Chapter Eleven

You'd better learn to fly

'Cause they're gonna point you up at the sky

July 3rd, 1993

Bill Weasley didn't come home for months. Evan had written him the very day it had all happened, and Bill had assured him that he'd done the right thing, but that he couldn't get out of his contract to leave yet. He'd sent them each a bracelet that would help with the symptoms of the dark magic that had seeped into them from the book and requested they contact him if anything changed.

That day, Evan had invited Charlie, Ginny, and Harry over to Rosier Manor while he sent Theo to Draco's house. He was in his office when Bill arrived, and Emilie and Charlie greeted him in the floo room with Harry and Ginny in the kitchen together.

"Bill!" Charlie grinned. He was swept up in a hug by the tall man, who was returning the grin. "What's going on? She won't tell me."

Bill glanced at Emilie and raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you knew what's going on."

"I'm the one that figured it out," she admitted. "As soon as we saw Ginny and Riddle. Father told me about them years ago in one of our lessons. Emilie, by the way. Emilie Nott."

"Ah," he nodded in understanding. He'd heard of Theodore, of course. Everyone in the curse breaking world had. "Nice to meet you, Emilie. I'm Bill. Is Lord Rosier here?"

"He's in his office," she said, leading them out of the floo room and up the stairs toward the room in question. "He nearly had to cancel, but Croaker decided to let him work from home today."

"Bill, are you staying?" Charlie wondered. "Does Mum know you're here?"

"I'll be here for a couple of months, yeah. Gringott's asked me to go over some vaults that were surrendered to them, and it'll probably take a while," he explained as they entered Evan's office. The man looked up from his desk in surprise and got to his feet to shake Bill's hand.

"Thank you so much for coming, Mr. Weasley."

"Bill, please," he said. "I'm glad you called me, especially since Charlie and Gin are involved. Tell me, who got closest to it?"

"Ginny had it for months, then Harry, then me," Emilie said slowly before glancing at her friend. "You didn't touch it at all, did you?"

"Nah, that thing was leaking," Charlie made a face. "I'm not dumb, Nott. You might not wanna tell me what it was, but I don't need to know that to know it was dangerous as hell."

Bill nodded seriously as Evan led them back down the stairs to the kitchen, where they found Harry and Ginny. Ginny got to her feet and ran over to hug Bill, and he squeezed her as he spoke. "You're right, it is dangerous. I'll scan you, but you should be fine if you didn't get near it. The rest of you, though-,"

"It was alive," Ginny told her brother with wide eyes. "It possessed me, Bill!"

"It possessed you," he breathed in wonder. "I've never heard of them doing that before. For one to do that, you'd have to pour every piece of you into it before… fascinating," he paused and glanced at his sister. "Er- not fascinating, Gin, just- you know, curious. Lord Rosier, do you have the diary?"

"I do," Harry said. "Well, Uncle Moony took it after he found out I used it in May to free Dobby. I got in trouble for that."

"Lord Malfoy has asked me three times how I can be friends with you," Emilie laughed a little. "Called you a thief."

"I am concerned," Evan said, putting a hand on Emilie's shoulder. "Because Emilie touched the magic it oozed, trying to get to Harry. It made it a lot harder for her wounds to heal afterward."

Bill frowned at her and raised his wand. He cast a few spells and his frown deepened. "It's slowly leaving you, but you do have dark magic lingering in a piece of your core. Be careful - that dark magic attracts dark magic. Stay away from dark artifacts or spells for at least six months."

"Which includes any curse breaking," Evan told her sternly. "None at all, Em."

Emilie shifted in irritation. "I haven't touched any curse breaking since those blood wards around Harry's aunt's house, aside from the time you spent teaching me."

"Kid, you shouldn't-," Bill cut himself off and reminded himself of who she was. "Scratch that. Just be careful, and keep that bracelet on. I'll do the removal spell on you, but it probably won't do much."

"What about me?" Ginny asked him in worry. "I mean, am I… you can fix me, right?"

"What kind of brother would I be if I couldn't?" Bill asked with a wink. "You'll be okay, Gin. All of you will be, especially since it's dead. I would appreciate the chance to study it, though."

"I can probably get it from Uncle Moony," Harry offered.

"For now, if you could take care of them," Evan requested. Bill nodded and reached into the bag he had on his hip to pull out something akin to a salt shaker. It was a bit larger, and it had a handle on it.

"Stand very still, Gin," he told his sister. She stilled in place, so he raised the shaker and tipped it over. Green flakes of magic fell out of it and started to cover Ginny from head to toe. Once she was nearly completely covered, it flashed brightly and disappeared. Bill set the shaker down on the table and raised his wand again to cast the diagnostic spells required. "There! All good. Simple, really. Keep that bracelet on for another week, and then you can give it back to me."

Ginny sagged in relief. She even looked lighter than moments before. Color that Emilie hadn't realized was missing was returning to her cheeks, and she shifted from foot to foot as if she suddenly had more energy.

Bill repeated the process on Harry, and they saw the same results, if less pronounced. After that, he moved and tried it on Emilie. It didn't quite work.

Emilie hissed in pain as the first flake of magic touched her skin, and she jerked back from the rest. She slammed into Evan, who pushed her gently toward Bill again. When more flakes touched her, she groaned and stepped to the side. "Stop!"

"Okay," Bill said calmly, holding his hands up. "Okay, take a breath. I'm not trying to hurt you, Emilie, that's the dark magic. It's defensive, and it's hurting you so I'll stop."

"But she's in pain," Harry said, trying to step between them. Charlie grabbed him to stop him, and Harry glared at him. "It's hurting her!"

"And Bill's a curse breaker," Charlie said sharply. "If anyone can fix it, it's him."

"Charlie, take Ginny and Harry home," Bill requested. His brother did as he said and turned to essentially drag Harry out of the room. Ginny helped him out by grabbing him by the ear, and Harry winced and walked out a bit more willingly.

Once they were gone, Evan sighed and rubbed at his face. "So, what do we do?"

Bill was scanning Emilie again. He didn't seem to get what he wanted, so he did a scan specifically on her head. At that, he winced hard. "How's she been acting? Differently? A bit more of a loner than usual, maybe cursing people sometimes?"

Evan stiffened. "Yes."

"I'm fine," Emilie insisted. She was glaring between the two men and had her arms crossed over her chest. "Time will fix it, like you said."

"You're not fine," Bill disagreed. "The stuff you touched is acting as an infection. I've never seen or even heard of a horcrux acting this way. It possessed Ginny, and it could very well be doing something similar to you, too. You need to let me douse you in this."

"I can't."

"Stupefy," Evan cast. The spell hit Emilie, and he caught her gently. He picked her up and set her on the table, looking tense. "Go ahead."

"It's not going to be pretty," Bill warned, picking up the shaker again. "She might be unconscious, but this is still going to hurt. You might want to leave."

Evan looked at him darkly. "I will not leave her while she's in pain now that I can be here for her. Do it."

So, he did. He started shaking the cleansing magic out over Emilie. He was right - she was clearly in pain. She shook despite being unconscious and was whimpering quietly. The magic, just as it had with the others, began sinking in. It ended up taking about three times as long before it flashed brightly and disappeared. Once it had, Bill nodded firmly. "It's not entirely gone, but she should be able to get rid of the rest naturally. If I keep going, it could permanently damage her core. Just keep her safe and away from other dark magic, like I said."

"Thank you," Evan said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a pouch and tried to hand it over, but Bill shook his head.

"No need. Not only were two of my siblings involved, but Emilie is a good friend of Charlie's, so she's family. No charge for family. Besides, I get to study a horcrux that isn't acting quite how a horcrux should."

He put the pouch full of galleons back in his pocket and looked at his niece with a pinched brow. "Will she be in pain when I wake her?"

Bill nodded regretfully. "The magic likely tried to attack her core, so it'll be sensitive for a while. I'd suggest no strong magic for a few days while she recovers."

"Thank you," Evan nodded. He walked Bill back toward the floo and came to a stop while Bill closed his bag. "Is there anything else I should know?"

"No, but if you have any questions, let me know. If anything changes or she's acting differently, oddly, I can come check on her. And please, let me know when she's doing better."

"I will. Have a good day, Mister Weasley."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

August 19th, 1993

Sirius Black had escaped Azkaban.

He'd escaped on Harry's birthday, and news had broken quickly. Not only that, but Kingsley Shacklebolt contacted Remus to warn him. Peter had lost it, absolutely freaked out. He'd spent four days as a rat before Harry had managed to convince him to shift back.

That day was the trip to Diagon Alley to get school things, and Harry had decided to stay back with Peter while Remus went with his friends and their parents to shop. It was a chaotic trip with the group scattering between stores. They were old enough that they could walk around unsupervised, and it left Emilie and Theo wandering into Scribbulus together.

"D'you think we should look for Christmas gifts, too?" Emilie wondered as they looked around. "Because I know Daphne wants a color changing quill, and Scribbulus has much better quality ones than Scrivenshaft's."

"Might as well," Theo agreed. He tossed a triple roll of parchment into the basket she was carrying and moved onto the notebooks the store had. "How much did Uncle Evan give you?"

Emilie sighed and grabbed for the bag in her pocket. She opened it and was about to start counting when someone yanked it from her hand and took off running. She looked up just in time to see two men run out of the store and split off in different directions. "Theo!"

The twins left after them. Theo went to the right while Emilie followed the other man to the left. She darted through the crowd, elbowing people out of her way until she followed the man into a dark corner of the alley.

It wasn't until it was too late that she realized she was in Knockturn Alley.

The man slowed down once he was in there, assuming she wouldn't be willing to follow him to the darkest corners of the magical community. He was wrong, and she managed to slam into him. Her hand closed on the bag that he held, but just as she was about to take it back, a hand wrapped around the back of her neck and tore her away. She let out a startled scream as she slammed into the wall, at which point she caught sight of the man that held her.

Greyback was staring down at her darkly. He was hairy and looked partially turned, considering the way he was snarling with sharp teeth and his glowing ember eyes. He leaned in to sniff her and breathed out heavily. "You radiate dark, girl. We've met before, eh?"

"Let me go," she managed. She stared up at him fearlessly, completely unwilling to submit. "Now, or I'll scream."

"Do it," he laughed. "No one here will help you. Ah… I smell… yes, I smell one that I've sired on you. Who is it, eh? Who do you know?"

Emilie knew he was talking about Remus. Who else could he be talking about? The idea was supported by the fact that she'd been walking and talking with the man barely ten minutes prior. "If you don't let me go-,"

"What? What are you about to threaten me with? What could you do to me that won't result in you in pain or dead?"

"My uncle will kill you," she decided on. "He will."

Greyback seemed to laugh at her as he leaned in. His mouth was just barely touching her neck, and she twisted to try and get away. He still wanted her to submit. When her shoulder hit his jaw hard, he let out a roar and pushed forward until he bit the bottom of her neck and part of her shoulder.

The bite was agonizing. It was worse than any normal human or even animal bite for the fact that he was partially transformed. Aside from that, it was the full moon that night. So, when he bit her, he infected her. She could feel it in the bite, spreading outward slowly. When he finally moved his mouth away from her, he reached and scratched upward, cutting her hip, stomach, and part of her chest with his sharp nails. The second he released her, she fell to the ground. Greyback didn't dwell on her. Instead, he walked away, leaving her there to either be found or die.

Emilie was whimpering on the ground even as she closed her eyes and focused on her bond with Theo. She could tell he was looking for her, and she was sure he knew something had happened. It was just a matter of strengthening the bond until he found her.

It took nearly ten minutes before, as a last resort, they checked Knockturn Alley. Remus was the only adult searching with Theo, and he ordered him to stay back while he went to find her. As she wasn't far into the alley, he found her nearly immediately. He also knew what happened as he fell to his knees and pressed a hand to her neck. "Emilie."

"It hurts," she managed quietly. "Theo…?"

Remus gathered her up in his arms and got to his feet. He ran out of Knockturn Alley with her and didn't stop until he'd gotten back to the Leaky Cauldron, where Evan was getting drinks with Lucius. "She's been bitten!"

Evan shot to his feet. "We need to get her to St. Mungo's immediately."

And they did. They used the floo and got there within minutes. There was no wait, and they were taken into triage while a healer looked over her and attempted to treat her wounds. Everyone was forced to wait in the waiting room for an hour and a half before the woman walked out and looked over them, her eyes settling on Evan. "We did our best, Lord Rosier. I'm sorry."

"She's not-,"

"She's alive," the woman cut in. "But we couldn't stop it. Whoever bit her must've been partially transformed, because we couldn't remove the infection. Starting tonight, she's going to turn."

"Oh my god," Daphne breathed in horror. "Moonrise is in six hours! Is she even going to be okay to turn by then? Wasn't she scratched?"

The healer nodded. "She was. We've healed those for now but you're right, they will likely reopen tonight. I'm very sorry. We can send you home with enough Wolfsbane for next month, but it's too late for this month. You should get her somewhere safe. She's good to go right now."

"Thank you," Evan said stiffly. He looked back at the group, and his eyes settled on Remus. "Lupin. May I have a word?"

He nodded, and they stepped through the doors that led to rooms. As they walked, they talked. "Yes?"

"I… would ask you to help her tonight."

Remus stared at him in shock. "Rosier, you understand what you're asking me."

"Yes, I do."

"You are asking me to help your niece."

Evan scowled. "I understand, yes. Call me a hypocrite, whatever you like, I don't care. This isn't about you or I, this is about Emilie. You care for her, so help her."

Remus's lips thinned and he stepped into her room. She sat on the bed tiredly, staring at the wall. She looked up when he came in and seemed surprised by the sight of him. "Hello, Emilie. How're you feeling?"

"Tired," she said slowly. "It hurts. She wouldn't tell me what… she said she had to tell Uncle Evan first. Is he here?"

"He is, but I can tell you if you'd like," Remus offered. He walked over to sit by her bed and smiled gently as she nodded. "I assume you don't remember much."

"Not really, just someone stealing the money."

"It seems you chased after the man that stole it. Theo went the other way, following someone else. Someone… Emilie, someone grabbed you. A werewolf. He scratched you and he bit you."

Emilie's eyes widened. She blinked a few times as she started to remember. "It was- it was Greyback! He… it was him. But I'm okay, right? He wasn't changed, at least not entirely."

Remus grimaced slightly. "He was partially changed, though. He does that on purpose so he can change people all month. I'm sorry, Emilie, but he's infected you. You're going to transform tonight."

Fear spread through her, and her eyes widened as she stared at him. "What? I… I can't. Remus, I can't!"

He reached out and grabbed her hand gently. "I'll be there, Emilie. Your uncle has asked me to be there with you. You'll be okay."

"What about school?" She gasped. She sat straight up in bed, horrified. "I can't go back! I could hurt them!"

"I haven't told anyone yet, but with Sirius on the loose, Albus has asked me to return to Hogwarts and be your Defense professor," Remus admitted. "I promise you, I will be there. I'll show you where I went during school. It'll be okay, I swear to you. After tonight, you'll start taking Wolfsbane, and that'll make your transformations much smoother, too."

Emilie fell silent. Despite his assurances, she was terrified. She knew her entire life had changed in mere minutes. She also knew that there was a great deal of stigma against werewolves, and the life she wanted was suddenly far out of reach. Looking at Remus, she couldn't help but wonder how he'd done it. "How did… I mean, did you get the life you wanted?"

Remus gave her a sad smile. "No, I didn't. But you have a lot more opportunities than I do, and a privilege that I don't. I won't lie and say everything will be fine, but I will say that it'll be better. That, and I'll be here to help."

"Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome, Emilie. Greyback bit me, too. It's… the least I can do. We're pack, after all."

"We are?" She asked in wonder. "He said… he knew I was with someone he'd sired."

Remus grimaced. "That'd be me. But yes, we are pack, or we will be after you turn. You can choose your pack, but since you're so close to Harry and he's- it's a bit complicated, but yes."

She frowned. "What about Harry?"

He sighed. "His dad was pack, so Harry is the cub in our pack. Don't worry about that now. They said you can go home when you're ready."

"But… I can't go home," she disagreed, looking pained. "If… tonight's the full moon, what do I do? Where do I go? I don't…"

Remus nodded and handed her jacket over. She put it on, wincing at the freshly healed, tight skin on her shoulder that tugged at the movement. She put her shoes on next while he got to his feet and waited. "You'll come with me."

"Where are we going?

He helped her to her feet and led her to the door. "Where I always go every month - home."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

She hadn't stopped at home after leaving St. Mungo's. They'd gone straight to the homely cabin that sat in a small clearing in the woods, and Remus had first made them dinner after pointing out that they hadn't eaten since breakfast that morning. After they'd eaten, he'd sat her down and gone over what would happen.

Waving at two bottles sitting on the table, he offered a comforting smile. "You'll take both of those a half hour before moonrise. One is a calming draught, and the other is a sleeping draught."

Emilie frowned. "You can't expect me to sleep through it."

"Of course not," he shook his head. "But with luck, these will keep you calm. Sometimes these things can go poorly. A wolf can hurt themselves if they don't have the proper protections and support. Before Deadalus Diggle created the Wolfsbane potion, these, sometimes mixed with an extra strength pain potion, helped quite a bit."

Emilie looked at the potions quietly. "So why isn't there a pain potion?"

He did his best not to grimace. "While you were in the hospital, they gave you two extra strength pain potions. That's a dangerous dose, especially as a child or teenager. I can't give you another without poisoning you. I won't lie, when you transform, it'll probably burn off the remainder of those potions and part of these. Still, having even part of them will help a bit."

"So what do you… do?" she wondered, still looking at the potions anxiously. It was getting darker out, and she knew it wasn't long before they'd have to be ready. "How does…"

"What is it?"

Emilie bit the inside of her cheek and looked down at her hands. "I'm scared."

"I know," Remus said quietly. "And you have a right to be. I won't tell you that it's not going to be… it'll be painful. All I can say is that I'll be right here with you."

"And you'll be able to… I mean, you've taken your Wolfsbane, you'll be… aware? And I won't be?"

He shook his head. "Not this time, no. Starting tomorrow, you'll begin taking Wolfsbane. By next moon, you'll be aware." He glanced out the window and sighed. "Go ahead and take those potions and then we'll leave."

"Where are we going?" she asked before downing the two bottles.

"It's about a fifteen minute walk to the center of the woods. This is the only house within twenty miles, and there's wards around the entire place. You'll be okay - no one will get hurt."

"Except for me."

He winced. "I'm sorry, Emilie."

She shook off his apology and got to her feet. "We should go."

She was right. It was getting late, and they were cutting it close as it was. As he led her out of the cabin and down the path he'd walked so many times, she was silent. She was clearly watching the path, but otherwise, she was quiet. By the time they got to the clearing, it was nearly dark.

"Tell me something," Remus said thoughtfully. "What do you want to do with your life?"

Emilie didn't reply. It didn't matter what she wanted to do, because her plans were ruined. What had happened had swiftly determined her future for her. She didn't feel like pretending things would be fine, privilege of her family or not.

He wasn't ready to give up, though. "Would you rather talk about your friends? Harry's pretty lucky to have you."

She couldn't figure out why he wanted to talk, to distract her, but she wasn't interested. Despite the calming draught, her stomach churned with anxiety as they waited. Luckily - or rather, unluckily - Remus was unable to continue trying to engage. The moonlight finally peaked over the trees, landing on them.

The transformation began, and it wasn't as bad as she expected, not at first. She'd had broken bones before, sudden and impactful injuries. So, when her legs snapped and twisted, it hurt like hell, but it wasn't worse than anything she'd felt before.

It didn't stop there, however, and as her bones twisted, broke, and changed, she screamed in agony. The barely healed scratches covering her chest and shoulder tore open again and began bleeding freely. It was only as she finally finished her transformation that the bite mark on her neck split as well.

Emilie was a small, brown, red, and black wolf. She fell immediately, in immense pain from her first shift. Moony walked over and placed himself on the ground next to her.

It was going to be a long night.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

August 20th, 1993

The next morning, Evan came to Remus's cabin. When he got there, Remus was awake and slowly, carefully healing Emilie's wounds. They were numerous, and certainly more than she'd had before she turned. Evan's jaw clenched at the sight of her. She was asleep, so when he spoke, he did so quietly. "What the hell happened to her?"

Remus shook his head as he moved his wand over the girl gently. "The first transformation is always dangerous. Her first one being in her early teens is worse."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, I did my best," Remus shot a glare at him. "This could've been much worse."

"You were supposed to keep her safe!" Evan snapped. He knelt down to brush hair out of his niece's face and winced at the bruises on the right side of her face. "How exactly did that happen?"

Remus didn't reply. He focused for another ten minutes on healing the injuries that littered her body. When he'd finally done all he could, he put down his wand and turned to Evan, his patience waning. "It happens when you don't take Wolfsbane. Depending on- on your emotions, how bad things are, you can attack yourself. Emilie did. It- it was bad, she was- I tried to get her to stop, to subdue her, but she fought me. She ended up flying into a tree and passing out for a while. She fought me all night, Rosier. Something is really wrong with her, you understand that, right?"

Evan's eyes flashed furiously. "Don't tell me about my niece."

"Well, someone has to," he snapped back. The two men exchanged a rather heated glance, and Remus finally broke away and rubbed at his face. "Look, I know what issues I had when I was her age. I had a lot of help, so it was never as bad as it was for Emilie last night. Something is wrong with her. I'm telling you this because the best thing you can do to keep her safe and from hurting herself is to help her confront these issues somehow. Therapy, mind healing, something of the sort."

"I don't need you to tell me how to take care of her," Evan insisted angrily.

"Yes, you do!" he threw his arms up, grimacing in pain as he did so. His own unhealed injuries stung - small scratch marks down his arms, a bite on his left hand, and various bruises over his body. "Because clearly, you're not handling whatever this is as well as you should. You hate me, and Merlin knows you're not my favorite person, but listen to me - if you want to make her life easier, get her help."

"Are you done, or-,"

"Uncle Evan?"

Evan cut off, looking back down at Emilie. His glare twisted into a thankful smile. "Avi, thank Merlin. How are you feeling?"

She was quiet, frowning to herself. "I… it hurts, but I don't- what happened?"

"It'll be a lot better next month," Remus assured her. "When you've got the Wolfsbane in you."

"Oh my god," she breathed. Her eyes widened at the sight of his injuries. She sat up on the couch and backed up against the arm, away from Remus and closer to Evan. "Did I do that?"

"He'll be fine," Evan assured her. "I want to get you home to rest, Em."

"Get- no! I hurt you?" she asked Remus, her voice rising. Her hands shook in her lap, and she looked as scared as she felt. "I can't- I'm sorry, I didn't mean-,"

"Emilie, it's okay," Remus told her calmly, offering her a gentle smile. "I've been through worse, and these'll heal up fine."

"How am I supposed to… what about school? I'm going to hurt someone!"

"No, you're not," Evan cut in. He rubbed her arm gently, trying to calm her down. "Starting tonight, you'll be taking Wolfsbane. Lupin will be there to help you, too, and Dumbledore already confirmed that there's a place you can go to stay at night that'll keep you and everyone else safe. You're going to be okay, Em."

"No, I'm not," she said softly. Before either of them could reply to her, she looked to Evan. "I need to see Theo."

"Of course," he said. He got to his feet and held out his hand for her, and carefully helped her up. She was clearly in pain and having a hard time moving, but she followed her uncle to the floo. Before stepping in, she looked back at Remus.

"Thank you… and I'm sorry."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

September 1st, 1993

The train ride to Hogwarts felt especially long that year.

Emilie was particularly irritable with her friends, who all knew what had happened. After the third time in five minutes that someone had asked if she was alright, she scoffed at them and left the compartment, intent on just pacing around the train until she calmed down.

"Hey, Nott."

She jumped slightly, nearly bumping into Charlie. "Oh. Hey."

He let out a small laugh and led her down the corridor toward his compartment. "Out of it, huh?"

"It's been a long summer," she replied quietly. "What're you doing out here?"

"Ah, looking for you," he said, surprising her. They walked into the compartment he'd been in, but she was surprised to find it was empty of anyone else.

"Why? And why are you alone? Don't you have like… friends here?"

Charlie laughed. "Cranky today, I see. Yes, I have friends. I'm alone here because I spent the first three hours of this trip sleeping, and when I fell asleep in their compartment, Katie accidentally hit me with a bludger."

"How the hell-," Emilie shook her head. "Never mind. Why were you looking for me?"

"Uh, maybe because I haven't seen you in like a month, and you aren't answering my letters, and when I got Ron to ask Harry about you, Harry went home. What's going on?"

"Is it so surprising that I have a lot going on? It hasn't been too long since my father died."

Charlie rolled his eyes. "You hated your father, it's not much of a secret."

"Okay, to be clear, my father hated me," she said before pausing. "That's… not much better."

"Not really," he laughed. "But! I have the perfect thing to take your mind off whatever's actually going on."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm pretty sure there's nothing that could possibly distract me."

Charlie grinned at her. "You'd be wrong about that."

"Are you going to tease me and waste my time, or are you going to tell me?"

"Oh, alright," he sighed dramatically. "Well, as you know, I didn't spend my third year at Hogwarts."

"That is literally one of the first things I learned about you."

"Yes, so, I missed out on one of the best parts of going to Hogwarts! Luckily for me, and you, you're also in your third year now. So-,"

"You're asking me to go to Hogsmeade with you?"

Charlie's excited grin dimmed to a slight pout. "Do you get joy out of ruining the fun parts for me?"

She tilted her head in consideration. "Yeah, a bit."

He let out a dramatic sigh and turned toward the window. "Well, if that's the case, you should probably get back to your friends."

Emilie rolled her eyes at him. "Shut up. Do I get to give you an answer?"

"Do I get to ask you out to begin with?"

"You basically did."

"No, you figured it out and interrupted."

She shook her head with a small smile. "Alright fine, go ahead."

"Thank you!" he grinned at her. He got down on one knee and grabbed her hand in his, smiling up at her. "Emilie Nott, will you go to Hogsmeade with me?"

Emilie laughed and smacked his hand away from her. "Get up, weirdo."

"That's not a yes," he said in a singsong voice.

"If I say yes, will you get up?"

"Yes!"

"Alright, fine," she said finally.

He shot to his feet and threw his arms in the air victoriously. "Yes!"

"Are you done already?" she laughed. He grinned at her.

"First Hogsmeade weekend, you and me," he said firmly. "You don't have to tell me what's going on. Knowing your friends, you've got enough people in your business as is. I'll just keep your mind off things, yeah?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

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