Harry Potter and the Emerald Dragon

Title: Harry Potter and the Emerald Dragon (5/?)
Author: CPoe
Author email: [email protected]
Category: Romance, Adventure
Keywords: Harry, Emily, Hermione, Draco, Ron
Spoilers: All four books
Rating: R (to be on the safe side)
Summary: It's Harry's sixth year, and he meets a new girl that comes along with a lot of baggage. Romances are budding, confusion is all around, and the threesome's life is going to become a little hectic.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK
Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books,
Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Authors Note: This story takes place in Harry's sixth year, however, I've decided for the purpose of the story that those two years above Harry (George, Fred, Angelina, etc.) are still at Hogwarts. I started writing it and wrote in these characters (and I like them, so I'm gonna keep them in it). Also, I'm American, so if any British terms are misused, I apologize in advance.

Harry Potter and the Emerald Dragon

Chapter 5: Luminas Potion

"Holy Shit!" Emily exclaimed, shoving Harry away from her. She could hardly believe her eyes.

"What?" Harry asked, looking at her as if he expected gun shots any second now.

"Your friends!" she gasped, still in shock as to what she was currently witnessing. It had been the strangest series of events. First Hermione went running off the dance floor, then Ron went running after her, then she looked at him like she was going to punch him and now, "They're kissing!"

"They're what?" Harry asked, spinning around. He was obviously getting the same view she was, because his jaw suddenly dropped. Standing about ten feet away, surrounded by broomsticks, stood Ron and Hermione, locked together in a much more then friendly way. "I can't believe it."

"Well, they certainly seemed to like each other," Emily said, tilting her head a little.

"Yeah, but, they've liked each other for at least three years now."

"Oh, so, this isn't anything new."

"You don't understand. They've liked each other, but they've never actually done anything about it."

"For three years?" Emily asked, unable to comprehend it. How could someone go that long and not get fed up? No wonder they're being so voracious.

"Exactly."

"And you were stuck in the middle of it all?"

"You have no idea. As of a week ago, Ron was ready to murder me because he somehow got it stuck in his head that Hermione and I had this secret love affair going on behind his back."

"Hmm...wonder where he got that idea?" Emily said in a sarcastic voice, still watching Ron and Hermione, who were still making out over by the brooms.

"Er...what's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked inquiringly.

"Well, it's what I thought when I first met you guys," Emily responded, peeling her eyes off Ron and Hermione and looking over at Harry. He was looking at her too, with a weird expression on his face.

"You don't still think I like Hermione do you?" He asked in an offhanded kind of way.

"Harry," she responded, taking a step towards him and running her finger down the front of his robes. She was careful to apply just enough pressure so he could feel it while still being light enough to mimic the sensation of a feather. "I think I have a pretty good idea who you're interested in." When her finger reached about the place where his naval would be, she gave him a little poke before adding, "and if you wait three years to finally do something about it, I guarantee it will be too late." She watched as his face curved up into a smile.

Just then, Emily felt someone tap her on the shoulder, and she turned around to see Cho Chang standing behind her. Emily quickly looked back over at Harry, who seemed to be trying (unsuccessfully) to wipe the smile off his face, and then back to Cho.

"Sorry Em, but, you had mentioned that you were going to bring some Muggle music--"

"Oh, yeah, I totally forgot," Emily interrupted, "It's all in my bag," she added, pointing over to where she had left it. "They're mostly CDs though."

"Oh, that isn't a problem. Justin brought the stereo his parents got him for Christmas last year. It took him nearly all last spring, but he finally got it to run off magic." Wow! These Ravenclaws really are diligent, Emily though to herself. Cho seemed to see that Emily was impressed because she then added, "You wanna come see?"

"Oh, um..." she turned her back to Cho, so that only Harry could see her face, and mouthed the word help to him.

"Sorry Cho, but we were just about to leave," he said, reaching out his hand and grabbing Emily's. Leave? Just when she had thought she was making some progress in the right direction with him, he decides he wants to go back to the castle and call it a night. That isn't helping!

"Go? But you just got here?" Cho said, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"Yup, sorry. Great party though," Harry responded as he started tugging on Emily's arm. She resisted at first, but then realized how strange it would look to Cho if she didn't comply.

"What was that about?" Emily asked as they walked away from Cho and past Ron and Hermione, who had managed to move themselves over to the wall that was just beside the cubby space.

"What? I thought you didn't want to go with her," Harry said, digging through the pile of brooms on the floor and picking up his. "Hmm...wonder if Hermione wants her broom to get back?" Harry said, turning his head around to look at the two of them. Emily did the same.

"Doesn't look like the best time to ask her," She observed, turning her attention back to Harry, "And I doubt he'll mind giving her a ride back."

"Yeah, you're right. Here," he said, handing her Hermione's broom. She took it and stared at it, still not understanding why they were leaving so early.

"But why--"

"You had a surprise for me, and now maybe I have a little surprise for you," interrupted Harry, the smile he had before slowly seeping its way back.

"What is it?" Emily asked, realizing she sounded like a little kid.

"What kind of surprise would it be if I told you before hand?" Harry responded, mounting his broom and shaking his head. "I thought for sure you'd understand the idea behind surprises." He then kicked off and flew down the opening into the stairwell leading down the tower.

"Wait!" She yelled, quickly mounting her broom and zooming off after him. She followed him down the dilapidated staircase, and out into the cool night air.

* * *

"What room is this?" She asked, looking around. Harry could tell she was impressed.

"It's the old divination room. Professor Trelawney used to teach up here, but the person who took her place this year decided it was too far to walk all the way up here for class everyday. So, the room has been vacant since September."

"This was a classroom?" she asked, her eyes flicking around to the fireplace, then to the chintz armchairs and fat poufs surrounding the little coffee house style tables.

"Yup. It's a shame the class was so horrible," he answered, walking over to the fireplace and lighting it with his wand, thinking back to the afternoons he had spent depicting his own death with chicken entrails, tea leaves, star charts, tarot cards, orbs....

"Horrible?" She asked, still looking around the room, her eyes open with amazement. The light from the fireplace danced across her face. "But, it's so cozy in here! Any teacher that decorated their room like this must have been awesome."

"Unless they continually predicted the death of their students," Harry said, reaching up for the box of tea leaves above the mantle. "Would you like some tea?"

"Yeah, sure," Emily said, waving her hand at Harry but not actually looking at him as she replied, she was too busy examining the room. "Did she really predict her students deaths?"

"That's how she got fired," Harry began, "She predicted the death of a third year Ravenclaw, who took it so hard, she sort of had a magical breakdown. She was afraid to use her wand, to eat the food in the dining hall, to go within a Quidditch pitch of Professor Snape..."

"Oh, for goodness sakes," Emily said, putting her hands on her hips and making a sound reminiscent of Hermione when she had to remind Harry that Apparating wasn't possible within the Hogwarts grounds. "Snape is not evil."

"Moving along," Harry said, giving Emily a pointed expression, "The girl finally refused to come out of her room. Professor McGonagall went to Trelawney to ask her to take back what she had told the girl. But she refused. We never did find out if McGonagall got her fired or not, it was no secrete she hated Trelawney and thought divination was a waste of time. Trelawney just never came back the next term, and Professor Syed was here in her place."

Harry heard Emily sit down on one of the large pouf chairs behind him, and proceeded to finish making both cups of tea. Once he'd finished, he turned around, handed one to Emily, and took a seat next to her. They both sat there for a few moments, cupping the tea in their hands. Harry took a sip and instantly burned the tip of his tongue. Damn, I hate it when that happens!

"So..." Emily began, blowing on her tea a little, "Do you bring all the girls up here for romantic tea parties?"

"Er..." he began, noticing a slight smile on her lips before she took a sip from her cup.
She was so cool and collected, as if this was all second nature to her. He then realized that, for all he knew, this could be second nature to her. He had no clue how many boyfriends she'd had. Judging by the reaction of most guys that he'd seen her interact with, probably a lot. He thought back to the brief time he had spent going out with Cho. He had been so nervous with her, but at least he knew she had only dated Cedric before him. She wasn't nearly as confident as Emily, she had seemed nervous too. But Emily seemed to be in perfect control. He suddenly began to curse himself for bringing her here. What was he thinking, being alone with her....

"Harry?" she asked, looking up at him over her cup of tea. "You okay? You don't look so good."

"Oh, me, I'm fine," he said, taking his hand and ringing it around his collar. "Is it hot in here?"

"Well, you are drinking hot tea. And, the fireplace is right behind you," she said, starting to look a little worried. Harry turned around, brandishing his wand, and put out the flames that were jumping in the fireplace. When he turned back, he realized that the entire room was dark, save the light that was straying in through the windows from the moon.

"Er...sorry about that," he apologized, starting to turn back around to re-light the fireplace again. But before he could, Emily grabbed his shoulder.

"No, leave it," she said. She was kneeling next to him, so close that he could see her features in the darkened room. She took the teacup from out of his hand, and set it down on the table next to hers. "I know you didn't bring me up here for tea." He was just able to make out her raised eyebrows and see the whites of her teeth reflect in a smile. He sat there, staring at her for a few moments, not quite sure if he was really here or if this was some sort of a dream world, when she added, "So, what are you waiting for?" And that was all the encouragement he needed, for, without another thought, he leaned forward and kissed her. At first, it was just his lips softly against hers, sending little sprits of energy though his entire body. And then, he pressed harder, sliding his hand up to the back of her head and leaning into her. He then slid his other arm around her back, and felt her recline a little, leaning against the back of the cushiony chair. He heard her make a little sound from the back of her throat, so he broke the kiss and started to pull away from her. But he then found himself being pulled back by her arms, and as their lips came into contact again, he opened his mouth ever so slightly. She responded immediately, their tongues gliding against each other. It was better then he could have ever imagined, and he wanted to stay there, just like that, forever.

* * * *

Ginny had been waiting down in the common room for nearly twenty minutes when Hermione finally came barreling down the stairs to join her.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," she said, pulling her hair up into a ponytail, before kneeling down to tie her new Muggle sneakers.

"Oh, that's okay," Ginny said, casually pushing off the couch and walking over towards the portrait hole. As she got closer to Hermione, she noticed dark circles under her eyes. "No offense, but you look awful, Hermione. Did you get any sleep last night?"
Hermione glanced up at Ginny, but then quickly looked back down at her sneakers. Is she hiding something?

"Oh, yeah, I was up late studying," Hermione said in a voice that didn't fool Ginny. There was no doubt that she was lying. As soon as Hermione finished tying her shoes, they both exited the common room and began walking towards the entrance hall.

"Studying, eh?" Ginny said in a suspicious tone. "The common room must have been a great work area, considering everyone went to bed so early."

"Yeah, it was, I got a lot of work done," Hermione responded, still not looking at Ginny as she spoke. She had walked right into her trap.

"Hermione, I was in the common room until after one last night playing exploding snap with Neville and Katie Bell." That got her attention.

"You tricked me."

"Well, it was obvious you were lying to me. So, what were you really doing last night?"

"Nothing, I just stayed in my room."

"Wrong. Try again."

Hermione looked at Ginny, and Ginny could almost see the internal battle going on inside Hermione's head.

"There was a party," Hermione said, with a shrug of her shoulders. They had now come to the entrance hall, and Ginny pushed the great door open, gesturing Hermione to go first.

"A party? At Hogwarts?" Ginny said, unable to believe her ears.

"That's exactly what I thought."

"But where?"

"In the abandoned tower off the west wing, you should have seen all the people there. George and Fred even."

"And that surprises you?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow at her. If there was a party, she wouldn't be surprised if Fred and George were somehow involved.

"Guess not," Hermione replied. They walked in silence for a few moments.

"So, was it fun?" Ginny asked.

"I guess," Hermione responded, her voice still a little shaky. So, there's more.

"You guess?" Ginny mocked, trying to fish it out of her. Hermione didn't respond. "How'd you find out about it?"

"It was the strangest thing actually. Yesterday when we were eating lunch, the new girl, I mean Emily, came over and said she had a surprise for Harry." Hermione paused for a second, and then added, "You know, I think something's going on between them."

"Between Emily and Harry?" Ginny asked, taken aback by the revelation. Ginny certainly hadn't seen that one coming. "But she's a Slytherin. How would he even know her well enough for something to be going on between them?"

"They had detention together once."

"She's been here, what...a week...and she's already gotten detention?"

"She almost hexed Draco for calling me a mudblood, so you can't hold it against her."

"But, if she invited Harry, how did you end up going...unless...was Ron there?" Hermione quickly became very busy stretching out her arms; a red flush creeping up her cheeks that Ginny instantly knew wasn't because of the cold. "He was, wasn't he?"

"We were both at the table, she had to invite us," Hermione said matter-of-factly.

"So, what happened?" Ginny asked.

"Nothing!" Hermione exclaimed defensively. Ginny gave her a look that let Hermione know she knew better. "Well...alright...but only because I'm sure the whole school knows by now...oh, I don't know what we were thinking...being in public like that," Hermione said, finally meeting Ginny's eyes.

"So, what happened?!?" Ginny repeated, surprised at the urgency in her own voice.

"Well...we were dancing. And then your incessantly obnoxious brothers came flying over to us on their broomsticks and said some...er...well you know how they get. Anyway, Ron got mad and when I asked him why, he made this incredibly lame excuse which pissed me off, so I went to leave. And then...." Hermione trailed off here.

"And then what?"

"Well...he...he..."

"Well he what??"

"Kissed me."

"He what?" Ginny exclaimed, stopping mid-step.

"You heard me. He just kissed me, and..." Ginny could see her eyes do a little circle in their sockets "It was amazing. I've never been kissed by anyone like that before! It was nothing like Viktor. Just simply amazing! He would --"

"Please..." Ginny said, putting her hand up and turning her head away from Hermione. "Spare me the details. He is my brother after all."

"Oh, right."

"Well, I can certainly say I didn't see that one coming. I never thought he'd muster up the nerve to--" Ginny quickly stopped talking, and put her arm out to signal Hermione to do the same. They had just rounded the corner of the Quidditch locker rooms, and Ginny saw there were people out on the pitch.

"Ginny, what in the --"

"Shhh," Ginny interrupted, pushing her over to the wall of the building, out of view. "There's someone on the pitch." Ginny slowly moved towards the corner, and peeked her head around. Standing in the middle of the pitch were two people. Both were medium height, the one with their back to them about two or three inches taller then the other. The taller one was wearing black robes, with a hood pulled up over their head. Hermione had inched to her side, and was also peering around the side of the building. Ginny squinted her eyes a little, trying to identify the one who stood opposite the hooded one. She could just barely make out a fringe of something pink...

"That's Emily!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know. But who is she talking to? And why this early?"

"I haven't the slightest."

"It certainly seems odd," Ginny said, still watching the two figures talk.

"Harry told me something really strange the other day," Hermione began, taking a few steps back and leaning up against the wall besides Ginny.

"Yeah?"

"He told me that she could do wandless magic." Ginny quickly looked over at Hermione, and saw that she wasn't joking.

"Wandless magic?" Ginny asked, taken aback. "But that's impossible."

"That's what Ron though. But I've read about it," Hermione said, leaning her head back against the wall, "I wish I could remember what book it was in."

"I've never heard of it before, and I've grown up around witches and wizards."

"That's the thing, Ginny. I wouldn't expect anyone you've ever met to be able to do it because, well, if I'm remembering correctly, you have to be very powerful, and most are dark wizards."

"Dark wizards? But, you don't think Emily's evil?" Ginny asked, a chill running up her spine. "Do you?"

"Well, I don't really know her," Hermione began; looking as though she was still trying to remember what book she had read about the wandless magic in. "She stood up against Draco because he called me a mudblood, which doesn't seem like something a dark witch would do. And, she seemed perfectly fine last night. She's actually quite nice."

"But..." Ginny led, sensing in Hermione's voice that there was another side to the story.

"Well, you see how she has all the guys at this school in some sort of trance or something. And the whole wandless magic thing. And now, she's out here consorting with hooded figures at the crack of dawn. It all just makes me wonder if maybe her being so nice is --"

"All an act?" Ginny guessed.

"Yeah." Ginny nodded, and then poked her head around the corner, feeling Hermione do the same. Emily was waving her arms about as if she was yelling at the person standing opposite her. The person seemed to be absorbing it, not reacting at all. Then, suddenly, Emily spun around and began to walk away, but the hooded figure reached out and grabbed her arm. She swung around again, and yanked her arm out of their grasp. But then, she just stood there. She didn't appear to be saying anything, just glaring at the figure opposite her. After a few seconds, she spun around again and quickly walked away. Ginny watched her until she disappeared behind the other side of the locker rooms.

"Er...Ginny," Hermione's shaky voice came from beside her.

"Yeah," Ginny said, still staring at the spot where Emily had just stood. She then felt Hermione tugging on her sweatshirt, pulling her away from the corner. "What is it?"

"Ginny, we have to move, they're coming towards us."

"They're what..." Ginny took her eyes off the spot she had been staring at, and finally realized what Hermione was on about. The hooded figure was walking straight at them. Ginny quickly pulled her head back, and the two of them scurried along the side of the building, peeking their heads around the corner that faced the castle. Emily was almost half way back. Ginny looked at Hermione, who nodded. They both took a deep breath, and then sprinted down the side of the building, hoping beyond hope that Emily didn't have a sudden urge to look back at the pitch. When they reached the other side, they quickly ducked behind it.

"That was close," Hermione whispered, crouching down to the ground.

"Tell me about it," Ginny responded, leaning her head back against the wall. "Too close."

* * * *

Sunday afternoon came and went. Harry had decided to go to the library to work on some essays that were due in the beginning of the week, and now, looking up at the large wall clock, he realized it was already time for dinner. Glad to take a break from his schoolwork, Harry started packing up all of his books.

"So..." came a drawling voice from just above where Harry sat. He didn't have to look up, he knew exactly who it was. "I see you've made a new friend, Potter." Harry continued to pack up his books, ignoring the interruption. "Music too loud for you last night, are you deaf as well as stupid now?"

"I heard you," Harry said, snapping his bag shut and standing up. He was now eye level with Malfoy. "So what if I've made a new friend, what's it to you?"

"It's just a mere observation," he responded, his inflection flat. "Practically the whole school is trying to shag her, makes me wonder why she'd choose a loser like you." Harry clenched his fists.

"Maybe because the thought of being with someone as evil as you made her recoil," Harry said, but Malfoy just snickered.

"While I appreciate the compliment, allow me to assure you that she would be the last person to recoil in the face evil."

"What are you playing at?" Harry asked, narrowing his eyes and taking what he hoped would be a threatening step forward. Malfoy just smiled.

"What, and spoil the show?" he responded, flipping through some of the books Harry had on the desk in front of him. "I thought you knew me better then that, Potter."

"I'm about this close," Harry began, holding up his thumb and forefinger about two inches apart from each other, "to hexing you into next week."

"Temper, temper," Draco said, shaking his head, still fiddling with Harry's books. "And here I though I was doing you a favor," he then added, picking up one of the books from off the table. Harry snatched it away from him.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Harry replied, glaring at him with all he could muster.

"Very well then, I'll see you around," he said, taking a step back and walking down the main isle that leads out of the library. Harry leaned down and picked up the rest of his books, balancing them in a short stack in front of him, all the while trying to figure out exactly what it was that Malfoy was getting at. Why was he so interested in his relationship with Emily? And what had he meant about her being the last person to recoil in the face of evil? Hmgh. He's probably just jealous.

* * *

Ron walked into the Great Hall and over to the Gryffindor table. He had spent the entire afternoon learning the different chasers' plays. It had been a chasers-only practice: just Alicia, Angelina and himself. There were over a hundred different offensive and defensive moves to learn, and all that learning made him very, very hungry.

He normally would have gone back to the common room to wait for at least one of his friends before coming down to the great hall, but his hunger overcame him. The table was empty except for Fred, Angelina, George, Alicia and Katie Bell. Ron thought about sitting with them, but then realized he was still extremely hacked off at his brothers for the stunt they had pulled the night before, even though it had ended quite nicely. As Ron walked past the five of them, he heard their voices drop to a whisper and a couple of giggles from the girls. He didn't even care.

He went to the end of the table, and sat down, alone. He wondered when Hermione was going to come down, realizing he hadn't seen her since breakfast that morning. It was great now that they both were being honest with each other, better then Ron could have ever imagined. He had thought that it was going to be weird the next morning, maybe she hadn't really felt about him the way he felt about her, but his worries were instantly cancelled when he saw her enter the hall with Ginny. She didn't say anything, he just knew. It was in the way she smiled at him, the way she talked to him, the way she ran her foot up and down his leg through breakfast. It was as if they had been going out forever, and this was just another day of being together.

He had just started in on his food when he suddenly heard footsteps approaching behind him. He turned around, hoping to see Hermione. But it wasn't her.

"Is it ok if I eat with you?" Emily asked. She was holding a plate of food in front of her, along with a glass of pumpkin juice. Ron nodded, and she walked around the end of the table, and took the seat opposite him. Ron watched as she picked up her fork and started eating. She didn't say anything, just ate. It was quite a different Emily then he was used to seeing.

"Thanks for inviting us to the party," Ron said, trying to cut the awkward silence between them.

"No problem," she replied, forcing a smile across her face, and then returning back to her plate of food.

"So, Harry says you're an amazing flyer," Ron began again, grasping desperately at straws. She just shrugged her shoulders. "Did you order a broom from my catalogue yet?" She nodded. "Which one?"

"The Cirrus 4000," she said, not looking up from her plate.

"That's a great broom, second only to the Firebolt," Ron said. She looked like she was going to cry any second now. He couldn't hold it back anymore. "Emily, is something wrong?"

She looked up at him. He had expected to see tears in her eyes, but she had none. She just looked lost. She forced another smile, which faded just as quickly as it had appeared. "Ron, can I ask you something? And I need you to be completely honest with your answer." This wasn't what Ron was expecting.

"Er...I suppose so," he responded, beginning to wish he had denied her request to sit with him. She chose her words carefully, and then, after a moment or so, asked her question.

"Do you think people are born evil, or that they become evil over the course of their lives?"

Ron shrugged. "I'm sure there are people that become evil at some point, but I think most are just born that way. It's in their blood or something."

"So, you think that if someone is born evil, there's no way for them not to be?"

"It's not like it should be used as an excuse, but they can't just deny the fact that they're evil."

"Oh," she said, looking down at her plate and returning to her food. Just then, Ron saw Harry come into the Great Hall, carrying a stack of books. Thank God!

" 'ello 'Arry?" Ron said, trying to brighten up the atmosphere, and perhaps get a less then sullen response from Emily. However, when Ron glanced over at her, he realized he needn't have worried.

"Hey, what's up?" she said, beaming at Harry. Ron blinked a few times, not believing his eyes. It was like night and day. She was suddenly all smiles.

"Not much," Harry answered, putting his books down on the table and taking a seat next to Ron. "You do realize people are going to think it's weird if you suddenly abandon your house and start eating at the Gryffindor table all the time," he added playfully.

"Well, they can just shove it then," she responded equally as playful. "I'd much rather be here with you," she said smiling at Harry, "Oh...and you too Ron." It was sickening, and Ron was relieved to see that Hermione and Ginny had just walked into the dining hall. Hmmm, he thought to himself, they sure are spending a lot of time together, Ginny and Hermione.

"Well, hello, hello," Emily said as Hermione took a seat next to Ron and Ginny next to Emily.

"Hi, Emily," Hermione responded, reaching over Ron's plate for the pumpkin juice. "Have you met Ginny? She's Ron's sister." Ron noticed that her voice was a little less friendly then usual, but when he looked over at her, she just smiled at him.

"I could have guessed the relation," Emily said, smiling at Ginny. "How many siblings do you guys have?"

"There're seven of us," Ginny answered, "Me, Ron, Fred and George, they're the twins, Percy, Charlie and Bill."

"You're the only girl?" Emily asked.

"Yup. Just me. The youngest and the only girl. It gets a little sickening." She gave Ron a pointed look, and he instantly knew exactly what she was going to say next. "The term overprotective just doesn't exist when it comes to watching over me." Ron shrugged.

"I wish I had brothers or sisters. It used to get pretty lonely in the house with just me and my mom," Emily said, though Ron noticed it hadn't been a sad statement, she was simply stating a fact. "And now it's just me and my pathetic excuse for a..." she trailed off here, muttering the rest of her sentence inaudibly. Ron looked around, and saw that everyone else had the same surprised look on their faces. They all seemed to suddenly decide it wasn't a good idea to push the subject, and went back to eating their food.

After lunch, they all said goodbye to Emily and started walking back to the Gryffindor common room. As soon as they were alone in the corridor, Ron looked over at Harry, took a deep breath, and decided to say what was on his mind.

"She's weird Harry," Ron said, hoping it hadn't come out too harsh.

"What?" Harry asked, taking his eyes off the floor and looking up at Ron. "Who's weird?"

"Emily," Hermione said, surprising Ron. Good, at least someone else has noticed.

"You don't even know her," Harry said, looking between his two best friends, starting to get a defensive look on his face.

"Harry, before you came to dinner, she was acting strangely. I thought she was going to start to cry. She had this lost look on her face. It was really creepy."

"She just moved to a new country, started at a new school, forced to live in a house full of people she hates. I don't know, Ron, but I think if that happened to you you'd be looking a little lost too." Harry was definitely being defensive. Ron looked over at Hermione, hoping to get some support from her. He noticed that she was having what looked like a mental conversation with Ginny, full of nods and eyebrow raising and pointed expressions.

"Harry, there's something you should know," Hermione said, still looking over at Ginny, who seemed to give up and was now looking down at the floor. "This morning, Ginny and I saw Emily talking to someone out on the Quidditch pitch." Ron turned his attention away from his sister, and back to Hermione.

"So?" Harry said, shrugging his shoulders.

"It was odd, Harry," Hermione began, "Who meets with someone outside at the crack of dawn, unless you're trying to hide something?"

"Well, what were you doing out there, Hermione?" Harry asked, voicing Ron's feelings.

"That is not the point Harry," Hermione responded. "The point is that I think there's more to that girl then meets the eye. I have a funny feeling about her."

"Hermione," Harry began, seeming to give up the fight. "I know you don't like her. You haven't liked her from the start. I don't know if you're jealous or--"

"I am not jealous!" Hermione practically screamed.

"Fine. But..." he paused, looking over at Ron and then at Ginny also. "Just give her a chance. All of you."

Ron nodded, though he wasn't really listening to the conversation. His mind was too busy trying to figure out why Hermione, and Ginny for that matter, were outside on the Quidditch pitch at the crack of dawn.

* * * *

As soon as Harry got through the portrait hole, he bid goodnight to his friends and went up to his room, flopping his books down on his four-poster, and curling up under the covers next to them.

He had a four-page paper due the next day for divination. While he had never enjoyed class with Trelawney, he would have certainly traded her for Prof. Syed any day of the week. It wasn't that he didn't like Prof. Syed; she was one of the nicest teachers in the school. She was a short witch with black hair that was always neatly coifed around her head, who spoke in a tone that was soft and soothing. But, when it came to grading essays and homework assignments, she was ruthless. Gone were the days when he and Ron could create their untimely demises and receive full marks. Now, Harry was forced to study, forced to put time and effort into everything.

He propped himself up with his pillows against the headboard, and picked up one of the books that sat beside them. On the cover of the book, written in gold leafing, was the title: A guide to telling the future. Harry flipped through the pages, looking for the section he needed for his paper, but as he came towards the middle of the book, a small sheet of paper fell out of it and onto his lap. He picked it up, and realized it was a page torn from some other book. Harry scanned the page, and quickly realized it wasn't written in English, but Latin. He was about to disregard it completely when his eyes focused on the bottom of the page. Written there were two words in scrawling handwriting: Harry Potter.

Harry quickly got up from his bed and walked towards the door to his room. As he made his way down the stairs, he was glad to see that Ron and Hermione were still there, sitting on couches in the common room, doing their schoolwork together.

"I thought you were going to bed," Hermione said, looking up from her parchment as Harry approached them.

"I was," he answered, glancing back down at the torn piece of paper, "Except that I found this." He handed it over to Hermione. Ron scooted over a bit, looking at the paper over her shoulder.

"It's not English," Ron observed, looking up at Harry, "Where'd you get it?"

"It was in one of the books I took out of the library for our divination paper."

"But it has your name on it," Ron said, turning his head back to look at the paper. Harry ignored him and focused on Hermione.

"Do you understand it Hermione?" Harry asked. She had been looking at the paper, and when he addressed her, she looked up at him. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth was open in surprise.

"Harry, where did you get this?" she repeated Ron's question.

"I just said it was in one of my books for divination!"

"No one gave it to you?"

"No, why?"

"Because, it's...." She paused, looking back at the paper. "Was there more?"

"No, just that one page," Harry began, feeling his patience slowly draining from him, "Will you just tell me what it says!"

"It's a story, well, part of a story really, about the birth of...of..."

"Of what?" Both Harry and Ron asked in unison.

"My Latin isn't the best, but I'll try to translate it as best as possible," Hermione said, concentrating hard on the piece of paper. As she spoke, her finger moved along the page, keeping her place. "He placed his hand on...I don't recognize that word, but he put his hand on something. The air became cold, swimming with magic. So was the birth of a monster so powerful that for years to come the countryside would live in fear. A monster known as the Emerald Dragon."

"The Emerald Dragon," Ron said, looking up at Harry with wide eyes. "Harry, isn't that what you-know-wh--"

"Is there more?" Harry asked Hermione, interrupting Ron.

"The page is torn, that's all I can make out."

"Damn," Harry said, stomping his foot on the ground.

"Blimey, Harry," Ron said, "A monster so powerful that for years to come--"

"I heard it the first time," Harry interrupted again as he ran his hands nervously through his hair. "What do you think it means?"

"I don't know. We looked all summer for something about the Emerald Dragon and found nothing. The book this was taken from was very old, at least 500 years." She paused before asking, "Don't you think it's a little strange that this turned up from out of no where?"

"With your name at the bottom of it?" Ron added.

Harry thought about this for a moment, trying to make sense out of it. Someone was trying to tell him something, but not too much. It had to be from one of Voldemort's followers, but how did they get into the castle, and more importantly, how did it end up in his divination book? His mind was swirling, trying to think. Suddenly, he shook his head, deciding there was nothing they could do about it.

"I'm going to bed," he said, taking the note from out of Hermione's hands.

"You're what?" Ron asked, "But what about the letter?"

"What about it? There's nothing I can do."

"Yeah, but Harry..."

"But what? I'm not going to stand here and wrack my brain about it. Not now at least. Thank you Hermione."

"You're welcome," she said, not quite meeting his eyes. He could tell that they were both unnerved by the letter. He just wanted to put it all behind him. "Goodnight," she practically whispered.

Harry turned around, and walked back up to his room, folding the paper up and placing it into the pocket of his robes. There was nothing else to do, just wait.

* * * *

"Does anyone know what this is?" Snape asked, holding up a vial of dark brown liquid. Emily looked around, and saw that most of the students in the class were looking at her. She shrugged, not having a clue what it could be. "It's a hard one, I admit," he continued, reverently inspecting the vial, "Not many know it exists. It is a shame, really. Such a great potion, never being used." Emily saw that he was having a moment with himself. "It's a type of revealing potion, similar to Polyjuice, called Luminas Potion. When drunk by someone it reveals, unbeknownst to them, the degree of their magical ability." Emily heard a rumble of whispers spread through the classroom.

"Wow, I've always wondered about my magical ability," Millicent, who was sitting next to her, whispered to Emily.

"Silence," Snape called. They all obeyed. "Each table will make a flask of the potion. The ingredients are listed on the board, along with the procedure for creating it. At the end, we'll test it."

The class broke off in a whirl of talking and movement. Emily placed her cauldron onto the little fire Millicent had conjured on their desk. They each added their ingredients, making sure to properly crush the beetles and the dragon fly wings. After the cauldron simmered for a few minutes, the contents turned from a milky-yellow to a dark brown.

"Very good," Snape praised, leaning in over their cauldron, inspecting its contents. "Exemplary work as always Miss Waters...and you too, Miss Bulstrode. You can remove it from the heat now and allow it to cool." He then turned to walk away, stopping at a desk with two Gryffindors at it. As Millicent put out the flame and poured their potion into a cooling flask, Emily looked over to see Harry working over his cauldron with Ron. They were both still adding their ingredients, talking occasionally with Hermione, who sat in front of them with a Gryffindor boy Emily didn't know. All the Gryffindors were involved in conversations as they worked. Emily turned back to her fellow Slytherins, noticing that they were all working in silence. As she did so, she also caught Draco's eye. He gave her a little grin that looked more like a smirk than a friendly gesture, before turning back to finish his potion.

In a few minutes, all the students had their potions in cooling flasks, and Snape stood at the front of the room again.

"I was hoping to have someone here to demonstrate how the potion is ineffective on people lacking magical ability; however he was most uncooperative." Emily heard snickers from a few of her dorm mates. "We'll go down the class list alphabetically, starting with Miss Bulstrode."

Emily shifted in her seat as Millicent stood, cupping the flask in her hand.

"Just a sip should do the trick," Snape cautioned. Millicent brought the flask to her lips and did as she was told. As soon as she brought the flask down, a light glow surrounded her body, as if she was being illuminated by a spotlight.

"Is anything happening?" she whispered through her teeth to Emily.

"You're glowing," Emily whispered back, and saw Millicent let out a sigh of relief.

"Mr. Crabbe, you're next." Crabbe took a sip from his flask, and a very faint glow emanated from his body.

Emily watched as the rest of the students were called one by one. Goyle, who glowed equally as dim as Crabbe had, was followed by Hermione, who radiated a brilliant white light. Emily smiled at her, and noticed Hermione hesitate before smiling back. The boy sitting next to her sipped next, giving a little cry when she told him he was glowing.

"Mr. Malfoy," Snape called. Emily watched as Draco took a sip, and glowed brighter then any of the other students had before him. "Impressive," Snape commented. Parkinson and Patil followed him, both glowing bright like Hermione had. After Patil, Emily saw Snape give a little grin as he read the next name off the list.

"Let's see if Mr. Potter is able to live up to his over-inflated reputation," he said smoothly, looking up from his parchment and over to Harry. She looked over at him too, and he gave her an "I told you he hates me" look before taking a sip from his flask. Emily felt a smile creep across her face as she watched bright streaks of light shine from his body. He looked almost angelic, and he was definitely brighter then Draco. "Most disappointing," Snape said, returning to his parchment. Harry continued to glow as the next few students took their potions.

Finally, Emily heard her name. She uncapped her flask, closed her eyes, and took a sip, feeling the potion instantly flow through her body and spread out to her limbs. She heard someone gasp, and a few muffled cries from the room. She quickly opened her eyes, and felt her jaw drop in astonishment. Everyone in the room was turned away from her, their hands up over their faces, shielding their eyes.

After a few moments, she saw Snape uncover his eyes, and look up at her. "It's fine, you can all look now," he said, though it wasn't his usual voice. He was looking at her cautiously, as if she would spontaneously burst into flame at any moment. Slowly, her classmates took their hands away from their eyes.

"What happened?" She asked. Nobody answered; they were all staring at her, wearing the same look on their face as Snape did.

"There was some sort of ..." Snape began, but then he stopped, staring at her with his dark eyes. He then quickly shook his head. "You must have made your potion incorrectly. Ten points from Slytherin," he said, looking back down at his paper. "Weasley!" he called, not meeting her eyes, "You're next." Nobody in the room moved. Emily looked around, and saw that everyone was still staring at her. "Weasley!" Snape barked, obviously annoyed. Emily watched as Ron snapped out of his stare at her, and picked up his flask, slowly taking a sip from it.

Emily's head swam as she tried to grasp what had just happened. Had she made a mistake with the potion? She couldn't see how that could be the case; Snape was just trying to cover up for something. She was confident in her potion making skills. Plus, nothing had happened to Millicent. She instinctively looked over to Harry, who quickly darted his eyes away from her, trying to look as though he had been writing in his notebook instead of looking at her. She suddenly felt her entire body go numb, her mind freezing up with a million questions. So many strange things were happening to her, all of which she knew where somehow related, but she still had no clue what was going on.

Emily felt Millicent move in her seat next to her, starting to pack up her books. She looked around and saw that the rest of the class was doing the same. No one was speaking. Students started leaving one by one, and Emily could hear the rumble of voices that broke out as soon as the students left the dungeons and were in the hallway. They're talking about me, she thought to herself. She then looked over to where Harry had been seated, and saw that he was gone. In fact, everyone was gone. Everyone except the one person Emily didn't want to see at that moment: Draco Malfoy.

"They'll be most pleased to hear about this," he drawled. He was leaning against the desk in front of her, his bag slung over his shoulder.

"What?" She asked. She had heard him, but she didn't have the ability to say much else.

"They were beginning to doubt it was true. But I'm sure they won't have any doubts now."

"Who?" Emily asked, trying to focus her eyes long enough to look up at Draco. She didn't even care that she hated him. She was so lost, so confused, it didn't matter anymore. He knew something, and she'd be stupid not to listen to him.

"You got the letter the other day?" he asked. Emily nodded, picturing the letter she had received at dinner on Friday. "And he came to speak with you?" She nodded again. "Did he say when he'd meet with you next?"

"Not specifically," she answered, surprised to hear her voice wobble as she spoke. She put her hand up to her eyes, and found there were tears streaming down her face. "He just said he'd be in touch." Draco appeared to consider her carefully. She was openly crying now, and she could feel his gaze on her. He didn't move to comfort her. He just stood there, staring.

"You're nothing like how I imagined," he finally said, his voice flat.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked between heaving sobs.

"I just pictured you differently. Taller, stronger...uglier." Emily looked back up at him again, choking back her sobs.

"I hate you, you do realize that," she said, though not with much feeling.

"Yes. I know. But you'll come around soon enough," he said, an air of certainty in his voice.

"And what makes you so sure?"

"Because I know what's coming," he answered, slowly beginning to walk out of the dungeons. But just before he got to the doors he added, "And the last thing you'll do is run to Potter for help."
* * * *

End Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed Chapter 4! And special thanks to those who helped me with writing this chapter, you know who you are! Next chapter, we'll get some Quidditch action and we'll also find out what's going on with Emily and who she's been meeting with.