When Emma reached the Gryffindor Common Room half an hour after everybody else, there were no questions asked as to where she had been as once more, she was lifted onto the shoulders of her fellow teammates with the trophy thrown into her arms as she was paraded around the room. Cheers and shouts followed her as they went and the chant of "go, go Gryffindor," was bellowed loud into the night.
Emma really wanted to call her parents to tell them the good news but every time she tried to slip away to her dormitory, she was dragged back and pulled into another conversation on how she felt about Aurora trying to cheat and how magnificent Mulan's aim was.
The only ones not celebrating with the rest were the other two of Robin's thugs. LJ was in full swing, enjoying the vibes of the party, twirling Mulan around the room but the Tuck brothers were grumbling at their usual table, looking lost at not having Robin there to tell them what to do.
Butterbeer and snacks were flowing around the Common Room which Emma and her friends took advantage of, enjoying the atmosphere. After two hours had passed after Emma had returned, she finally managed to speak to LJ and Mulan about her uncle's conversation.
"He wants to sign me!" LJ gushed happily. "I hadn't thought it was possible with Robin wanting the gig, but he wants me to join the Puddlemere United reserve team to hopefully get onto the team within the next year or two." He turned to Mulan. "He wants both of us as a team actually. Says we're the best team he's seen in years."
Mulan beamed. "I can't believe it. I told him I was only in sixth year, but he's got my name and wants to speak to my parents about joining practices this summer."
"That's brilliant," Emma said happily. "I'm so happy for both of you and James is a great coach, you'll be playing even better than you already are after a few months under his wing."
"Yeah, he's a great player," LJ said. "I've followed his career for years. I'd totally forgotten he was your uncle when Robin mentioned that they'd asked him to scout." He sighed suddenly.
Sensing the change in subject, Mulan excused herself to join her friends in the corner.
"I can't believe he did what he did," LJ muttered, surprising Emma with his honesty.
Despite being on the same Quidditch team for the past two years, as LJ joined the team the year after Emma, they hadn't really spoken at all.
"I tried to talk him out of all it, but he just wouldn't listen to anyone," he continued. "His family are so desperate for money, that they'd have done anything and he'd still be entitled to the cash even if they divorced which he was counting on."
Emma sighed. "I just don't get what Blanchard gets out of it all."
LJ's eyes widened for a fraction before he snuck a glance to the left where the Tuck brothers were still sitting, but with the loud noises in the Common Room, they had no hope of hearing what he was about to say.
"Robin Locksley Senior has dirt on him," LJ whispered so quietly that Emma had to lean in close to be able to hear him. "He knows what Blanchard did to Henry Mills and was going to rat him out to the Aurors if he didn't give him money. I've no idea why they needed to do it in the way they have, they just wanted to hurt as many people in the process probably."
"LJ, what did he do to Henry Mills?" Emma asked, her voice shaking.
"He stole his money," LJ replied. "Then he killed him and made it look like suicide because he wanted Cora to himself."
Emma's blood went cold. Now she really needed to speak to her mother.
"You can't tell anyone this," LJ said urgently. "The Aurors are already on it and are almost there. My mother told me. My uncle is in the Auror department. They're all going down, they're just collecting the evidence now."
"Right," Emma murmured. "I won't say a word, but I'm glad you told me."
LJ shrugged. "I know about you and Regina. It's only fair that you know everything too."
Emma gasped. "How?"
The Beater chuckled. "I went to visit you in the Hospital Wing after, well, you know, to see if you were okay and I saw you together and I knew just from seeing you both together. I'm happy for you both."
"Thanks," Emma said, feeling slightly awkward. The two had gone from barely speaking to sharing the deepest of secrets.
"You'd have more supporters than you think if you went public," LJ commented casually. "Just think about it, but for now, win us the Interhouse Tournament. That would be the icing to this year."
He nudged her shoulder before walking away to join August who was chatting to some of their fellow female Seventh Years.
As soon as she was alone again, Victoire and Ruby joined her.
"What was all that about?" Ruby asked as she passed Emma another bottle of butterbeer that was floating past them on a tray. "It looked pretty serious."
Emma shook her head. "I can't tell you, but I will eventually."
"Fair enough," Victoire said before Ruby could complain at the information being kept from her. Just by the tone, Vicki knew that it was information about Regina and there was only so much that Emma could share without it spreading around the school. Not that she or Ruby would blab, but she was convinced that the walls heard secrets and passed them on. It was the only way the Hogwarts rumour mill could be so efficient.
"Let's dance," Emma suggested as the music seemed to get louder. She pulled her friends towards the makeshift dancefloor where sofas had been pushed aside and grabbed Minnie and her friends from where they had been standing and started dancing together. Anna even joined them and Emma started spinning her around the floor in jubilation, allowing herself to forget what LJ had said to her, at least for the moment.
oOoOo
The party continued well into the early morning, to the point that Professor Longbottom had to come and tell them off again. Reluctantly, everyone headed up to bed, but the excitement was still swirling around the Tower the next morning. The happiness practically poured off every single Gryffindor at the fact that they were once more the winners of the Interhouse Quidditch Cup.
However, there were now even more whispers going around regarding Emma. No, it was nothing to do with her relationship, because despite what LJ had said, she and Regina had decided to continue to keep quiet, at least until after the Final Task. It was whispers that she would be the one to win the Interhouse Tournament.
As she walked down to breakfast on the Monday morning of the penultimate week of term before Exams commenced, she overheard two Ravenclaw Sixth Years talking quietly as they passed.
"You know, Elsa started so well, but Swan has been growing steadily, I think she could win it," one murmured.
"Yeah, I was thinking that," the other agreed. "Blanchard is out and after that spectacular save in the last match, I think Ravenclaw don't have a chance of winning this either. How annoying."
Emma's head snapped to the side as they passed but they scuttled off before she could hear anything else.
"Did you hear what those Ravenclaws just said?" She asked her friends as they walked up to their usual table in the Great Hall.
"No?" Victoire replied, confused. "What were they saying?"
"They think I'm going to with the Tournament," Emma revealed as she pulled a few slices of toast off the passing floating tray and placed them on her plate. "Or at least Ravenclaw won't."
Ruby nodded as she also took some toast. "Yeah, Billy said to me the other day that people were thinking that. They think that you're on the rising trajectory. I mean, you went from joint second twice to winning whereas no one else has gone up and stayed up. Elsa won and then came second then third, and Regina was joint second, then won and then went back to second."
Emma noticed that her friend never mentioned the other Champion, but she chose not to mention it. "I still find it odd."
"I don't," Victoire said. "You've got just as much of a chance of winning as the others. In fact, I agree, you're most likely to win than anyone else."
The Gryffindor Champion scoffed. "Oh, please, you're just saying that because you're my friend."
"No, seriously," Victoire insisted. "Like Ruby said, you've gone up, not down and you're on a high from winning the Quidditch Cup. You have that boost."
"I suppose," Emma said, trying to wrap her head around what her friends were saying. "I guess we just have to hope that the Final Task is Emma friendly. I've no idea what it could be."
"I have an idea," Victoire murmured. "It's a complete guess, but the First Task was on potions and then they went a bit more daredevil, like with their next two Tasks. I think they'll go back to school things, but it'll be a mixture of everything, so you all have a chance of showing off."
It was then Ruby who scoffed. "Mary Margaret doesn't have a talent to show off. Unless one part is pulling a strop, she'd be fantastic at that."
Emma rolled her eyes and ignored Ruby's comment. "I think that's a good idea actually. Let's just hope it ends with something Quidditch related. I'll wipe the floor, well, air with them."
The three snickered at Emma's joke before the tell-tale sounds of the post arriving interrupted them. Amongst the owls, Emma saw her own and Ruby's, both carrying letters and boxes.
Little Red landed before Ruby and stuck out her leg, allowing her owner to take off the small box and the letter that was attached to it. Hook dropped just beside the red owl and copied her movement so Emma could remove her own letter and box.
Emma unrolled her letter and beamed as she read it:
Dearest Emma,
We are so utterly proud of you! Well done on not only winning the Quidditch Cup, but for your successful capturing of the Snitch. Your grandpa has not stopped talking about how brilliantly you all played and he's so proud of you.
James is a little bit bitter that Ravenclaw lost, but he's mightily impressed at how you put your team together. He wants to sign your Beaters. When we told him that Mulan was a last-minute addition, he couldn't believe it. He honestly believed they'd been a team for years.
Mally and Killi are both so, so proud and wanted us to pass on their love and congratulations as well.
Now, for the investigation, I won't say much, but we're so close to finishing. It'll be all sorted soon!
However, for some other good news, keep an eye out on the day of the Final Task. You may see some very familiar faces around, but I won't reveal too much on that either.
Finally, Grandma Ruthie has baked both you and Elsa some more fudge, I swear she needs to go back to fulltime work or we'll turn into fudge soon! One is a very, umm, experimental flavour, but I'm sure you'll love it.
Well done again, Emmy, we're always so proud of you.
We love you so much, honey!
Mum and Dad xxx
Emma looked up from her letter and went to open her tin of fudge when she saw the look on Ruby's face across the table from her. Her eyes were watery but no tears had escaped yet.
"Rubes?" She said gently.
Ruby looked up and swallowed before reaching up to wipe away the tears before they could fall.
"I'm good," she replied. "It's just that Granny has found something as she's finally been allowed to get my father's belongings. I have no idea why they hadn't given it to her sooner." Ruby turned to the small box she'd given and unwrapped it before opening it up. She lifted a small silver bracelet that dangled off her forefinger. "It's his silver bracelet to help with the transformations. She wants me to have it."
"That's great," Victoire murmured. "You were saying yesterday that you were feeling the effects quite strongly. This will help."
Ruby nodded before she reached out, silently asking Victoire to fix the clasp. Emma wasn't annoyed as she was notorious for not being able to control her fingers for small fixings, always asking her friends to do any necklace she wore.
As soon as Victoire leant back with the silver bracelet hanging neatly on Ruby's wrists, Ruby sighed as if releasing any toxins from her body.
"That feels better already," she murmured. "I mean the full moon was last night, but wow, it's an incredible feeling."
Emma smiled at her friend's happiness. "That's great. Fudge to celebrate?" She opened the box. "We have peanut butter and pretzel flavour, oh that must be the odd one my mum mentioned, and just a regular peanut butter and chocolate flavour."
Victoire raised her eyebrow as she usually frowned upon anything cake or dessert like for breakfast but with the happiness she felt for her friend, even she couldn't refuse.
"Sure, why not," she said.
Both Emma and Ruby cheered as the blonde pulled out the fudge and cut off small portions of each for them to try.
"I've never had a pretzel before," Ruby commented, "but I think I'll be asking your grandmother for another portion."
oOoOo
As June hit, the stress of exams grew tenfold. Emma was ridiculously glad that she didn't have to partake in them and thought it was best to avoid her friends as much as possible so that she didn't accidentally comment on it again…
On the first morning, she had mentioned in passing that she didn't know what to do with herself for the day while both Ruby and Victoire were sitting exams as they had the written Defence Against the Dark Arts exam in the morning and the Charms exam in the afternoon. Victoire had taken a leaf out of her sister's book and tried to send a Bat-Bogey Hex in Emma's direction which she was able to deflect at last moment before running away. She hadn't said anything similar since.
However, one good thing about everyone being in exams was that the lounge was pretty empty so Emma and Regina could hang out with each other there without being spotted. They still enjoyed their sneaky hideaways in old classrooms, but it was nice to be able to sit on a sofa with each other. They just needed to remember to keep their hands off each other for the sake of appearances.
"I can't believe we're finally in the month of the Final Task," Emma said as they took a seat on the central sofa on the Wednesday of the first week of exams. They sat apart, allowing the physical distance to remind them that they couldn't be too touchy-feely.
"I know," Regina replied with a sigh as she ran her fingers through her hair. Seconds in and Emma wanted to close the gap and kiss the beautiful brunette passionately, but she kept herself in her seat. "This year has just flown by. Merlin, what a year!"
Emma sighed too. "I know. It's crazy. Although, I'm so glad I don't have to sit the exams. I thought Victoire was bad most years, but she was muttering spells in her sleep for the Defence exam this afternoon. If it was any other time of the year, I'd have thrown a pillow at her to shut up."
"I would have," Regina said with a chuckled. "I can't abide noise when I'm sleeping. I'm such a light sleeper that anything wakes me up. I usually apply a silencing charm around me when I'm at school. It only breaks if there's an emergency."
"Interesting," Emma commented. She enjoyed hearing snippets from Regina that allowed her to know more about her.
Regina raised her eyebrow. "I suppose. What do you think the Final Task will be?"
"I have no idea," Emma said honestly. "My grandfather knows, apparently, he's known them all along, but hasn't told me. Vicki thinks it might be similar to the First Task where it's more school based."
The Slytherin Champion pondered the idea for a moment. "No, I agree with her actually. I doubt we'd have to do another potions task, but none of the other subjects have really had a chance to fully shine. Yeah, charms have been needed, but the tasks themselves were concentrated on the subject as a speciality, I guess. Although, we can't just practise every single spell in hopes that they'll come up."
Emma shrugged. "I think the less we practise and stress, the better. My parents wrote to me a couple of weeks ago and said there will be some familiar faces at the final. I'm guessing our family are allowed to come and watch."
Regina's eyes flashed dangerously. "Oh. Well that should be interesting. I'm kind of hoping that won't be the case."
However, much to Regina dismay, at breakfast on Friday morning, Professor McGonagall called everyone to order.
"A week tomorrow, the Final Task of the Interhouse Tournament will take place," she began and Emma inhaled sharply. She hadn't thought that it would be the day after exams finished. She had thought there would be another week at least. Apparently not. "It will commence at three in the afternoon. Now as you will no doubt remember, the Winner will receive one hundred House points, five hundred Galleons and the trophy will be presented by Harry Potter. Not only that, but the event will be open to the public, allowing the Champions' friends and family to attend along with anyone who would like to witness the historic event."
Whispers of excitement broke out across the Hall as everyone started discussing if their family would want to come watch and which ones had already been asking if it were possible for them to attend.
"That's enough," Professor McGonagall said calmly and the conversations stopped immediately. "The Champions will find out only an hour before the Task commences what they will be up against. However, it will be unlike any Task they have competed in before. If it were me, I would refine all my skills that make me the witch that I am. With that said, go forth with your revision in preparation for the rest of your exams and to all, good luck!"
As soon as the speech finished, chatter broke out once more. This time, no one was keeping their voices low.
"What it means to be a witch?" Ruby repeated. "What in Merlin's baggy Y-fronts does that mean?"
"I think it means what I guessed," Victoire replied quietly as Emma could feel all the surrounding eyes on her, wanting to see her reaction to what the Headmistress had just announced. "That you'll be doing random tasks to do with school as a whole. I think you'll be facing challenges relating to each subject."
"It can't be all subjects," Ruby said. "That would take too much time."
Victoire shook her head. "Not if they were intertwined. I dunno, take a Devil's Snare, it's something you learn about in Herbology, but it's light or fire, something you learn how to create in Charms or Transfiguration, that you need to fight it. See what I mean?"
Ruby still didn't look convinced, but Emma nodded.
"I do," she confirmed. "But I agree with Ruby, it won't be all of them. It would be unfair if there was something on Care of Magical Creatures when Elsa never studied it."
"No, I think that's perfect," Ruby said, finally catching up with what was going on. "I get what McGonagall means now. It's all the skills needed, a combination of what you learn at school. They can't guarantee that you've studied it, but you'll have to guess. Do you want me to go over the basics of Divination and Muggle Studies with you?"
"Don't you have enough on with exams?" Emma asked.
"I only have three next week and then I'm done," Ruby replied. "Plus, two of them are Divination and Muggle Studies, it'll be revision for me too."
"You're on then," Emma said. "Teach me."
oOoOo
That weekend, Emma and Ruby spent the entire time in the back corner of the Library so they could speak without interrupting all the studying students. Victoire chose not to join them because she needed to concentrate on Ancient Runes and Arithmancy and listening to the others discussing different subjects would just distract her.
They started on Saturday with Divination.
"I'm not sure what sort of things they could really test you on," Ruby murmured as she started checking over her books from the last few years of teaching. "Firenze is adamant that looking at the stars will teach you everything you know, but the Task isn't happening at night-time so that's out." She flicked over a few pages. "But reading tea leaves seems plausible. You could have to figure out what it says to get through to another room." She shrugged. "I don't know."
"No, it sounds good," Emma said as she leant over to see what was written on the page. It was just mainly just symbols and their definitions. "Is it just remembering what each one means or do two together mean something else?"
Ruby shook her head. "Each symbol has their own meaning. It's all of them together that make up something as a whole, it doesn't change their meaning. So, like here's the sun," she pointed to the symbol on the top of the second page, "which can literally mean light or it can mean happiness and this one here is the grim, which can mean sadness or death. So, if you had both together, it would be like, someone could die, but you'd be happy about it."
Emma pulled a face. "That's a bit morbid."
"I know," Ruby said with a laugh, "but it was the first example that I could think of. Do you get the gist of it?"
"Yeah," Emma said with a nod. "I suppose it's just a case of memorising the different meanings."
"You can start by quizzing me on them, you'll learn through me then," Ruby suggested.
By the end of the day, Emma was pretty familiar with all the different aspects of tea leaf reading along with the meanings of the symbols in quite a few different scenarios. They also went through a little bit of palm reading and crystal ball gazing. However, as Emma pointed out, it was unlikely that someone's palm would turn up in the middle of the Task.
The Sunday morning was dedicated to Muggle Studies. Neither girl really knew what could possibly come up regarding the subject, but she wouldn't put it past McGonagall to add a sneaky something regarding it so she read through Ruby's text books and wrote down anything that sounded particularly interesting.
However, by lunch time, she only had three things written down and even then, they weren't even that interesting. It was just having to open things manually or walking across the room to get what you wanted instead of using a wand.
"Yeah, I really don't think Muggle Studies will come up," Ruby said after Emma commented on what she'd written on their way to lunch. "Besides, quite a lot of it is common sense so maybe we should go back to Divination this afternoon?"
Emma pulled a face. "I mean, yeah, if we have to. The more I read, the more I'm so glad that I didn't take it in third year."
Ruby chuckled. "Yeah, I know what you mean, but looking at yours and Vicki's Arithmancy books, I think I picked the easier subject."
"I hope there's nothing to do with Arithmancy," Emma murmured.
"No, I was thinking that too," Ruby replied. "I don't know much about the subject to even be able to guess what they could use, but it's all theory really isn't it? Maybe see if Vicki has any suggestions?"
Just as they spoke of their friend, she walked into the Great Hall, bidding goodbye to her boyfriend at the Hufflepuff table, and walked up to her friends.
"How's it all going?" She asked.
"Yeah, good," Emma replied. "We were just thinking if Arithmancy could appear in the Task?"
Vicki pondered the question for a second as she pulled a brie and cranberry sandwich towards her before she shook her head. "No, I can't see how it would be possible. It's all theory so it'd be pointless making you do something like that part way through. Reading tea leaves is more plausible than that."
"I agree," Ruby said. "It'll be obvious ones."
"For the first time, I wish it was Potions again," Emma revealed. "I'd ace it this time."
"I for one am glad that we're no longer hanging out in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," Vicki muttered. "So, I'll pass on you doing potions. Regardless of what it is, you're going to win this, Em. I can feel it."
"Me too," Ruby agreed.
Emma glanced between her friends; both were beaming at her supportively. She had always wanted to win but had never felt like she could because she felt she was at such a disadvantage in comparison to the others because of her age. Now as they approached the Final Task, she was now in joint first place after winning the last Task on her own right.
It was like her friends had said, she was the only Champion that was on an upward trajectory and the final thing she had to do was make sure she kept it up and that meant winning the Final Task.
Turning to her friends, she grinned. "You're right. I am going to win."
A/N: So, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is I'm moving house! After months of waiting, the sale has finally gone through and we can officially move in! The bad news is that it means there won't be another chapter for the rest of the week or the week after until we're sorted (this may mean none the week after either, but I hope that won't be the case!) I'm sure you'll all understand, but don't worry, the Final Task will be worth waiting for!
Love always, Emss xx