The twins, Fred and George, were the first ones down the stairs. "Hey stranger." George said. Ron followed them along with his parents. "Emily." their father said. "Hello Mr. Weasley." I said. Mrs. Weasley walked around them all to me and hugged me. "You're not...angry?" I asked. "No." she said. "We're relieved. We thought you died. When Harry wrote saying that you were gone..." "I had to see him." I said. "I didn't even want to leave." "Then why did you?" Ginny asked. "Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy convinced me too." I said. I sat at the table. "I don't really want to talk about it." Mrs. Weasley nodded and started boiling water on the stove. "But what was it like?" Mr. Weasley asked. "She doesn't want to talk about it." Mrs. Weasley said. "But Mom think. She was with all of those Death Eaters. I mean...must've been spooky." Fred said. "Though I wouldn't want to talk either if I had been in bad company too." "Shut up!" I yelled. Everyone looked at me. "Way to be insensitive." Ginny said, punching her brother. She turned to me. "Come on. Let's go upstairs." I nodded and went with her to her room. I sat on her bed. "So...how was it?" Ginny asked. "Honestly...It was nice. Draco took care of me. The only threat there was Bellatrix. She was the only one who was really against it." I said. "I know what you all think. But...I was safe." She smiled. "Well I'm not surprised. I've seen the way he looks at you. You're everything to him." she said. I smiled. "No one else is going to believe me though." I said. "Especially not Harry. He's never liked my relationship with Draco."
*Flashback*
I sat next to Pansy at the Slytherin table, poking at my eggs while daydreaming. All of a sudden, something blocked my eyesight. "Guess who?" a familiar voice said. "Draco." I said, smiling. He uncovered my eyes and slid into the seat next to me. "Good guess." he said. "So I was thinking...Tonight, we chill by the fire and study together." "Study?" I asked. "More or less." he said, smirking. "It's a date." I said. "Good." he said. He kissed my lips. "I'll see you in class." He walked off. "You know nobody wants to see that." Pansy said. "You're the only one that cares." I said, smirking. Pansy's eyes flicked behind me and she smiled. She looked back at me. "I'm not the only one." she said. I looked the other way to see Harry, Hermione, and Ron coming toward me. I got up. "Harry." I said. "What was that?" he asked. "What was what?" I asked. "With Malfoy." he said. "Harry...I'm dating Draco." I said. "What?" he said, Hermione and Ron looking shocked behind him. "Yeah...He asked me out last week." I said. "And you said yes?" he asked. "Well...yeah." I said. "Why? Why would you say yes to a jerk like him!" he said angrily. "Harry he's a jerk to you. Not to me. I'm not going to say no to someone I like just because him and my brother aren't on good terms. You can't rule over my life Harry." I said. "Everyone in this school sees me as your sister. That's it. Draco sees me as my own person. Not as the sister of the boy who lived. And I love that. I'm sick of my choices revolving around you." Harry just looked at me. After a few moments he shook his head. "You're not going out with Malfoy." he said. "You may be my older brother. But you can't control me. I'm dating Draco." I said. "And there's nothing you can do about it." I walked away from him, out of the dining hall. I felt a hand grab my wrist. I looked at the person, only to see Draco. I smiled. "I saw." he said. He stepped close to me and put his hand on my cheek. "And I promise...he'll never make me let go." He kissed me.
*End*
I laid back on Ginny's bed. "He's really not going to like it now." I said. "He's going to believe that Draco made me go." "Maybe he'll just be glad you're alive and safe." she said. "Well of course. But then he's going to want to kill Draco. And even if I try to explain that it was my choice...He'll still yell about how stupid the relationship is and how stupid I am for loving him." I said. "I don't think there's ever been a time where Harry accepted me and Draco." "Even when you were in the hospital wing?" she asked. "Even then." I said.
*Flashback*
Draco and I sat on the couch in the Slytherin common room. Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle entered. The boys had armfuls of baked goods, such as muffins, cupcakes, and donuts. "Don't you two ever stop eating?" I asked. "Maybe if you put down the sweets and picked up a book, you would actually be recognized as fifth years." "And what's that supposed to mean?" Crabbe said. "That's exactly what I'm talking about." I said. "You two have the mental capabilities as a first year. It's amazing you two pass." "Like you can talk." Pansy mumbled under her breath. "Except I'm top of my class Pansy." I said with a smirk. "You act like you're the best person at this school." she said. "She is. She's smart. Beautiful." Draco said, holding me closer. "And I'm dating the most wonderful prefect ever." I said, looking at him. He smiled. "You guys make me want to puke." Pansy said. "Jealous?" I said looking at her. "No." she said. "Sure looks like it." I said. "The only reason anyone would date you is because of who your brother is. Do you think anyone wanted you because of who you are?" she snapped. "Draco and you hated each other and then out of the blue he asks you out and you don't think that's suspicious?" Draco tensed up. I got up. "See...two years ago and that would've bothered me. But why would someone date me for two years because of my brother?" I said. "Don't be mad that I got him. Don't be mad that...we proved it on our anniversary." Pansy's face dropped. I smiled. "You know what you are?" she said. "You're just a b–" I screamed. My back burned with an intensity of someone stabbing me with a red hot knife and twisting it. I dropped to my knees. Draco got up and rushed over to me. "Emily. Emily what is it?" he asked. "My back!" I screamed. He picked me up. "Get out of my way." he said, rushing me out of the room. He ran me to the hospital wing. "What happened?" Madame Pomfrey asked. "I don't know. She just started screaming. She says it's her back." Draco said. "Put her on a bed." she said. Draco laid me down carefully. The pain got steadily worse. Snape and Dumbledore ran in, followed by Harry. "Emily." Harry said. I felt two stabbing pains in my back below each of my ribs. Blood trickled down my sides from where the pain was. "What's happening to her?" Draco asked, his voice full of panic. Snape looked at Dumbledore and the headmaster nodded. "Draco...cut open the back of her shirt." Snape said. Draco looked at him. "We cannot tell what is happening if we cannot see her back." the Potions teacher explained. "Draco please." I said through my teeth, trying not to cry out. Draco nodded and grabbed the bottom of my shirt and started ripping it. The Dark Mark imprinted on my back was moving, the snake waving. Puncture marks were below my ribs, blood pouring from them. "Draco...hold her." Snape said. "This will hurt, even worse than now." Draco sat next to me and held me, my chest resting on his legs and my head resting on his stomach. His hands gripped my arms, holding me still. "I don't like this." Harry said. "He shouldn't be here." "Shut it Potter. If it wasn't for me, she'd be laying on the common room floor, screaming." Draco snapped. "I don't care." Harry said. "I'm her family. You are nothing." "Shut up!" I screamed. They both looked at me. "I want it to go away." Tears ran down my cheeks. Snape stepped up to me and waved his wand over me, muttering a spell. My whole body felt like it was being laid on hot coals, like it was being branded. I struggled in Draco's hold and screamed at the top of my lungs. My body soon went numb. I took deep breaths. Draco let go and wiped away the tears remaining on my cheeks. He got off the bed and kneelt down beside me. "It's okay. It's all over." he whispered. I smiled faintly. He smiled softly and took my hand, bringing it up to his face and kissing it. "I love you." he said. "I love you too." I said, my voice hoarse. "Severus. In my office." Dumbledore said, leaving. "Yes headmaster." Snape said. I looked at him over my shoulder. He nodded and then left. I looked back at Draco. He rubbed the top of my hand with his thumb as he held it. I started coughing. "I'll get you some water." he said. He kissed the top of my forehead and went to go get me something to drink. I pushed myself off my stomach and turned myself onto my back. "I don't like him here." Harry said, sitting next to me. "It's been two years." I said. "Doesn't mean I like it." he said. "Well get used to it." I said. "He's not going anywhere. Okay? He was right. If it wasn't for him, I'd be screaming and bleeding, possibly dying, in the common room right now." "If it wasn't for him? If it wasn't for his father, you wouldn't be in pain at all." he said. "That has nothing to do with Draco. In case you haven't noticed, he's not his father." I said. "He's exactly like his father." he said. "He doesn't care about you." "Then why would he be with me for two years?" I asked. "Harry...I know you don't like him. But I do. I love him. And he loves me. Please just understand that. I don't say anything about how you like Cho Chang." Harry searched for words. "Yeah Harry. Everyone knows about that. And I don't like her. But I don't say anything." I said. "And if you can't...then get out." "Emily..." Harry said. "No. I don't want you here if you stay this way. You couldn't even get over it when I was slowly dying on this bed. You do know this mark can kill me right? If given enough time?" I said. "So just go." Draco came back with a glass of water. "Everything alright?" he asked. "Yes. Harry was just leaving." I said. "Weren't you Harry?" Harry got up and left. I took the water from Draco. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked. "Yeah...Yeah I'm sure." I said. "Everything is fine as long as I have you."
*End*
"So when is Harry coming here?" I asked. "Soon. Very soon." Ginny said. "Bet you're happy about that." I said. She smiled. "A little bit." she said. I smiled. "Well I like you more than Cho Chang." I said. Ginny laughed a little. "So what about all your stuff?" she asked. "I don't know. I might have to go back and get it. All I really need is Shadow." I said. "I mean, Draco bought me all new clothes and jewelry. I needed new things anyway. I have my wand and my broom. I just need my cat." "Maybe Harry will bring her." she said. "I mean, he'll want to keep something of yours if he thinks you're dead." "Maybe..." I said. "I guess we'll see."
