Chapter 21

The following week was well spent. Since it was getting near to Christmas, the teachers were lightening the homework load. Emily had time to chat with Genny, Luciana, and Gabrielle. She had time to discuss where her mom might have been with Jon. She had time to sit in her room and think about Ryan…his messy, light brown hair, his deep brown eyes that were filled with laughter…he was meant for Emily, and Emily wasn't going to let him go easily.

Whenever she saw him in the hallways, she would smile sweetly and wave. If she ever had the chance to say "hi" to him, she would flutter her eyelashes and giggle. Luciana called her "flirty" once but shut up when Emily retorted that Luciana flirted with boys all the time.

Emily had been sitting at her desk in the common room, when Genny burst in.

"You will never believe what I just saw!" She looked like she was about to cry as she threw herself onto the couch. "You were right Emily, there's something wrong with Seamus. I just found him in an unused classroom, presumably alone. But when I went to say hi to him," she gulped, "Oh, my God, Emily, I didn't know who to tell. So I'm telling you. This is gonna sound so messed up, but I think Seamus was talking with Lucius Malfoy through the fireplace. Oh, my God, Emily, what should we do?"

Emily thought about it. It made sense. If Seamus was under the influence of the Imperius curse, the Death-Eaters would have to have some way of keeping in touch with him. "What did he say about my mother?"

Genny gawked. "He could be giving You-Know-Who directions and all you care about is if he mentioned your mother!"

"What did he say?" roared Emily.

"He didn't say anything about her, but he did mention you and your trip the other day. I don't have any clue about how he knew about that…unless he was following me-"

"Does he have a motive for following you?" asked Emily calmly, trying to think things through. Who should she tell first- McGonagall or Professor Lupin?

Genny blushed. "I, I, he….no."

Emily knew she was hiding something, but she didn't push it. "We have to tell McGonagall. Come on."

She lead Genny to the stone gargoyles guarding the office and banged on the wall.

"She can't hear that, y'know," one of the gargoyles cackled at her. She ignored it and looked around for a teacher. She saw Professor Lupin coming up the stairs.

'Perfect,' she thought, and convinced him to get her and Genny into the headmistress's office.

"Headmistress, Genny and I have something to tell you. You heard my theory about Seamus being under Imperius, right? Well, here's more proof. Tell her, Genny."

Genny retold her story without all the "oh, my god"s. She added a few things she hadn't told Emily before.

"When Seamus mentioned Emily's trip to her old house, he said that she's found the letter, not her mom. It's like he knew or something." And "I think he's been following me, trying to figure out if he can convince me of- well, you know."

Why didn't you come to the office as soon as you realized he was acting differently?" asked McGonagall sternly.

"I don't know!" she Genny hopelessly. "I figured it was just hormones or something!"

After the discussion and further mention of the trip to Emily's house, which McGonagall had only heard a brief description of from Lupin, McGonagall laid back in her seat, looking tired. "So, if he's under Imperius, there's not much I can do but try to free him. As soon as I do, Malfoy will know that we know."

"What else can we do? We can't leave the spell on the poor boy," interrupted Lupin. "Think what a year this would be for him then. We have to take it off."

Emily nodded. "That's probably best."

On the way back to the dormitory to change before dinner, Emily asked Genny, "What was Seamus trying to convince you of?"

Genny seemed confused for a second, then, "Oh."

"Seamus said…"

"Yeah, Emily, I have to tell you something. Do you promise you won't hate me afterwards?"

They stopped walking. "Genny, of course I won't hate you. You can tell me anything."

"Okay. In here, then." Genny pulled Emily into an empty classroom. "Emily, you never even wondered about my parents or anything, even when you were having such huge problems with yours. Well, I wasn't lucky like you. My parents are Death- Eaters. They deserted me when I was young though to live with other relatives. You know, Ron Weasley," Genny asked. When Emily nodded she continued, "He's one of my cousins, but since he has so many siblings I hardly ever stay with his family. I'm a Weasley, and therefore a pureblood. My parents suddenly decided last year that I'm the perfect tool for them to use to get to Harry Potter. They wanted me to join the Death-Eaters." She paused dramatically.

Emily would have gasped if she hadn't been holding her breath for the big secret. Instead, she starting coughing and told Genny, "I can't believe that! Poor you, Genny, having to live with so many people. I can't believe your parents would do that to you. Anyway, I'm glad that you refused to become a Death-Eater," finished Emily.

"You mean, you don't hate me," Genny asked, surprised.

"Of course not. I said I wouldn't and it's not like you actually became a Death-Eater."

Genny sighed. "Oh, good. Just don't tell anyone, okay. If this gets out then my reputation is doomed. Oh, hi Ryan!"

Emily spun around. They had just entered the corridor and Ryan was just walking up to them. "Oh, hi, Ryan. How're you doing?" Emily asked him, beaming.

Ryan grinned. "I'm good, how 'bout you?"

Emily shrugged. "Same old, same old."

Ryan grinned. "Yeah, can't argue with that. Anyhow, there's a Hogsmeade trip coming up next weekend. It's such a short time after the last trip, but it probably has something to do with Filch's complaint that he needs to clean the whole school without students underfoot. So, how about it. Do you want to go?"

"With you?" asked Emily amazed.

Ryan grinned even more. "Well, I'm not asking you to go with my cousin's owl."

Emily chuckled, "I'd love to go! I'll see you then!"

"Great!" Ryan made a turn towards the library while Emily and Genny continued upward.

"I thought you were going to go to Zonko's with Jon next time we went on a Hogsmeade trip. You two had agreed…"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. I guess I'll just have to tell him we'll do it next time," shrugged Emily.

They were almost to the dormitory when Genny burst. "What's up with you, Emily? Everybody thinks you and Jon are an item, and then you start going out with Ryan. Doesn't Jon even care? I thought he would be so disappointed to know you were going out with another guy. He sounds kinda lost whenever you mention Ryan. And you don't even notice it! Emily, he's made for you and you keep ignoring him!"

Emily turned her head, "Jon is not my boyfriend. We are friends. That's it. That's all we ever will be."

"If you continue on at this rate, that's all you'll ever be!" muttered Genny.

Emily didn't comment as they had already reached the Hufflepuff common room. She joined Luciana and Gabrielle in a conversation about Herbology, but in the corner of her eye watched as Genny sat noiselessly by the fire, levitating a cup and putting it back down on the table until she had the spell perfect.