Chapter 16

That night in the Hufflepuff common room, Luciana, Gabrielle, and Emily were trying to finish their homework.

"What's the use of garlic against vampires?" asked Luciana, completely confused.

"Look it up. It's in this book, here." Gabrielle tossed a heavy book at Luciana.

"But I couldn't find it in there," whined Luciana.

Emily sighed. "Here, you can look at my paper."

At that very moment Genny walked into the room. "Hey," she said as she slung her bag over an armchair nearby.

"Hey," the others answered.

"Genny," Emily began. "I'm sorry about Seamus. I swear it wasn't me but…"

Genny shook her head. "I know. He confessed that it was his fault. He was a creep anyway." Genny said this, but refused to look anybody in the eye. "I'm sorry I blamed it on you, Emily. I was just so mad and I never thought that…"

"It's okay," shrugged Emily. "So what's happening to Seamus?"

Genyn shrugged. "I don't know. McGonagall brought him to her office, the creep. He's still claiming that he wasn't up to anything sinister. He says he was trying to get you to help him with his homework."

"But I'm three years younger then him!" said Emily, disbelieving.

Genny nodded. "That's what McGonagall said, too. She didn't believe him."

"So, who're you going out with now?" asked Luciana, as if Seamus was already yesterday's news.

"Well," Genny smiled mischievously. "That Gryffindor, Brian isn't all that bad looking."

Later at dinner, Emily visited the Gryffindor table to talk to Jon.

"Hey, Emily, I heard about the whole…Lupin thing," said Hermione, who had been sitting next to Jon. She mentioned it as if it were an awkward topic.

"So it's already gotten around the school?" Emily asked, conversationally. She mentally smacked herself. Of course it had! This was Hogwarts! Gossip got around faster than a Nimbus 2001!

Harry looked confused. "What Lupin thing?"

Hermione sighed. "You are so clueless sometimes, Harry, you know that?"

Another Gryffindor boy leaned into the table, "What Lupin thing?" he asked.

Harry pushed him away. "Don't' talk with your mouth open, Neville."

Neville shrugged and stuffed more pudding into his mouth.

Hermione turned to Harry, "You mean you seriously don't know?"

"Don't know what?" he asked angrily.

Hermione winced. "Well, Emily is Lupin's daughter. She just found out herself, but…oh, I'm sorry Harry. You couldn't have known."

Harry was sitting with his mouth open staring at nothing. Hermione waved her hand in front of his eyes, but he didn't even seemed to see her- he just got up and left the Great Hall.

"What was that about?" asked Jon.

"Professor Lupin was one of Harry's dads best friends. Lupin was getting to be one of the closest things to a father for him. Imagine how it feels being told that he already has a child."

"I wouldn't know," said Emily tonelessly. "I never knew I had a father."

"Harry doesn't either, but everyone he comes to think of as a parent dies. Sirius Black, Dumbledore, his real parents of course…it must be hard on him to discover that another person he thought of as family is gone from him."

"He's not gone!" Emily retorted.

"But it won't be the same now that he knows Lupin already has family," Hermione explained wearily.

"Hey, isn't Lupin going out with Tonks?" interrupted Hermione's other friend, Ron.

Emily's eyes narrowed. "He wouldn't dare."

"No, I think he is," assured Ron.

Hermione slapped him. "Ron, you're so oblivious sometimes!"

"What?" he asked.

"He wouldn't dare do that to my mom. I thought he said he still loved her and missed her." Emily's anger was building up. She felt as if she'd soon explode.

"I'm sure he's not serious about her?" Hermione tried to comfort her, hopelessly.

"WHICH HER? My mother or that Tonks person you're talking about," Emily roared.

A few Gryffindors looked down the table at her, but most of the school didn't notice due to the loud chatter of the other students.

"Emily," Jon tugged at her shirt, "Sit down!" At some point, Emily had stood up and was leaning angrily over Hermione.

Emily sniffed and marched out of the Great Hall. Jon called for her to wait up, but she ignored him and kept walking.

Out of the corner of her eye she also saw Seamus stand up. Apparently he hadn't been expelled from that school. 'What kind of lies did he feed to McGonagall to make her decide THAT?" she thought angrily to herself, making sure to run up the stairs so he couldn't catch up to her- just in case.

Blind with tears and stumbling up the steps, Emily crashed into someone. Not bothering to apologize she race past them and up the flight of stairs, not knowing where they would lead her.

Eventually she came to a window facing the Great Lake, and stopped to catch her breath.

"Hello, my dear. What would you be doing up here at this time of day?" asked a mystical voice behind her.

Emily leaped around to see a mystical looking teacher, wearing a long shawl and glasses that magnified her eyes. She recognized her as Professor Trelawny, although she would never really get used to the site of such a strange teacher.

"Would you like some tea?" asked the teacher, motioning to a trap door in the ceiling.

"N- no. I'd better find my way back down to my common room. I didn't mean to come up here." Emily stuttered.

"No, I insist. I was just about to brew up a cup anyway." Professor Trelawny motioned her to climb the ladder that had fallen from the trap door (which had mysteriously opened by itself). She and Emily climbed into the stifling hot room and Emily took a seat on one of the poofy chairs.

"Now, let's see, blue teacup, or pink?"

Emily chose the blue. Trelawny, smiling, handed it to her. "So would you like to learn what secrets the future holds for you while you're up here?" she asked Emily after they had sipped the tea for a few seconds. It tasted somewhat bitter, but it made Emily feel a little better. It probably contained a calming draught.

Emily shook her head a. "I'm sorry. I really have to be going…" The real reason she wanted to go was because her friends had all told her what a loon Trelawny was.

"But my dear," the teacher's eyes widened. "You have not yet witnessed the great potential of the future."

"No, really. It's okay. I can always witness the potential later. I gotta go," Emily explained hastily.

She left the room, unsure of why she even went in it in the first place. Then it hit her, "Professor Trelawny, can you tell the past as well as the future?"

Trelawny's brow furrowed. "I suppose…oh, why not. Come back up, and I will see what I can do."

So Emily went to see if Trelawny could tell her the truth about her father's heart. According to her friends, it would be completely wrong, but who knew? Maybe this lunatic of a teacher would know the truth.