Emily Potter - Book 7 - The Deathly Hallows

Chapter 25: Wit Beyond Measure

A stiff breeze flown into Emily's face like a cold splash of water waking her up, she opened her eyes and saw Hogsmeade enveloped in pitch black night, the cobblestone floor dotted with collapsed Death Eaters. Emily could still feel her fingers twitch at the voice that spoke to her mind, of the hellfire image that clouded her vision, what was that? She knew all to well that it wasn't the kind of image that would come from Voldemort's mind, let alone her brother's – this was something incredibly new, and possibly helpful.

Amongst the darkness, the entire group headed to the direction of Honeydukes with the lit tip of their wands, their walk turning to a sprint as they spotted a head of bubblegum pink hair peeping through the shop window. The warm, buttery lights of the shop opened and showed silhouettes that Emily knew by heart; she ran the fastest to the candy store and flung open the door, jumping to Remus Lupin's arms in rejoice.

"Christ – Emily," The man sighed, her arms wrapping around her goddaughter. "You've grown," Remus commented, nothing how he could no longer reach the top of Emily's head with his chin. She held onto Remus tighter, her hands overlapping at the center of his back, clasping together like a belt buckle. Molly Weasley walked over behind Remus to peek at the girl's face, emitting a high-pitched squeal at the sight of Emily and her new hair. "Oh, my goodness, my poor girl! I'm so sorry for what happened to you – "

Emily felt her face being squished like bread dough, Remus excused himself to let Molly speak with her, catching a scornful look from Emily at his brief abandonment. Fred and George laughed, calming their mother down. "Merlin's beard, mum. Em's not dead. She's here, is she not?" George said with a cheerful tone.

"You shush!" Molly scolded, looking at the Potter girl up and down. "You do look quite well. I-I just didn't expect that you were treated this badly." The mother ran her fingers through what was left of Emily's hair, her eyes never leaving the almost snow-white roots that sprouted from the crown of her head.

"Molly, I am fine. Honestly." She took her hands and held Mrs. Weasley's worrisome fists. "I have good Healers by my side. I have nothing to be scared of, and you shouldn't be afraid of anything either." Emily nodded to Thomas who stood there, surprised to be acknowledged. "My pleasure – " To everyone's surprise, there were two voices that spoke. Thomas and Draco stared back at each other, mouths gaping at their speechlessness. Draco took the liberty of being the first one to speak, his lashes fluttering wildly at the tension in the air between him and Mrs. Weasley. "Well – I'd like to think I helped. But of course, Mister Salinger here is the official Healer. I – just – I was there, and I did what I could."

Thomas grinned patting the young man's back. "Mister Malfoy did exemplary work. I wouldn't have treated young Miss Emily here any other way than he did." He winked at Mrs. Weasley, giving her a smile of assurance. "Oh, and her hair wasn't a result from her tormentor – I believe her brother and Draco here did their best to give her a haircut."

"Oh!" Molly said in an outburst, retreating her hand. "Well, it does suit you, dear. It's very becoming."

"Yeah, very becoming," Fred said in a low whisper. George scoffed, "Did both of them say ah fuck it and then shove your head down in a blender?"

Daphne and Blaise laughed. "We weren't there when it happened, but that does seem like a huge possibility." Emily stared at them. "You two idiots said you thought it looked chic – "

"Chic stands for pretentious, Emily." Blaise snidely commented. "But no worries. The Potter name is always involved with the invention of hair care products, ironically. You'll figure it out."

The sound of the heavy wooden door across the room broke the flow of conversation, three figures swooned from behind it and alerted everyone of the now safe and secured passageway to Hogwarts. "It took a fair amount of time to hollow it out since Snape blocked all of the passages when his reign started," Lee informed the newly arrived group of people. "We all took turns with clearing the debris and all the mess – Kingsley and I did a hell of a job, but just keep your heads down and be careful."