Chapter 23 – End of Term

After Dumbledore had left, Madam Pomfrey approached them again and Emma sat up on the cot, cross-legged, expectantly. The matron had a white ceramic bottle in her hands and passed it to Emma.

'I want you to drink that now, before you leave.'

Emma took the bottle and looked at it gingerly, mouth watering, before turning to Madam Pomfrey.

'I thought you were feeding me more than normal tonight?'

'We are. It has an extension charm on it so that it can hold much more than normal. Inside is twice your usual amount.'

Both Emma and Hermione's eyes widened in interest at that. They'd read about extension charms but had never seen their effects. They sounded incredibly useful.

'Is...' asked Emma, feeling the side of the bottle, unsure. 'Is it warm?'

'Yes, it has been heated to body temperature.' said the matron, simply.

'Thank you.' replied Emma, looking at her audience, awkwardly.

'Maybe we should go-' started Hermione.

'That won't be necessary.' replied the matron.

'But...'

'It's okay, Hermione.' stammered Emma, scared. 'I would feel better if you both pointed your wands at me though. And remember, I'm resistant.'

'If you insist.' said Madam Pomfrey, drawing her wand.

Emma sighed, opened the bottle and started drinking before she could smell it. It was a strange idea, to drink double the normal amount, but the moment the blood touched her lips she forgot about it. In fact, as she was enveloped in the blissfully warm pins and needles feeling, she forgot about almost everything. When she had finished, she shuddered and fell backwards. She barely noticed that she'd fallen over and was now lying on the cot again. She was simply amazed to be feeling somewhat full for the first time in a few months.

'What's happening to her?' whispered Hermione, worriedly.

'While blood is a vampire's source of nutrition, it also puts them into a near-euphoric state. I expect that she's barely even aware of our presence any more. It will pass shortly. Animal blood is not nearly as potent as human blood, and the effects don't last as long.'

'How is it that you know so much about vampires, Madam?'

'Oh, it was a part of my training at St. Mungo's Hospital. We used to get the occasional newly bitten vampire seeking help. I always felt so sorry for them, and werewolves too. Their whole world turned upside down in the blink of an eye, with no hope for a cure.' sighed Madam Pomfrey.

Hermione nodded solemnly as Emma stretched her arms out and sat up again, smiling.

'How are you feeling?' asked the matron.

'Much better, thank you, Madam.' said Emma, standing up and moving around.

'Very good. Then you should both return to your dormitories, it is very late. Miss Pearson, would you like me to summon you some more appropriate clothing?'

'No, thank you. I'll change when I get back.'

As they walked slowly back to the common room, not in any rush, they talked amongst themselves quietly. Hermione wanted to know what happened to the troll, and was very impressed with Emma's story. She had thought that maybe Quirrell had dealt with it since they were his speciality after all. Emma had asked about Snape's test, which turned out to be a logic puzzle. The large room had a stand in the middle that had numerous potions on it in a line, some of which were poison, some nettle wine, and two that would allow passage through the flames, one for either direction. A note had been left with clues for them to work out which was which.

'When it said you would find poison on nettle wine's left side, how did you know which way was left? Since the potions were in the middle of the room, if you were on the other side, left would be the other way.'

Hermione stopped in her tracks, stunned.

'I hadn't thought of that.' she said, timidly. 'I solved it from the side I was on, because it was the one with the note.'

'Ahh, that makes sense.' nodded Emma.

Hermione, true to her word, immediately sat down and started writing a letter once they had gotten back to the common room. It was empty as everyone else had already gone to bed.

'Hermione, we can do this in the morning. Go get some sleep, you must be exhausted.'

'We can't wait any longer, term ends soon. We've got to ask my parents and your orphanage if you can stay over, and that all takes time.'

'Thank you, Hermione, but you really don't have to do this. I can go back to the orphanage, it'll be fine.'

'I know I don't have to, but I am, so there.' she said sticking her tongue out at Emma. 'It's like you don't want to stay over.'

'I do.' said Emma vehemently. 'I just don't want to be an inconvenience.'

Hermione rolled her eyes at Emma and continued writing. When she finished the letter, she folded it up and handed it over.

'You can read it if you want, I've not told them much. They already know that you're my best friend and that you live at an orphanage. I just said I would like you to be able to stay over because you'll be miserable otherwise.' smiled Hermione. 'And I know you're going up to the seventh floor to check on Barnabas the Barmy's secret again, so you can deliver the letter on the way. '

'You know me so well.' laughed Emma. 'Thank you, really.'

'Don't thank me yet, they might say no.' said Hermione, turning to the dormitories. 'Goodnight.'

'It's the thought that counts, Hermione, sleep well.'

While Emma did go up to the seventh floor to try new methods of opening the secret door, she was too preoccupied. She kept worrying about the letter on its way to the Granger's and what will happen over the summer. She didn't want to let herself hope that she'd be able to stay with Hermione, as it usually ended with disappointment. Hope was insipid like that. Nothing left an orphan quite so hollow as hope, constantly praying that parents will show up out of the blue, or a nice family will adopt you. Of course, it never happened. Still, hope she did.

Her main worry, however, was her friends. Harry and Ron were still unconscious and Hermione had definitely not been entirely herself since the Unforgivable Curse. Then again, Emma didn't really feel quite like herself after that either. In an attempt to calm herself down, she moved to the hospital wing and sat down by the door, listening to Harry, Ron and Madam Pomfrey sleep.

Emma was woken from her memories when Hermione came by hours later, before breakfast, to check on Harry and Ron. Ron had actually regained consciousness during the night, but he was obviously very tired as he quickly fell back to sleep and started snoring. Hermione had grabbed him, after a few checks from Madam Pomfrey, and taken him to get something to eat.

Since he was only allowed out conditionally, the two of them returned as soon as they had finished and so the three of them found themselves sitting around Harry's cot in the hospital wing, glumly, for the rest of the day. Harry got quite a few visitors over the course of the day, as the news spread about what happened under the school. Neither Emma, Hermione or Ron had told anyone what had happened, but people had noticed Quirrell was missing and rumours were already spreading like wild fire.

Among Harry's visitors, which included Neville, Seamus and Dean, there was also the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Emma recognised most of them, and they were all very concerned about Harry. Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor team captain, however, seemed far more worried that Harry wouldn't be awake for their game against Ravenclaw the following day. Emma was angry at that and found herself growling quietly while glaring at him. She was so distracted that she didn't notice the owl tapping on the window.

'Emma.' said Hermione, loudly, standing near the window and waving a letter. 'It's from mum and dad.'

Emma ran over quickly, excited. 'What did they say?'

'They said they'd love to have you over.' beamed Hermione, as she scanned the rest of the letter. 'Though only if the orphanage gives their permission.'

Emma sighed. She had no idea whether Mrs Cole would agree to it or not.

With the help of Professor McGonagall, Emma managed to write a letter to Mrs Cole at the orphanage. She knew the address, but she needed to know how to get owls to deliver using the muggle post. She also needed a return address that Mrs Cole could send the letter to that would get to Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall had said that all school owls were trained to deliver letters to muggle postboxes if requested, though the letters would need to be stamped and addressed for the muggles to be able to process them properly. Luckily, Hermione had plenty of stamps that her parents had given her before she came to Hogwarts, though she'd never had to use any. The return address was just as straight forward. The letter would be delivered through the muggle post to a department of the Ministry and forwarded by owl.

The most difficult part of the endeavour was deciding what to write. She felt that it would be rude to only ask to stay at a friend's house, especially as she hadn't made a single effort to contact them previously. In the end, she lied, saying that school had been so busy that she hadn't had time to write until now, given that the exams were over. She asked how everyone was doing and whether there were any new children at the orphanage and only added her question to the end as if it were an afterthought. She also added the Granger's contact details, expecting that Mrs Cole would want to talk to them.

When she received the reply the following day, shortly after Gryffindor's abysmal defeat at Quidditch, which neither Emma nor Hermione went to, she was so scared of what it might say that she gave the letter to Hermione. She knew the moment Hermione's face lit up that they'd gotten permission, and when it had been said out loud, they were both kicked out of the hospital wing for being too exuberant.

Emma was ecstatic with the news and spent the whole next day smiling to herself. It wasn't a full smile considering Harry was still unconscious and she still had to tell the Granger's that she was a vampire. Hermione wanted her parents to know, as she didn't keep any secrets from them, but as she said before, it wasn't her secret to tell. Emma wanted to tell them too, because she felt that it would be unfair of her to live with them, without them knowing the danger they might be placing themselves in, even if it meant being rejected. They had both agreed, however, that it would be best to inform Mr and Mrs Granger when they were at the station. Writing that Emma was a vampire on a letter seemed too dangerous. What if someone intercepted it?

Emma felt that she had never smiled so much in her life when Harry finally woke up a few days later. Nearly all of her worries had melted away. The three of them could only visit Harry for a few minutes at a time every couple of hours and having learned their lesson about exuberance, Hermione and Emma waited until Madam Pomfrey was out of sight before giving Harry a group hug, even bringing in a reluctant Ron.

They discussed what happened with Quirrell. Ron, of course, knew nothing after the chess room, which meant Emma had to repeat her story about the troll. Hermione too explained Snape's test to Ron, and Harry revealed to all of them what had happened for Dumbledore's test. The room had only contained the Mirror of Erised, and all Harry did was walk up to it. His reflection had put it's hand in it's pocket, and Harry felt the stone materialise in his own pocket. That was why he was so quick. He'd said Dumbledore had told him that only someone who wanted the stone, but not to use it, would be able to get it.

'So if we hadn't gone down there, Quirrell wouldn't have been able to get the stone at all?' asked Emma, confused.

'I think he would have gotten it eventually.' said Harry. 'But I guess we did make it easier for him.'

They all sighed.

'Can we all have a boring year next year where nothing happens, please.' asked Emma. 'I don't think I can do that again.'

Neither Emma nor Hermione had told the boys about the Cruciatus Curse. It wasn't entirely intentional, it's just that they didn't want to talk about it, even to each other. Harry and Ron had noticed that they were leaving something out, but didn't push them. It moved Emma enough for her to realise that she hadn't been anywhere near as friendly with the boys as she was with Hermione, and it made her feel very guilty.

The last two things of note before term ended was the end of year feast, and the exam results. Emma didn't go to the feast, however, she was told afterward that Gryffindor had beaten Slytherin to the house cup with 482 points to 472. The Slytherin's were angry at having such a long winning streak cut short, but other than that, the feast was entirely uneventful.

As for the exam results, Emma wasn't really surprised with hers, except maybe that she had beaten Hermione on both Charms and Potions by one or two percentage points. She had passed Transfiguration, though only by the skin of her teeth, and her marks for every other subject were happily above average. Hermione, to nobodies surprise, came top of the year by a wide margin. Harry and Ron too did reasonably well, and even Neville had managed to scrape by with a high Herbology mark.

Shortly after the exam results had been given, the four of them found themselves packing up their things, taking another boat ride across the lake, and then filtering onto the train to go home. They had all been given notes warning them not to use magic over the holidays, to everyone's disappointment.

Emma, Hermione, Harry and Ron had found themselves a compartment and they spent the entire trip talking and laughing together as the countryside flew by, steadily getting greener and tidier until villages started turning into towns.

They'd all gotten changed out of their wizard robes into their muggle clothes. Emma watched as the other three put on their jackets and thought that it was a good idea. It was very sunny and Emma wanted to cover as much of her skin as possible.

It took quite a while for them all to get off the platform. A wizened old guard was up by the ticket barrier, letting them go through the gate in twos and threes so they didn't attract attention by all bursting out of a solid wall at once and drawing attention from the muggles.

'You must come and stay this summer,' said Ron, 'the three of you – I'll send an owl.'

'Thanks,' said Harry. 'I'll need something to look forward to.'

Emma felt like she was going to be sick, she'd never been so nervous about anything before. She followed beside Hermione, trying not to look as terrified as she felt, though she didn't think she was succeeding. She barely paid attention when they met Mrs Weasley, though she tried to be polite, however, she did manage to get a good hiss in at Harry's obscenely overweight and incredibly rude uncle, Vernon Dursley.

When Harry and the Weasley's had dispersed, Hermione took Emma's hand and dragged her a little further through the station. Emma saw the Granger's before Hermione did. Mrs Granger had dark brown hair, a little darker than Hermione's, and green eyes. Mr Granger, by contrast, had lighter brown hair and brown eyes. The family resemblance was very clear. Emma pointed them out to Hermione and was then led toward them.

When they were close enough, Hermione let go of Emma's hand and ran to her parents, giving them both a hug at the same time.

'Hi Mum. Hi Dad. I missed you.' she said, her voice muffled by the hug.

'Hello, darling.' they both said, laughing.

Emma stood there looking away awkwardly.

'Oh, Mum, Dad, this is Emma.' she said, releasing her hug.

'Hello, Mr and Mrs Granger, it's nice to meet you.' she said as politely as she could manage.

'Please, call me Jane, and this is my husband, Richard.'

'Okay, then. Thank you, Jane, and Richard, for letting me stay with you. I really appreciate it.'

'It's our pleasure.' said Richard. 'It was such a surprise for Hermione to ask. She's not had many friends before.'

'Dad!' pouted Hermione, pushing him ahead of her. 'Let's get to the car, we've got something to tell you that might change your mind.'

They all walked out to the station entrance and got into the car, Richard driving, Jane in the front passenger seat and Hermione and Emma in the back. Mr Granger was about to turn the key to start the engine when Hermione stopped him.

'Dad, wait. I told you, we have something to tell you.'

'That might change our minds about letting Emma stay with us?' he asked.

'Yes,' said Hermione, a serious expression on her face. 'but it's a secret. You can't tell anyone, especially no-one magical. You can't even tell Harry or Ron.'

'But Harry and Ron are your friends as well.' said Jane, confused.

'It must be a very big secret.' surmised Richard.

'It is.' said Hermione, authoritatively.

'Okay then.' said Jane. 'It's not our secret, so you have our word.'

'What is it?' asked Richard.

'It's not my secret either.' said Hermione, looking at Emma. Mr and Mrs Granger followed suit.

Emma sighed, embarrassed. This was far more attention than she was comfortable with. She decided to get it over with.

'I'm a vampire.' she said, with a hint of deja vu.

Mr and Mrs Granger looked taken aback, but not for as long as she expected they would.

'Really?' asked Richard, curiosity and interest clearly evident in his expression.

'Yes, sir.' said Emma, confused as to why they weren't running away.

'So, do you have fangs?' he asked, smiling now, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

'Yes, sir.' she replied, and barred her teeth at him.

'Those are some very impressive cuspids!' he exclaimed. 'How-'

'Not now, dear.' interrupted Jane, turning to Hermione. 'You said this would change our mind. What exactly did you mean?'

'Because,' said Emma, speaking first. 'it's possible that I could be a danger to you or your family. I don't mean to be, but given my condition, it's something I can't always control.'

'What she means, Mum, is if you cut yourself and bleed all over the floor, she might lose control.' said Hermione. 'But she's only lost control once, and it was nearly a year ago, not long after she first became a vampire. What's more likely to happen is that she'll hold her breath and run away.'

Richard and Jane nodded their heads, thoughtfully.

'Besides, if she does lose control, I can stop her.' grinned Hermione, conspiratorially, pulling out her wand. 'But, nobody at the orphanage would be able to.'

'So how would you rate the danger, sweetie?' asked Richard to Hermione, finally.

'Negligible.' she said, matter of factly.

'Emma?' he asked.

'Unlikely.' she stammered.

Richard then turned to Jane and they both nodded again.

'That settles it then.' he said, starting the engine. 'Emma, you are still very welcome to stay with us.'

It was with that declaration that Emma found herself beaming from ear to ear while they were driving through the London streets, not toward her orphanage, but to a real home, with a kind family and an amazing best friend.