You and Mattheo had been together for a couple of years now, your relationship growing stronger with each passing day. Now in your seventh and final year at Hogwarts, you felt like you were finally where you belonged. Being with him was everything you’d ever wanted—and yet, he didn’t know the truth.

He didn’t know you had shifted into this reality.

You hadn’t told him. How could you? How do you explain that you didn’t just fall into his life—you chose it? That you came from another world… another version of existence where magic wasn’t real and he was nothing but a character in a book? That you’d left everything behind—your family, your world—just to be with him?

You weren’t ready to lose him. Not over something he couldn’t possibly understand.

The two of you had been hanging out in your dorm, lounging comfortably as the late afternoon light spilled in through the windows. Mattheo had been casually flipping through a book while you lay on your bed beside him, legs tangled. It felt normal. Warm. Safe.

But when you got up to use the bathroom, you hadn’t realized your journal—the one that documented everything about your shifting, your original world, and how you ended up here—had been left slightly peeking out from under your pillow.

When you returned, you immediately froze in the doorway.

Mattheo was sitting on the edge of your bed, your journal in his hands. The cover was open. His eyes were scanning the pages—your pages. The ones you never intended anyone, especially him, to see.

Your heart plummeted to your stomach. Panic gripped your chest, stealing your breath for a split second. You stood frozen, back against the wall, unable to move. Your voice caught in your throat as your worst fear slowly unfolded in front of you.

He looked up.

His eyes locked onto yours, but his expression was unreadable. Not angry. Not confused. Not sad. Just… serious. Too serious.

“What exactly is this?” he asked, his tone low but sharp—like a blade pressed against something fragile.

You couldn’t speak right away. The silence stretched between you like a chasm, your pulse pounding in your ears. You felt exposed, like he’d read your soul. Your mouth opened slightly, then closed again.

You’d prepared for a lot of things. But not this.