Fourth Year Part Two

Care of Magical Creatures fast became Emily's favourite subject at Hogwarts, mainly because it was the only time during school hours they could talk without arousing suspicion- it was in one of these classes that Emily started to realise her feelings for Paige weren't exactly friendly. It had started out a normal lesson, looking after the young Selkies in their pool and feeding them- nothing out of the ordinary. Paige was gently easing a small minnow into one of the baby's mouths when it suddenly splashed away, effectively soaking the girl. The brunette jumped back in surprise as the icy water hit her; Emily also jumped back, trying to avoid the arc of the water. Paige looked down at her drenched robes and where others would have cursed she just laughed. "You alrigh' o'er there Paige?" Hagrid called from the other side of the pool where he was helping a Gryffindor to clean a Selkie's claws.

"Yeah, just a bit damp." She replied with a chuckle and looked up at Emily. When their eyes met it was like Emily was seeing her, really seeing, her for the first time. A warmth spread from her heart all the way down to the tips of her toes and she couldn't help but smile at the Slytherin. Emily had never felt this way before and if she was being honest, had no idea what exactly it meant. It wasn't until later that day when she was talking to Spencer about Toby that she realised. She cared about Paige, really cared about her, and that thought- no that realisation terrified her.

Later that same month Emily felt the warmth again, this time it was deep within the stacks in the Library. She and Paige were discussing the new Firebolt 1.7 and the way Paige was so enthusiastic about it made Emily's heart swell. She had noticed that the Slytherin used her hands a lot when she talked and that day was no exception, her arms waved and her fingers danced- Emily was mesmerised by the girl. Everything she did she seemed to do with such grace and then other times she was the clumsiest girl in the world. What Emily loved most about Paige was her smile, or rather one specific smile that was reserved just for Emily. It started out with the right side of her mouth twitching upwards which then turned into a lopsided grin, then the left side of her mouth caught up and she shone. Shone brighter than the stars and the moon combined. It was also at this time that Emily realised what she was feeling was not strictly normal. When had she ever felt this way when talking to Hanna? She hadn't. When had she felt this way when talking to Ben? (Who the girls insisted had a crush on her) She hadn't. Truth was nothing she felt when she was with Paige was before experienced, it was all shiny and new and utterly petrifying.

Around Easter Emily stopped trying to fight what she felt. If these feelings were so strong and refused to be suppressed then surely they were meant to be there. Or at least that's how Emily saw it. The Gryffindor told no one of what she was coming to realise. Told no one of her late night trips to the medical section of the Library to see if what was happening to her was a disease. Told no one when she found out who she truly was. Emily told no one of her late nights where she would simply cry.

Emily kept her mouth firmly shut.

Spring arrived but the cold refused to leave, like a stubborn child it lingered- afraid it would miss something if it left the room. In an attempt to lift the students' spirits McGonagall organised an extra trip to Hogsmeade for the third years and above. As soon as it was announced Spencer of course had to create an itinerary for them to visit every shop there was, despite the fact that they had all gone to all of them before but Emily had no intention of sticking to her plan- Paige and herself had already thought ahead to seize this opportunity to meet up, hopefully, without too much trouble. They had arranged to meet in the forest near the Shrieking Shack- almost no Hogwarts students went near the place, and those who did didn't stick around long. For about the fiftieth time in the past ten minutes Emily looked at her watch; 12:13, if she wanted to meet Paige for 12:30 she would have to get away soon. However Spencer was on the ball today and she refused to let up, Emily needed a way to get away and fast; Hanna noticed the other girl's restlessness. "Hey, Em, are you alright?" the blonde asked. Emily snapped her head sideways, surprised.

"Yeah why to you ask?"

"Well you've been jiggling your leg so fast that I can feel the vibrations in my foot." Hanna replied and Emily instantly stopped.

"Sorry." She apologised

"Its fine…Wait, do you need to be somewhere because whenever I'm desperate to get away I always do that." Hanna continued and Emily wondered how on earth this girl was ever considered the dumb one of the group. "Is this about your friend in Slytherin?" Hanna whispered the last part so that the other girls would not hear. Emily couldn't lie, not to Hanna- not after how kind and considerate she had been regarding her mystery friend.

"Yeah, we arranged to meet and if I don't get out of here fast I'm gonna be late." Emily explained.

"So what you're saying is you need a distraction."

"What? No I don't mean-" But Hanna cut Emily off

"Leave it to me." Hanna stood up abruptly and Aria and Spencer both turned to her "Guys, there's something I really need to tell you." Even Emily's attention was solely focused on Hanna right now. "I…" But before she could fully begin she dropped to the floor as she fainted. All three girls shot up but Emily got there first "Go" Hanna whispered "Now's your chance." Emily's eyes widened as everyone else in The Three Broomsticks shot up and raced to Hanna's side. Emily saw her opening and before dashing out of the door mouthed

"Thank you." To Hanna. Then she was running with a wide grin plastered to her features.

Emily made it to the edge of the forest and saw a familiar shape leaning against the tree, huddled up against the cold. "Paige." She breathed and somehow the brunette heard her- she turned and a grin spread across the Slytherin's face. Emily rushed over and noticed Paige's nose was bright red /and her cheeks the same shade. "Merlin's beard, Paige, are you okay?" Emily placed a hand onto the 12other girl's shoulder and was shocked to find she was freezing.

"It's a tad cold out here and I forgot my big coat."

"A tad cold? It's well below freezing! I'm surprised you haven't frozen already." Emily immediately began unzipping her large winter coat.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"Giving you my coat otherwise you really are gonna freeze." Emily replied as if it was the simplest thing in the world. She tried to put it on Paige but the other girl resisted. "What are you doing?"

"Stopping you putting the coat on me, Em, if you give it to me you're gonna be the one that's freezing." Paige explained, still resisting against Emily and her large coat.

"Yeah well you've been out here longer." Paige did not relent "Please Paige, let me." At Emily's soft words the Slytherin final stopped struggling and let Emily place the coat around her shoulders; once it was there Paige hungrily wrapped it tight around herself. Emily settled down next to Paige and leant against the tree trunk; it wasn't long before she was shivering manically.

"See I told you!" Paige exclaimed trying to shrug off the coat "You're gonna freeze to death."

"We both are, what should we do?" Emily asked and the two girls looked at each other, stumped.

"We could always share." Paige muttered and Emily leapt at the girl snuggling into her side and wrapping the coat around their joined bodies.

"Thank God we sorted that out." Emily said happily, drinking in Paige's body heat. The Slytherin sat awkwardly for a while with Emily latched onto her side but soon she began to relax and wrapped her arm around the Gryffindor in a close embrace. Their combined body heat under the coat was more than enough to keep them pleasantly warm and so they continued to chat.

"I have to say that Dolphins have to be my favourite animal; non-magical that is." Emily said

"I don't really have a favourite, I love all animals." Paige smiled down at her and Emily looked up into her brown eyes happily. She rested her head against Paige's shoulder and the Slytherin couldn't help but rest her head upon Emily's dark hair. She smelled of cinnamon and soap- and unusual but not unpleasant scent; Paige revelled in it.

"I love spending time with you, Paige." Emily admitted quietly "You light up my week, no you light up my life." Emily looked up again and after meeting her eyes for a moment she once again found herself staring at Paige's lips only this time there was no one around to see the uncertain glances.

"I…I love spending time with you too, Em." She replied, uncertainly- not uncertain about her words, she knew for a fact she loved her time with Emily more than anything else. That wasn't the cause for her uncertainty- Paige was uncertain about what was going to happen next. She knew what she wanted to happen; she had known since Halloween but she was scared, scared of rejection, scared of people's responses she was just plain scared. But now as Emily leaned closer she wasn't just scared, she was excited. What happened next could change everything. Paige leaned closer, mirroring her actions from Halloween and just before their noses touched a crashing noise behind them made them both leap back and whip their heads round in the direction of the noise. Emily was the first to recognise the cause of the noise.

"Hanna?"

"Listen, Em, I'm really sorry that I followed you, I just…I wanted to meet this friend of yours. I know you've been sneaking off to see him and you always come back so happy so I wanted to meet him." Hanna explained as she rounded the tree "And if by what I can see from here is what it looks like you two are far more than just friends…" The blonde trailed off as she came around the front and got her first real look at the gobsmacked girls. Emily froze, her limbs stiffer than when she had been out in the cold without the jacket. She opened and closed her mouth like a fish for a few seconds before settling with it closed. What was she going to say? How could she explain this? "Okay…Not what I was expecting." Hanna spoke for the first time in a few minutes, Emily looked over at Paige who looked like she was about to cry. Emily felt a similar sensation begin to form in her eyes. Emily's hand found its way into Paige's under the coat and Paige's eyes snapped to Emily's the instant they touched. The Slytherin's eyes were pleading, but so were Emily's. "So this is the lady who's been making my Em so happy, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." Hanna stuck out her hand in Paige's direction "Hanna Marin." She introduced herself. Emily and Paige both sat with their mouths agape for about ten seconds; Hanna moved her hand slightly as if reminding Paige it was there. Paige suddenly became acutely aware of her surroundings and leapt up, however Emily kept tight a hold of her hand. She had let go once and she wasn't about to do it again.

Paige was still unsure of this drastic change in events but she took a hold of Hanna's proffered hand with her own free one and shook "Paige McCullers."

"Hanna what are you-" But Emily was cut off by the blonde

"I'm glad to finally meet you, Paige." She smiled before turning to Emily who was still stood gobsmacked. "Come on, Em, you can't honestly expect me to have a problem with this? I'm just glad you've found someone to make you happy." Emily's shocked expression turned to one of joy as she ran forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Hanna. The blonde returned the hug with a smile before stepping back and watching as Emily grasped Paige's hand again. "Now by the looks of how awkward that was I'm guessing that was going to be you guy's first kiss so I am going to go now." Hanna started to walk away but whispered in Emily's ear "She's hot."

Paige turned to Emily as Hanna disappeared into the trees. "That was certainly not what I was expecting."

"You can say that again." Emily agreed before looking down at their joined hands- the pale of Paige's skin against Emily's own caramel tone contrasted yet matched perfectly. "Speaking of repeating things; wanna try that kiss again?"

"Not now, later- I want it to be perfect. Besides, I'm not entirely sure I know what this," She gestured to both of them "Is yet, I know I care about you, Em, I really do but I need to do some figuring out on my own you know?"

"I do." Emily replied simply.

Emily's fourth year at Hogwarts passed by in flash, Ravenclaw won the Quidditch cup whereas Hufflepuff managed to win the House Cup- safe to say the majority of Slytherin weren't happy to hear it but it was nowhere near the amount of grief they would have had to suffer if Gryffindor had won. The Great Hall was adorned with yellow and black banners with tapestries of the Hufflepuff emblem everywhere. Hanna could not have been more ecstatic. "I can't believe we won!" She grinned "Hufflepuff never wins!" All four girls celebrated with her along with the rest of the school and sadly it was over too soon. The feast ended and the students were boarded onto the Hogwarts Express, luggage in tow. Mike seemed the most disheartened by the fact that they were going home, but by the same token he could not wait to see his parents and tell them everything he had learned. The five friends tumbled into a free compartment and began the task of lifting all of their trunks onto the luggage railings; Emily and Spencer did most of the work as they were the only ones tall enough to reach. Around ten minutes later they were all sorted and the train was just about to leave; they all sat down in the same way as they had back in September on the way to Hogwarts. The engine chugged into life and the scarlet steam engine began to pull away from the ancient castle. The Gryffindor stared out of the window and smiled as she spotted the oak tree where she and Paige had met on the first day of term- she remembered it as clearly as if it was yesterday; spotting the brunette by the treeline and running towards her to wrap her in a tight embrace. Emily suddenly realised that things had certainly changed since then. Their almost-kiss in the woods still played heavily on her mind; the way their hands fit perfectly together, the warmth under the coat, the way Paige looked at her. It was the source of much turmoil and joy. Since then they had returned to the way they were-just good friends. Paige had asked for time to figure things out and that was exactly what Emily was going to give her. She had certainly needed the time to sort out what was the new normal for her, at some points she had forgotten what normal felt like. If Paige needed time that was what she was going to get, no matter how long that was going to take.

Paige fiddled with the pendant that hung around her neck. It had become a nervous habit, because when Paige was scared or nervous she always went to Emily and right now the pendant was the closest thing she had to her. Paige knew exactly what she wanted she was just too scared to admit it. No she was too scared to ask for it.

Her hands moved from the pendant and instead began to thumb the box within her pocket. The object within had taken her months to make and perfect but she knew the final product was worth the hours spent on enchantments. Paige let out a shaky breath and peered round the corner of the compartment, through the glass she saw Emily sat happily gazing out the window deep in thought. It was now or never. The Slytherin gulped and stepped out; she knocked on the door.

All eyes turned to the door to the compartment as a knock sounded on the glass. It was Hanna who moved first, she opened the door to find Paige standing outside looking very nervous. "What do you want McCullers?" Spencer snapped and Emily almost shook with rage.

"I-err…Emily you left one of your textbooks in our last Care of Magical Creatures class. I have it." She stuttered and Emily furrowed her brows. The Gryffindor knew for a fact that she hadn't.

"Oh, thanks Paige. I'll come and get it." Emily replied, rising quickly and following the Slytherin down the corridor. Hanna stuck her head out of the door and gave Emily a thumbs up before shutting the door and returning to the conversation in the compartment. "Paige-" Emily began before the brunette cut her off.

"I have something for you." She blurted and Emily smiled.

"I'm gonna assume that it's not my textbook because that's safely packed away in my trunk." She chuckled and Paige smiled nervously.

"No it's…a very late Christmas present- in fact think of it as an early Birthday present." Paige rambled "Or even both rolled into one, or maybe it's not big enough to be both presents but you know I could always-" Emily cupped Paige's cheek with her hand and the Slytherin's ramblings were instantly stopped.

"Paige, you're babbling."

"Oh yeah, right, sorry I do that." She spoke very fast, Emily almost found it hard to understand her "Anyway, yes! I have a present." She reached into her robes and rummaged around in one of the pockets before pulling out a small black and silver box "I hope you like it…" Paige handed Emily the box and the Gryffindor smiled before nervously opening it up. She gasped in surprise. Inside the box was a pendant- much like that Emily had given Paige, but instead of having the House crests on it had a dolphin surrounded by crystal blue waves that…moved.

"Paige it's…" The Gryffindor was speechless

"Do you like it? Cause if you don't I could always-" But once again Emily cut her off with a huge hug. Paige's hands hung uselessly by her sides before she too wrapped them around Emily's body. Paige smiled happily as Emily's warmth spread all across her body. It wasn't long before they broke apart and Emily whispered happily

"I love it. Thank you." Paige gestured for Emily to give her the necklace and the Gryffindor complied, handing over the pendant she waited as Paige placed the necklace over her head. Emily shivered as Paige's hands came into contact with her neck as the Slytherin lifted her hair out from under the necklace's chain. Their eyes locked and Emily's breaths became shallow. This time it wasn't Emily that leaned forward first; it was Paige. This was it, the point of breaking, a tip where both dared to balance if only the girls allowed themselves to lean over the edge. They'd been here before but hadn't trusted themselves to make that leap, scared that they wouldn't be caught before they hit the floor. Falling may be fun but only until the ground breaks not only your fall but far more however this time Paige jumped; the brunette glanced once at Emily's lips before rushing forwards and as their lips collided for the first time Emily had never felt more at home.