The Muggle Who Lived ☆ h.p au

thirteen

Hogwarts Halls. March 1, 1997

"Zoë?" 

The empty hall carried Harry Potter's voice louder then what he had wished for, reaching the ears of the muggle girl. Zoë looked up, locking eyes with the boy. Panic engulfed Zoë as she stepped back. 

In an instant, Harry started to connect the patterns. Of course, is map wasn't faulty. He just didn't know Zoë snuck out of the headmaster's office. If only he could talk to her, it would give plenty of answers to his enormous bowl of questions.

Harry opened his mouth, but Zoë was already running, trying her best to avoid Harry. Harry, in impulse, started to chase her. Talking to her could be the key to solving those weird disappearances on the map. He needed to know. It would help Harry get more information on Draco as well.

Harry ran faster, trying his best to catch up with the muggle. Unfortunately for him, Zoë took a sharp left: a shortcut she discovered during the summer. 

Harry staggered a bit. It was clever. However, he also knew some shortcuts, as a courtesy of the Marauder's Map. 

Zoë drew nearer to the office, avoiding the usually crowded halls. She was almost there, exhaling a breath of relief, having escaped Harry.

That is until she saw him emerge from the other side of the hall. Zoë ran faster, her heart beating fast. She has no idea why Harry was chasing her but it couldn't be for anything good.

Harry ran after catching sight of her again. Harry caught up to her just as she reached the staircase to the office. Harry took a hold of her wrist, finally making her stop.

"Let me go, Harry." Zoë forcefully ripped her hand out of Harry's grasp, walking up the stairs and almost reaching the office door when Harry took a hold of her again tightly to make sure she couldn't leave this time. The stairs continued to move when they both stood there, panting from all the running.

Zoë's hair covered her face as she stared at Harry, her eyes only visible, showing complete anger.

"What do you want?" Now that Harry was in front of her, his mouth ran dry. He had no idea what to say or what do to. Finally, Harry opened his mouth.

"Aren't you not allowed to leave the Headmaster's office." Zoë stayed silent, knowing Harry was right. She wasn't allowed.

"If you had to stay in one place for so many months, wouldn't you want to leave it every once in awhile as well?" Zoë looked away, lowering her head as she said it. Her uncle had always told her to stay in the office, for her own safety. Muggles aren't necessarily welcomed in the Wizarding World. For her sake and her uncles, she had to stay hidden.

Harry suddenly tucked on her, leading her into the office, where he finally let her go. Rubbing her wrist, she was about to head to her room when Harry called out to her again.

"Where exactly do you go?" 

"Why does it matter to you where I go?" Zoë snapped back. That boy had no reason asking her questions like that.

"Zoë just tell me. I need to know." Zoë faced Harry again. Zoë could tell that Harry was determined to get the answer out of her.

"Why should I tell you." Harry sighed and started to pace slightly back and forth. His patience was running thin.

"There's something I'm...looking into...it would be great if you told me where you went." As much as Zoë didn't want to tell him, she realized that she wouldn't be left alone if she didn't.

"The Room of Requirements." And with that Zoë turned around and entered her room, leaving Harry outside. 

It all made sense now. Harry realized that he had never seen the Room of Requirements on the map, which explained why when Zoë disappeared, it would be because she was in the room that did not appear. 

But a new question came to Harry. Draco must be going to the Room of Requirements too since he also disappeared.

Does Zoë see Draco in the Room of Requirements?

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Evening fell upon the castle. Fred, George, Hermione, Ginny, Evanora, and Harry were all in the silent hospital wing, being by Ron's side as he laid unconscious in the bed.

"Well...not one of his best birthdays" Fred said as George brought a gift, placing it beside Ron. 

When Fred asked what happened, Harry retold the story of what happened, his whole body running cold when thinking about what would have happened if he hadn't been able to get his hand on that stone.

"Maybe he could have slipped something into Ron's drink without him noticing?" Evanora asked.

"Probably." Harry answered. "But why would the professor want to poison Ron?"

"True. Or it could have been intended for you." Evanora bit the inside of her cheek, thinking hard about the reason why Ron was poisoned.

"Why would Slughorn want to poison Harry?" Ginny asked.

"I reckon lots of people would want to poison Harry, with him being the Chosen One and all that." Fred stated. "Maybe Slughorn is on that side."

"You think Slughorn is a Death Eater?" Evanora said in shock.

"We don't know. Very few people can be trusted these days." The room stayed quiet for a few seconds, the air dense with confusion.

"But Harry didn't you say the drink was intended for Dumbledore? Maybe someone had wanted to poison Dumbledore through Slughorn." Ginny said, looking at Harry.

"Well, then this person knew very little of Slughorn. Knowing that man he would have kept it for himself instead of giving it to Dumbledore." Hermione spoke up for the first time after staying quiet the whole evening, her face still puffy from all the crying.

Excluding the mumbles coming from Ron, the group stayed silent once more. Hagrid came in, along with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley a few minutes later. Mrs. Weasley hugged Harry tightly, pointing out how half the family basically owed Harry with how many family members he had saved. Harry awkwardly answered back, not really knowing exactly what to say.

As Madam Pomfrey told them that no more than six visitors should be presented, Harry and Hermione, along with Hagrid and Evanora, decided to leave Ron alone with his family. 

"Dumbledore is worried sick. All these children gettin' hurt and he still got no clue why. Teachers don't got a clue either. S'no wonder why Dumbledore is angry with Sn..." Hagrid immediately shut his mouth, the visible skin on his face turning slightly pale. Harry turned around to him.

"Snape? Dumbeldore is angry at Snape?"

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***I'm sorry for the wait. May has been extremely busy for me. Hopefully I can get a new chapter posted sooner this time. Thank you for wating.***