Emily sat up in bed and looked around her bed. She could have sworn she had heard someone tell her she's always be watched over and protected. Emily looked at Angel, who was cleaning herself at the moment. Angel looked up at Emily when she sat up and started purring. Emily gently petted her kitten, which was now a cat and slowly opened her curtains. It was still dark out, but Emily could see a bit of light over the horizon. Emily walked over to the window seat and opened the window. She sat there for over an hour watching the sunrise, while Angel curled up on her lap and played with the strings on her pajama pants.
Emily laughed softly at her cat, and then turned back to watching the sunrise. Emily laughed again as Angel started to make a mad dash out the window to get at the birds chirping in the tree nearby. She quickly closed the window and let Angel growl like a dog at the robins. Emily looked up when she heard some curtains opening.
"You're up early," Kelly said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"I decided to watch the sunrise this morning. It's so beautiful, I've never seen anything more beautiful in my life," Emily said happily.
"Emily, what's wrong with you? Some days you're so happy, and other's you're as sad and angry as can be," Kelly said quietly. Emily looked into Kelly's eyes and she saw a few tears fall out of Kelly's eyes.
"Kelly, why are you crying?" Emily asked.
"I don't know, I just felt like crying all of a sudden," Kelly replied, wiping the tears away.
"Are you thinking about your brother again?" Emily asked.
"Today's his birthday," Kelly whispered.
"I'm sorry," Emily said.
"It's ok, it's not your fault," Kelly said, getting out of bed.
"You want to go for a walk?" Emily asked.
"Sure, I'm so glad it's Saturday!" Kelly said, rummaging in her trunk for some robes and clean socks. Emily did the same and within ten minutes was ready to go outside.
Kelly and Emily walked silently down to the common room, with Angel chasing after them. They found Angie and Michael sitting in a chair in a dark corner making out. Emily and Kelly ignored them and pushed open the portrait hole. They each grabbed a piece of toast from the Great Hall and headed out into the early morning sunshine. There was already a few other students out there, mostly 7th year couples sitting together by the lake or walking hand in hand around the Hogwarts grounds. Emily and Kelly walked to a vacant spot by the lake and sat down, munching on their toast. They sat in silence for a few minutes, eating quietly.
"Emily," Kelly said breaking the silence.
"Hmmm?" Emily said, staring across the lake.
"You're the best friend I've ever had, you and Rosie are, I've never really had any friends until I came here, at least not since my brother disappeared," Kelly said.
"What do you mean?" Emily asked.
"My brother was like my best friend, and when he left, I became silent for a few months, then I began to talk again, and I wasn't the shy little girl I used to be. I was very outgoing, but no one seemed to care. My Dad was depressed all the time and life just wasn't the best. Then I came here, and I got a chance to meet people who actually cared about me and have some fun in life," Kelly explained.
"Sounds like you've had a harder life then me," Emily replied.
"No, you're life has been more complicated than mine, it's just I've never brought mine out into the open until now," Kelly said.
"I never really talked about mine until I met you and Rosie. I just found no reason, but it's getting hard to remember my mother. I was only five when she passed away, and I can't really remember her touch, her smell, or anything about her. You don't know how hard that is," Emily said, turning her head so Kelly wouldn't see her cry.
"I know how it is to love someone so much and then lose them in a second. It's hurts, and I'm starting to forget my brother as well. It hurts real bad right here," Kelly said, pointing to her heart.
Emily turned and smiled at Kelly. Kelly smiled back and hugged Emily. Emily realized that Kelly probably hadn't had too many hugs in her life. Kelly pulled away, with tears in her eyes.
"Come on, I bet everyone's up," Emily said, standing up.
"Ok, maybe their still serving breakfast, I'm still hungry," Kelly said. Emily laughed.
***
"Aaron, can I ask you something?" Emily asked, sitting next to Aaron at a table with all his friends.
"Sure, Emily, what's up?" Aaron asked.
"Well I kind of have two things to ask you, but could I ask you in private?" Emily asked.
"Sure, guys go away," Aaron said.
"Gee, thanks Aaron," Paul said, getting up. Aaron just laughed.
"Ok, shoot," Aaron said, when everyone had left them alone.
"Well the first question I have to ask is, why does Josh not want a father when he's been basically his whole life without one?" Emily asked.
"I'm not sure, I think he feels it will change the relationship he has with my Mom. She's been basically like a Mom and a Dad for us for a long time now. Josh doesn't remember our Dad at all, but I think Harry will make a good Dad for him, for us, and Josh needs a better male influence in his life then me," Aaron explained.
"Do you remember anything about your Dad?" Emily asked.
"It's been getting really hard to remember anything about him the past few years. I can't remember his face, but I remember his voice. And the only thing I remember about him was the day he was teaching me how to ride a broom. I can picture the day perfectly. It was a fall day, right after Josh was born, I was feeling left out, so he took me outside and was teaching me how to ride his broom. I don't remember his face, but I remember his hair color and his voice, and I always thought he was a really tall guy, but Mom said he was only 6 foot. I wish I could remember his face, I mean I see it in pictures, but for some reason I can't remember his face in this memory," Aaron replied.
"I'm starting to feel the same way about my Mom. It's so hard to remember her. I can't even remember her voice anymore. And I don't think I remember too much about her. And when I think about it, it makes my heart hurt real badly," Emily said, trying hard not to cry.
"It takes awhile for the pain to go away, once you finally accept the loss, but it'll go away eventually, and you have your Dad and your Grandmother to tell you about your mother. I only have my Mom, and she can't tell me anything about his childhood. My Grandparents are dead," Aaron replied.
"I'm sorry," Emily said, blinking away her tears.
"That's ok, so is that all you're questions?" Aaron asked.
"Well, actually I have one more, that last one really didn't count," Emily said.
"Ok, so what's the question?" Aaron asked.
"What do you think about Penny Weasley?" Emily asked.
"Why?" Aaron asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Just wondering," Emily shrugged.
"She's fine," Aaron said.
"Do you like her like a girlfriend?" Emily asked.
"Why?" Aaron asked suspiciously. Emily shrugged. "You know something!"
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," Emily said, starting to stand up.
"You promise you won't tell anyone?" Aaron whispered.
"I promise," Emily said, sitting back down.
"Ok, well I've like Penny for quite awhile now. I don't know how it happened, but it just happened. But I don't think she likes me, and sometimes she acts like a snob, but I can overlook that, the girl I like never likes me," Aaron whispered. Emily smiled. "What do you know?"
"I swore I wouldn't tell, but I think you should do what your heart tells you to do," Emily said, and left Aaron alone to his thoughts.
Emily went up to her dormitory and found Lauren crying on her bed. Mallory was trying to calm her down but nothing was working.
"What's wrong?" Emily asked.
"Turner broke up with her," Mallory replied.
"You were too young anyways," Emily replied.
"But he said he loved me!" Lauren said, sitting up. Her eyes were swollen and extremely red.
"You're only 11, well maybe you're already 12, but you are way too young to be in love with someone," Emily said rolling her eyes. Mallory glared at her and continued to comfort Lauren.
"You'll be better by tomorrow," Emily said, and closed the curtains around her bed.
Emily lay awake for awhile, looking up at the ceiling. She listened to Lauren's sobs for over an hour and finally Lauren fell asleep. Kelly and Rosie came up around the time Emily began to drift off to sleep. Emily finally fell asleep, dreaming of her mother. Of the only memory she could really remember.
Emily was sitting on the couch, trying to read a book for the first time. Her mother was sitting next to her, with her arm around her small daughter. Hermione smiled at her daughter when she finished the book. Emily jumped up extremely excited and saying she was going to read it to her Daddy that night as well. Her mother laughed and hugged her tightly. Emily remembered the feel of her mother's arms around her. Emily always felt safe when her mother hugged her, but for so many years she had been deprived from those hugs. All because Voldemort had to kill her. Emily woke up, with a sad feeling in her heart.
Emily sighed and rolled over onto her other side. She wanted to be happy, but she didn't think she would be truly happy without her mother's love. Sure she had her Grandmother living in her house now, but that just wasn't the same. Then Emily thought back to that voice she had thought she dreamed of.
"I'll be watching over you and you'll always be protected." Emily pondered this for a few moments and decided it wasn't a dream and her mother was watching over her, protecting her. Giving her the hugs Emily craved, even if Emily didn't realize it. Hermione was protecting Emily and comforting her like a mother should.
A/N: There are probably some mistakes in this, because I didn't feel like re-reading this after I finished typing it. There probably won't be anymore fighting scenes, because I need some stuff to happen in the next years of Emily's life. By that I mean no more Bad Dumbledore or Fudge or Wormtail, because Voldemort is dead and all. So please tell me what you think in a review! I'm getting close to a hundred reviews! YEAH!