Another Year at Hogwarts

The next day, I awoke thinking that I would discover everything that happened was a dream. I thought I would wake up and find myself awake at Malfoy Manor—locked in the dungeon after discovering who I really was. But when I looked around and discovered that I was still at Shell Cottage, a smile couldn’t help but immediately form on my face.

Hermione later came into my room and brought me a pair of clothing to change into. I couldn’t tell her how happy I was to finally be wearing jeans again. But after getting ready, she accompanied me downstairs for breakfast. It suddenly felt like the day I first arrived in this world and Hermione accompanied me downstairs to have breakfast with the Weasley family. And as we reached the kitchen, Hermione introduced me to Bill, Fleur and Luna—since I had yet to properly meet her. Dean, who was already familiar with me because of last year, came and gleefully greeted me.

“I knew you couldn’t be dead,” Dean smiled as he pulled me into a friendly embrace.

“Thank you,” I smiled as we parted.

“You all must be hungry after what happened yesterday,” Bill said while standing next to Fleur. “Please, everyone, have a seat and dig in.”

Everyone gleefully accepted the offer and sat down around the table. Ron, who was starving, scooped a large amount of food onto his plate and quickly began eating.

“Ron!” Hermione scolded.

“Wha?” Ron said with a mouth full of food.

“Slow down, you’re going to choke!” she said before placing some food onto her plate.

“Has anyone seen Harry?” I questioned while looking around the table.

Ron quickly swallowed his food and said, “He’s still upstairs. He’ll probably come down in a mom—oh, here he comes now,” Ron said as we heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

As Ron predicted, Harry appeared in the kitchen. I couldn’t help but notice how tired he looked. His hair and clothes was a mess—as though he had just rolled out of bed. However, the bags under his eyes told me that he probably didn’t get much sleep.

“Morning, Harry,” Hermione greeted. “Sit down for some breakfast!”

“Um…n—no thanks,” Harry said as he glanced at me for a second. “I—I’m heading outside.”

“H—Harry!” Hermione called out as he left.

“Harry seems very uncomfortable around you,” Luna commented while looking at me. “It’s very strange since I heard many people talking about the two of you together last year. Did some happen? Other than you supposedly dying, then come back as a follower of You-Know-Who, only to almost really pass away yesterday?”

The room was immediately filled with an awkward silence as Luna looked around innocently at everyone.

“Um…let—let me go ask him,” I suggested nervously as I got up from my seat and quickly headed out after Harry.

As I stepped out of the house, I found Harry standing outside. In front of him was a man with light brown—mixed with gray—hair. He wore shabby, patched up clothing, and his had some premature lines and scars.

“Harry?” I called out as I closed the door behind me.

Harry immediately turned back and looked at me, before quickly looking back to the man and said, “I—I have to get going.”

“Harry!” I called out as I rushed down the steps of the house to catch up to him. But as I reached the last step, I tripped and fell forward. Thankfully, the older man was there to catch me because Harry continued down the beach without a single glance back. “Harry!” I called out again as I quickly stabled myself.

“He seems stressed,” the man said.

“Yeah…” I agreed as I turned to look at the man. It was only then that I realized who it was that caught me. “Remus Lupin!” I exclaimed.

This caught his attention, and he turned and looked down at me. I guess it was only when I said his name that he really noticed me. His dark brown eyes widened as he slowly scanned my face.

“Have we—haven’t we met before?” he asked as I parted from him.

“Yes,” I replied. “Last year…when Dumbledore was—”

“You’re that girl. The one who was running from the Astronomy Tower,” Remus remembered.

“Yes,” I smiled. “Um…I’m Violet, Violet Bell.”

“So you’re the girl I’ve been hearing so much about. The Muggle who attended Hogwarts last year,” Remus smiled. “Well, it’s a pleasure to have finally met you, Ms. Bell. But if you don’t’ mind me asking, aren’t you supposed to be dead?”

“Please, call me Violet. And, um…no I’m not dead. Never was. The Violet Bell who resided in this world is dead. I’m from a different world,” I simply explained.

“Well…that’s interesting. When Arthur first told me, I couldn’t believe it. But…well, after everything that has happened, I don’t think there isn’t anything I can’t believe in, anymore,” Remus smiled.

“I see,” I smiled. “So, what brings you to Shell Cottage? Has your child been born?”

“What? How did—” Remus stopped and chuckled to myself. “Your knowledge...has Harry and the others told you about me?”

I shook my head. “No, it’s a…knowledge I’ve obtained from my world.”

Remus’s smile grew wider, but he said nothing more on the matter. “To answer your question, no, my child has not been born yet. I heard that Harry, Ron and Hermione were at Shell Cottage and came to see how everyone was doing. That’s all.”

There was a peaceful silence that fell between Remus and I after that comment. But as I stared up at him, I could see his look of sadness and curiosity in his eyes.

“I—I hope you don’t mind me saying this…but…you look an awful lot like someone I used to know,” Remus said.

“You mean Scarlet Angel?” I asked.

“You know her?” he asked.

“I’ve heard an awful lot about her during my time here,” I replied. “You were friends with her. You, James, Sirius, Peter and Lily—you all were friends.”

“Yes,” Remus nodded. “Yes we were. Where…who told you about Scarlet?”

“I’ve heard and seen things from various people,” I replied. I hesitated as I added, “But…mostly from Snape.”

Remus scoffed and turned away from me. “Snape.”

“You didn’t approve, I’m assuming.”

“Scarlet was just like Dumbledore,” Remus snapped as he turned back and looked at me. “Like Dumbledore, she had placed her trust in the wrong person. And even after betraying her again and again—after breaking her heart and smashing it to dust—Scarlet always said that Snape was good. That he was a good person at heart. And just like Dumbledore, that good person killed her.”

“Where you in love with her?” I boldly asked without thinking.

Remus seemed taken back by my boldness, but he simply smiled sadly. He then looked me in the eye and said, “You’re very curious about her, aren’t you?”

“Of course, I am,” I replied. “I feel like I’m connected to her in some way. Everything I do connects back to her in some way, you know?”

“Well, take a turn in the garden with me, and I’ll tell you anything you want to know,” Remus smiled.

“What about seeing how Hermione and Ron?” I asked. “Didn’t you come to visit them?”

“It can wait,” Remus replied. “This seems important to you, and I have time to spare.”

I smiled brightly and nodded my head. “Okay, let’s go.”

“Well,” Remus began as the two of us started for the garden, “before I begin confessing my feelings for Scarlet, I should mention that every one of us loved Scarlet dearly. She was one of those people who just had this aura that attracted others towards her. She was incredibly kind, athletic, smart, extremely charming and polite and…and always full of so much life. And…she was a very lovely girl as you probably discovered,” Remus said turning to glance at me. “I think at one point, the three of us—James, Sirius and myself—had a crush on her.”

I laughed at this. “And what about Peter Pettigrew?” I asked. “Don’t tell me he was the only one who was able to escape her charms.”

Remus chuckled at this as well, but shook his head. “Peter was always idolizing over her talent and popularity compared to anything else. Maybe if he had looked passed those things, he too would have fallen for her.”

“I see,” I laughed. “So…even James and Sirius liked her at one point?”

“James was in love with her they moment they met on the train during our first year. He had thought her to be the most beautiful girl he had met, and I had to agree with him. Then again, we were only eleven years old. It wasn’t until later that James started turning his attention to Lily. As you know, the two of them ended up dating and later they married and had Harry.

“As for Sirius, he adored her immensely. Like himself, her father had wanted her to be placed in Slytherin. However, just like Sirius, she was placed into Gryffindor. Due to their commonality, the two of them quickly bonded and became good friends, and Sirius quickly grew a fondness for her. However, unlike the many girls who were idolizing over Sirius’s bad-boy attitude and looks, Scarlet didn’t droll over him, which probably explains why he tried so hard to always catch her attention,” Remus explained.

“And you?” I asked after a moment of silence.

“Scarlet is someone I will never forget. She was everything I had ever hoped for—a beautiful person, inside and out. It wasn’t hard, falling for her. But compared to me, she was a princess, and I was nothing but a lowly commoner. So I sat and admired her from afar.”

“So…she never knew?” I asked as Remus and I came to a stop in front of Dobby’s grave.

“No,” Remus said as he looked down at the small grave. “By the time I was ready to confess…she had already found someone. A Muggle by the name of Charles Baker. She had met him after leaving Hogwarts and moving out of her father’s house. By the time I finally met him, the two of them had already been going out for a few months. She had told him about being a witch, and he accepted the fact wholeheartedly.

“During the worst days of the First Wizardry War, Charles proposed to Scarlet. The two of them were beginning to plan for their wedding when Lily and James contacted her shortly after Harry was born. They then informed her that Dumbledore had asked them to go into hiding. They were going to originally going to hide at James’s family cottage, and Scarlet was to be the Secret-Keeper.

“When Sirius discovered that Charles had proposed to Scarlet, he went to James and begged them to make someone else the Secret-Keeper. That’s when we decided to gather once again and changed the Secret-Keeper. However, before we could change the Secret-Keeper, Scarlet had already taken by Death Eaters and killed.”

“And that was when the location was changed to Godric’s Hallow, and Peter became the Secret Keeper.”

“And what a mistake that was,” Remus said angrily.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized.

Remus smiled as he placed a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t apologize. If I didn’t want to talk about this, I would have refused you. Besides, telling these things to you is like talking to Scarlet.” Remus then turned and looked at me and said, “And now, it’s as though she knows, so if I were to die today, I will have no regret.”

His hand then slipped from my shoulder, and he headed back towards the house.