The Potion of Life

Chapter 11: Dream a Little Dream

Warning: Inaccurate time period customs ahead. I got inspiration of Bridgerton, but there are a lot of things that would be different if it were truly that time period (or the 1890's for that matter), so take it with a grain of salt! 
(Have I been inaccurate the whole time? Yes, but still wanted to give you a fair warning lol)

When I woke up, I felt groggy and disoriented.
"Finally, it's about time you woke up!" I recognized the voice of my mother. That certainly got me awake. The last thing I could recall was me talking with Rosalie at the Ravenclaw table.
   Looking around the room I was in, I realized I was in my family home, in my own bed. My mother was tapping her foot impatiently at the doorway as a maid opened up all the curtains.

"Please Tessa, do not dawdle today. It's a long day ahead and I want you to be on your best behavior tonight." Mom walked over to my bed and pulled back the blanket I was under.
   "There. Get out of bed and get dressed. You slept through breakfast, but lunch is waiting downstairs and after that we'll have to go pick up your dress."
   "Wait, mom? What am I doing back home? What happened?" As I spoke, I did as she told me to do, hurrying over to my closet to pull out a simple, but flattering dark blue dress.

"What do you mean back home? You haven't left. But tonight might change that!" My mother sounded excited now, but all I could do was let the maid help me dress while trying to make sense of the situation.
   "That can't be true. I was at Hogwarts with Rosalie. I remember Aura being there too."
"Honey, you must've been dreaming. I've never heard about Hogwarts or Rosalie, but Aurélie will be at the ball tonight as well. You already knew this. She'll be attending with her husband Sebastian Sallow."

What in Merlin's name was happening?

My mind had trouble keeping up, but it did catch a few things. "She's married to Sebastian? What about Ominis and Poppy? And what ball?"
   Now my mother looked actually concerned when I stepped out from behind the dressing screen. "Oh darling, are you feeling well? Maybe we should have you visit the doctor before picking up your dress."
   I shook my head. "I feel alright, other than a slight headache. I just really don't know what's going on. Why am I not at Hogwarts? Exams are coming up and I'll need to study for them."

The maid was exchanging looks with my mother, who nodded her head. "Leave us for a moment Violet."
   The girl curtsied and left the room while my mother went over to me, urging me to sit down on the little sofa at the end of my bed before sitting down herself.
   "What happened to Leah? Please tell me you didn't fire her while I was away." Leah had been hired as my maid when I turned ten. She was a couple of years older, but we became friends almost instantly.

A look of confusion passed over my mother's face. "Who's Leah?" Then she shook her head. "Nevermind that." She took my hand. "Tessa, you were there the day Aurélie and Sebastian married. You even helped with the preparations! The same way you did when that Sweeting girl married Grand Duke Gaunt."
My head was pounding now and I was starting to feel dizzy. Grand Duke? Married?
   "And you know as a woman you're not in any position to study, no matter how much I know you'd like to." She let go of my hand only so she could put the back of her hand against my forehead. "You're not running any fever, but I will take you to the doctor anyway. It must've been a very detailed dream you had, to forget this much."

I simply nodded. Perhaps it was best to go to a doctor.
   Had my life at Hogwarts been all a dream? Was that possible? I've never heard of a dream that made you believe you spend seven years in a place that did not exist.
Nor one that was so vivid that I could still remember the way it hurt when those poachers got me with their slicing curse back in fifth year or the butterflies in my stomach that fluttered whenever I saw Garreth smile at me.