18

The Curse Breaker

Three days had passed since Emily's birthday, she still had not heard from Fred and George. She was worried for Harry and every day she grew anxious for news if they had picked him up yet. Lucius had been at the ministry a day ago for a meeting and had come home with news for her.

"Your brother has received a warning for using magic on your birthday."

"Is he okay?" Emily asked, worry evident in her voice. "Do you know what magic he performed?"

"I only know that a warning was sent to him. I'm sorry I don't know more," Lucius answered pulling Emily into his arms. "I know you are worried but there is nothing you can do right now."

Lucius was right there was nothing Emily could do at the moment, she also knew Fred and George would write to her as soon as they knew something. Emily was drawn from her musings by a knock at her door followed by Draco letting himself in.

"You better not be worrying," he said as he sat on her bed.

"How do you know I'm worrying?" Emily asked the blonde.

"Your book is closed, you are playing with the ends of your hair and you have your knees pulled up."

"Stop reading me, for all you know I'm thinking about a complicated spell from this book," Emily tapped the cover of the tome.

"But you're not."

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do, it comes with being your best friend, now up you get. You need to change for dinner," Draco replied getting off the bed and pulling Emily's arms to make her join him.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"You mean the sweatpants and the t-shirt you stole from me?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"It's soft and I wanted to be comfy while I read." Emily looked down at her clothes and sighed, "But you're right I need to change."

Emily went into her closet, picking out a Navy pleated skater dress and changing into it quickly while she searched for her black high heel booties. Narcissa had recently taught her to walk in high heels. "When you are short you find high heels are a big help in giving you just a little extra height," she had instructed. Emily agreed, they may not have been very comfortable at first but now that she could reach the books on the higher shelves easier she couldn't complain.

Finding them she slipped them on before heading into the bathroom to fix her makeup and throw her hair up into a wavy ponytail. Quickly finishing she joined Draco to head to dinner, he was standing by the bed looking at the cover of the book she had been attempting to read. Holding it up, he raised an eyebrow at his best friend, "Complicated spell, huh?"

Emily quickly snatched the object back and tossed it on her bed ignoring the gold lettering that clearly stated Alice in Wonderland, (a girl could still read her favorite muggle book) "Oh shut it."

Entering the dining room, the witch hesitated in the doorway noticing there was a guest at the table. She couldn't see their face because their back was to her but the person had long red hair tied at their neck with a thin leather tie.

"There you two are. Come sit," Lucius instructed noticing the pair standing at the door. Emily took her usual place at the table which put her between the guest and Draco. Sitting down she looked at the guest and did a double take. He looked extremely familiar. The stranger had blue eyes, a few freckles but what caught her attention was he also wore a fang earring. "Emily this is the curse breaker who does our wards, William Weasley."

"Most people call me Bill though," he added smiling at her.

"He has been working on updating the wards all day and will be staying the night with us," Lucius told her but she wasn't paying him much mind. Draco had to nudge Emily's side bringing her back to the present. She had gotten slightly dazed staring at the newcomer's smile.

"Oh sorry, I'm Emily Potter," she said offering a nod to the man.

"It's nice to meet you," Bill replied.

She noticed his eyes did not stray to find her scar like most people do when they find out who she is. It was a misconception that both twins were marked on their foreheads, most of Hogwarts had concluded that Emily had no scar and therefore only her Gryffindor brother had stopped the Dark Lord that fateful Halloween night. Forcing herself to stop looking at him and his deep blue eyes that seemed to sparkle at her... she shook herself mentally turning to Draco who just smirked at her.

As they began to eat Emily realized where she had seen this man before, he had been the man that was holding her in the Mirror of Erised. She leaned over to Draco and whispered, "Mirror."

He looked thoroughly confused by her random remark, "What…"

"The mirror from Christmas…."

Draco looked at her quizzically for a few moments before recognition crossed his face. He leaned forward to look at Bill subtly, by pretending he needed more pepper, before looking back to Emily. "Are you sure?"

Emily nodded her head. "He has the earring and everything down to the way his hair is tied…"

"What are you two whispering about," Severus asked raising an eyebrow at the two teens.

"Just the new runes book I started reading today," Emily lied smoothly, sitting up straight to look at the dark haired man.

He didn't seem to buy her excuse but responded anyway, "Ah so you finished the one on Hieroglyphs and ancient texts from around the world."

"Yes, it was really great for my practice of translating basic runes but in all honesty it was a bit too basic."

"You study runes?" Bill interjected, he seemed a bit shocked.

"I find them quite fascinating," Emily said turning her attention to the man.

"What is your new book on?"

"It is actually about runes used in warding, focusing on tactics used in Ancient Egypt." That part wasn't a lie ,she did have a book on the topic she just had yet to get to it with her earlier worries and her discovery that the family library had some of her favorite muggle stories.

"I work in Egypt on the tombs," Bill told her.

"Really?" He nodded his head in response. The rest of dinner Emily and Bill were in their own world talking about Egyptian tombs and warding completely missing the smirks from the rest of the table directed at them.

When Emily got back to her room that night she and Draco lounged on her bed talking.

"So you two seemed to get along well."

"Oh come off it, I am just a young girl to him. He has a little brother in our year."

"Yes, but he's the guy you saw in the mirror, that means something right?"

"The mirror just showed what I desired most."

"And that, is obviously him," Draco smirked.

"Oh shut it you," Emily said grabbing a pillow from behind herself and hitting him with it.

"Hey! Hey…" he said trying to fight off the pillow. "I am just stating the facts!"

Emily hit Draco one last time for good measure before putting the pillow back down. "Yes well it doesn't matter, the guy is gorgeous! I'm sure he has a girlfriend and you are forgetting the big point here, I. Am. Twelve!"

Draco just shrugged at her not seeing the problem with that statement, "Want to play some chess?"

Emily quickly agreed to the change in topic, the two spent the evening playing chess and talking. That night when Emily fell asleep her last thoughts were of Bill's blue eyes, red hair and the smile that made her melt.

The next morning Emily woke to a loud screech. Groaning she rolled over pulling her duvet higher to cover her head. It was in vain as she heard another screech.

"Hush Apollo, Mistress be sleeping. You no wake her!" Emily could hear Mipsy scolding the owl. The owl didn't seem to care that Emily wanted a little more sleep and flew over to the bed nipping at Emily's head. "Bad Apollo," Mipsy tried again, "let Mistress sleep."

The witch rolled on her back knowing her owl would likely not stop if she didn't get up now. "I'm up! Give me a second Apollo," Emily said sleepily stretching her arms above her head before pushing herself to sit up.

"Mipsy is sorry Mistress. She tried to stop Apollo."

"Don't worry about it Mipsy. Can I get a cup of coffee though," she asked smiling to let Mipsy know she wasn't angry with her.

"Of course Mistress, Mipsy be right back," the elf replied, popping out of the room with a snap of her fingers.

Emily turned to Apollo realizing why he had been attempting to wake her. He had a letter and from the writing she could tell it was from the twins.

"You are such a good bird," she cooed at the owl as she took the letter from him.

Immediately opening it she began to read:

Dearest Emmykins,

We bring you good news! We have your brother!

Emily sighed in relief Harry was with the Weasleys but what she read next took away her elation at knowing Harry was okay.

We never like to make a lady sad but that is where the good news ends, we didn't find him in the best conditions. He was locked in his room and there were bars on his window. Some sort of flap was on the door as well, we think that is how they brought him food.

All of his school things were locked in a cupboard under the stairs. You wouldn't happen to know why there was a sign in there that said 'Harry and Emily's room' would you?

Lovely, they had seen the cupboard.

Anyway we took our Dad's car that he charmed to fly and were able to get him out of there just before your uncle could stop him. Not a very pleasant bloke that one.

'That's an understatement if there ever was one' Emily thought.

Turns out Hedwig has been locked in her cage for the summer but that is not the only reason he hasn't written to anyone. (We need to teach him how to pick a lock by the way!)

He said that a House Elf named Dobby visited him and has been taking all his letters. He also said that the elf was there to warn him about danger at Hogwarts, begging him not to go back to school. He was adamant that Harry promise not to return, so adamant that when Harry told the elf he had to go to Hogwarts the elf used magic to get him in trouble.

Well that explained the use of magic and the warning he was sent, Emily thought.

Harry and Ron seem to think the elf was sent by either Draco or Nott to stop Harry from returning. We told them it couldn't be Draco as you are with him but you know our little brother and his blind prejudice…

We tend to agree, it seems like someone's idea of a joke, just we have no idea who sent it. All we know is that elves have their own powerful magic and they are bound to follow their master's orders. But you have an elf now so maybe you understand them better than we do. Anyway, that is our tale.

By the way we were caught by mom when we got home, she seems to think we were exaggerating when we told her there were bars on Harry's window and that he was being starved…

We need to get going and help with chores before our mom finds us writing to you! We are already in trouble enough!

Your magnificent and wonderful pranksters,

Gred and Forge

Just then Mipsy popped into the room with Emily's coffee setting it on her nightstand.

"Mipsy, do you know where Lucius is?"

"Master is in his study."

"Thank you Mipsy, that will be all for now." The little elf bowed before popping back out of Emily's room.

Grabbing her coffee Emily began to drink it as she selected her outfit for the day. Picking out a pair of dark skinny jeans and a gray fitted V-neck shirt, she found her gladiator sandals putting them with her chosen clothes for the day and carried them all into the bathroom to get ready.

When Emily left the bathroom she grabbed her coffee cup, that Mipsy had obviously refilled while she was in the shower, and made her way to Lucius' study. Walking up to the door she knocked twice. Upon hearing Lucius' call to enter she opened the door, walking straight to her favorite wingback chair in front of his desk and curling up in it. Lucius' study was one of the smaller rooms in the manor. The walls to the left and right when you entered were covered in built in ebony book shelves. The wall directly behind Lucius' desk was painted a deep navy blue color and dominated by a large window overlooking the grounds. There was a fireplace in the middle of the bookshelves on the left with a large portrait of his family hung above it. Emily smiled as she saw the photos of her and Draco from this summer that were already being displayed on the mantel.

Lucius finished what he was writing before looking up at Emily with a smile, "You're up early this morning."

"Apollo returned with a letter from the Weasley twins," she informed him.

"Ah, and what news did they have for you?"

"Harry is ok but he was basically a prisoner in his room."

"I see," he said leaning back in his chair, waiting for her to continue.

"The same elf that was here, visited him as well. Harry told them it was the elf that did the magic when he wouldn't agree to not return to Hogwarts."

Lucius raised an elegant eyebrow, "I will talk to Severus about this. The problem we are facing with finding out who the house elf belongs to, is that most elves are not to be seen. Anyone who has elves in pillowcases would still have a few elves dressed like the ones we have here, those few would be allowed to be seen by guests while the others worked behind the curtain so to speak."

Just then there was a knock at the door, Lucius called for the newcomer to join them. Emily leaned around the chair to see Bill standing in the doorway.

"Oh I'm sorry," he said noticing Emily. "I can come back."

"No need, come in William," Lucius said motioning him into the room.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm finished and will be heading back to my job site."

Lucius stood moving around his desk to shake Bill's hand. "Well thank you for your hard work as always."

"Of course," Bill replied, turning to Emily he smiled at her. "You should write to me, I can always use someone to talk about runes with."

"Sure, I'd like that," she said returning his smile.

"I will see you next summer Mr. Malfoy. It was good to meet you Emily," he winked at her as he turned to leave. Emily took a deep breath focusing on her maintaining her weak occlumency shields to keep her blush from showing on her face.

Lucius seemed to know she was fighting a blush though and chuckled at her. "Do I need to keep my eye on him?"

"Oh please I'm twelve," she said refusing to look at Lucius. "His youngest brother is in my year at school."

Lucius didn't seem convinced.

"Boys won't look at me for a few years," Emily added.

"You obviously have never looked in a mirror. I am going to have my hands full, of that I am sure," he told her.

Emily just rolled her eyes, "Well I am sure that I need to eat something."

As Emily stood up Lucius pulled her into a hug. "I am just teasing you no need to run off."

"I am hungry though," she mumbled into his chest.

"Okay but I don't want you to worry, we will keep trying to find out who the elf belongs to. Though I do believe, since you know where your brother is now you might want to send him that gift you have been holding onto." Emily nodded in agreement. Kissing her head Lucius let her go making a shooing motion with his hands. Emily quickly walked out of the office, Lucius was right she had a package to send.

That night found Harry at the Burrow sitting in the living room with the Weasley Family. Fred and George were in a corner whispering to each other while writing on a parchment probably planning their latest prank, Mrs. Weasley was sitting on the couch knitting with Mr. Weasley to her left reading a book and Percy was up in his room where he had rushed back to do 'something important' after dinner. According to the twins he had been spending all his time in his room sending letters to someone.

Harry, for his part, was attempting to play Ron at chess when there was a tap at the window. Harry watched as an owl he recognized flew in dropping a package in front of him before moving on to the twins to give them a letter as well. Fred and George took the owl, glancing briefly back at the younger wizard before heading up to their room.

"Who is that from?" Ron asked looking at the package the owl had left. Harry didn't answer right away as he opened the note that was attached.

Harry,

It's midnight and that means it's our twelfth birthday. I miss you and hope that your summer is going okay. The manor is amazing, there are so many things to do and explore. We have a massive library and there is even a practice pitch for flying. I know you will be heading to the Weasley's soon, I hope you enjoy yourself.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Love you,

Em

He set the note down and opened the package. Emily had sent him a new pair of dark jeans and a red shirt with the Gryffindor crest on it. Looking closely he realized there was a small wooden box included, upon opening it he found a shiny gold practice snitch.

Quickly excusing himself, Harry took his gift up to Ron's room. He was conflicted while thinking of his sister. His sister was in Slytherin, everyone talked about how they were a House full of Dark wizards. She was living with a family Ron had told him were avid followers of Voldemort and she never seemed to care when Nott picked fights with him. On the other hand, she had come to make sure he and his friends survived at the end of the year landing herself in the hospital wing for a week recovering after.

Giving up on his thoughts Harry changed deciding to go to bed early. Laying there he attempted to push all thoughts from his head and just let sleep overcome him.