A/N: Chapter 14 is also the 14th of February...aka Valentine's Day. You know what that means: teenage drama :)
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In February, the students of Hogwarts heard the most shocking news.
Percy Weasley, as the Head Boy, had decided to listen to the requests of his fellow students and announced that there would be a school Valentine's Party in two weeks for Fifth-years and above.
Emilia was completely surprised that he'd organise something like that, but the twins reckoned it was only so he could impress the Head Girl, Penelope Clearwater, who also happened to be his girlfriend.
It was a party rather than a formal event that required actual evening wear, but Emilia and the other girls went to Hogsmeade to pick out some fancy party dresses to wear to match the Valentine's Day theme.
Emilia also picked up a cute Valentine's card for Roger, who had been acting a bit distant recently. She figured he was stressed about the upcoming OWLs, as was she, so she hoped that a card and a small gift bag from Honeydukes would cheer him up.
The morning of Valentine's day meant that breakfast consisted of owls delivering cards, gifts and chocolates across the tables in the Great Hall.
Emilia watched as people happily opened their gifts and she waited for something from Roger to arrive for her, unless he'd planned on hand-delivering something in a sort of romantic display, being her boyfriend.
She glanced across the table to see Fred, George and their other friends watching the deliveries arrive, "are you guys hoping for a secret admirer?" she teased and they smirked.
"Absolutely not," George said, faking a yawn.
"Valentine's Day is extremely overrated," Fred added. "I'm looking forward to the discounts on chocolate in Honeydukes after, though."
Emilia smiled at him, "good plan, Fred."
He smiled back and opened his mouth as if to say something else, but then an owl flew over the table and dropped a single red rose down in front of Emilia.
A huge smile spread across her face and she picked it up, reading the note tied to the stem, 'Happy Valentine's Day, Emilia' it read, with a single 'x' on the bottom.
"From loverboy?" George asked.
She grinned, her eyes welling up slightly, "how did he remember that red roses are my favourite? I swear I only mentioned it once, and that was before Christmas."
The boy in question walked towards her with the gifts she'd sent him and she stood up to greet him with an elated grin.
He gave her a smile, "good morning, Emilia." Then he leaned down and just barely brushed his lips against her cheek, "thanks for these."
"I'm glad you like them, and thank you for the rose, it's beautiful," she said, beaming.
His brow furrowed for a second and he looked down at the single rose in her hand, "oh, yeah! I'm glad you like it."
She smiled warmly up at him and looked down at the flower again, "is it one of those enchanted flowers we were talking about before Christmas? I love it. I can't believe you remembered that red roses are my favourite."
"They are?" he asked, sounding a bit confused for some reason.
"Yes! Remember I told you? Rose is my middle name, and my mum used to call me 'petal'." Emilia reminded him.
He grinned sheepishly, "oh yeah, I guess I have a great memory."
"Will I meet you outside the Great Hall before the party, then? We could walk in together?" she suggested.
He nodded, "yeah, I'll see you there. I can't wait! I know you'll look stunning."
He quickly kissed her on the lips and said goodbye, explaining that he was heading to the library. She was mildly surprised that he didn't ask her to join him, but she shrugged it off.
She sat back down and ran her fingers over the deep red velvet petals of the rose and then saw the twins looking at her curiously, "what?"
"What's up with Davies?" George asked, and she could tell he was being sincere and not trying to annoy her.
She sighed, "he's been odd recently, I think he's stressed about the OWLs. But anyway, isn't this lovely?"
She brandished the rose and George nodded before biting into his slice of toast.
"A red rose for Valentine's Day? A bit cliché isn't it?" Fred asked, not meeting her eyes as he stirred his cup of tea.
She shook her head, unable to fight the smile on her face, "no, it's perfect."
—
In potions class that afternoon, Snape begrudgingly taught them about Amortentia potion, which was tradition for Fifth-Years to learn on Valentine's Day.
Emilia was sitting with George while Fred and Lee sat opposite them, and they each brewed their potions. The potion apparently smelled different to everyone, based on what attracted them, so Emilia asked George what he smelled.
He leaned in to sniff the potion, "freshly cut grass...broom polish...and I think that's eucalyptus? I can't be sure. What about you?"
She leaned in to smell it, "cinnamon...sandalwood..." the final thing she smelled was like gunpowder, or fireworks.
The thought struck her like a slap.
She glanced across to where Fred and Lee were laughing over their sparking cauldron, and Emilia cleared her throat awkwardly, "and er- old books."
"What about you Fred?" George asked and Fred stopped laughing and glanced down at his and Lee's potion and then leaned in to smell it.
"A log fire, like at home...and parchment, I think, and..." Fred's brow furrowed in confusion, "I don't know what else."
Lee yawned loudly, "wow, so romantic. Fred. Everyone is practically swooning."
Before anyone could respond to Lee, Snape spoke loudly to the class, and silence fell across the room.
"That's all for today's lesson. Please do not try to smuggle any Amortentia out of class with you or I will have you expelled immediately," he said monotonously, and everyone quickly exited the dungeon classroom, whispering excitedly about the Valentine's Party that would take place in just a few hours.
—
That night, the Fifth-year Gryffindor girls got ready together in a flurry of laughter and excitement. Emilia smoothed the velvet skirt of her dark red party dress over and over, and Angelina nudged her as she adjusted the strap of own dress, "stop worrying, you look gorgeous! Roger will probably black out when he sees you."
Emilia smiled gratefully at her friend and linked her arm through Angelina's affectionately as they walked.
Emilia and her fellow Gryffindor girls had gone dress shopping in Hogsmeade as soon as the party was announced at the start of the month, and they were all eager to get dressed up for what was sure to be a great night.
Emilia had her hair pinned back on one side, and she pushed a loose strand back as they got to the entrance of the Great Hall where the girls' dates met them. There was no sign of Roger yet, but Emilia told the girls to go ahead since he said he'd meet her there and was probably just running late.
She waited for him for a short while, and then Alicia and Beth came out looking peeved. Alicia wore a scowl, "Roger's already in there, Emilia. I don't know why he kept you waiting out here."
"Oh, I could've sworn we agreed to meet out here," she mumbled to herself as she followed them inside. Roger spotted her and waved her over, so she told her friends she'd catch up with them in a bit.
Roger took her hand in his and pulled her to him and then kissed her on the lips too quickly for her to even kiss him back.
"I thought we agreed to walk in together," she said, brushing her hand across the lapel of his jacket.
He looked confused for a moment, "oh shit, sorry. I got caught up with the lads."
"Oh, it's alright-"
"Yeah, chaps, I'll be over in a bit!" he yelled over her head, and then he looked down at her again. "Jeremy's father got tickets for the Minister's box for the Quidditch World Cup this summer."
"He got tickets already?" she asked.
Roger nodded cheerfully, and guided her over to the drinks table, "he did. There was a private presale, that's what happens when you've good connections, I suppose."
"Harry and I are going to go with the Weasleys, if we can get tickets, that is. They've got a tent for us all-"
"How bloody uncomfortable," Roger blanched. "That's like, a lot of people. I can't imagine anything worse."
Emilia raised her eyebrows at him, "well, actually I think it will be fun. Good company makes everything better."
Roger didn't notice her slightly icy tone, but shrugged, "true enough."
"So, do you like my dress? I got in in Hogsmeade last week and-"
"Yes, it's nice," he said distractedly, pouring himself a glass of punch, and Emilia's brows furrowed in disbelief at how he was acting.
She also helped herself to a glass of punch, taking a sip before she spoke again, "are you alright, Roger?"
"What?" he asked before downing his glass of punch and pouring himself another one.
"I asked if you're alright," she replied coolly.
"Oh, yes. I'm great. How are you?"
She could tell he wasn't asking a genuine question, so she cleared her throat and changed the subject, "it's set up beautifully, isn't it? The party, I mean. Fred and George reckon Percy only agreed to it to impress Penelope Clearwater, but I actually think it's sweet, don't you?"
When she got no answer, she turned around and saw that Roger wasn't even listening to her, he was waving across the hall at some of his Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff friends.
"Roger?"
"Yeah?"
"I- nevermind. Do you want to dance?" she nodded over to the dance floor and he smiled at something in the distance and turned to look at Emilia then.
"Sorry, did you say something?" he asked and Emilia was growing extremely annoyed with him.
"I asked if you wanted to dance," she said as calmly as she could manage.
He pursed his lips, "maybe later? I'm going to catch up with the boys for a bit. I'll come find you later."
"Oh, okay-"
Roger walked away without waiting for an answer and Emilia was left standing by herself. She stared after Roger in confusion and shook her head before walking over to where her friends were sitting at a table.
"Hey, guys," she said.
Her friends grinned when they saw her approaching, but their faces fell when they saw her dejected expression.
"Who do I have to kill?" Angelina asked fiercely as Emilia sat heavily down on the bench next to her, finishing the rest of her punch in one go.
"Where's Roger?" Beth asked from her seat next to Katie and Henry.
Emilia cringed, "um, he went to hang out with his friends."
"What? He was with you for all of five minutes," George questioned as he sat down opposite her with a glass of punch and an iced cupcake.
Emilia sighed, "he's being weird recently, and I don't want to hang out with his posh, rich friends anyway. They're tossers."
"No one's going to argue with you there," Fred said, having disappeared to get a fresh glass of punch for her, putting down on the table in front of her before sitting down between her and George.
She smiled gratefully at him and then raised her eyebrows as she realised what he said, "wait, are you saying you're not going to argue with me? Are you feeling okay, Weasley?"
Their friends chuckled at that and Fred gave her a withering look and tried to fight a grin, "shut up, Potter. I agree with you saying they're tossers, that's all."
"No shock there," she said quietly just to him, not bothering to hide her smirk.
He chuckled and then looked down at her dress, "you look nice, by the way. You got that last week didn't you? It suits you."
She beamed at him, "thanks, you scrub up well too, Fred."
Emilia spent a while chatting to the twins, Alicia and Lee, and then Fred excused himself to go to the bathroom. Emilia looked at her watch then, realising that it had been an hour since she'd seen Roger, and he still hadn't come to spend time with her.
"I'm going to look for Roger, I'll be back in a bit," Emilia said, standing up.
Angelina reached out to squeeze her hand, "let me know if you want help hiding the body."
"Same," Alicia said, "I'll gladly help."
Emilia snorted, "that won't be necessary, girls, but I appreciate the sentiment."
She walked around the hall, and didn't see Roger anywhere. She took a deep breath and approached his friends, recognising one as Atticus and another as Jeremy.
"Um, hi, have you guys seen Roger anywhere?"
"I think he went to the bathroom, but I don't know," Atticus shrugged.
"Yeah, sorry, Emma," Jeremy said.
Emilia narrowed her eyes, "um- it's Emilia."
She stormed off and walked out of the hall, heading down the corridor in the direction of the bathrooms in hopes of intercepting Roger on his way back, because they needed to have a serious talk.
She was walking down the otherwise empty corridor when an angry voice caught her attention from outside in the courtyard. She came to a stop behind the wall, peeking around to see who was arguing, and her heart dropped, because there was Fred, facing off with Roger as a girl Emilia had never seen before ran off.
"What the actual fuck, Davies?" Fred said furiously, and Emilia made her way down to the courtyard and saw Fred staring daggers at Roger whose clothes were rumpled and untucked as if he'd just been-
No way. Roger wouldn't do that to her. Would he?
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A/N: yikes :/