Ron was released from the hospital wing later that morning, Madam Pomfrey having cured his concussion and deeming him fit to go. Ron and Hermione stayed in the hospital wing, though, beside Harry's bed, waiting for him to wake up. I, on the other hand, headed to Professor Dumbledore's office.
"What can I do for you, Miss Potter?" he asked as I entered.
"Professor, I'd just like to thank you," I said. "Being at Hogwarts has been amazing, and I don't even know who to thank for bringing me here. And even though it's been a bit confusing, I've loved every minute of it. So, I guess I'm thanking you for not kicking me out, or something."
He chuckled to himself. "That's quite alright, Miss Potter. Having you as a student has been a pleasure."
"Look, I know you're planning on giving us all some house points at the end of year feast," I said to him. "But I'd just like to ask that you don't give any to me. I don't deserve them, and what's more, it'd just throw things out, and that doesn't seem right."
"If that is your wish, Sally. Was there anything else?"
"Yes," I said. "Do you know anything about my family?"
Dumbledore sighed. "When were you born?"
"1992," I said. "Hallowe'en."
"You haven't even been born yet, Sally," he said. "I can't know anything for sure."
"Of course," I said, nodding my head. "Thank you anyway."
"Go and enjoy the sunshine, Miss Potter," he said. "You deserve it."
I smiled and left the headmaster's office, heading to Gryffindor tower first of all. I needed to have a shower and get out of these mucky clothes. And I needed to grab something to read while I sat by myself out in the grounds.
That plan didn't work out too well. As soon as I entered the common room, people approached me from all sides, shouting questions about what had happened the night before, where Harry, Ron and Hermione were. I reached the dormitory five minutes later, a much longer trip than I was anticipating, where I was greeted by Lavender and Parvati sitting on the latter's bed, probably gossiping or something. As soon as they saw me, they turned their heads and smiled, and I knew it couldn't be good.
"Sally!" Lavender grinned. "I'm glad you're okay."
"Really?" I asked her. "Thanks."
"Yeah, of course," Parvati smiled. "Hey, so we were just wondering… what exactly happened last night?"
I turned around to my bed, and as I did I noticed Eloise Migeon sitting on her own bed, her head in her book, but I could see she was just as interested as the other two in what I had to say.
"I'm not really in the mood to talk about it right now," I said to them. "I'm actually a bit tired, considering I haven't slept properly in about a week, or at all in the past thirty hours."
"Oh come on, you can't even tell us anything?"
"Yeah, actually, I can," I said, determined to get them off my back. "I can tell you a lot of things about what happened last night. But I'm not going to. Why? Well, because I don't particularly feel like talking about it, which I've already told you. Because I wasn't the main player in what happened. I did absolutely nothing to help contribute to the outcome of last night except tell Professor Dumbledore what was going on. I will tell you this though: what happened last night is absolutely none of your business, and I would appreciate it if you don't ask me what happened again."
The two girls looked at each other before shuffling back onto Parvati's bed and gossiping again. I shot a glare at Eloise, who hurriedly returned to reading her book. Deciding to skip on the shower, just for now, I grabbed a change of clothes so I didn't have the slime from the Devil's Snare and the stench of the troll on me and headed into the bathroom.
I brushed my hair quickly and threw it up into a ponytail before I went back to the dormitory, got a book to read, and headed down back through the common room and out onto the Castle grounds.
"Sally!" a great booming voice called out to me as I took my spot under a tree. I turned around to see Hagrid approaching. "Sally, what's happenin'?"
I didn't have it in me to give Hagrid the same treatment as Lavender and Parvati. So I went back to Hagrid's cabin with him and explained what was going on.
"Harry went after the stone," I said. "We went with him, but only until Snape's puzzle. Harry went on without us after that, and we went back through the maze and up to the hospital wing."
"I shouldn'ta said anythin'," Hagrid moaned, putting his face into his hands.
"Don't blame yourself, Hagrid. Honestly, it's not your fault. He would have found out anyway, and we'd still be in this situation eventually. Come on… How about some tea?"
Hagrid nodded and then snorted into a giant handkerchief that I'm sure at one point must have been a bedsheet. As he sobbed to himself at the table, I levitated the giant kettle and set it to boil. I grabbed two mugs – one Hagrid sized and one relatively normal sized – and rinsed them out, trying to keep myself busy.
As I set Hagrid's tea down in front of him, he looked down at me, still towering over me as he sat and I stood.
"Is he okay?"
"Who? Harry?"
"Yeah," Hagrid sniffed.
"… He'll be fine. He's still out cold at the moment, might be a few days until he wakes up, but he'll be fine."
"Tha's good… Well, not good, but…"
"I know," I said. "Look, I'd better go… I'll see you later Hagrid. And don't beat yourself up about what happened. It's honestly not your fault."
He tried to smile, but just ended up blowing his nose in his hanky and crying all over again, so I just left. And just as I sat down by my favourite tree again, I was interrupted. Again.
"Potter," he said, sitting down next to me.
"Fabulous seeing you here, Draco," I sighed. "Are you here to continue our conversation from yesterday or are you going to badger me about what happened last night like just about every other person in this place?"
He frowned slightly. "Sally, I don't know what happened last night, okay? To be honest, I don't really care. I just came here to say that I'm glad you're okay."
I glanced at him oddly. "Well, thank you, I guess," I said. "And I stayed out of immediate danger last night, don't worry."
"Are you going to tell me what happened?" he asked.
"Maybe," I said. "Maybe not."
He just nodded and stayed sitting down next to me.
"Harry went after the Philosopher's Stone," I told him. I knew I'd end up regretting this, but Ron and Hermione weren't going to talk, Dumbledore wasn't going to talk, Hagrid definitely wasn't going to talk, and it had to get around the school somehow before Harry woke up. This had to be the best way for it to happen, right?
"The what?"
"What is it with you wizarding families and never hearing of the Philospher's Stone?" I asked him. "Even the muggle world has heard of that. It's a legendary stone that can turn any metal into pure gold, and it produces the elixir of life, which stops you from dying. People have been trying to get their hands on it for years, but somebody went after it last night. It was hidden at Hogwarts.
"Anyway, the four of us, because we're not stupid enough to let Harry go alone, went to the forbidden corridor. There's a trapdoor down there, and we went through that, and we managed to make it through all the teacher's obstacles. Harry went into the final chamber without us. We needed to get Dumbledore and take Ron up to the hospital wing. He was knocked out along the way."
"How?"
"Something hit him in the side of the head. But that's not terribly important right now. He's fine. Like I said, Harry went into the final chamber… Professor Quirrell was already in there, and he was trying to get the Stone. But Dumbledore's a genius, he wouldn't let anybody undeserving get the Stone, so Quirrell was struggling, and then Harry came and Harry got it… and what's left of Lord Voldemort was attached to the back of Quirrell's head. I'm not entirely sure what happened then, but now Quirrell's dead and Harry's in the hospital wing."
"I'm guessing he won't be okay for the Ravenclaw vs Gryffindor game tomorrow?"
"I completely forgot about that," I said to myself. "I guess he wil."
He grinned.
"So what if you guys win the cup?" I asked him, rolling my eyes. "It's not like you were playing."
"I'm sorry," he laughed. "Shouldn't you be up at the hospital wing, making sure your cousin is alright?"
"He'll be fine, I have complete faith in him."
"Are your parents here, Sally?" Mrs Weasley asked me brightly as the four of us approached the large family waiting on the platform. How did she know who I was?
"No, they're not," I smiled a little to myself.
"Do you have a way to get home?" she asked me.
"Yeah, I'm catching another train," I lied easily. "Don't wait for me," I interrupted as she opened her mouth to say something more. "Honestly, I'll be fine."
"If you're sure..." she said.
"… a lot of fun with Dudley this Summer," I heard Harry say.
That was it. The end of the first book. What happened now?
"See you later, Sally," Ron said, as he waved goodbye.
"Seeya, Ron!" I called back, grinning broadly. "Bye Hermione."
"Goodbye, Sally. See you in Autumn?"
"Autumn," I smiled.
"Bye Sally," Harry said to me. "I guess I'll see you next year too, then?"
"Wouldn't dream of missing it," I said to him.
As the three of my friends went their separate ways, I closed my eyes.
"Sally," a distant voice called out.
I looked around for the person calling my name.
"Sally, please look at me."
I opened my eyes and realised with a jolt that I was back in my armchair, the book still open to the right page in my hands. My mum was right in front of me, trying to read my emotions.
"Mum!" I smiled, and threw my arms around her. I'd missed her so much, and I wasn't even sure if it was real. It felt real.
"I'm sorry, honey," she said. "After all the work you put into this party, and he wasn't able to make it… is there anything you want? Ice cream?"
I smiled up at her. "Ice cream sounds great!" I said.
When she disappeared into the kitchen to get the ice cream, I looked around. Everything was exactly how it had been when I'd been magically transported to Hogwarts. There wasn't a streamer out of place.
I finally decided that I must have imagined the whole thing.