Another Year at Hogwarts

As I forced my eyes open, I found myself staring up at a wooden ceiling. In the background, I could hear some voices and then the sound of footsteps approaching me. Slowly, I sat up and looked in the direction the noise was coming from, and saw Ron and Hermione approaching me with caution.

“W—what happened?” I croaked. I immediately noticed the tightness around my neck, and brought my hand up to touch it.

“Bellatrix’s dagger,” Hermione explained. “Thankfully it didn’t cut you too deeply, or else you’d probably be dead right now… Well…again.”

“‘Again’?” I asked. My eyes widened as I jumped out of bed, surprising both Hermione and Ron. I then dashed to the other side of the room, where a handheld mirror sat upon the small dresser. I fumbled with the mirror before finally settling it on my face.

I gasped when I saw my reflection.

“Is something wrong?” Ron asked.

Tears filled my eyes as they lowered and settled upon the silver chain dangling from my neck. The baby blue stone that once hung from it was no longer there.

“You—you can see me,” I sobbed joyfully. I brought my hand up and covered my smile. “You can see me!”

“Um…we—we have some questions for you,” Hermione hesitantly said.

“I’m sure you do,” I said after placing the mirror down back turning to Hermione and Ron.

“Are you—are you really, Violet?” Hermione asked.

“Yes,” I replied with a smile.

“How do we know she’s not lying?” Ron whispered to Hermione, though his eyes were on me. “Obviously she would say she’s Violet if that’s what we want.”

“I am Violet!” I exclaimed as I approached them.

Hermione and Ron took a step away from me.

The smile on my face dropped. “You don’t believe me?”

“Well, no offence, but Violet’s dead,” Ron pointed out.

“The Violet from this world is dead! Not me—not the Violet Bell that you knew,” I informed.

“Tell us something only Violet will know,” Hermione demanded.

“The only thing I would know is something you’re not meant to know yet. And even if I told you what it was, you wouldn’t know if it were true or not,” I pointed out.

“She does have a point,” Ron agreed.

“Well then…share something that happened already then. Something that only Violet would know ofS!”

I immediately knew what to say. “Last year…Valentine’s day,” I began. A smile quickly fell onto my face as I continued. “Ron was in a dreadful mood after what happened with Lavender and her chocolate heart. From what I remember, Lavender wasn’t looking so thrilled either. She had in her hands the chocolate that was still in its glass case, and was glaring down at the group of us with such foulness that it sent chills down our spines. We then started talking about McLaggen—about how you, Hermione, turned him down and how you smacked him. You then told us that he became really angry, and hinted that someone else had hit him. You didn’t tell us who… You just gave me this stern look…and I knew exactly who it was that had hit him,” I said looking directly into Hermione’s eyes. Without mentioning who it was, I went on to say, “You told me he overheard the two of you, and came to your rescue. You then told me to read his letter…the one was resisting to read all day. And then you told me to go; you told me that I should go see him.”

The room was silent, and on a regular base, I would be freaking out right now. I would be scared that they didn’t believe me. But looking at Hermione, I just knew that I had nothing to fear.

“The person who rescued me… Violet was the one only person I ever told,” Hermione whispered as a tear slid from her brown eyes. “It’s her.”

“What?” Ron asked. “I didn’t get ANYTHING from that story. She didn’t even mention who this person that rescued you from McLaggen was! How do you know it’s actually Violet?”

“Trust me. It’s Violet, Ron,” Hermione said as she turned to him. She then turned her head back to me and said, “It’s really Violet.”

“Are you serious?” Ron gasped. “But—” he said turning to me, “you’re supposed to be dead…aren’t you?”

“I just told you that the Violet Bell who existed in this world is dead. I’m from a different world, remember?”

“Then…how did you get back here?” Hermione asked. “And…and why were you at the Malfoy Manor? And why did you look so different?”

“I was visiting my aunt in London with my family when I suddenly felt…ill. I ended up collapsing…and I think this happened the moment the Violet Bell from this world died. But anyways, when I woke up, I was here. Back in this world. At Diagon Alley,” I lied. Obviously since everyone hated Snape at the moment, I couldn’t possibly tell them that Snape was actually good and he summoned me here to help fix the story. “I quickly learned about my—well, the death of Violet Bell and her family, and I immediately knew that I had to hide my identity. So, though Ollivanders’ shop was in pieces, I managed to find a wand and cast a spell on myself. Afterwards, I managed to create a charm that would keep me in my new form unless it’s taken off, or,” I looked down at my broken stone, “…got damaged…”

“And…Malfoy Manor then? How did you end up there?” Ron asked.

“I hunted down Snape…” I replied. “I knew that he was—despite everything that he had done—the only person who can help me. He was the only person who could provide me with the resources to find you three. So, as this new person—Victoria Baker—I went to his house and broke in. I proved myself a worthy opponent, and he decided to present me to You-Know-Who. After defeating Bellatrix in a surprise duel, I was welcomed to join him. And as time went on,” I said as I began to lift up my left sleeve, “You-Know-Who made me a member of his inner circle.”

“Is that…?” Hermione gasped. “Violet!”

“It wasn’t as though I asked for it,” I explained while looking down at the Dark Mark. “Anyways…I eventually came to accept that fact that I had to play my part if I wanted to help you three. And that’s what I did. And because of everything I’ve done the past few months…I’m here today.”

“You must have gone through hell—living under the same roof as You-Know-Who, Bellatrix and the Malfoys!” Ron exclaimed.

I flashed him a weak smile. “Yeah… You can’t even imagine…” I then turned my eyes to Hermione and said, “…I owe you an apology, Hermione. I don’t know how much it’s worth after everything that already happened…but I’m sorry. I didn’t want to torture you back at Malfoy Manor. I wanted to help you so desperately—”

“Don’t,” Hermione interrupted. “Don’t even dare to apologize, Violet. Compared to everything you’ve been through, what happened to me is nothing.”

Before I could say anything, the door in the room creaked open, and in stepped Harry. Though he first looked to Hermione and Ron, his eyes quickly fell upon me and locked on.

Tears welled in my eyes again and a small smile fell upon my face. “Hello, Harry.”

He stood there in the doorway, unsure of what to do. Then to my surprise, he left the room and closed the door behind him rapidly.

“H—Harry?” I called out as I started for the door.

“Don’t go after him, Violet!” Ron said as he blocked my path.

I looked up at him in confusion. “Why not?” I then turned to Hermione. “Is—is there something the matter with Harry?”

“Violet,” Hermione sighed heavily while glancing at Ron. “Harry…he—”

“He had a real hard time dealing with your death, Violet,” Ron explained. “I mean…first off, you disappeared back to your world without a single goodbye last year. There was no news of you at all until a few weeks after his birthday…and well…”

“I was dead,” I finished. “That was the news, wasn’t it?”

“He refused to believe it at first,” Hermione continued. “He kept saying that you were from a different world and there was no way that Death Eaters could find you. But then…well…with Snape murdering Dumbledore and all…he came to face the possibility that Snape remade the potion that sent you home and hunted you down so that you couldn’t help Harry destroy You-Know-Who.”

“It took him a while, you know, to come to accept this…” Ron added with a heavy sigh. “Hermione and I weren’t even allowed to mention your name because it would set him on edge. Then suddenly, we finally find out that you’re still alive, only to see that you were about to die. It was…hard, you know? So…you can’t blame Harry for wanting to…to distant himself from you.”

I nodded sadly. “I—I see…”

“We know this is difficult for you—especially after everything you’ve done to try and find us—”

“No!” I quickly interrupted. I forced a smile onto my face as I wiped away a tear. “It’s completely understandable. I—I should have known better. I should have known that…that you three would have been greatly affected by my—my death. Of course coming to terms with the fact that I actually am alive wouldn’t be easy…” I said looking down at my feet.

“Violet,” Hermione whispered sympathetically.

“I should probably go,” I sighed while looking back up at Hermione and Ron.

“What?” Hermione exclaimed. “You can’t! You can’t possibly leave. Where would you go?”

“I can’t stay here. It’s…it’s obviously too much for you three, and you all have enough on your plate as it is. There’s no need for me to add any extra burden.”

“You can’t leave, Violet!” Hermione argued. “Being here is less of a burden than if you returned.”

“But Harry—”

“Hermione’s right, Violet,” Ron agreed. “At least we would know if you’re alright, compared to letting you go back to those people and having to worry about you being found out and then killed.”

“Right!” said Hermione. “Harry will just have to learn to come and accept the fact that you are here, and that you aren’t alive. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy for him, or any of us for that matter, but we’re all still friends. We can’t let you return to those Death Eaters.”

“Okay…” I sighed. “I’ll stay—but only for a few days.”

“Vi—”

“Please don’t argue with me!” I quickly said before Hermione could object. “I know you just want to keep me safe, but I have to do what I can to keep the three of you safe as well! I’m a Death Eater now, and in order to keep you three safe, I have to keep being a Death Eater. If I’m gone too long…” I paused. “I just don’t want things to get messed up again and endanger you guys even more.”

Hermione looked at me speechless. She immediately turned to Ron with a desperate expression and begged, “Ron say something to her. I can’t let her to back!”

“No, Hermione,” Ron said staring sternly at her. “Violet’s right…” Ron sighed. “Even though we would prefer to be with us, she can protect herself. And being on You-Know-Who’s side, she’ll know what’s going on and she can do something about it.”

“Ron!” Hermione gasped.

“So a few days then?” Ron asked ignoring Hermione.

I nodded. “Probably three days max. Then I have to get going. Find my way back.”

“Okay,” Ron agreed.