AU

14. Harrison

As usual, cursing warning.

I didn't end up falling asleep until early morning. I'd spent most of the night thinking about the conversation I'd had with Violet.
How could I tell her about the Dursleys? But maybe she was right about the Muggle police. She has a talking notebook? Maybe I could talk to Draco. No! Draco would never think of me the same way.
When the boys in the dorm began to wake up and dress, I did the same and followed them to breakfast. Violet was already in the Great Hall eating. I went and sat next to her and took a waffle from the plate of them in front of me. Violet didn't even look at me, which I thought was nice of her. She didn't bring up our conversation and neither did I.
"Not much of a morning person?" Blaise asked me, sitting down beside me and loading up his plate. I simply stared at him and he cleared his throat awkwardly.
Violet coughed and sipped whatever was in her goblet. I sighed.
"So, um..." Blaise started awkwardly, trying to start a conversation rather than sit in the silence.
"I doubt Harrison will talk to you this early." Draco laughed, sitting down on my other side. I laid my head on his shoulder and he stroked my hair with his free hand. Violet and Blaise made eye contact and smiled behind their goblets.
We finished breakfast and went off to our first class. Violet and I walked several steps behind everyone else.
"Last night," I began quietly, "you mentioned a book that talked to you or something?"
VIolet wet her lips before responding in a somewhat nervous tone.
"It's completely blank except for the word "soon". It's like something is going to happen." She said.
"Where did you find that?" I asked her.
"I was exploring the castle and found this weird room, the Room of Requirement. It becomes whatever kind of room you want it to be. It looked like my bedroom and I got all of these books and journals I have at home from it." Violet told me.
"Isn't that dangerous?" I eyed her bag as I spoke.
"Probably." She chuckled. Suddenly she stopped. There was a strange look on her face as she waited for the rest of the group to continue walking before she pulled out an expensive looking book from her bag.
"What are you doing?"
"Shut up, I have a feeling." She told me. She opened the book. And there in red ink was the word "soon". However it faded into the book quickly and then a bright beam of red light sprung from the pages, pointing back down the hallway we'd come from.
"We have to follow it." Violet said. Without waiting for my reply, she spun on her heel and went racing down the hallway.
"We're going to die." I uttered to myself before I chesed after her.

We raced down the hall and several flights of stairs and, eventually, right out of Hogwarts. My lungs were screaming, but if I stopped, I'd lose Violet. I half expected her to take off into the Forbidden Forest, what with the nature of our sudden race, but she went toward the Black Lake. We stopped at the edge of the water. The red beam reached out all the way to the middle of the lake. Violet looked down at the book, then up at the water, then back at me.
"You better not make me go swimming in my uniform." I told her. "We're already skipping class as it is."
Violet was quiet. She was thinking. The water suddenly receded at an alarming rate, pulling itself to the middle of the lake where it began to swirl. The water spun until a whirlpool formed. Water sprayed onto us and I raised an arm to attempt to assault, but Violet just stood, gaze transfixed on the water.
Slowly, something began to rise out of the water. A woman, draped in silver with hair like snow and skin tinted blue. She blinked milky eyes at us and grinned with white teeth between blue lips. She was ethereal, and horrifying.
"You received my message." She said. Her voice was cold, and also warm, and it sent chills through my body.
Violet dropped the book in the damp dirt. "That was you?" She asked in a small and curious voice.
"My name is Auril." She said.
"The Frostmaiden." VIolet whispered.
"I have heard your plea for help and I am granting you one chance to return to your worlds." Auril told us. Violet and I glanced at each other. Auril would send us home? What abou Clara?
"This is too good to be true." I whispered.
"Auril is a goddess known for her... less than pleasant temperament. It's likely we would owe her and it would come back to bite us." Violet told me. SHe then faced the icy lake-woman with a overly sweet smile. "Thank you, My Lady, but we'll have to refuse the offer."
"Pardon?" The goddess asked, obviously surprised at our response.
"We have a duty to this world and it wouldn't be right to leave just yet." I put in.
"Yes," Violet continued. "We are so very humbled by your most gracious offer, but we can't. Thank you so much for the offer."
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity." Auril tried desperately to change our minds, but we were firm.
"Yes, and it pains us to give it up, but we must." I told her. The woman began to descend back into the lake and Violet picked up her book so that the water wouldn't ruin it as it rushed back to the banks.
"How noble of you." Auril said, just before the water finally swallowed her up. Then there was nothing. Not even a bubble on the surface of the water to prove her ever being there.
"So now, not only did we skip almost tow whole classes," I said, somewhat annoyed at VIolet's sudden desire to go chat with a goddess in the Black Lake. "But we lost a chance to go home."
"You can't be too mad, Harrison. You refused too." Violet pointed out, and she was right. We turned back to the castle, this time taking our sweet time since we were already late.
"You know the funniest part?" Violet asked me, not a hint of amusement on her face.
"What?" I asked, slightly scared to find out.
"We're both supposed to be in transfiguration right now.WIth McGonagall."
"Holy shit, Violet!"

1095 words
7/10/20

Sorry this took me a month. I got stuck halfway through, but I decided I really needed to get the plot rolling. It's also short, but it's the best I've right now.