42

A Game and A Date

Emily shifted slightly in the hall to avoid being run over by Granger, as she swept past her and Draco, as the pair made their way towards the dungeons. The two shared a look as they noticed Harry and his friend Weasley making their way down an opposite hallway.

"What happened to the golden trio?"

Emily raised an eyebrow at her friend's description of the three Gryffindors but shrugged as they continued on their path.

"How are our favorite snakes today?" Fred asked joining the two third years.

"Heading down to brew?" George added, easily falling in step with the others.

Draco nodded his head in reply, "We need to check on a few potions before this one gets summoned by Mr. Hufflepuff."

Emily rolled her eyes at her friend, he had been less than polite about the older boy's presence in the witch's life recently and she couldn't figure out why. At least from her perspective, Cedric had adjusted back to more of his old self. "He's not that bad," she defended before stepping back to have a staring contest with the first year who almost ran into her. While preoccupied with the frozen child, Emily missed the look that passed between the boys she was walking with.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" the boy was rambling as he attempted to pick up the book he had dropped. "It won't happen again." The young Ravenclaw slowly backed away from the group before finally turning and running off back in the direction he came from.

"The Slytherin Princess strikes again." Emily shot George an annoyed look as she started back on the path towards the dungeons.

Sensing Emily wasn't in the mood for jokes Fred put his arm around Draco, "So, what have you lovely snakes been up to today?"

"Classes," the witch responded as if it should have been obvious.

Draco shook his head and redirected the conversation again, "Do you two know what is wrong with the golden trio?"

"People don't seriously call them that."

"Yes, they do," the three boys answered in unison.

"Since when?"

"Since your first year, after they were awarded all those points at the feast."

"But I was with them too."

"And you're you." Emily shook her head but she couldn't deny the remark. It was no secret that she and her brother did not spend time together, let alone speak. It shouldn't surprise her that when Harry was referred to with his friends that she would not be in that picture.

"To make a long story short…" Fred said directing the group's attention back to the topic, "Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, ate Ron's rat, Scabbers."

"Or at least we suppose it did." George concluded shrugging his shoulders.

"There was a bit of blood and Crookshanks has been sneaking into the boys' dorm room."

"You're brother had a rat?" Draco looked like he genuinely felt sorry for the Gryffindor.

"It belonged to Percy but he didn't want it anymore..."

"So when Ronnikins came to Hogwarts he gifted it to him."

Emily looked at the twins and shook her head, "How long has that thing been alive?"

"Come to think of it, Scabbers has been in the family for 12 years…" George nodded at his brother's estimate.

"Rather long time isn't it?" Emily questioned. "Rats normally don't make it to five years let alone past a decade."

Draco nodded, "What type of rat is it?"

The twins looked at each other before shaking their heads, "We don't know."

"Was it magical?"

Emily looked at Draco and hit him with the book in her hand, "There are no magical breeds of rat. A rat is rat, the most magical thing about them is that their tails and spleens work great in my potions."

"Maybe there is something there though, rats live for about 3 years right?"

"We wondered but it's unlikely."

"Scabbers was rather a dull pet, didn't do much more than eat."

"Though he was smart enough to hide whenever we wanted to use him as a test subject…"

"So he had self-preservation," Emily said making her way into their potions room. "Every living being has that motivation."

The twins shrugged and dropped the topic as they moved to work on their latest potion. Emily for her part checked on her stasis charm and monitored the change in color of her own work. The group worked quietly alongside each other as they all concentrated on their own projects. It was peaceful and the boys noticed the tension that Emily had been holding onto was starting to drain from her body as she relaxed. None of them could figure out what was going on with the girl but there had been a change in her since Yule and all of them were pointing the finger at Diggory. While Emily seemed to think her little talk with him had lessoned his behaviors, the boys had noticed no change at all.

Fred and George found themselves quite disappointed in the Hufflepuff. He had been an acquaintance of theirs being on one of the House Quidditch teams and for the past few years they thought him a decent guy, they were even happy when Emily had started dating the boy. Things had changed though, the boy was far too possessive of Emily even if she didn't see it. Since Yule Diggory carried himself differently, there was a stiffness to him and any guy who dared to look in the witch's direction found themselves mysteriously tripping over things. Of course, Emily hadn't noticed and with all her extra time spent with Severus she was convinced her talk with her boyfriend about needing some time alone had worked.

"Misters Weasleys you is being wanted on the pitch."

The twins almost jumped having not heard the elf enter the room. "Who sent you?"

"Madam Hoochy said to hurry please."

"Running late to practice?" Draco teased looking up from his spot by Emily. "Wood is going to kill you!"

The twins laughed as they rushed to put a stasis on their work and gather their books. "We're blaming Sir Cadogan!"

"We don't have a death wish!"

The twins ran quickly from the room and the elf gave a short bow before popping out most likely back to the kitchens or to finish whatever task they had been doing when sent to track down the twins.

"I should probably get going too," Emily said glancing at the clock on the wall.

"Mr. Hufflepuff?"

"No, I have to meet Sev."

"You've been spending a lot of time with him working on this charm."

Emily sighed, "Today we are working on that potion I was telling you about. We haven't been practicing the charm as much."

"Why not?"

The witch tapped her cauldron and moved to collect her things turning her back on her friend, she didn't want him to see how defeated she was starting to feel when it came to the Patronus Charm. "I can't find a proper memory."

"What do you mean?"

"The charm is fueled by love but every memory I come up with falls short."

"Have you tried using a memory of you and Mr. Hufflepuff," Draco held his breath as he waited for the answer.

Emily's shoulders dropped, "Of course I have, but it wasn't enough. I mean the strongest memories I have are of us."

Draco moved to where his best friend was and pulled her into his arms. He couldn't suppress the smirk that crossed his face knowing the witch's memories with him were stronger than the ones she had with Diggory. "It's extremely advanced magic Em." The witch made an annoyed sound which caused the blonde to laugh. "You are so much more powerful than you know but you can't succeed at everything easily, it will come."

"You sound like Sev. It will happen, focus on your memory, allow it to flow through you. Emotions are difficult, these things come with time."

"Em, no one doubts you will accomplish it, magic comes naturally to you. Maybe taking a break if this is frustrating you so much wouldn't be a terrible idea. You said you have a large silver disc right?" Draco felt her nod, "That's far better than most grown wizards. Is that why you have been so grumpy lately?"

"I have not been grumpy."

"Liar."

Emily shook her head as she hugged her friend tighter to her. "I need to get going or Sev won't let me keep working with him."

Draco nodded and watched as his friend rushed out of the room. He wouldn't lie he was worried about her. The relationship she was in seemed unhealthy and from the letters his father had sent him he worried about Diggory's intentions. The boy and his family had a lot to gain if Emily was to stay with Diggory. The possible titles Emily could hold though would only truly be known when she turned 15 and was allowed full access to her vaults. There was no doubt in his mind that Emily would get the titles over her brother. The titles usually went to the first born but when the first born were twins they fell to the more powerful person. Harry, while decent at practical work did not have the passion of his sister and it was clear the boy often slacked off his studies in favor of hanging around his red headed friend. No, Draco knew greatness laid in his best friend's future but for her sake he hoped she would ditch Mr. Hufflepuff before that time came.

0o0oo0oo0o0

The next morning Emily woke to a knock at her door. Waving her hand without thought the door unlocked and swung open to reveal her best friend. He leaned against the frame and took in the scene before him with a raised eyebrow. Books from Severus were scattered and open everywhere with random pieces of parchment filled with the witch's notes joining them.

"It's odd when you don't sleep in my room."

"I sleep alone at the manor most nights," Emily shrugged waving her wand to begin organizing the mess she had created the night before.

"Not when we're at Hogwarts."

"I know," the witch nodded her head in agreement. "I just didn't want to wake you. Sev said something that made me curious, so I wanted to see if I could figure it out…"

"And did you?"

Emily looked over at her friend and shook her head as the last book settled in its proper place, "No. What is wrong with me?"

"Nothing, this is how normal people feel on a daily basis." The witch shot a glare at her best friend who only looked amused, "Why don't you take a shower and get dressed, the Claws are playing the Gryffs today and rumor has it your brother received the same Christmas gift as you."

Emily looked at her friend curiously, she had slept really poorly and she couldn't think of what she had received for Christmas that her brother would have enjoyed except… "Someone sent him a Firebolt?"

Draco nodded, "Word is the Professors confiscated it and Wood has been demanding it back for weeks. I guess they have determined its safe because apparently, he has it up in the Great Hall with him and is going to be using it today."

"Why are you smirking? Shouldn't you be upset by this?"

"I should be, but you see I have a best friend who happens to have the same broom and I'm sure said friend will lend it to me, so her House team can be on an equal playing field with the lions."

Emily laughed as she grabbed her clothes for the day and made her way towards the door, "What a nice friend, you must be very lucky."

"I am," Draco offered Emily his arm and escorted her towards the showers. "Now clean yourself up and I'll meet you in the common room."

After a late breakfast in the Great Hall the pair of Slytherins made their way down to the Quidditch stands. Emily couldn't remember a morning that her and Draco had gotten to spend so much time alone together lately and it was nice but it wasn't to last.

"Where have you been?" Cedric had noticed the pair approaching and moved from where he had been waiting with his friends.

"I slept in, I spent most of my night studying. Draco came to wake me but I had to get ready and then we had to eat. Why did I forget something?"

Though the witch didn't notice since her focus was on her annoyed boyfriend, Draco's face went stony. His arm continued to hold onto Emily's not letting her fully go to her boyfriend. Diggory saw the look and was quick to shake his head, "No of course not, I had just wanted to spend the morning with you. I feel like I've barely seen you this week."

"I know, I'm sorry but my lessons with Severus are important. We can spend time together now."

"I would like that," Cedric held out his hand and Emily took it giving Draco an apologetic look. "We can do something tonight, I know I haven't seen much of you either."

"Actually, I had plans for us for tonight."

Emily looked at her boyfriend curiously before turning back to her best friend. "Tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow," Draco agreed his eyes not leaving the Hufflepuffs daring him to challenge the statement. When no one said anything Draco nodded to the pair and took off towards the stands.

"Why do you look upset?"

The witch looked up at her boyfriend and shrugged, "We were having a nice morning. You aren't the only person I haven't spent enough time with."

"I believe the two of you just agreed to see each other tomorrow, so you will have plenty of time together then." Emily nodded and allowed herself to be led over to where Cedric's friends were calling to him.

"We need to get seats, the team is waiting!"

The group made their way into the stands and Emily felt a tad uncomfortable being with all the Hufflepuffs. She kept getting odd looks and some glares from the older girls. The witch was well aware her boyfriend was considered the most attractive in his House and with his family lineage there was a lot to be gained from dating him should it turn into more, especially if you were a muggleborn and Hufflepuff had the majority on muggleborns in the school.

"Did you see Cho?" Felix said pointing down to the field where the captains were shaking hands. "She's growing nicely."

Cedric coughed awkwardly as he put his arm around Emily and pulled her into his side.

"Well if he won't look I can," Liam answered nudging the other boy. "I hear she's a lot of fun. She was going out with a Gryff for a while but she's single again."

"Her family is well off and far away, could be a good combination."

"Especially if the rumors are true…"

"Ced, what do you think? Are they true?" Felix's eyes showed amusement as his friend glared back at him.

"Rumors?" Emily asked looking over at the pair.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Cedric answered turning away from his friends. "Just watch the game."

"AND THE TEAMS TAKE TO THE SKIES! RIDING A FIREBOLT IS GRYFFINDORS OWN HARRY POTTER, THE BROOM IS SAID TO BE WHAT ALL THE NATIONAL TEAMS WILL BE FLYING AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP THIS COMING SUMMER! THE FIREBOLT IS THE FASTEST BROOM ON THE MARKET AND EVEN HAS A BUILT IN AUTO BRAKING SYSTEM -"

"Mr. Jordan there is a match beginning if you could commentate on that and not the quality of the brooms it would be appreciated."

"Of course Professor – CURRENTLY KATIE BELL HAS THE QUAFFLE AND IS HEADING FOR THE GOAL. CHANG IS KEEPING A CLOSE TAIL ON POTTER BUT SHE IS NO MATCH FOR HIS NEW BROOM."

Everyone watched as Chang followed Harry around the stadium, at one-point Harry made to dive but was thrown off course by a bludger that narrowly missed his shoulder. You could hear the disappointment from the Gryffindors in the stands. It wasn't long though before Harry was back hovering over the game ever watchful and his team's chasers were earning points with ease.

"AND THAT TAKES GRYFFINDORS LEAD TO EIGHTY WHILE RAVENCLAW HAS YET TO SCORE. ITS NOT LOOKING GOOD FOR THEM TODAY – WITH THE LIONS CHASERS ON FIRE AND HARRY ON THE FIREBOLT THEY CANT KEEP UP – CHANG IS FLYING A COMET WHICH IS A DECENT BROOM BUT I THINK WE CAN ALL AGREE THAT THE PERFORMANCE FROM THE FIREBOLT TODAY IS EXCEPTIONAL – JUST LOOK AT THE PRECISION AND BALANCE AS –"

"Jordan, back on topic please, we are trying to watch the match!"

"RIGHT YOU ARE MINNIE!

"JORDAN!"

"AND WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT FOLKS – CHANG CAN'T KEEP UP SO SHE IS INTENTIONALLY TRYING TO BLOCK HARRY FROM MAKING A MOVE – OH WOOD DOESN'T SEEM HAPPY ABOUT THAT – KNOCK HER FROM HER BROOM MATE – QUIDDITCH IS NO TIME TO BE A GENTLEMAN YOU CAN ASK HER OUT AFTER YOU WIN"

"Honestly Jordan, do you want a detention?"

"HARRY IS DIVING AND CHANG IS RACING AFTER HIM – WAIT A MINUTE HE TRICKED HER! LOOK AT THE WAY THE FIREBOLT PULLS OUT OF THE DIVE WITH EASE – CHANG ISN'T SO LUCKY SHE CAN'T CORRECT HERSELF – IT LOOKS LIKE POTTER HAS ACTUALLY SEEN THE SNITCH HE'S OFF – BUT WHAT IS THAT?!"

Emily turned her attention and from the Slytherin side of the stadium she could just make out tall black figures. She leaned into Cedric but the overwhelming feelings and weakness never came. Instead a shot of jealously ran through her as her brother pointed his wand in the direction and shot off an odd silvery shape that raced towards the figures before he continued his pursuit of the snitch.

As the whistle blew it was clear Gryffindor had won. Cedric urged Emily to get up and follow him as everyone began to exit the stands. Following him, the pair made their way from the stands to the front of the castle where there were a few carriages waiting. Emily watched as some seventh years she recognized slipped into one of them and it took off towards the gates.

"Where are they going?"

"Hogsmeade."

"I don't remember this weekend being on the list."

"It's not, some of the upper years get privileges to go to the village more frequently." Cedric led the witch towards the carriages, "And I cleared it with Professor Sprout for us to go as well."

"What are we going to do in the village?"

"I thought we could wander around and then have dinner at the Three Broomsticks, a little date night if you will."

"Sounds lovely," Emily smiled at her thoughtful boyfriend. It would be nice to get out of the castle for the evening especially since Severus didn't need her help tonight. No one even took a second glance or questioned the pair as they climbed into one of the awaiting carriages and made their way into the village.

Hogsmeade as usual had a dusting of snow on the ground and the pair enjoyed wandering around the village. Everything looked so beautiful tucked away in the mountainside and it was a rather peaceful time, Emily couldn't remember the last time her and Cedric felt so at ease. Perhaps they should make a point to get away from the castle more often, she couldn't have been helping matters if she was as grumpy due to her lessons as Draco seemed to think she was.

Dinner was a quiet affair. The two students enjoyed their meals and discussed their current studies. Cedric seemed rather interested in whether Emily had progressed much with the Patronus after her brother's display earlier but had quickly changed the topic when he noticed her mood sour slightly. Overall it was a nice evening and when Emily climbed into the carriage to head back to the castle she couldn't help but sigh.

"Is something wrong?"

The witch shook her head and rested it against her boyfriend's shoulder, "No quite the opposite really."

"So, you're happy then?" he leaned down and kissed her forehead as she nodded in agreement.

"I wish we didn't have to go back to the castle though, it's nice to get out and spend time together like this."

"Tonight doesn't have to be over." Emily looked up at her other half curiously, unsure of what he meant. It was late, of course it was going to be over, when the carriage stopped she would have to return to her dorms and he to his. "You could stay with me tonight."

"In the Hufflepuff dorms?"

"That's where I sleep."

"Wouldn't I get in trouble for going in there, not to mention most people in your House hate me."

Cedric seemed amused by the statement as he shook his head, "They're scared of you."

"Not much difference."

"No one will say anything, I have a private room."

"I thought the Puffs slept in shared rooms like the Lions."

"Once we reach fifth year we get our own rooms, just like the Claws. It's to help us have more quiet when studying for our OWLs and NEWTs."

"I see."

Nothing was said further on the topic as the pair finished their ride back to school. It was rather quiet and Emily had a million questions running through her mind about the possibilities of going back with Cedric to his dorm. Since Yule they had not had a chance to repeat the activities with clear heads. There were only so many places you could go to hideaway in Hogwarts and while Emily probably could have showed the Room of Requirement to her boyfriend, something had held her back.

When the carriage came to a stop, Cedric helped the witch down and escorted her back into the Entrance Hall. The pair hesitated as the Hufflepuff waited for his girlfriend to decide what she wanted to do, "It's up to you."

Emily nodded and thought about how Draco was probably waiting for her. Then again maybe he was having a good night and wouldn't notice her absence again. Emily looked back towards the staircase that led to the dungeons and knew she was kidding herself, of course her best friend would notice and she would have to answer for where she had been. Shaking her head she looked apologetically towards her boyfriend. "I'm sorry but if I don't go back to the dorms Severus will find out and if he tells Lucius I'll be in more trouble than just for breaking school rules."

"Understandable, like I said before, it's your choice."

Though the words were kind the witch could tell Cedric was anything but okay with her decision. "Thank you," she responded pecking her boyfriend's lip. "Sleep well."

"You too," his smile was stiff again and the boy quickly turned and walked off not waiting for Emily to disappear down her own staircase.

Deciding it was pointless to stand in the Entrance Hall alone, Emily made her way back down to the Slytherin dorms and said hello to the last remaining upper year students who sat chatting by the fire. She weighed in on the magical theory they were debating for a few minutes before politely excusing herself to go to bed. When she got to Draco's room she found her best friend was already fast asleep. Quickly getting herself ready for bed, she crawled in next to the boy who turned on his back slightly waking due to the disturbance.

"There you are," his arm wrapped around Emily pulling her tight into his chest.

"Cedric took me to Hogsmeade, we lost track of time after dinner."

"I had started to think you weren't coming back tonight."

"I almost didn't."

"I see," Draco gave Emily a squeeze clearly hearing the strain in her voice. It obviously hadn't been an easy choice for her and the wizard doubted Mr. Hufflepuff was very happy with her decision. "I'm glad you came back, father sent you a letter while you were gone."

"What does it say?"

"I don't know I didn't open it." When the witch made to move Draco held her tighter to his body, "You can read it in the morning. If it had been important Sev would have tracked you down."

Nodding her agreement into her friend's chest, Emily yawned before whispering, "Goodnight Dray."

"Night Em."