She thought her life was over – but fate gave her another chance, in a world of magic. Now, running around Hogwarts with James Potter and his friends, she's about to make choices that will change the future in ways she never thought possible…
Marauder's Phase
CHAPTER NINE
Tickled
I sat at the edge of Remus' bed, devouring the food James and Peter had brought up to me, and listening to the conversation that was going on.
Remus, Sirius and James were apparently arguing and, from the gist of it, it seemed that Remus disapproved of what they were doing.
And Sirius and James had, basically, told their friend that things wouldn't be so boring around here anymore.
"Oh!" I cried in indignation suddenly, placing the empty tray aside and standing up so fast you couldn't have timed it. "What the hell happened to 'couldn't leave her out there to be eaten?', Sirius!?" I snapped, hands on hips. "Am I just a novelty now!?" My anger boiled up at the smug grin on his face, and suddenly I wanted to use a spell that would wipe that smile straight off his face, but I didn't know one.
"Ssh!" James and Peter hissed.
"Don't you two shoosh me," I said, for I was just getting started. "You have no freaking idea what I've been through in the last seventy-two hours! I don't belong here!!" Suddenly I stopped, and clamped my hands over my mouth, sure I'd said way too much and, sure enough, the Marauders were all staring at me, their eyes full of question marks.
Sighing, I sat back down on the bed, and put my head in my hands. "Such a mess I'm in…" I murmured, shaking my head. "Such a right, bloody mess…" Subconsciously, my hand reached up, to touch the thin, whitened scar across my neck, a gift from the wolf that had ended my life in the other world. "Oh God…" I murmured. Lilyanna…even my parents…the life I once knew…gone.
"What happened?" Came a soft voice from in front of me, and I looked up to find Remus Lupin standing before me, wearing an extremely concerned expression.
I blinked up at him, to ensure that no tears would escape, and then shook my head. "N-nothing, it's okay, really, I'll…" I gulped. "Deal with it…somehow…" Yeah, right, I thought, looking out the window at the falling snow. Somehow…
And then I jumped, as something grey and furry flew straight into the window and hit it with a sickening thud.
I jumped to my feet, as the Marauders crowded around the window that James now opened, and I joined them, hardly noticing that I was leaning right over Sirius' shoulder (somehow, as he was quite a bit taller than me).
We all stared at the poor, falling thing for a moment, before Remus had enough sense to take out his wand and shout: "Accio owl!"
The owl zoomed back up and into Remus' hands.
"T-that's an owl?" I said in disbelief. "B-but it's so small, and…umm…shabby looking?" I stopped talking then.
The poor thing hooted feebly, and then held out its leg, where was tied a letter that was bigger than it was.
James took the letter, which folded up tight, and began to open it but, halfway through, he stopped and turned to me with a quizzical expression. "Uh, Emma?" He said. "It's addressed to you…"
"What!?" I cried, leaping forward and snatching the letter away from him. "Give me that! Who the hell knows I'm here!?" I didn't wait for an answer, and just opened the letter with shaking hands. I read it quickly, and that was because there was only one word on the parchment, written in shining green ink, in cursive.
LUPUS.
That was the Latin word for wolf now, wasn't it? Slowly, I sat down on the bed, absorbing the information that left me with a thousand and one new questions. Who had sent me this letter? Where the hell had this owl come from?
Who knew I was here?
Looking up slowly, I found all four Marauders staring at me, curiosity burning in their eyes. Quickly, I stuffed the letter into the pocket of my robes, along with my pocket watch. My wand was in the other pocket. "It's nothing, just a…just nothing." I said, shaking my head. I wasn't going to tell them anything.
I wouldn't tell them where I was from, or what I knew, not until it was time. And…I didn't know when that time would be. I only hoped I'd be around long enough to be there when the time came, as I glanced at James, and then thought of Lily.
The thought of Sirius in Azkaban tore me up inside too. How could anyone think he'd betray James? I glanced at the handsome fifteen year old, and wondered how he'd go in Azkaban. How he would feel…knowing everyone thought he'd betrayed his very best friend.
Handed over to the Dementors…
The thought made me feel sick.
***
No One's P.O.V:
Nobody spoke for a few moments after Emma had received the letter, until Sirius decided that the silence was too much for him.
He said: "So, Emma – what are you going to do now?"
She had been looking at his face with a sombre expression in her eyes, she hadn't even realised she was doing this. But now she quickly rearranged her expression into puzzlement. "Do?" She repeated.
"You're not going back out there to the forest, are you?" Remus asked warily.
Emma opened her mouth to reply, but James beat her to it. "Course she's not!" He exclaimed.
Emma, annoyed at being interrupted, chucked the empty tray at James who, of course, caught it.
Emma glared at him.
"Well, actually guys…" Sirius said thoughtfully.
Emma raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Do you have a better idea, Sirius Black?"
He nodded. "Yeah – you're gonna stay here with us." He grinned.
Emma nearly fell off the bed. "W-what!? Uh – I don't think I can, Sirius!" She glanced around at them all and added: "Seriously. For one, I'm a girl. Two, I'm not even a Hogwarts student. And three…well, there is no three, but there was going to be one!" She sounded cross, and glared at Sirius when he smirked at her. "Okay, what do you have to say this time?"
"I was going to say that you can stay here but, if you're worried about the whole boy-girl thing, then you can just stay in your wolf form." Sirius said, with a shrug.
"WHAT, NO!!" Peter and Emma yelled in unison. And Emma added: "There's no way I can stay up here!"
"Why not?" Sirius asked suddenly asked, a plan formulating in his quick mind. "Don't you…like us?" He asked her.
Emma's eyes narrowed. "Sirius Black…are you trying to make me feel guilty?"
"No." He lied. "But maybe you should be…"
She reached back and threw Remus Lupin's pillow at Sirius, who didn't have his best friend's reflexes. The pillow hit Sirius, just as Emma stalked past him, and yanked the dormitory door open.
Halfway out, though, she froze. Then she turned, and said in a hoarse whisper: "James – invisibility cloak! Now!!"
Perhaps alarmed by the panic in her voice, James tossed the cloak to her, and she put it on – and not a moment too soon.
Lily Evans came into the dorm, and looked around at them suspiciously. "Is there something wrong up here?" She asked, her beautiful green eyes darting from one guilty face (Sirius') to one love-struck face (James'). "Okay, anyway, I've just been informed that there's a meeting for prefects in the Great Hall." She glanced at Remus, who nodded, and gave the tattered owl to Peter. Lily's eyes widened. "What's that?" She asked.
"An owl." Replied five voices, and Lily's eyes narrowed in confusion for a moment, before she gave them all an odd look and walked out, followed by Remus, who glanced back over his shoulder once to see Emma peek out from behind the invisibility cloak, and smile apologetically at speaking in front of Lily.
Remus just gave her an assuring nod and left.
The door closed behind him.
"Why'd you have to go and speak up like that!?" Sirius complained from the floor, where the pillow had hit him full in the face, and would probably leave a mark curtesy of a well aimed throw by Emma, who now whipped off the invisibility cloak, danger flashing in her eyes.
James and Peter began backing off, as Emma whipped out her wand. She pointed it at Sirius.
"Rictusempra!" She cried.
