October had waved its warm farewells as November arrived with its cold chill and a crack down on academics which I did not complain about, the more to learn the more merrier I was to be. I had adjusted to the new routine with the Dumbledore's Army meetings which helped me practically learn the Defence syllabus and focus myself better with regards to not becoming a complete wimp whenever a bang went off anywhere near. The first Quidditch match had also come and while I did not go in my obsessive desire to study and perfect assignments news had reached my ears about how Harry Potter and George Weasley had gotten into a fight with Draco Malfoy who had insulted them; the fact that Harry and George with his twin Fred had been banned from Quidditch entirely had sent me into an outrage at the woman dressed in pink and I vowed never to find out her name in a stupidly childish fit. Professor Hagrid had come back from his two month hiatus with a very interesting lesson indeed.
We had all gathered outside professor Hagrid's hut in the freezing snow all in our warmest wear rubbing at our bodies in an attempt to stay at a healthy body temperature. Our teacher had appeared sporting a few questionable injuries to the face, but I knew better than to ask because questions tended to make one feel uncomfortable. He carried the carcass of a cow on his shoulder and I shifted around nervously knowing that whatever we were studying today was bound to be carnivorous. He had led us into the Forbidden Forest after telling the Malfoy git to mind his own business and we had walked for about ten minutes before coming into a dark clearing. He had set the carcass in the middle of it and after assuring us that he hadn't lost his marbles started shrieking into the sky clearly calling some creature which he had assured us were the only tame ones in Britain. After a while the creatures had materialised and in a moment of blind excitement realising that we were studying the Thestrals I clung to Harry's arm telling him to look where they had landed. When I had come into my second year and was confronted by these creatures my curiosity was instantly roused and I had come to the Care of Magical Creatures professor of the time and asked him all about them, he had of course given me a strange look, but told me nonetheless. Harry's friends had looked at me weirdly as well as professor Hagrid, but I gave it no mind as I told Harry that he could be proven sane by this lesson. The dreaded woman dressed in pink had arrived after professor Hagrid had asked who could see Thestrals, Neville and another boy in Slytherin could as well, and had started explaining the lesson. The horrible woman had made fun of professor Hagrid and had interrupted his lesson as she walked around asking biased questions and twisting poor Neville's answers around to look unfavourable. I was glad she had skipped out on me because I was sure to give her a piece of my mind which wouldn't go down all too favourably for anyone and as the lesson ended I gave the Thestral closest to me a parting pat on the head. Herbology had treated us all fairly to a gentle relaxing of the anger that the woman dressed in pink had given us and I found that the warmth helped sooth my muscles from being out in the cold for so long. My day had continued uninterrupted like clockwork and it was with the usual dreading grace that I fell back into bed to have about four hours worth of turbulent and disturbing dreams.
December had barged it snowy way in and with it an attachment from Bruce which he urged that I take to professor Dumbledore as soon as possible so instead of finishing my breakfast as usual I had rushed off to find my head of house to ask him the current password to the headmaster's office. He had relented after I told him that I had something urgent for the headmaster which wasn't entirely a lie and I reported obediently to my first two lessons to wait for lunch time. By the end of the second lesson I was jumping all over the place with my extreme concentration and my sense of urgency that professor Snape had told me to sit down and not move lest I wanted an accident so I sat having to peer and reach into my cauldron to get my work done with his eye keenly trained on me. When the bell sounded around the castle I bottled my assignment and handed it to a weary and surprised looking professor Snape and sprinted up to the headmaster's office gasping out the password to the stone statues which guarded it and they leapt out of my barraging way. I traipsed up the stairs and rapped smartly on the door entering as was instructed.
"Emily, what a surprise, is anything the matter?" professor Dumbledore inquired and I laughed at my appearance which may have seemed rather out of breath.
"Nothing is the matter, but I have a letter that my guardian told me that I had to get to you as soon as possible," I said and presented him with the attachment which was in a large envelope of its own.
He took it and opened it with his eye brows raised looking to me before reading the first letter with Bruce's signature stationery stamped across it then referring to the second which strangely had my doctor's signature dominating the page's spotlight, he had a rather obnoxiously flamboyant signature which grabbed one's attention right away. Professor Dumbledore frowned several times rereading the letter and looking back to the one from my doctor.
"It is my understanding that you have an urgent doctor's appointment next week which cannot be missed under any circumstances," he had started and it hit me, of course I would need to go sometime soon as in retrospect I realised that I only had enough meds to last me until early next week.
"Yes," I began slowly. "The doctor does run a tight international schedule which he books out months before the appointment."
"I see this, yes," he raised my doctor's sheet. "Your guardian speaks rather highly of him, which brings up the question why did you start seeing this doctor in the first place?"
"Well, ah, the criminal got to me in more ways than one and the, uh, doctors who had checked me over after my father's death thought that it would be healthy for my state of mind if I saw a doctor who could give me something to ease the whole grieving process and to numb any unpleasant memories which had occurred," I explained rather shakily not sure if I wanted to think about the immediate aftermath of his reign of terror.
"Yes, he did explain something about something called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and that without his guidance you could become a liability to yourself," professor Dumbledore's eyes were filled with something closely discernible as that pity look.
"Yeah, they told me that I was going through something like that," I said trying not to focus on the blasting sound which my memory enjoyed to bring up.
"Very well; seeing as you are the only student who has received such exemplary marks this year due to your dedication to your studies and your ability to easily catch up work I will allow for this," he sighed clearly in his Monday mode. "You leave on Friday, your new guardian is already in London so you can write to him to tell him that I will have a Portkey ready for after supper, you will need to come here to take it, and that it will take you to the Leaky Cauldron."
"Thank you so much sir!" I beamed elatedly at him very much excited about seeing Bruce so soon.
"Oh, it's fine, you do so well in your lessons that I am sure a small break in them would be most advantageous for your health, some of your teachers have commented on your seemingly obsessive nature to the extent of missing social events like Quidditch," he smiled at me and I briefly remembered locking myself away in the Library that entire day forgoing everything in the pursuit to perfect my essays which I had written and rewritten over and over.
"Yeah, I don't really enjoy crowds so I thought that it would be a better thing to spend the day studying and getting my school work on top form, I don't want to fail my O. now do I?" I said rather meekly.
"On your steam I don't see you failing your N.E. ," he chuckled slightly and I relaxed. "Now, you have your next lesson in five minutes so I would run along, I will have your teachers notified and I will see you on Friday at eight sharp."
"Okay, thank you sir, enjoy your day!" I called over my shoulder as I took off to my next lesson.
My next two lessons blurred passed me with the teachers pilling on the home work which I gladly received as opposed to my class mates who groaned as they had been putting off their work whereas I ploughed into the work I received like a knowledge depraved monster. At supper time I ran off to pen an excitement filled response to Bruce and found myself in the Library, I sat down at my usual table and first pulled out my home work completing all the day's work with joy. Second I pulled out my pen and letter pad and set to writing.
Dear Bruce,
I handed in the attachment to my headmaster and he said that I could go on Friday after supper, he will arrange a Portkey which is something that can transport someone very quickly for eight pm so seeing as the destination is a magical place which you haven't been to yet I will catch a cab and meet you at your hotel, the one you own overlooking the Thames River right? You have no idea how excited I am to see you so soon; it feels like it has been forever. I hope that all was well on your flight over to England and that the turbulence from all the unpleasant weather didn't put a damper on your arrival. Until your next response,
Love,
Emily.
I folded and packed my complete letter into an envelope and packed away everything else that was unnecessary. I proof read my essays due for the next day for the fifth time and satisfied that they were on top performance levels I put them away rising from my seat to find Scarecrow. She was perched on the Astronomy Tower sleeping peacefully despite the rain that was lightly drizzling on her.
"Hey Scare, I have a short journey for you tonight; this is for Bruce who is in London, can you find him?" her hoot of ascend pacified me and I attached the letter to her leg.
I watched her take off and disappear into the darkness letting the drizzle wet me through before I came to my senses and returned to the Ravenclaw Tower to slip in a few hours of fitful sleep. My week had progressed easily from there; Bruce's reply of his hotel being the best place to meet him coming through the next day, my teachers with the exception of the woman dressed in pink had pulled me aside at the end of my lessons to assign me my holiday home work and work which needed to be up to date on and as I had the essays for the term completed I handed those in to my teachers raised eye brows. I had one last Dumbledore's Army lesson before Friday and after that I had approached Harry who was packing our materials of the day away, I helped out as a slight procrastination method.
"Harry," I said silently after there was just him and his two closest friends present.
"Yeah?" he looked at me with a slightly wild expression and my eyes creased with silent laughter.
"Don't stress, I don't want to attack you," I smiled and he relaxed into a frown and so did his friends. "I just wanted to tell you that on Friday I am going to be leaving for the December holidays early because I am going for an appointment to sort out my pills, you know how on the train I had a weird attack? Well I am going to have those sorted out."
"Okay?" he said slowly not fully understanding.
"That means I won't be present for the next few DA meetings," I clarified for him and his expression morphed into understanding.
"Oh, I see, it's okay, the next one was just going to be practising what we have already done and you seem to do rather well so to tell you to practise extra would be stupid," he responded grinning lightly.
"Okay, thank you for your understanding," a major weight felt as if it had been lifted from my shoulders. "I should be going soon I wouldn't want to be caught by Filch's invasive nose."
I smiled to them and waved stepping from the room to drift through the corridors finally to arrive back in the Ravenclaw Tower to catch a few hours of sleep before another round of aimless drifting. Friday had dawned and with it an extra hour of excited insomnia, I had skipped into the Great Hall and sat next to Luna who seemed rather unaffected by the gloom of the cold and was wearing an expression of fascination as she gazed to the enchanted roof. I buttered two pieces of toast and began to bite into them in an excited manner.
"Hello, you seem to be in a pleased mood today," she remarked looking at me with a smile on her face.
"Yeah, today I am leaving to go home," I said in a low voice with a stupidly large smile on my face.
"That's funny, term doesn't end for another two weeks," she said with a frown.
"Yeah, but I have an appointment with my doctor next week and he doesn't move appointments for anything so I have to go or I will need to wait another six months for an opening," I responded and her expression flattened out only to scrunch up again.
"What is a doctor?" she asked and I realised with a small laugh that she didn't know what they were.
"They are muggle healers," I explained and understanding washed over her evident in the way her face softened.
"I suppose that's good then and I am sure you are by now so up to date with your school work that two week wouldn't hurt your marks," she mused more to herself than me because we both knew secretly that I was far too ahead. "Oh, I am sure you must be so excited to go back home and see your new dad!"
"Yeah, I am so excited to see him again," I gushed slightly.
We had exchanged a few words before the bell had rung cutting our conversation off, I left Luna with the promise that I would write to her and tell her how I was doing and wished her a good holiday. My Friday rushed by and soon it was supper time which was when I ran to the Ravenclaw Tower to lock my possessions into my already packed trunk, I shrunk it and slipped it into my pocket doing a double take of the room to check that I had everything I needed. I arrived at professor Dumbledore's office at seven forty-five and knocked on the dark wood with anticipation shooting through my stomach and entered when I was told to. Professor Dumbledore was seated behind his desk which had a grubby hat sitting atop it with a strained smile on his face.
"Good evening Emily, I trust you have all your possessions with you?" he asked at my empty handed appearance.
"Yes sir," I patted at my pocket. "Shrunken trunk." I further explained at his befuddled expression.
"Well then, all is in order so I will wish you a pleasant holiday and that you may come back well prepared for your academics to continue climbing," he continued frowning at the fact that I had shrunk my trunk, but seeming to understand the logic.
"Thank you sir and enjoy your holidays as well," I smiled and took hold of the grubby hat which he had gestured that I take.
I felt a horrible sensation of a hook grappling at my naval before being thrust to the floor of the Leaky Cauldron; I stood and quickly made my way to the lavatories to change into muggle attire before hailing a cab. After I was appropriately attired I pulled out my purse containing my muggle money, a scarf and a pair of sunglasses. I shrunk the contents of my trunk which I would not need for the rest of the holidays and put the other things I would need into my school bag which I had long ago enchanted at school to have a large amount of space on the inside and look as if it would only fit a single book at most on the outside. I exited the Leaky Cauldron while putting the scarf and the sunglasses on and walked a few blocks to a more crowded section of town to catch the attention of a cab. After a few minutes I was successful and gave the driver directions to the hotel the Bruce owned, he grunted in acknowledgment and soon sped off arriving at the hotel in less than an hour which impressed me for London traffic. I tipped the driver as I paid him and he grunted his thanks in surprise before speeding off to find another person to carry around the busy streets of London.
I nervously cast my gaze around the entrance and took the plunge stepping up to the reception asking for Bruce and was promptly attended to by the manager, him showing me up to Bruce's penthouse suit. I stood by the door for a few jittery seconds and knocked on it with a renewed sense of energy that came from me scolding myself for being such a baby. The door had opened and before I got to say anything I was received with a warm hug which I returned and we stood on the threshold for a few seconds savouring each others' presence.
"It has been too long since I have last seen you," Bruce said after releasing me and walking us into the suit.
"It has been, I have missed you so much," I had said setting my school bag down by the table which dominated the room.
"It looks like I am not the only thing you have been missing, name anything you would like to eat and I will have it sent right up here," he said and I blushed my muggle clothes evidently not so great at hiding my weight loss.
"Uh, how about a nice big chocolate cake to celebrate everything we have been absent from each other for?" I said with a happy smile not up for explaining too much just yet.
"Okay, I will call down to reception and order one right away," he said and while he called down I took a cursory glance around the apartment which Bruce stayed in while on trips to London. "Done, now we can catch up, what have you been up to with the exception of advancing well with your school work?"
"I have joined a club at school, I don't think I should tell you too much about it because the people who formed it seemed rather insistent on secrecy when they made us sign our names down so I should suspect there is a bit of magic to do with it," I began as we moved to sit by the gas fireplace. "What basically bought about its inception is there is a teacher from the magical government who doesn't want us learning about this particular branch of magic because for some insane reason they think that the headmaster wants a bunch of school kids to rise against them, hilarious I know, so they wanted to pass their exams and be generally prepared for whatever life threw at them later and formed a club to actually learn this branch of magic. It is a great deal exciting."
Bruce had laughed when I mentioned how the woman dressed in pink didn't want us learning proper Defence and laughed harder at the Ministry's involvement in the school and seemed understanding of how people would want to be properly prepared for life. We had talked into the night and toasted everything great that had happened that term when the cake had come up and I found that I was able to eat it with much gusto, albeit a single slice as my stomach was full after the chocolaty richness. I spoke of the unfairness of Harry and the Weasley twins banning from Quidditch seeing as it was Draco Malfoy who should be punished more severely for constantly throwing insults at everyone and he whole heartedly agreed believing in full justice and retribution. He spoke of how his business had been doing well with new and foreign Investors investing their time and money into Wayne Enterprises and how the city of Gotham was showing a marked improvement with the people's attitude and its crime. I felt, for the first time in a long time, at ease when I went to sleep that evening and instead of having any garish dreams I fell into an easy slumber and was excited to be leaving for Gotham the next day.