AN: Finally a new story! Alright, Writer's block sucks. But hopefully I've finally developed enough of an idea for this story to get me out of it. I have plans for this story, so subscribe and review! :D
Yes, there are slash couples in this. Including but not limited to Rose/OC, and Albus/Scorpius. Don't like, don't read. :) If you don't mind slash, read on and enjoy. :D
Emma Clark was rushing around her bedroom, throwing things into her trunk and looking for anything she might have missed. The last thing she wanted to do was have to write her father to send her something she'd forgotten. Her room was practically bare, now. Almost everything she owned was stuffed into her large Hogwarts trunk.
Nothing hung on Emma's walls. She didn't feel the need to decorate. This house wasn't her home. The only place she felt at home was Hogwarts.
Emma took a hair band off her wrist and pulled her shoulder length red hair into a loose bun. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose back into place and kept packing. A calico Scottish Fold cat walked into the room and began rubbing on Emma's legs. Emma smiled and picked the cat up.
"Hello Autumn," she said, petting the cat's head, "You're such a pretty girl." She gave the cat one last hug and then set her down. "You better play while you can. Once it's time to go, you're gonna be stuck in the crate until we get to Hogwarts. I know you don't like the crate, but Hogwarts is way better than here, isn't it, girl?"
As if she understood, Autumn blinked and then darted out of the room.
Deciding to take a short break, Emma walked into the kitchen to find something to eat. She opened the fridge and was looking around when a loud noise made her jump and spin around. Aaron Clark had slammed his hand down on the counter, and was now smirking at Emma's reaction.
"You're still here?" he asked, looking at his daughter with contempt. "I thought you were going back to that freak school of yours."
"Fred's going to be here in an hour to take me to the train," Emma said, staring at the floor, her voice barely audible.
"How many times do I have to tell you to speak up?" Aaron snarled, and Emma made a small squeaking noise.
"Sorry," she said a bit louder, "I'll just go finish packing."
With that she hurried out of the kitchen and back upstairs, deciding that she'd have to get something to eat on the train.
Fred Weasley II knocked on the Clark's front door, and when Emma opened it, she smiled brightly and threw her arms around him. The Slytherin boy squeezed her back, equally as tight, and spun her around a bit.
"I'm so glad you're here, Freddie," Emma said, pulling him inside by the hand.
When they reached her room, Emma threw some last, miscellaneous items, including her Hufflepuff Scarf, into her trunk and slammed it shut. She picked up Autumn, who had been sleeping on Emma's bed, and gently put her into her travel crate.
"Ready?" Emma asked Fred, smiling at him.
Fred nodded, taking the trunk's handle from Emma and walked with it back to the front door.
Emma's father was standing in the kitchen, glaring at the pair of students.
"I'm leaving dad," Emma said tentatively.
Her father just nodded his head and walked back into the living room.
"He makes me sick," Fred noted, staring at the place where Aaron had disappeared in disgust.
"Let's just go," Emma said, less cheery.
Fred nodded. In one hand, he had Emma's trunk, and in the other he had her hand. Emma carried Autumn's crate in the hand that wasn't held by Fred. They walked together to where George Weasley was waiting in the family's car.
"Hello Emma," George said, smiling at the girl.
"Hello Mr. Weasley," Emma said, avoiding eye contact.
"You can call me George, you know," George replied, "You're practically family."
Emma didn't reply and climbed awkwardly into the car, setting Autumn on the seat next to her. Roxanne, Fred's twin sister, was sitting in the front seat next to her father, and turned around to smile at the Hufflepuff girl. Roxanne brushed her dark red hair out of her face and beamed at Emma.
"Bet we'll have some awesome classes this year, huh? Finally in our 7th year! Are you excited?"
Emma nodded, but didn't make eye contact. She found herself rubbing her left arm with her right hand, and cursed herself for being so bad at talking to most people. Fred seemed to be the only one she could talk to without feeling awkward.
George glanced at his son, looking slightly worried, as he always did when Emma was around. Fred sighed and hefted Emma's trunk into the trunk of the car, which was much bigger on the inside, and then climbed into the back seat of the car next to Emma.
Roxanne went off to sit with Lysander, Lorcan, Lily, and Lucy while Emma and Fred found an empty compartment on the train to sit together. Emma sat down, leaning against the back of the seat.
"Are you okay?" Fred asked, sitting next to his friend, looking worried.
"I'm fine," Emma said, sounding very unconvincing.
Fred put a hand on Emma's shoulder, and Emma instinctively jumped back.
"Does he still hit you?" Fred asked gently, and Emma pulled away. She didn't reply, and instead just stared out the window, watching the country side roll by as the train began to move.
Fred didn't ask any more and just pulled Emma into a gentle hug. She felt a small smile form on her face and leaned further into his chest, happy to finally be going back to Hogwarts and happy to have her best friend with her again.
Emma sat down on her bed in the dorm room she shared with two younger Hufflepuffs, Rose Weasley and Rose's girlfriend Abigail Phillips. The two Hufflepuffs Emma had shared with during her sixth year had complained to Headmistress McGonagall about having to share a room with someone who was "such a downer," and Rose and Abigail had offered to share their room, which had an empty bed anyway, with Emma. Rose, like every other Weasley/Potter, was protective of Emma since she was so close to Fred.
Emma was grateful for Rose and Abigail's kindness, but sometimes Rose was a bit too curious for Emma's liking. She always tried to get Emma to talk about her problems, but no one but Fred could ever get Emma to open up.
Rose walked into the room and smiled at Emma.
"Hello," Rose said cheerfully, "All unpacked already?"
"Yeah, I had nothing else to do," Emma said quietly.
"Oh, you could have hung out with Abby and I. We were with Albus and Scorpius by the lak. We were all too lazy to unpack…"
"That's okay," Emma said awkwardly, "I just wanted to get everything settled."
"You should come hang out with us sometime," Rose smiled, "I know we're all just 5th years, but you shouldn't feel too ashamed to be seen with us. Or is it because we're all gay?"
"It's not…I mean…" Emma said, staring at the floor.
"I was kidding, Em," Rose said, laughing slightly.
"Oh," was all Emma could think to say.
"Come on," Rose said, grinning, "Let's go play Exploding Snap with Scorpius and Abby. They're in the Common Room, insisting that they don't need to unpack yet. I think they're just lazy."
Before Emma had a chance to decline, Rose grabbed her wrist and pulled her down the stairs, not noticing Emma's wince at the contact. When they reached the Common Room, the first thing they heard was Abby swear loudly as the castle of cards she was building exploded.
"Abigail Phillips!" Rose scolded, sounding a lot like her mother.
"That hurt!" Abigail yelped.
"Well control your mouth anyway, there are first years in the room, you know."
Abigail looked around to see that her girlfriend was correct, and uttered a sheepish apology, grinning.
"Oh hello, Emma," Abigail said as Rose and Emma sat around the table that previously held Abigail's castle of cards.
"Hi," Emma said, glancing around the table.
"Fancy a game of Wizard's Chess?" Scorpius asked, "I was gonna play with Abby here, but she's not exactly tough competition."
"Hey!" Abigail said, offended, and slapped Scorpius in the back of the head.
"Sure, I'll play," Emma said.
Scorpius ran up to his room and brought down his game, and then set it up on the table. Emma reached out to set up her pieces, and the long sleeve of her shirt was pushed up slightly.
"Emma, what's that?" Abigail asked, reaching for Emma's wrist. Emma jerked away and pulled her sleeve back down to cover the hand-shaped bruise that was wrapped around her wrist. The mention of the bruise brought Emma back to two days earlier when her father had cornered her in the living room.
"Keep that bloody cat out of my room!" Aaron yelled, storming into the living room, Autumn in his arms. He threw the cat towards Emma, and Emma scrambled to comfort the scared looking cat. Autumn just hissed at Aaron and ran towards Emma's room.
In her rush to get to Autumn, Emma didn't have enough time to escape her father's grip, and Aaron grabbed her wrist and roughly pulled her to her feet. Emma winced as he tightened his grip. She strained to pull away, and in response Aaron shook her violently.
"You better learn to control that cat!"
"She's just a cat!" Emma exclaimed, finding her voice for just a moment, "I can't make her not go in your room! Close your door if you don't want her in there!"
"Don't you speak to me that way!" Aaron yelled, his hand making contact with Emma's cheek. He released her arm, and she fell to the floor. Emma rubbed her cheek for a bit and then gently rubbed her wrist. She knew her face wouldn't bruise, but her wrist definitely would.
"Emma?" Abigail asked, looking worried, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Emma said, snapping back to the present, "Let's play."
Rose, Abigail, and Scorpius all looked at each other silently, but let the subject drop. Emma played Wizard's Chess with Scorpius, but was only half paying attention as she tried to get her mind off her father and the bruise on her wrist. If everyone was that worried over her wrist, Emma thought, how would they react to seeing the bruised that covered her arms, legs, shoulders and stomach?
I have big plans for this story! So review and you shall receive updates!