48
"Good!" Granger said righting herself, "We have about ten minutes to make it back to the Hospital Wing before Professor Dumbledore locks us in."
The group didn't hesitate, they all dashed for the stairs. Running as quickly as they could down various corridors not caring about whether they might see someone at this late hour anymore. They were however forced to pause as Peeves went cackling past them doing a little jig. The three clung tightly to the wall knowing that a run in with the poltergeist could cost them more time than they had available.
"What if we don't make it?" Harry asked as they all took off again.
"We don't have a choice," Granger answered pushing herself to keep up with the twins.
"It doesn't matter," Emily said rounding the corner, she was now able to see herself walk past the headmaster and into the Hospital Wing. "We made it."
The other two slowed down as they approached. Severus and Dumbledore turned to look at the trio and Emily nodded her head at the pair.
"Very good," the Headmaster said holding up his finger, after a second he smiled, "You've gone, go now and I will lock you in."
As Emily passed, Severus reached out and gave her shoulder a squeeze in acknowledgement. The witch turned and locked eyes with the man for a minute and felt a nudge, opening up her mind she quickly showed him her Patronus before turning and joining the other two inside the ward.
Harry and Granger made their way to two unkempt beds and slipped into them quietly. Emily stood, unsure of what to do as Madam Pomfrey came out of her office and the sound of the door locking could be heard echoing through the wing.
"Am I finally allowed to attend to my patients?" the annoyed woman asked. She hustled over to the end of one of the beds and seemed surprised at something. "Did you two already eat the chocolate?"
"I gave it to them," Emily said thinking on her feet, in a way she had given it to them just not while they were in their beds.
"Miss Potter!" The mediwitch turned quickly to see her newest patient. "Professor Dumbledore said you would be joining us. Did Severus give you anything?"
"I had a Pepperup potion and some hot chocolate."
"Well that's a start, get into a bed dear."
Emily was about to protest that she didn't need a bed when a furious yell could be heard. Emily moved quietly over the edge of a free bed and sat down not wanting to be stood awkwardly in the middle of the ward when whatever was approaching got to them.
"This is a disaster!" Fudge yelled. "How am I supposed to explain this to the press?!"
"I don't believe anyone needs to be notified Cornelius," Dumbledore seemed to be trying to soothe the man.
"I already sent off an owl while we were waiting! Someone had to help him escape!"
"I assure you Minister, that is impossible." Severus sounded calm but Emily could hear the annoyed edge to his tone.
"You were the one who put him up there!"
"Surely you don't think Severus could have done this?" Dumbledore intervened. "Severus had to bring Miss Potter down here for Poppy to examine and has been with me ever since. You said you saw him in the room before you sent for the dementors."
There was a frustrated grunt as the voices drew even closer. "What about the children?"
"I locked them in the Hospital Wing for their own safety while the dementors were being brought up. I didn't think you would want to take any chances of something happening to the Potter twins."
"No, no of course not…" there was a click and the three men made their way towards where the students were in their beds.
Severus came to stand behind Emily as the other pair examined the three Gryffindors. "How are they doing Poppy?"
"They'd be better if you all would let them rest! Dementors on school grounds?! You need to remove them right away Minister, they attempted to kiss three innocent children!" Fudge looked worried and opened his mouth to speak but was quickly cut off by the angry woman. "I do not want excuses, those creatures will be back to Azkaban tonight or the papers may learn more of what took place here!"
"It will be done immediately," the man said taking a few steps back from the witch. "Albus, have you ever thought of having dragons at your gates?"
"Hagrid would be quite pleased," the man said with a stroke to his beard, "but I fear Poppy here may end us both if we were to try it. Why don't we go to my office and you can alert the Ministry whilst we discuss protections for the coming year."
The plump man nodded his head and awkwardly bowed to Emily bidding everyone goodnight before following the Headmaster from the wing.
"If you don't mind, I'll keep watch over Miss Potter tonight," Severus said urging the girl up.
The woman stared between the two and could see Emily leaning into the older man, "Only if you get her straight to bed and if you need anything, I expect a firecall."
"Of course." With that Severus guided the young witch from the room not wanting the older woman to have the chance to change her mind. "I am proud of you," the man said after a few minutes of silence.
"I'm proud of you too, for not killing Sirius when you had the chance. You two really don't like each other."
"No, we don't, but I made a promise to myself a long time ago that I would only ever kill again if it meant saving my life or someone I cared for. His death would have served no purpose but old vengeance."
"You've killed?"
"I have and you will too." There was a certainty in his voice that made a shiver run down her spine. "I can't stop your fate, but I will be here to help you, always."
Emily turned and hugged the man tightly as they reached the portrait that guarded his quarters. Tonight was a turning point for her, Voldemort would be back soon, stronger than ever before and her chance to delay it had escaped. She didn't know when she would be expected to fight but she knew she was going to have to start preparing immediately. The man kissed her forehead before taking a step back and intoning his password.
The witch quickly found herself in the arms of her best friend as questions fell from his mouth, "Where have you two been? It's been hours! Are you okay? Why do you seem so tired? Did your potion work?"
"Have a good night you two," Severus said with a smirk as he headed towards his room.
"Where are you going?" Draco questioned turning towards his godfather.
"To bed, you both will stay in the guest room tonight."
"Tonight?!" Draco said looking down at his best friend. "You two realize it's almost morning, right?!"
The door to Severus' bedroom clicked and Emily rolled her eyes, "Can we go lie down and I'll tell you everything…"
0o0oo0oo0o0
Emily slept until around midday the next day and it took another hour before she and Draco rolled out of bed. Severus was gone from his quarters, so the pair called on an elf to bring them breakfast, finding themselves too lazy to head to the kitchens. As the witch finished her coffee she figured it was time for her to get dressed and find Cedric, no doubt he was already annoyed at how long it had taken her to leave the dungeon as it was.
Wandering through the castle, Emily found it to be mostly deserted. Apparently there was a surprise last minute Hogsmeade trip approved and with the sweltering heat the majority of eligible students had jumped at the chance to go to the village. The witch was starting to wonder if her other half had been one of those as she made her way through another deserted hall by the Hufflepuff dorms. A giggle came from up the corridor, tired and annoyed by the noise she turned her head, freezing at the sight before her.
"Ced, shouldn't we go to your dorm?" instantly Emily recognized the girl as the Ravenclaw seeker, she seemed to be messing with the hem of the Cedric's shirt as he kissed her neck.
"No, we can't be seen and you need to be quiet," he said pulling away, the girl looked like she wanted to protest so he leaned back down and kissed her. It seemed aggressive to the younger witch as she watched the other girl slammed harder back into the stone wall and yet the other girl giggled again as he pulled away. He reached behind her to open a door to the broom cupboard that was there and moved the other witch giving her a small push backwards before following her in without so much of a glance down the hall.
Emily didn't know what possessed her but she walked further down the hallway and stood outside of the door listening to the giggles and gasps of the other witch. So much for Cedric's desire to be quiet or perhaps he didn't care now that they were behind a closed door. Finally reaching out, she tried the handle to the door and it turned easily. Throwing open the door Cedric quickly spun around trying to hide the half-naked girl behind him. Seeing who it was he moved to grab his own shirt from where it had landed on the floor but Emily turned and quickly started running away. She had no idea what had spurred her to open the door but she wished she hadn't. She could hear the boy yelling after her but she ducked into a passage he was unlikely to be aware of and slipped back into the dungeons easily. She didn't stop running until she had made it back to Draco's room throwing open his door with a bang. The boy jumped at the sound and quickly gathered Emily into his arms.
"What's wrong?"
"I just caught Cedric…" Emily was taking deep breaths to try and slow her breathing after having run all that way.
"You just caught Cedric doing what?"
"He was with Cho Chang," she blurted out. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel, she was shocked surely but there was a small part of her that felt relief, while another wanted to rip his head off and another part of her felt a bit of pain.
"What do you mean?" Draco was starting to see red and Emily knew she needed to calm him down first.
"Dray it's not that big of a deal."
"Not that big of a deal? He was cheating on you, wasn't he?"
"I cheated on him!" she reminded the boy.
"Yeah but that's different!"
"How is that different?"
"You weren't a lying and controlling twat!"
"Technically I was lying, I never told him about it."
"It's still different, you shouldn't defend him!"
"I'm not defending him," Emily sighed as she moved to the bed and lied down. Covering her eyes with her hands she took another deep breath, "I just… I don't know."
The witch felt the bed move and her body be pulled into her friend's, "You don't have to know right now, I'm sorry."
"You don't have to be sorry, I know you just want to protect me."
"I'll fight any man who hurts you."
"I know you will, but maybe this is all for the best. Now I have an excuse, I can just walk away. We weren't working out anyway and even without the whole Cho element he wasn't honest with me about his intentions, not once has he mentioned wanting a contract to me."
"I hate to say this but he's not going to give up easily," Draco sighed as he rubbed the witch's back.
"Weren't you the one just yesterday telling me to break up with him?"
"Well yeah, but that doesn't mean I think he will just walk away. I have no doubt his father will still be pushing for a contract to be written up, it will look bad for his image to have lost such a high value contract."
"So, what do I do?"
"You end it, if that's what you want."
"But you said he won't stop."
"Not right away and you need to be prepared for that. I think it will be fine though, we can talk to Father and I'm sure he can scare them off, you just need to be prepared for him to try to win you back for a while."
"Lovely."
The pair laid together for a few minutes in relative silence. Emily's mind was trying to process what she had seen. She knew it was a ridiculous thought, taking into account her own actions, but she kept wondering why she wasn't enough. Maybe the couple's troubles were her fault to begin with, she had hidden various things from him and she had been spending the majority of her time with Severus. It wasn't like Purebloods weren't known for having someone on the side. It was common in a world where you arranged marriages that one or both partners would stray. "Do you want to talk about it?" Draco asked.
"No."
"Are you sure," Draco reached up and wiped a tear from her cheek. "I think this is affecting you more than you're saying."
Emily shrugged, "There's not much to say… I heard giggling, so I turned, slightly annoyed in my tired state, and saw them go into the broom cupboard. Don't ask me why I did it, but I followed them and stood outside of the door, when I opened it they were both in the process of undressing…"
"You opened the door?!"
Emily pushed herself away from her friend and buried her head in the pillow "Ugh! I don't know what I was thinking," she said rolling back over. "I couldn't help myself. He made such a big deal about Felix being the one who was fooling around with her. I don't know how I didn't see it before! She even approached us at the lakeside the other day, if he had been a Basilisk… "
"He probably wanted to stop her before she gave them away."
"I know but the way he acted… he said he didn't like her and I believed it. I knew something was off but the one thing that seemed clear was his disdain."
"He may not have been lying about that, he might really hate her."
"Great, so then why is he messing around with her in broom cupboards?!"
"So, you are upset."
"Slightly, I guess… but I feel like its really bad of me to be angry with him for something I also did."
"Sounds like they may have been doing this longer than your one-night fling, that's not the same thing… Unless you were planning on jumping into bed with Marcus again."
"Of course not!"
"Then you can't compare what he did to you."
"Except this is all just conjecture, I ran the second I realized what I had stumbled upon. I never gave him a chance to come clean."
"Do you want to give him a chance?"
"Not really, I want Severus to scare him away for eternity with threats of scrubbing cauldrons till he's dead." Draco laughed and Emily couldn't help the small smile that crossed her face at the thought of Cedric slaving away in the dungeons as Severus watched over him. "You know what I don't understand though, is why her? Is it stupid that I'm comparing her to me in my mind?"
"No, and there's no comparison. Rumor has it, Cho has been pretty loose since the beginning of the year. She broke up with some bloke and then in revenge seemed to be having her fun with multiple boys around the school. The only draw to her would be that she'll spread her legs if you flirt with her a little bit."
"How do I not hear these rumors?"
"You aren't a boy."
"I hang around one all the time."
"I highly doubt you care about which girls are up for a ride in the broom cupboard and which ones are so tightly wound its not even worth the time."
"Do you guys really talk about that stuff?"
Draco rolled his eyes at his best friend as he rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his arm, "Does it matter?"
"I guess I shouldn't be shocked, Liam and Felix had mentioned rumors about her but Cedric always played it off. There aren't any rumors like that about me are there?"
"Nothing other than the usual, you are the Dark Slytherin Princess out to one day kill us all."
Emily hit Draco with the pillow she had been using, "Very funny Mister."
"Has most of the boys intrigued really, will she kill you or love you…"
"Or enslave you…" the witch added, lowering her voice.
"I didn't offer that as an option."
"Pity, my poor fanged servants get so lonely…"
"Are you sure it's not hungry?"
"Well that could be fun too."
"See, the rumors are right, Dark Slytherin Princess I bow before thee!"
"You have to actually get off the bed to bow." This time it was Draco who hit his best friend with his pillow and shortly the pair were laughing loudly as feathers began to fly. After a few minutes they both collapsed back onto the bed, "Dray?"
"Yes, oh great Dark One?"
"I was serious, you really do have to get off the bed to bow."
"I'll do it later."
0o0oo0oo0o
It was after dinner that the pair left their dorm in search of food. They decided the quickest option was to take over Severus' quarters and have food brought to them there since they had skipped going to the Great Hall. The pair smiled at Marcus who was entering the common room as they were about to exit.
"Hey Little Snakes," he kissed Emily's forehead as he gave her a side hug. "Meeting Diggory?"
"No…" Emily said looking towards entrance. "Is he out there?"
"He's been out there since I left for dinner, I thought you were in Professor Snape's quarters though, so I just told him you probably weren't coming back tonight. I'm sorry, I hadn't seen you or I wouldn't have suggested he go back to his own dorms."
"It's no big deal, it's probably better that I don't see him right now."
"He didn't find out, did he? He didn't seem like he wanted to rip off my head," the guy smirked probably imagining Cedric attempting to attack him.
"I caught him with Cho Chang earlier."
The boy looked down at Emily and at Draco's nod turned back towards the entrance. The witch was quick to grab his arm and pull him back towards her. "He's not worth it, I'll face him later!"
"He can't do that to you!"
"See, he agrees with me," Draco looked smug as he nodded to the other boy.
"You two don't think it's a bit hypocritical?"
"No," they intoned together.
Shaking her head Emily motioned to the entrance, "Fine, Marcus can you check if he's gone. If he isn't, find a way to get rid of him that doesn't end in his death."
"Is the Hospital Wing okay?" Emily stared blankly at the boy as he chuckled and left the common room, a minute later he reappeared. "Well there goes my fun, he's gone."
"Thank you, Marcus." Emily moved swiftly towards the entrance leading Draco away.
"Anytime Little Snake and if you ever need a little muscle…"
Emily rolled her eyes as the pair stepped into the hallway and quickly assessed the area. No injured or hiding Hufflepuff was in sight so they set off at a brisk pace towards Severus' quarters. Luckily it seemed that Cedric hadn't decided to try waiting by the strict Professor's rooms.
The two settled in and called Tippy to bring them dinner. It wasn't long before they were joined by Severus who helped himself to the butterbeer.
"I hope Diggory didn't bother you today, I told him you weren't feeling well and that you would be resting in my private quarters." Emily looked over at her best friend who returned her gaze, that certainly explained why Cedric had been fooling around with someone else after Emily had told him she would spend the day with him. "What am I missing?" The two teens were silent as Draco shoved a pastry into his mouth to stop him from speaking, both were aware the Potions Master could very well try to kill the older boy. "One of you speak now."
"I didn't realize you had told him that and so I went looking for him. I promised I would spend the day with him."
"And?"
"And I found him in a broom cupboard with Cho Chang." There was an instant that Emily worried the man would lose it, his eyes narrowed and she could tell there was a fierce anger behind them. His face rapidly righted itself to its usual calm demeanor, but the witch knew better, he was likely internally plotting his own hell for the boy. "I see, and I assume this is the end of Mr. Hufflepuff."
Emily nodded, "I haven't broken it off yet, but yes it's over."
"Good." The group was silent for a moment as Severus took a sip of his drink.
"Are you going to kill him?" Draco asked looking a bit hopeful at the answer.
"Not today."
Emily rolled her eyes at the pair but couldn't help the smile that crossed her face at having people who genuinely cared for her in her life.
0o0oo0oo0o0
Before Emily knew it the week came to a close and somehow the witch had managed to avoid her soon to be ex-boyfriend. She hadn't done it completely on purpose but she also wasn't sure yet what to say, though she knew shortly she would have no choice but to speak to him as they would both be on the train heading back into London to go home for the summer.
Emily and Draco were some of the first students to board the train that day, leaving them with a large selection of carriages to choose from. Once they were settled, they were soon joined by Daphne and Blaise. Emily and Draco had taken the same bench with the witch's feet lying in her best friend's lap, so the other two were forced to sit next to each other and Emily wondered if the pair knew that they each fancied the same boy due to the awkward way they kept glancing at the other. Draco for his part seemed not to notice and smiled as he set aside the letter Lucius had sent him that morning.
"Blaise, will you be going to the World Cup this summer?"
"My Mother hasn't said one way or the other, I guess it depends on Sofia's family."
"So your betrothed has a name," Daphne teased, the Italian had been quite mum on his upcoming betrothal.
"Of course she does." He looked annoyed as he pulled out his book.
"You don't speak of her much," Emily added looking over at the boy.
"Or at all," Daphne mumbled.
"I don't really know her well," Blaise answered as he searched for his place in his book. "It's a contract, not a friendship."
"But don't you want to be friends with her?" Daphne looked over at Draco, "You'll be married to her one day and you'll have to live together."
"Don't tell me the ice queen has dreams of living happily ever after?" Blaise flipped his page, though there was no way he had read a word on it. "You know as perfectly well as I do that most contracts are formed for gains not for love. What do you think a mistress is for?"
Emily could see Daphne about to bite back and decided she would stop the cat fight that was about to ensue. "If a woman is a mistress, what do you call a male one?"
The group paused and thought on the question as the door to the compartment opened revealing a solemn looking Cedric. "Em, can we talk?"
"Of course," she answered looking at the boy but making no attempt to move from where she was sitting.
"In private."
"I'm fine where I am."
"Emily," the boy pinched his nose in annoyance.
"What? The train is about to leave, I highly doubt there is a more private place than this."
Looking behind him, Cedric must have realized the witch was correct since he moved into the compartment and closed the door behind him. "I need to apologize for my behavior, but you must understand why I did it."
Emily shook her head, "Why must I understand?"
"I'm older than you…"
"I'm aware."
"And that means I want things you may not be ready for."
"Or perhaps, that's all the more reason to be honest with me and tell me what you want. Not go sneaking behind my back."
"This wasn't a permanent thing though, this was just a temporary solution till I thought you were ready, Cho had been hitting on me for over a year…"
"Wasn't she dating a Gryff last year?" Blaise interjected drawing the older boy's attention.
"Didn't seem to stop her though," Cedric answered turning back to Emily. "The night when you didn't come back to the dorm with me, after our date in Hogsmeade, I ran into her in the hallways and I thought it was a good solution for the time being."
"I don't care why you did it, you were still lying to me."
"And you weren't doing the same, with all your late evening lessons with Professor Snape?!"
Emily felt Draco tense and looking down she noticed his wand was grasped tightly in his hand, "You know that was different, brewing a potion does not equate to messing around in a broom cupboard."
"This shouldn't be such a big deal."
"And how would you feel if it had been me that was caught in a broom cupboard?" The boy's mouth opened and then shut again, clearly unsure how to answer without saying exactly what she wanted from him which was to admit that he wouldn't have been okay if the shoe was on the other foot.
"This is common for age gaps," Cedric said trying to avoid answering. "A lot of contracts have clauses for cases such as this, I was thinking of you."
There were snorts of derision from the other three occupants who were listening in on the conversation, no one for a second believed he had Emily's wellbeing in mind.
"We don't have a contract," Emily answered calmly giving away no indication that she knew of his intentions. "We are merely dating, I haven't seen any documents outlining that I agree you can see other people until I feel ready to give you what you want…"
"I…"
Cedric looked over to Draco who shrugged, "Father hasn't said anything to me about an agreement."
"Well the plan was to discuss it this summer."
"Discuss what?" Emily asked playing dumb.
"Our contract, or the proposal of one."
"If I understand correctly as of right now, I am the only person who can agree to a contract and right now I do not feel so inclined to listen to any proposals that I cannot even sign for another year."
"Emily, be reasonable."
"I am and I think you need to leave now." The train finally lurched into motion and the witch looked around the compartment, "We would like to enjoy our ride back to London in peace."
Cedric seemed to realize that he had lost for the moment and bowed slightly to the girl, "We will discuss this again later," with that he quickly exited.
"Is that true?" Daphne asked after a few minutes of silence. "Do you really get to sign your own contract?"
"As far as we can tell I have no acting Magical Guardian other than the Malfoys, I will have to sign any offer I agree to once I receive my inheritance at 15."
"Must be nice to have that freedom," the witch said leaning back against the booth.
"You're in good hands though," Emily answered nudging Draco with her foot who merely rolled his eyes at her actions.
The group settled back in and were quiet as they sped off in the direction of Kings Cross Station. When the trolley had made its way through the cabin Draco had purchased various sweets and drinks for the group. Handing Emily a butterbeer, his focus turned to the window and he moved to open it allowing a tiny owl into the compartment. It landed on the witch's lap and she untied the letter with her name on it. "It still has one for Harry."
"I can take the owl to his compartment," Daphne offered standing up. "I need to find Neville anyway."
Emily passed the excited little bird over to the other witch who left the room. Draco sat closely to her obviously intending to read it with her.
Dear Emily,
I hope this finds you before you reach London, mostly because that means Harry will receive his before he returns to your aunt and uncle and from what I remember of them, they were never fond of our world. I do not wish for him to start off his summer already in trouble with the muggles.
I wanted you to know I have gone into hiding, I cannot divulge where at the moment, but hopefully I can let you in on the secret soon. I have been in contact with Old Grey Beard and we have agreed on a course of action for the next year. I should at the very least be safe as I recover from the past few years in Azkaban and not to mention the majority of the last year living as Padfoot.
I have been informed that the dementors have been removed from the castle, of which I am glad, and I was also informed that it was the strength of both you and your brother that saved me from being kissed the other night. My heart is immensely saddened that I must remain away from the both of you but I am extremely proud in what I have been told and eternally grateful for both of your strength.
Mooney is helping me get settled and I must say I am impressed at what I have been told about you. Your mother would be beaming knowing she had a daughter who was just as studious as her (Ranked first in your year is no small feat!) and your father would be just as happy knowing you love a good adventure. Even Old Grey Beard was singing your praises, I only wished I had been around to watch you grow as was my responsibility. I do not know if Harry informed you, but I am your Godfather. It was my duty to raise you and I apologize for my absence.
I should probably let you know that the Firebolt you received at Christmas was from me. Mooney does not know if you like flying, so I hope it was not a poor assumption that you would enjoy the broom. Your father was an amazing flyer and if nothing else I hope it can bring you a little joy from time to time.
I know you live with the Malfoys now and if Mooney is to be believed, they have taken you on as their own. Thank my cousin Cissy for me (yes call her Cissy, she will not believe it was me otherwise). While I admit it was a bit shocking to hear you and your brother were not sorted together, there have been many a talented wizard in Slytherin House and you will find no judgement on your placement from me. Most of my family have been sorted into Slytherin and your grandma, Dorea Potter was one as well.
I know I am a new addition to your life, and I cannot apologize enough for all those years you had to suffer through the muggles because of my rash choices (am I allowed to blame my Gryffindor tendencies?) but I hope that we can begin to open lines of communication. I want to know my goddaughter and the amazing witch she is becoming.
If you need anything at all send your owl, or even if you just want a good story about your parents, I am from here on out at your service.
I hope to hear from you soon,
Sirius
"That was actually nice," Draco said settling back into the seat. "Are you going to write back?"
"When we get home, right now I just want one of those licorice wands."
Draco tossed the candy over to the girl and soon found he once again had her feet in his lap. The group enjoyed the rest of the ride into London, looking forward to the summer ahead.