Miss Quinn

164 ~ Ron's Luck

Katie was removed to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries the following day, by which time the news that she had been cursed had spread all over the school, though the details were confused and nobody other than Emma, Venus, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Leanne seemed to know that Katie herself had not been the intended target.

"Oh, and Malfoy knows, of course," said Harry to Ron and Hermione, who continued their new policy of feigning deafness whenever Harry mentioned his Malfoy-is-a-Death-Eater theory.

Emma had resorted to keeping her mouth shut. She was ninety-nine percent sure Harry was right about Draco being a Death Eater, but some part of her still wanted to believe he hadn't been the one to bewitch Katie Bell. After all, he'd been serving detention, hadn't he?

But his continued ignorance of her existence was making it much harder to stand against his condemnation. One would think he'd have to speak to her eventually, especially when they wound up at the same table in Potions every time Slughorn sorted them into pairs. But he'd followed her lead on their ingredients preparations and brewing with only a few polite "Can you pass the ___?"s and "Have you gotten the ____?"s. Every time she tried to ask about his summer, or bring up their correspondence, he turned away or didn't answer. Once or twice he even got up and walked across the room to gather more ingredients, even when they didn't need them.

So by the fifth time, Emma had completely given up. The boy sitting next to her wasn't her friend. Wasn't her to-be. He was a complete stranger to her, and as far as he seemed to be concerned, they knew nothing about each other.

That night, Emma and Hermione attended another of Slughorn's parties, at which they were introduced to the captain of the Holyhead Harpies, Gwenog Jones. The two girls, neither of which were huge Quidditch fans, exchanged pleasant conversation with the famous athlete until Ginny stepped in and started discussing maneuvers and plays. Gwenog and Ginny chatted for the rest of the night, with a few interruptions from Cormac McLaggen, one of the only other Quidditch players in attendance (despite the fact he hadn't made the team).

"There are so many other things I could be doing..." Emma mumbled to her bushy-haired friend as they stood near the refreshments table.

"I still have an essay to finish for Arithmancy," Hermione agreed.

"And that assignment for Potions, too. Honestly, what's Slughorn thinking, having us socialize the night before he's set an assignment due?"

Hermione chuckled. "You should've started it sooner."

"Oh, I did. I'm finished with it, actually. But I guarantee you Zabini's not." She glanced over at Draco's friend, who was standing against the opposite wall by himself, a cup of some golden liquid in his hand. She had noticed him periodically checking his watch, as if waiting for an acceptable time to leave to finish his homework. Then again, he may have just been bored out of his mind, like Emma and Hermione were.

Emma had Herbology first thing the following morning. She never looked forward to the time spent in the greenhouses, but Harry had some interesting news to share on the way there that made it almost bearable. While Hermione and Emma had been at Slughorn's dinner, he'd been having lessons with Dumbledore. Last night, he'd taken a trip into the pensieve to see Voldemort as a boy. Dumbledore's first memory of him, in fact.

It was strange to Emma that their headmaster was having Harry watch his mortal enemy grow up through memories. She supposed you could learn a lot about them that way, but it almost felt like an invasion of privacy. Or at least would lead to a very awkward encounter whenever they were to meet again. She was certain very few people knew anything about his childhood, where he'd come from. But the boy that had caused his downfall was learning it all. That had to feel strange.