Hello there. Welcome back to Emma's story.

As the summary says, this is book 2, and you will be missing out on quite a bit if you haven't read book 1, so I strongly suggest you do so before reading this one.

Anyway, enjoy.

Chapter 1 – The Granger's

So there she was, Emma Pearson, a witch and a vampire, sitting on the roof of a house somewhere in suburban London, well after midnight. It had been quite tricky to get up to where she was, as all the roofs in the area were very steep. She had climbed up using some scaffolding that some neighbours a few doors down had around their house. It looked like they were having an extension built or something.

Emma had made the effort because this was a brand new area, untouched, and ripe for exploring. She was sure that the Granger's, all asleep in rooms just below her, almost certainly wouldn't approve.

The Granger's had kindly offered to let Emma stay at their house over the summer holidays, and she was very thankful for it. Here she would be able to spend time with her best friend, Hermione, instead of being alone and miserable at her orphanage. Even though Mr and Mrs Granger, or Richard and Jane as they preferred to be called, were very nice and welcoming, Emma was still glad to have some time to herself. The previous day had been very long. There had been the train ride from Hogwarts, then the car journey to Hermione's house and all the while, Emma had been nervous. Having to tell your best friend's parents that you're a vampire will do that to you, though they had taken it surprisingly well, particularly Richard.

The car journey didn't take too long, but they were all still able to talk about their exam results, their friends, Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley, the terrifying experiences with Quirrell at the end of the year, and, of course, Emma's vampirism.

'Well, here we are then.' Jane had said as Richard reversed onto the drive in front of their house.

The three of them didn't think much of it, except maybe Hermione who seemed at least a little bit pleased to be home, however, Emma's face had been filled with wonder. She'd never been inside a proper home before.

She had gotten out of the car with even more nerves, but also anticipation, while Jane went to unlock the front door and Richard got Emma and Hermione's trunks from the boot of the car. After Jane had gone inside, Hermione was almost pushing Emma toward the door, grinning at Emma's expression until they got to the threshold.

It hadn't been very strong, but it was enough to make Emma wince and stagger backwards before falling over. It seemed the Granger's liked to use garlic in their cooking.

'Oh! Emma, I'm so sorry, I forgot.' said Hermione, before raising her voice. 'Mum!'

'What's wrong with Emma?' asked Richard.

A moment later, Jane came to the door looking concerned.

'What's the matter, dear?' she asked, taking in Emma's appearance.

'Can you get all of the garlic in the house and put it... not in the house, please.'

'Garlic?' replied Jane, before realisation dawned on her. 'Oh, yes, of course.'

'Haven't even stepped foot inside and I'm already being an inconvenience.' mumbled Emma with difficulty as Richard was walking by with the trunks.

'Nonsense.' he said, chuckling. 'We haven't used garlic in ages. Come to think of it, I'm not sure why Jane keeps buying the stuff.'

Emma barely heard Jane flit through the house as she got a plastic bag and put the garlic into it, opened all the kitchen windows and then went out to the back garden to dump it into the dustbin. As she returned to the front of the house, she opened the living room windows too.

'There.' she said, finally, as she got to the door, stepping to the side to let Richard by. 'Will she be alright to come inside now?'

'I should be ok.' said Emma, tentatively, as Hermione helped her stand up. 'It was more the surprise than anything else.'

The front hall Emma walked into was quite large. On one side it had the staircase and the other was a corridor leading to, Emma presumed, the kitchen. At the foot of the stairs was a clothes rack where a number of coats, jackets and a couple of umbrellas were hanging. Hermione took off her jacket and hung it up. Emma copied her.

Just by the stairs was another door that led to the living room at the front of the house. It was very spacious, with two small sofas in the middle, facing a corner of the room with a large television. There was also a number of shelves that contained books and other knick-knacks. Then there was the small fireplace opposite the door, above which was a mantel that was covered in family photos.

Before Emma could even take it all in, she was being whisked away toward the kitchen. It seemed Hermione was giving her a tour of the house. This room was much larger than Emma had expected, mainly because it turned out to be a kitchen and dining room combined and made up the entire rear of the house on the ground floor.

'Perhaps you should show Emma where she'll be sleeping.' said Jane, who seemed like she was about to start preparing dinner.

Emma and Hermione looked at each other awkwardly before giggling.

'Mum, Emma doesn't sleep.'

'Really? Not even a little?'

'Really.' said Emma. 'I've not slept in over a year.'

'Wow.' she exclaimed. 'You must be able to get so much done!'

'She would if she didn't spend all her time exploring.' chided Hermione, and Emma grinned conspiratorially.

'Well, show her the spare room anyway.' said Jane, before turning to Emma. 'You can keep your things in there and have a bit of privacy if you need it. Hermione knows to knock before entering someone's room.'

'Oh, I wouldn't worry about that.' said Emma. 'Nobody at the orphanage does, except Mrs Cole.'

Hermione blushed in embarrassment, probably remembering that time in the hospital wing a few weeks ago when Emma had said the same thing, and started herding Emma upstairs. At the top was the bathroom, which was surprisingly small, probably because all three of the other rooms were huge. Even the spare bedroom, which was the smallest in the house, was at least twice the size of Emma's room at the orphanage, and Hermione's room dwarfed the both of them.

There was no mistaking Hermione's room. Apart from its size, it was almost entirely as she expected. The room was decorated sparsely in very light shades of cream. It made the room look even larger than it really was. For furniture, there was her bed on the left side of the room, bordered by a wardrobe and a chest of drawers, while on the opposite side of the room was a small walk-in closet and a study desk. The most obvious feature of the room, however, was the two very large bookcases that were very nearly full.

After being given the tour, Emma went into the spare room, her room, to unpack her things. It took her no time at all to hang up what few clothes she had into the small wardrobe that she was comforted to see had a mirror on the front, just like hers had at the orphanage. It was a familiar touch. Once she was done, she went into Hermione's room, knocking first of course, even if the door was already open, and helped her unpack too. It was no time at all before they were both downstairs in the kitchen with Jane and Richard, continuing their conversation from the car as if they'd never stopped.

It was really fun talking with the Granger's, not like talking to most adults. Emma didn't feel the compulsion to be quiet like she normally did. She particularly liked Richard. He was a bit of a joker and didn't take things quite as seriously as he probably should, especially given his profession. Jane was the more authoritative of the two, but not in a stern way like Professor McGonagall was. Emma could see that Hermione got most of her personality from her mother, but there was definitely a part of her that mirrored Richard too.

After a while, having exhausted the story of how she became a vampire, Emma was beginning to feel like she was intruding. She wanted to let the three Granger's catch up properly, without her getting in the way. Also, if she was honest, she wanted to go outside because the kitchen was starting to stink of human food, and it was making her queasy.

'Uhm... Mrs Granger?' stammered Emma.

'I know I've asked you to call me Jane.' she smiled.

'Yes, sorry, force of habit. Mrs Cole was always insistent I call my elders by their title.'

'That's alright, dear. What did you want to ask?'

'I was wondering if I could go into the back garden?'

'Of course, whenever you feel like it.'

'She'll hold you to that, mum.' laughed Hermione.

'Thank you, Jane.' said Emma, grinning.

Richard got up and unlocked the huge sliding French doors and showed Emma how to open them. They were heavy, but she managed to close them behind herself and focussed on the garden, trying her best not to eavesdrop. The garden was quite spartan, kind of like the house. It was mostly just a grass lawn with a few colourful plants along the borders, with a small lonesome tree near the back that was blooming with bright white petals. It was while out in the garden that Emma had noticed the scaffolding a few doors down.

The rest of the evening, after the Granger's had had their dinner, was spent in the living room watching the television. Hermione was reading, but as Emma had never had a television before, she was engrossed, though it wasn't long before Hermione excused herself to go to bed. After that, Emma got talking quietly with Richard.

'So what do you normally do at night if you can't sleep?' he asked. 'It must get pretty boring by yourself.'

'Yeah, it can do.' said Emma, thoughtfully. 'But the worst part is that if I stay in one place too long, I start to feel... caged... and then I can't help it, I have to get out. Because of that, I explore.'

Richard nodded. 'So if Jane and I asked you to stay inside while we're all asleep, you...?' he said, trailing off.

'I'd try, but I know I wouldn't be able to promise that.' said Emma, honestly, and Richard nodded again. 'Especially not when there's a whole town outside I've never seen before!'

Richard chuckled and Emma could see Jane smile out of the corner of her eye.

'Your matron warned us about that, and Hermione said you were an inquisitive one.' he smiled. 'I can see why the two of you became friends.'

Emma smiled and ducked her head, embarrassed.

'And I'm very glad you did.' said Jane, softly. 'She never made any friends in middle school, and I was afraid it would continue into high school.'

'I never had any friends either, and I think that's how Hermione and I ended up being paired in class all the time.'

'Why didn't you make friends, if you don't mind me asking?' said Jane. 'I'm afraid Hermione got her busybody personality from me, which never wins people over, but what of yourself?'

'Not never, dear.' smiled Richard, taking one of Jane's hands.

Emma couldn't help but smile at that, and it wasn't helped by the smirk she still had from Jane calling Hermione a busybody.

'Yeah, Hermione can be a bit bossy and up front, but I like that about her. I guess she's the opposite of me in that way. I've been told I'm too... detached. I like to be alone and hate attention.'

'So that's why she made you stick your hand up in class?' grinned Richard. 'She was a bit vague about that.'

When Emma just made a disgusted expression, he guffawed.

'Richard!' chided Jane, in a loud whisper. 'Hermione's asleep.'

'Sorry, dear.' he whispered back.

'No, it's alright, she's still awake, reading.' said Emma. 'I can hear her turning the pages occasionally.'

'Wow.' mouthed Richard, shaking his head. 'You can hear that from down here? I still can't believe you're a vampire. A real, live vampire. You look so normal.'

'Well, Hermione looks normal too, and she's a witch.' smiled Emma.

'That's true.' he chuckled, before frowning. 'Yeah, we're still not used to that. That magic is real. It's all so alien. We're trying to be supportive, of course, but it's a lot to take in.'

Emma nodded. 'It's a pity we can't show you the magic we learned, it might make it easier.'

'Maybe.' said Jane, yawning.

'Perhaps we should go to bed, dear.' said Richard, and Jane nodded.

They both stood and looked at Emma who was still on the sofa.

'We're not going to ask that you stay indoors as we've already spoken about that, however, I will ask you to be careful.' said Jane, in a serious tone that reminded Emma so much of Hermione. 'Mrs Cole is trusting us to keep you safe, and we wouldn't want anything to happen to you either.'

'Now that, I can promise.' replied Emma.

'Good.' said Jane with a lighter tone. 'Feel free to leave the TV on quietly, if you want. Good night.'

'Night Jane, night Richard.'

Back in the present up on the rooftops, sitting with one leg over each side of the ridge, leaning against the chimney stack, Emma realised why Hermione loved her parents so much. They were there for her, no matter what. Emma supposed that all parents should be like that, but hers certainly hadn't been. The only thing Emma knew about her own parents was what her mother looked like, and that was only because of the Mirror of Erised.

Due to her lack of parents, Emma had expected to feel jealous of Hermione while staying here, and maybe even feel alone, like she sometimes did at Hogwarts, however, instead she had feelings she'd only ever felt once before.

'I guess this is what it feels like to have a family.' she thought.