Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I won't lie, I am not completely pleased with the flow of it, but each piece is very important and this was the only real way I could get it to work right. Hope you enjoy it and as always feel free to leave a review telling me what you think. Thanks for the followers and the support. You guys are awesome!
Emery walked into the muggle showroom pleased to see that everyone had arrived. There were two tables pushed together with ten chairs placed around them. His team members had already seated themselves and were waiting for him. All nine of his friends looked a little uncomfortable, sweat forming on their brows. Several of them had rolled up their sleeves or pulled off their long sleeved shirts in favor of the t-shirts beneath.
"What is with the heat up here?" Malfoy complained loudly, shedding his white button up shirt.
"Hot air rises." Lisa shrugged. "Someone's fire place beneath us must be on."
Hermoine wasn't too surprised to see that Malfoy's forearms were free of marks or tattoos. She had never really believed that Draco was talented or brave enough to be a Death Eater despite what Harry and Ron had always said. She supposed he could be hiding it with a charm, but highly doubted it was possible. Emery, however, had yet to even roll up his sleeves and yet she could clearly see that he was just as hot as they all were.
"You look uncomfortable Emery." Hermoine commented as subtly as she could.
"It's the heat." Justin moaned. "Do we have to stay here? Let's go outside and practice. It will be much cooler. "
"Guys, let's just focus." Emery frowned as he started handing out scrolls. "This is the list of the rules. We need to read them and follow them to the letter."
"Hey wait a minute!" Astoria frowned as she raised her eyes from the scroll she had been reading. "This says that we won't be receiving house points for participation or wins?"
"Well the sport is fairly new here at Hogwarts." Susan reasoned. " We can't receive team points and the teams are uneven in houses so it wouldn't be fair to award them individually either."
"An excellent point." Lisa smiled. "Plus, I believe it will help prevent the judges from showing any favoritism. Any win we receive we know will have been earned."
"Yeah right." Michael rolled his eyes, "Harry's team has only one Slytherin, Snape is a judge and with our team having three of his own house, we are guaranteed to always get his vote. Same goes for McGonagall, Harry's team has five of her house and we have Hermoine and Neville."
"While I can't speak for Snape," Hermoine frowned. "I can speak for Professor McGonagall, and she would never show preference when asked to be an unbiased judge."
"Well of course you would say that, you are her student." Astoria rolled her eyes.
"It kills me to do this, but I believe Granger has a point." Draco frowned painfully. "The Gryffindor Head of House has never shirked from punishing her precious students along with me or my house mates in the past."
Before Emery had a chance to quiet everyone down, Draco's defense of Hermoine seemed to do the trick. Hermoine blushed as everyone stared at the two in disbelief. For the Hufflepuff's this was the third time that the Prince of Slytherin had come to the verbal aid of his most hated adversary and this wasn't lost on anyone in the room. Ugly, black jealousy rose up inside of Emery, making him feel all the more uncomfortable.
"Everyone just shut up," He snapped. "We don't need to focus on the damned professors and judges. We are here to go over the rules. Does anyone have any questions about the rules?" When no one answered he rolled his strange eyes and looked to Hermoine. "Stay on point during the competition, I can't stress this enough. No matter how much of an advantage you think some off topic trivia is, just keep it yourself. Neville, speak up loud and clear when it's your turn, don't stutter or stammer. Draco I want you to coach him with Luna's supervision. And no matter how emotionally charged any of us get, we can not name call or insult. Doing so could result in an automatic loss. Finally and this is a big one, you may only speak when it is your turn and during your allotted time. Any questions?"
"How come this team is mostly made up of sixth years?" Michael asked. "Why not try for the seventh years?"
"Seventh years are going to be far too busy with tests and career placement classes to be bothered with an experimental sport." Hermoine suggested. "Sixth years don't really have any life altering tests like fifth and seventh years and anyone younger than that won't have as much knowledge."
"I think it's because Harry is a sixth year." Astoria added. "It has more to do with letting Harry pick a team and seeing what kind of a leader he will be against someone who is both as dark and charismatic as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."
"You had me until you compared me to Voldemort." Emery smirked, ignoring a few winces and grimaces. "I am much more attractive and far better with people than that homicidal lunatic!"
"How do you know?" Susan asked with a nervous anger. "When have you met him?"
"Met him? I've never met him, but I have seen him. Haven't any of you looked at the year books before?" Emery asked. When no one spoke up, Emery rolled his eyes. "Really, Granger you either? No one has ever wondered what their teachers, parents or some of the most famous Wizards and Witches in history ever looked like during school years?"
Hermoine sat at the table completely dumbfounded. It had been so very obvious and simple and yet no one had ever thought of looking there. All Harry had ever wanted was to see his parents and Sirius again. There had been so few pictures and yet if his parents were as popular and involved in school activities as they had always heard, there would be plenty more pictures in yearbooks. Why hadn't she thought of it? Why hadn't any of them?
"OK guys, the first subject for our debate is going to be 'The Forbidden Curses should not be demonstrated in any Wizarding school.' We will be arguing for the affirmative. We have to convince the judges that demonstrating these curses should not be allowed. Draco, Luna and Neville I want you three to work together on the opening argument since you are already working together. Hermoine, Justin and myself will cover the rebuttal. Astoria and Michael I want you two to present the closing argument. Lisa and Susan I want you guys to be ready for questions that the students or judges might ask. Does everyone understand their assignments? Alright, see you guys here in a few days."
As soon as Emery released them from the meeting, none ran faster than Hermoine to the library. Everyone wanted to see what Emery had but she didn't care about what Voldemort, McGonagall or even Dumbledore looked like all those years ago. She wanted to gather as many yearbooks for the years that Harry's parents attended and have them ready for him. He'd been in such a terrible mood and she could only hope that this would cheer him up a bit.
Emery watched as Hermoine took off from their meeting room. He had no doubt what she was looking for or for whom
the search would be done for. He felt that bitter feeling beat against his chest once more as he thought about Harry Potter. Emery had no idea how Ron put up with being "The Chosen One's" best friend/sidekick. He was really starting to dislike Harry. He could even understand why Draco and his goons started fighting with him all the time as well.
He walked slowly out of the castle, needing to cool off and get away from everyone. His temper was a bit out of control since Delilah bit him. He knew he shouldn't get so upset about Hermoine, but he was torn when it came to her. He felt jealous when others were around her or liked her and yet he was still really angry with her for thinking he was a Death Eater.
His blue and brown eyes subconsciously fell to his inner left forearm that was covered by his shirt sleeve. His lips shrunk into a tight frown as he glared angrily at what he knew was beneath the cloth. You can't really blame her for thinking it of you, now can you? He thought to himself as he sat down on the cold grass field beside the castle.
The wind was picking up, but he didn't mind it or the way it tugged at his long curly locks and beat against his back. Dumbledore had been kind enough to forewarn him of the cold falls and winters that hit the Scottish castle every year. He pulled a small bag from his pant pocket and rifled through it until he found the long black duster. He put it on and smiled at the scent that it still held within the fabric.
Emery had found the coat in a shop outside of Salem just before he and Dumbledore left America. He picked the coat because of the smell of cinnamon and pine cones. His mother had a peculiar love of cinnamon and pine cones, a scent you couldn't escape in most American stores during the holiday season.
As an angry wind began to bellow, Emery lightly closed his eyes as listened to the sounds it made. His mother used to tell him if he listened closely he could hear the tidings of the dead. Never in all of his years of listening had he heard anything. That thought, however, did remind him of something he needed to get done away from prying eyes, away from suspicious eyes. As the wind picked up, Emery stood and once more glared at his inner left forearm. Might as well get this done and over with.
Ronald Weasely smiled as he caught up with Hermoine. As usual she was carrying a large stack of books in her arms. Her honey brown eyes sparkled with excitement, as she smiled brightly to him and walked just a little faster to catch up to him. He couldn't say he was surprised to see seven year books in her arms, but he didn't honestly know what she needed them for.
"What's with the year books?" Ron asked curiously once they were walking side by side to Gryffindor Tower.
"It's for Harry!" She beamed brightly. "I can't believe I never thought of it before! These year books will have pictures of his mother, father and Sirius!"
"Can't believe none of us thought of it until now." Ron smirked, as he too realized how daft they'd all been. "What did make you think of it?" He took four of the books from her arms to help her carry them back.
Hermoine bit at her lip and awkwardly hugged the three thick books to her chest. "Emery did, actually."
"Emery?" Ron frowned. "You sure do seem to be...into him."
"Really?" Hermoine's eyes darkened as her lips feel into a frown. "What does Lavender think of you caring who I may or may not be into?"
Blushing brightly, Ron said nothing. It wasn't that he felt anything for Hermoine, that he had determined after his fit of jealousy over Krum, it was a protectiveness that burned within him. For fourth year and most of fifth, Ron had been certain he loved Hermoine and she him, but over the summer he realized he carried the same warmth and affection that he had for his sister Ginny. She was precious to him, easily his best friend, but familial friendship was where it ended.
"I do hope this cheers Harry up, he's been so...forlorn since Sirius died. He needs something to remind him of the good, you know? We need him to remember what we are all fighting for." Hermoine sighed, and Ron was just glad she wasn't dwelling on the whole jealousy bit.
"Easy for us to say, Hermoine. We aren't the ones losing family." Ron shrugged.
"You nearly did, and others here have lost their loved ones, too. Look at Cho and Mr. Diggory. They were the first people to lose a loved one in this war since it's been revived."
"Yeah, and who had to witness it, Hermoine?" Ron reminded. "I agree that we need to keep him up, but I just think we need to make sure not to push him too hard either. Every year he seems to go through some serious trauma and I can't imagine how he has pushed through it all. Sirius was his last link to his parents and I don't blame him for being a little, moody."
The young Gryffindor girl blinked in surprise. She had never seen her emotionally vapid friend so insightful in the human psyche. It wasn't unusual for him to defend Harry, but he hadn't been so sensitive to his friend's emotional needs like this before. She shook her and then smiled to Ron. "You are absolutely right, Ron. Do you think he will like this then, or is it too soon?"
Ron gave a shrug as he continued to walk beside Hermoine, though her pace had slown quite a bit. "I'm not really sure about that, I mean, what if it just makes him ever more depressed?"
"Perhaps I will wait a bit longer to show him these." Hermoine agreed. "It's not like they are going anywhere."
"That's probably for the best." Ron agreed. "Maybe Ginny could even tell us when she thinks he's ready?"
"You know Ron, sometimes I wonder if you just pretend to be clueless to get out being held to a higher standard." Hermoine stated as they began climbing the stairs to their tower.
Severus Snape looked into the mirror, his eyes narrowing at what he saw. He was pale, and not even his usual shade, no this was a sickly pale that implied how weak he felt. His black beady eyes were outlined with thick dark circles that betrayed how little he'd slept. He was thirty-six years old and yet he felt older than Dumbledore most days, but especially days when he had a thick and deep rumbling cough that woke even the ghosts that haunted the dungeons.
Completely disgusted, the man finally turned away from his reflection. He had too much to do and not enough time to do it in. Every second he spent wallowing in self-pity was a wasted moment that could be utilized constructively. After all, he thought bitterly, the two madmen have given me a list a mile long of things they want completed by the weeks end.
He pulled his long hair back into a pony-tail and put on a thick black scarf, followed by a heavy wool cloak. Without much thought, he climbed the stairs up to main floor of the magical castle. The halls at this early hour were bare and not a sound was heard, not even his own steps. Many years ago he had mastered the silent foot-fall of an assassin. It had become necessary to his survival to learn how to come and go between his two 'masters'. Although both Voldemort and Dumbledore trusted him, their followers often did not.
Lucious Malfoy had been one of the few who had ever trusted him amongst the Death Eaters. This was mostly due to the fact that Malfoy's ego was larger than his sense. To this day Lucious believed that Severus was as much his tool as he was The Dark Lord's. Unfortunately for Lucious, his attack on the Ministry had proved a disastrous failure and his influence over the other Death Eaters had been dissolved.
Trying to keep Draco safe was becoming harder and harder by the day. Twice he had seen Crabbe and Goyle attempt a coup over the younger Malfoy's followers. They thought he was becoming weak and blinded by Emery Graves and his new ways of thinking. Draco fought them with wit and logic, but the stupid are that way for a reason.
This thought led to yet another boy he was supposed to be protecting. Emery Graves. Why he had been saddled with this mission was beyond him. Draco Malfoy was his God-Son, it only made sense that he needed to protect him. Harry Potter was, well he was a different matter altogether. He had made an oath and no matter how much the boy deserved to be abandoned, Severus was not one to break an oath like the one he'd sworn to Lily. Dead or not, he would honor his last words to her.
But Emery Graves was a nobody. He was nothing to him or anyone else that he knew. Well, perhaps that wasn't true. There was an odd familiarity about the boy that was unnerving to him. The black hair, the one blue eye, the dark smirks that formed on his young handsome face? He didn't want to believe the possibility, but who else could he belong to? Why else would Dumbledore worry so much about him? What better place to have hidden the little monster than America? Even Dumbledore hadn't seen that coming. Worse, if he was his, then what could that cost them? What damage could be done? What was the boy up to? Did he even know or suspect who his father was, for that matter did the father know of his existence?
"No! No, I won't hear it! You are wrong!" He heard an angered whisper in the shadows and froze as he recognized the voice of the very boy he had been thinking of. There was an older feminine voice that followed, but she mumbled too much for Severus to make out what she said. "You are a liar!" Again there was more of the mumbling followed by an angry almost inhuman growl. "SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP! You are nothing but a liar! They didn't find her! She isn't dead!"
Severus moved just a bit closer, now able to see the boy hiding in an alcove as he glared down at a mirror. A muggle might thing that the boy was mad, but Snape recognized the device as a way to speak to someone a very long distance away. He could see the taller teenager was quite agitated as his body was tense and his knuckles nearly white from holding the mirror's handle so tightly, his free hand however trembled almost violently. The potions master could practically feel the heat radiating from the enraged student.
"Oh she's dead alright!" The elderly woman snarled from within the mirror. "My daughter is dead and it's all your fault! Everything you touch rots away and dies. We knew it would only be a matter of time before our precious daughter's life was stolen. Because of you she died in such shame, such disgrace."
The boy trembled again, his shoulders slouching for only a moment, before he forced himself to stand a little taller. "It was you and your husband who cast her out and disowned her; if she is dead it's because of you!"
"How could we not? She'd been tainted by you! Forever ruined by your presence in her life! You killed her Emery Graves!" The woman growled again. "You'll meet your end soon, though and when you breathe your last breath, my husband and I will laugh and celebrate and-"
Severus stood perfectly still and remained entirely calm as the boy smashed the mirror into hundreds of tiny shards against the castle walls with a pained cry. He didn't come forward when the teenager dropped to his knees and brought his hands to the side of his head and gripped tightly at his curly locks. He made no move to comfort the boy as he watched him begin to sob while trying frantically to put the mirror back together. Protecting the young man didn't mean coddling or intervening in drama, but mostly, Snape didn't assist the boy because he knew better.
The young man would never tell him what was truly going on or what he had done to the young lady that made her parents hate him so much. He would be able to learn more by keeping his distance. No matter their house, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin, teenage boys never talked openly about the inner turmoil going on in their lives unless it was to their closest friends. Perhaps the Graves boy would speak to Nott? He wasn't sure if he had any other friends.
For several moments, Severus watched the young man try quite a few spells to fix the mirror but eventually the boy resigned himself to failure and began to cry frustrated tears once more and on occasion slam his fists onto the castle floor. He was about to leave when he heard the boy hiss something to himself in that infernal snake language. Emery then got back to his feet and took several deep breaths and again he whispered to himself.
Just as the boy turned, Severus slipped into the shadows. He watched the young man leave his mess behind and head to the staircase that lead down to the dungeons. Severus knew the young man hadn't come with the mirror so he would check the owlery to see if any special packages had come through for the Slytherin. Maybe then he could find out who the young woman had been.
Severus frowned as he felt his lungs constrict suddenly as his whole chest burned and itched to cough. He couldn't even concentrate hard enough to silently cast the muffliato spell before he barked out a deep, phlegm-filled cough. He wasn't surprised when the younger man froze and turned quickly on the first step to see who was attempting to dispel their lungs from their chest cavity.
The two Slytherin's stood now, each debating on leaving and pretending they knew nothing of either's existence or confronting one another. Severus could easily deduct several points and issue more detention for being out past his curfew and it was clear that was what Graves was waiting for as his blue and brown eyes were held in wide-eyed shock.
"I warned you not to make me take points from my own house, did I not, Mr. Graves?" Snape demanded in a seething tone, his thin lips curled into a sneer. Before the boy could open his mouth Snape hissed. "Ten points for breaking curfew and another weeks detention."
The boy's eyes narrowed and Severus was sure that he would argue or fight back, but instead he was pleased to him tighten his jaw. Emery turned away and simply walked down the steps without saying a thing. At least he was finally beginning to learn who had the last word.