The week passed quickly, far faster than I would have liked. I had so much fun with my new friends, the golden trio, and Ernie and Hannah, more excellent classes, and many awkward run-ins with Harry. Soon it was Sunday evening, and I was hanging out in the common room with Eden, Clementine, Isla, Honora, and Adel, Knight purring on my lap. I petted him happily.
We were all laughing at Eden, who had fallen out of her chair when she nodded off. The laughter died down as she got back up on her chair, and I suddenly grew sad.
"I really don't want to go tomorrow." I sighed, leaning my head back against the armchair I was sitting in by the fire.
"We really don't want you to go ever!" Clementine cried. I smiled sadly at them.
"I do have a life back home, though." I considered for a second. "Sort of."
"What do you mean, sort of?" Isla asked. So I explained.
I told them about school and my family and not having any friends, and I tried to explain fandoms and Instagram and blogs, but I don't think they understood very well.
Finally, I decided I should get to bed if I was going to travel to a different world the next day, so I lead the girls into the dormitory and got into bed. Right as I was drifting off, Honora spoke quietly.
"I'm glad you came, May."
I smiled sleepily. "I'm glad I came, too."
I felt like I was asleep only for a few seconds before I woke up to the sound of my friends getting dressed and trying to get Eden out of bed. I got up right away, ready to make the most out of today.
"Good morning, you guys!" I waved my wand and my bed made itself. I had perfected the spell.
"Good morning, May!" Clementine smiled cheerfully, and the rest of the girls also smiled at me, although Eden looked sleepy.
I got dressed and looked one last time around the dormitory. I was suddenly caught by a wave of sadness. I petted Knight goodbye.
"Please take care of Knight for me." I told Honora.
She smiled sadly. "Of course."
We all walked down to the Great Hall. I told my friends to go ahead without me so I could say a few goodbyes to everyone before breakfast.
I started at the Slytherin table. I hadn't actually met anyone from Slytherin while I'd been here, but I had someone I wanted to talk to anyway. I located the white-blond hair among all the heads and walked over. I tapped the boy on the shoulder, and he looked up, confused.
"I know we've never met," I started, "but I know you know who I am, and I know who you are. I'm leaving today, and I just wanted to give you this," I slapped Draco Malfoy across the face, but before he could make a sound, I continued, "and tell you this: you could still make all the right choices." I walked away towards the Ravenclaw table, Draco looking after me with irritation and (could it be?) awe on his face.
I searched for Jasper at the Ravenclaw table, but it took a while to find him because he was so small.
"Hey, Jasper." I crouched down beside the eleven-year-old boy and smiled at him when he turned around. He smiled back.
"Hi, May."
"I'm leaving today, so I thought I would come say goodbye."
Jasper didn't say anything, only bent over and gave me a hug. "Bye, May." He whispered as I pulled away.
I smiled sadly. "Bye, Jasper. Good luck in Potions."
He waved and I left, but I wasn't done at the Ravenclaw table yet. I walked along until I saw Luna's very long dirty blonde hair. I smiled to myself and walked up behind her.
"Hi." I said, standing behind Luna.
She turned around calmly. "Hello." Her big eyes looked up at me. "I know who you are. You were prophesied to come."
"I was." I answered. "And I've heard a lot about you, so I just wanted to meet you."
"From who? I don't have any friends."
"From the books!"
Luna looked surprised. Or, more surprised than usual. "But I'm not part of the story."
"You will be."
Luna smiled and fiddled with her cork necklace, gazing off into the distance. I took this as my cue to leave, and as I was walking away, I heard Luna murmur, "I will be." as she turned around to finish her breakfast.
The Gryffindor table was last. First, I went to say hello to all the Weasleys, then said hi to Neville, then went over to the golden trio.
"Hey, guys." The three of them turned to face me, and they all looked sad.
"Hi, May." They made room for me on the bench and I sat down. We were silent for a few minutes.
Finally, I spoke. "Thank you guys so much for everything you've done for me while I've been here. It's been so fun, and I really wish I didn't have to go." Hermione and Ron nodded and said goodbye, but Harry remained silent. When I turned to him, he didn't look directly at me, but gave me a hug.
"Bye, May." I breathed in the scent of him as we hugged, and we stayed in the hug a second longer than was necessary. I got up and started to walk away, but I suddenly heard footsteps behind me. Then Harry's voice.
"May! Wait!" I turned around and walked back towards him, my stomach fluttering. "Can I see you in the Entrance Hall for a minute?"
"Sure." I answered, confused but excited.
I looked over at Ron and Hermione as we left, and they both had knowing smirks on their faces. I rolled my eyes at them, but felt my heart jump. I followed Harry into the deserted Entrance Hall, and he stopped, turned, and faced me.
"May, I really don't want you to go." Harry didn't look at me as he said this, but stared down at his shifting feet instead.
"I really don't want to go either, Harry."
Harry looked up at me then, searching my face, and I blushed. He stepped forward suddenly, and before I knew what was happening, he was kissing me. And he had pulled away before I could kiss him back.
"Bye, May." Harry strode off quickly back into the Great Hall while I just stood there, stunned about what had just happened. Slowly, a grin spread across my face, but disappeared as I remembered I was leaving and never coming back. Still, I couldn't stop thinking about it as I returned to the Hufflepuff table and ate breakfast. I tried to catch Harry's eye, but he never looked my way.
When I was done eating, I said one last slightly tearful goodbye to Eden, Isla, Clementine, Honora, and Adel, then made my way up to Dumbledore's office.
"Cockroach cluster." I stated at the door. Dumbledore had sent word of his newly changed password last night. I climbed the stairs, each step feeling heavier than the one before, and knocked on Dumbledore's door.
"Enter." He answered calmly from inside. I opened the door and stepped through. Dumbledore was alone behind his desk, though some of his instruments were whirring or emitting smoke on his spindly-legged tables.
"Ah, May. Are you ready?" Dumbledore stood and moved around his desk.
"I suppose." I sighed quietly, and Dumbledore smiled knowingly.
"You'll see him again." I opened my mouth, confused, but Dumbledore cut me off. "Hold on tight." He extended his arm for me to take, and as soon as I did, we Disapparated.
I felt the squeezing sensation described in the books, like I could barely breathe. Everything was dark, and I held as tightly as I could to Dumbledore's arm. Surroundings appeared suddenly around us, and I gasped down air. I let go of Dumbledore's arm and looked around, realizing we had arrived at my street. I turned to Dumbledore.
"Thank you, sir." I said. He nodded, then turned on the spot and disappeared.
I turned back towards my street and started walking along it. I arrived at my yellow house with its flowers in the front garden and walked up the path to the door. I stood on the doorstep, took a deep breath, and rang the doorbell. I replayed my cover story in my head as I listened to light footsteps moving closer to the door. As the door opened, I pasted a smile on my face, but it faltered the moment I saw who was standing there. It was an old lady with curly white hair, wearing carpet slippers. I hadn't expected this. My cover story wouldn't work on her. I had to think fast. I quickly recovered the smile on my face.
"Um, hi!"
"Hello, dear. Can I help you?"
"Actually, er, yes. I wanted to know if I could have a look around your house. You see, my family is renovating, and we would like to get some ideas from other houses around the neighbourhood."
"Well, of course, dear! Please come in! I think I've seen you around before. Don't you always ride your bike to school? Would you like a cookie?"
"Er, yeah. No, thank you, I think I'll just look around."
"All right. Make yourself at home."
I exhaled in relief. That had been easier than I thought.
I went upstairs to my room, but paused outside the closed door. I didn't know if the old lady lived alone or not. I was about to open the door when I heard footsteps on the other side. I plastered myself against the wall, hoping whoever was coming out wasn't going downstairs; they would see me. The door opened and a teenaged boy came out and headed to the bathroom. He must be a grandson. I sighed in relief. He hadn't seen me.
I slipped inside his room, which looked nothing like mine at all. The only similarities were the double bed and the bookshelf that was in the same spot as mine.
I walked quickly to his bookshelf and pulled down the fourth book in the May Green series. I paused, looking at the last book in the series. I stroked the spine before I stopped myself, pulling my hand away. I didn't want to know what happened in my future, plus, I didn't have time. The boy would be back soon.
I opened to page five-hundred-and-thirty-eight (in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, this was the page where the third task starts) and leaned down to smell the pages. They suddenly started to ripple, and I felt like I was falling through water; the sensation was the same as when I'd fallen into the book the first time.
I landed on solid ground and looked around me at the exact same space I had just left; but this time, it was decorated to my taste. I stepped out into my hallway, savouring the relief.
I suddenly heard running water in the bathroom, and I jumped, thinking, did he come with me? How is that possible?
Before I could go back to my room and try again, the door opened and Mom came out. I practically laughed with relief.
"Mom! Hi!" I said gleefully.
She looked at me confusedly. "Hi!"
I went back to my room and flipped through Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something on one of the pages, so I flipped back and read the sentence again.
"'May - I'm sorry, may I call you May?'"
That's exactly what Dumbledore had asked me when we talked after the third task. I kept reading, and a knot formed in my stomach.
"May nodded, silent. 'May, would you like to tell us your story now? How you got here, where you came from?' May nodded again and took a second to gather her thoughts."
The book was telling my story! Everything that had happened after I appeared in the maze, it was all there! Dumbledore hadn't told me this would happen!
"Oh, no, no, no." I whispered to myself. "I have to go back and change it!"
This didn't just affect the story; this affected everyone who'd ever read the story, it affected J.K. Rowling, and it proved that magic was real.
Even though I knew changing the story back had to be done, I first had to DM Ella. Something this big couldn't wait.
magicalwinqs: YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT JUST HAPPENED!
Ella answered right away.
inejghcfas: YOU MET JKR
magicalwinqs: BEEN THERE DONE THAT
inejghcfas: YOU MET HER AGAIN
magicalwinqs: I WISH, BUT NOPE. I FELL THROUGH A HARRY POTTER BOOK INTO THE WIZARDING WORLD!
inejghcfas: …
injeghcfas: WHAT
inejghcfas: ARE YOU JOKING
magicalwinqs: DO YOU THINK I WOULD JOKE ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE THIS
inejghcfas: HOW DO YOU DO IT I'M GOING
magicalwinqs: YOU CAN'T IT'S REALLY COMPLICATED
inejghcfas: WHY NOT YOU DID
magicalwinqs: I KNOW AND NOW I HAVE TO GO FIX EVERYTHING. I MESSED UP THE WHOLE SERIES
magicalwinqs: I'LL TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT WHEN I GET BACK BUT I'M SERIOUS DON'T TRY IT
inejghcfas: BE QUICK I WANNA HEARRR
magicalwinqs: BYE! 3