Revenge is Sweet-Most of the Time

It began one bright day in September. A girl stood between platforms 9 and 10. She was pretty, but she was also looking slightly puzzled. She knew, of course, that she was supposed to be at platform 9 3/4, but she didn't know where it was.

She was dressed in jeans, with a halter top, and her silky brown hair was tied back in a messy bun.

She carefully wheeled her cart, loaded with her trunk and her caged cat, to a bench, where she sat down to wait. As she was fifteen minutes early, she figured that more students had to come around sometime, and perhaps one of them could help her.

She didn't have to wait long. A family of redheads, a skinny boy with glasses, and a pretty girl with bushy hair came along, with carts like hers. They all looked to be about her age, fifteen.

"Excuse me." She walked towards them. "Could you tell me where platform 9 3/4 is?"

They looked at each other, and finally, the boy with glasses broke the silence.

"Follow us."

Before she knew it, they were running towards the big barrier, they were through it, and the Hogwarts Express was in sight.

"Thanks." She smiled, sticking out her hand. "My name's Emily. I'm new here, you know, doing one of those school switches. I used to go to an American school, but Mom and Dad decided I would get a better education here."

"Pleased to meet you. My name is Hermione Granger, this is Harry Potter, and that's Ron Weasley. What year are you starting?"

"My fifth."

"Us too."

"Cool. See you around." Emily took her cart over to the loading car, and started to load it up, smiling. It wasn't an easy task, as her trunk was huge. Just when she was getting the hang of it, a boy came over and fiddled with his trunk, which was next to hers. Emily, when she finally shoved her trunk into the rack, stumbled slightly and slammed into the boy, who caught her fall, and shoved her back upright.

"Thank you," said Emily

"I'm sure you are. My name is Draco Malfoy. I come from one of the most prestigious families in England." He introduced himself in an arrogant tone.

"You are?"

"Emily Parker. I'm from Georgia."

"Where?"

"Georgia, U.S.A.?"

"Oh, yes. Pleasure. You're new here then? Hope you get sorted in Slytherin. It's the best house anyway." Draco strolled off, right after giving Emily's body an approving stare, and licking his lips.

To Emily's displeasure, they bumped into each other again, just when Emily's cat carrier had come loose, and she was kneeling to fix it. She stood up, locking eyes with him. His stare was penetrating and imperious. Her eyes were dangerous as she turned and walked into a empty compartment, leaving Malfoy gaping after her. He then closed his mouth with a snap and strode off, undressing her with his mind. Emily curled up with a book, staring at her empty compartment. She was exhausted naturally, after having flown from Georgia to New York and from New York to England, getting on the Hogwarts Express right after.

Her parents were both wizards. Her dad worked in the magical government while her mother stayed at home. Emily had gone to a day school, until the headmistress died, and the new headmaster was a total jerk, or so was her opinion of him anyway.

She was being sent to Hogwarts under protest because she didn't want to leave her friends. But at least here, in a foreign country, with a bunch of people with different accents, it would be interesting, although she disliked being the odd one.

The door slid open, and Emily looked up, just in time to see Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Harry Potter backing out.

"Don't leave, please. I'll feel even more odd if I'm here all alone in this compartment. I don't bite."

"Are you sure that you just don't want to spend time with the famous Harry Potter?" Hermione said suspiciously.

"Harry Pot.. You're Harry Potter?"

"Yeah." Harry was starting to feel a little awkward.

Don't look at his scar, don't look at his scar.

"Oh, no I hadn't even thought of that. Sorry, I was just trying to be friendly. It was just a suggestion." She smiled.

Don't look at his scar. DON'T look at his scar.

It took a lot of effort on Emily's part to keep her blue eyes for traveling to his face, or more specifically, his forehead.

Hermione smiled, sitting down next to her, while Ron and Harry slid across the way. "Oh, good! I'm going to need some friends if I'm to survive a British wizarding school. I had to leave everyone in Georgia."

"What's it like in America?" Hermione asked curious as always, seeking more knowledge.

The trip went by pretty quickly, and before they knew it, they were entering Hogwarts.

Emily grew even more nervous than she already was, for she was being Sorted, and it didn't help that she was a good foot taller than the first-years. She was so nervous that she barely heard the Sorting Hat sing, being so lost in thought that Professor McGonagall had to call her three times before she finally sat down, blushing.

The whole school stared at her for over five minutes, waiting..and waiting.. But finally, the hat spoke:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Emily took it off, and went down to the Gryffindor table as the students cheered.

"Well, that took forever and a day," Emily breathed, taking the seat beside Hermione.

"We were afraid the hat had eaten you," Hermione laughed.

Emily smiled as she felt a nudge on her elbow and blinked as she glanced at the boy. There were two of them.
"Greetings. I'm Fred Weasley, and this is George. We want to welcome you to Gryffindor."

"Charmed," said a smiling Emily.

Dinner was delicious, and after eating , Emily was pleasantly sleepy. She followed the Gryffindors upstairs, and went to bed after a long but pleasant day.

The next morning, Emily dressed in her black robes, and pulled on a scarlet hat, running down to the Great Hall. She headed towards the Gryffindor table and slid in the only open spot, next to Harry.

She was serving herself a slice of bacon when she glanced up and met a pair of cold, gray eyes that were staring right at her, as if silently contemplating her worth .

"As if I were a side of beef," Emily thought resentfully.

She stared back until he sneered at her, flicking his eyes up and down her figure, and strolled off. Emily turned red with fury. She definitely didn't like him checking her out like that.

"Harry," she leaned in, "Who's Draco Malfoy?"

"He's a total ferret," Harry replied, causing Ron to burst out laughing. "I don't like him."

"Oh. Does he always check new girls out?"

"He's just trying to intimidate you. Better get used to it," Hermione answered.

Emily sighed in annoyance. This was just what she needed right now.

Classes were interesting. Emily had never taken Divination before, and found that Ron's and Harry's loud and unrestrained laughing added to the fun. She sat with Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, in an effort to branch out, but they were so serious about it, and when Emily smiled, in sympathy to Ron and Harry, Parvati and Lavender glared at her, scooting their chairs as far away as possible.

Lunch was interesting, because Fred and George gave her Canary Cream, and she turned into a big bird, laughing hysterically as she molted.

After classes, Emily took her broom, a Nimbus 2000, which she had affectionately nicknamed ‘Old Reliable', and ventured to the Quidditch field. She flew until exhaustion overtook her. She wasn't great at Quidditch, but she loved the feeling of being in the air. Due to the distraction, she didn't noticed that somebody had followed her and hadn't stopped watching her.

The first half of the year passed quickly, with Emily making lots of new friends, and, of course, learning. She and Hermione became good friends, probably because they both truly cared about their schoolwork, and worked hard. The difference there was that Emily's grades were average, while Hermione shone in everything. She also had a friend in Ginny Weasley, who was smart, sweet, and fun to hang out with. Emily also made friends with Parvati Patil, as they both were interested in fashion. They spent many nights together just reading a Vogue magazine.

But on the first day of holiday break, something happened that ruined Emily's week.

She was walking through the corridors, when she bumped into Draco Malfoy. He looked at her, and sneered.

"Well, well. Why is the Mudblood not running home for Christmas?"

"Perhaps because I'm not a Mudblood," Emily answered smirking in a way that was meant to be obnoxious.

"Oh, right, I forgot. You're an American."

"Something wrong with that?"

"Only everything." Draco's statement made Emily turn a becoming shade of umber.

"I thought that the English were more sophisticated. God, I was totally wrong. And you a pureblood-so you say." Malfoy became mottled.

"Are you questioning my heritage?"

"Looks like it, doesn't it?" Emily smiled sarcastically, taking a step away.

But before Emily could walk off, Draco took her by her arms, pressing her up against the wall, his face only inches from hers, the rest of his body uncomfortably close to her.

"Listen," his voice becoming dangerously soft, "You insult me like that again, and I'll make sure you wake up at night, sobbing, because you had a dream about what I did to you."

Emily shoved him off of her.

"That'd be pretty hard, pretty boy." She turned on her heel and stalked off, seething.

Before she entered the portrait hole, she tried to collect her thoughts.

"Fat Lady?" she asked, "Do I look okay?"

"You look beautiful, dearie. Password?"

"Pink silk parasol." The hole swung open, and Emily got in. She saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione clustered around the fire. They waved at her to come over, but Emily sighed, returned the gesture, and went up to her room.

She climbed on her bed, and pulled the draperies shut. As her bed was right next to a window, she could see the moon shining, large and comforting.

Emily curled up as her mind suddenly replayed what Malfoy had said. She was ready to kill him, a feeling she had never experienced before. She was determined to think of a way to get back at him. With that on her mind, she fell asleep.

Emily woke up to sunlight flooding the room. She ran down to the common room, where Harry and Hermione were sitting in front of the fire, talking in low voices. They both looked extremely awkward. "Emily!" Both Harry and Hermione said in unison as they noticed her presence.

She walked over and sat down next to them.

"Hey lovebunnies," She smiled as Hermione blushed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked innocently. Too innocently.

"You know," Emily grinned, but as Hermione stared back, she decided to change the subject. "Hey, listen."

She told them about her encounter with Draco. By the time she was finished, Hermione and Harry just stared at her.

"He really said that?" asked Harry.

"Yes," Emily answered.

"That's horrible, Emily. You should tell Professor McGonagall." Hermione said, looking worried.

"No!" Emily refused instantly.

"Why not?"

"That's like being a.....tattletale, isn't it? And I want revenge. Besides, I want to prove him wrong."

"Emily, are you serious?" asked Harry.

"Well, kind of. Why not?"

"Oh, I know! How about we make a potion and make him tell you his worst fears? That would be fun!" Hermione sounded excited.

"Hermione, I suck at Potions, remember? And what kind of questions would I ask him? I was thinking more along the lines of seducing him, you know, making him fall for me or something. But that would be impossible, wouldn't it? I suck at that sort of thing."

"I agree." Ron sat down.

Emily hit him, as the conversation drifted to more festive topics, like presents and chess. Emily, it turned out, could not play. Ron was more than willing to teach her, as it was his favorite game and the chess pieces helped out too.

After dinner, Emily sat on her bed and curled up with a book. But she couldn't concentrate as her mind drifted off to the comment she had made earlier.

"I was thinking more along the lines of seducing him... . Hmmm..." With that thought bouncing around her mind, she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, she cornered Hermione, and told her her idea.

"Okay, this is going to sound dumb,but just think it through, okay? What if I made Draco Malfoy fall for me, and then, just when he thinks he's got me in bed, I leave him half mad? It will take him forever to get over the fact that a girl refused him."

"Well," Hermione analyzed it, "it's not that dumb. Do you really think he'd be that conceited?"

"Uh, yeah. But I guess there's only one way to find out, isn't it?" Emily asked.

"Why don't you try it then?"

"Well, I kind of need your help first. I have no clue how to do that sort of thing. I don't think I could flirt to save my life, plus I wouldn't know how to make myself attractive in that way," replied Emily.

"Neither do I."

"Um, yes you do. Have you noticed that there are four boys who can't stop staring at you every time you enter the common room? Besides, don't they have a book for that or something?"

"Well, I suppose we could look it up in the library," Hermione suggested uncertainly.

"Great! See you there at 11:00!" Emily was gone before Hermione could reply.

"Wait...!" Hermione sighed. Emily was going way too fast.

Emily couldn't sit still all morning. She was thinking out just what she would say, or do. She was already at the library when Hermione arrived. She even arrived at the library before Hermione.