Emily Potter- Book 4 - Goblet Of Fire

A stolen canister of candy and a burnt ear

"Tell me again why we're here so early?" Ginny asked, her eyes fluttering in drowsiness. Emily looked up from the rack of evening dresses, fixing her lopsided glasses, "Because we need something to wear for the Yule Ball, unless you want to go there naked – "

"I know why we're here," said Ginny impatiently, "I want to know why we're here at this hour." She said, "We haven't even had lunch yet, Em. And, it's a Saturday. We should be sleeping in our beds!"

"You're trying to impress someone," Luna said airily, "You're planning to compensate your lack of a date by looking like the belle of the ball."

Ginny scoffed, "What? That's ridiculous, Emily already has a date-" She then paused, seeing Emily recoil at her half-statement, "Oh, bugger. Who are you going to dance with then? The champions are supposed to take the first dance!"

"I know! I know, alright? Just don't tell your brothers, I've already said I'd have a date by now – "

"Which brother?"

Emily raised an eyebrow, taken aback by Ginny, "I think you know which brother." She said, walking to the other rack of dresses. Ginny and Luna chased after her, "Oh, I know which brother. I just want you to say which brother."

"Fred and George," Emily said in a flat voice, "And Percy." She added, "Oh, and Ron, too."

Ginny sat down on the wooden stool by the cashier, utterly confused, "I'd get why you don't want me to tell Fred, George, and Percy but why Ron?"

"Harry and I also had a bet that we'd have dates by the end of last week, and Ron was in on it." Emily paused, pulling the frayed ends of her scarf, "And, I've told Fred and George that I'd already have one by now."

"Why Percy, then?" Luna asked, "He's not in Hogwarts anymore, he wouldn't care about the balls that happen here." She said, "Unless you're afraid of losing face, you'd be embarrassed if you knew he found out."

Ginny immediately hit the back of Emily's head with a rolled up Daily Prophet, "You still have a crush on that blithering idiot? By gods, Emily, why?" She asked, her voice and facial expression in dire confusion, "I would understand if you fancied Fred or George or Ron – Or even Bill and Charlie! At least they're your type – "

"Oh, and what exactly is my type, Ginny? Please, I beg of you to tell me."

"You live off of boys who you can't have," said Ginny in a somewhat harsh tone, "Let's start with Draco, sure you had him for quiet sometime but in the some snooty French girl got him. Fred? Sure, he liked you for a brief time but that's only because the girl he really liked preferred his twin brother and when you were on the verge of liking him back, he got a chance with Angelina. Bill and Charlie? Oh come on, if they weren't working internationally, you would be all over them. Well, at least one of them. Charlie works with Dragons and Bill breaks curses, and we all know you feed on that kind of danger, Em."

Emily didn't look at all offended from what her best friend had said about her, but she had to say to herself, Ginny said the truth. "Well, that's my love life in a nut shell," Was all Emily had to say, "A very spacious nut shell."

Ginny didn't seem to unhinge and apologize, the three of them all knew it was the truth, "You did said so yourself, you've always known that you and Draco wouldn't last..." She had paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts, "I never did understand though why you had fancied Percy."

"Had? Emily always fancied Percy." Luna interjected, "I saw the way you subconsciously look at him when he was a Prefect, you see him and it's like an unhealthy habit of yours." She said knowingly, "Not to mention how eager you are when you're patrolling the corridors where he's near at."