What the bloody hell happened last night?
The first words that etched Emily's mind as she woke up with a massive hangover, she rubbed her eyes clear from sleep and awoken herself by the smell of blood. Emily looked down at her right hand and felt her eyes widen in shock to see purple bruises painted over her fist. She swung her legs over her bed and grunted at the soreness that punctured her body, I couldn't have danced that much.
The bedsprings creaked and with that signalled her roommates Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode to unfasten the curtains from their four-poster beds and assess their friend's troubled awakening. Emily looked up at them while she stretched out her back, "Why are you two looking at me like I'm a bomb waiting to be detonated? Has something happened?"
Pansy broke into a delirious laugh, her mouth perking up in an excitable smirk. "I see you've slept away the memory of last night. Smart choice." Millicent agreeably said, settling herself down at the edge of Emily's bed, "You broke Astoria's nose last night. Do you actually not remember?"
Oh. Emily looked down at her right hand and figured that what Millicent recounted fit perfectly with the state of her battered fist. This is her blood? Oh, Merlin – "Is Daphne... Is she cross with me? She must be. I decked her little sister's face in – where is she?"
"On the contrary, she doesn't seem to care or even be angry at you," Pansy nonchalantly disclosed, nodding to the empty glass on Emily's nightstand. "After she had Astoria's friends escort her to the hospital wing, she stayed the night in the dorms and took care of you. Make sure you drank enough water and all that, but enough of that news, what Millicent and I want to know is how cleanly you broke her nose, where on earth did you learn how to fight?"
Flattered as she was that her friends were curious about the display of violence, Emily found that it was the least to be concerned with at the moment. Her tawny owl, Hayley, flew in and perched itself on her owner's knee, her little leg sticking out to show a note wrapped around her limb. Emily undid the piece of twine that secured it and read it aloud, "Emily, please proceed to my office immediately. Professor McGonagall."
"Right." Millicent cut in, patting her shoulder to show comfort, "Good luck, mate."
"I second that, we'll see you later," Pansy added. With that, the two had left to let Emily stew in her thoughts while she got ready to meet Aunt Minerva.
Once she had washed her face, brushed her teeth, and got into a fresh set of clothes, Emily was still not able to wrap her mind around the events that unfolded last night. In fact, she was even more unaware of how quickly she was able to exit Slytherin house and made it all the way to Aunt Minerva's office without having a clue of how she got there.
The door was open and inside she found Draco and Harry sitting a few feet apart in front of the teacher's desk. "Close the door on your way in, dear." A voice prompted. Emily looked up and saw her Aunt Minerva exit her private office and enter the classroom, she dutifully nodded and locked the door before proceeding to sit in between her brother and best friend, both of whom she had trouble looking directly in the eye.
She focused on the thick file Professor McGonagall had in her hand. Emily's blood ran cold at the sight of it, her knuckles, though bruised purple, shone pale when she clutched her hands to form fists. It happened.
"You keep those with you?" Emily asked, distracting herself from the inevitable. Professor McGonagall nodded and opened the file, taking out two documents, presumably to hand over to Draco and Harry. "Shortly after your adoption, we made a promise to each other, dear. You made me promise that I show these papers to the closest people in your life if you so much as stray because you knew you couldn't tell them yourself what happened to you. And in return, I made you swear to me that you diligently take your medicine to avoid that from happening."
The professor handed the boys the sheet of paper for them to read. "I am merely keeping the promise you told me to keep. Miss Daphne Greengrass came to me last night and alerted me of what happened, I asked her to check your nightstand and find your prescription. She told me that it was still full, untouched – you haven't taken them for quite a while now."
Emily looked over at her brother and then to Draco, both of their faces contorted in fear of what they were reading, horrified by the details which haunted Emily's childhood.
"I-I forgot." She stumbled over her words. "I was running late one time for class. And during the middle of Charms, I remembered not taking it, but I felt fine. I didn't feel any different, I've been taking my medicine for so long that I thought, just maybe, I was better already – "
"So, that's why you've been running late to your classes recently," Harry said, finally piecing it together. "You don't like to be late."
"That's an entirely different thing – "
Harry returned the paper to the desk and turned to his sister. "I don't care what any doctor says what's wrong with you, I care that you're being honest with me. I didn't even know you had to take medication – and judging by how Malfoy's not even surprised, I suspect that you've told him but not me."
"I had my suspicions," Draco replied coolly. "But I didn't want to have to ask. I wanted Emily to tell me of her own free will rather than forcing it out of her right now – "
"I am not forcing anything!" Harry snapped at him.
Emily stood up from in between them and excused herself from the room, saying that she rather take a walk than being wedged between them. Professor McGonagall allowed for her to be dismissed, waiting for her to leave before continuing to speak to the boys. "I understand that both of you are not on friendly terms, but you will have to make due and try for Emily. Watch over her and report back to me if anything out of the ordinary occurs."
"Yes, Professor." The two students said in unison, glancing at each other bitterly when they realized they spoke in such a way.
~
Later that day,
After a bit of sleuthing, Draco eventually found her in the Viaduct, elbows perched on the stone balcony, her hair blown back by the fresh breeze that flew from the highlands. It was Emily's favourite spot in Hogwarts. She turned at the exact moment Draco reached for her shoulder, her eyes widening as if faced with a great challenge.
"I need to – "
"I need to – "
They awkwardly laughed at their failed attempts to speak. He nodded towards her and decided to make his news last to be heard, although, after much snipping and pinching, Emily made him speak before her. "Well, your brother and I have come to an agreement," Draco informed. "We won't exactly be rubbing elbows during potions, but it'll be better than before. Tolerable."
She blinked at him in disbelief, flabbergasted at how they managed to speak to each other in such a manner than actually resulted in something fruitful. But then again, they were in the presence of the deputy headmistress, they had no choice but to be civil. "That's amazing." Emily finally said in rejoice, embracing him, "Thank you."
Draco hugged her back and kissed her cheek before letting her go to allow her to share her bit of news. Emily flinched and felt her stomach sour, "Let me go on and say that I understand if you feel angry with me, I get that – but I just want you to know that I'd rather you be cross with me than hate me. I reacted terribly when I saw you and Astoria together, so terribly that I made a mess of last night."
Emily had come to the Viaduct in search of even the slightest moment of peace, and at that moment, she had recollected what had happened last night in fragments, making her wish that she hadn't come to the Viaduct at all. Draco was patient through her ramblings, but still, he frowned deeply that it creased his eyebrows.
"I kissed Derek – but not in a way that you think," She quickly followed. "I was being daft. And earlier that night, I had a sip of fire whiskey, and it boggled my mind – and I was just cross with everything – Derek had nothing to do with this, it was all my doing, and don't mistake me for protecting him. It really is all my fault. He was just caught in the web I've spun myself around – "
She was then cut off with an abrupt hug that Draco pulled her in, Emily's chin rested comfortably on his shoulder while his arms wrapped snuggly around her waist. "Thank you."
"For what?"
He looked back at her and rolled his eyes, slowly letting her go, "For telling the truth. You can be quite daft at times, but I'm glad you were able to tell me all of this so quickly. Also, that explains why the Weasleys overturned the punch bowl. It's all your doing, then?"
"Yes. I take full responsibility."
Draco sighed and seemed to disregard the troubling news Emily just dumped on him. She was worried, and rightly so – she expected him to react the usual way he would react, nostrils flaring, eyes cold and unnerving, perhaps some snarky comment. Nothing of the sort came from his mouth, instead, he just looked out the Viaduct next to her, completely at peace.
He rested his arm next to hers while he spoke. "I asked mum if I could bring you home for the holidays. She said that I could, but we'd be awfully lonely with them being set to visit some relatives in France."
"That's nice to hear."
"Now you're just teasing me."
Emily smiled at him and nodded all too excitedly, "Yes, Malfoy, we can go to your lavish castle for the holidays."
"It's a manor."
"It's the size of Buckingham Palace." She exaggerated.
"What's a bucket ham palace – " His voice faltered and almost immediately he stumbled on his feet and pulled Emily behind him at the sight of a great black hound that sniffed around the other end of the Viaduct. "Don't move," Draco whispered to her, slowly removing his wand from his pocket. Emily quickly dismissed him and stood in front of Draco, "It's all right! He's mine – put your wand away, he's harmless."
She ran up towards the dog and only when Draco saw its tail wag excitably was when he shoved his wand back in his pocket. He walked up towards them, each step as cautious as the previous one, "He's yours? What exactly does that mean?" The hound sat and was exactly as tall as Emily when she went down on her knees to feed him mincemeat hand pies that she had stuffed in her pockets.
Emily looked up at him while the dog ate from her palm. "He's my dog now. Callidus lives in the Forbidden Forest, he only comes out every now and then. Would you like to feed him?" She asked, offering him a pie to give to Callidus. It took one look at the dog's deep dark eyes that Draco knew it was better that he keeps himself at a great distance. "Perhaps next time. But thanks." He replied to her, suddenly feeling his throat dry up. "Interesting name for a stray."
"It means cunning."
"I know that."
A low, ominous growl echoed from Callidus. As low as it was, it still reached Draco's ears as something from a thunderstorm. He retreated a few steps back while Emily merely smoothed down the thick black fur on its noggin. "Calm down, Padfoot. He's alright." She whispered to the dog. Draco frowned and found the courage to ask if he heard her correctly.
She shrugged and managed a small grin. "It must be the wind, Callidus is the only name I call him."
"But I thought I heard – "
"Well, you heard wrong," Emily added, dismissing him entirely. She stood up and smiled again, "I'll just see him back to the forest. You go ahead and wait for me in the common room." She did not wait for him to answer or even expect him to go against her order, Emily promptly left and exited the Viaduct with Callidus on her tail, leaving a bewildered Draco in her tracks.
Seeing as there was no point in waiting for Emily without exploding a metric ton of questions on her, Draco did the next best thing and stomped back to Slytherin house in the hopes that Blaise was there lazing in the common room. Right at the centre of it all, he found his friend with his legs perched on the ottoman while he rested comfortably in an armchair with a book on his lap.
Draco dog-eared the page for him and closed it, leaving Blaise no choice but to listen to his ramblings of what had happened thirty minutes prior. I knew I should have stayed in the library, he thought to himself, he wouldn't think of looking for me there.
"It's good, right?" Blaise asked when Draco ended his recount. "She told you the truth, albeit it's a bit sour to digest, Em still came clean."
"She kissed Pulcher."
"And she is apologetic about it. She doesn't have feelings for that person, clearly – and she was angry at you and Astoria. I'm not picking sides here; all I'm saying is that I understand where she's coming from."
"A Gryffindor!" Draco disgustingly sneered at the house name, "Of all people..."
Blaise scoffed and slapped the hardcover book against his arm. "Would you rather a Ravenclaw? And besides, you're missing the point here, D. She only cares for you. Did you know that right after you two spoke, she coaxed that Weasley boy into going back to their ex? You two are just as mad as the other. A match made in hell, if you ask me."
"Shove off – "
"Don't tell me to shove off when you're the one waltzing to my arms so that you can have a human diary to pure your sorry heart to," Blaise sharply responded. "You love her, right?"
"I suppose."
"You have to do better than that, mate."
And through grit teeth, Draco said, "She doesn't exactly trust me all that much. Em tried to trick me into blaming the wind for what I heard, and I knew what I heard. I heard her call that dog by a different name, I know it."
"The wind is rather harsh out there."
"Blaise."
"Right, alright – " He straightened himself out and perched his elbows on top of his knees. "That'll end up in a nasty fight if you do this your way, so I suggest that you act according to her rules. And that means coming to her to get your questions answered, and sure, it'll take some time, but that way gets you in her good graces rather than seeking the truth for yourself. Because that means going behind her back."
Blaise's piece of advice ended right on time as the porthole swung open and in went Emily. She waved at him before oddly bending her arms and running her hands up and down her sleeves, "That's odd – I could have sworn I had my wand – have I left it here?"
Draco shrugged, raising his chin to motion to her back pocket. "Have you checked that one?" Emily frowned, knowing full well that it wasn't an ideal spot for a wand to be hidden. Regardless, she felt for her pockets and found her wand nestled against a thin rectangular box. She looked back up at Draco to find him laughing, Emily threw herself on the sofa next to him and opened the box, "Listen, I was looking at the quill catalogue for fun, I wasn't dropping hints for you to actually buy me one. I can get that myself – "
"What quill?"
Emily stared back at him, dumbfounded, she opened the box and sure enough, what greeted her was nothing of the stationary sort. Blaise peered in and found the usual trademark Draco Malfoy present, a piece of jewellery. In the box laid a white gold charm bracelet that was adorned with a platinum serpent and broomstick charm. "A bit late for her birthday, don't you think?" Blaise commented.
Draco rolled his eyes and began to blush. "It's an anniversary present."
"Anniversary of what, you two started dating last summer."
"First kiss." He replied, only slightly embarrassed. Blaise held back a laugh and only nodded. "How adorable." The two shared a brief kiss before Draco excused himself to his dorm to change out of his thick cloak and boots, leaving Blaise and Emily to their lonesome.
He watched her clip the bracelet to her wrist, a solemn smile gracing her face while she admired the piece of finery. Blaise sighed and went back to his book, "He's onto you." From the corner of his eye, he saw her face only smile bigger. "I know." She only replied.
"He's onto that fur ball you're always feeding. I don't know why exactly, but it's Draco. You never know with him."
"I know, Blaise."
The door from the dorms opened and down came Draco wearing much more comfortable clothes, he returned to where he sat and chatted with Blaise and Emily.
~
Edited 05/02/2022