Her tears had diminished by the time they arrived at King's Cross Station. Emily quickly checked herself in the mirror placed on the inner side of the passenger side visor, making sure her mascara hadn't streamed down her cheeks with her tears, producing faded black streaks stretching the length of her face. Once she okayed her complexion, she jumped out of the gold colored car and raced to get her suitcase as to catch the Hogwarts Express before it took off.
It was strange to be back on the Hogwarts Express, back in the magical world. She might as well have been a muggle during the two weeks she was at home, being as there was no magic of any sort produced the whole time. Connor was in fact a muggle, and she was with him pretty much the whole two weeks, so it's not like she could have performed magic in front of him. She didn't mind doing things the muggle way, anyhow. That's what she grew up with, so it was fairly normal for her. But she was no longer at home with Connor just right next door; she was heading back to her magical school and he was moving all the way to the United States.
Emily found the compartment that held her three friends at the back of the scarlet train. She paused, glancing through the little square window; it had been a while since she had thought about Ron…well, in a more-than-friends sort of way. It would be weird to see him again, hang out with him. She carefully slid open the compartment door, revealing the trio, who had all turned to see what the disturbance was. "Hey," the three of them chimed in unison. She gave them a head nod in return and wandered over to the empty seat beside Hermione; she was sitting across from Ron and Harry. She watched her three friends awkwardly; even though only two weeks had passed, it felt like forever since she hung out with the three of them.
It was strange. She was used to being at home, either alone or with Connor. It was actually kind of nice to have some time to herself, some peace and quiet. But she knew once they reached Hogwarts, all of the quiet and alone time would pretty much diminish. She would be surrounded once again with hundreds of loud, talkative students everywhere: during classes, out in the courtyard, down on the grounds, in the Gryffindor common room, and even her own room from time to time. With a slam of the door, the tired-looking trolley lady snapped Emily out of her thoughts. "Anything off the trolley, dears?" How could she say no to some good old magical candy.
Emily mostly sat and stared blankly out of the snow-flecked window, staying out of most of the conversations that went on around her. She missed Connor and she wished he were there to wrap an arm around her waist and to let her rest her head on his shoulder. Why can't he be a wizard? Seriously! Then I could combine both of my worlds and things would be wonderful! She sighed. The unfortunate fact of the matter was that he was not in fact magical in any form, to her knowledge, anyway. And that's not really something you could ask somebody. Just randomly say, 'hey, are you a witch?' or 'Just wondering, but can you do magic?' That just wouldn't work so well.
And since he was not magical, he couldn't attend Hogwarts. But how amazing would that be if he was here? Then we would have all of this alone time and everything…ahh! He was back in London for the time being, and, as for as she knew, was to move to the States the next day.
No matter how much she missed being at home, once she stepped inside the beloved castle excitement filled her. Although things at home the past two weeks had been amazing, she had always loved Hogwarts; it was like a second home. With the thought of Connor glued in her mind, she tried to enjoy the sorting ceremony (although, when did she ever? It was so tedious; it lasted for what felt like hours and all you did was watch little first years standing around) and the feast.
She barely ate that night, to her surprise. She found herself unconsciously staring at Ron half the time; the other half just spent playing with her mashed potatoes and pushing peas around her plate. He would catch her staring every so often and would quickly look away, a hint of redness creeping up his cheeks. In the middle of building a mini replica of a volcano out of her potatoes, Hermione turned to her. Noticing the mound of potatoes that resembled a mountain, or well, a mound, she asked, "Not hungry?"
Emily blinked. "Not really."
The four of them sat alone in the Gryffindor common room that night, long after everyone else had gone to bed to get rest for the next day's ball, well at least the fourth through seventh years, anyway. They talked mostly about what all they had been up to during the break, and what they expected of the ball. When the conversation had moved into the topic of quidditch, even though she herself was on the team, Emily stayed sitting in front of the couch while Harry and Ron moved in front of the dying fire for warmth. Hermione held back and sat down beside her friend. "Something wrong?" Hermione asked her concernedly. Emily thought for a moment before saying,
"It's just that it's weird being back at school. I'm just not used to it. I know two weeks isn't a very long time, but that's what it feels like. It feels like I've been away for weeks, or maybe even months. Not that I didn't have a good time at home, of course I did. I just got used to being at home with Connor right next door."
Neither of the girls noticed a certain red head perk up at the mention of another guy's name, listening to their soft-spoken conversation intently. "How is everything with you guys, by the way," Hermione asked her.
"Okay, I guess," Emily told her. "It's just going to be weird not seeing him everyday. And he's moving to the United States tomorrow; his dad got a higher-paying job at some big newspaper company in New York."
"Oh really," Hermione said. "I'm sorry. But you are still together, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I guess so," she told her, staring off into the dying fire, not so sure of it herself. "But what if things don't work out after all, you know, with the long distance thing? I mean…" she checked to make sure the boys weren't looking over at them, lowering her voice to barely above a whisper, causing Ron to have to strain his ears and sit back a bit to be able to hear the girl he had a crush on. "We slept together and everything! More than once!"
The two girls then heard a loud thud. They turned to find a white-faced Ron sprawled out across the floor on his back in a strange position. After already lying there for a moment, he quickly jumped up once he noticed the odd looks his friends were giving him. "You alright, mate?" Harry asked him.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," Ron mumbled, picking off a fuzz ball that had attached itself to his sweater during the fall. "I'm going to bed." He hastily and dejectedly trudged up the stairs to his room, slamming the door behind himself, but not before casting a glance back at Emily. What's his problem? She thought for a moment. Oh my God! He didn't hear us talking, did he? Oh geez, I hope not! That would not be very good…he would probably think I'm a whore or something. I mean, we have only been gone for two weeks, so he would know that we haven't known each other for long. I have to give him that. Oh God…
"What's the matter with him," Harry asked them dumbfounded, surprised by his best friend's sudden oddness. Hermione just shrugged while Emily stayed silent, still praying that he hadn't in fact heard them talking. "I'm going to go see if I can get it out of him. Night," Harry told them, heading for the stairs. And with that he was gone, leaving the girls by themselves to finish their conversation.
"So you guys…had sex?" Hermione repeated, instinctively lowering her voice at the last word, even though they were clearly alone. Emily just nodded, heat starting to rise to her cheeks at her friends choice of words. She never did feel comfortable saying that word, nor when someone else said it.
"But he's just so cute and caring…and sweet and…and…gorgeous!" Emily sighed frustrated. "And now I'm so confused because I don't know when, or if, I'm going to see him again. Why do things happen the way they do?"
"Well," Hermione started, trying to find the words to say. " I believe things happen for a reason, even if that reason isn't so clear in the beginning." Emily sighed in frustration once more at her friend's answer, and sat back against the couch.
"Thanks so much," Emily told her sarcastically. "That helps a lot." Hermione just shrugged. With a roll of her eyes, Emily jumped up. "Well, I'm going to go to sleep. I need to get some rest before the ball tomorrow and everything." And with that she stalked up to her room for the night.