Unofficial Portkey Archive

Author's Note: Many thanks to everyone who reviewed the second installment. I appreciate it very much! Here is the third. This is the first bit that hasn't been posted on LJ and everything hereafter is fresh. Many thanks to Liss for the beta. Please review and thanks!

III

Two weeks later - August 29th

Emerson stood in the middle of her new Dudley House graduate student apartment and sighed happily. At last. At long last, she was there. She was at Harvard University, standing in the calmly chic room that was combination living and dining room. The place that would be her home away from home for the next two years.

Resisting the urge to jump up and down while squealing and clapping her hands, she settled for sighing again before walking over to sit on the sleek, firm-yet-comfy couch beside the wide bay windows. The walls were painted a soothing cream color, with the aforementioned bay windows letting in plenty of light. Long white curtains with a blue embroidered pattern hung from them, awaiting the inevitable moments when privacy would be warranted. The living room portion contained the couch, a reclining armchair in one corner and a small coffee table, atop which was a stack of "Welcome To Harvard!" brochures and guidebooks. Two matching end tables sat beside the couch and the armchair, with a pair of plain reading lamps with navy blue lampshades. The dining room portion was empty, except for a small round table and two chairs. A large rug in alternating shades of blue stretched over the hardwood floor between the two rooms.

There was a tiny kitchen just off the dining room, which had smooth, faux-marble counter tops, a microwave, a small refrigerator and a tiny stove. A row of pantries lined the walls above the whole thing, making effective use of the small space. The bedrooms were on either side of the living/dining room, and Em had already put away most of her things and gleefully bounced a bit on the bed. There were no pictures, artwork or decorations of any kind on any of the walls. Apparently, that much was up to the occupants' discretion.

It was all very clean and modern-looking without appearing strangely uninhabitable, not like those pictures in certain magazines of fancy homes that one can admire but can never really picture actual human beings residing in.

Lyna had been very impressed with the furnishings. "But this is Harvard, right?" she'd said, squeezing one of the overstuffed cushions on the couch. "Clearly, they have money to spend. All this stuff is probably from Ikea, and we all know that company was practically created for the express purpose of furnishing college rooms."

Emerson's parents had offered to buy her an apartment near the university, just like they had for her time at Excalibur. But this time Em politely declined, having decided that she wanted the full Harvard experience, with a roommate and everything. Mum and Dad had been very understanding and Em had been once again overwhelmed by how wonderful they were.

Her whole family, as well as Lyna and Davis, had come over with her to help her get settled. Mum had stocked half of the fridge and pantry with lots of Em's favorite foods, leaving the other half of the space for Em's roommate, who hadn't arrived yet. Dad, Ben, Budget and Davis had magically rearranged the furniture in her bedroom to her specifications, and helped her put away things. Meanwhile, Davina and Lyna hung up pictures and arranged her books.

Then they'd all settled down on the large rug in the living room and ate the excellent fish and chips that Mum had brought over and had magically kept at the perfect temperature.

"It's a last authentic British meal for you, Em," Budget had said, putting down his bottle of butterbeer. "Next time we see you, you'll probably weigh three hundred pounds after gobbling down all those Big Backs and milkshakes."

"Big whats?" Em had asked, while Ben snorted into his napkin.

Luke looked puzzled. "Big Backs. You know, those horribly unhealthy hamburgers that Americans love?"

"Oh, you mean Big Macs," she said, smiling at him. "I dunno. I'm sure better hamburgers can be had than that, right?"

They'd spent the next few hours together, just hanging out, strolling around the Harvard campus, all of them trying to pretend that soon they wouldn't have to separate. The adults all had work the next day, while Ben would be attending orientation at Oxford in the morning. Transatlantic travel was always very hard on the body, be it by Apparation or Portkey, so they would need time to adequately rest and recover. After their impromptu tour, they'd returned to the apartment and sat around for a while, sipping slowly on their butterbeers as if that would make the time stretch out.

But finally, Mum had looked at her watch and reluctantly stood up. "Well, I guess we should be going."

Everybody followed her lead and stood up, all wearing varying degrees of brave smiles until Vina burst into tears and set everybody else off, even Budget. Only Davis had been relatively dry-eyed, but it'd been a close one for him nevertheless. They all took turns hugging Em, babbling more or less incoherently about how much they would miss her and how they loved her so much and were so proud of her.

"You had better write to me every single day, you hear me?" Lyna had sobbed into Em's neck and Em had managed to promise that she would, through her own tears.

As she hugged her father, he'd squeezed her tightly before pulling away, his green eyes slightly red-rimmed behind his glasses. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to come home more often, like on the weekends and stuff?"

"I want to, Dad, but it wouldn't be a good idea," she said, wiping her eyes. "I just know I would be tempted to stay, especially now that Brandon and I-"

There was a deafening silence all of a sudden as Brandon's absence loomed over the room. He'd been planning to come too, of course, but at the last minute had been called in to work. Things had reached a critical point in the increasingly strained relationship between his boss and the Romanian officials, and Brandon's diplomatic presence and interpretation skills had been urgently needed. He'd wanted to ignore the summons, unwilling to miss accompanying her to school, but she had made him go and they'd both cried and kissed each other desperately before he left. Em had put on a brave face but everybody was obviously aware of how deeply she wished that he were there.

"-I mean, it's best that I stay here as much as possible. And you lot can always come and see me. But I'll definitely be home for Christmas!" Em continued in a determinedly cheerful voice.

Dad hugged her again. "I know." He pulled away and touched her face, a small smile playing around his mouth. "My Moppet. I'm so proud of you."

Em had burst into tears and sobbed into her father's chest then, and now, sitting alone on the couch, she blinked back tears at the memory. Their support meant so much to her. She knew she could do this. How could she not, when so many people were in her corner, rooting for her?

With a sigh, she leaned back into the couch, twirling her wand absentmindedly with her fingers. It would've been so nice if Brandon could've been here, though. They'd been counting on these last few hours together, not that they hadn't been spending most of their time in each other's company. They'd jokingly talked about getting addiction counseling in advance of the inevitable withdrawal pain that would surely assail them.

"I mean, have we spent more than a few hours apart since we got together?" he'd asked as they snuggled together in his bed that morning.

Em had giggled. "No, we haven't. But enough talking, right?" Her hand trailed down to grasp him.

"What, again?" he'd mock-whined. "You insatiable woman." But he'd been firming in her hand even as he spoke.

If there was one thing that she would definitely be suffering withdrawal symptoms of, it would be sex. Em had always thought that the ability to engage in near-constant sexual activity was a myth invented by sleazy paperback romance writers with too much imagination. It was just not possible for the physical body to endure that much exertion, pleasurable or not, over such extended periods of time.

But ever since she and Brandon had crossed the line from friends to lovers, Em had discovered, to her amazement and delight, that it was no myth. She and Brandon had made love every single day of her last two weeks at home, and often that was multiple times in each sitting and sometimes more than one sitting a day. The level of attraction between them was almost ridiculous so that sometimes, all they had to do was look at each other and that raw, burning hunger would consume them. It was as if they were trying to stockpile, in a way, for the lean times ahead, when they could only expect to be together one weekend a month. Indeed, as the two weeks drew to a close, their lovemaking had taken on a desperate intensity that both frightened and exhilarated Emerson.

Everybody had been very happy for them, with most of their friends and family expressing sentiments along the lines of "It's about time!" and "I knew it!". Brandon's father had joked about the business partnership between him and Em's father becoming even more solidified by the new relationship between their children.

"So if you were thinking of breaking away, Harry, you'll be leaving chunks of your flesh behind, what with this new development. We've been practically bonded with a Permanent Sticking Charm. Or at least what those Muggles call crazy glue."

Harry had grinned. "Not a chance, Oliver. I have no intention of leaving, so you can put aside that dream right now. Children or no, you're stuck with me, old boy."

But that same night, Em had noticed her father watching Brandon with a strange look. She had seen that look before and it'd startled her to see it again. She hadn't been expecting it. That was the look her father leveled on her boyfriends, especially the ones he disliked. Which had been all of them. Em thought that if her Dad had his way, she would surely end up an old maid, living at home forevermore. He'd always been polite and amiable with her beaus, of course, but there was never any doubt that he secretly thought none of them was worthy of his daughter. It didn't help that every single one of them had been more or less intimidated by who he was, by his name and scar, which Em knew truly irritated him.

"This is different, though, cause it's Brandon," Em said aloud to her empty Harvard apartment, a frown upon her forehead. "Why would he give Brandon that look? He's known him since Brandon was in nappies."

But with packing and everything else going on, she hadn't had a chance to talk to her father about her concerns. The two weeks had just sped by so that now, here she was talking to herself in a fabulously cool flat in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She would have to be sure to bring it up as soon as possible. Somehow, she knew that this time, this relationship was different, special. This was it, and she didn't want bad feelings on anyone's part to ruin it.

Sighing, Em stood up and walked into the kitchen, still twirling her wand. Not really hungry, but with nothing else to do, she grabbed a handful of grapes and went back to the living room. She wanted to go out and explore the campus some more, but she also wanted to wait for her roommate, whom she hadn't met as of yet.

Where was she, anyway? Em had thought she would be here by now. Her roommate's name was Kaydia McDermott, "but everybody calls me Kady", she had written in the letter that Em had received a week ago. The letter had given a little background: she was from Tulsa, Oklahoma, an only child, would be starting her first year in the Harvard Business School's MBA program. She sounded very nice in the letter and Em had promptly written back.

She'd had a bit of a dilemma, though. Should she mention that she was a witch? Kady hadn't said anything about that and after much debate with Brandon, Lyna and her parents, she'd decided to keep it to herself for the time being. If Kady turned out to be a Muggle, Em could decide, based on her personality, whether or not to tell her.

Just then, the doorknob rattled and Em sat up abruptly, tucking her wand under one of the cushions. The door opened and a petite young woman with a short, pixie haircut stumbled into the room, her arms laden with books, bags and a large potted plant.

Em jumped up and hurried forward. "Here, let me help you with that."

The woman looked up. She had big blue eyes, brown hair and a small pointed nose. Her mouth turned up in a wide smile. "Oh, thanks! I'm surprised I haven't broken anything yet, actually. I'm awfully clumsy."

As if to confirm the statement, the plant in her arms tipped over and would have smashed on the floor if Em hadn't caught it. She grinned. "You don't say. Are you Kady?"

"Yeah. Emerson, right?"

Em nodded. "Yep. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too," Kady said, with a smile. "I'd shake your hand, but..."

They both laughed and Em helped her carry her things to the other bedroom. They deposited the bags on the floor and Em set the plant on Kady's nightstand.

"Wow, look at this place!" Kady exclaimed, her eyes wide as she looked around. "Clearly, Harvard isn't in any danger of going bankrupt any time soon. Merlin's beard, is this a full size bed? I was expecting a twin, at the most!"

Em grinned at her, then her eyes widened as she realized what Kady had said. "Merlin?"

The other woman looked startled, her eyes rounding. "Oh, I just, I mean-"

"It's okay, I'm a witch too," Em said and chuckled when Kady sank dramatically onto her bed.

"Oh, thank goodness. I wanted to write that I was one in my letter, but then I thought, what if you were some poor Mormon or something and wouldn't that give you quite a shock? Not to mention a fright."

They laughed and Em knew that she liked Kady very much. They started up a rousing conversation as Kady began to put her things away, sharing about their school days and how they came to be in the same room at one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Em told her about Hogwarts and Excalibur, while Kady shared about attending Pinehurst School of Wizardry in Indiana and then the University of Oklahoma.

"I decided not to go to a wizarding college, cause I knew I wanted an MBA from here, and I figured it would be too hard to convert all that work into an acceptable form for Harvard," she said. "Besides, OU offered me a full scholarship, which I had to snatch up. Otherwise, I'd probably be in a shitload of debt right now."

They moved to the living room, where Em retrieved her wand from under the cushions as they sat down to talk some more.

Kady grinned mischievously at her. "Okay, you probably hear this all the time, being a witch and British and all that. But, any relation to Harry Potter?"

Em looked at her hands for a second and smiled ruefully. She'd known this would come up sooner or later, the instant that she'd discovered that Kady was a witch. "Erm, actually, I do hear it all the time. And yes, we're related. He's my dad."

Her new friend chuckled. "Okay, I deserved that." When Em didn't laugh, she looked puzzled and leaned forward. "You were joking, right?"

"Nope."

Kady's mouth fell open. "Oh my gosh! You're serious? Harry- the Harry Potter is your father?"

"Yep." If this were any other person Em probably would have been irritated, but there was just something about Kady that endeared her to Em. Knowing it would excite her roommate even more, Em grinned as she continued. "He was here not too long ago."

"Shut up," Kady said in a hushed voice. "He was here?"

Em couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah. He sat right where you're sitting."

Kady jumped up as if she'd just been electrocuted and Em laughed harder. The brunette stared at the couch as if it had suddenly been transfigured into the Hope Diamond, before sitting down gingerly again and gazing enviously at Em.

"It must be so awesome."

"He's just my dad," Em said, softly. "Just like anybody else's."

Kady looked away. "Hopefully not like mine."

Em frowned. "I'm sorry. Can I ask-"

"He walked out on my mom when I was born," Kady said, smiling sadly. "She really loved him, and it just broke her, I think. She left me with my grandmother, her mother, when I was about two years old and I haven't seen her since."

"Oh, Kady."

Kady shrugged. "It's okay. I've learned to deal with it. It's been just me and Nana ever since, and I'm thankful for that much. I've never doubted that Nana loves me and maybe it's for the best that I grew up with her and not my parents." She perked up suddenly. "Anyway, maybe I can meet your parents sometime. Dr. Granger is your mother, isn't she?"

Deciding not to get into it at the moment, Em nodded. "Yeah, she is. I'm sure they would love to meet you, too. They were hoping to do that today."

"Damn. Can you believe I got lost? I was hoping to be here by two o'clock at the latest, but did you notice it was after six when I got in?"

The two of them talked long into the night, over dinner of beef stew that Em's mother had made and bottles of warm butterbeer. Finally, they bid each other good night and Em went to her room, closed the door, stared at her smoothly made bed and sighed. She'd been happy to be with Kady because it meant that she could postpone the inevitable moment when she would have to go to her bedroom, which she knew was empty.

He wasn't here.

Her first night alone. Her first night without Brandon beside her, without his warm body to snuggle up to, without his lips on hers, his firm length within her. The first night was always the hardest, everyone said, and she'd always wondered if that was true. Well, now she knew that it was.

She didn't try to stop the tears that rolled down her cheeks as she undressed and put on her pyjamas. It felt strange to be wearing clothes to bed; she'd slept nude every night for the past two weeks. But there was no point in being naked if there was nobody there to warm her. There was no point if he wasn't there.

Em sniffled and hugged her pillow, curled up under her covers. She missed him so much. Why had she come here? Why hadn't she stayed, like he'd wanted her to?

Well, he didn't, not really. He was just desperate. He'd have changed his mind, you know that. He knows how much you've wanted to do this.

She did know that. He'd have let her go, even if she'd given in that night. Because he knew her through and through, better than she knew herself sometimes. Emerson turned her head to stare at the picture of him that smiled and blew kisses to her.

"I love you, Brandon," she whispered.

Tap, tap.

Em started and looked up sharply, staring at the curtained window of her bedroom. Tap, tap. Frowning, she climbed out of bed and went over. Pulling the curtain back, she saw a large barn owl hovering outside and hastened to let it in. The bird stuck out its leg so she could untie the note, then shook itself and settled on the window ledge.

"Are you staying then?" Em asked it, and the bird hooted. "Okay."

She conjured up some owl treats and water, which the owl gulped gratefully before settling down with its head under one wing, clearly exhausted from its long journey. Her heart pounding, Em sat down on her bed and unrolled the note. The handwriting jumped out at her and she had to wipe away tears of joy before she could read.

Dear Emerson,

Our first night apart. I miss you so much that it's nearly killing me. Why am I not with you? Why are my arms not around you, my nose not buried in your hair? Why am I not reaching for covers that you have already kicked off the bed?

Em laughed, tears spilling over onto her cheeks. She ignored them, her eyes greedily reading on.

Because of stupid life, isn't it? Because I have to be playing peacekeeper and mediator between two old men with oversized egos and bad grammar, isn't it? Because you have to be so damn stubborn and it just has to be Harvard, isn't it? Because right now, it's just what we have to do, isn't it?

Brandon

Emerson sniffled and wiped her eyes, then lay down again, clutching the letter to her chest. A goofy smile refused to leave her face as she wrapped her blankets around her again and stared at his picture on her nightstand. Reaching over, she picked it up and kissed the glass.

"I love you."

Then, laying down again, she placed the letter under her pillow, sighed deeply and closed her eyes. The first day of the rest of her life began tomorrow.