Chapter 20!

The laughter of the Hogswarts students was contagious. It was a beautiful winter day that all of the students 3rd year and above would be spending in Hogsmeade. Right before the students were allowed to leave, Lupin had surprised Emily with a filled out permission slip. She hadn't even considered needing it. It somewhat shocked Emily to hear that the teacher was one of her legal guardians.

"Hey, Emily, think fast!" shouted Luciana.

Suddenly a cold, wet ball of snow smacked Emily in the side of her face.

"Grrrr!" growled Emily, but unable to keep away laughter. "You'll pay for that one!"

The Hufflepuff girls got into a huge snowball fight right near the door of the Three Broomsticks. The irritated villagers eventually convinced them to clam down and go inside for a drink. Wet and joyful, the entered the pub.

"Hey, Emily! Over here!" called Jon. He was sitting with Hermione, Harry, and Ron. Did he still not have any Gryffindor friends his age?

The girls joined the table and soon multiple conversations were going on.

"Did you hear about Ernie MacMillian? Parvati Patil claims to have seen him and Hannah Abbot snogging outside Zonko's joke shop!"

"I wonder if they sell hot chocolate here?"

"Quidditch tryouts are next week! You're kidding!"

They were having a great time. Other Hogwarts students filed in to stay warm and get some delicious butterbear. Soon the pub was full. It was hard to even reach the door.

Out of nowhere all the noise stopped. Gabrielle stopped in mid-laugh, her eyes widening.

Harry set his jaw and clenched his fist. "Malfoy!" he muttered.

Emily was confused. Did she know someone named Malfoy? It definitely sounded familiar.

There was a scream from one of the younger Gryffindor girls.

Malfoy shot her a nasty look and she choked in fear. He friends patted her on the back to get her breathing again.

Malfoy glared across the room. Finally, he smirked. "You all missed me so much that you're speechless? My goodness, I am touched."

Harry stood up. "Leave, Malfoy."

Malfoy turned and grinned maliciously. "So, you're still here, Potter. I thought the Dark Lord would have finished you off by now-"

"I SAID LEAVE!" Harry shouted! Hermione pulled desperately at his shirt, trying to get him to sit down, but at the same time her eyes were full of hatred for Malfoy.

Malfoy nodded towards him. "But I've just gotten here. I'm allowed to stay a while, am I not? I don't see any rules against it."

"I have a no death-eater policy," said Madam Rosmerta from behind the bar. She didn't move.

"No wonder she's scared of him. She was under Malfoy's imperius curse for an entire year last year," whispered Gabrielle, just to Emily.

Emily gulped. One of Voldemort's cronies was here. Why? For her, Harry, or the rest of the school? Or was he just going to be threatening and rude?

She looked up at Jon to see if he understood what was going on. His eyes full of understanding, he nodded at her. She looked away. Hermione must've told him everything.

"Good for you, madam," he said mockingly. "As I remember you weren't so quirky last year." He turned to Harry, "A warning for you, Potter. Stay out of the Dark Lord's way and maybe he'll stay out of yours. For now at least."

Harry took a deep breath. The two sixteen year old rivals were radiating hatred for each other. There was no doubt in anybody's mind that this was not going to end easily.

Harry slowly lifted his wand. "Out…now…!" He pointed towards the door with his other hand.

Draco smirked. "I've given my warning, Potter. Stay away and maybe the Dark Lord will let you live." With a sweep of his cloak, Malfoy left the bar and disapperated.

The noise hesitantly grew until it reached its normal volume.

"I swear he gets more and more like his father everyday. It's repulsive!" Hermione exclaimed.

"He's awful!" cried Genny. "I'm ashamed to be…in the same school as him." Genny turned red. That hadn't been what she was going to say. "Oh, god! I said I'd meet Seamus five minutes ago. I better go, guys." Genny said, grabbing her cloak.

Emily stopped her. "Seamus?" she asked.

She blushed. "I don't think he meant it." She fled, with Emily's disgusted tone when Seamus was mentioned still on her mind.

"I can't believe she's going out with him," Emily declared. Harry didn't seem to be listening. He was looking elsewhere, his eyes blank.

Ron shook his head at her. Harry wasn't going to get his mind off Malfoy's warning that easily.

"Hey, let's go ice skating!" Emily said. Everyone agreed and they set off the rent skates from a nearby shack. Once everyone had skates on, they began gliding across the ice. Emily had to concentrate on sliding one foot in front of the other. She had never been a very good skater.

Not paying attention to what was in front of her instead of at her feet, Emily crashed into somebody.

She fell down laughing. What a klutz she was! She looked up at the person she had crashed into to see he was laughing too. He offered her a hand up. Emily glanced at his cloak. He was a Gryffindor, and he couldn't be much older than Emily.

"Sorry about that," she apologized as she dusted snow of her pants.

He shrugged, "It's fine. My name's Ryan. Yours?"

"I'm Emily," Emily blushed, shyly.

"Would you like to skate with me?" asked Ryan, holding out his hand. "We can't crash into each other if we hold hands."

Emily ignored the giggles of Luciana, and Gabrielle behind her. "I'd love to," she said. And she had the most fun she's ever had since she came to Hogwarts