Chapter 43 : The morning after the night before . . .
Ginny was sitting up in her bed, stretching, when Hermione turned her head and looked at her, bleary eyed.
"What time is it?" Hermione croaked.
"Sevenish," Ginny replied, glancing at her watch, as Tonks rolled over and put her pillow on top of her head.
"Oh." Hermione looked around the room as she sat up. "Where's Luna and Emma?"
"Bathroom, probably," Ginny swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, yawning. "Going to the loo, myself."
Hermione nodded and stretched, then flopped back onto her pillow, luxuriating in the peace and quiet. Luna padded softly into the room, toothbrush in hand and towel over her arm.
"Good morning, Hermione." Luna smiled at her friend.
"Good morning, Luna. Sleep well?" Hermione propped herself up on one elbow and smiled back at the blond Ravenclaw.
"Yes, although I did wake up once, must have been a owl sitting on the dormer roof, hooting. By the way, why wasn't Emma in her bed?"
"She went to the loo," Hermione answered.
"No, not early, I heard her tell Ginny where she was going. But when I woke up later in the night, she wasn't in her bed."
Hermione sat up, looking at Luna with her eyebrows raised. "Really?"
Luna nodded. "I don't think she ever came back."
Just then Ginny returned. "Hermione, Emma isn't in the bathroom."
"I know, because Luna just told me she never came back to the room when she left, last night, to go to the loo."
"What? Oh, dear . . . I hope she didn't take it into her head to wander around the castle by herself . . . she could have gotten lost . . . or Peeves might have locked her in a classroom . . . we'd better tell the guys," Ginny waved her wand and transfigured her pjs back into her regular clothes, did a 'freshening' spell, even as Hermione hustled out of bed and off to the bathroom. Ginny walked over and gently shook Tonks' shoulder. "Tonks . . .wake up . . . we might have a bit of a problem on our hands."
"meroblm . . . mut meroblm?" came the mumbled reply, from under the pillow.
"Emma's missing."
"WHAT!" Tonks shot straight up. "BLOODY HELL!" She scrambled out from under the covers and grabbed her wand, transfiguring her clothes, even as Hermione came flying back into the room, transfiguring hers on the run.
"Oh, good, you're up," Hermione came over. "Luna noticed that Emma never came back from the loo last night. She might be anywhere in the castle, but we have to find her."
"Well, that should be fairly easy," Luna injected, as the others swung around to face her. "Ask the House Elves where she is . . . nothing gets past them." She smiled and then blinked, tilting her head, looking at the three gaping mouths before here.
"Luna!" Hermione threw her arms around Luna and hugged her. "You are brilliant!"
"Posey!" Ginny called.
'Pop"
"Yes, Missy Ginny, how can Posey help you?" The House Elf assigned to the girls part of the Gryffindor Tower stood there, all smiles and eager to please. "Oh! Good morning, Missy Hermione, Missy Luna, Missy Tonks."
"Good morning, Posey," they chorused.
"Anyway . . . Posey, would you happen to know where Missy Emma is right now?" Ginny asked, trying to keep the rising panic out of her voice.
"Yes, Missy Ginny, her am in the Common Room . . . sleeping on the sofa . . . with Master Draco." Posey informed them, smile on her face.
"What?" "Really?" "Oh, my." "I suspected as much."
That last statement from Luna made the others turn their attention once more to their blond, dreamy eyed classmate.
"What?" Hermione said, surprised. "Suspected as much?"
"Of course . . . Draco's waited sixteen years to see her again," Luna shrugged. "I imagine he wanted to spend as much time as possible with her. They probably talked most of the night."
"Let's hope that's ALL they did," Ginny growled, as she stormed out of the room, the others hot on her heels.
"Did Posey say something wrong?" asked the House Elf, wringing her hands.
"No, Posey, just something unexpected," Tonks threw over her shoulder, smiling back at the diminutive creature. "It's quite alright. Really!"
"We'll see about that!" Hermione muttered to Ginny, who nodded.
X X X
They were standing on the landing, looking down into the Common Room, when Dan, Harry, Neville, Ron & Rupert joined them.
"Morning honey," Harry kissed Ginny on the cheek. "Ah, what are we looking at, by the way?"
Silently, Ginny pointed down to the couch in front of the fireplace. Two figures could be seen, lying there, arms around each other, partially covered by a quilt, oblivious to their astonished observers.
"Bloody hell!" gasped Ron.
"Shhhhhhhhh!"
"Is that?" Rupert craned his neck for a better look.
Just then, Tom, the twins and Teddy arrived. Tom took one look down at the couple on the sofa and clamped his hand over his mouth, to keep from bursting into laughter. Several smacks from the women shut him up, "Ow! Gerroff!" he hissed.
"Why are you laughing?!" Hermione hissed back at him.
"Because I told Emma, back when we were at Grimmauld Place, that first day, that Draco, even back then, was falling in love with her. Seems the wait was worth it . . . for him!"
"Tom!" Dan and Rupert both turned, staring daggers at their friend.
Putting his hands up, he smiled and then pointed. "Relax you two, they're still fully clothed! Well . . ." he strained to get a better look over Dan's head. "In their pjs, at least. But you two know Emma as well as I, she's not a 'one night stand' type of girl, even if she wouldn't remember that night. "
"That's what I said; they just talked late into the night and fell asleep," Luna agreed, smiling at Tom.
X X X
Draco, not moving his lips, whispered in Emma's ear, having felt her start to stir in his arms. "Don't move, Emma . . . we're being watched."
He felt her tense slightly and then relax.
"Who is it?" she asked, keeping her eyes closed and her lips still.
"The whole gang, except maybe Remus and Sirius. No, wait, I can hear them coming down to the landing. I'm trying not to laugh, but this really is too funny. They think we . . . Tom assured them we didn't 'do the deed' . . . and I quote, She's not a 'one night stand' type of girl, even if she wouldn't remember. Very loyal, our Tom."
"VERY! Oh, and I'm assuming the 'Silencing Spell' is still working, if you're this chatty," Emma said, fighting to not smile or move her head, as much as she really wanted to look up and see the laughter in his eyes.
"Perfectly. Ooooo, I just had a wickedly Slytherin thought; what do you say, Emma , my love, to giving them their money's worth. It'll be a good payback for snooping on us!"
"If it involves you kissing me good morning, then I'm all for it," Emma whispered.
"It does indeed . . . very Slytherin answer, by the way. Now, here's what we'll do. "
X X X
Remus and Sirius had been silenced, with Tonks and George's hands over their mouths, while the whole incident was whispered in their ears, their eyes flying wide. They looked over the balcony and then at the others, who were nodding and putting their fingers to their lips, to tell them to be quiet!
"Look!" Neville hissed, pointing.
As one, the crowd focused their attention downward and watched as Draco moved slowly, trying to stretch without waking Emma, but despite his careful movements, Emma squirmed, stretched and then, opening her eyes, smiled at him.
They were talking, but no-one could hear what was being said.
" 'Silencing Spell'?" Fred whispered to George, eyebrow raised.
"That's what I'd do," George answered back, winking.
A sudden intake of breath by several in the group turned the twins attention once more to the couple below, who were snogging quite passionately. When Draco stopped kissing Emma and said something to her, she nodded and then hugged him, which put her in a position to be looking up at the stairway. As one, the watchers ducked down, so as not to be seen. Luna, being in a better position, near the corner, took a peek.
"They're getting up off of the sofa, hugging, kissing again . . . they're coming toward the stairs!"
With much scrambling, ducking , shoving and smothered giggles, everyone scattered back to their dorm rooms as Draco and Emma approached the staircase, arms around each other's waist. They could hear the retreating footsteps, so they stopped at the base of the stairs and burst into peals of laughter. When they calmed down, sufficiently, Draco removed the 'Silencing Spell' as they walked up the stone steps, hand in hand, parted with a kiss and went to have some more fun at their friends' expense.
X X X
"Good morning!" Emma said, smiling as she entered the dorm room wrapped in a Hogwarts bathrobe, pjs over her arm, toweling her hair dry. She tossed the pjs onto her bed and covering her head with the towel, proceeded to rub her hair vigorously.
"Ah, we do have drying spells for your hair, Emma," Ginny ventured, as Hermione transfigured Emma's pjs back into her clothes and did a refreshing spell for good measure.
"Oh, thanks anyway, Ginny , but my hair's short enough that this will do just fine." Whipping off the towel, she ran her fingers through her curls. "Ta-Da! Why, thank you, Hermione! You all are already dressed . . . don't wait for me, I'll be right down."
"Okay . . . right . . . ladies, shall we?" Tonks jerked her head toward the door.
"We'll see you downstairs," Luna said, as she followed the others out.
"You already have," Emma snickered, after they left the room, as she put her blouse on and buttoned it.
X X X
"Why didn't you say something?!" Ginny hissed at Hermione.
"Why didn't you?!" Hermione shot back.
"Because, if anybody said anything, she'd have known we'd seen Draco and her," Luna concluded, logically. The other two knew she was right.
"Let's just not say anything; if they bring it up, fine, but otherwise, it really isn't any of our business," Tonks added.
The four women continued down the stairs to the Common Room, brows furrowed, wondering what the real story was.
X X X
Draco walked into the dorm room he had been assigned to share with Tom, George, Fred and Teddy, fully dressed, having transfigured his clothes on the way. Four heads swiveled to look at him as he came through the door.
"Ah, there you are, Draco. Where you been, then? " Tom asked.
"Couldn't sleep, took a walk and wound up on the sofa down in the Common Room. Just too strange sleeping in the Gryffindor dorm room, I guess," he added, shrugging. "You lot ready to go down to breakfast?"
"Yeah." "Sure" "I'm starved!" "Yes, indeed."
"Well, then let's get this show on the road, as they say . . . isn't that the right expression, Tom?" Draco smiled.
"Right on the money! Let's hurry down before Ron and Rupert get there, or there'll be nothing left!"
Draco stood aside, and bowed, waving the others out the door before him. He was grinning from ear to ear as he followed them down the steps.
X X X
Harry, Dan, Ron, Rupert, Neville, Sirius and Remus were lounging around the Common Room when the ladies arrived, followed by Emma. Good mornings were exchanged, and then a silence settled over everyone, as they waited for the last group to join them. It wasn't a minute later that Fred, George, Tom and Teddy came clattering down the stairs, Draco calmly walking behind them.
As Draco took the last step off the stairs, he looked up and spotted Emma. He froze, everyone else watching from him to Emma and back, like a tennis match . . . who would move first, what would they do or say? The suspense was killing them. Then Draco broke into grin. Emma took off, running the length of the room and leapt into his outstretched arms, wrapping her legs around his waist, kissing him as he spun them around.
"DRACO! " "EMMA!"
As they stopped spinning and snogging, Emma dropped her legs and stood there, Draco's arm around her waist, hers around his, looking puzzled.
"What?"
"Never mind." Tonks said, turning away from them and facing the group of open mouthed onlookers, pointing to the door. "Breakfast, now!"
With much shaking of heads and a few snickers, they obeyed her, with Draco and Emma bringing up the rear, holding hands.
"You 'd think they'd never seen two people snogging!" Draco exclaimed, loud enough for all of them to hear.
"Of course they have, Draco . . . they were watching us for a good five minutes earlier this morning," Emma replied, in an equally loud voice.
Tom exploded in laughter, followed by Fred and George, then the rest, as they made their way down the main staircase to the Great Hall.
"I guess we deserved that," Harry said, when they reached the bottom.
"We did a fair amount of talking last night, Harry, and fell asleep on the couch. . . Wizards Honor," Draco replied.
"And a fair bit of snogging, too, " Emma added, grinning.
Harry nodded and started into the Great Hall, but stopped to turn and face the couple. "You do know, Draco, that Tom, Dan and Rupert would have your arse if you didn't behave like a gentleman," Harry advised him
"Oh, indeed I do," nodded Draco, soberly.
"Draco truly is a gentleman, Harry," Emma said, leaning her head on his shoulder.
Harry looked at the two of them, then smiled, nodded and turned to continue into the Great Hall. They walked down to where the others were seating themselves, smiles on their faces.
X X X
"Headmaster Dumbledore sends his greetings to you all this morning," Minerva informed the people seated at the tables, waiting for breakfast to begin. "He begs your indulgence, as his favorite treat for the summer is having a bit of a lie in and then breakfast in bed."
"Sounds like an excellent plan, to me," Sirius replied, hiding a yawn behind his hand. "These late night shenanigans are not as easy to recover from as they were when we were students here, isn't that right, Remus?"
"Oh, please, Sirius; you slept like a log and you sounded like you were sawing it in two . . . that's why 'Silencing ' spells are so dead useful."
"I'll second that!" laughed Tonks, which earned her a surprised look from her husband, with a high-five second from their son! Everyone was laughing, as the Weasley contingent from The Burrow arrived, so in the ensuing rise of the noise level in the Great Hall, Draco leaned over to Emma and whispered in her ear.
"I'll second that statement on 'Silencing Spells' myself!"
Emma buried her face in her hands, giggling, eyes sparkling.
Minerva clapped her hands and breakfast appeared. The parents in the group immediately devoted themselves to getting the little ones plates filled and the youngsters settled at their places, and then the adults sorted through the selection of dishes.
Once everyone had satisfied their hunger they started chatting away about where they should take their guests first for the tour of Hogwarts.
"Let's hit the high spots here in the castle first and then do the grounds," suggested Hermione.
"Everybody!" Ron stood, tapping on his pumpkin juice glass. "First point of interest on Hermione's list of 'must see' spots is . . . ?"
"THE LIBRARY!" the whole room chorused, then laughed as Hermione grabbed the sleeve of Ron's shirt to pull him down onto the bench.
"Ron! That's not funny!" Hermione fussed.
"Yes, it is!" came a dozen or more voices, causing Hermione to blush, as Ron put his arm around her and kissed her cheek.
"I've waited YEARS for the opportunity to say that, 'mione, 'cause face the fact . . .what were you going to suggest . . . .hum?"
"The library," Hermione admitted, then smiled. "Am I that predictable?"
"When it comes to Hogwarts . . . yes!" Ron replied, smiling at his wife. She gave him a kiss and they turned their attention to Minerva, who was standing up to make an announcement.
"Might I suggest splitting up into groups and show each of our guest what they consider worth a visit. Then we could all meet, right outside by the entrance doors at, say 10:00, to make our way to Hagrid's and then tour the grounds, the Quidditch Pitch and then return for lunch and our meeting this afternoon to finish our telling of the last year of the war."
Draco glanced at Emma and saw her dawning realization of what would follow that meeting . . . going 'home'. Her eyes filled with tears and she hastily used her napkin to wipe them away, but the grief-stricken look in her eyes broke his heart.
"Let's get out of here," he whispered to her. Emma nodded.
Standing, he took hold of her elbow to help her stand as he announced, "Emma has asked to see the Potions classroom and lab first, so we'll be heading in that direction."
Emma got up from the bench without a word and walked out of the Great Hall, hand in hand with Draco. There was complete silence, even the young children sensed something was amiss. Professor McGonagall looked to Harry, who held up a hand to stop her from saying anything. As Draco and Emma disappeared around the corner, everyone started talking at once.
"Harry, what is going on?" Minerva asked. "Have I missed something?"
"We all did, Minerva," replied Harry. "It seemed that Draco and Emma have formed . . . a relationship. I think she's just having trouble coming to terms with having to forget all of this . . . and him."
"Oh, dear," Minerva sat back down. "That is unfortunate. When did this all come about?"
"I know the answer to that question, Minerva," volunteered Tom. "It seems when we went back in time, and they met that Christmas, Draco developed a crush on our Emma, which she realized at the time, but did nothing to encourage, might I add."
"Do you mean to tell me that Draco Malfoy has waited all this time, just to spend a few hours with her?" Molly Weasley asked, having been told by Ginny about the earlier events of the morning. "That doesn't make any sense . . . why would he do that?"
"Mrs. Weasley," Luna spoke up before Molly got up a full head of steam. "It's been half his life, waiting for her to return. Emma obviously has feelings for Draco, so I think we should let them alone."
"It's going to be hard on both of them, Draco especially. He didn't invent the 'Time Turners' we used just to meet Emma, he did it to give your world a second chance . . . meeting Emma and falling in love with her, when we showed up at Grimmauld Place, was just an unexpected part of it," added Dan.
"I think we should just go ahead as planned, then," Minerva directed. "If we encounter Emma and Draco somewhere in the school, invite them to join your group , but if they'd rather not, then we'll all catch up with them at 10:00."
"Well, while all of you tour around, Molly and I are going with the grandkids to the Quidditch Pitch for a little broom flying practice, so they can impress our guests later this morning . . isn't that right, kids?" Arthur turned to the children's end of the table, hands raised.
"Yeah, Grandpa!" "We're ready right now!" "I've got my broom!" "Yeah, let's go!" "Me too, me too!"
Shouts and laughter replaced the somber attitude as all of the Weasley grandkids grabbed their 'junior' brooms and trooped out of the Great Hall with their Grandma and Grandpa. Fleur, Bill, Angelina, Alicia and Teddy went along to help coach and supervise.
X X X
Draco and Emma had walked down the stairs to the dungeon level in silence, but as they reached the door of the Potions Classroom, he stopped and pulled her into his arms, where she sobbed for a few minutes.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have reacted like that," Emma finally managed to say, after pulling some tissues from her pocket and drying her tears.
"It was a perfectly reasonable reaction when you were reminded of what's going to happen at the end of today," Draco said, tilting her chin up and kissing her. Minerva didn't know she would upset you, she was just being practical about today's schedule . . . occupational hazard of being Deputy Headmistress."
Emma smiled, nodding. She looked around and shivered. "This hallway gives me the creeps. No offense . . . but it's not the Slytherin Common room. That, at least, had some charm." She shivered again. "And it's cold, too, even now in the summer. It must be freezing in the winter."
"Indeed it is. Well, let's take a look at the Potions lab, shall we?" Draco opened the door and swept his arm, ushering her into the darkened classroom. Taking his wand, he lit the wall torches and the fire in the hearth, noticeably warming the air.
"Wow. This looks very similar to our set, but it is so much bigger," Emma observed, as she walked between the tables. There was a row of small windows along one wall, through which the morning sun was shining. On the back wall were multiple shelves lined with jars and packets of potion ingredients. The wall where the door was located had a big blackboard in front of which was positioned a desk. There was another door on the last wall, that Draco pointed out to Emma. "Severus' office."
"Ah." Emma nodded. "I wonder why he wasn't at breakfast?"
"I always have my breakfast early, Emma," came the reply from behind them. Severus Snape stood in the door to the hallway. "I'm an early riser, and during the holidays, the meal schedule is rather casual, shall we say, concerning breakfast. Luncheon and dinner are usually at a set time, but breakfast," he shrugged, as he walked into the room. "It's optional and the House Elves don't mind doing individual service for the residents. Or 'Room Service' in Albus' case."
"Good morning, Severus," Emma smiled, as she went over and gave the somber man a hug. "This classroom is fantastic! "
"I'm glad you approve, Emma," he replied, with a small smile. "Draco."
"Severus," Draco nodded hello. "Oh, by the way, while I'm down here, you wouldn't happen to have a bit of 'Invigoration Draught'. I'm not keen on trekking all the way up to the Hospital Wing to get some from Poppy."
"Why would you need that particular draught? Late night?" Severus smirked, but then caught Emma blushing, beet red, out of the corner of his eye and received a withering look from Draco.
"Actually, I had a good night's sleep," Draco responded, after taking a second to calm down. "However, I think our guests will need it this evening. When we leave, we'll be going back to yesterday morning at Dan's house and they'll be going through another whole Saturday . . . so we can't have them falling asleep at noon, face first in their soup," he added, which made Emma smile.
"Oh, that wouldn't do at all!" she giggled, walking over and putting her arm through Draco's, kissing him on the cheek.
Severus eyebrow shot up but he turned and walked over to a cabinet by the fireplace, opened it, reached in and came up with a small vial. Closing the cabinet door, he turned and handed the liquid filled container to Draco.
"I should think two drops should be sufficient. That will give about twelve hours of extra staying power, but Emma, I don't think you or your friends will feel anything amiss. It will just seem like you've got a lot of extra energy for the day."
Emma nodded, "I'm sure it'll work perfectly, Severus . . . that's why you get the big bucks"
Draco barked a laugh when he spotted the totally puzzled look on Severus' face.
"She means she knows you're the best Potions maker in England."
"Ah, well, in that case, thank you, Emma," Severus bowed. "I'm assuming you are taking a tour of the castle first, then heading outdoors?"
"Indeed we are," Emma nodded. "We're each going to see the particular places that were of interest to us and then meeting up to go to Hagrid's."
"And this was your first stop?" Snape questioned, with a twinkle in his eye.
"I'm not Hermione, Severus!" Emma laughed. "Although I do want to see the library, this was first and closest, so here we are!"
"Well, have a good time wandering the halls and I shall see you at lunchtime, then." Severus replied, as Draco took Emma's hand and led her out of the classroom. She waved goodbye and then the two of them started up the steps, watched by the Potions Master.
'This is not going to be easy, letting her go.' Severus thought, shaking his head. Using his wand to put out the torches and extinguish the fire, he then closed the classroom door and walked away, further into the depths of the dungeons.