Author's Note: All Harry Potter characters belong to J. K. Rowling. But I own all original characters.

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Chapter Eight

Recovery and A Little Ride

The recovery was long, but within two weeks, Emily was well enough to leave the hospital. She could believe that she was wearing a pair of jeans, a light blue top with white roses on the front and white sneakers, instead of pyjamas. She still wore a bandanna over her head; it will still be a while off before her hair grows back.

But the feeling of being able to walk out of the hospital was a great feeling and Emily held on to her mother's hand as she was led out of the hospital doors and into the fresh air and into the sunlight. A grin was upon Emily's face, the sun never felt so good.

Kathleen got Emily to hold the Portkey and they were soon parting away from the hospital, leaving it behind for good.

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Exited, Emily was led by Severus to the one place he promised to take her to when she was out of hospital and well enough. They were at the farm house; Kathleen was out for the day and allowed Severus and Emily to continue to bond, being that Kathleen was now dating Severus.

When Emily saw the stables, she knew she was just moments away from seeing Emperor. Her eyes lit up when she finally saw the creature. Because she was rather short, Severus got her to stand on a stool and so is to be able to pat the stallion's nose, while he was still in his stall.

"Would you like to go for a ride?" Severus asked.

"I would like that very much," said Emily, the smile was evident and it would be hard to get it off at this point in time.

Severus went and got his helmet and also a helmet just for Emily.

"Can you help me saddle him up?" Severus asked.

Emily jumped at the request and learned how to do the saddle and girdle correctly and it wasn't long before Severus helped her on to the horse and he got on himself, sitting behind her. Making sure she was secure, Severus eased Emperor forward and Severus didn't dare to get the stallion to go into a gallop. Emperor seemed to have figured Severus was riding with someone with no riding experience and would rather he stay in a simple trot.

"How do you like the ride?" Severus asked, as they got further down the paddock.

"I love it," said Emily.

"Good," said Severus.

When Emperor got a further down, Emily started seeing a second horse.

"I talked to your mother," he said, as they rode closer.

Emily saw that the horse was saddled and ready to be ridden. The horse was of a deep chocolate coating, with a white stripe down the nose and two white knee sock and two shin socks.

"A thoroughbred," said Emily. "Where'd he come from?"

"Let's just say I talked to a few people and she now belongs to the one girl who deserves to ride," said Severus.

Emily turned her head around.

"You mean…?" she began to ask in surprise.

"She belongs to you," said Severus.

He got off of Emperor and helped Emily off. They walked over to the mare and the mare moved her head up and watched them coming over in a gentle and easy pace towards her. In return, she edged further forward until Emily was able to take the reins into her hand.

Emily looked deep into the creature's black eye and saw just how beautiful the horse really was. Carefully, she placed a hand on the horses shoulder and began to pat the horse.

"You're a beautiful horse," she said.

"Would you like to ride her back to the stables?" Severus asked.

Emily responded with a grin. It was a sill question to ask, so Severus helped her onto the mare's back and Severus was soon back on Emperor.

"How, you hold the reins like this…" Severus began to carefully instruct Emily how to ride the horse properly.

Emily found this to be fun and even though the mare was just walking along, it was that free feeling Severus knew oh so very well that was starting to hit her.

They rode all the way to the stables, where Kathleen was standing waiting by the door.

"Mum, check it out, I'm riding by myself," Emily couldn't help but say.

The grin was bigger than ever.

"Yes," said Kathleen, with a warm smile. "I can see that."

Severus got off Emperor and went over to help Emily off.

"So, got a name for her yet?" Severus asked.

"I've never name an animal before," said Emily.

She looked deeply into the mare's eye, studying what she was seeing when she looked into it.

"Celeste," she said, strongly.

Severus could see Emily had put a lot of thought into the name of this horse. Kathleen's warm smile just continued she could see her daughter doing well to look after her horse. This was what Emily had always wanted to do and now she gets that chance.

The smile on Emily's face was as priceless as the last smile she had. Moments like this one must truly treasure…