Emma was woken up by the rising sun.
It was an unusual feeling. For years she had slept in the cupboard under the stairs in total darkness. Then while the Gryffindor dormitories were in a tower, they were in Scotland which was often overcast and dreary.
Emma was disoriented as she stirred. Then suddenly, she remembered the events of the previous day. Emma glanced around her surroundings. She was still in the same room as the night before. Only now it was filled with the soft glow of the sun. She sunk back into the pillows, smiling to herself.
Emma used the shower in the bathroom connected to her room. It had been stocked with all sorts of tiny vials that, upon further investigation, Emma discovered were different shampoos, conditioners, soaps and lotions. It was pure bliss being able to use the shower for as long as she pleased, not having to worry about sharing with the Dursleys or her dormmates.
Afterwards, she found a clean pair of jeans and simple red and white stripped shirt in her trunk. Throughout her childhood, Aunt Petunia had forced her to wear these awful, frilly dresses in pastel colours. She would scold Emma for not being ladylike and trying to play football with the boys. That had only encouraged Emma more and was perhaps why she had turned out the way she had. Emma had managed to finally pick out her own clothing this year and had been excited to add a variety of trousers to her wardrobe. Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown had owl order catalogs and helped Emma find casual wear that suited her a little more. Lavender had been excited at the prospect of giving someone a makeover. Not that Emma wanted anything too extreme.
Emma tied her messy hair back, letting a few stubborn wisps frame her face. She found that tying her hair back was the only way to control it. She fidgeted with the black fringe that she used to hide the infamous lightning bolt scar.
She smiled uncertainly at the image starring back at her from the mirror. Her green eyes peered back at her from behind her black, rectangular glasses.
Lavender did a good job, Emma thought, not for the first time. I actually look like me.
Having control over her appearance had done wonders for Emma's self esteem the past year. Perhaps she wasn't the prettiest witch in her year, but she was starting to feel comfortable in her own skin.
Hedwig seemed to have arrived sometime during the night. Emma spotted her dozing on a perch in front of the window. Next to her was a great grey owl who looked like he had seen better days. Emma gently smoothed over some of his ruffled feathers and he woke owl starred at her with his beady eye and puffed out his chest. He then stuck out his leg.
Emma unrolled a letter and realized it was from Ron.
Emma,
I'm sorry I didn't tell you about your grandfather before the platform. Mum didn't tell me who you were meeting, just that it was someone related to your dad. I thought it was a second cousin or something. Aunt Muriel is always finding some old forgotten relative or another for tea and I'm sure Mum told her we're friends by now. He's got to be loads better than the Dursleys though?
The Burrow is the same as always. Fred and George are locked up in their room making things explode. Ginny won't stop asking questions about you. I reckon she either has a crush on your or wants to be you. Dad's been tinkering with this muggle car in his shed to make it fly. I'm hoping he'll let me fly it around the village.
Ron
PS Mum sends 'love' and says to visit anytime.
Emma wrote a quick response back to Ron that things with her grandfather was going well and that she was staying with him for the weekend. She mostly wanted to reassure him that she was fine. Ron had become protective of her since they first meet on the Hogwarts Express. Whether it was making sure she had company over the Christmas holidays or backing her up when Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson started a fight. He had even sacrificed himself in a chess match so that she and Hermione could save the Philosopher's Stone. She knew that Ron had disliked the Dursley's treatment of her and suspected that he may have orchestrated some of the events that lead to Monty waiting for her at the platform with the Weasleys. Emma knew that he had been needling his parents for weeks about having Emma stay the entire summer. She had told him it wasn't necessary, that she would be fine at the Dursleys. Ron seemed just as sullen as she about it.
She then wrote a longer letter to Hermione as she knew Hermione would have a million questions and concerns. She also hoped that Hermione might provide some better insight into the situation as Emma was feeling a little overwhelmed.
Hermione and Emma's friendship started at the beginning mostly because they were the odd ones out in their dorm. Parvati and Lavender quickly became best friends while Tamsin Moon and Faye Dunbar got along well. Emma preferred the company of Ron and the other first year boys in Gryffindor. That left Hermione Granger, who was well meaning, but could be a bit brash and struggled to make friends in their year. It was a friendship that suffered outside of their dormitory as Ron and Hermione were often at each others throats. Things had settled down once Emma and Ron rescued Hermione from a troll. Ron had said some unkind things about Hermione, who had overheard and ran crying into the washrooms. Emma had gone to talk to her when Ron learned that there was a troll in the dungeons - and had come running to warn the two girls. He had later apologized to Hermione. Their friendship was cemented after that.
Emma smiled as she thought of her two best friends. Perhaps she would be able to invite them to Crochenwraith to meet her grandfather. She would have to sort out with the Dursleys what she was doing for the rest of the summer. Emma couldn't imagine that they would turn down the opportunity to be rid of her for good. She hoped that Monty wanted her to stay for the summer. That seemed to be his intentions, although he hadn't mentioned anything past Monday.
"Here girl, I have a delivery for you. Hermione lives in London. Can you find her?"
Hedwig affectionately nipped her fingers before taking off with the letters. It was rare that Emma had a delivery for her, aside from Hagrid, and Hedwig seemed keen to prove herself. She then sent the Weasley's owl off with her letter to Ron after giving him some water and food.
Emma flinched as there was a loud crack. Kappa appeared in her bedroom. Living in a magical home was going to take some getting used to.
"Good morning Miss Emma!" Kappa cheerfully greeted her. "Breakfast and Mr Monty is waiting for you in the kitchen."
Kappa looked at the bed that Emma had carefully made that morning. There was a slight frown on his face, and he snapped his fingers. The covers pulled and tightened and Kappa smiled in satisfaction.
She followed the elf down the spiralling staircase and then into the kitchen. Monty was seated at the small table with a pair of empty seats next to him as if he had been waiting for her. Food was laid out on the table on self heating plates, along with a teapot and a pitcher of pumpkin juice.
"Kappa wasn't sure what you liked to eat so he did the full monty as I call it - a little bit of everything," Monty said with a wink.
"Everything looks good," Emma said. "I'm not fussy."
She put some toast, eggs and sausage on her plate. She then poured some pumpkin juice into her glass. They made small talk as they ate their breakfast. Monty asked Emma about her favourite subjects and in turn, told her about his work.
"I took over the family business from my grandfather, the Potter Potions Company. It was really just Effie and I running it for the past few decades. My brother, Charlus was never interested. We agreed that he would manage the politics and I would manage the business. And my sister, Maribel, well, she couldn't tell one end of a cauldron from the other. She loved magical creatures though, was working on the Welsh Dragon Sanctuary before she died. Unrelated of course - " Monty trailed off as if lost in thought. His eyes looked sad. "Maribel was murdered during the last war with her husband and daughter."
"I'm sorry," Emma automatically said. It was the same line she heard every time someone found out her parents were dead. She hated that line but still found herself using it because what else was there to say?
"What was I talking about again?" Monty asked, as if trying to divert the topic.
"Potions."
"Potions, yes. I supply a number for Greengrass Apothecaries - that was Effie's father's business. Her nephew, Hector, is running it these days. I've also invented a few over the years. Sleekeazy's is my most well known, especially among witches your age."
At Emma's uncertain look, Monty explained further.
"Two drops tame even the most wildest of hair. I would know. I haven't given out my instructions though, those are top secret. I intend for you to inherit the my business one day, although I would understand if you sell the instructions to Sleekeazy's. It's rather time consuming brewing it every week and not everyone enjoys the task. James didn't have the skill for it, but Lily, I had hopes that Lily might take over."
"I didn't know my mum was good at potions." Flitwick had gushed over Lily's skill with charms when he had first met Emma. Of course, Professor Snape didn't seem like the type to gush over her mother. He had spent the year criticizing Emma's father and complaining how she was just as arrogant and bullheaded as him. Regardless of her efforts, she never seemed to do well anyway. So she had gotten worse as the year went on, spending even less time and energy doing the readings and assignments.
"Oh yes, Lily was brilliant with potions. She had such intuition about it - it was like watching an artist! She was one of Professor Slughorn's favourites. She was doing a mastery after Hogwarts - she wanted to take over for Professor Slughorn when he retired."
Instead they got Snape. Life was really full of injustices.
"Perhaps you can teach me," Emma softly said. "I didn't do so well last term."
Monty lit up at the prospect.
There was some moments of silence as the pair ate their breakfast. Monty was also going through the stack of owl post he had received throughout the morning. He admitted that the family knew he was collecting Emma the day before and was checking to see if things went well. They were soon interrupted by a third person.
"Good morning, Monty."
"Ah, Sirius." Monty chuckled. "I should have known you wouldn't stay away for long."
Sirius Black was handsome. That was Emma's immediate thought. He had dark, shoulder length hair that had a bit of a wave to it and striking grey eyes. He also brought a large amount of energy into the room. There was a bounce to his step and a jubilant smile on his face.
"There's my goddaughter." There was an incredible amount of warmth and affection in his voice. Emma smiled at him.
"Hello."
Sirius sat across from her at the table. Kappa appeared to set the spot for him before disappearing again.
"I'm Sirius," he said. His voice sounded emotional and sincere as he spoke. "Your father was - he was my best friend at Hogwarts and he made me your godfather when you were born. I'm sorry I wasn't around, but I want to make that up to you now and be the godfather I promised I would be."
"It's okay, I was told everything yesterday."
Emma was still bothered by the fact that she had had a family that had been kept hidden from her. Even once she was at Hogwarts and knew about the wizarding world. It was something that she had come to realize that only Dumbledore could explain. She hoped she had answers soon. Until then, there was no point losing any more time with her family.
"Good, that's - that's good. So, what's the plans for today?" Sirius asked, glancing between Monty and Emma. He started filling up his plate with eggs, bacon, sausage and toast. He then poured himself a cup of tea. "I've cleared my schedule for the weekend. Rufus knows not to send for me for anything less than a dark mark appearing over London. I am all yours. We could catch a game, see who's playing today. Arthur says you play Quidditch with his sons, youngest seeker in a century!"
Monty shook his head. "Sirius, slow down before you choke on your food. We haven't decided anything yet."
That didn't curb Sirius' enthusiasm. He and Monty debated back and forth what to do with the weekend ahead of them, prompting Emma to add her input as well. Emma really didn't have any opinions, she was happy just to spend time with the pair of them. She also didn't know much of the wizarding world outside of Hogwarts and Diagon Alley.
"I was thinking we could invite the family over tomorrow night for a dinner. Introduce Emma to everyone. Then I'm supposed to bring her back to her aunt's on Monday - "
"Are you kidding me?" Sirius said. It was as if Monty had flipped a switch. Sirius seemed angry at the thought that Emma had to go back to the Dursleys.
"She's not going back there. That's not what James and Lily wanted. She should have been raised by you, or me, or Miranda or the Longbottoms- they had a list of guardians. Petunia Dursley was so far down that list that she didn't exist." Sirius folded his arms and starred defiantly at Monty. "Dumbledore had no right to put her there."
"Sirius, don't be hasty," Monty said. "We can't just take her from her aunt's, that's her home, she could be happy there."
"Of course she's not happy there! You heard what Calvin said."
"Who's Calvin?" Emma interrupted.
"Miranda and Calvin Bones," supplied Monty. "Susan's parents. Calvin is friends with Arthur Weasley, Ron's father. The Weasleys had some concerns about your guardians, there were some things in Ron's letters that didn't seem right. Arthur knew that Miranda was related to the Potters. Miranda introduced me to Molly."
Emma nodded, feeling a little embarrassed that such a big deal had been made about her home life. She didn't think she had told Ron anything too bad about the Dursleys and had made sure to leave out how she used to sleep in the cupboard.
"I had wanted to give you a chance to know me before making any decisions about spending the summer here. If given a choice, would you want to return to the Dursleys?"
"No," Emma quickly said.
Sirius seemed to give Monty a look, as if she had proved his point.
"Well then, the matter's settled. We'll see what Petunia wants to discuss on Monday and then you'll be staying here for the summer."
Sirius seemed calmer now that he knew Emma was staying with Monty for the summer. "And if staying with this stuffy old coot is too boring, there's a guest room at Ruffy Ends that could have your name on it."
"Ruffy Ends?"
"My home in Cornwall," Sirius explained. "Rhea sends her love to you both, by the way. She had a healer's appointment this morning otherwise she would have come."
"Who-?" There had been so many names dropped over the past two days that Emma was having a hard time keeping track.
"Sirius' wife," Monty explained at Emma's confusion. "I hope everything's all right?"
"Rhea's pregnant," Sirius explained, more for Emma's benefit. "Everything's fine, she just has a little checkup."
"Oh, is this your first child?" Emma politely asked.
"Second," Sirius brightened. "Our first was Leo, he's with Rhea today. I'm hoping for a brother for Leo, but Rhea wants a girl this time. I think she wants someone to do girl things with. She's always taking her nieces out and wants to be able to do that with a daughter. In fact, she may kidnap you for a 'girls' day'."
Emma was unsure how she felt about that. She had never been particularly girly, but didn't want to object. She was curious to meet this Rhea Black though, especially if she would be spending more time with Sirius and his family.
"Rhea was your father's cousin, on Effie's side of the family," Monty said.
"Your grandmother was the one who introduced us. She thought I needed to meet a 'nice young witch' and 'settle down'", Sirius explained, with a playful roll of his eyes.
Monty looked smug as he replied. "Well, it worked."
"How many cousins did my dad have?" Emma asked. Emma didn't have a good relationship with her cousin, Dudley, growing up. He taunted her at every opportunity. The few times he had tried to get rough an adult would usually intervene. Even Uncle Vernon disapproved saying that it wouldn't look right for a boy to hit a girl. It seemed that her father's cousins were on good terms with her grandfather as he spoke about them often.
"Six," Monty said before listing everyone off. "My brother, Charlus, had one son with his wife, Dorea Black. His name is Hadrian. He married a witch named Nephele and they have two children. Then my sister Maribel married Owen McKinnon and they had three children. There was Miranda, Marlene and Myron. Miranda, of course, married Calvin Bones. Myron prefers the bachelor lifestyle. Effie was a Greengrass before she married me. Her brother, Perseus, had two children, Hector and Rhea. Hector married - Contessina? I think that was her name. She was from one of the noble Italian families. They have three children as well. I believe one of the girls is the same age as you."
"That would be Daphne," Sirius said. "Nice girl, although Rhea's worried that she got mixed in with a bad crowd at Hogwarts."
He seemed to look at Emma for her opinion on the matter. Daphne Greengrass was one of the girls in Pansy Parkinson's little gang. Bad crowd was an understatement. Parkinson was the meanest witch in their year. She had nothing nice to say about anyone and would hit you with nasty little jinxes when you walked by her in the corridors. Emma remembered everyone in Slytherin laughing at her when Parkinson got her with a jinx that lifted up her skirt. Daphne had even gotten in a jab.
"Nice knickers Potter! My grandmother wears the same ones!"
"She's friends with Pansy Parkinson." Emma decided that that was saying enough. Sirius nodded as if that confirmed something to him.
"Well, perhaps that will change."
He quickly changed the topic back to their plans for the day. It was decided after breakfast that the three of them would take in a Quidditch game. Emma was excited to see a professional game. The Wimborne Wasps played against the Holyhead Harpies nearby. While she watched the all-female team trounce the Wasps, Emma decided she knew who her favourite Quidditch team would be. Emma even caught herself fantasizing about playing for them one day.
Sirius and Emma went out for ice cream together after the game. Monty seemed to have forgotten something he needed to do at home, but Emma suspected he wanted to give the pair of them some time together. As the day went out, she found that Sirius very easy to talk to. He was what she imagined an older brother or uncle to be like.
"Your dad was also a Harpies fan," Sirius said.
They meandered down the busy street towards the ice cream parlour. Sirius had apparated the pair of them to Diagon Alley - a mode of transportation that had left Emma a little dizzy, but was infinitely better than the floo network.
"Really?" Emma asked.
"Yes, he had posters of them all over our dormitory."
Sirius went quiet when Emma started asking why her dad liked the Harpies so much and abruptly changed the topic to her Quidditch career. After Emma explained the circumstances that lead to her having a spot on the Gryffindor team - something that gave Sirius a great amount of glee - Emma recounted her matches against Slytherin and Hufflepuff.
"Ravenclaw should have been easy after that, they were never much of a team. Preferred reading about Quidditch plays rather than trying them - "
"Oh, I didn't play against Ravenclaw since I was - " Emma quickly shut her mouth.
She had been in the hospital wing after trying to save the Philosopher's Stone from Voldemort. A topic that she was not keen on sharing with her recently discovered grandfather or godfather. While the Dursleys didn't really care if Emma was injured, Monty and Sirius both seemed to care for her well being and she didn't want to worry them with something that had happened in the past. She knew Ron and Hermione were not planning on telling their parents either. Ron because his parents would be angry and Hermione because her parents wouldn't understand.
"I was unable to play that game."
"Quidditch players generally only miss games if they're injured or in trouble," Sirius lightly said. "So was this before or after the incident with Fluffy?"
"You know about that?" Emma gasped. She had been completely caught off guard.
"I work for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as an Auror," Sirius said. "I know a little more than you think."
"It was after," Emma confessed. "I was in the hospital wing and missed the last game."
Sirius gestured for her to sit down on the bench next to him. They were just outside of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour now.
"Emma, I know you don't trust adults. I didn't either at your age so I get where you're coming from. I suspect the adults in your life have failed a lot and you learned to handle things on your own." Sirius seemed contemplative, as if trying to find the right words to say."But you're never going to get in trouble for telling Monty or I the truth about what you've been up to at Hogwarts. We love you, and it's our responsibility to make sure you're safe. So if you counter another troll or Cerberus or Voldemort or anything dangerous, you owl me and I will handle it. Or you find Professor McGonagall and she will handle it. Deal?"
Emma felt the corner of her eyes sting. She fought back the feeling that she was going to start crying here in Diagon Alley in front of Sirius. It was just that, no one had ever told her they loved her before.
"Deal. What's a Cerberus?"
"The three headed dog," Sirius said, shaking his head. "Fluffy. Just, stay away from anything Hagrid would keep as a house pet."
Emma glanced at him from the corner of her eye. A sly smile broke out before she could help herself. "So, did you want to hear about the time Hagrid had a baby dragon?"
Sirius let out a bark like laugh.
