Chapter 26

"And about forgiveness that we're both supposed to have exchanged. I'm sorry Honey but I passed it up."

Misery Business - Paramore

After everyone had gone to bed that night, Emmeline stepped lightly along the landing to Morgan's room. Inside, she was murmuring in her sleep: muttering Draco's name with a smile playing on her tired lips. Emmeline criticized her with her disapproving stare. They must be tired. She walked over to the side of her bed, saying Morgan's name to wake her. She took hold of her shoulder and ruthlessly shook her.

"Whaaaa?!" Morgan said, startled.

"Shush," Emmeline said. Morgan sat up, puzzled by Emmeline's appearance in her bedroom.

"What are you doing here?" Morgan asked, running a hand through her curls. Emmeline ignored her question.

"So, how was Harry?" Her nostrils flared, she was so ready for an argument.

"What do you mean?"

"In the cupboard, you kissed him." Emmeline struggled not to raise her voice at Morgan, sitting, beautiful and bewildered on her bed. Her mouth formed a tiny 'o' and she looked at Emmeline.

"How do you-" Emmeline tapped the side of her head, the answer was obvious.

"Now I don't know why I keep giving you so many chances with Draco. I guess I just like to see him happy, even if he is so blissfully ignorant. But I'm telling you Morgan, this is the final time. You have to tell him!" Morgan opened her mouth to protest but was cut off once again. "I mean, what are you thinking? It's not fair on him at all! I mean, there's Snape, you just kissed Harry! Why? Why did you feel the need to kiss Harry in there Morgan?" she stopped herself and waited, hands on hips, for Morgan's excuse.

"Emmeline, it's just a game," Morgan said forcefully. Emmeline's lips tightened furiously.

"Just a game? Morgan, I don't care! You can't do this to Draco; he loves you too blindly to see what you're like, apparently!"

"But it was only a game. It doesn't matter! He doesn't need to know, it's not like I'm ever kissing Harry again!" Emmeline, powered by fury, threw herself out of Morgan's room in rage. She could hear Morgan's delicate footfalls as she chased her.

"Yes it does matter Morgan," she said, turning to face her in the dark corridor. "And by God, if you do not tell him soon, then I bloody will!" her whispered threat barely broke the silence but still maintained a cold harshness that put a desperate tear in Morgan's eye as Emmeline turned and walked away. Behind her, she could hear Morgan walk to the left into Draco's room, slowly and deliberately. Once inside, she climbed into Draco's bed and held him tight. Emmeline hovered outside her door and scowled in the direction of Draco's room.

"Don't think that makes things any better, Luh Fett." Finally tired of trying to fix things, she shut the door behind her and fell carelessly onto her bed in the dark. Silently, she fumed until finally exhaustion cast her into sleep.

For the next week, neither of the girls spoke, as much as Morgan tried to communicate for a few days, eventually she too simply gave in to spite. There was a cold hostility stretched between the two of them which Draco could not help but be curious about: whenever Morgan came in a room, Emmeline would leave, and vice versa. Emmeline had stopped eating with them and wouldn't accept dinner that was offered to her by Morgan, only from the house elf. It was one day at breakfast when they were finally stuck together.

He and Emmeline were sitting at the breakfast table. Morgan was sleeping in. When she did come downstairs, Emmeline was just finishing the last of her breakfast and Draco had his nose buried in The Daily Prophet. Morgan pecked him on the cheek and sat down opposite him at the table. Emmeline, who was sitting at the head of the table and refused to be this close, started to get out of her seat.

"Whatever it is that is going on, you are both living in the same house and eventually, you are going to have to talk to each other." said Draco plainly, his eyes never leaving his paper.

"No. No, we don't," argued Emmeline, shooting Morgan a dirty look.

"Emmeline, you're a guest in her house," sighed Draco. He realised as he said this that using this kind of reasoning would never work with Emmeline. Emmeline, however, had sat back down in her seat and seemed to be in a state of deep contemplation.

"Morgan," she said finally, "You tell him NOW, or I bloody well am doing it for you." She stared coldly at Morgan. Draco put his paper down on the table, interested now that he had found out that he was involved in this problem.

"Tell me what?" he searched Morgan's face. She was looking at Emmeline, pleading with her eyes. When she turned to Draco, he was shocked to see the fear in them. What was wrong? Immediately a thousand different, terrible scenarios came pouring into his head; was she… ill? Were we breaking up? What was the problem?

"Draco…" she said, her voice was tinted with guilt. "Draco, I… I- I-"

"Get a move on Morgan, I'm not joking around," snapped Emmeline. I don't think you appreciate how hard this is to tell him. Thought Morgan, praying that at this very moment, Emmeline was in her mind.

"I…" she looked at Draco again.

"What is it Morgan?" he said, a little louder than he meant to. Morgan recoiled slightly.

"I…" she gulped, "…Do you remember that day? When we had everyone round?" Draco nodded.

"And… and we played… 7 Minutes in Heaven?" Her eyes closed tight then opened again, tears were brimming over her dark eyelashes and she was frantically fidgeting with her hands.

"Yes," said Draco, touching her hand, trying to calm her. He was confused now; none of the situations that he had imagined were at all connected to that day. At the touch of his hand, Morgan closed her eyes again, tighter with shame. Emmeline cleared her throat in the long silence and kept staring, cold and hard, at Morgan. Draco drew his hand back.

"Draco," said Morgan, speaking faster than before, "I kissed Harry in the cupboard." She babbled the last part out and tears spilled over her cheeks at the end of the sentence, painting black mascara tracks over her skin. She waited for her punishment and braced herself, never taking her blurry eyes off Draco's face. Emmeline looked pleased with herself, sickeningly so. Draco smirked and picked up his paper again. Both the girls saw this and looked at him with questioning faces. He started to chuckle to himself and both the girls' jaws dropped with amazement. Morgan's hands had dropped limp on the table and Emmeline was clutching her spoon so hard that it might snap at any moment. After another satisfying look at the girls faces, Draco stopped laughing and said

"That was it?" he sighed heartily, "Morgan, I kissed Hermione. It was just a game after all, wasn't it?" He smiled at them both and resumed reading then paper, but there was still a silence in the room. Draco looked over the top and saw the girls look at each other and then back at him, their faces unchanged.

"For the record, she wasn't half as good as you," he said, winked at Morgan and returned to the article he was reading.