Emily Potter - Book 7 - The Deathly Hallows

Chapter 32: Truth Will Out

"Emily, we'll need to get going if we plan on arriving half an hour beforehand. We can't afford to be late."

No answer.

Harry had been knocking on his sister's door for over fifteen minutes but received no answer or any indication at all that someone was inside that room. "Alright – Em, I'm going in. You better be dying or something."

He had expected the room to be locked as it always was since his sister was a human manifestation of paranoia and a migraine, however the knob turned easily and swayed the door inward, revealing a cluttered floor where half of her belongings had been strewn around, her bedding still unmade and disheveled, and her wardrobe doors wildly open with hangers sticking out like teeth.

"I wanted to wear the violet dress that I wore to your trial, do you remember that?" Emily asked, her trembling figure curled up in the velvet armchair across her vanity table. "The violet dress with the peacoat and the heels – it doesn't fit me anymore. It runs up short, and the waist almost crushes my ribs when I tried it on... I wanted to – " And with shaking fingers, Emily clasped her hands together, fighting hard to gain control over herself.

Today was the trial of the Malfoys, and Emily was summoned to court to provide her testimony, though no one said this directly, it was very obvious that whatever she or her brother would say would have a grand weight over the outcome. It was over a month now since the war had ended, Hogwarts was still in repairs, funerals were held almost on a weekly basis, but all of this seemed to blur in the background of Emily's mind as she kept replaying Voldemort's death, watching every little detail to reassure herself that she and Harry had truly killed him.

Wordlessly, Harry tiptoed across Emily's room, careful to avoid stepping on the clothes on the floor. He looked at what was left in the wardrobe and began to browse through, triggering Emily to snap back into reality, watching her brother assemble an outfit. "I remember you wearing that to my trial, you said Ginny picked it out for you because you wanted to look feminine so you can sway the Wizengamot." He said softly, his nose turning up at the sight of a paisley shirt. "But you should know that that outfit aged you almost ten years. Yeah, you looked like a woman, and because of that, the entire room took you seriously."

"But right now," She said breathlessly. "I have to appeal to them as a seventeen-year-old."

"You need to wear something appropriate to both the courtroom and to who you are," Harry reminded, plucking out several items from the closet. "I know this is garbage advice, but it helps to be yourself right now. You – We have the earned the right to not pretend to be grown up, to not pretend that we are at par with everyone in that courtroom." He took a pair of dark jeans from the floor of the closet, and then plucking out a hanger from the far end of the wooden rod, surprised to see one item of particular clothing. "This... this is my shirt."

"Yes. You only wear, like, the same three shirts every month." Emily muttered, shrugging. "I saw that one and thought, that would look cute on me."

"It's two sizes bigger than you." He held the maroon long-sleeved shirt against his sister, questioning her taste in clothes. "I mean, I think I can see you pulling this off." Harry handed her the items and gave her another ten minutes to dress up, leaving her to her lonesome in her room.

Emily held up the deep maroon shirt up against the windowpane where golden sunlight poured in, letting the warm glow into it and strike her with inspiration. She picked up her pace and recollected her thoughts, arranging them into neat piles on information for her testimony.

There will no doubt be another wizard asking for a play-by-play of the war. Another eager ear to learn what had happened in Hogwarts straight from my mouth.