, but I have to talk to Dumbledore about this. Draco has been missing from school for the past couple of months. I’m worried that he—“

“You need to come with me, Violet,” Harry said firmly—his voice sounding…dark.

I stood staring at Harry with a frightened expression. This was the first time that I had ever heard Harry like this. It was scary. He sounded so cold.

Harry quickly noticed the look on my face and his face quickly softened. He gently took my hand in his. And begged, “Please, I need you to come with me. It’s urgent.”

Hesitantly, I nodded my head. “Where are we going?”

“The Room of Requirement,” Harry replied with a smile.

Before long, Harry and I ended up on the seventh floor in front of a completely blank wall. As I stood beside Harry, he closed his eyes and then a large oak door appeared before us. Harry then led me through the Room of Hidden Things. It looked more like an attic full of junks that no one wanted. Everything was covered in dust, and was dimly lit.

“What are we doing in here, Harry?” I asked as I walked beside him.

“I have to get something,” he replied.

The two of us walked over to this large and dusty bookcase. There were piles of books upon it; all of them were covered in a thick layer of dust, except for a dark green one—which looked new and oddly familiar.

“I really must thank you, Violet,” Harry said as he reached up and took the book from the shelf. My eyes widened in horror as a saw a familiar silver ring on his left hand. The small green gem wink as me as he continued. “I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”

“You,” I gasped as I slowly backed away from him, turning my gaze from the ring to the green book that held in his hand. “H—how did you get that?”

“Don’t tell me you have forgotten,” Draco smirked as his eyes returned to their regular icy blue color. His ebony hair turned to its original platinum blond color as the lightning shaped scar of his forehead disappeared. He looked at me with a sinister stare as he said, “You fell asleep while we were watching that movie. I simply took the liberty of taking this book for light reading. I do say that it was quite interesting and useful. I wouldn’t be able to accomplish so much in such little time without you and this book.”

“You—you showed that book to the Death Eaters didn’t you? Th—that’s why all of this happening,” I gasped.

“I simply told them what to do,” Draco said as he glanced away from me and to the book. “I couldn’t possibly let them get a hold of this. There are things that are…unnecessary for them to know. But now,” Draco said as he threw my book—Harry Potter and the Hald-Blood Prince—at my feet, “I have no need for this. I know everything I need to.”

“You’re not getting away with this, Draco,” I snapped as I grabbed the book and ran towards the entrance of the room.

As I did so, I heard Draco racing after me. Just as the door out of the room came into sight, I felt Draco’s hand gripping my arm. As I swung me around to face him, I brought my free hand up and punched him across the face. He winced in pain as he loosened his grip, but it wasn’t loose enough for me to free myself.

“STOP IT!” Draco ordered as I brought my hand up to swing at him again. Before I knew it, he had pulled out his wand and had pressed it up against my throat. I gasped as he straightened himself and hovered above me. “Death Eaters are invading Hogwarts as we speak. You won’t survive out there.”

“I don’t care,” I snapped. “Go ahead, Draco—kill me. Do it.”

“I can’t do that,” Draco remarked. “I need that last book. I need to know what happens.”

“Why?” I questioned as I glared at Draco was hatred. “You’ve been to my room. You can simply—“

“Don’t you think I’ve tried that already?” Draco snapped as he pressed was wand harder against me. “It doesn’t work. Only you can open the room.”

“And what the hell makes you think that I’ll do that?” I shouted. “What makes you think I’ll give you what you need to bring down Harry?”

Draco clutched his jaw tightly at the very mention of Harry. His eyes then lowered and his eyes seemed to glow red with rage. “Potter,” he sneered as he glared lividly at the locket around my neck.

With all my strength, I slipped my hand out of Draco’s and clutched onto my necklace before Draco would rip it off me.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked. “Why are you doing this, Draco?”

“BECAUSE OF YOU!” Draco bellowed as he lowered his wand and turned away from me. Angrily he turned around, and pointed his wand at me and screamed, “BECAUSE OF YOU! EVERYTHING IS BECAUSE OF YOU! IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT—YOU AND THAT DAMN POTTER!

“Because of Potter and his damn friends, Father wasn’t able to get that damn prophecy. He was almost taken to Azkaban! As a result of that this is what happened to me!” Draco shouted as he lifted the sleeve of his left hand to reveal the Dark Mark. “And then you showed up. I was going to get my revenge on Potter and his stupid friends when you showed up and then everything just got complicated.”

“Draco—“

“No!” he shouted as he walked closer to me. He waved his wand in my face as he continued. “I was supposed to kill you, you know? But when Father met you on Halloween, he thought it would be better to keep you alive and give you to the Dark Lord. I was then assigned to watch you—to get close to you and make sure that you actually knew what was going on, and what would happen. But you,” Draco laughed, “I completely underestimated you. You tricked me—you enchanted me just to stray me away from my mission—and I actually fell for it. YOU MADE ME FALL FOR YOU! You pretended that you had feelings for me as well, when it was obvious that you didn’t!”

“I pretended to have feelings for you?” I repeated in disbelief. “I was honest with you right from the beginning! I told you I was a Muggle—I TOLD YOU EVERYTHING. You—you are the one who lied! You only got close to me because it was an ORDER!”

“It started out as an order—yes, but then—after Hogsmeade—“ Draco paused at looked at me sternly. “No—that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you knew what I was supposed to do—what my mission was, and you did everything in your power to stop me! You cared about nothing but Potter and helping him succeed!”

“What are you talking about?” I questioned.

“DON’T PLAY DUMB WITH ME!” Draco bellowed—his eyes looking as if they were getting watery. “I’M NOT AN IDIOT—I heard the two of you on Valentine’s Day!”

“Valentine’s Day?” I asked.

“Yes,” Draco replied coldly. “I was ready to give up everything for you that night. But then you willingly ran off with Potter. I followed the two of us down and that’s when I heard it.”

My eyes suddenly widened when I realized that Draco was referring to. I gasped as I shook my head and tried to explain. “No, you misunderstood—“

“YOU TOLD HIM YOU LOVED HIM!” Draco shouted—a tear slipping from his eyes. “You clearly said that you were willing to give me up because you care for him so bloody much! What’s there to misunderstand?”

“Did you hear anything I said before that?” I asked before Draco could finish his sentence completely. Tears were now streaming down my face as I continued. “Did you even hear what Harry said? If not, go ahead—look at my memory!” I said as I stepped closer to Draco. “See what actually happened!”

“No!” Draco quickly replied as he extended his wand out as if it was a barrier to keep me away from him.

“Are you afraid to find out that you were wrong?” I snapped. “Is that it? Are you scared to find out that I loved you?” Draco’s eyes immediately locked onto mine when I said this. “Yes, I loved you. I loved you, Draco Malfoy. I meant it when I said that I couldn’t not be with you because you would be in danger. I didn’t say that just because I didn’t want to be with you. I did. If this was a perfect world and went exactly the way I wanted it to, you and Harry would be friends. You wouldn’t have to live your life according to what your parents—your father wants. You and I would be together. I would be able to stay here, and we would spend an endless amount of time in each other’s company. But now,” I said as I glared at him, “I don’t think that is possible. Because of your stubbornness and jealously towards Harry, you destroyed us. You betrayed my trust, and because of that,” I paused, “we will NEVER be together again.”

“Violet,” Draco gasped.

“Forgive me,” I whispered.

Before Draco could say anything, I slapped his wand out of his hand. I quickly swung my arm around and punched him across the face as hard as I could. He tumbled backwards and fell onto the ground in pain. Without another look, I turned and raced out of the Room of Requirement.