Author's Note: Wehey, managed to update two days in a row. I think I deserve a high-five or something. xD

A Harry Potter Fanfiction

MY GOLDEN SEEKER

OC: Darcy Simmons/OC: Emmett Boot

Chapter Thirteen

"Hey Darce, wait!" Manny calls after me as I depart from the library with the librarian shooting me a murderous glare.

"Shouldn't you be taking care of Finnigan?" I ask as she catches up to me, her expression thankfully not one of anger, but it's not one of happiness either.

"He's a big boy, he'll live," she giggles lightly, her lips curling into a soft smile. "Besides I'm not going to choose him over you. I may like him a lot and you may have just punched him in the face, but you're still my friend."

"Why'd you have to go and say that?" I groan. "Now I feel somewhat guilty for said face punching."

"Well, I guess that means now is a good time to ask a favour of you," she takes a deep breath before continuing, hugging her waist tightly as we walk. "I'd appreciate if you kept this to yourself, you know, me and Cassair. I know you don't really talk to Emmett much, but if he found out he'd be livid and then he'd tell Jude and I'd never hear the end of it."

"As you said, I don't really talk to Emmett much so there's nothing to worry about." I reply with a half-smile, still feeling nauseous about the image of her and Cassair together.

"Well you do talk to him about some things," her smile twists into a smirk as she looks up at me knowingly. "I know you spoke to him about why I've been upset lately, about how much his behaviour bothered me."

I open my mouth to apologise, but she continues. As she speaks, her smirk stretches back into her trademark wide smile.

"Don't apologise, I understand and I would've done the same. I know you two were just worried about me and wanted to help. Plus because it was Emmett that upset me, of course it'd seem like only Emmett could fix it and so you tried to get him to do that," at this point she breaks out in a grin, exposing her pearly whites thankfully. "And I'm grateful for that, I know you were just trying to help and make me happy again."

"I'm glad you're not angry," I say before eyeing her curiously. "But how did you know I told him?"

"He's not exactly subtle about these things because he doesn't understand the inner workings of a girl's mind very well," she laughs at his expense, no doubt reliving memories of his inexperience with female mood swings and bewildering behaviour. "When I got back from my Hogsmeade date with Cassair, Emmett confronted me about what has been going on straight out and we spoke for ages."

"So essentially I tried to help, but instead made everything awkward between you two. Good job, Darcy."

"When he confronted me it was awkward at first, yes, but you really did help. Talking to him made me realise something really important, something that made me really happy," she leans towards me, lowering her voice to a hushed whisper. "That I really like Cassair, not Emmett."

"Great, it's my fault that you're brainwashed." I mumble with a roll of my eyes.

"Come on, he isn't that bad. He is so hot; it actually scares me a little bit."

"Telling me things like that doesn't make me think you're less delusional," I joke. "That coupled with the fact that you flip flopped from Emmett to him in a week makes me think you might be crazy."

"Only a bit boy crazy," she corrects me in a matter-of-fact tone. "Besides I've always found Cassair good-looking and oddly charming, it's just that I had all my attention on Emmy."

"Oh yes, I can see how him constantly insulting me and making perverted comments over you can be oddly charming," I mock with a fake swoon. "In fact, I think I'm starting to fall for his rude charms as well."

"You can't criticise me for liking Cassair, are you not the one who dated Potter for a year?" She challenges with an arch of her eyebrows.

"Yes, but that's all the more reason for you to learn from my mistakes, you've seen how Potter treats me."

"Even if he is an arse, I bet there were a lot of things you found sexy about him." She makes faux kissing noises as she speaks, earning herself an eye roll from me.

"You really are boy crazy. As soon as we start talking about boys, you act like a giddy thirteen-year-old girl with her first crush." I mutter.

"I had my first crush way before I was thirteen," She says with a laugh, brushing off my comment. "But if you had yours around that age, does that mean James Potter was your first crush?"

"When did this become about my stupidity over Potter instead of your stupidity over Finnigan?"

"I can't believe this!" She squeals. "He so was your first crush, that's adorable!"

Manny suddenly stops and grabs my hands, her whole face lighting up as her body shakes with excitement. With an immense strength that I find hard to believe she can hold in her petite body, she drags me into the nearest empty classroom. After checking that no teacher will walk in, she plops down on the ground, folding her legs before gesturing for me to do the same. I reluctantly obey, almost wanting to take the opportunity to flee from the room seeing as her sitting down gives me a head start.

"So tell me everything."

"Really? That's why you dragged me in here?" I groan, dropping my head into my hands. "There's nothing to tell so can we go?"

"I'll get this little chat started if it helps." She suggests.

"I don't want to have one of those sickeningly girly chats no matter who starts it." I whine.

"It's fun, seriously. Are you telling me you've never had these chats with your Gryffindor friends?"

"Well, seeing as I liked and later dated Potter, I don't think they wanted to hear someone swooning over their close relative," I state. "I mean it's kind of gross."

"I guess that makes sense, but they still spoke about boys to you, right?"

"Yeah, mostly just Roxanne going giddy over Gabriel," I say with a shrug.

"Great!" Manny exclaims. "Besides we have to have this chat. I have a couple of girl friends, but none of them have been my best friends like Jude and Emmett so I couldn't talk to them about all sorts. So I'm afraid being my best friend leaves you with certain responsibilities and one of them is boy talk."

"Fine," I moan with dread for the conversation to come. "But I'll go first because I want to get this over with as soon as possible. You'll just have to tell me where to start."

"Start with Potter." She responds quickly, her grin widening.

"Well, James wasn't my first crush ever, but he was the first big one, the first boy I really liked when I was younger," I explain. "But that was in our first few years, soon the crush was replaced by friendship until he felt that spark too and we started dating."

"Come on, you can do better than that, where are all the juicy details?" She whines.

"What details do you want? I don't do this frequently."

"What about kissing? How was he? Was he your first? That sort of thing, you know, answer the questions that only you can answer."

"Because that really clears up what I'm supposed to do," I say before reluctantly answering her queries. "James wasn't my first kiss, but well, all kisses before that were mostly just pecks and not passionate or anything. But with James, it was almost electric; every kiss was deep and utterly amazing. If he didn't speak such bullshit through them, I'd say his lips were the best thing about him."

The conversation continues smoothly, mostly consisting of Manny chatting away and me remaining a quiet listener seeing as she has a greater male fan base and experience with males than I. But as we exchange war stories and snort with laughter at one another's expense, I actually find I am enjoying myself and loving learning more about Manny. By the time our chatting ends, my stomach aches from all the chortles of laughter and my cheeks sting from the wide smile I am unable to wipe from my face. It seems there is a small part of me, somewhere tucked deep inside that actually enjoys being feminine, at least when I'm doing it with the bubbly ball of fun that is Manny Legaspi.

I wake to the sound of a slamming door followed by excited footsteps pattering through the halls of the girls' dormitories, the craze only muffled by the fact that my head is strategically stuffed beneath a pillow as I arranged the night before in anticipation of this. I withdraw from my somewhat soundproof chamber, crawling out from my thick duvet and glancing about the dorm curiously. It is bare of all life, but the beds of my roommates have clearly been slept in as the duvets are strewn across the sheet-covered mattresses, kicked off in a rush. Light streams through the windows as if the sun has just risen into the dark winter sky, assuring me that it is still the morning and that hopefully I have missed the main rush.

I slip out of bed, stuffing my feet into a pair of slippers to avoid contact with the chilled hardwood floor before shuffling towards my trunk. I retrieve a set of casual clothes from it, any student staying in the school over the holidays excused from their uniform for this special day. I tug on a pair of deep royal blue skinny jeans, smoothing the ends around my scuffed up converse shoes. I pull on a plain top, hiding it beneath a loose-fitting hooded jumper of a dark grey colour before quickly running a brush through my choppily layered golden locks. After settling my hair about my shoulders, leaving my slanted bangs to skim just above my dark eyes, I exit the room.

I stuff my hands into the pockets of my sweatshirt, manoeuvring through the various students crowded together with their friends and siblings to celebrate Christmas day before heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Many were probably going to skip out on the most important meal of the day to leave their stomachs empty for the grand Christmas feast later that afternoon. Even I consider doing that, but I'm eager to get some Quidditch practice in today and full meals are necessary for me to push myself to the limit.

I almost feel jealous watching the people interacting around me as I make my way out of the Gryffindor common room, heading off towards the Great Hall. I wish I was with my family right now instead of being stuck at Hogwarts, I want to chat away about Quidditch with my brother and watch muggle television with my mother, I want to mourn my father's death with the two people who can comfort me. I laugh under my breath at the fact that I am miserable on Christmas, thinking about being all alone and not to mention missing most of my friends from over the years. I am just grateful that Manny is still at school to keep me company.

As if anticipating my loneliness and downer attitude on this day, I hear a voice call to me as I approach the Great Hall. I glance up, eyes wide, eyebrows raised to find Manny running towards me from her waiting place near the entrance. She is dressed modestly, her slim legs tucked into darkly-coloured jeans and her torso hugged by a maroon hand knit jumper. Her hair is held up in a messy bun, several strands falling free to frame her excited features. She drags Emmett behind her, his expression neutral but lacking its usual sternness. His dark nutmeg hair falls free about his handsome face, slightly messy as if he has only recently awoken with his well-shaped figure dressed in a pair of scuffed up jeans and a long-sleeved shirt of dark colours.

"Merry Christmas, Darce!" She exclaims, enveloping me in a tight embrace before I can even register her words.

"Merry Christmas to you too," I laugh back when I break free from her hold, her lips spreading into a toothy grin as I nod to Emmett. "Merry Christmas, Boot."

"Merry Christmas, Simmons." He nods back.

"Don't be so formal you guys, it's Christmas!" Manny intercepts, clearly infected with the Christmas energy many of the younger students are drugged with. "We've been waiting for you for a while, what took so long?"

"Oh, I didn't realise," I blurt, actually stunned by the fact that she would postpone the start to the Christmas celebrations for me. "But thanks for waiting."

"No problem, I need my friends with me before I can start celebrating Christmas." She grins and links her arms through mine and Emmett's before guiding us into the Great Hall.

The gargantuan hall is sprinkled in extravagant decorations with streamers stretching overhead, Christmas trees dotted about the floor drenched in baubles and candy canes and a gorgeous winter sky simulated across the ceiling. Manny moves us towards the Ravenclaw table, sitting us down in our own separate little area as if to keep our celebration private. Plates of extravagant breakfast foods are dotted about the table, making my mouth practically water at both the wonderful sight and the delicious scent.

"I'm glad you weren't any later, I've been absolutely starving." Manny beams as she piles food onto her plate, her portion almost matching that of Emmett who is nearly twice her height and a well-chiselled figure.

Now comparing her food portions to that of Emmett, her metabolism and love of exercise is astounding and I wonder how she isn't massive. But I quickly put the thoughts out of my head and dig into my own breakfast, happy to eat as much as I want in preparation for my own personal Quidditch practice this evening. I probably should invite Emmett and Manny to train with me, but it is freezing outside and I am mostly training just to get back on the Quidditch pitch. I feel like I have gone into Quidditch withdrawal and just need to play again, even if it's in the middle of a snowstorm.

"What are everyone's plans for today?" Manny pipes up after swallowing a mouthful of scrambled eggs. "I was thinking if we could spend the day together and then have dinner together, or if you guys have other things to do, we can meet back here at dinner and then just hang out all evening. I mean I'm going to take time out to write to my family and wish them well so I'm good with either option."

I roll my eyes and glance at her, my eyebrows arched. I know as well as she does that she's lying, she wants to take time out to cuddle on up to Cassair and snog for hours on end. She shoots a warning gaze back at me, demanding I stop looking at her that way, confirming that my suspicions are right. It has been like this since I found out, her splitting her time between Cassair and her friends and from time to time, asking me to cover for her if Emmett asks after her.

"I'm fine with either." Emmett mutters into his food moments later, showing more interest in his meal than us, completely unaware of the looks we are giving one another.

"I've got some things to do during the day," I admit, Manny smiling at me gratefully for giving her free time to spend with Cassair. If she didn't have other plans, I would have considered inviting her along to practice, maybe Emmett too. But I need the time to sort out my mind, to clear it of my worries so that I can enjoy my section of Manny's company for the rest of the evening. "But I'll only be a few hours, we can get together before dinner as soon as I finish if you want."

"That's perfect," she grins happily, bubbling with excitement over the time she'll be spending with Cassair. "I'll do everything I need to do when you're gone so we just need to arrange a place to meet whenever you finish."

I sigh into my food as I slump my shoulders forward in defeat. Part of me is irked that my friend is gallivanting off with a complete pervert, but another part finds it hard to be annoyed when she looks so happy, when her grin doubles at the mere thought of the prat. But before I can decide whether I am okay with Manny's new relationship–and newfound happiness–a screech echoes through the Great Hall, followed by another and then another. A whole chorus of shrieks and caws sings through the room as owls swoop down, packages of various shapes and sizes dropping from them to the eager students below.

Parcels rain down to the students around us before a few reach where we sit secluded from the others. A few small presents reach Emmett in a cluster, clearly small gifts from many far off relatives that care about him, but don't know him exceptionally well. A set of envelopes sprinkle around me and a single–but monstrously huge–present drops down in front of Manny's wide-eyed gaze.

"Jude!" She exclaims moments later after fingering the gift tag and finally registering it is meant for her. "This is too much..."

Her words trail off as the realisation leaves her speechless. She runs the buds of her fingers delicately over the gift as if fearing it will shatter to pieces under her touch and be nothing by a fairytale.

"You deserve it." Emmett speaks up with a small smile as he opens the little trinkets from the various members of his extended family.

"I don't, I've never had anything like this," She gawks. "We can't afford these things; we don't do presents, we–"

"Just open it; you don't even know what this is," I interrupt. "And Jude probably put some amount of effort into getting something you'd like and deserve."

Eventually she relents and carefully peal open the wrapping, avoiding creating a single tear or imperfection. Despite her insistence that Jude getting her an oversized gift is too much, she grins from ear-to-ear as she goes. Having come from a poor muggle family, she says she has never really done proper gifts, they barely even celebrate Christmas. That's why she always stays at Hogwarts, she explains, because here she gets a special day that she'd never even dream of having back home.

After watching her grin and slowly make her way through the many layers of protective wrapping encasing her gift for a while, I turn my attention to the few envelopes before me, most likely containing postcards and photos from my mother and brother on their travels. Maybe a Christmas card or two will be in here too, definitely one from my family amongst all the postcards detailing their fun without me.

Just as I predicted, I open the envelopes to find a few Christmas cards from my grandparents and my only extended relatives; my mother's younger sister, her twice-divorced husband and their only child who happens to be far too young to know how to write her own name let alone a Christmas card to me. All of the cards–apart from the one sent by my paternal grandparents–have been sent to me by my brother though, my mother's muggle family unaware of our position as half-blood wizards. Soon I reach the last two envelopes bound together with ribbon and decorated by my mother's elegant cursive writing.

One of the envelopes is of a normal size, although slightly bulky and contains photos and postcards as well as a brief letter updating me on my family's business. The second envelope is larger in both width and length, stuffed to the brim with padding to ensure that whatever is held within remains undamaged. In it I find a folded up letter and–tucked deep within the padding–two small black boxes. The small of the boxes holds a jewellery ornament consisting of a golden sphere rimmed with dangling wings, forming a golden snitch whilst the larger contains a glossy black cord with a silver Quidditch broom pendant hanging from it, forming a necklace I recognise.

I know I've seen it before, draped by my mother's bedside or over the mantelpiece, watching over us. When I peel open the letter and skim over it, I finally understand what these gifts really are.

Merry Christmas, Darcy, have a wonderful day!

We are missing you terribly here. Things just aren't quite the same without my little girl here; your brother is getting horribly frustrated with my limited knowledge of your wizarding affairs.

I roll my eyes at my mother with a small laugh at her expense as I continue further, anxious to reach the explanation for my present.

Hopefully this owl system you two use is reliable enough and this letter along with your Christmas present has reached you in time. I know you must be wondering about what I have given you, I have to be honest and say your brother helped me to pick out the second pendant, he said the golden snitch would personalise the necklace for you. I didn't even try to understand.

But I'm sure you recognise the necklace from here and there, I've had trouble letting go of it or finding a proper place for it in the house. I think the best place for it is with you, it's what your father would have wanted. I bought the broom pendant for him when we first met; he already had the leather cord. He used to wear the necklace all the time, to every one of his games, he even wore it to our wedding. He never dared to take it off; he said it was his good luck charm, a piece of his family to keep with him at all times.

I know we all miss him dearly and every day I see more and more of him in you and your brother, but I know it's time to let this small part of him go, to pass it on to his daughter. You're almost eighteen, you're almost all grown up and your brother tells me you're doing brilliantly in Quidditch, he wonders if it will distract from your studies. You really are just like your father and he would want you to always have a piece of him and your family with you. He would be so proud of you right now–

I stop reading as tears swell up in my eyes, blurring my sight into an indistinguishable mess. I try and blink them away, but they persist, threatening to burst out and stream down my cheeks at any moment, sending me into a sobbing mess.

"That's beautiful, Darce, who is it from?" Manny's voice echoes through me, suddenly throttling me into action.

I quickly slip my mother's letter and gifts back into their envelope before tucking it into my jumper. I scramble to my feet, hiding my fast approaching tears behind the layers of my hair. I don't have time to gather up my other envelopes; they don't matter right now so instead I just abandon them. I am desperate to get away from this very public place and my impending meltdown.

"Where are you going?" I hear Manny call after me as I flee from the room. I call at her over my shoulder in between sniffles, my sentence coming out so fast it almost sounds like one word as I don't care if she can actually hear me or not.

"I need to practice."