Finally an update! And on Leap Year, too! :P Please review! 2 per chapter just isn't enough. For the love of Fred, please review! :P

"Emma? Emma wake up," Rose said, shaking the older Hufflepuff gently.

At the slightest touch from the younger girl, Emma quickly woke up and jumped away from her, holding the blanket up to her chin. She looked around in fright. When she noticed Rose standing there, eyebrows raised, she sighed in relief and let go of the blanket.

"C'mon, then. It's time for breakfast. Also, Abby and I were thinking. Since classes don't start til next week, we're going to get the entire family to play Quidditch out on the pitch. You should join us."

"But…I'm not family," Emma said quietly.

"Don't be ridiculous," Abby laughed, "Neither am I and I'm still going. It's for family friends, too."

"Right, so will you come?"

"Oh…yeah, sure," Emma said, wishing she could just be alone. She was uncomfortable enough around a lot of people under normal circumstances; after last night she just wanted to be alone forever.

"Right, then, get dressed," Rose said happily, "I'm hungry."

"You two can go ahead, I'll catch up," Emma said.

"Okay, see you there," Rose said, and then left the room.

Abby stared at Emma for a moment. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Emma asked.

"You were pretty upset last night when you left…" Abby said, "Are we good?"

Emma sighed. "I'm sorry…about last night."

"Me too," Abby smiled. She looked down for a moment and frowned.

Abby leaned down to the floor and picked up the shirt Emma had been wearing last night.

"Why is this ripped?" she asked, and Emma groaned internally.

"I…I tripped on my way back here. It got caught on something and ripped."

Abby frowned at the shirt for a few seconds before shrugging it off and dropping it on Emma's bed. "See you at breakfast," she said, following after her girlfriend.

Once Abby was gone, Emma quickly grabbed the shirt and threw it with all her strength against the wall. It fell to the floor, landing behind her dresser. Memories from the night before flooded back to Emma with such force that she began to cry again.

'I have to tell someone,' she thought to herself, 'But who? I can't tell Fred….Oh Merlin, what if I'm pregnant? I can't handle this.'

She began to panic, breathing heavily. Finally, she was able to bring her breathing back to normal and pull herself together enough to get up and get dressed. She made her way to the Great Hall slowly, putting off contact with others for as long as possible. Whenever she passed someone in the corridors, Emma shrunk towards the walls, not wanting anyone to accidentally touch her.

When she finally made it to the Great Hall, she started walking towards the Hufflepuff table but was cut off by Fred.

"Hey," he said happily, "I've been waiting for you for ages. Did Rose and Abby tell you about the Quidditch game later?"

"Yeah," Emma said, trying to sound as enthusiastic as possible.

"I can't wait," Fred smiled happily, not noticing that Emma was upset.

"Me either," Emma said. This time her smile was almost genuine. Seeing Fred so happy made her smile. After a few moments, though, she couldn't help but break eye contact with him and look at the floor. This time Fred noticed.

"Are you okay?" he asked, "I thought you'd be happy now that we're back."

"It's nothing," Emma said, but was unable to make it sound convincing.

"Scorpius told me that they saw one of your bruises last night…"

"Did you tell him?" Emma asked, looking up at him desperately.

"Of course not," Fred said, "I promised you I'd never tell anyone. I'm not going to break that. It's up to you who you tell…although I wish you'd tell my family. We could help you, you know."

"You're all I need, Freddie," Emma blurted, and then looked away, trying to hide her blush. "You know what I meant…"

"Yeah," Fred said, his face also turning pink.

"I'm fine," Emma insisted.

"You're lying," Fred stated, "But I'm not going to force you to talk to me if you don't want to…"

"It's not that," Emma said sadly, "I just…I can't…"

"You know I'm always here for you," Fred said, smiling slightly. He gave her a gentle hug, careful not to hurt her bruises. This was how he always handled her when they made psychical contact. When he released her, Fred walked back to the Gryffindor table.

Emma sighed sadly and started walking towards the Hufflepuff table again. Halfway there, she made a split decision and swerved towards the Ravenclaw table. She found Roxanne and tapped her shoulder.

Roxanne turned around and looked up at Emma inquisitively.

"Can I talk to you?" she asked quietly.

Roxanne was visibly shocked that Emma had sought her out, but stood up nonetheless and followed Emma out of the Great Hall.

"Where can we talk alone?" Emma asked bluntly.

"My dorm room is empty if you don't mind walking all the way to Ravenclaw Tower," Roxanne said after a moment.

They walked in silence. When they finally reached Roxanne's room, Emma sat on Roxanne's bed and stared at the floor for a long time. Roxanne waited patiently, knowing that whatever Emma had to say must have been important. Emma almost never spoke to anyone unless they spoke first. Fred was the only exception to that.

"I can't tell Fred," Emma said finally, not taking her eyes off the floor.

"Can't tell him what?" Roxanne asked, sitting next to Emma on the bed.

"You can't tell anyone either," Emma stated, looking up and meeting Roxanne's gaze. "Please promise me."

"I can't make that promise until I know what it is," Roxanne said logically.

"Then I can't tell you," Emma said, "Sorry I wasted your time."

She started to stand up, but Roxanne grabbed her shoulder to prevent her from leaving.

"Fine, I promise," the Ravenclaw sighed, "What's wrong?"

"I…I…" Emma said, unable to continue. Once again, tears began streaming from her eyes. She bit her lip hard and felt a small pearl of blood form in her mouth.

"It's okay," Roxanne said soothingly, pulling Emma closer to her gently, "You can tell me. Emma, what's wrong?"

"Last night…" Emma said before choking on her words. She gasped and tried to catch her breath as the tears poured out more forcefully. "Last night…Abby was…asking questions…" The tears made it hard to talk, but Emma forced the words to come out before she could change her mind. "She wanted to know…where I got my bruises…" For a short moment, Emma wondered if Roxanne knew. Although Fred had promised that he wouldn't tell anyone, Emma wasn't sure if his own twin counted.

"Fred never told me," Roxanne said as if she knew what Emma was thinking, "But…I can take a guess. Does your father hit you, Emma?"

Emma stared at the rug and nodded slowly. "How- how did you know?"

"Fred's my twin. I can tell when he's upset. He told me that you live with your father, but that's it. But I could tell that it upset him, and seeing your bruises…it's not hard to put two and two together."

"Fair enough," Emma said, feeling sort of relieved that she didn't have to explain that part to Roxanne. Her tears weren't as bad now and she was finally able to speak normally, if not very quietly. "Abby was asking questions and I got mad…so I left Hogwarts."

"What?" Roxanne asked, "Emma, you could have gotten in serious trouble. Where did you go?"

"Hogsmeade," Emma said, "I used a secret tunnel Fred found years ago…"

"What happened?"

"It was so dark out…and quiet…I thought I was alone. But while I was on my way back…a man…he-he attacked me."

Roxanne's grip on Emma tightened as she gasped in horror. Emma flinched and Roxanne immediately loosened her grip.

"Emma, he didn't…" Roxanne said, too horrified to say the words.

"He raped me," Emma whispered. One last tear dripped down her cheek.

"You have to tell someone!" Roxanne exclaimed.

"No!" Emma yelled out, surprising both Roxanne and herself. "Roxanne you promised. Tell no one. Not even Fred. Especially not Fred…"

"You can't keep this a secret, Emma," Roxanne said.

"It's not a secret…you know," Emma replied quietly.

"You know what I mean," Roxanne scolded, "At least go to Madam Pomfrey. She can't tell anyone if you ask her not to, and she can tell you if he really hurt you. Or if you're….pregnant."

"Magic can do that even after just one day?" Emma asked. Being a Muggle-born, she still didn't know everything about the Wizarding World, and she'd never thought about pregnancy before.

Roxanne nodded. "Wizarding pregnancy tests are far more advanced that Muggle stuff. Magic can tell you right away."

"Okay, I'll tell Madam Pomfrey. But no one else. Remember, you promised."

Roxanne sighed, wishing she hadn't. "I know."

yeah, it's kinda short and boring, but review anyway? It will get better, I promise.