Chapter 22

Authors Note: The beginning of this chapter Emily wrote because I was really busy and she wanted to write the big date scene. The rest was me. Enjoy!

Emily woke up on the morning of the Hogsmeade trip with much excitement beating in her stomach. Finally, her date with Ryan had come.

That morning in the Great Hall after breakfast, his luscious brown eyes met her hazel ones.

"Shall we go?" Ryan said, his voice enchanting Emily.

"Of course," Emily replied in the sweetest voice she could muster.

The two linked arms and walked to Hogsmeade, enjoying the bliss of the outside and each others company.

"Where would you like to go?" Ryan asked Emily.

"Well, I have a place in mind."

"Where?"

"Just follow me."

And so Emily blindfolded Ryan with her hands and led him down the path to the cave where Sirius once stayed in. But, instead of making a right, she made a left, where they ended up on the bridge of Hogsmeade.

"I have a picnic planned."

"That's great, Emily."

And so the pair sat down on a blanket that had already been lied down. Emily reached out for the food hamper that resided on a corner of the blanket.

And so the two sat, basked in the sun and enjoying the food and ambiance while making small talk about each other. When all the food was gone, they decided to head up to the main block again before stopping at the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer.

"Emily?" questioned Ryan once they had sat down with their drinks.

"Yes?"

"Do you really like me or is it Jon that you fancy?"

The infamous question had arisen from the depths of their chat. Emily felt her stomach leap forward a step.

"Ryan, Jon is just my friend. I've never had strong feelings for him, unlike the one's I have for you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I have never been more positive."

"Good, I wasn't sure. From what Luciana said…"

"Luciana?" snorted Emily. "You actually believed her?"

Ryan shrugged with a smile. "Oh, well, sometimes it's hard to know what to believe."

Emily shrugged and sipped some butterbeer.

"Like another rumour I heard," began Ryan, leaning in towards her. "Luciana said that Professor Lupin was your dad. Is that at least true?"

Emily nodded, but tried to change the topic. "Yeah, well, I didn't know until recently. So what's your family like?" It felt too awkward talking about one of their teachers

Ryan smiled, proudly. "My older brother, Oliver, is on the Puddlemore United Quidditch Team."

"Really? That's awesome? Do you play quidditch?" asked Emily.

Ryan shrugged. "Not as well as my brother, but I am on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Oy, Matt, come here!" Ryan called over one of his friends and introduced him to Emily. Emily saw Luciana and Gabrielle giggling over Matt from the other side of the Three Broomsticks.

"Hey, it's almost time to go. See you guys back at Hogwarts," waved Matt, picking up his empty butterbeer.

"'kay, bye."

"So, what did you mean when you said you didn't know Lupin was your father until recently," asked Ryan innocently.

Emily winced. "I…don't really feel comfortable talking about it."

"C'mon. You can tell me," said Ryan, punching her playfully.

Emily giggled. "Okay, fine. I was raised by my mom in a muggle village. She left for a bit and this creepy rat man who was working for You-Know-Who came and threatened me. So I followed Jon, who I had met at my muggle school, to Hogwarts. When I was here I met Professor Lupin. It's been weird. Just the other day we, along with Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Jon, went to try to find my Mom. Our house had been destroyed completely. It didn't even exist anymore! And there was a note from You-Know-Who threatening my mom. Apparently he's after information that Professor Lupin has, and he thinks my mom has too. It's crazy!" Emily sad, fidgeting with her fingers instead of looking at Ryan.

"Must be pretty awful," Ryan said, his voice lifting Emily's spirit. "So why do you call your dad Professor Lupin? And your mom, mum? Are you from America or something? They're really weird there."

Emily shook her head, a smile growing on her face. "Well, it's so awkward to cal him 'dad.' I barely know him. It's just…weird. And my mom was born Canada for the first year or two of her life. Her parents said "mom" so she said "mom". I guess I just picked it up from her."

Ryan grinned at her. "So, what should we do now? We had our picnic, we drank some butterbeer…"

Emily blushed, "I don't know."

Ryan leaned closer. "You know, tomorrow Valentine's Day."

Emily and him were so close that she could count the freckles on his face. "I almost forgot," she said softly.

They drew closer together. "It's such a…romantic day." Ryan's slow, mesmerizing voice flew to Emily's ears. She could hear, see, and smell, nothing but him.

"Yes…it is…" They were so close now. Their lips were getting so close together…

"Emily!"

Emily sat up and looked around to see a devastated Jon looking at her and Ryan. Jon looked like he was about to scream.

"Jon, what is it?"

Jon looked one last time and ran from the pub.

Ryan was rummaging in his pocket and dropped a few galleons on the table.

Emily felt faint. They were so close….so near to each other. They were about to kiss for God's sake!

"We should head back, Emily. Are you ready?" asked Ryan, smoothly.

Emily shook her head. "No, you go on. I'm going to find Jon."

Ryan shrugged. "Okay, see you at dinner then." He pecked her on the cheek quickly and left, the bell ringing behind him.

Suddenly Emily was aware of the noise in the pub. "Oh my gosh!" she gasped. She rushed out of the pub. She had better find Jon and explain. What was wrong anyway? It wasn't like he and Emily were together? 'Unless,' it hit Emily, 'he really did like me that way and I just never knew.'

She shook her head and searched the village for Jon. He wasn't there or on the path back to Hogwarts either. "I'm sure he's in the Gryffindor Tower," she figured. "At least, I hope he is."