Emma was sitting on the bottom stair of the staircase, staring at the door, still fuming from her conversation with her father twenty minutes earlier.

"Harry is in trouble. I have to go."

"Sirius, you know leaving the house is dangerous." Lupin tried to reason with him, but he simply would not listen. "Remus," he protested, "I'm not going to let James down… I have to go help Harry!" Remus could tell that no amount of words would make Sirius stay while the other went to the Department of Mysteries where Harry and his friends were apparently fighting Death Eaters.

Standing behind her father, Emma declared, "I'm coming with you."

A small smile appeared on her father's face as he turned towards her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Emma… darling, you can't come. I'm sorry."

"Why not?"

At that moment, Mad-Eye Moody appeared in the doorway. "It's time to go."

Remus left the room first. When Sirius attempted to follow, Emma grabbed the back of his jacket. "Dad, I'm coming with you. I want to fight! You know I can!" Sirius was becoming a little antsy the longer he was prolonged. "Emma, I know you can fight, but I don't want you involved in this."

"Why not?"

"Because." He kissed her on the top of the forehead, trying to leave once again.

However, Emma did not relinquish her hold on the back of his jacket. "Dad! I'm not a little girl! I'm going to fight beside you!" Suddenly, Sirius' tone completely changed from that of anxiety to that of pure anger. "Emma Jennifer Black, you are staying in this house and that is final!" With that, he pulled free of Emma's hold and made his way out of the house. Before the door shut behind him, Emma shouted, "I hate you!"

Why couldn't her father understand that she was a fantastic duelist, even Mad-Eye Moody himself had admitted it. Hell, Sirius had seen first-hand her dueling capabilities. Sitting with her arms folded under her chest, Emma found herself taking slow, deep breaths. When would they be back? Surely, with all of those members of the Order going, a few Death Eaters wouldn't be a problem.

Before she could wonder any further, the door to Grimwauld Place opened with a bang. Mad-Eye Moody was first to enter the house; he did not even glance at Emma, who stood at his entrance. Nymphadora Tonks entered next, sending sympathetic looks towards Emma, but she ignored her, looking for her father. After Tonks, Molly and Arthur Weasley strolled into the house. At seeing Emma, Molly quickened her pace towards Emma and pulled her into a hug. Emma and Molly normally did not talk at all and receiving a hug from the red-headed woman was quite a shock. However, Emma allowed Molly to hug her, not fully understanding why she was doing so. Molly and Arthur continued with the other into the kitchen. Lastly, Remus Lupin came into view, shutting the door behind him.

Emma's first thought was that her father was with Harry, his top priority. Shoving her hands into her pockets, she slowly approached her uncle, whose eyes were blood-red and face was tear-stained. "What happened?" She asked in a hushed tone, as if speaking loudly would cause her uncle to burst into tears. Hesitantly, Remus raised his gaze to Emma's face, staring at her blankly for an entire minute before replied, "Emma… let's go upstairs…"

Confused and concerned, she obliged, leading the way to her bedroom on the third floor. Once they were upstairs and in Emma's bedroom, Remus closed the door behind him, sighing as he did so. "Uncle Remus? … Are you okay?" No physical injuries could be seen on his body, which was rare, considering his condition. Was he simply upset about the whole ordeal? Was someone hurt? Did Harry die? Was that why her dad wasn't home yet? That would make sense why everyone looked so upset. "Emma…" Lupin began; his voice trembling for fear of breaking into tears again. Before he continued any further, he reached for Emma and forcefully pulled her into a tight embrace, to which she did not object. If her uncle was in pain, she wanted to comfort him. He had raised her since she was five, and he had raised her well. She owed him everything.

"Emma… your father loves you very much… you know that, right?" His voice was cracked and unsteady, as if he would collapse at any moment. Emma did not answer directly after her uncle asked her, but she reflected for a moment, remembering the fight she had had with her father before he left a mere twenty minutes ago. When she really thought about why he had acted that way, she concluded that he was simply trying to protect her, as unfair as it was. A small smile played at the corners of her lips for a moment as she answered, "I guess… why?"

At this question, Remus released his grip on Emma and turned his back towards her, possibly hiding tears that were slipping down his cheek without his permission. "Uncle Remus? Why are you so upset?" How was he supposed to answer that question? How was he supposed to tell her? There was no manual for this kind of thing. No one else could tell her in his place. No. He had to tell her. He had to say it. "Emma… Sirius… y-your father… he's… he's dead, Emma…"

Time seemed to stop, as if the world had come to a screeching halt. What had Remus just said? Were Emma's ears working correctly? Did her brain process that right? The air in the room seemed to vanish, for Emma could not find any air to fill her lungs. A heaviness pressed on her chest, and she proceeded to fall onto her knees, staring into space. She could fell her uncle pulling her into another hug and whispering into her ear, "It's okay, Emma. It's okay…" He was starting to cry, small sobs of a greater pain that he was harboring inside.

No. No. Emma refused to believe this. Her father… Sirius Black could not be dead. He was… He was too strong! Too cunning for that! He had avoided death numerous times before now. Surely… surely, he… In a blind rage, Emma shoved her uncle off her and stood abruptly, shouting, "You're lying! You're lying!" Then, with tears unwillingly streaming down her cheeks, Emma ripped open the door and ran as fast as her legs would carry her down the stairs. She could hear her uncle calling her name from upstairs, but she would not respond to his call. The burning in her chest was intensifying. As she landed on the ground floor, she found Mad-Eye Moody leaning against the doorway with Tonks and the Weasleys standing the entry way, as if they were waiting for her. Tears still streaming down her face, she rudely shouted to Mad-Eye, "Out of my way!" To which, he only shook his head no. She looked at each of their faces, trying to see which one would let her escape before he uncle could make it down the stairs. Hesitantly, Emma pulled her wand from her pocket. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Mad-Eye preparing to say expeliarmus, but it was too late. Emma had already apparated out of the house right as he uncle appeared on the ground floor shouting, "Emma!" Unfortunately, due to the magic placed on her house, she was only able to apparate to her bedroom where she grabbed her broomstick from the closet and opened the window. Before she could kick off the floor, Fred and George Weasley appeared her bedroom, pushed her off her broom, and took her wand. "Hey!" She shouted in protest.

"Sorry Black, we had to."

"Or Lupin would kill us."

"And Mum."

"And Dad."

Emma scowled at the two red-headed boys. Her hands balled into fists as her uncle came running up the stairs. Lupin entered the bedroom breathing heavily. The two Weasley twins left after Remus nodded at them in a silent thank you. Crossing her arms, she looked at the window, trying to hide her tears from her uncle. She would not believe what he was saying. Surely, it was all a lie. Her father was with Harry that was all. He was probably commending him on his heroic efforts to fight Voldemort.

"Emma… I'm not lying to you… Believe me, I wish I was lying about this… I really do… but I'm not… Emma, I'm sorry. If it means anything to you, the only person he talked about on the way to the Ministry was you… He was so upset that you were mad at him for not letting you go. He told me that he did not want you to get hurt because of him, because he felt obliged to go, because of Harry's relation to James… He loved you Emma. Please tell me you know that."

Silence. Emma had never known Lupin to lie to her, but something about his words made her uneasy. If Sirius had loved her so much, why did he leave to help Harry? Why did he make Emma stay shut in her room while Harry visited? And why were there more pictures of Harry in the house than her? More tears streamed down Emma's face. Remus cupped her chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him in the eyes. "Emma…" He chided, "Please, tell me you know that Sirius loved you." Slowly, she nodded, as even more tears began dripping down her cheeks. The realization was finally hitting her. Her father was dead. Sirius Black was gone… forever. Breathing raggedly, this time, Emma was the one to pull her uncle into a hug, crying hard into his shoulder.

Why? After finally having her father back in her life, why did he have to leave so soon? Was he with Emma's mother now? Was he happy now that he was reunited with James? Could he see her? Would he watch over her from now on? Emma contemplated all of these questions as she continued to sob into Remus' shoulder, soaking his shirt. Surprisingly, he silently cried with her, wondering the same questions.

Now that he was gone, Remus would resume the roll of Emma's caretaker, even though she was seventeen, an adult in wizard terms.