Connor didn't asked her about it anymore. Their conversations were the usual, and he pretended that nothing had happened at that night.
Emily had wanted to ask him, but she knew that her heart still belonged to Tom. She couldn't get rid of her feelings that easily even if she started dating another guy.
And today was the probably the worst day of the week. She was paired up with none other than Ignatius Prewett, Tom's roommate. They were suppose to finish a potion together in class so that they can be graded quickly without dragging it.
Emily had started shooting daggers to the soured face slytherin, who didn't look too happy to have a hufflepuff for a partner. She knew he was very skilled at Potions and wouldn't want her to slow him down.
Emily made her way to him, taking her wand and some bottles off the shelves to his table.
"You'd better not ruined this, Vance," he glared disapprovingly at her.
"I'll try my best," she said proudly, "And you'd better not annoy me. I won't be bothered redoing it by myself."
"Whatever," Ignatius muttered and they started the potion. They were making good progress when they came to a step where both have different ideas.
"I say we stirred it first. It's better to make the ingredients spread out evenly and wait for the bubbles to appear," Emily suggested.
"No. You can't wait for it, you have to put in the frog's legs -"
"What? That's wrong! Slughorn clearly said we should stir -"
"Listen here! I'm better at this, so I'm putting the frog legs in first," he snarled and picked up the glass bottle with a green cap sealed tightly.
Emily threw the long brown decayed limbs at him irritably, making a fuss over the cauldron.
"Stop it!"he shouted," Don't try to - "
But Emily had already grabbed the ladle, stirring the cauldron furiously. She believed that she was correct, much to his annoyance. She was not going to let him fail this project. Her notes clearly jotted down Slughorn's instructions and she was sure of it.
Ignatius didn't backed out. He snatched the ladle away and threw the frog legs inside without thinking. Emily furiously tried to grab it back but he was much too tall.
"A bit short, Vance? Perhaps -"
Kaboom! The contents flew out, splattering other students and a very displeased Slughorn who just so happened to stand in front of them.
Ignatius glared at her and balled his fists. "Well? Are you happy now?"
"Detention both of you!" the Potions master tutted and went on towards Tom, who was paired up with a very flirty gryffindor.
Emily didn't bothered to check on him. She was furious. "It's not my fault! You should've listened -"
The slytherin stormed out to clean himself whilst Emily grumbled all sorts of names for him.
"Stupid arse.." she took her backpack and hurried to the girls bathroom to get a good scrub of herself.
*******
It was nine. Emily was ordered to follow the grumpy caretaker for that night's detention. And of course - Ignatius hadn't showed up. He had either skipped it or perhaps - very late.
"Where is the other guy you're talking about?" Rorferr the caretaker scowled, tapping his foot impatiently.
"You know what? Perhaps let's just get started with it -"
"Who said I'm not coming?" he lurked out from the darkness, his skin as pale as moonlight.
"Hurry up! I've got a couple of things to do there," Rorferr gave them lanterns, then make his way down the stairs, opening the gates of Hogwarts.
"Wait, we're not going to the - forbidden forest, are we?" Emily said, terrified.
"You're afraid, aren't you?" Ignatius smiled cruely at her, shaking his head as if he was disappointed with her.
She tried her best not to show it, even if she had already gave it away. "Of course not! I-I'm not scared," Emily walked quickly past him.
He smirked and followed her trail, into the dark and mysterious forest. The crickets were singing loudly in the shrubs and the ground seem to make a sound wherever they stepped.
They wandered in more deeply until Ignatius couldn't help but speak. "How far are we going?"
The caretaker grunted, "Close. Just a bit more."
"But we've been walking for nearly twenty minutes!" he shouted in reply, but the caretaker ignored him.
They finally stopped at a plain spot, where brown dirt only exist. There wasn't a single sign of grass or calluna bushes there.
"Start digging," Rorferr ordered them, "I'll be a mile away searching for some special leaves. And remmeber, don't make any noise," he walked away to another direction.
They worked for a while, scooping dirt out using their wands. Emily paused and wiped the beads of sweat forming on her forehead when she wandered her gaze to the silver whistle he was wearing.
"What's that?"she whispered.
Ignatius smiled proudly." This,"he stroked it," Is one of valuable possessions from an ancient, powerful wizard. I'm a pure blood, obviously. "
"What if you blow it? What does it do?"
He glared annoyingly at her. "Well it just makes a very sharp noise, but it will hurt your ears real bad."
"Can I try it?" Emily asked curiously.
"No. You're not allowed to touch it," he snarled, scooping another handful of dirt.
"Then why don't you blow it? I just want to hear it," she said hopefully.
"Fine. Close your ears unless if you want to be deaf," he took it and blew it, and for a moment the sound pierce her ears and it hurt painfully.
"Stop!" Emily wailed and he eventually did. Her face immediately turned pale. "A-aren't we suppose to be quiet?" she said huskily.
"I don't know."
"Then maybe -"
A creature emerged from the trees. It came from the narrow gap between the fir trees, ready to pounce at them.
Its looked like a cave bear, but it was possibly a hybrid of some unknown monster. The creature had sharp teeth that dripped with saliva, and claws that can possibly tear your skin off.
Emily felt her mouth went dry. "What are we going to do Prewett?" she said, her voice shaking with great fear.
He looked alarmed. "I'll go distract it. You go and harm it," he sped off running towards a direction, yelling some sort of names to it.
She felt her wand at her skirt, and she pulled it out urgently.
"Locomotor Mortis!" she binded the creature's hind legs and she called Ignatius to run, but they didn't get far when the spell broke and it quickly catched up with them.
"It's coming closer! Run faster!" Emily cried desperately but she tripped over a rather large root and fell onto the wet soil.
"Run!" she yelled and tried to get up, but the creature hovered above her, baring his sharp teeth.
He swung its paw and one of the claws sunked into her stomach deeply. Emily screamed, wriggling, but it was no use. Blood poured out from the wound and she felt her vision went blurry. All she could remember was her own pain and nothing else.
*******
Emily opened her eyes. She was in a little room, probably the little brick hut near the quidditch pitch where the caretaker lived.
"Are you alright?" Ignatius peered at her, a bit nervous.
"I'm still a little dizzy.. What happened?" she said wearily.
"The beast fell unconscious when Rorferr did something to it. You were injured so he brought you back as quickly as we could.. Everything's fine now," he glanced nervously at her.
"Oh alright..." Emily looked at him worriedly,"Don't mention this to anyone! As far as I know.. That whistle of yours isn't allowed at Hogwarts, is it? They'll probably expelled you for causing me in danger.."
"Why would you help me?" Ignatius said coldly.
Emily smiled. "Because I can. And because I want to," she reached for his hand and patted it.
He looked at her, blushing a bit. "T-thank y-you."
He had obviously never really thanked someone before. Emily beamed at him, "You are mostly welcome."