Unknown | Draco Malfoy

three | fictional

fabricated, imaginary 

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HARRY POTTER UNIVERSE?"

       Aulani woke slowly, with a massive headache, and looked around to find a small, cozy little room that almost made her think of her sister's back home. But after further inspection, she realized that she was just in another unfamiliar place. What fictional story am I in this time? she thought sarcastically, though the thought was a sobering one.

       "Mum!" called a voice from the hallway. She turned to find a shadow of a girl, maybe eight years old, but the way the lighting was, Aulani couldn't see much detail. "She's awake."

       A moment later, a taller figure walked into the room and she was blinded by the sudden light. As her eyes adjusted, she focused on the woman peering down at her, and felt a sense of recognition. This was the woman who had pulled her into the shop, away from the two, well, wizards. "How are you feeling?" the woman asked Aulani gently, her tone very motherly. Aulani only stared back, very confused about so many things. "You fainted, in case you don't remember," she murmured, sitting in a chair beside the bed. "The Ministry men came over to see what was going on, but I told them you were a friend. I'm sorry about that, I didn't mean to be intrusive, but something seemed - off. You seem, I don't know, a long ways from home."

       Aulani couldn't help but let out a quick chuckle at that, slightly dizzy from the sudden rush of memories of, if she could believe it, Diagon Alley. "You've got that right," she said, sitting up. "Thank you, uh - "

       "Rory. Rory Aldeheim," she filled in for the girl. "It's alright if you don't want to tell me your name. You can leave whenever you want to, as well, but I'd prefer if you'd take the floo, so you don't see where you're coming from. I'm sorry, but I'm not really sure who to trust these days."

       Aulani let out a deep breath. "So I really am in the Harry Potter universe."

       Rory's eyebrows furrowed, her head tilting to the side a little just as Aulani's eyes began to widen. She knew her mistake in saying that the second she had said it. "What do you mean, Harry Potter universe?"

       Suddenly, Aulani was pushed against the headboard of the unfamiliar bed, a seemingly harmless but extremely dangerous piece of wood almost touched to her nose. She knew what a wand could do; she's read about it in great detail, seen its power on screen, and seen it with her own eyes, now. She's seen something that she thought for sure was fictional. Honestly, she's never been more terrified of anything in her entire life.

       "I take it back," Rory said, her motherly tone replaced with that of a mother bear defending her cubs. She looked terrifying all of the sudden, nothing close to what Aulani had briefly begun to trust. "Tell me who you are and exactly why you were in Diagon Alley. Now."

       "Please," Aulani responded desperately, trying to move as far away from Rory Aldeheim's wand as she possibly could. "I don't know how I got there! I swear!"

       "Alright then, who are you?" she demanded, just as harshly as before, her wand not lowering. "You sound almost American."

       "I am! Well, Hawaiian." Her answer seemed so normal that for a moment, she relaxed, just slightly. She let out a quiet sigh when she saw that the woman looked just as confused as Aulani had been this entire time.

       Rory opened her mouth, but couldn't seem to find words. Aulani watched the woman's wand carefully, watching as it quivered in her loosening grip. "Are - are you even a witch?" Rory asked, but Aulani couldn't tell if the question was even directed at her.

       She decided it best to answer, anyway. "No!" Aulani blurted, directing the woman's blue eyes sharply back to her. Rory's eyes widened, her face paling as she began to retract her wand. A wave of nerves washed over Aulani as she thought of what being a Muggle in this situation could possibly mean. Best case scenario, she would be obliviated and thrown out somewhere in the Muggle world of 1996. She felt her mouth dry as she thought of the worst case scenario. "I mean, yes!" she blurted again. She watched as Rory's eyebrows furrowed, though she couldn't tell if was in confusion or anger, or maybe a combination of both. All Aulani knew was that her wand was back at the ready, her grip firm. "I don't know. I must be, right? I mean, I got here - somehow."

       Rory was cautious, extremely cautious - ever since her husband's death following the Dark Lord's return. Trust no one; protect your daughter; stay out of it, no matter what. Though she was only a child, she had vivid memories of the first war - of the dark, silent nights of the beginning of her first year at Hogwarts; of her roommate's night terrors as she feared more and more that she would be a target due to her non-magical heritage; of her own fear, as she thought of the fate of her family, of her Muggleborn parents who always seemed to put themselves in the line of fire. But everything changed that October when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was supposedly killed by an infant, and suddenly the war was over. Everything was supposed to be okay. But she vividly remembered the day, only two years later, that she had been called into the Headmaster's office to be informed that all of them - her parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, even her baby brother - were killed by Death Eaters who had evaded capture. Rory was thirteen years old.

       She would never let that happen again. Eleanora was only eight, and the only family Rory had left. She wouldn't put her daughter at risk for anyone, especially not a stranger, not even one who was so obviously in need of help like this one was. So why did she? "Who are you?" Rory demanded again, close to tears.

       For a moment, all Aulani did was stare at her like a deer in headlights, evaluating her situation. Should she lie? Come up with a fake name? Or had she already said too much? She felt tears coming to her own eyes, but Rory was not feeling very sympathetic. "Aulani," she told her quietly. Rory's wand was no longer at the ready, and after what felt like so long, Aulani finally fell apart. "I don't know where I am," she cried. "I don't know how I got here. All I know is that one second, I was in Barnes & Noble with my best friend, and the next, I'm stuck in a fucking fictional world!"

       "Hey, watch your tongue," Rory warned, though it was like the threat of a parent. "I have a daughter - hold on, fictional?"

       Aulani had the sudden feeling that she was missing something, and began frantically looking around the room. "My book - where's my book?"

      "This?" questioned Rory, pulling out the book that was resting against the foot of her chair. "It's just a textbook."

       Aulani grabbed at it desperately, flipping to the page she was looking for automatically, and finding the engraving still prominently there. She held the book to her chest, sighing in relief. That stupid A was the thing that brought her here - maybe it was the thing that could get her back. She felt another wave of sorrow. "I just want to get back home."

       Rory was looking at her warily, suddenly fearful for an entirely new reason, feeling as if the girl before her was something of an alien. "Why did you react so badly when I told you the year?" Rory asked Aulani carefully, reluctantly.

       She looked up into Rory's blue eyes, seeing the depth of them for the first time. "I was born four years after 1996."