Miss Quinn

66 ~ Rescuing the Demigods

Emma stared at two of her best friends' faces through the Iris-Message before her. Annabeth and Thalia had just told her about Grover sending the distress call. Grover had been stationed at a boarding school in Maine called Westover Hall. Obviously something big was going on or he wouldn't have called.

"You're serious? The distress call?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, and we're all going," Annabeth said.

"Percy, too?"

"Yeah, we just talked to him."

Emma nodded. "I don't know how I'll escape this place before break. My Headmaster is really strict about leaving."

"Well you'd better think of something, because you're coming with us," Thalia said stubbornly.

Emma smiled. She hadn't known Thalia very long, but they were good friends nonetheless. Emma loved Thalia's attitude, and the way she could get really scary when she was mad. The lightning that rained down was a plus. Thalia sort of reminded Emma of a more violent and temperamental version of herself.

"Okay, I'll be at Camp tomorrow at the latest," Emma said.

"Great. Percy's mom is driving us," Annabeth said, smiling.

Emma laughed. "Get ready for embarrassing Percy stories."

"Eight hours of it," Thalia groaned.

"Hey, it's great blackmail material," Emma said. "I've got to go, dinner starts soon." She waved goodbye to her friends and ended the Iris-Message.

It was Thursday, and Annabeth said they were leaving on Friday. That gave Emma twenty-four hours to make up an excuse to leave school a week early. An excuse good enough to fool her friends as well as Dumbledore.

Friday morning, Emma inhaled her breakfast and ran off to find Professor McGonagall before the sun had fully risen. It was the earliest she'd woken up in her life, or it felt like it was, at least. The corridors were empty, and her footfalls echoed off the stone walls, providing an eerie feeling. As Emma made her way to the Transfiguration Classroom, she couldn't help but notice how few people there were up at this time.

Professor McGonagall was sitting behind her desk in the front of the classroom, grading papers. When Emma walked in, she looked up in surprise. No student had ever gone to her so early in the morning.

"Miss Quinn, what are you doing up so early?"

Emma shifted uncomfortably. "Er -- it's my brother. I received a letter late last night that he's fallen ill. I was hoping I could speak to Professor Dumbledore about going to see him."

"I thought you were an only child?" McGonagall questioned.

"He's my half-brother," Emma said. "My father's son."

"Ah, I see," said McGonagall, folding her hands. "There's only a day left before break. Couldn't you wait until tomorrow?" She peered over her glasses at Emma.

"Well, you see, I've become fairly good at healing.... I thought I might be able to help before it gets worse."

A look of sympathy crossed McGonagall's face. She knew how much extra time Emma was spending in the hospital wing helping Madame Pomfrey. Just in the past week, she'd healed a fifth year's broken ankle, made several potions to restock Madame Pomfrey's shelf, and healed a burn on the hand of a second-year. McGonagall was also fooled by Emma's acting and lies. The Gryffindor had practiced all night, and all morning as she'd gotten ready. She wanted to make sure there were no flaws in her plan. My brother is ill, I need to go see him so I can heal him. I don't know how long I'll be gone, but I'm sure I'll be back after break.