Cessation ⌁ Draco Malfoy [3/4] ✔

11

The tall boy stopped walking instantly and turned around with a questioning expression. Emma paused. Questions were on the tip of her tongue, many of them, but she couldn't let him hear them for there were other remaining stragglers in the room warming up by the fire, or whispering to each other. She didn't want to risk it.

   "Never mind," she said, standing and pushing her chair in. She was about ready to head into her dormitory.

"Wait a minute," Draco said quickly, and she looked at him. He squinted his eyes. "There's something different about you. Your...eyes."

   Emma looked down. "Is it that noticeable?"

"Did Daphne say anything?"

   "No..."

"Astoria?"

   "No."

"Pansy?"

  "No."

"Then no," he said. "It's not that noticeable."

  Emma nodded and quickly moved to brush past him towards her dormitory, when a thought hit her. She turned around, licking her lips, and struggled to make eye contact with Draco Malfoy as she said, "Malfoy, do me a favour and don't approach me again...just...stay away from me."

She didn't stick around to witness the look on his face and jogged up to her dormitory. She didn't need to see it with her own eyes, anyway. Her mind wouldn't let her stop imagining it. 

Millicent was already asleep while Pansy and Daphne were talking quietly to each other. They said nothing more as Emma entered the room, but Pansy had a nasty reaction and sneered her way.

If anything, the dormitory was colder than any other room Emma had been in so far tonight. She quickly changed out of her robes and climbed under her blankets, hugging them to herself as she shivered. Anyone would think she was having a fit. It had little difference, and it took a while for her to fall asleep. 

  Classes were not the same. They were all noticeably stuffy with an unwelcoming atmosphere. The seventh-years did not have their first lesson of Defence Against the Dark Arts on Monday, which most of them were thankful for, but they did have it that evening in the Room of Requirement along with other year levels. 

Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws all crowded the room that Emma had missed seeing, but it was awfully strange not seeing Harry up the front talking loudly and telling them information, giving words of support. Instead it was Ginny and Neville, who had restarted the DA. Emma was nearly as excited as the very first time she found out that Harry would teach her proper Defensive magic. It seemed like forever ago.

Although the seventh-years did not have Defence Against the Dark Arts with a cruel Death Eater teaching the class, they did, however, have Muggle Studies, which was now compulsory for every Hogwarts student. It was also taught by a Death Eater, who happened to be the sister of the Death Eater who now taught Defence Against the Dark Arts.

It wasn't really Muggle Studies. 

At least not the way it used to be.

Emma had never taken Muggle Studies, but she was sure that Professor Burbage, the former Muggle Studies teacher who went missing all of a sudden, did not teach it the way Alecto Carrow did. Muggles and Muggle-borns were put down and called very foul names, and the Carrow sister did her very best to try and convince Hogwarts' students to detest them. She didn't really need to try hard with Slytherin, but Emma did feel utter shame whenever somebody in her House laughed and a Gryffindor sent a cold look at all the Slytherins.

However, Ginny and the rest of the sixth-years all had Defence Against the Dark Arts on Monday with Amycus Carrow, who evidently loved the subject more than Snape did, and that was saying something according to the students who had been at Hogwarts longer than Emma had. Carrow spoke with a passion for inflicting pain upon others and hours of torture, they said, as though he was speaking from experience. He probably was. 

Weeks passed, and Professor Snape did not have much of a problem with the four Houses conversing with each other, but the Carrows did, and no matter what Snape said as Headmaster, the siblings always argued and tried convincing him otherwise of anything he said. Emma could tell he was frustrated, and she wondered why he did not blow up on them like she knew he would have no trouble doing. He was, after all, the Headmaster. Why wouldn't he fight back?

Thus, the four Houses barely spoke with each other outside their own House. Meaning it was slightly difficult to speak about the DA other than Ginny or Neville setting a date and time for all of the members to meet in the Room of Requirement. 

After that, Emma was glad that she had made no promises to Fred about looking out for Ginny and making sure she wouldn't get into any trouble. She, Neville and Luna snuck into Snape's office and tried stealing the sword of Gryffindor, which was locked in a case. She was relieved to know that they didn't have much of a punishment; just a day out in the forbidden forest with Hagrid. 

In the next DA lesson, she asked them about it. 

"It could help Harry with something," was all Ginny had said. Neville and Luna only nodded while Emma frowned. Ginny shrugged at this. "I don't know. It was just a feeling. I mean, why else would Snape have had the sword of Gryffindor locked up in his office?"

"Probably because it's the sword of Gryffindor. The one that belonged to Godric Gryffindor himself," Emma said slowly, not quite understanding. 

Just because Snape had the sword of Gryffindor locked up in a case in his office, it didn't mean he was keeping it from Harry because it meant something. It was just a sword after all. They were wizards and witches, they had wands. They didn't need swords for anything. Emma felt the need to remind Ginny of this, but bit her tongue. 

"You don't get it," Ginny said. "Remember what I was telling you the night after the wedding?"

"Sort of," Emma said, but when the redhead opened her mouth to argue, she quickly spoke again, "Harry doesn't need a sodding sword, Ginny, he's a wizard. And in case you'd forgotten, wizards use wands. He isn't a Muggle in the Middle Ages."

Ginny looked hurt, angry and frustrated all at once, but she kept her cool. Neville grabbed Luna by the arm and dragged her away from the conversation, all while the girl proceeded to blabber in his ear about Nargle attacks on Emma and Ginny.

"I'm sorry," Emma apologized, feeling rather guilty about the way she had spoken. "I didn't mean to sound so nasty. I just don't want you getting into too much trouble. Not now, anyway. You couldn't pick another year?"

"I just thought it was suspicious that Snape had the sword," Ginny shrugged, brushing off Emma's apology. "But it doesn't matter. He probably just stares at it every night and fights the urge to use it to chop off all that greasy hair."