"Where are we?" Alice inquired looking at the entrance to a quaint village. The cobbled street was lined with stone brick shops and rickety houses. She felt like she was stepping back in time with how antiquated it looked.
"This is Hogsmeade, the only all-wizarding village in Britain," Draco said.
"Are you mad? What if we're discovered?" Alice exclaimed, pulling her hood farther over her head as they began to walk.
"Stay close," Draco said, undeterred by the risk.
The spring breeze was chilly and Alice correctly guessed that this village was located high in the mountains somewhere. The long slightly slopping street was lined by two story shops creating a slight wind tunnel effect. Alice held her hood up tightly, extremely worried it would slip and she'd be seen. Her picture had been in the Daily Prophet for the last several days, and with its wide distribution throughout wizarding Britain, she was certain her face would be recognized. However, she couldn't help herself from peering into the shop windows in order to catch a glimpse of this new world. She read the name "Honeydukes" and looking into the windows she saw colorful floating rock candy and swirling sticks of licorice; a candy shop she presumed. It was full of youth dressed in casual clothes.
"Is there a school nearby?" Alice asked Draco in a hushed voice as they walked.
"Yes, Hogwarts is to the southwest of here," he replied, his pace quickened.
They were next to a large pub called The Three Broomsticks when a trio of students neared by, they were obviously heading to the pub.
"Hoi, Professor Malfoy!" A teenage boy yelled, having spotted Draco from afar.
Draco had obviously not counted on being reprehended by students; he slightly hesitated before turning around to say hello.
"Moderna, Higgins, Zarthy," Draco casually greeted all three of the boys by their last names. Alice remained by his side but didn't turn around.
"Are you going to be lecturing again for Slughorn this week?" Higgins asked eagerly.
"No, not this week. I apologize but I'm my way to meet someone," he tried sounding urgent.
"Hey, who's the Slytherin with you?" Zarthy asked, wondering which of his classmates was hanging out with the professor.
Moderna, the largest of the three boys, grabbed Alice's arm, pulling her around. Unsuspecting and caught off-balance, Alice's hood slipped off slightly.
"She's not a Slytherin," Moderna noted, obviously they were all from the Slytherin house.
"Hey, isn't she…" Higgins began.
Removing his wand quickly, Draco waved it in front of them and quietly said, "Confundo." Each of them blinked their eyes and looked around at each other. Before they could speak, Draco had taken Alice by the hand and started walking again.
"What did you do?" Alice said, a little confused herself.
"A confundus charm, they won't remember seeing you or me for that matter," he said, determined to keep Alice moving.
Surprisingly unfazed by another bout of magic, Alice asked, "They called you professor, do you teach?"
"On occasion I substitute teach for the potions professor here, it's amazing they actually still let me on grounds," he said sarcastically, "We're almost there."
Alice saw a dingy building up ahead, with filthy windows and a worn sign hanging from a rusted grid iron pole. Badly stained white paint spelled out the place's name, Hog's Head.
"Stay close to me, this place has a bad reputation," Draco said as he opened the door.
"Hey, no students allowed," An old man from behind the bar yelled, assuming Alice was a student from her robe. A few of the customers looked over, but uninterested they returned to their conversations.
"She's with me," Draco declared, as he approached the old man, who instantly recognized him.
"Is there a problem?" Asked Aberforth who placed the towel he had been using to wipe down the bar on the countertop. He assumed it had something to do with his previous visit to the Ministry.
Alice noticed Draco whisper something imperceptible, and the old man's weary eyes instantly went over to her though she was still cloaked under her hood.
Aberforth led them to the back room and closed the door behind them. The living space looked unkempt with dusty surfaces and torn furniture. In the center of the space was a rough wooden table with several odd matched chairs. Alice noticed a portrait of a young blonde girl on the wall.
"Alice, this is Aberforth Dumbledore, Aberforth, Alice McNally" Draco introduced them, which signaled that it was okay for Alice to lower her hood.
She slowly pulled down her hood and smiled at the man who was her great uncle, her only living magical relative. Draco had brought her here despite the risk. Her hand went out to him and his hand went to grasp hers. She placed both her hands around his and said, "It's very nice to meet you sir."
Aberforth was a bit taken back when looking at Alice; she had Ariana's eyes, as did Albus. He could see the family resemblance.
Releasing her hand, he apologized, "I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you, but please sit down." He motioned for Draco and her to come over to the table.
"It was a last minute decision," Draco said looking at Alice, who was still surprised by the unexpected introduction.
"I wanted to meet you sir, you're my only relative in this world," Alice said sincerely, also hoping to take the blame off Draco if it ended up being a bad decision.
"Well young miss, you seem to be my only relative too," He smiled, "I can see you have your grandfather's eyes."
"As did my mother," Alice smiled back.
"Ah, her death was most unfortunate," Aberforth said kindly.
Alice looked at Draco who went on to inform her, "Aberforth was filled in at the Ministry this week."
"I'm sure my existence was a shock," Alice said concerned, "As is yours for me."
"Well, it was not expected, Albus never mentioned such things," Aberforth betrayed the fact that he was never close with his brother.
"I don't think he knew until much later, perhaps around the time my mother died," Alice said. "My grandmother didn't say much about him. Due to the time period, it was very uncommon for a woman to be with child and not married. From what I know," Alice decided to reveal the story of her grandmother's encounter with Dumbledore, "My grandmother lost her husband near the end of WWII. She was distraught and turned a bit reckless. She hung out in bars to meet returning soldiers. She must have met him sometime around then. If anything, the child did let her live her life again."
"It is a fortunate thing then," Aberforth said, "I think Albus would have been very pleased to have a daughter and of course, a granddaughter."
Time passed and they continued to talk, mostly about the Dumbledore family. Alice asked questions she had conjured up when reading Rita Skeeter's biography. Aberforth provided them some butterbeers along with some bread and cheese for lunch. For some reason the simplicity of the meal made it taste even more delicious. Draco, although not talking much, enjoyed hearing more about Alice as well as little known facts about his former professor. He knew he had made the right, although risky choice in bringing her here.
Before they were about to leave Alice asked Aberforth, "Will you be at the trial?"
"I'll be there," he said assuredly and he gave her a hug, not knowing if it was the last time they'd be able to talk. Aberforth then offered his hand to Draco and said, "Thank you for bringing her here." Draco shook his hand feeling the same sentiment.
Despite the short visit, Alice was glad to have met Aberforth, even if he would be forgotten by Monday afternoon.
Before exiting the pub, Draco magically altered Alice's robes, hiding the emblem and green collar. "Should have done that before," he said of his mistake.
"Yeah Professor, you should have," Alice smirked, "But can't we just apparate back?"
"There's one more place I want to take you," Draco said lifting Alice's hood over her head again.
Leaving the confines of the dusty pub, Alice followed Draco's lead as he passed through a corridor to the back of the buildings. He wanted to stay out of the main street for fear of being spotted by more students, or worse yet, professors. They trekked up a hill that was spotted with towering trees which helped block some of the cool wind. Up ahead was a clearing and Alice quickly realized why Draco brought her here. The higher elevation from the village provided a vista to the valley that stretch on from that point; a shining lake in the middle of a rolling mountains. The sky was crisp blue and there wasn't a cloud to be seen.
Alice surveyed her surroundings in awe, "This is quite a view."
"It's even better from up there," Draco said, looking in the direction of the large western mountain top, "That castle is Hogwarts."
"Your school?" Alice asked a bit confused; making sure her eyes were staring in the same direction as Draco's, "But that looks like nothing more than a ruin."
Alice realized then as Draco did, for muggles Hogwarts appears as an old ruin; it was enchanted to appear that way. She felt a little pathetic at that moment; it reminded her of how out of place she was in that world.
"I apologize, I forgot that…" Draco stopped from finishing his sentence.
"That I'm a muggle," Alice said, "It's okay, it's a necessary precaution. I understand that now," she smiled slightly to hide her disappointment.
Alice turned and walked towards a tree that had fallen on its side nearby. She sat down on it and Draco followed to sit next to her.
She removed her hood and continued to look out at the view before them. "What an amazing location. I grew up in big cities, London, LA. Such expanses of untouched land and utter silence are still foreign to me," At the moment she appreciated this foreignness. "So you spent seven years here?"
"More or less," Draco replied.
"Children aren't typically sent to boarding schools in my world. We're sent to public schools for most of the day, then our parents have to contend with us the rest of the time."
"At Hogwarts the school becomes your home, the house you're sorted into is your family. I would have ended up in Northeast Europe at the Durmstrang Institute, but mother didn't want me that far away."
"That's understandable, my dad had a hard time letting me go to uni and it was only 6 hours away by car and an hour by plane," Alice said amused. "So why Durmstrang?"
"My father wanted me to go there because they teach the Dark Arts."
"I see, so what curriculum did you learn at Hogwarts?"
"Varies for each student but among them are potions, charms, herbology, defense against the Dark Arts, transfigurations, astronomy, they even teach muggle studies," he recalled.
"Muggle studies?" Alice was slightly shocked, "I'd love to be a fly on the wall in that class."
"That's magically possible," Draco said in relation to her pun.
Alice couldn't help but laugh, "I bet it is. Still, a class devoted to us non-magical others is intriguing. What 's it like?"
"It's considered a soft option so I didn't take it until my seventh year, when, due to the situation, it was compulsory."
"Situation?" Alice asked curiously, assuming it had something to do with the war.
"The school was taken over by Death Eaters and with their hatred of muggles, they taught us exactly what would enforce their new world order. It's normally more objective. The previous muggle studies teacher was murdered for her tolerance…" Draco paused as he remembered Charity Burbage's hanging from the ceiling in the drawing room and Nagini, Voldemort's pet snake, devouring her lifeless body.
Alice looked at Draco, whose thoughts had obviously haunted him. She spoke carefully, "Our worlds are separate for a reason. What differentiates us is too great to allow for a peaceful coexistence and the lengths the magical world has gone to conceal themselves from muggles has proven effective for both our sakes." The sun started dipping on the horizon making the lake shimmer below. Alice's eyes surveyed the magnificent view and said, "If erasing my memory is for the sake of the greater good then who am I to argue?"
Draco saw a hidden strength in her eyes as they scanned the vista before them but he couldn't agree with her, not now. "I would argue Alice," he said defensively, "You said it yourself, your only crime was figuring something out. And you're a quarter witch, that's got to count for something."
"If I could see Hogwarts on that mountaintop, I would say that too," She smiled to hide any hint of sadness. "No matter what happens, I'm really thankful that you brought me here today."
The two unlikely companions sat silently as the sun disappeared behind the mountains. The thought of their time together soon ending crept into their heads though neither of them knew how the other felt. That each of them felt the same sadness and longing was inconceivable. The wrong person, the wrong place, the wrong time. They knew the circumstances that brought them together were also going to pull them apart. Unable to broach this subject, they would keep it inside, deluding themselves into thinking that such feelings should not and could not exist.