38
Official in Hosgmeade
It took no time at all for Defense Against the Dark Arts to become the most popular class in the castle. Professor Lupin appeared to actually understand the topic he was teaching and the students enjoyed his classes greatly.
The third years turned from learning about Boggarts to Red Caps, creatures who stand three to four feet in height with red eyes and sharp nails. They are often found on battlefields, relishing in the bloodshed they find there. The name Red Caps is derived from the fact that the creatures dye their hats red in the blood of their victims. From Red Caps the focus shifted to Kappas, water demons who feast on the blood of their victims unfortunate enough to wade into the waters where they dwell.
Not all classes were going as well as Defense though. Emily noticed Severus seemed to be in a sour mood recently. Most of the school attributed it to the fact that he found out about Longbottom's boggart and took offense, Emily who knew the man better than most knew whatever was troubling him was more than some silly boggart taking his form. If anything Emily thought Severus took a bit of pleasure in the idea that some of his students feared him enough for a boggart to take his form.
No, what was troubling Severus had to do with Professor Lupin's presence. The Potion Master's face darkened at the mere mention of the man, though Emily had no idea just why that was.
Care of Magical Creatures was a class Emily dreaded attending. After the Hippogriff incident Hagrid had lost all his enthusiasm for teaching giving each student a flobberworm, the task was to make sure it was still alive by the end of each lesson. An easy task considering the creatures were ten inches and toothless, preferring to stay put then to move around.
"This is ridiculous I could be working on my Transfiguration essay right now," Emily said shooting a glare at her best friend.
"I know, I don't know how many times you want me to apologize for making you take this class," Draco sighed pointedly avoiding his friend's look as he fed his flobberworm another piece of lettuce.
"Until the only flobberworms I have to deal with end up in my cauldron..."
As October began Emily found herself spending more time apart from Draco. The Quidditch season was fast approaching meaning that the blonde was often down on the pitch practicing with the Slytherin team. Emily barely noticed the shift as another boy had begun to take up more and more of her focus. Emily spent most of her evenings with Cedric Diggory, the handsome Hufflepuff seeker.
"There you are, you look as if you're freezing."
Emily looked down at herself and noticed she was shivering. Shrugging she looked over at Cedric as he climbed up to join her on the rock where she was sitting overlooking the Black Lake, "I guess I forgot a warming charm, it's just so beautiful out here tonight."
"It is," the boy nodded in agreement before pulling her into his side rubbing her arm with his large hand. "Here let me try to warm you up while you tell me about your day."
"Well not much happened to be honest. I'm starting to get sick of all the talk about divination though, besides the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend all anyone could talk about was some dead rabbit and how it proved Trelawney is a true seer. I don't know how that woman sees two feet in front of her let alone the future. She stumbles around the castle as far as I can tell and the class is utter rubbish according to Blaise."
Cedric shrugged, "It was the most useless class I've ever attended but it was also the easiest O I've ever gotten."
"You don't take Divination..."
"I did my third year, I dropped it and switched to Arithmancy when I started my fourth year."
"I didn't realize that was allowed."
"It is but its not commonly known that you can, since for muggleborns its basically impossible. My parents hired a tutor over the summer so I could catch up to my class, it was probably expensive but it saved me from having to continue with Divination for four more years."
"Not to mention I don't know if I could be seen with someone who willingly took Divination for five years."
"Well then I guess its a good thing I dropped it or you might not have answered yes to the question I wanted to ask you."
Emily looked up at Cedric quizzically, "And what is that?"
"Would you accompany me to Hogsmeade this weekend as my date?"
Emily was a tad shocked at the question she hadn't even thought about what she would do in Hogsmeade much less who she would go with.
Nodding her head she replied with a soft, "Yes."
A smile spreads across Cedric's face as he leaned down pressing his lips against Emily's. Emily began to panic knowing this was not going to be like any of the other kisses the two had shared, would she be good at snogging and if she wasn't would he still want to take her to Hogsmeade. Feeling Cedric's fingers tangle into her hair she allowed her head to tilt back as he deepened the kiss. The taste of his tongue on hers caused her to moan, she felt his other hand tighten on her hip pulling her closer to him. She started to lose her train of thought, her fears seemingly disappeared as she lost herself in the kiss.
Emily felt a bit dazed as she threw herself onto Draco's bed later that night. Draco for his part had been reading and was startled when he felt the bed jostle, he hadn't even heard her open the door.
"Mr. Hufflepuff finally snogged you properly I take it," Draco drawled taking in the disheveled look of his best friend over the the top of his book. "You might want to go comb out your hair it looks a mess."
"Sure..."
"I hope you took a few passageways so no one saw you looking like that."
"Uh huh..."
"Seriously Em, go change so we can talk."
"Sure..."
Seeing Emily make no attempt to move Draco grabbed the pillow next to him and hit her on the head with it.
"Hey! What was that for?" Emily asked quickly sitting up to shoot a glare at the blonde.
"To wake you from your badger induce coma."
Emily crossed her arms, "I am perfectly cognizant, thank you."
"Yeah, well perhaps you want to do something about all this," Draco said motioning up and down her body. "Then you can fill me in on your night."
Glancing over at the full length mirror Emily slightly cringed at her appearance. She looked like one of the upper years when they clumsily are found mid snog in one of the broom cupboards. Shrugging, she had been snogging, perhaps the disheveled look couldn't be helped. Deciding a shower was the best way to tame her hair and unwind before bed Emily gathered a few things before heading towards the door. Stopping she smirked at her friend who had gone back to reading his book, "Oh and Dray, he asked me on a date to Hogsmeade."
Shutting the door behind her it was only seconds before her best friend was chasing her down the hall to the bathroom asking a million questions.
"When did he ask? Did you say yes? Was it before or after you snogged? For that matter how was it? What will you wear?"
Locking the door to the bathroom after making sure they were alone Emily stepped into one of the showers closing the curtain before she finally answered him.
"I don't know what I'm going to wear I've never been to Hogsmeade before."
"So you said yes."
"Naturally," Emily responded rolling her eyes even though Draco couldn't see her.
"Hmm perhaps we should order you something new to wear, maybe a dress... no not a dress you'll freeze... how was it though?"
"The kiss?" Emily asked trying to make sure she was following Draco's thought process close enough.
"It was more than a kiss when you come back looking like you've been for a tumble in a broom cupboard," Draco drawled as he laid back on the ottoman in the middle of the large bathroom.
"I was on a rock by the lake not in a broom cupboard thank you very much and it was good, I think..."
"You think?" Draco asked propping himself up to look towards the shower he knew Emily was using.
"I think it was good but I don't know how he feels, I've never snogged anyone before."
"Well how did he act after, when you two were coming back to the castle?" Draco pointed his wand at his friend's towel levitating it to where her hand was reaching out for it from the shower.
After drying herself off and wrapping the towel around her she stepped out of the shower and walked towards one of the mirrors to start combing out her hair. Looking at the blonde's reflection in the mirror she responded, "He seemed normal. He held my hand all the way to the staircase and kissed me goodnight before he left."
"Then I wouldn't worry about it. What I think we need to focus on is what you are going to wear. You need to look good but not like you tried too hard, after all you are just going to Hogsmeade for the day."
For what felt like the hundredth time that night Emily rolled her eyes at her best friend and nodded her head to show she was listening as he kept talking about possible outfit choices for her first date.
O0o0o0O
On Halloween morning Emily was shaken awake by her annoyingly cheerful best friend.
"Wake up sleepyhead! It's Halloween morning, you can practically smell the pumpkin bread from here!"
"Leave me alone," Emily grumbled as she attempted to shove Draco away from her.
"But it's Halloween!"
"You already mentioned that," Emily said flipping so her back was to the blonde.
"Today is the Hogsmeade trip."
"That's nice," Emily mumbled into her pillow.
"Fine be late for your first date!"
Emily shot up out of bed and began running around the room gathering her things to take a shower casting a tempuscharm as she went. "I'm going to take a shower can you set out my clothes and I'll be right back!"
As Emily walked up the stairs towards the Great Hall she felt a bubble of excitement inside of her. She loved her outfit which was a Burberry check sweater and black skinny jeans. Her hair was pulled back into a dutch french braid, Draco had decided it was better for her hair to be out of her face with the high winds that accompanied the cold weather outside of the castle. He had also made sure that while she wore a sweater she did not bring a jacket giving her an excuse to cuddle if she got cold.
Rolling her eyes at that last thought she hooked her arm through Draco's as they made their way passed the Great Hall to the doors where an annoyed looking Filch stood checking student off an incredibly long piece of parchment.
"Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, Emily Potter," Draco drawled before looking down to examine his nails seemingly already bored.
Filch quickly began checking his list before staring at the three third years and waving them out the door, "Carriages are out front, hurry along I got a line behind you!"
Noticing Cedric waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs Emily gave Draco's arm a squeeze before separating herself from her best friend and making her way towards the Hufflepuff.
"You look beautiful," Cedric greeted her before leaning down to press a chaste kiss to her lips. "Come we'll take a carriage to the village and then I thought we could start our day at Honeydukes."
"Sounds lovely," Emily replied taking Cedric's offered hand as he helped her up into the waiting carriage.
The ride to the village was quiet as Emily watched the scenery out of the window. It was a beautiful fall morning and Emily hoped the rest of the day would be as nice.
When the carriage stopped Cedric helped Emily climb down and then led her into Hogsmeade. A light dusting of snow blanketed the cobblestone streets and Emily couldn't help but be enchanted by the small town. Perched in the mountains it was a beautiful sight to behold. Emily contained her desire to drag Cedric in every direction she wished to explore and allowed him to guide her, though it was no easy task.
Honeydukes was a wonderful experience. While Emily had tried many wizarding sweets she had never dreamed that so many more existed until she entered the shop. Everywhere she turned there seemed to be a new treat to see. Cedric smiled at her as he led her around the shop answering her questions on different items and gladly filling a basket with various goodies for her. In the end Emily had a few new things to try such as chocolate skeletons, glacial snow flakes and sugared butterfly wings along with her current favorites sugar quills and dark chocolate truffles, she added a few pieces of fudge and a couple cauldron cakes for good measure. Cedric payed and had the packages sent up to the school so neither of them would have to carry the treats around the village for the rest of the day.
Cedric was happy to appease Emily, allowing her time in the apothecary to order some ingredients and not making a fuss when she took forever to explore the bookshop Tomes and Scrolls. Once she had finished he led her to a spot over looking the Shrieking Shack.
"Can we get any closer?" Emily asked as she stared at the old house that seemed to be the epitome of a 'haunted house' from a muggles children's story. There was a fence not far off blocking their path but like the house it too seemed to be falling apart.
"No, there are wards supposedly stopping people from entering. Of course that hasn't stopped Fred and George Weasley from trying, but from what I understand even they haven't had any success."
Emily nodded perhaps she could talk to the twins and see if together they could find a way into the shack. Three heads had to be better than two and to be honest the house didn't seem all that dangerous to her.
The wind seemed to be picking up and Emily began to shiver as she contemplated ways to get around the wards into the shack.
"A bit cold?" Cedric teased as he began to run his hands up and down her arms. "If you answer my next question quickly I promise to take you to the Three Broomsticks to warm up while we have lunch."
Turning her body to face the Hufflepuff seeker she looked up at him with a smile, "Ask away."
"Will you, Emily Potter, do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"
Emily wanted to squeal in excitement but stopped herself instead she nodded before stretching up on her toes to kiss Cedric, "Yes."
Smiling the boy leaned back in to capture her lips in a more heated kiss. When he pulled away he took her hand leading her back down the path towards the warmth of the Three Broomsticks.
Emily met up with Draco in the Entrance Hall just in time for the Halloween feast that evening. Her cheeks were a rosy color from the cold outside and she was fighting to contain the grin that wanted to break across her face. Giving Cedric a kiss goodbye and thanking him for the lovely day she joined arms with Draco making their way into the Great Hall. As always it was a sight to behold with bats weaving through the hundreds of lit pumpkins and orange streamers made of fire that seemed to dance around the room.
"So how was your date?" Draco asked giving Emily a suggestive look as they took their places at the Slytherin table.
Smiling Emily answered the blonde, "He asked me out."
"Formally?"
"He did."
"You said yes of course."
"Of course," Emily nodded as she reached for the food that had just appeared before them. "Did you have any luck with your day in Hogsmeade?"
Draco shook his head and shrugged, "We had fun but ended up joining a few of the others on the Quidditch team. It was nice because they knew the village but it gave us no time alone."
"It will happen Dray, even if I have to help you," Emily teased her best friend.
"Ha ha"
The feast itself was enjoyable and it was a very happy and full Emily that joined the upper years by the fire in the Slytherin common room to discuss the complexities of the fire charm that was used to create the streamers in the Great Hall while a tired Draco decided to head to his room and read. Each person enjoyed a butterbeer as they discussed and debated the wonders of fire magic. It wasn't an uncommon thing to find in the Slytherin common room but it was, for Emily the first time she herself was able to enjoy the wizarding drink as they all conversed, having bought two cases while she was in Hogsmeade earlier that day.
The light mood was broken when Severus burst into the common room and called for everyone to gather quickly.
"Everyone is to change into comfortable clothes you can sleep in and head to the Great Hall as quickly as you can. Prefects make sure no student is left behind before you leave this area." Swooping down he approached Emily grabbing her arm lightly he guided her from her place on the couch to the alcove by the wall away from the students who were all heading towards their dorms.
"Go to Draco and do not leave his side tonight, understood?" At Emily's nod he continued, "Black has been sighted in the castle. He is no doubt gone by now but we need to do some checks. Do not wander, we still are unsure of his intentions."
"I'll go change and stay with Draco, I promise."
"Good, now hurry." With that he turned and quickly left the common room his cloak billowing behind him.
Emily made her way to Draco's room, filling him in on the little information Severus had given her as she changed into a pair of leggings and a long sleeve v-neck shirt. Finding her comfy slipper socks she threw them on before the two third years joined the rest of Slytherin House to make their way up to the Great Hall.
Most people appeared confused as they entered a now cleared Great Hall and awaited instructions on why they were being dragged out of their common rooms so late at night.
"I would like to apologize for interrupting your continued celebrations but the teachers and I are needed to conduct a search of the castle." Dumbledore's voice sounded over the whispers causing everyone's focus to shift to the Headmaster. "For your safety you will be staying in the Great Hall tonight. The prefects will be expected to patrol the room and watch the entrances while the Head Boy and Girl will be in charge should you need anything."
Percy seemed to stand straighter and puff out his chest. His head nodding as the Headmaster finished, "Should there be any disturbance send word with one of the ghosts who will be here to help you."
With one last look at the Hall Professor Dumbledore waved his wand and the floor became covered with purple sleeping bags. "Sleep tight."
As most of the hall broke into hushed whispers wondering why they were being forced to sleep in the Great Hall Draco leaned down to pick up two sleeping bags before pulling Emily off towards the teacher's platform where their table usually rested. People seemed to be avoiding the area so he thought it would be the perfect place for them to sleep and be able to watch over the Hall if something did happen.
"Lights out in five minutes!" Percy yelled to the Hall though no one seemed to care. Emily shook her head as she watched the boy try to force people to start finding a place to settle in for the night.
Emily smiled as she felt a kiss be pressed to the side of her head and an arm wrap around her shoulders.
"Hi," Cedric whispered. "Mind if I join you."
Draco looked annoyed as Emily shook her head at the Hufflepuff, "Not at all."
"Won't your friends miss you?" Draco asked as he raised an eyebrow at the seeker.
"They'll be fine."
"You need a sleeping bag," Draco said motioning to the bags around the room, "I only grabbed two."
"This is fine actually," taking out his wand Cedric pointed to the sleeping bag Emily was going to use, it expanded and looked as if two people could comfortably fit into it. "We can share."
Trying to control her blush Emily allowed Cedric to climb into the bag first before joining him. Emily tucked herself into the Hufflepuff's side as she looked up at her best friend who was staring down at her with his arms crossed. "Are you going to stand there all night or are you going to join the rest of us and try to get some sleep."
Shaking his head Draco crawled into his own sleeping bag and mumbled, "Severus is going to kill me when he finds out I let you do this."
"Night Dray," Emily called out pretending not to hear his last comment.
"Night Em, goodnight Mr. Hufflepuff."
Cedric laughed as he responded, "Goodnight Draco." Kissing the top of Emily's head he added, "And goodnight my girlfriend."
"Night Ced."
Emily closed her eyes, within minutes Cedric had drifted off but sleep eluded her. She thought about Sirius Black, if he had made it into the castle he could and likely would do it again. She doubted she would meet the man tonight but she knew it was only a short time before she would be faced with meeting him. She wondered if she was ready for that meeting and just what she would say to the man who in her dreams seemed so broken yet somehow is thought to have betrayed her family.
Since she was awake Emily noted that every hour a teacher would enter the Hall to check on the students. Emily rolled onto her other side and Cedric seemed to follow her wrapping one of his arms around her waist before settling back into a deep sleep. At what Emily thought was three in the morning Professor Dumbledore entered the Great Hall and made his way towards Percy. They only just started to talk when they were joined by Severus. Emily noticed Percy pointing in her direction and immediately closed her eyes turning her focus on keeping her breathing even.
"Must she be snuggled up with that Hufflepuff," Emily heard Severus sneer.
"Its young love," the Headmaster replied. "Leave them be Severus."
Severus seemed to make a humph noise, and Emily could picture the man, arms crossed looking annoyed as he stared down at her. "I do not like him."
"Come now, no father likes seeing his daughter with a boy."
"I'm not..."
"Oh hush Severus, let us go have some tea and relax I doubt either of us will sleep much tonight anyway. We can leave them to their dreams."
It seemed like a long moment before Emily heard the sounds of the two men moving away from where she laid. She turned over once again and burrowed her head into Cedric's chest. Focusing on his breathing she found herself finally drifting off to sleep.