A Muggle at Hogwarts

As Dumbledore said, Draco remained at Hogwarts, and so did many of the other Slytherin students. But, since his father’s visit to the school, Draco has…become more distant. That faint connection the two of us had—that chemistry that used to be there was slowing faded. It was sad, since I was beginning to think that maybe—just maybe things would go back to the way they were between Draco and me. Sometimes, I think he’s avoiding me, though Pansy and her friends have no problem taking his place in bullying Harry and us.

But as the spark between Draco and I slowly faded, Harry and I have slowly become closer. It might just be because we have a majority of our classes together, but we have been spending a lot of time together.

“What are we doing here?” I asked as I stared up at the tall stands that surrounded me.

“I wanted to show you the Quidditch Field,” Harry smiled as he stood beside me, gazing up at the stands, which will be full of people in a few hours. “It’s breathtaking, isn’t it?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Anyways, I wanted us to do something,” Harry said as he placed his broomstick out in front of him.

I looked to the broom and then to Harry. “Oh, no. Please don’t—”

“Fly with me,” Harry smiled. “You can sit behind me.”

I shook my head and took a small step back from Harry. “N—no, I’m sorry. I can’t. I’m terrified of heights—especially when I can see the ground below me.”

“I promise you it will be fine,” Harry said as he reached out and took my hand. He gently pulled me closer as he got onto his broom. “Come on, I promise it will be alright.”

“Just like how you said you’d count to three before we start running towards a brick wall?” I asked, hesitating to get any closer to the broom.

“I thought you said you weren’t angry about that anymore,” Harry laughed.

“I’m not getting onto that broom, Harry,” I informed as I struggled to free myself from his grip, but he held on gently.

Harry laughed again. “Come on, Violet. It won’t be as bad as you think. You have to face your fear, eventually.”

“Not today, I don’t,” I smiled.

“Come on, please?” Harry begged as he tugged me a little closer. “I promise—PROMISE you that you’re going to be alright. We’ll just go around the stands once, and slowly. We won’t go very high, either.”

I sighed heavily as I looked from Harry to his hand, which was gently wrapped around my own. “Do I even have a choice in the matter?” I asked as I stepped towards him. I groaned as I got on the broom behind Harry—my hands clutching the onto his Quidditch uniform.

“Okay, I’ll just hover us for a moment. Hold on, okay?” Harry instructed as he gently kicked off the ground. I let out a small gasp and wrapped my arms around Harry’s waist as we slowly lifted off the ground.

“Never mind, I change my mind! I don’t want to do this!” I shouted.

Harry laughed at my reaction. “We’re not even a meter off the ground! And besides, we haven’t even begun to move.”

“Harry, please—I don’t want to!” I exclaimed as I closed my eyes tightly and held him closer to me. I felt very unstable on the broom, and even if we were hardly off the ground, the fear of falling scared me.

“Okay, okay,” Harry said as he slowly lowered the broom. When I felt the ground beneath my feet, I quickly jumped off. “Are you alright, Violet? You’re on the verge of tears!” Harry exclaimed as he rushed to me.

I nodded my head quickly. “Y—yeah. Yeah, I’m alright.”

“You’re shaking,” Harry said as he placed his hands on my shoulder. “I’m sorry—I didn’t think you’re fear was this serious,” he apologized.

“Stupid, I know,” I scoffed while looking up at Harry.

“Are you going to be alright up there by yourself while you wait for Hermione?” Harry asked as he looked up at the stands.

A smiled weakly and nodded my head. “Like I said, it’s only really bad when I can see how high off the ground I am,” I said. “As long as I don’t sit in the front, I’ll be okay.”

“Well, look what we have here,” someone shouted from the stands. Harry and I looked up towards the Slytherin section and could see the figure of three girls. “Honestly, the two of you must plan your dates in less public places,” Pansy taunted.

“I really want to punch her,” I growled under my breath.

Harry laughed and turned his attention back to me. “Well, that’s a different side of you.”

“She’s getting on my nerves, that’s why,” I replied with a heavy sigh. I then smiled brightly at Harry before throwing my arms around him and pulling him in for a tight hug. “That was a wonderful date Harry! It was so fun! Thank you!” I exclaimed. As I looked up at the stands at Parkinson and her friends, to my satisfactory, I could tell they were annoyed. I have Harry another squeeze before pulling away. But as I did so, I noticed how red Harry’s face was.

“Are you okay, Harry?” I asked.

“You two were on a date?” Ginny’s voice rang from behind me. I quickly spun around and found the Gryffindor Quidditch team standing there along with Hermione.

“Um…hi guys,” I said with a nervous wave. I glanced back at Harry before saying, “Um…no. Harry was just showing me the Quidditch field and stuff.”

There was an awkward moment of silence where everyone just stared at Harry and me, as though there was more to tell. But thankfully, Hermione suggested that she and I head up to the stands so the Gryffindor team could do some warm-ups before the game started.

“Agreed,” Ginny said sternly before hopping onto her broom and flying off. The other team members soon joined her as Hermione and I walked away.

“What was that about?” Hermione asked as the two of us climbed the endless staircases.

“What was what about?” I asked dumbly.

Hermione looked back at me over her shoulder with a smile on her face. “Don’t play dumb with me, Violet. You and Harry!” she exclaimed. “It’s fine to tell me if there is something going on between the two of you. Harry fancies you anyways.”

“We’re friends, of course he would like me,” I replied.

“You know what I mean, Violet!” said Hermione as we finally reached the top of the stairs. “Harry has a crush on you. It’s written all over his face every time he’s around you. I can’t believe that you haven’t noticed this!” she said as we sat ourselves down.

Before she could say anything else, I quickly said, “You mean like what Ron does every time he’s around you?”

“WHAT?” Hermione bellowed as her face turned a bright shade of red. She turned away from me and glanced at the practicing Gryffindor team before turning her attention back to me and whispered, “Ronald and I are simply friends. That’s all we are!”

“Sure you are,” I grinned.

“We’re nothing more than friends, Violet!” Hermione firmly informed as she reached into her bag and pulled out a book. She then placed herself down on the bench and began to read.

“Aw, who’s in denial now?” I laughed.

It wasn’t long after that the stands were full of people. Unfortunately, the weather had changed, and there was a light mist falling upon us as we watched the game between Slytherin and Gryffindor.

“GO GINNY!” I cheered happily as the Gryffindor team charged towards the Slytherin’s goals in their new formation.

The entire Gryffindor house hollered in union when Ginny was passed the Quaffle. A Slytherin played flew right at her, but she simply dodged them and continued towards the goal. As she neared, she threw her arm back before thrusting the Quaffle threw one of the goals.

“Yeah! Go Ginny!” Dean cheered from beside me.

Ginny then flew away from the Slytherin goal. Harry, at the same time, was flying towards her after the Golden Snitch. When they got near one another, Harry stuck his hand out and gave Ginny a high-five before quickly flying off.

“Hey, Violet,” Dean suddenly said from beside me. “You hang out with Harry and Ginny, don’t you?

“Yeah,” I answered with a smile. “More Harry than Ginny. Why do you ask?”

“Well,” he said hesitantly, “they don’t have anything going on between them, do they? Anything I have to worry about?” he said with a nervous grin.

The smile faded from my face before asking, “What would make you think that?”

Dean nervously licked his lips before looking away to the game. He then explained, “Ginny and I…we’ve been arguing lately. As you can guess, it’s about Harry.” He quickly turned to me and added, “Don’t get me wrong, Harry’s my mate and all, but it just seems like Ginny’s so much happier when she’s with Harry than me. Not only that, the two of them have been spending a lot of time together since Ginny and I began arguing.”

“Well, I can assure you that Harry and Ginny are just friends,” I said, even though I knew it was a lie. “I mean, you have to realize that Ginny’s brother is Harry’s best friend. It’s not shocking that the two of them spend a lot of time together—especially now since Quidditch season has begun.”
Dean let out a small chuckle before nodding. “I must sound like some paranoid boyfriend, don’t I?”

I forced a smile. “Don’t worry yourself about it. Just…give Ginny time to cool down and try to be considerate of her feelings and views.”

“Yeah,” Dean agreed before turning his attention back to the game.

As the game continued, Hermione finally put her book down and began to pay more attention to the Quidditch game. Maybe it was because she didn’t want the drizzle to ruin the book, but either way, she began to cheer with me.

“Come on, Ron,” Hermione whispered as Vaisey, one of Slytherin team’s chasers, raced towards the Gryffindor goal. The game was tied at fifty-fifty and it had been that way for a while now. If Vaisey scored, Slytherin would have the upper hand.

With one swift move, he threw the Quaffle towards the goal. A grin came onto Ron’s face as he spun his broom and hit the Quaffle back into the field with the end of his broom. The entire Gryffindor house hollered at this and started chanting Ron’s name.

I smiled at this, but turned my attention away to find Harry. He was on the opposite side of the field chasing after the Golden Snitch. Following behind him was Draco who was quickly catching up.

“Come on, Harry!” I cheered loudly.

My eyes were on Harry and Draco, who flew around the field after the Snitch, while the other players struggled to score points. The two seemed more aggressive with one another than usual—roughly running into one another here and there. As they flew around, I could slightly see their mouths moving rapidly, as though they were arguing about something.

I turned away from the boys and scanned around the field for the Snitch. Far, on the other side of the field, I could see something small and metallic flying around.

“Harry and them aren’t even after the Snitch,” I whispered.

“What was that?” Hermione asked.

“Harry and Draco,” I repeated, “they’re not even going after the Snitch. It’s on the other side of the—!”

“VIOLET MOVE!” Hermione suddenly screamed with widened eyes.

I turned to see the Quaffle flying towards me. I then heard screams all around me as something hit me and knocked me backwards. I let out a painful yelp as my head feel back and hit the wet, wooden floor of the stands.