(A/N: This story was moved from my Wattpad to here. Please enjoy, and be sure to like it!! I love you guys so much!!!)
Chapter 1- Year 3
The scent of cinnamon sparked my senses as I turned and looked over to see the sleeping young wizard. His chest rose and fell in a brazen-like manner. It was funny to see he looked confident even in his sleep. I smiled and turned away, until I felt him rustling in the sheets behind me. His cinnamon scent sparked up a bit more, and I rolled back over to him.
"Good morning.." He seemed startled that I was awake, but pecked me on the cheek and leaned in closer. We both didn't speak for a while, just layed there, basking in each other's presence. It's wonderful to think that such a boy could turn into the sweetest man, and that they just needed a little push, which was where I came in, about a year ago.
My mother and friend sat across from me in a small booth at a dated restaurant. The bright red booths were the main part of the place, it's colors shimmering throughout the building. The paint was peeling and chipped on the walls, and the ambrosial smell of hamburgers wafted through the restaurant. However, this was my favorite place to eat, and had always been for as long as I could remember.
After my burger arrived, I chewed in silence, thinking about something that had bothered me for the past few weeks. It was something queer and perplexing, that not even I understood. It had all started one desolate night, when I was biking home. The cool night wind blew in streaks through my hair, and I felt completely calm and collected, until a strong force knocked me off my bike. I was thrown a few feet, and landed on my chest. When I whipped around to see the source of what had happened, all I had seen was darkness. Not just any darkness, but a full enveloping darkness, where I couldn't even see a streetlight. The air was icy cold, and I wrapped my arms around myself apprehensively. When I finally had the courage to look around, I came face-to-face with a strange floating creature. I felt my face drain of color, and I tried to back away, but I was soon frozen in place. My insides felt like they were being sucked out of me, and I couldn't breathe. For a moment, I thought I was facing death, and I knew I was losing. I started to accept my fate, when I heard a voice out of no where.
"Expecto Patronum!!" Only seconds after I heard this, a bright light materialized, and took the form of a stag. The luxurious animal made of light started prancing gracefully over to the angel of death, and engulfed it in light. A loud screech was soon let out, and everything felt normal soon again. I rubbed my temple and staggered into a standing position, only to see a boy my age standing in front of me. He looked shocked that I was standing in my place, but I dared myself to see who this boy who saved me was. I treaded nervously over to the young boy with messy black hair, and I stopped mere feet from him.
"You saved me." I looked into his forest green eyes, and he locked eyes with my baby blues. "How did you do that?" The boy seemed nervous to talk to me, but soon let his voice be heard.
"What are you?" I was shocked to hear such words come out of his mouth. However, I stood my ground, even if I had no idea in the slightest of what he was talking about. "Are you a muggle? Or are you..." He trailed off, and I stared into his eyes, until I found words of my own.
"Muggle..? I-Is that some sort of monster? Like that angel of death?" The boy smiled warmly, and gave a low chuckle. For some reason, it was funny, even though I didn't know anything about what was happening.
"Yep, you're a muggle. Well, a muggle is a human. And that 'angel of death'—" he took a moment to chuckle again, "—is a dementor. They basically are angels of death, but they suck your soul out. They will kill you, so look out for them next time. By the way, I'm Harry Potter." He grins and holds out his hand. I smile gently to him, and shake it back.
"I'm Stella Woods. By the way, whatever you just explained, is obviously some kind of magic. I mean, you call humans muggles! What exactly are you?" I cock my head, and he looks away anxiously. He doesn't speak for a moment, and I groan. "Fine, don't talk. I'll find out somehow." Harry grabs my arm, and shakes his head.
"No. You can't." I jerk my arm away, and stomp back to my bike. Even though Harry looked desperate, I didn't let him get to me. I hopped back onto my dented bike, and pedaled hard. I didn't know where exactly I was going, but I needed to go somewhere to wrap my mind around things. And then, I isolated myself. I tried so hard to figure out the mystery of Harry Potter, that I lost all of my friends, except one. Now, I sat with her and mother in an old restaurant, while I still was thinking about the boy with forest green eyes.
"Dear? Are you alright?" My mother looked at me like she knew what was going on, and my friend, Katie, looked at me with correspondence. I shook both of them off, and mumbled that I was fine.
I twirled my light brown hair around my finger as I stared out my window. The enthralling sunset took my breath away, and I couldn't seem to look away, until I hear conversation downstairs. I snapped my head away from the view, and pressed my ear to my door. What I heard downstairs not only confused me, but made me very curious.
"What are you talking about? Hogwarts?" That was the familiar, brittle voice of my mother. The second voice, however, I didn't recognize. "Yes, madam. Your daughter, Stella Woods, is a witch. She will attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to develop her skills. Although she is coming in a bit late, as her father refused this school every other year, she will catch up quite well." When the man mentioned my father, I scowled. That man had told me and my mother he loved us, and he would always be there for us. But, only a year after he said those words, he left my mother for a much younger woman. It broke my mother's heart, and it was never repaired. She had become the woman she was all from my father's horrible actions, which she didn't deserve to have. Soon, my mother's voice spoke up after a moment of silence.
"She can attend, only if she writes me once a month. By the way, I'm Milla Woods." I heard greetings being exchanged downstairs.
"Dumbledore. Albus Dumbledore. And let me tell you this, Milla. Your daughter will be exceptional in our school." My mother thanked him as he left, and I leaped onto my bed, frantically tearing open a book to look busy, as I heard footsteps up the stairs. My mother opened my door silently, and whispered, "Do you have a minute?" I nodded, my stomach churning as she sat down on the bed next to me, and took a deep breath.
"Wow. I-I really don't know how to say this. Would you like me to be straight-forward?" "Yes, please." She nodded to me, and rubbed her tired face with her hand. "An old man just passed by the house. He gave me a letter, and said you... you're a witch. He wants you to open it." I chuckled, as I saw how serious her face was. This must be a joke. "Stella, why are you laughing?" I smothered my face in my hands, and I couldn't control my laughter. Her face was stern, and she didn't even flinch. "Stella!!" I whipped back upright, and looked into her dark green, non-blinking eyes. "Stella, please, this isn't a joke. I never crack jokes." She was right, the last time she cracked a joke, it was during my mother's divorce.
"Well, there's no way this is all real." Mother looked at me pleadingly. For some reason, she obviously believed this fantasy was reality. She silently handed me a yellowed envelope with a wax seal. I scanned the front of it, curious. The words on the very front, scrawled in perfect cursive, were:
To Miss Stella Woods
39291 Privet Drive
(Do Not Show to Anyone But Family)
I sucked in a deep breath as I peeled off the maroon wax seal on the back of the envelope. It peeled off quite easlily, and I slowly opened the envelope.
Dear Mrs. and Mr. Woods,
Your daughter, Stella, is invited to Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Please gather your items needed at Diagon Alley, and meet the Hogwarts Express at Platform 9 3/4. We hope you take this into consideration, thank you.
Sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore
Minerva McGonagall
I folded the letter, and sat in silence for what seemed like hours. I was absolutely speechless. This couldn't be right, it must be a prank. But, there was only one way to find out if it truly was a prank, to follow the instructions until the very end. So, I decided on that day, that I would become a "witch" at this so-called Hogwarts.