Unofficial Portkey Archive

Author's Note: Thanks to all my reviewers!!! Y'all rock! Please keep it up and here's another chapter. As always, many thanks to the lovely Lissanne for the beta. Enjoy!

IV

September 12

Within two weeks, Em had settled so well into a routine that it always startled her to realize that it had actually only been that long. It felt like she'd been doing it for ages: getting up by seven in the morning, grabbing a bite to eat - sometimes with Kady, sometimes not - and bounding across the expansive campus to her first class. Classes were either lectures or labs, taking up all morning. Then lunch, and the same thing over again. She would return to her room after five in the evenings, feeling exhausted and alive at the same time.

Her classes were very intensive. If she hadn't already studied their magical equivalents, Em knew she would likely be very overwhelmed right now. Just the names - Gross Anatomy, Microscopic Anatomy, Clinical Correlates, Professional Development, Microbiology, Physiology - sounded daunting. She was in the graduate dual degree program, which would give her both a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree and a PhD. Harvard's program was condensed into four years, whereas most colleges allowed a whopping seven years for the dual degree. But Em had gone even further, squeezing the whole thing into two years. Her academic advisor had been very hesitant to allow it, but Em (and her grades) had convinced the woman that she could do it.

And she knew she could. That was why she would only be returning to Britain for the Christmas holidays, when the campus would be virtually deserted anyway. She would be staying at school through every other major holiday, even summer, working towards her goal. Two years was such a long time to be away from those she loved; she just couldn't imagine being able to endure four. Oh certainly, she'd been away at Hogwarts for seven years, but that was different, somehow. She'd been with friends and those she considered family, and her own family was only a train ride, a Floo connection or a Portkey away.

This time, she was many thousands of miles away, on a different continent, surrounded by strangers. Although now, at least, she was rapidly amassing a small group of friends. There was Kady, of course, who was just as busy as Em was.

"I mean, I like most of the classes, with the exception of Finance," the petite brunette said over lunch in the crowded and noisy Dudley House dining hall. The two of them had discovered that, purely by chance, they had a free period at the same time on Fridays. They'd quickly agreed to use it to catch up with each other, since their vastly different schedules didn't really allow for much social time together. "I suck at math, but here I'm supposed to know the principles of corporate finance and discounted cash flow valuation and- what?"

Em hid a smile. "Nothing." She speared a piece of chicken and took a bite. For all Kady's whining, Em knew her roommate thoroughly enjoyed her classes. Besides, the university would never have admitted her if Kady hadn't at least met the prerequisite requirements.

"Hi, Emerson."

Looking up, she saw a blond boy standing beside their table, holding a lunch tray and grinning down at her. "Oh, hey, Matt! Come sit!"

Matt's grin widened. "Thanks. Hey, Kady."

Kady nodded at him before continuing her running diatribe about her course load. Em rolled her eyes at Matt, who ducked his head. Matt Adler was in her Clinical Correlates and Microbiology classes, and he was the first person besides Kady that Em had befriended here. The day after her arrival, as she'd been wondering whether or not to go down to the dining hall for breakfast or just grab something from the fridge, there had been a knock on her door. Kady was only just getting ready and Em was starving.

Distracted, she walked over to the door and pulled it open. The bloke standing there had his hand raised to knock again, but dropped it when the door opened.

He shyly returned her smile and Em felt the urge to pat his hand reassuringly. Merlin, the lad needed to calm down. What, did he think she would attack him or something?

Sitting beside him now two weeks later, Em thought he had improved vastly. That first day he had barely been able to maintain eye contact, but now he was laughing and joking with Kady and the meal passed in cheerful banter. Matt actually had a great sense of humor and his wide grin really lit up his face. He'd been invaluable to Em's getting settled, helping her navigate the extensive campus and reach her classes on time.

He'd also put her in contact with what would soon be her first real job. Matt already worked part-time at the Morningside Animal Hospital and he always talked so enthusiastically about working there. She'd made a passing comment about it sounding like a great place to work and had been surprised when, the next day, he presented her with an application.

"I talked to Doc Meriwether and turns out, he's actually looking for another student assistant. I thought you might like to apply."

She'd beamed at him. "Thanks, Matt. I think I'd like that. It would be good to get some external experience in the field that isn't related to lab dissections."

"Great! I'm sure you'll get the job. I gotta go. See you later," Matt said, beaming back at her before practically somersaulting away.

Em had indeed gotten the job and Matt had been so excited that a casual observer would've thought he was actually the one who'd just been hired. His excitement amused Emerson but after he'd gone, Kady had sat across from Em and fixed her with a concerned look. "I think you should be careful."

Em looked up. "With what?"

"With Matt. I think he has a crush on you."

Em gaped. "What! No! He's just helping me get settled."

"Nooo, he's not," Kady said, laughing. "At first I didn't think it was possible, but you really don't see it, do you?"

"See what?" Em asked impatiently.

Kady sighed. "Emerson, you're gorgeous. You do know that, don't you?"

Em blushed. "I'm not g-gorgeous! What are you talking about?"

"You are. The fact that you don't seem to care is very refreshing. And not only that, you're funny and friendly and smart. It's not surprising that a guy like Matt would fall for you. From what you told me of your first meeting, I don't think he was expecting you to be so nice with looking the way you do but when you were, he couldn't help but tumble ass over ankles."

Em rolled her eyes. "Kaydia, please. Matt does not have a crush on me. You're talking nonsense."

"Suit yourself, then. Just don't say I didn't warn you." She was quiet for a time, before looking up at Em with a smile playing about her mouth, her eyes twinkling. "Though, come to think of it, I'm not surprised you didn't notice. You have eyes and brain matter only for Braaahndon, don't you?"

As always when she thought of Brandon or heard his name, Emerson felt a warmth flood through her being and a goofy smile lift her mouth. She did have eyes and brain matter only for him. Although her eyes hadn't beheld him for two weeks, unless one counted his picture on her nightstand, and the letters that he sent every other day like clockwork. Getting his letters was the highlight of Emerson's day and she found herself always jotting down little things to include in her own letters to him.

She sighed, putting aside the job application that she'd been looking over. "I miss him so much, Kady."

"I can tell," her roommate said, patting her hand. "But it's only a week to go before he comes here, right?"

"Twelve days," Em moaned, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "Twelve long days."

Her roommate chuckled. "It'll fly by, you'll see. Hasn't your first two weeks just evaporated? It'll be the same thing."

Recalling that conversation, Em sighed and absentmindedly pushed her peas around on her plate. She so hoped Kady was right, because being apart from him was nearly killing her. She really missed her family too, of course, but it was different with Brandon. It wasn't just her heart that missed him. It was her body, her hands itching to touch him, her lips, her everything. She had never gone this long without at least hearing his voice, even before when they were just friends. She just ached for his presence, his laughter, his love.

"Hey, you okay?"

She looked sideways at Matt. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Don't worry about the job, y'know," he said, looking slightly worried. "Doc Meriwether is very cool. He's not demanding at all."

"Yeah," she answered, pretending that it was her job that she'd been thinking about and not wishing that the days would go by faster so her boyfriend could get there. "What time am I supposed to be there?"

"Well, we both have Microbiology lecture at one-thirty and that's your last class of the day, isn't it, since the lab got canceled?" At her nod, he continued. "Mine, too. So I thought we could just head over there right afterwards. You don't start officially until Monday, but it would be good to go there beforehand and get a feel for the place."

She nodded again. "Good idea. Oh, are you leaving, Kady?"

Kady was standing up and shrugging into her jacket. "Yeah. The world of business beckons. Later."

"See ya," Em said, waving. She leaned back in her chair and continued to eat, idly watching the comings and goings of her schoolmates, most of whom she didn't know yet. Of those she knew, she saw Brock Langston and Sara Chesser, two of her classmates from Physiology, as well as Krishna Richards, a tall, black girl who was her lab partner in Microbiology. Krishna stopped to chat for a little bit, gleefully describing what she would be doing with her free hour since the lab was canceled (a quick visit with her boyfriend, who was a surgical intern at Boston General).

"Next time you see me, I'll be glowing. If you know what I mean," Krishna said, winking at Em, who pretended to scowl at her.

"Sure, rub it in, why don't you?"

Krishna laughed and sauntered away through the crowd and Em watched her go with a smile. It was a moment before she realized that Matt was staring at her and she felt a twinge of discomfort. Although she'd laughed at first, Em had given thought to what Kady had said and it made her uneasy. The last thing she wanted to do was give Matt the wrong idea.

"Um, Emerson?"

She looked at him. "Yeah?"

Matt's cheeks pinked up a bit. "I was just wondering if, you know, like to celebrate your getting the job, if you'd like to grab a bite after work."

"Oh," she said. She bit her lip for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to feel him out without coming across as presumptuous. Kady could very well be mistaken, after all, couldn't she? "Um, would that be like a date?"

"If you want it to be."

So much for being mistaken. Her heart sinking, Em looked him in the eye. "Would you consider it a date?"

He didn't look away. "Yeah, I would."

"Well, in that case, I'm sorry. I can't. I have a boyfriend."

He nodded once, as if confirming something to himself, then smiled slightly. "Why am I not surprised?" He was quiet for a second before blurting, "When you say you're sorry, is that because you can't come or because you have a boyfriend?"

Emerson frowned. "I'm not sorry that I have a boyfriend. I wouldn't mind grabbing a bite, but not if you consider it a date. It would have to be just two friends having a meal. Nothing more."

"Okay."

"Okay, what?" she asked cautiously.

He smiled slightly again. "I can do that, the, um, just-two-friends- having-a-meal thing."

"Honestly? Because I don't want to give you the wrong idea," Em said seriously. "I do like you, Matt. You're a nice person. But I'm in a very happy, very committed, very exclusive relationship with someone I truly love and-"

"I get it," he interrupted, nodding at her. "I get it."

Em exhaled a deep breath. "Okay. Shall we go to class, then?"

"Yeah."

After class, they went to the animal hospital, where Em was shown around and introduced to the people who would be her co-workers. They were all very friendly, down-to-earth people, and Doc Meriwether most of all. He was a lanky Texan with a bushy salt-and-pepper beard and wire-rimmed glasses, who had taken to calling Emerson "Hon" from the very first time they'd met. As in, "Pleased to meet you, Hon." "Where did you say you were from, Hon?" Em didn't mind; she liked Doc Meriwether. He reminded her a bit of her grandfather, Herb Thomas.

Emerson and Matt left Morningside just after seven and went to a small tavern called Bukowski's, where they each had a burger and chose a drink from the "99 bottles of beer on the wall" menu. Em found herself thinking with amusement that Marc Weasley would be perfectly at home in that pub for a very long time. The tavern had a great atmosphere, the nosh was good and Matt was a great person to chat with, but Em thought she would probably have had a better time if she hadn't been over-analyzing everything she said and did to him, for fear of giving him anything that might encourage his romantic inclinations. Although she'd already made it clear to him that she was in love with someone else, she couldn't help but still be a bit worried.

"I don't know," she said with a sigh later that night as she sat Indian-style on the rug in the living room. She was trying to write a letter to her parents but was rather distracted.

Kady looked over at her. "You don't know what?"

Em sighed again. "You were right."

"About what?"

"About Matt," Em replied, cringing. "He asked me out today."

To her credit, the brunette refrained from saying 'I told you so'. "Well, at least now, he knows. At least you were able to nip it in the bud."

"Yeah." She hoped she had. Em stared at the mostly blank scroll of parchment before her, trying to focus her mind on describing her classes without sounding tedious. Mum, at least, might find it interesting but Dad would probably skip over the bigger words like epidemiology and seminiferous tubules. The thought made her smile.

"So how long have you and Brandon been together?" Kady asked suddenly.

Emerson perked up, putting down her quill. "Not very long, actually. We got together about two weeks before I came here."

Kady leaned forward, putting aside the heavy textbook in her hands to goggle at Em. "Two weeks? That's all?"

"Well, we've known each other all our lives-"

"Oh, that's a relief, then," Kady interrupted, slumping back. "Cause there's like no way you can be this in love with someone you've only known two weeks. Not unless you're under some kind of spell."

Em giggled. "Well, I am kind of under a spell."

"How did it happen?"

"That's kind of a long story," she began and looked up in surprise when Kady jumped off the couch and hurried into the kitchen. "What're you doing?"

"Grabbing popcorn!"

Emerson couldn't help but laugh as she waited for her roommate to return and once Kady was settled again, a big bag of warm, buttered popcorn on her lap, Em rolled her eyes at her. "You're crazy, you know that, right?"

"I know. So, out with it," the brunette said, grinning. "I love hearing stories like these. Maybe it's because I need a distraction from my own pathetic love life, but hey. I can live vicariously though you, right?"

Em smiled. "Anyway, Brandon and I grew up together. His dad and my dad co-own a Quidditch team." At Kady's quizzically furrowed eyebrows, she elaborated. "Puddlemere United."

"Isn't that the powerhouse?"

"Yeah, they've been pretty successful. Anyway, growing up, Brandon was so annoying. He used to really get on my nerves and that likely could have ended up being the sum total of our entire friendship. Except that we had a big falling out one year and when we made up, we had a very honest conversation and he told me that he'd just been acting that way with me to try to make one of our friends jealous, whom he liked."

Kady rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Stupid boys."

"I know," Em said, chuckling. "That was when I was a second year and he was a fifth at Hogwarts. I don't know what it was, but something changed and we became really good friends. I never thought about him that way, though. Except once."

"What happened?"

Emerson looked over at the large, vaguely childish abstract painting that she and Kady had agreed to put on the dining room wall. The vibrant reds, cobalts, golds and greens jumped out at you, but there was no definition to it, almost as if the artist had just blindly smacked paint all over the canvas without looking to see where it landed. Not surprisingly, the piece was called "Untitled". But in spite of, or maybe because of all its noisy confusion, there was just something so alive about it.

Which was how Emerson felt whenever she thought about the mistletoe incident of her fourth year at Hogwarts - confused, yet strangely alive. She sighed. "It was the annual House party, my fourth year at Hogwarts. I was laughing with Brandon about his best friend, Eric, who was drunk and had spilled a drink all over Brandon. I remember casting a drying charm on his shirt, and then I noticed floating mistletoe over our heads and pointed it out."

Kady was grinning with delight. "And he kissed you?"

"He kissed me, and it was the best kiss of my life up to that point," she said, smiling at the memory. "But then, when it was over, I was just gaping at him, like stunned, cause I hadn't been expecting a kiss like that. We were just friends. I thought he would just peck me on the lips or something. So I'm standing there puzzling about it, and less than a minute after he'd planted that kiss on me, he was snogging some other girl, and I thought, 'Oh. It didn't mean anything.' So I perished the thought, and it never came back until this year."

She went on to describe the weekly lunches with Brandon, Carolyna and Davis and how Brandon had snapped at her over something that she'd teased him about a million times before.

"I was very taken aback by his response. It's not like it was the first time I'd teased him about his always acting annoyed by Davis and Lyna's antics. But he just like stormed away and I was wondering about it. And then I thought, what if it was because he had feelings for Lyna? The thought really bothered me, but I told myself that it was because it would complicate the friendship that the four of us have, since Lyna is married to Davis and all."

Kady nodded understandingly. "Go on."

"I decided I would just talk to him the next day, cause we would be at a birthday party for two of our friends. But the chance never came up and before I knew it, he was leaving." She explained about the disc that Brandon had been searching for, that she'd found but had forgotten to bring to the party. "I said we could go to my flat and get it or I could give it to him the next time I saw him. He said we could go and get it."

"And it happened," her roommate said, with a knowing smile.

Emerson blushed, the remembered feelings of joy, exhilaration and bewilderment snaking through her being as she smiled at her hands. "It happened. It was my first time."

Kady gasped. "You lost your virginity only, what, a month ago?"

"Only a month ago," Em repeated. "Yeah. It was amazing but then I was so confused the next day. I didn't regret it at all, but I couldn't understand why it was Brandon that it had happened with. I mean, I'd been in serious relationships before, and I never allowed any of them to get that far. Brandon was just one of my best friends, but just like that, we slept together? It was- I couldn't figure it out. So I went home to my parents' house, and just kind of moped around for a day or two until Mum helped me sort it out."

Kady was looking at her with awe and a little envy. "You talked to your mother about your sex life?"

"Yes. We have a great relationship, for which I'm very grateful," Em answered seriously. "I don't think I would have figured things out that quickly if it hadn't been for her help. But I went back to Brandon later that day and we officially got together."

Her roommate sighed. "That is so sweet. And then you had to leave two weeks later! I wouldn't have done it. Something that good, I'd have put these plans on hold for a while at least."

"We had a bit of a fight about it, and he begged me not to leave him. But he was one of the first people I told about my dream of coming here so he's been there from the very beginning. Even if I'd changed my mind, I know once he'd calmed down, he would have made me change it back. He knows I would've really regretted it if I hadn't done this."

They were both quiet for a time, the only sound being the rustling of the popcorn bag as they passed it back and forth. After a few minutes, Kady spoke again. "What kind of birth control do you use?"

"Estralevon Potion," Em replied. "Mum gave it to me the day we had that conversation."

"Oh, I think I've heard of it. Isn't it really expensive?"

Em frowned thoughtfully. "Well, it is, a bit. But it's really convenient. You only need to take it three times a year, cause one dose lasts for four months."

"You're kidding! Do you get periods?"

"Well, since I've only been on it for about a month, I haven't really experienced all that they say you might. They said to expect a bit of light spotting every now and then but only three actual periods a year."

Kady whistled. "Damn. That alone would make it worth it."

"Yeah, it's pretty neat. The only major downside is you have to be really diligent near the end of the cycle. See, the potion's effectiveness ends abruptly four months to the day that you last took it. There's no gradual tapering off here," Emerson explained. "So unless you're keeping track, you might go on thinking that you're protected when actually you aren't. And there's a two-week window after the expiration of the potion in which you're supposed to get your period. You're not supposed to take another dose until you've menstruated, to sort of allow the body to be natural for a bit."

"They're probably afraid that if you stop the periods altogether, you lose the ability eventually or something," Kady mused.

Em nodded. "Probably."

The two young women talked for a long time, discussing many things, including Kady's first time, which sounded like a real fiasco. At least she could laugh about it now and laugh they did. Em found herself thinking about Lyna and how much her best friend would enjoy Kady. She would have to make sure to arrange time for the three of them to hang out like this when Lyna came over to visit.

After saying good night, they retreated to their rooms and Emerson hunkered down to finish the letter to her parents. She also wrote one to Lyna and Davis, as well as Ben at Oxford, and Budget and Vina at Hogwarts. From what her parents had written, Vina had predictably been Sorted into Gryffindor and was settling into her first year.

When all those other letters had been completed, Em stretched out on her bed and picked up her quill again. This letter called for her special stationery, the one that was charmed to allow little multicolored scrolling marquees to travel the margins of the page. The messages could be modified to her specifications, but she usually kept it sprouting sweet sayings, with a smattering of naughty ones, of course.

She stared at his picture on her nightstand for a moment, gathering her thoughts before she began to write.

Dear Brandon,

So after work, Matt Adler and I went to Morningside Animal Hospital, which is my new place of employment, if you recall my last letter. I don't start until Monday, but we thought it would be good if I went in today, since the free time was available. I think I'll like working there; it'll be a good way to gain some true experience in the field, at least on the Muggle side. My dream practice will have both a Muggle office and a wizarding one, and I'll just go back and forth between them through a wall like the one at King's Cross that lets us onto Platform 9¾. But you've heard all that so many times, you're about ready to tear your hair out, I'm sure. And I can't have that. I love your hair, so shaggy and sexy, the way it always falls in your eyes, the way it swings about your face when you're inside me and really working it. But argh, where was I?

There, Emerson put down her quill, squeezed her eyes tightly shut and took a few deep breaths, trying to get her racing heart under control. There was no point in getting aroused - he wasn't there. He was not there and the stab of longing that shot through her body made her wince. A minute later, she picked up the quill again and looked down at the parchment. A frown creased her forehead as she realized where she was in her narrative of the day's events. Should she tell him about Matt coming onto her? No, really no reason to. It wasn't a big deal, was it, and she'd already set Matt straight. There was no need to mention it to Brandon. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and continued.

We grabbed a bite at a tavern called Bukowski's, which has a really cool selection of beers. I must remember to take you there when you come over! It's so awesome. They sell burgers that are topped with chunky peanut butter, of all things. I haven't had the guts to try one yet. Maybe I'll wait till you get here. I can't wait till you get here. I can't wait to hold you in my arms again, to kiss you. I love you so much, Brandon. Only twelve more days, eleven if I push it a bit. Is it normal for the mere thought of someone's scent to make another person's nipples harden?

I love you,
Emerson

Em read over the letter and sighed as she folded it. Upon sealing it, she stared at the parchment for a moment before jumping up and heading to the bathroom. After applying lipstick, she kissed the letter, grinning to herself at her rather fan-girlish antics.

"At least I'm not spraying it with perfume, right?" she asked her reflection in the bathroom mirror, but the mirror was a Muggle one and didn't respond.

She went back to her room and set the letter aside with the others. The owl that had arrived early that morning had gone out to hunt so she would have to wait until it returned to send the letters on their way.

Which meant that, until then, she couldn't allow herself to fall asleep, not if she wanted the letters to be delivered sooner rather than later. Leaning back against her headboard, she summoned a magazine from her bookshelf, pulled it open and began to read, while the sound of crickets and the cool night air drifted in to her through the open window...

*******

September 14th

I love you,
Brandon

*********
TBC
*********

End Notes:

Got the title yet? :) Writing to reach you... suffice it to say, expect more letters!

1. Harvard does not have a school of Veterinary Medicine. I made all that up. The classes that Em "takes" are part of a real Vet program, however: at Texas A&M's Vet school.

2. Dudley House is a real block of student housing at Harvard, and hence, has nothing to do with Dudley Dursley, of course.

3. There really is a tavern called Bukowski's in Boston and they really have a "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" menu. They also really do sell chunky peanut butter burgers.

4. Kady's real name (Kaydia) is the name of my oldest niece. Krishna is named after a childhood classmate.