The next day was a Sunday so there were no classes. At breakfast in the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall walked down the Gryffindor table handing out the timetables. Emalia and Alicia poured through it.
'Aw man' moaned Alicia 'Double potions with the Slytherins on Monday morning. What a way to start off the week.'
Emalia looked at her. 'What's wrong with that?' she asked. Alicia almost choked on her pumpkin juice.
'Having classes with Slytherin is painful at the best of times. They do not like us' she said after recovering from a brief coughing fit. 'But Snape AND Slytherin... I think I would sooner play a prank on McGonagall than want that. Especially first class on a Monday morning.'
Emalia nodded. She was looking through the rest of her timetable while stirring her porridge when Lee and Angelina walked over.
'You see the timetable yet?' asked Alicia as they sat down. They nodded.
'Double potions Monday morning with Slytherin' moaned Alicia unhappily. 'Snape and ANY other house would have been ok.'
Angelina looked at her. 'What?' asked Alicia. 'Did you look at the last two classes on a Friday?' mused Angelina as she helped herself to the toast that appeared in front of her.
'No? I was too busy consoling myself about Monday mornings' said Alicia apprehensively. She pulled the timetable out of Emalia's hands.
'Hey I was looking at that' protested Emalia. 'Oh no. Why? Why is McGonagall doing this to us?' lamented Alicia when she looked at the timetable for Friday. 'Double potions to end the week, I think I'm going to cry'.
Angelina laughed 'Oh come on Alicia it's not that bad. Some of the Slytherin's are ok. It's just Snape we have to look out for.' Angelina paused to take a sip of her orange juice. 'And by we, I mean Fred, George and Lee' she looked at Lee with her eyebrow raised.
Lee did not hear her, he was too busy staring at Emalia, his elbow in his cereal. Angelina nudged him. 'Huh? What?' he stammered confused.
Angelina sighed. 'You, Fred and George are going to behave in potions with Snape this year, right?' Lee grinned and shrugged.
Alicia groaned 'Please don't Lee. Please do not make it worse. Snape already hates us.'
Lee laughed and turned to Emalia. 'So.. Hows your first timetable today? He asked smiling at her brightly. Angelina started laughing. 'Erm.. what?' asked Emalia.
Lee turned beet red. He laughed, got up and walked away quickly. Emalia looked at Alicia and Angelina who were crying tears of laughter. 'I am so confused' she said starting to laugh along with them.
Suddenly there was a great commotion coming from the ceiling. 'Owl post' said Angelica 'Great, Mum always ends up sending me stuff I have forgotten.'
Emalia watched as the owls swooped down to various students. Griffin flew down carrying a letter for Emalia. He looked proud as punch delivering his letter. Emalia tickled his head as she took the letter from him. He hooted happily and flew back towards the Owlery. She opened the letter, it was from Albus.
'Dearest Emalia,
When you have finished your breakfast please make your way to my office.
I have been craving liquorish wands recently.
Albus.'
'Who is it from?' asked Angelina trying to peer over the top of the parchment. Emalia looked at her 'Its from Al-' she started 'Professor Dumbledore' Angelina nodded.
'He's kinda like your Dad isn't he?' Alicia questioned. Emalia smiled 'In a way I guess he is. He is my godfather and legal guardian. He took me in when my parents died.'
'Do you miss them?' asked Alicia. Angelina looked at her sternly. 'Sorry! That was a stupid question' she garbled quickly.
Emalia shook her head. 'It's ok' she said 'I don't mind talking about them. I don't really remember them. But yeah, I do miss them. Everyday'.
Alicia looked at Emalia and pulled her in to a big hug. 'You are welcome to my parents any time' she said. 'My mother is mental; she is constantly blowing up dinner. Hogwarts is the one place where I am guaranteed a safe meal' she said laughing.
Angelina and Emalia laughed with her, slowly solidifying their budding friendship.
When Lee arrived back up to his dormitory, both Fred and George were still asleep. They were woken to the sound of Lee muttering to himself and furiously opening his trunk.
'Oi mate do you think you could keep it down a bit?' moaned Fred as he shoved his face into his pillow.
Lee muttered something inaudible to himself. George yawned and sat up. 'Lee' he said 'What is that on your arm?' Lee torn off his jumper and flung it on top of his bed.
'Cereal' he grunted.
'How did you manage that mate?' laughed George.
Lee sighed and sat down on the floor beside his trunk. 'I made a prat of myself in front of her.' Fred groaned from his bed. George threw his pillow at him.
'Now now Freddie, Lee here needs our help' he said. 'Continue Lee.'
Lee looked up at George with a big soppy grin 'She is just so beautiful. I can't string three words together.' He sighed. George looked at him trying not to laugh but failing.
'Who are you on about Lee?' sniggered George.
Lee stood up and looked George directly in the eye 'Emalia Potter.'
Fred sat upright, his interest in this conversation had increased tenfold. 'Where did this happen?' he asked trying to play it cool. George looked at him eyebrow raised. Fred shrugged at him.
'Great Hall, breakfast' said Lee 'I didn't actually eat anything, I just kinda stared... at her a lot' Lee put his face in his hands.
George laughed. Fred got up and started getting dressed. 'Well let's go get some food then Lee.' He said while pulling a jumper over his head. George eyed his twin again suspicious of his motives. Fred shrugged once more and avoided his brother's questioning eyes.
Five minutes later and the three boys arrived in the Great Hall. Lee spotted Angelina and the three of them walked up to her. When they arrived, Emalia was nowhere to be found, instead Alicia and Angelina were talking about Quiddich and the trials this year.
Fred and George sat beside Alicia, Lee opposite Angelina. 'Where did Emalia go?' asked Lee interrupting the girl's conversation.
'Oh, she went to see the Headmaster' said Angelina frowning slightly at Lee.
'Yeah' chimed in Alicia 'She said she would see us later'. Fred tried to hide his disappointment and turned his attention to the eggs that appeared on the plate in front of him.
'You need to stop staring at her Lee' started Angelina 'You'll freak her out soon'.
Emalia reached the headmasters office. The stone statue standing in front of her immovable. 'Liquorish wand' she announced to it. The statue sprang to life and allowed Emalia entrance to Albus's office.
When she reached the office door she knocked gently. 'Come in' chorused a cheerful voice. Emalia walked into Albus's office, he was sitting behind his desk reading a rather long letter and humming joyfully.
He looked over the letter at Emalia and smiled. Emalia smiled back at him. 'You wanted to see me?' she said.
Albus got up out of his chair and walked over to her and gave her a warm hug 'I am very proud of you Emalia' he said warmly. 'Yes, I wanted to see you, I wanted to hear about your first night in Hogwarts' Albus summoned two chairs and the both sat down into them and Emalia began to tell him everything.
After a while there was a sharp rap on the door to the office. 'Come in' called Albus in the same cheery voice. In walked Professor McGonagall with Professor Snape and Madam Pomfrey close behind her.
'Ah yes. Minerva, Severus, Poppy. Thank you for coming' said Albus as he rose from his chair. Emalia followed suit. Albus had, in the space of a few seconds, taken on a more serious stance.
Emalia had a loose idea of why these three people were standing in front of her. 'As you are aware, Emalia has been cursed and although we can not cure it at this time, we do have a potion that helps her live a relatively normal life.' He said.
Professor Snape was looking at her curiously, eyeing her as if she were some kind of human experiment he was undertaking. She stared right back at him. Albus cleared his throat and Emalia looked over at him. He had his eyebrow raised an amused look playing in his eyes.
He continued 'Every two weeks Emalia has to take a potion; she will then need to spend the night in the Hospital Wing.'
He turned to Madam Pomfrey 'Poppy, what you will see will be unlike what you have seen before, I would not have believed my eyes if I had not seen it myself.' Madam Pomfrey nodded and smiled kindly at Emalia.
Emalia could feel her face burning, she did not like this attention. It made her feel fragile like she was made of glass and only deserving of pity.
'Minerva' started Albus 'I would like for you to escort Emalia to the Hospital Wing for the first couple of months, so she will not have to journey it alone at night.' McGonagall nodded.
Albus finally turned to Emalia, 'Severus has kindly agreed to brew the potion for you every two weeks.'
Emalia turned to Snape and smiled 'Thank you Professor, I appreciate the time and effort you are giving me' she said.
Albus turned to face Emalia 'I have to spend some time talking with the staff about the upcoming semester my dear' he said softly 'do you mind if we meet again next weekend?'
Emalia raised an eyebrow and Albus chuckled 'I promise it is Hogwarts related business.' Emalia stared into his eyes and was satisfied with his answer. 'Ok Albus, I will see you next weekend'.
When Emalia left, Albus turned to the three people standing in front of him. 'There is one thing that we have to watch out for. The longer Emalia goes without having the potion the more volatile her emotions may become.' Said Albus solemnly.
'By that I mean, the closer we come to the day she has to take the potion, the easier it is for her to change. She will realise it, probably subconsciously but she is an extremely bright young witch. I imagine it will not take her long to piece it together.'
Minerva looked at Albus. 'What should we look out for?' drawled Severus.
'Her form may change, subtly at first. It might look like she is shimmering, but then you may see her arms and shoulders develop a scale-like look.' replied Albus.
Madam Pomfrey gasped 'You mean she can change into the Veela-harpy like form?' she clasped her hand over her mouth eyes wide with disbelief. Even Severus seemed perturbed by that information.
Albus sighed and walked round to sit at his desk. 'Yes, it is wholly possible that it may happen again. But it seems to only happen when she is particularly consumed with rage or overwhelmed with emotions' he clasped his hands together and leaned on his elbows.
Professor McGonagall was processing the information 'We will keep an eye on her Albus' she said 'I will inform Filius as well. He has developed a soft spot for Miss Potter.' McGonagall smiled 'They seemed to have bonded over an interest in Charms.'
Albus chuckled.
The rest of the day passed without much incident. Fred kept managing to miss Emalia by mere seconds. He swore to himself that he would track her down one way or another tomorrow morning before double potions.
That night George and Lee were talking about the all the potential pranks to pull on the Slytherins, Filch and any other unsuspecting people. Fred was convincing himself that he would be able to act cool in front of Emalia tomorrow.
'Hey lads, shall we get some shut eye?' he said in a weird tone. George stopped talking about how to gift Filch a biting teacup without getting caught to look at his brother.
'Are you ok Fred?' he asked eyebrow raised. Fred fake yawned 'Yeah George, just tired.'
Lee looked at his wristwatch. 'Fred mate,' he said, 'Its not even nine yet.'
George was still staring at his brother, trying to figure out what was up with him, he had his suspicions though.
Fred sighed and gave in 'I'm telling you the best way to get a biting teacup to Filch is to break into his office and place it there. Make it look like a gift, wrap it up.'
Lee started clapping, George's eyebrow returned to its normal position and a smile played on his face. Instead of an early night the three of them spent hours discussing when their best opportunity to plant the biting teacup in Filch's office would be.
Emalia was lying in her bed wide awake. It was six am. She was too excited for her first day of classes to sleep anymore, but she was considerate not to wake any of the others in her dorm. She slipped out of her bed quietly and grabbed her potions book and walked down to the common room.
She spent an hour or so reading through the book, writing notes and suggestions for herself to try in class. Emalia looked up at the large ornate clock on the fireplace in the common room. Seven forty-five am. She should go get ready.
When she arrived back in her dorm, Angelina was stirring from her slumber.
'Morning Emalia' she whispered.
'Morning Angelina' Emalia whispered back. The two girls got ready; Alicia was still in bed snoring. Angelina threw her pillow at her. 'grunk hdha' shouted Alicia as she suddenly woke.
'ANGELINA' she roared. 'I was SLEEPING.'
Angelina laughed and Emalia smirked trying not to laugh knowing it would make things worse. 'Alicia' said Angelina 'If you want to be late to potions and not have breakfast then keep sleeping.'
Alicia made a rude gesture at Angelina before stalking off to the bathroom.
'I take it she is not a morning person then?' said Emalia.
Angelina rolled her eyes 'What gave it away?' she asked sarcastically before laughing.
The two girls walked down to the common room with their schoolbags, ten minutes later Alicia appeared still scowling. Angelina apologised as they made their way to the Great Hall. Alicia begrudgingly accepted her apology.
Breakfast passed without any incident and once Alicia had eaten her mood improved dramatically. That was until they made their way to the dungeons for their double potions. The closer they got to the potions classroom, the gloomier Alicia got.
Emalia tried to cheer her up, by telling her funny stories about her time in Beauxbatons; and while Angelina laughed and listened attentively, Alicia could only manage a weak smile. 'I'm so rubbish at potions to begin with, but Snape just hates us because we are Gryffindors. He hates us more than any other house'.
The three of them were the first to arrive. 'Its cold down here' whispered Emalia to Alicia. Alicia nodded 'Just wait until Christmas time, your fingers will feel like icicles'.
They waited outside the door, not wanting to enter the room first. Professor Snape heard them whispering outside the door, strode over and flung open the door.
'Miss Spinnet, early for class, miracles do exist' he drawled. Alicia turned red. 'And Miss Johnson, a pleasure' he continued sarcastically. His eyes lingered on Emalia for a second. 'I have high expectations in this class Miss Potter, let us see if you can surprise me and achieve them. Unlike the rest of this class.'
He turned and walked into the classroom. Emalia looked wide-eyed at the two girls who were both scowling after Snape. They walked in and sat down.
After a few minutes, the rest of the class started arriving. Most of the Slytherins had arrived by the time Fred, George and Lee walked in. Fred's eyes immediately sought out Emalia's face. As if on cue, Emalia looked up and smiled at Fred. Fred grinned back and half waved, and half saluted her.
George started to laugh at his brother but then turned his attention to Emalia while Lee was just ogling her. Some of the other Slytherin boys were staring at Emalia also, Fred noticed this and frowned slightly. He felt a pang of jealousy.
'Today we shall be looking at Swelling Solution' started Snape 'Can anyone tell me the three-key ingredient of this solution?' Snape paused. Emalia raised her hand tentatively. Snape eyes swooped past her hand and went to Alicia.
'Miss Spinnet' he said. Alicia looked at him her face blank with terror and mutely shook her head.
He sighed and looked towards the Slytherins. 'Miss Parkinson, maybe you can enlighten the class.' He said.
Paisley Parkinson looked at him and said, 'I do not know Professor.' Snape looked at her with a withering look.
'Miss Potter' he said not turning his head to face her 'you seem to have an idea. Maybe you can inform the class of the three key ingredients of Swelling Solution.'
Emalia took a breath and said, 'Yes sir, the three key ingredients of Swelling Solution are bat spleens, dried nettles and puffer-fish eyes.'
Snape just looked at her for a few seconds. 'That is correct' he drawled as if he was now uninterested with the correct answer. He walked up to the top of the room and with a flick of his wand the instructions for Swelling Solution appeared on the blackboard at the top of the room.
Immediately Alicia grabbed Emalia whispering to her pleadingly 'I need you to help me'. Fred and George paired up.
'Not so fast. I will be dividing the class up.' Said Snape with a sly smile.
'Weasley!' he said pointing at George 'You will be with Miss Spinnet' Alicia groaned and moved towards George who was grinning 'Ah come on Alicia, I can't be any worse than you think' he laughed.
Snape continued to pair up the class, Fred found himself wishing that Snape would pair him with Emalia. 'Miss Potter' said Snape 'hmmh, you can pair up with the other Mr. Weasley. Maybe you will be able to teach him something.'
Fred moved over and sat in the seat that Alicia had occupied moments earlier and smiled quickly at Emalia. She smiled back at him. 'You have one hour and thirty minutes to complete the Swelling Solution.' Said Snape 'you may... begin.'
Emalia turned towards the board and quickly read through the list of instructions. She turned to Fred 'Hi, I am Emalia' she held out her hand.
'Fred' he said as he clasped her hand. He could have sworn he saw a slight pink flush creep across her face. She pulled her hand away 'if you go get some water and light the cauldron, I will get the ingredients from the student store?' she said questioningly waiting for Fred's response.
He nodded and walked away. While fetching the water he took a few deep breaths to steady himself 'Come on Freddie, stop acting weird. Just be yourself and dazzle her' he told himself sternly.
When Fred got back to the station Emalia had gathered their ingredients. She began to crush the nettles in one of the mortars. She looked up at Fred and grinned at him 'You can crush 3 puffer-fish eyes in the other mortar' she said ' be careful though, its not altogether pleasant'
Fred looked at her and raised an eyebrow 'Have you done this before?' he asked. She nodded 'yeah it was the last potion we covered in Beauxbatons last year'.
'At least I know that we are going to do well then' laughed Fred. She stopped and looked up at him 'You never know, I might be terrible at potions' she laughed. Fred pondered that for a few seconds
'Maybe, but you can't be worse than Alicia, she becomes basically functionless in this class' he said. Emalia looked over at Alicia and could see her fretting. Fred turned to crushing the puffer-fish eyes, once done he handed it to Emalia.
He watched her as she mixed both powders together and added two measures of the mix to the cauldron. 'It's going well' thought Fred to himself 'I think she might actually like me.'
Emalia added two tablespoons of water to the cauldron and put it on to a medium heat. 'Ok,' she said 'the instructions say we have to leave that heat for twenty minutes.' She looked up at the large timepiece that had appeared on Snape's desk at the top of the room.
Fred looked at her, being so close to her he noticed that she too had freckles across her nose, but they were not as prominent as the ones that his family possessed. While they waited for their solution to be ready for the next stage of the process, Emalia and Fred talked about Hogwarts. He told her how himself and George were going to try out for the house Quiddich team this year and how they hoped to both secure a place on the team.
Fred managed to keep himself focused on the conversation but the more they talked, the harder it became for him to concentrate on what he was doing and saying.
Once the twenty minutes had passed, Emalia carefully added more water and carefully stirred the mixture. 'You can do the incantation Fred' she said looking at him.
Fred snapped his eyes from her face and whipped put his wand 'Uh yeah sure' he started.
He glanced up to look at what Snape had written on the board. He looked at the cauldron and began to wave his wand and say the incantation, but at the last minute he got distracted by Emalia peering into the cauldron and muddled his words.
Suddenly there was a loud explosion and a lot of smoke coming out of the cauldron in front of him. 'Merlin no!' Fred thought to himself 'What have I done?!'