Disclaimer: The most I own are some shares of scholastic and my beloved books: )

Author's Notes: I loved the reviews! Thanks to everyone! Totally cheered me up after a bad few days: ) I shouldn't be on now, I have so much work to do, but I prefer working on Emma (and my other fanfics) when procrastinating : ) Enjoy!

: I loved the reviews! Thanks to everyone! Totally cheered me up after a bad few days: ) I shouldn't be on now, I have much work to do, but I prefer working on Emma (and my other fanfics) when procrastinating : ) Enjoy!

Author & Beta Notes: The reviews from last chapter were awesome! It was the most reviews for a single chapter this year, and possible in all of the Emma stories! Totally awesome! Thanks! I love how the general consensus is Harry is a prat : ) He was, but I think everyone will like him in this chapter. Now that we are so close (to Harry finding out), I feel like dragging it out as long as possible

Chapter 8: Encounters

Draco led Emma to the Room of Requirement which opened into a bedroom. Emma lay down on the bed in Draco's arms. "I'm sorry he isn't taking this well," Draco said.

"It's just . . .I've wanted my whole life to be friends with him, and now he is rejecting me." She said something in Irish making Draco smirk.

"I know, and the fact the entire school is hating us right now doesn't help," Draco added. Emma nodded. They were both exhausted from their lack of sleep and extremely stressful lives and fell asleep knowing they would get maybe 4 hours.

Emma woke up the next morning and nestled further in Draco's arms. "You got to get up Emma. You can't avoid them forever."

"I know, but this is nice," Emma said sleepily. Draco grinned.

"Tell you what, skip breakfast; I'll do some damage control. Take a shower and relax before you go to class," he said, and a large, ornate bathroom appeared to the left of the bed. Draco kissed her forehead and headed to breakfast.

Emma took a long hot shower, trying to let the hot water wash off the horrible emotions and thoughts of the school. Draco had returned from breakfast and Emma was still in the shower. "You're going to use up all the hot water in Hogwarts, and that's saying something considering that Hogwarts has charmed their heaters with an endless supply," Draco called through the door. She found a large fluffy towel waiting for her when she finished, courtesy of Draco. It was emerald green.

'Ha ha,' Emma thought. She came out of the bathroom dressed, and charmed her hair to dry. "Well, I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Emma said.

"Dobby," Draco called out. Dobby appeared.

"Young master Malfoy! Mistress O'Neill, what can Dobby do for you?" Dobby asked happily.

"Can you get Emma's school bag for her?" Draco asked. Dobby dissaparated with a pop and reappeared again a few seconds later.

"Anything for Miss O'Neill, we all know how she is friends with Harry Potter," Dobby said.

"I'm afraid not after last night," Emma said sadly. "Thank you, though, Dobby. I appreciate this."

Dobby gave another lopsided smile and dissaparated. 'I'll be with you even if I can't be with you physically' Draco reminded her.

'I know. It's the only way I can do this,' Emma said.

With a deep, stabilizing breath, Emma and Draco left to head to class. The entire day Emma felt like she was wading her way through 5 feet snow drifts. The emotions had only grown stronger overnight. By lunch, Draco had gotten their story amongst the Slytherins, and it started trickling down from there. Emma skipped lunch in favor of the Room of Requirement where she could catch an hour nap.

'Have you noticed the way Snape and McGonagall and Dumbledore have been acting?' Draco asked.

'Not really. They are but a drop in the sea of what I am feeling,' Emma said.

'I know. You should come to dinner, people are starting to believe our cover.'

'I know, now I can feel some of them, mainly Hufflepuffs, pitying me' Emma said. 'Ah, poor Emma. She is lost without Cedric,' she mimicked.

'Pay attention to Snape and Dumbledore' Draco said. 'McGonagall is simply surprised-- it's quite amusing, actually-- but Snape and Dumbledore . . . I don't think they are surprised, but they are planning something, and I think this complicates their plans.' Emma nodded.

'I hope this means they have a plan. I'm working on one incase you don't get the cupboards fixed. . . or choose not to use them.'

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Harry watched Emma come early to dinner, eat barely enough to keep a bird alive, and then scamper out again. Hermione, who he was sitting with today while Ron and Lavender were making out at the other end of the table, had spent the entire day telling Harry every odd thing Emma had ever done and why they shouldn't care what her and Draco did. "Why does she bother you so much? The only other person I've seen you get so upset over have been Lavender and Fleur, and Ron has never shown any interest in Emma," Harry asked defensively. As angry as he was with Emma he didn't like Hermione talking bad about her. Hermione glared at him. Okay, so maybe Ron has nothing to do with Hermione's feelings towards Emma.

He looked at the Slytherins table and saw Draco joking around with his clique. "Did you hear the latest?" Ginny said sitting next to him. "I feel horrid for Emma. Draco's been bragging about his conquest in Gryffindor territory. I guess he just wanted to prove he could get a Gryffindor and Emma got caught in the middle," she whispered.

Harry could believe that of Draco (he could believe anything evil about Draco), but that didn't make sense with Emma. Emma had always seemed the rational, intelligent, cool-calm-and-collected sort (excluding last night he amended). "What do you think?" Harry asked Ginny. "You're her friend."

Ginny looked a little embarrassed. "I . . .I haven't been that good of a friend," She said. "I mean, I have always gone to her when I needed to talk, and we hang out in the Society and all, but I mean, she obviously felt like she couldn't talk to me huh? Otherwise she would have come to me, or Seamus, or someone."

There was a pause and Ginny added, "I think Emma would have gone to Cedric, actually."

Harry didn't know what to say to that. "I have to talk to her," Harry said, and left Ginny, Dean (who was sitting with Ginny), and Hermione at the table. Harry checked the library and then headed to the common room but couldn't find Emma. He waited until well after everyone else had gone to bed before giving up and going to bed himself.

Emma waited until Harry had fallen asleep before she returned to the common room. She guarded him like usual and, as she had since break, fell asleep in the common room. It was calmer than having to deal with a room full of dreams and emotions from her roomates. Pippin woke her up before the others in her dorm had even stirred; she showered quickly, and went to an early breakfast.

'Well, people are starting to believe the story,' Draco said when he woke up. Emma caught his eye across the Great Hall.

'The sad thing is, I wish we could let people know, this way we could talk in front of people, hold hands, not have to worry about people catching our glances. I feel so much like Tristan and Isolde who had nothing but stolen moments that lasted only a breath at a time'

'I wish a lot of things were normal . . .well, obviously not this' he added. Emma grinned to herself. She knew he meant their bond, and that was the one thing she would never want to change either.

Draco was walking along the corridor during his free period that afternoon looking for Harry. After avoiding everyone for so long, it feels odd hunting someone down he thought. He didn't want to take time away from fixing the cupboards, but he knew this was important for Emma. "Potter," he sneered. Harry froze mid-step and turned to look at him.

"What is it Malfoy," Harry asked coldly.

"Let's get one thing straight. I don't like you, and you don't like me. Fine. That I am more than happy to live with. And I know you are trying to bust me with something, fine, but the one thing I won't tolerate is how you've been treating Emma."

"What does it matter to you?" Harry asked. "Isn't she just your Gryffindor conquest?"

"And to think you're the chosen one," Draco drawled as he rolled his eyes. "Do you really think I want to go around with everyone and anyone knowing about us? I am protecting her."

Harry snorted. "Yeah, making her sound like easy shag is a way to protect her."

"Maybe you shouldn't play with the big boys, Potter. Seems you can't keep up," Draco said. He started to walk off. "If you're looking for her, try the Room of Requirement."

Harry watched him walk off and then headed towards the Room of Requirement.

author's notes: I double checked, and it is the most reviews for any of Emma's chapters! Yay: )

Amarthiel-- Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! It's a rumor around school they are dating, but Draco is working on spreading another rumor; Poor Emma! Going from being a no one to a very popular topic of conversation. Everyone is discussing her and Draco, but only Harry (and the trio) will know the truth . . . next chapter : ) Potter Fan Bo-- I'm drawing it out as long as possible! Hopefully it gives you something to work with! Snuffles-Sweetie-- Yes, Harry knows enough to want to know more : ) It all leads to him finding out about Emma being his cousin . . .AnimeCrazy-- Everyone had that reaction (to Harry)! I love it! I think he redeems himself in this chapter . . . at least temporarily. : ) Deanne Stevenson-- Hello! Thank you! Hopefully it is as good as last chapter : ) I read your profile and I love Morgan (From Criminal Minds) too! I have a CM fanfic right now (not very far on it yet, but I love working on it). SongxOfxGlory-- Thanks! I thought the reaction was good too; it seemed like what would happen in a magical high school (at least, I thought so!). Harry has an inkling . . . and soon, a whole lot more! Professor Epona-- Thank you! It means so much since you have read it since the beginning! He finds out about the flashes, Emma, everything next chapter (Finally, I know ; ) Princess Kaira-- I've been sleep deprived the whole year as well : ) I can relate. Thank you! KRP-- you officially get the award for longest review I have ever gotten! To answer your questions . . .Everyone should listen to Emma! The world, especially for Harry, would indeed be a better place (it cracks me up to write that!) Draco and the cabinets are still occuring, not mentioning them was just author oversight. As for the pairings (other people have asked as well) I never explicitly say if the bonding is responsible since Emma and Draco don't know. They just assume it's fate (but it could be the bond). Either way, it was a way for me to get them into the limelight of school gossip. And Hermione will think about it . . . but her reaction will be slightly emotional. As for the freezing thing, it was mental as well as wandless. She does know advanced wandless magic (comes with being on the triad in the society, but that doesn't come up till later), but it was also her mentally taking over their motor functions (again, will be seen more of later). She showed him a few random flashes of her mother's memories . . . maybe a dozen? To Harry, it was all a blur so he didn't distinguish or understand how many their were. And Harry's thought at the end was all him. Emma was already gone and didn't mess with his conscience. Iceball-- Yay! I'm glad you thought it exciting. I hope this chapter is just as good. Childofthekng-- My sentiments exactly! I try to justify it that he is rather emotional (especially compared to Emma and Draco), so something like this would be shocking. Doesn't change the fact I think he was a prat last chapter. : ) BornBlue-- I am so close to the chapter with Harry finding out, that I now want to draw it out as long as possible! But it happens next chapter . . . mostly (Emma might leave out one important piece of information, but . . . you'll see). Erica-- Harry can be a little slow, but he doesn't expect anything like findout out Emma is his cousin. As much of a jerk he was this chapter, I actually think he takes it fairly well next chapter (The chosen one redeems himself: )