After dinner everyone split off into their respective bedrooms. Emma changed into her pajamas and flopped down onto her bed waiting for Hermione to get back from brushing her teeth. Hermione walked into the room, shut the door and put her toothbrush on the table next to her bed. She walked over to Emma's bed and sat down. She hadn't forgotten what she noticed in the hallway between Emma and George, so while she got ready for bed she rehearsed how she was going to go about interviewing her best friend.

"You were awfully quiet at dinner," said Hermione carefully.

"Was I? Everyone was after Mrs. Weasley shut Harry and Sirius down like that," Emma said dismissively. Although Hermione was her closest friend and confidant, Emma didn't want to let on how she was feeling. But how was she feeling? Surely she was upset about the most recent letter from Seamus, but Hermione knew all about that. So why was she being so close to the vest?

Hermione interrupted her train of thought, "Ok, but then what was up with you and George in the hall before dinner?" she asked, intently looking at Emma's face to catch any glimpse of a reaction.

Emma kept her face stoic. In her family, keeping your poker face on at all times was something that was learned at a relatively young age. "What are you talking about?" she asked. Could that be why she was feeling the way she was feeling?

Hermione ignored Emma's response and continued with her previously planned out line of questioning. "And before, you two were talking for a seemingly long time," She paused to see if Emma would give anything away, but nothing. She continued, "Is there something going on between you two?"

Emma looked at her friend for a moment. She went to say something almost immediately, but knew better than that. If I respond to quickly, Hermione would definitely know that something is up. But wait, was something up? She was feeling different than she had all summer. She wasn't sure exactly what this new feeling was, but she wasn't feeling the same sadness and frustration she had been. Well, those feelings were still there, but covered by something else. Was there something going on with George? He had stayed back to check on her, which wasn't all that strange; but then again, she didn't usually spend alone time with George; he was usually accompanied by Fred. Maybe he was just trying to be nice. But he was sitting rather close, and he seemed to be a little awkward around her, especially when he went to touch her hand. And when they were out in the hall, Fred definitely noticed that George wasn't acting like himself; and who better to know how George was feeling than his twin brother and best friend. So was George actually… flirting with her? And if he was, what did that mean? Did he actually like her or was he just trying to boost her confidence since her boyfriend wasn't performing very well in that area? And what about Seamus? She loved him, didn't she? Which means she couldn't possibly be starting to have feelings for someone else, could she?

The train of logic kept whirring around in her head until it started to loop back on itself. She felt like it had been the longest time since Hermione had asked her the question, but in reality it had only been about half a minute. She felt her brain start to spiral out of control and her heart began to beat faster. She took a second to close her eyes and take a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again she saw her best friend looking at her, concerned.

"Are you ok?" asked Hermione, who was well tuned in to when her friend was having a panic attack.

Emma paused for a beat before speaking, "Yea, sorry. I'm just exhausted and…" she paused to formulated her lie of omission, "I got another letter from Seamus today. George just stayed behind to ask me if I was ok. I guess he had seen the letter when him and Fred had just apparated into the room behind me. It was just lying on the bed. I'm just having a hard time dealing with Seamus right now. He's driving me nuts. I guess I just wanted to try to… I mean Harry just got here and I don't really want him to know that he's the reason that Seamus and I are fighting."

"What did he say this time?" Hermione asked.

"The letter is over there. You can read it if you want," Emma said pointing to the crumpled piece of paper in the fireplace.

"Threw it in the fire this time, huh?" Hermione said, starting to smile a little. "So what did George say to you?" she asked.

"He just offered to sneak Seamus some Wizard Wheezes if he continues to be an arse," Emma said.

Hermione started laughing, and Emma joined in.