Run || Harry Potter FF

vii || hogsmeade

Neville had gotten the tent set up while I made a fire. It was getting quite cold out so we all sat around it. "So, uh, we haven't really been introduce. Actually, you haven't technically been introduce to any of us. I'm Layla, and this is Draco and Neville. I didn't know you before--well, you know," I said, pushing a piece of hair behind my ear. 

"Well, nice to meet you, I guess, though it would probably better under different circumstances. So, uh, how did I know you?" he asked, gesturing to Neville. He seemed to be less sulky since we landed, fortunately.

Neville looked down. The fire reflected in his eyes, making them glow intensely. "We were friends. Really good friends, actually. We were both in the same house, Gryffindor, though you probably don't know what that means now. And we were in the DA together... Shame you don't remember that stuff."

Harry was looked down at his hands. "Yeah, shame." He looked back up, this time at Draco. "And how did I know you?"

Neville snorted from where he was seated. "Well...it's-it's complicated. We weren't exactly friends," Draco said. I wondered what their relationship was like when Harry was Harry.

"Yeah, you could say that. Or you could say that you two hated each other. That would probably be more accurate," Neville said, laughing. 

"Yeah, well, I guess it would. We were kind of...enemies. But a lot has changed since then. I mean, Neville and I hated each other too. And I would have never even spoke to a muggle," he said, gesturing to me. 

"Okay, I'm really starting to resent the term muggle. Can you please refer to me as Layla? Thanks," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. I wasn't a muggle, I was a person. "Besides, we should be discussing plans! Not past times."

"Right, well, obviously we need to get Harry's memories back first. But where do we find McGonagall?" Neville wondered, grabbing a stick off the ground and throwing into the fire. 

I didn't know who McGonagall was or anything about her but I did remember one thing. "Well...Hagrid said that she wouldn't be far from Hogwarts. Maybe we should go there?" I suggested, though I had no idea where or what Hogwarts even was. 

"I don't think that would be a good idea. She wouldn't be at Hogwarts anyway.... But maybe Hogsmeade...," Draco said, more to himself.

"We can't go to Hogsmeade. We would be recognized, I'm sure of it. It's just way too risky--" Neville began.

"But she wouldn't be recognized," Draco interrupted, gesturing to me. 

My eyes widened as I turned to him. "Me? I can't--I don't even know what that is! You can't expect me to--"

"You want revenge, right? Well, Harry's memories could be the key to that. He's stopped You-Know-Who before and I'm sure he can do it again. But we need your help... It's up to you, obviously, but I was under the impression that you wanted your parents back."

He knew exactly what buttons to press, didn't he? I sighed in annoyance. They can sit there and call me a muggle all day but when they needed something... "Fine. Of course I'll do it. I just don't know if I can... I might ruin everything. What if they figure out I'm a muggle?"

"They won't. You won't be there long enough for anyone to notice. All you have to do is get in there, look for Professor McGonagall, and get out. It'll be easy."

Even though his face and his tone said that he was telling the truth, how could he know that? For all we knew, You-Know-Who himself was at Hogsmeade and I would be the one to pay for our monumental mistake. But what choice did we have?