The Hogwarts Diaries

Aurelia's Diary

I was sitting primly in one of the sleek leather armchairs in the Slytherin common room only half-listening to the gossip session that was going on around me between Kayla and Natalie and the rest of the female members of The Snakes. In my lap was opened my diary, in which I was scribbling in my messy handwriting, not what was going on around me, but rather what was going on in my head and in my heart. 

Harry Potter was the main focus of this - actually, the majority - entry in my little, dark brown, smooth leather bound diary. It was the main reason why the book never went further away from me than in either my backpack or my purse; if anyone read what was hidden in the depths of these cream colored pages, I would be ruined. Not only my reputation but my chance at Hogwarts would be as well. My parents were A's anti-Harry as they come. It got on my nerves and hurt me when they would talk about him negatively because I knew I could never stand up for him. 

A bitter laugh escaped my lips at the recognition of the thought that I was about the level of his fan girls and had about as much of a chance of getting him as they did. The conversation around me instantly ceased and I looked up with my trademark semi-vague expression at the girls who were staring at me with disdainful looks that clearly read "she's such an idiot; how the hell is she not a Hufflepuff?"

My temper flared and I jumped to my feet, my lips pressed thin and my nostrils flared wide. My vision turned red and I lost all conscious thought. In the back of my mind, a steady stream of thoughts were playing on replay: who were these girls to judge me? They were nothing but a bunch of desperate slags just trying to get attention from the boys by dressing and behaving as sluttily as they could; it was the only way they would be able to get a boy - they weren't even that pretty. They thought that they were so much better than everyone else when in all actuality they were worse and lower on the "popularity list" than even the dullest of the Hufflepuffs. 

I blinked a few times and my vision went back to normal. The furious looks on all of their faces made me realize that I had said something while I was angry. That wasn't unusual. And by their expressions, I had a feeling that I had said what I was thinking. Kayla looked like she was the most furious of the bunch. She was opening her mouth to yell at me when I gave her a rude hand gesture and said throwing in a few choice swear words, "Leave me alone, Kayla. You and your desperate 'friend'," I scoffed the last word and put it in air quotation marks, "Need to realize that you're fooling no one with you act. We all know that you drool over Draco Malfoy at every second of the day, and that you both despise each other. Why don't you just tell each other what you really feel instead of telling everyone else abut it behind each other's backs."

With that, I stormed out of the common room, successfully ending my charade of fitting in with The Snakes. I knew I would regret it the rest of my years here at Hogwarts because they would make my life a living hell, but at that second in time, I couldn't bring myself to care. I wandered the corridors, trying to finish calming down and taking deep breaths, occasionally muttering things to myself when no one was around. I went from the dungeons up to the Grand Staircase, then I went along each floor and each corridor, winding my way up to the Astronomy Tower. It was the one place in the school where you could go to get fresh air and be alone without having to exit the castle. 

The sun was on its way to setting when I strolled through the door, my hands shoved deep in the pockets of my school robes; I hadn't gotten around to changing into muggle clothing yet. I walked further out and stood on the edge leaning against the railing and soaking up the last warm days of the sun. This was my sanctuary.

There were people below me the size of ants scattered all along the grounds and doing various activities, and taking advantage of the abnormally warm February evening. My eyes were then drawn to the far off quidditch pitch where I knew I would find at least one team practicing to get reassociated with the game and plays after the long Christmas holiday. The question on my mind was which team was practicing? I knew it wasn't the Slytherins because I had seen the captain during my wanderings. Then it struck me that it didn't matter; even if it was the Gryffindors, Harry wouldn't be there because Professor Umbridge had banned him from the game for a reason I was sadly not privy to. I sighed. I wanted to know what he had done. I wanted to know him better than just what I could observe from afar. 

A lone tear escaped the corner of my eye. I caught it with my finger, and brought it up to eye level, looking at it curiously. Why did I cry at just the thought of never having a conversation longer than five words with the boy? Was I really that deeply in love? And how could I be in love with someone I hadn't known for a long time? I didn't know the answers to any but the last one; I was in love with him for his bravery, chivalry, and every other quality about him that was absolutely perfect. There was nothing the boy could do that would be wrong.

I frowned and then shook my head. No, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the boy. The way his green eyes sparkled when he would be laughing and chatting with his friends Weasley and Granger; how his right eyetooth was just a little crooked and sharper than his left; the way that his whole face seemed to shine when he smiled that heart-wrenching crooked smile that seemed to express all the good he saw in a person and all the love he felt for that person; his quick wit when responding to Malfoy's and Ashton's taunts (they and I were on a last name basis now); and how he never seemed to falter in steadfastness on his opinions no matter what the price he had to pay. The last was evident by the scar "I must not tell lies" he bore on his left hand caused by Umbridge. My lip curled and my hand clenched in a fist, wanting to give the lady what she deserved for treating my Harry like that. 

The sound of the door to the tower opening brought me out of my reverie with a gasp. I spun aroun with wide eyes and red hair flying behind me as I faced the person. I was met by the sight of a blonde with full, red lips that I suppose some would find charming, sensuous even. "Olive," I greeted neutrally, attempting to keep any sort of emotion out of my voice. A smiling boy with attractively messy brown hair and an adorably freckled complexion came stumbling through after her. "Marvin," I greeted the seventh year Hufflepuff who I assumed was Olive's next victim.

"Simmons," Olive sniffed at me coldly, her high brows arched disdainfully and she looked down her nose at me. My jaw clenched and I triedto stay calm. She had every reason to be mean to me, given the people I hung out with.

"Aurelia," Marvin said politely at me. His face was screwed up in confusion as he glanced between Olivia and I. 

"Olive, do you have a second?" I asked pitifully. She just looked at me with one eyebrow arched gracefully as if she was asking, "are you kidding me?" I ran my hand through my hair. "Right. Well, I'll be going now. You two...have fun?" I said, the last bit coming out as a question. What were you supposed to say in that sort of situation? Swiftly I exited the tower and went back to my wandering of the corridors. 

I was on the sixth floor when I bumped into someone accidentally. "Oh my, I'm so so-" the words died in my throat when I looked up into the pair of green eyes that had been haunting my dreams since first year. It was Harry Potter. "H-h-hi, H-H-Har-r-rry," I stuttered out nervously. I was spinning my ring on my finger like I always did when I was nervous. I had gotten it from my grandmother and it always made me feel calm.

"Hi, Aurelia," he smiled at me. A little piece of me died inside from happiness. He knew my name!

"W-where a-are you h-heading?" I asked still tripping over my words a little. 

"Just going for a walk since I can't join the rest of my team out onthe Pitch." So it had been the Gryffindir team practicing.

"Oh, that stinks," I replied awkwardly. "You're a really good seeker!" 

He grinned in modest acceptance of my blurted compliment. Curse my awkwardness to the seventh layer of hell. "Thank you. Would you like to take a stroll down to the Black Lake with me?" he asked and extended his arm for me to take.

I hesitated for the briefest of seconds before taking it with a much more confident "of course." We wLked down to the lake talking of this and that. When the sun started to sink behind the line of the Forbidden Forest, we headed back up to the castle. Right before we parted ways Hardy invited me to a secret meeting of a group called Dumbledore's Army, which he had explained briefly. "Tomorrow night we're having another meeting. Meet me by the statue of the one eyed witch and I'll take you to it. That is, if you would like to come."

Eagerly I agreed and Harry gave me a kiss on the cheek before running up the staircase in the direction of the Gryffindor common room. With my hand on my cheek I wandered down to the Slytherin common room, totally oblivious to my surroundings.