[CHAPTER 13]

CHRISTMAS AT THE BURROW

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"GINNY, I SWEAR IF YOU GO go near me with that, I will punch your lights out!"

Emily was standing in the Burrow's kitchen, an apron wrapped around her waist and her hair tied into two long plaits which fell down her shoulders.

"Afraid of a little mucus?" Ginny said, before extending her arm closer towards Emily, who shrieked and took several steps back. She was holding a great, wiggling flobberworm in her hand and had a malicious glint in her eye.

"Ginny, I bloody meant it!" Emily threatened, and they stared at each other for a tense few seconds before Ginny surged towards Emily.

"No!" Emily squealed, as she bolted through the kitchen and past the door, Ginny on her heels, holding the flobberworm at arm's length.

They ran into the entrance hall of the Burrow at full pelt, Emily letting out shrieks as Ginny chased her around the staircase. She bolted up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

"Ginny, go away!" she said over her shoulder, and she could hear her giggling over her shoulder. Emily was gaining on the redhead however, being fitter due her years spent playing quidditch. She got to the top floor and turned a sharp corner, opening the first door she managed, slamming it shut, twisting the key in the lock and putting her back against it.

She was panting, and heard Ginny footsteps race past the door, apparently not having seen her slip into the bedroom. She closed her eyes with a sigh, and she could feel her heart beating out of her chest as she tried to control her breathing.

"Er–Hi?" came a familiar voice, and Emily's eyes flew open. Harry stood in front of her, sheer bewilderment on his features, the corner of his mouth curling into a smile, "Running from something?"

"Ginny–," Emily said in an elated breath, "–is chasing me around with a flobberworm,"

During the past two weeks they had spent at the Burrow, Harry and Emily had maintained a friendship, although to anybody it was clear something had come between the two.

Harry took in the way her plaits were dishevelled and her heavy breathing, and smiled in earnest.

"Shall I give her a shout?" he said innocently, and Emily narrowed her eyes at him.

"I threatened to punch Ginny in the mouth and now I'll extend that threat to you," she said, and his eyes sparkled with mischief. He opened his mouth wide and took a deep breath.

"OH GIN–"

Harry didn't get to finish his sentence as Emily had flown across the room, grabbed him by the shoulders and pressed her hand against his mouth. The rest of his scream was muffled as he tried to shake her off. She lost her grip momentarily and long enough for him to let out a laugh, and he started towards the door. Before he got to the handle, however, she had jumped onto his back, wrapping two arms around his neck and locking her legs around his to trip him up, and in order to not lose his balance Harry had to put his hands on her thighs to support her. He staggered forward, knocking over the chair in the process with a loud thump.

"She's in here!" he called between wheezing laughs, and one of Emily hands covered his mouth again.

"Shush!" she complained, but she too was laughing. He tried to move forward towards the door, but her legs tightened and instead he lost his balance, falling forwards towards the floor, Emily and all. They made a dull thump on the carpeted floor and underneath her Emily heard Harry let out a groan of pain as he cushioned her fall. For a second they were a mangle of limbs, before Emily managed to detangle herself from Harry, who lay still.

"Harry?" she asked, noticing he had stopped laughing. He lay face down against the floor as she sat up by his side. Emily felt panic well up inside of her, and grabbed him and rolled him over. His eyes were shut, and his chest was falling and rising barely.

"Harry?" she said his name again, voice trembling as she leaned over him. The end of her plait tickled Harry's nose, and just when Emily was going to call for help, he opened his eyes.

"Got you," he said with a smile, and Emily's mouth fell open in surprise as he shook with laughter.

"Tha–That's not funny!" she exclaimed.

"You should've seen your face!" he exclaimed, laughing only harder at the disbelief on her features.

She pursed her lips and punched him in the shoulder.

"Ouch! Emily!" he said with a disdained chuckle, "What was that for?"

"For scaring me!" she said, but the corners of her mouth pulled up into a grudging smile.

She was half leaning over Harry, so he was looking straight up at her face.

"Looks like somebody cares more than they're letting on," Harry joked and Emily shook her head with a chuckle.

"You're unbelievable,"

"You love me, really,"

"Keep dreaming, Potter,"

Emily was so close to Harry she noticed things she wouldn't normally have seen: the tiny specks of brown in his normally green eyes, the way his hair always seemed to look like it was parting to show off his scar, the tiny mole above his right eyebrow. He smelled like pine trees and the Burrow's garden, where Mrs. Weasley had assigned Ron and him to chase garden gnomes all day. She was aware of everything, from one of his hands on the small of her back, to the glitter of his glasses as they reflected the light from the lamp overhead and the breath fanning her face.

They stayed for a moment, in silence, staring into each other's eyes. Emily's stomach felt as if somebody had stuffed it full of live animals and stoppered it, and they were stampeding around in there. Her heart beat a full speed, with such force she was afraid Harry could feel it underneath her. 

Harry's mind swirled with thoughts. Every instinct in his body was telling him to lean forward and kiss her, and he wanted to so desperately, but a tiny little voice in his head discouraged him. She's not interested, it whispered to him.

Suddenly, there was an almighty crash as the door flung open. Emily tried to scramble up quickly, but the sudden sound had startled Harry and he had brought his head up so fast it connected with Emily's nose with an almighty crunch.

Emily barely had any time to register the pain as she felt hot blood start to pour out of her nose, and she held up her apron to stop it going all over the carpeted floor.

"Shit!" Harry swore, before looking up a who has just come in through the door. Ginny stood in the entrance, a smirk on her face, which quickly disappeared when she spotted the blood running down Emily's face.

Harry had rushed to her side.

"What did you do?" Ginny asked, bewildered.

"You startled me, and my head–"

Emily still hadn't said anything, and she didn't want to open her mouth to avoid swallowing a mouthful of blood.

"Your head? Blimey, since when do you headbutt people standing across from you when you're startled?" she asked, and Harry let out a frustrated groan.

"Jesus, Gin, she was leaning over me and–"

"Well, what was she leaning over you for?" Ginny asked, even more confused.

"Ginny! Just go and get somebody!" Harry bellowed, and it seemed to shock Ginny out of her confusion as she bolted down the stairs.

"Mum!" she yelled, and her footsteps thundered down the stairs.

"God Em, I'm so sorry," he said, picking up a t-shirt from his open trunk.

She took it, wiping her mouth and holding it fast to her nose.

"S'okay," she said, and with her free hand she took Harry's hand and gave it a squeeze, "But our time spent together has got to stop ending like this."

He let out an elated laugh.

"Promise I'll make it up to you," he said, looking at her with a smile. At that moment, Mrs. Weasley appeared in the doorway, panting from her climb up the stairs.

"Oh dear," she fussed, as she rushed to Emily's side, followed by Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Harry went to pull his hand from Emily's, but she held onto it tightly. Their eyes met and the message was clear.

I don't care what they think.

Mrs. Weasley lifted her wand and muttered 'Episkey', and Emily felt a stab of white hot pain as her nose mended itself. She squeezed Harry's hand tighter and he gave her an encouraging smile, an action not missed by the three teens standing behind them. Ron smirked knowingly, Hermione smiled lightly and Ginny looked torn between being jealous and confused.

"That should do it dear," Mrs. Weasley said, handing her a handkerchief to wipe the rest of the blood off her face with. Emily's nose still felt tender, and every time she came into contact with it she winced.

"I'll take these and give them a wash, shall I?" Mrs. Weasley said, standing up from where she had crouched to treat Emily.

Emily smiled gratefully, before catching sight of her reflection and realizing her teeth and lips were stained with blood.

"Still think I have a nice smile?" Emily muttered to Harry as they stood up, and Harry let out a laugh.

"It would take a lot more than blood to change that," he whispered to her, and Emily felt her heart skip a beat with an almighty KER-thump as she tried to hide the blush that came up her cheeks.

Later that evening, Emily lay awake on her mattress in Ginny and Hermione's room, listening to the soft snores of both girls. Her mind swirled with thoughts, about the summer, about Harry and how he had almost kissed her today, about the bruises on her wrist that has barely just healed. She sat up and grabbed her bag, which lay next to her on the floor, rummaging around in it for a second, before pulling from it an envelope she had folded twice over. She grabbed her wand, which also lay next to her, and threw the covers off of herself, quietly making her way out of the room. The Burrow was exceptionally quiet, but Emily could still hear quiet voices in the kitchen, whispering indistinctly. Ginny's room was on the second to top floor of the house, the room under the attic belonging to Harry and Ron. She crept up the stairs, trying her best to be as quiet as possible. On the top floor, just as it seemed the stairs stopped, Emily peered towards a trap door that must've led to the attic, on her right the door that led to Ron's room. There was another door however, one that led to a small outcrop on the outside of the house, surrounded by an old fence-like structure, no doubt to stop the Weasley children from falling when they were children. She opened the door and it made a horribly loud noise which made her wince. Despite wearing the thick woolly socks she had received from Mrs. Weasley for Christmas, the cold December air made her toes tingle. The knitted sweater provided some protection from the cold, but Emily's pajama pants were loose enough that she could occasionally feel the breeze crawl up her legs. She sat on the end of the wooden platform, legs dangling over the edge between the wooden bars. She unfolded the envelope, tearing the top and pulling out a letter.

"Lumos," she whispered, and the end of her wand illuminated the parchment. The writing on the inside was cursive, but scribbled in a way that it made it seem the writer had been in a hurry.

Emily's hands tightened around the letter, the ends bunching in her fist. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, tear the paper to pieces, will it to disappear. She had forced images of that night from her mind, banishing any thought or conversation of it in a hope that the pain she felt in her chest would eventually dull and become a part of her. 

The letter, the discovery Draco had made, made that impossible. 

It had happened. It was real. She couldn't escape it. 

She hadn't even noticed she was crying until teardrops fell onto the parchment, making the ink run. She held up the paper, and with a trembling voice, muttered 'Incendio', so that it caught fire and disappeared in a puff of smoke.