Emi

Ron stumbled through the dense trees, fuming at Harry and Hermione.

Harry always had to be the hero. Hermione always had to side with Harry.

But this time they’d see. Harry had no plan at all. Hermione would see. She’d realize that Harry had no idea what he was doing.

The fact that they’d discovered nothing over the past weeks angered Ron. He thought they were wasting time. All the while, Ginny, whom Harry supposedly cared about, was being punished at Hogwarts while Harry was doing nothing!

And he’d asked Hermione to come with him. He asked her! And she said no! She always chose Harry! Honestly, who wouldn’t? Ron knew he was always outshined by his friend.

Merlin, his head was spinning and he was so furious. Plopping down angrily on a stone, he fumed silently. Cradling his head in his hands, he fought the dizziness that was overcoming him. In the silent forest, he could still hear her calling out to him. He could still hear Hermione screaming for him to come back.

The longer he sat on the rock, the more his mood seemed to lift. His mind seemed to uncould and he could think clearly.

He was such a git!

Harry couldn’t always account for everything that was going to happen. Harry was trying to defeat Voldemort.

Hermione was trying to be a good friend. She knew Harry needed their support, not to be yelled at.

He was forever messing things up. Now, he only had one choice. He had to go back. He had to find them.

That was easier said than done. The protections Hermione had put on their tent were impeccable. Ron had no way to find them except to stumble around the forest aimlessly.

Whirling at the sound of breaking twigs and crunching leaves, Ron was knocked to the ground by a brown blur hurtling through the forest.

Struggling to stand up while holding onto the thing that had run into him, Ron was not thinking much about the reason why the girl was running.

The girl was turning her head frantically in every direction as if watching for someone.

“Hey…Hey!” Ron said, shaking the girl to get her attention.

The girl looked at him through the wild brown hair that fell into her eyes. “We’ve got to go. We need to get away from here. There are— There are men with—” The girl was speaking quickly and frantically.

“Slow down.” Ron tried to say comfortingly. “What’s your name?”

“Emi.”

“Hi, Emi. I’m Ron. Now who—”

Suddenly, the pair was surrounded by five wizards dressed in black. Emi held tightly to Ron as she glanced around them.

Ron was disarmed before he had a chance to act.

“Hand over the girl.” One said, pointing his wand at Ron and Emi.

“What do you want with her?” Ron replied fiercely, standing in front of Emi.

“She’s a muggle; we want to have a little fun with her.” The man leered at Emi over Ron’s shoulder.

“Who are you?” Ron asked much more confidently than he felt.

“We are looking for mudbloods and blood-traitors. They fetch a fine bounty. But torturing muggles is just a little fun for us.”

Ron could feel Emi shaking beside.

“She’s not a muggle.” Ron lied, putting his arm around Emi’s shoulder, pulling her closer to his side. “She’s my girlfriend. She’s just not too good with magic.”

“And you are?” The man jabbed his wand sharply at Ron.

“Stan Shunpike.” Ron replied quickly.

“He’s lying.” One of the men insisted.

“I don’t think so.” Another said.

Instantly, all five men began arguing loudly with one another.

With Emi’s hand gripped tightly in his, Ron managed to seize his wand from the men and run.

“Hold onto me Emi.” He said as he pulled her closer to him and apparated away.

They landed hard on the ground somewhere else in the forest. They would be safe, for now.

“What was that?” Emi asked loudly. “What’s a muggle? What’s with the sticks? And how in hell did we get from wherever we were to here?”

“Emi, shh.” Ron hissed. “I’ll explain, just…just shh...They can’t find us again, whoever they were.”

“What’s going on Ron? Who are you?”

And so Ron explained: He was a wizard. A muggle, like herself, was someone who couldn’t do magic. The magical world was in the middle of a war between good and evil. Mudbloods and blood traitors were people who didn’t believe in the importance of the purity of blood.

Ron explained how he came to be in the forest, alone.

Emi, to her credit, took the news very well. Ron had expected her to run away screaming madly.

“So…” She began. “You’ve got to find your friends.”

“Yeah.”

“Well let’s go.” She said standing up.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m going to help you find your friends. You’ve got a world to save.”

With that, Ron and Emi apparated all over the forest, searching for Harry and Hermione.

“I met her when I was eleven. I thought she was know-it-all. She was pushy and arrogant and always so convinced that she was right. The annoying part is that she usually is right. She’s my best friend but sometimes she makes me so mad.” He said about Hermione. “Sometimes, I just cannot stand her.”

“Because you like her.”

“N-no.” Ron stuttered. “I-I…” Emi fixed Ron with a knowing look. “I don’t know. Its…it’s complicated.”

“The best things are.” She replied, leaning her head on his shoulder as she yawned. They had taken a break and were sitting on a decomposing log.

“We aren’t going to find them.” Ron muttered.

“Don’t say that.”

“Its true. They have charms and shields and I have no way of finding them. We need to find somewhere place to rest. “

Moments later, Ron had apparated them outside of Bill and Fleur’s home.

“Ron!” Bill yelled upon opening the door. What’s happened? Is everyone alright?”

“We got separated.” Ron flushed. “I don’t want to talk about it. We need a place to stay. We can’t find them.”

“Of course, of course.” Bill said before stopping. “Wait—we?”

“Um…” Ron stepped aside to reveal Emi who was standing awkwardly in the doorway.

“Hi.” She said softly.

“Of course.” Bill said shooting Ron a confused look. “Come in.”

“Thanks.” Emi said just before yawning again.

“There’s a guest bedroom you can stay in,“ Bill offered, noticing how tired the girl was. “Second door on the left.” He said pointing up the stairs.

Emi smiled and began to walk to the stairs but stopped abruptly. She turned and walked quickly over to Ron and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you for saving me today.”

“N-no problem.” Ron stuttered as his ears and face turned bright red.

The girl turned with a small smile on her face and went up the stairs with Ron’s eyes following her the entire way.

“Smooth…” Bill muttered.

“Shuddup.” Ron mumbled in embarrassment.

“Who is she Ron?”

“A girl I met after I got separated from Harry and Hermione.”

“And?”

“She’s a muggle.”

“And?”

“She’s captivating.”

“So,” Emi said with a smile on her face as she sat cross-legged before him, “Tell me about your friend. What’s his name…Harold?”

Ron held back a smile; he was pleased that for once someone didn’t know who Harry was.

“Harry.”

“Yes. Him.” She said, as if that was the name she’d said originally.

“Well, I met Harry when I was eleven, same day I met Mione. He’s a celebrity; he’s a hero. He’s clever when he wants to be and he’s brave and he…”

“You’re jealous of your best friend.” Emi concluded. “Ron, look…I know I just met you, so what I’m about to say doesn’t really matter but—“

Ron’s hand shot out to hold Emi’s reassuringly. “It matters.” He insisted.

The boy flushed and pulled his hand away.

“I don’t think you should be jealous of him.” She said quietly.

“No?”

“No.” She repeated. “He…sounds great and all…but being a celebrity?...that’s gotta be intimidating for some girls.”

Ron snorted. “You’d be surprised.”

“Well…I think that he’d be intimidating…and more trouble than he’s worth probably. For most celebrities, its just hype.”

“You are a strange girl, Emi.”

“That’s what makes me so endearing.”

“I can tell.” He replied warmly.

The days and weeks passed quickly.

Ron worried about Hermione and Harry, while Emi worried if Ron would be able to find his friends.

Ron didn’t know how to tell her. He didn’t know how to say how he felt to Emi. But he could feel this deep emotion for her growing inside of him with every passing moment.

The only other girl he’d ever liked was Hermione, but things were different with Emi.

Ron had spent every school day with Hermione for the last six years. But Emi…he felt something the instant he saw her.

It might’ve been her wild brown hair or her contagious smile, but Emi had captured his heart. All that was left was to tell her.

A week after Christmas passed, Ron was playing with the Deluminator that Dumbledore had left him. Lying on his bed, he turned the light on and off in his room using the device.

Emi was lying quietly with her head on his stomach.

Suddenly, Ron jumped up at the sound of Hermione and Harry talking.

His movement had catapulted Emi off of the bed.

Flushing red, again, Ron hurried to help Emi up while listening to Harry and Hermione speak.

Emi, not wanting to be a distraction, sat down with her back against the footboard of the bed. She waited patiently until he found out what he trying to know.

“I know where they are.” He muttered as he sat down next to her. “The Forest of Dean.”

“Well, what are you waiting for? Start packing. I’ll tell your brother that you’re—“ She began to get up but was stopped.

“Wait.” He said quietly as he pulled her down to sit next to him again. “Just wait a moment. I…I want you to come with me.” He said holding onto her hand.

“No.” She said instantly.

“No?” Ron asked in hurt surprise.

“I can’t come, Ron. I won’t be of any help. I’m a muggle. I can’t do magic and I’ll only get in the way.”

“No, you—“

“You know its true, Ron.”

“But I want you to come.”

“I can’t.”

“Then…Then I don’t have to go. I can stay here with—“

“Ron.” She said with a light laugh. “You have to go back to them. You have to help them.”

“I don’t want to leave you.” He insisted.

“You have to sometime. I’ve been gone from home for too long. Its time I go home. I’ve imposed on your brother long enough—“

“Emi.” He whispered as he leaned in closer to her.

The girl only watched him with her deep brown eyes as she trembled in anticipation.

His lips met hers and she was seized with a passion so great that she couldn’t stop herself from pulling him closer to herself.

Slowly Ron pulled away. “Emi—“

“You’ve got to go.”

“I know.” He whispered. “I’ll be back for you.”

“I’m not going to be here.”

“I know. I’ll find you.” He swore, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Go.” She whispered after she pecked him lightly on the lips.

The war had ended.

He had searched for her. He had spoken to Bill to see if she’d mentioned to him where she was going but he had no luck. If he could’ve, he would’ve scoured all of London looking for her.

By some small chance, he’d recalled the name of a café where she said she sometimes worked.

As soon as he remembered, he couldn’t get there fast enough.

He opened the door and was instantly hit with warmth and the smell of coffee.

Emi was the first thing Ron saw and a smile lit up his face.

With her back to the door, she hadn’t seen him come in.

“Emi.” He breathed into her ear as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Ron.” She replied, unable to keep the smile from her face as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss.