Fifth Year Part One

"Come on, come on…Emily whispered as she stared at the clock. The warm September wind breezed through the cracks in the window pane of her room creating a soft whistling sound that soothed the young girl. "Come on." Suddenly the number changed and a face splitting grin encompassed Emily's features. She threw back the covers and leapt out of bed with all the excitement of a five year old on Christmas morning. Except it wasn't Christmas- it was the first day of term at Hogwarts.

Most people wouldn't be happy to be going back to school, but then again most people didn't get taught magic.

The wooden floor of her room in The Leaky Cauldron creaked as she ran to the door and promptly threw it open; she did it so vigorously that it banged against the wall. The Gryffindor rushed down the hall to her best friend's room and crashed inside "Hanna!" She exclaimed and the blonde's head popped up from beneath the covers.

"Emily!" She gasped, clearly surprised by the brunette's appearance in her room "When did you get here?"

"Yesterday." She replied quickly "We bought all my stuff and my parents left late last night." However Hanna still looked confused so Emily elaborated "The owner told me your room number." Her face lit up with understanding and Emily jumped onto the bed exuberantly. The old bed creaked under the force.

"Ah okay, Spencer and Aria are meeting us at the station later."

"Excellent." Emily grinned and Hanna smiled back in return

"You're in an exceedingly good mood for 7:00 in the morning." The blonde noted, turning an accusing stare to Emily.

"I'm just happy to be going back is all." The Gryffindor defended, ceasing her incessant bobbing upon the bed.

"Uh huh…" Hanna muttered, clearly unconvinced. There was no point lying to her, Emily realised, so the girl relented.

"Fine…I…I'm excited to see Paige, we haven't seen each other all summer and-" The blonde cut her off mid-sentence

"Merlin's beard! You got together didn't you?"

"Maybe…" Emily trailed off but could not help the smile that crept across her face "But you can't tell anyone! Not even the girls."

"Emily, I really don't think they'll care that you're dating a girl." Emily smiled sadly at the Hufflepuff's words

"It's not that…It's because she's a Slytherin. Spencer wouldn't understand." Hanna took Emily's hand into her own; she looked up into the blonde's kind eyes.

"Okay, I promise I won't tell but give them time. They'll come around eventually…well I'm sure Aria won't care but Spencer- she'll take some more convincing. That's not to say we can't do it though." They shared a tender smile before Hanna's turned to a wider grin. "Okay so I have a surprise for you." She sat up fully in bed. Emily waited patiently, albeit she was a tad confused but paid attention none-the-less. In one quick motion Hanna threw back the covers and jumped out of the large four poster bed. Emily's jaw dropped.

The chubby, dirty blonde-haired girl she had known for four years was gone; in her place stood a thinner, platinum blonde woman.

"Holy crap Hanna…you look hot." Emily managed to say after a while.

"Really? Cause I figured you'd be a good judge." Hanna grinned, Emily gave her a disapproving glare in response "Kidding!"

"Am I the first one to see the 'new you'?" The brunette asked and the Hufflepuff nodded "I'm so proud of you Han." The girl stood up and wrapped her friend up in a hug "Wow, there's barely anything left of you to hug." The blonde pulled away and sapped her arm "Kidding!"

Emily was practically shaking with excitement as she boarded the Hogwarts Express. Hanna placed a hand on her shoulder and muttered jokingly. "Calm down girl, you're gonna give yourself a hernia."

"Sorry."

"Don't be sorry, I'm just as excited to be back." Hanna grinned and Emily returned it

"Come on guys! We can't hold this compartment forever." Aria shouted down from an open door. The two girls began to hurry to the compartment but Emily's bag was very heavy so Hanna took it off her. She was only a few steps away from the door when something grabbed Emily's wrist and dragged her into the bathroom cubicle. The Gryffindor was about to cry out before a pair of lips on her own silenced her, Emily's eyes adjusted in the darkness and a pair of forest brown eyes met her own. The kiss ended and she grinned.

"Hello Paige McCullers."

"Hello Emily Fields." Both girls grinned before pressing their lips together in another emotional kiss. "Merlin I missed you." Paige breathed as they broke apart

"I missed you too." Emily whispered and pulled the Slytherin into a tight embrace. Tears welled in her eyes at the feeling of Paige in her arms again. "I'd almost forgotten what you felt like."

"Me too." They didn't let go, instead they just held on for a while longer. Their joined bodies banged against the wall as the train began to pull out of the station and both of them cracked their heads on the wooden door. "Ow!" they chorused and fell into a fit of giggles. Emily couldn't help but kiss the girl again however it didn't last long because both girls were grinning too hard to actually do anything.

"So, does this mean we…are we dating?" Emily asked nervously

"Yeah, I guess we are." Their ever-present grins widened even further before a voice sounded outside of the cubicle.

"Em, are you in there?" It was Aria.

"Err, yeah! Just give me a sec!" Emily looked at Paige nervously "Crap." She whispered as the two girls frantically tried to dislodge themselves from each other. "Meet me on the Island after the feast okay?" She whispered to Paige; the brunette nodded and pressed a brief kiss to Emily's lips. The Gryffindor hurriedly opened the door, dove out and closed it behind her before Aria could see the other girl inside. Aria looked up surprised and Emily quickly asked: "We going or not?"

The Great Hall was almost humming with the First Years' excitement and fear as they lined up in front of the professors'' table, waiting to be sorted into their houses. The Sorting Hat's song was almost as good as the one it had sang back when Emily was sorted into Gryffindor. However the excitement was not just felt by the First Years; it resonated throughout the entire hall from all of the Hogwarts students. Dumbledore had briefly mentioned there was to be an announcement after the Sorting Ceremony. But for Emily and her best friends that was not the main reason for their excitement. Each of the four girls had their own reason to be excited; Spencer had been informed she had a meeting with Professor Lightwood- the coach of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, Aria was psyched for her new Muggle Art Studies class, Hanna was set to meet her new Arithmancy tutor (who was rumoured to be super-hot) and then there was Emily. She was just itching to get out of the feast and rider on her broom to meet Paige over on the Island.

Despite their overwhelming enthusiasm all four girls' attention was focused on the front of the hall where the line of unsorted First Years was shrinking by the minute. One girl however caught Emily's eye more than most; there was something about her nervous green eyes that reminded Emily of someone. It was only when her name was called that Emily realised why the scared expression was so familiar.

"McCullers, Riley!"

"No way…" Emily breathed as the brunette moved up the steps towards the stool. She jabbed Hanna in the side and the blonde whipped round; the Gryffindor whispered in her ear "I think that's Paige's sister." Hanna's eyes widened into plates in surprise.

"Seriously?"

"Well how many McCullers do you know?" Emily asked in a hushed tone before her eyes snapped back up to where Professor McGonagall was placing the Sorting Hat upon the girl's head.

It deliberated over her house placement for a minute before screeching out into the silent hall: "GRYFFINDOR!" The entire table leapt up and the silence turned to thunderous applause, the young girl- Riley- made her way over to the Gryffindor table with a grin that stretched from ear to ear. She sat down amongst some other First Years and began whispering excitedly to a couple of girls who were sat next to her.

"McCullers, must be that Paige's sister- can't believe she made it into Gryffindor house." Spencer muttered darkly behind her (The four friends had long forgotten the rule of sitting on their house's tables) Emily clenched her hands into fists to control the anger that suddenly surged through her being. She took a calming breath and returned her focus to the font of the room.

Around 10 minutes later the Sorting was finished Dumbledore returned to the podium in front of the Professor's table and cleared his throat- gathering the attention of every student in the hall.

"I mentioned earlier that I had an announcement and this is the introduction to that announcement." Dumbledore said in his usual strange manner. "I would like you all to make a warm welcome to our new Defence against the Dark Arts professor; Wayne Fields." The Headmaster made a sweeping motion with his arm as Emily's father, dressed in Wizard robes, walked out and stood behind a chair at the Professor's table. He nodded once with a smile on his face as applause broke out all across the Hall. Whispering chatter soon broke out amongst the students.

"Wayne Fields! No one's heard anything of him in almost 25 years!"

"I heard rumours he's been living as a Muggle."

"Isn't there a girl called Fields in Gryffindor? Is she his daughter?"

"I can't believe he's going to be teaching us!"

"What the hell?" Emily exclaimed as her father took a seat and beamed at all of the students. She turned to her friends who were all wearing similar expressions of confusion, bewilderment and surprise.

"You didn't know he was going to be teaching here?" Aria asked Emily

"No, he didn't say a word." The Gryffindor replied and returned her attention to her father- their eyes met and he gave her a small wave in response; she waved back. Suddenly a thought struck her- a terrible thought. If her father was teaching at Hogwarts he would be able to keep a constant eye on Emily and her actions; in other words he would be able to see who she spent time with.

Paige.

There could be no more weekly meetings on the Island, no more time spent laughing quietly in the stacks of the Library, no more anything.

As the food appeared on the previously empty plates Emily could not help but feel a sense of emptiness. She barely touched her meal and Spencer, Aria and Hanna could not help but notice her subdued manner. As the leftover deserts vanished from the tables Spencer gently laid a hand on Emily's arm, jolting the girl from her stupor.

"Em, are you okay?" Students began to rise from their seats

"Yeah, excuse me." The Gryffindor jumped up and raced from the room.

The warm wind whipped at Emily's face as she flew across Hogwarts grounds on her Firebolt, she raced to the Island not caring if she was spotted; all she wanted was to see Paige. It didn't take long to reach the sandy shores; in the moonlight the sand glistened and gleamed like a thousand diamonds. Emily looked up from the soft sand, damp under her feet but thankfully solid- Emily needed some solid ground right now. The girl sighed but she immediately brightened when her eyes locked with Paige's. Identical smiles spread across their faces and Emily could not help but be reminded of the previous year when they had met in a similar fashion at the oak tree down by Hagrid's hut.

All of her doubts slipped away as she raced towards her girlfriend; her friends, her father, all her worries washed away with the tide as she embraced Paige. The brunette scooped Emily up in her arms- warmth seemed to radiate from her and envelop the girl like a comforting blanket on a cold winter night. "Hey." She breathed, snuggling herself into Paige's neck.

"Hey to you too." The other girl replied, holding Emily so close as if she was scared she would slip away. The two girls continued to hold on for a while longer before pulling away to look at each other, however neither one of them wanted to let go so they clasped their hands together and let them hang between themselves.

Emily got lost in the forest of Paige's eyes, their brown colour seemed to have come from the dark of a thousand oak trees. They didn't say anything else for a while but the silence was not unwelcome or uncomfortable, it was a silence in which words were not needed to convey the emotions they were feeling. The rustling of a rabbit in a nearby bush snapped Emily out of her trance and she blurted;

"I didn't know you had a sister." Paige furrowed her brows and shook her head in mock dismay before replying.

"Yeah, I completely forgot to tell you Riley was coming to Hogwarts this year- then again I have had more important things on my mind." Paige smiled and gently caressed Emily's arm. The Gryffindor grinned in response to the brunette's actions. "Speaking of Riley, seen as though she's in your house would you mind looking out for her? You know, just keep an eye on her and stuff." Paige asked, nervously shuffling her feet- Emily's smile grew wider.

"I'd love to." The other girl grinned and pressed a quick kiss to Emily's cheek in thanks. The brunette dropped one of her hands but kept tight a hold of Emily's left, gently leading her over to a blanket that she had previously laid out in the cove. The two girls laid down and looked up at the glittering sky; a thousand fireflies that danced upon a navy blanket made up the evening and reflected against the murky lake's surface. Emily and Paige lay in silence for a while with their hands clasped tightly between them. However it wasn't long before thoughts of her father wormed their way into her mind, shattering the peace she felt simply lying with Paige. The Gryffindor scooted over slightly and laid her head on Paige's shoulder- the brunette relaxed into the contact and breathed out a sigh of content. The Slytherin couldn't remember the last time she had felt this happy this…at home. Emily then spoke, dragging Paige out of her stupor. "Paige…you know the new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher?"

"Yeah, I can't believe Wayne Fields is going to be teaching us." She grinned excitedly however stopped when she noticed Emily's expression "What's wrong, Em?" she asked, immediately concerned. The Gryffindor turned to face Paige and let a shaky breath out through her teeth.

"I think we're going to have to be more careful about when and where we see each other." Emily briefly glanced down because she couldn't bear to see the pain that swelled in Paige's eyes.

"What, why?"

"Because Wayne Fields is my father."

The brunette lay in shocked silence for a moment before jumping up to rest on her elbow and spluttering out: "Wayne Fields, one of the greatest Aurors in a hundred years is your father."

"Yeah…although I didn't know about it until Spencer and Hanna told me on the Hogwarts Express on the way for my first year here." Emily explained hurriedly, hoping beyond hope that Paige would not be mad that she had failed to mention this before now.

"Em, that is so cool!" She exclaimed with a grin; Emily's eyes spread so wide in shock that it seemed the moon was living in her eyes.

"You're not mad that I didn't tell you?" She asked hesitantly, still afraid of the answer.

"Of course not. I mean sure it would have been nice to know but by the same token I didn't tell you I had a sister." Paige's radiant smile suddenly dimmed by a few watts. "But I get what you mean about being careful, so don't worry we'll be extra cautious."

"You're amazing you know that right?" Emily smiled and pressed a chaste kiss to Paige's lips; the Slytherin's smile returned.

"It has been mentioned." She smirked and they both laid down, snuggling in close and returning to their comfortable silence for a while before the night really began to set in and a cold wind caused them to shiver. This meant they were forced to say their goodbyes.

"Good night." Emily whispered in Paige's ear as the two girls embraced.

"Night." The brunette replied, the two shared a kiss goodnight before Emily pulled away to mount her broom. Paige couldn't help but sigh as she watched the Gryffindor take off back on her way to her dorm.

"So…I'm gonna assume that you've seen Paige already, how is she?" Hanna sked with a grin as the two walked out of Ancient Runes and began dodging the rabble of students making their way down to The Great Hall for lunch.

"Yeah we met up last night and she's…" Emily couldn't think of an adequate way to describe the lilt of Paige's laugh, the way the corners of her eyes crinkled up when she smiled or how her radiance seemed to light up even the darkest of nights. The 5th year got a dreaming look upon her face just thinking about her and Hanna had to snap her out of her Paige-induced trance. "She's good!" Emily exclaimed loudly, catching the attention of a few Third Years; she quickly ducked her head as Hanna let out a laugh.

"Good to hear." The blonde grinned and then added in a more serious tone "I'm glad you've found someone who makes you happy, Em."

"What's this?" Spencer asked, suddenly appearing beside them with Aria in tow. The grin lipped from Emily's face as if it had hit a patch of black ice and the brunette's blood ran cold; how could she explain to them everything that had happened? Thankfully Merlin was on her side as Professor McGonagall stepped out from the crowd in front of them.

"Ah girls, just who I was looking for. Would you mind stepping into my office?" They all stood confused for a moment before she spoke again "Don't look so scared, Emily, you're not in trouble." The other three girl turned to look at Emily who was currently as white as Nearly Headless Nick. The four friends followed the Professor into her classroom, glancing nervously at one another in fleeting moment. McGonagall stood behind her desk and looked over the girls with an unreadable expression; Emily was terrified- their first day wasn't even over yet, how could they have gotten in trouble already? "As you all know, when you become a Fifth Year you have a lot more responsibility with having your O.W.L.S to prepare for and, Spencer, I understand you've been made captain of your Quidditch team- congratulations" The Ravenclaw smiled proudly "What I'm trying to say is I think you girls can handle responsibility therefore I am asking if you would like to become prefects for your respective houses?" All four jaws dropped to the floor.

"P-prefects?" Aria eventually stuttered out.

"Yes." Professor McGonagall replied matter-of-factly

"I for one would be honoured to." Spencer smiled and stepped forward.

"Me too." Hanna swelled with pride

"What do you think, Em?" Aria whispered to her fellow Gryffindor; it didn't take long for her to decide.

"We'd love to Professor." Emily spoke for both her and Aria. The Professor clapped her hands once and gave the girls a rarely seen smile.

"Excellent, I'm glad to hear it." She waved her wand once and four, pristinely polished Prefect badges appeared on her desk. "Your first meeting is on Friday in The Great Hall straight after dinner."

"Thank you, Professor." Spencer replied and they all nodded in agreement. The four stepped forward and took their respective badges with wide smiles.

"Well of you go to lunch girls, have a good day." All four friends hurried out of the classroom, huddled together and chatting excitedly about this new adventure. Emily was only thankful is had distracted them from their earlier topic of conversation.

"Emmy!" Emily's father called from down the corridor, she turned to see him smiling widely at her- she had just finished fifth period and was making her way back to the dorm. The Gryffindor stopped and waited for him to catch up with her as the other students streamed around her.

"Hey, dad." She smiled a greeting as her father grinned happily "How was your first day teaching?"

"It was great, Em, the students really seem to listen and take in what I'm saying." He replied exuberantly. The two walked over to the side of the corridor to take a seat in one of the alcoves and turned to face each other.

"It's probably because you're famous and a good teacher." She replied.

"And what about yours?" He asked. Well it had certainly been an eventful day to say the least- almost having to come clean about Paige, the stress of her new lessons and being made a Prefect.

"Well…There was one thing that stood out." Emily replied and her father motioned for her to continue; the grin that appeared on her face wasn't even intentional. "I was made a Prefect."

"Emmy, I'm so proud of you!" Wayne through his arms around his daughter in a congratulatory hug "I'll have to send an owl to your mother straight away."

"Speaking of home…why aren't you there?" Emily asked bluntly, not bothering with pleasantries

"Ah yes, well…" Her father stumbled over his words "I tried to catch you after the feast yesterday but you just seemed to disappear." Emily tried not to smile at where she had disappeared to. "Dumbledore sent an owl to me at the start of the summer with the proposal of becoming the new Defence against the Dark Arts Professor and it took me a month or so for me to decide and besides, I wanted to surprise you." He explained

"Well you certainly did that." She replied with a forced smile. Emily understood his reasons but she only wished he had told her earlier.

"Are you okay, Emmy? You seem a little down." Wayne asked concernedly

"Yeah I'm fine. I just promised the girls I would meet them in the library." Emily lied- it was becoming too easy for her to lie to the people she loved: her family, her friends; the lies were like venom, seeping into her veins and infecting those around her.

"I see, well I won't keep you from your friends any longer." He pressed a kiss to her forehead and with a smile waved goodbye. Emily let out a hearty sigh of relief, even if lying was becoming easier it didn't make it any less stressful. She hated lying, especially about something important, and Paige was most definitely important. 'Maybe I should talk to Hanna?' Emily wondered, making her way back to the Gryffindor common room.

As the golden plates magically cleared themselves of the remnants of dessert Emily felt her first pang of terror at the concept of the Prefect meeting about to take place. Hanna must have noticed Emily stiffen because she placed a hand over hers comfortingly.

Students began to make their way back to their common rooms whereas the newly appointed Prefects remained behind- they all convened at the front of The Great Hall to begin the meeting.

Emily quickly scanned the faces of those gathered there and was thoroughly surprised when a more than familiar pair of chestnut brown eyes met her own. "Paige." She breathed as a wide grin spread across her face, turning to Hanna she whispered hurriedly "Hanna! Paige is a Prefect- we can spend time together without anyone catching on to us!" the blonde joined in on Emily's grin and gave her a one armed hug.

"Well now that we're all here let's go around the circle and introduce ourselves." The Head Boy spoke, bringing all of the Prefect's attention to where he stood at the head of the circle "I'm Wren from Ravenclaw and this is Meredith, she's from Slytherin- shall we start from the left?" A smallish boy with tangled black hair began

"I'm Lucas from Hufflepuff.

"I'm Jenna from Slytherin." This girl had long brown hair and piercing green eyes- Emily made a mental note to ask Paige about her later. All eyes turned to a girl with dark brown, almost black hair who wore dark red lipstick and had a look about her that seethed superiority.

"My name's Mona, I'm from Ravenclaw." Emily instantly took a dislike to the girl but pushed her from her thoughts as it became Paige's turn to speak.

"I'm Paige, I'm a Slytherin." The brunette's eyes inadvertently locked with Emily's- Spencer however broke the gaze when she jabbed Emily in the side.

"That's McCullers." She whispered disgustedly "How in Merlin's name did she become a Prefect?" Emily bristled with fury- she opened her mouth to protest before thinking better of it and closing it again.

"I'm Holden Straus from Gryffindor." Aria spoke next, giving the boy a small smile.

"Aria Montgomery, also from Gryffindor." Holden looked up in surprise and returned Aria's smile whole heartedly.

"I'm Jake, a Hufflepuff." A brunette boy with rather large muscles introduced himself to the others and the anger began to ebb away from Emily, washing away like the tide in the cove of the Island.

"I'm Caleb from Ravenclaw." 'That's Hanna's tutor' Emily thought as eyes turned to her, waiting for her to speak.

"Emily, I'm a Gryffindor." Paige met her eyes again and smiled proudly.

"Hanna Marin, I'm also a Hufflepuff." The blonde grinned happily, still not quite believing she had been entrusted to be a Prefect.

"Spencer Hastings, Ravenclaw." The last of the friends spoke to the group in her usual manner, chin raised and eyes gleaming with pride.

"Name's Jackson, Slytherin."

"I'm Marcia, I'm a Hufflepuff."

"Toby- also a Hufflepuff." Spencer practically swooned as he spoke.

"Travis, I'm from Gryffindor." A boy with a heavy country accent said before the last boy introduced himself.

"And I'm Connor. Ravenclaw." After that Wren brought the attention back to himself.

"Excellent! Now that we're all acquainted we can get on with the meeting. Sadly some of our older Prefects couldn't be here what with revision and all but for you first-timers we better tell you what your duties are." Emily was terrified, but also excited- being a Prefect was a lot of responsibility but it was something she considered herself ready for. "Firstly, keeping the younger students in check, enforcing rules and such and -if needs be- deducting points, however you cannot take points from other Prefects. Also night patrols- this just involves patrolling the castle for a couple of hours to make sure there are no students wandering around after hours."

"This year there is to be a new pairing system." Meredith spoke for the first time "Dumbledore wants there to be more inter-house cooperation, so your patrolling partners will not be from your own house and don't bother moving- we've already assigned partners." A chorus of groans spread throughout the group which were quickly silenced by a menacing glare from Meredith.

"Your patrol partners are; Jackson Barker and Aria Montgomery, Toby Cavanaugh and Spencer Hastings." The Ravenclaw did a small fist bump in celebration. "Emily Fields and Paige McCullers." Their eyes locked onto each other as they attempted to stop their mouths from falling open in shock- fate was most definitely on their side tonight "Lucas Gottesman and Mona Vanderwall, Travis Hobbes and Marcia Rose and finally we have Hanna Marin and Caleb Rivers." The two shared a smile before Wren spoke again. "Now- the rota for patrols changes but it will be posted on the wall outside of the Prefect's bathroom on the fifth floor; check tomorrow for your assigned day and the next meeting will be in a month's time. I think that's it." He began to bring the meeting to a close "I suggest that you all get to know your partners before you have to do patrol- break the ice and whatnot. See you all soon." The Prefects began to make their exits from the room until the only ones left were Spencer, Emily, Aria and Hanna- Spencer made a beeline for Emily.

"Be careful around Paige, Em, last year we named a Quidditch penalty after her she's so ruthless." That was it, Emily couldn't take anymore.

"Would you just stop!?" Aria and Hanna whipped round in surprise- Emily rarely shouted. "What exactly is it you have against her?"

"She's a Slytherin isn't that enough of a reason?" Spencer replied indignantly

"So? Someone's house doesn't decide who they are or what they'll become." Emily yelled, she was positively sick of Spencer always making digs at Paige and Slytherin house. "A stupid school team shouldn't affect how we look at someone or how we judge them, or even if we should judge them at all!" The Gryffindor's fists balled up in fury, Hanna noticed this and began to walk over to the arguing friends. "You have to get to know someone before you can even make a judgement on their character or who they are."

"Oh and I assume you know her well?" Spencer scoffed; arms folded across her chest tightly.

"As a matter of fact-" Hanna had reached them and placed a calming hand on Emily's shoulder. This made the Gryffindor realise that revealing her secret now would be stupid and not help the situation whatsoever, so she quickly corrected herself "We had Care of Magical Creatures together last year and she was always nice to me."

"She probably only did it so you could help her pass." Spencer protested. This however was entirely false as it was Paige who actually helped Emily pass.

"How can you be so close minded?" Emily practically screamed

"How can you be so gullible?" Spencer yelled back

"I'm so freaking done with you Spencer!" Emily turned and stormed from the room, Aria and Hanna stood shell-shocked. Spencer then also stormed from the room leaving Hanna and Aria to simply share a surprised and uncertain look.