Chapter 7:


About a week went by since Emily has been on summer vacation inside the castle. Dumbledore gave her the ground rules. She was not to leave the castle after dark, was not to go into the Gryffindor tower, was to show up at all meal times and where ever she went she had to return before dusk. Emily was fine with these rules, she really wouldn't have done them anyways. She spent most of her time down in Hogsmeade where she would explore the shops and learn more about the Castle grounds. She really liked Zonko's. The shop was full of tricks, jokes and toys. She could see why the twins liked it so much, it practically screamed 'Weasley' when she walked in. Another one of her favorites was the Three Broomsticks, where she would go and get a butterbeer and spend the day reading, where she was at this moment. she looked out the dusty window that was beside her table and saw that it was beginning to get dark. Emily had to get back by now.

She walked up the trail to the castle and saw the lanterns on the sides beginning to light themselves. When she came into the entrance hall she could see Dumbledore was already starting dinner. The only ones at the school were the staff over summer. They all had their own rooms of course where they've been sleeping while school was in progress. She particularly liked meal time, it was the only time she was allowed to eat next to Dumbledore himself. She put away her book and came into the hall.

"Ah, Miss Ryan we were beginning to worry." He said.

"Sorry sir, I lost track of time, won't happen again." She assured him.

"No problem dear, no problem at all." They continued their meal, all the teachers seemed to be growing fond of Emily, all but Snape of course. It wasn't as awkward being around him as people might think. Knowing his past kind of made him less scary then how she used to think of him. I don't think he knew that she knew.

After dinner Emily headed up to her room, or where she was staying that summer. She was laying on her bed. the bed had a nice, white Canopy above it. The bed sheets were a dark brown silk, which she wished was a different colour. there were two night stands at each side of the bed, and a little dresser and table where a mirror was placed in front of. It was more than she had when she was home that's for sure. She could get used to this. She's been missing her friends a lot as well. Not seeing Harry, Ron, Hermione, Angelina, George, Alicia, or even Fred. She's been getting letters from him the most. They mostly talked about all of the pranks they've been pulling on poor Ginny and Ron. Honestly, she hoped Mrs. Weasley would straighten them out sooner or later.

There came a knock on her door and she let out a faint "come in" as the door opened. Dumbledore and Snape came in with books in their hands as they placed them on top of the dresser. Emily got up off of her bed and walked over to them confused.

"What are these?" She asked.

"Books." Snape said with cheek.

"I know what they are, but why are you bringing them to me?" She cleared up.

"Emily since what your saying is proven true, you have missed two years of schooling." Dumbledore began. She knew where this was leading, and hoped she was wrong. "So we have arranged with some of your teachers for some private lessons over the summer to help you catch up."

"Oh but-" She complained.

"Surely you will be just fine." He patted her on the head.

"But sir, there's no way I can learn two years of schooling in one summer! To the ministry I've already done it! Isn't that enough?"

"I'm afraid not Miss Ryan. You will begin classes in the morning, is that clear." Emily knew he only thought this was what was best for her, so she nodded. He was a smart man after all.

It was beginning to sound lonely in the castle, she so desperately wanted to leave. Don't get her wrong, she loved it, but she wanted to visit some of her friends. Anything was better than summer school. She was in the middle of a potions class with Snape. It was exhausting. She had to answer all the questions instead of letting others in the class answer them for her.

"Sir, how much longer?"

"Are you complaining?" He asked as he walked up to her.

"Yes. Honestly, I'm not even going to need to know this stuff. From what we know I might wake up at any second, then what will I use this knowledge for?" She asked. Snape was quiet. "I don't even know if I'll even remember any of it." She murmured.

"Wouldn't that be a good thing? Not being able to remember ones past?" He asked. She looked up at him, knowing what he was talking about.

"Why would someone want to erase such wonderful memories? After all, there all we'll have left if someone leaves us." She said, referring to Lily. Snape ignored her, and began lecturing her about the polyjuice potion. "I already know what this is. Harry, Ron and Hermione used it in the second book to- oh never mind." Clearly he wasn't going to care.

Her class was over around noon, so that was when she would travel back down to Hogsmeade and spend the rest of the day there after lunch. She decided to write a letter to the twins.

Dear Fred and George,
I hope your summer's been great so far. I've been spending my days here at the castle wondering the corridors looking for some new hidden secrets and such, no luck so far though. Besides that, I'm at Hogsmeade where I spend most of my time in the Three Broomsticks reading books. I hope you guys write back soon, it gets pretty lonely here with no one to talk to except for Snape, there's only so much I can talk about around teachers. Also, cut Ginny and Ron some slack, they aren't test subjects, they're your siblings!
Love, Emily.

She took the letter up to the owlery on her way to see Hagrid where she attached it to a school owl and sent it off in the direction of the Burrow. She couldn't wait for next year to begin!


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