Footnotes

Entry #14: January 17th

It had been twelve glorious and wonderful days since Emma and I started dating. It was the twelve best days of my life I felt like I was living in paradise and I never wanted to leave. James was kind of afraid about the whole thing until I came to him and asked his permission to date his sister. That and I brought up the fact that I was his best friend and he was dating Emma's best friend and he didn't ask Emma if he could date Lily. That shut him up. But after that James was really cool with it all and suddenly life was good.

"I hate Mondays," Emma said as we sat down for breakfast. I laughed and kissed her on the forehead as she sighed. As soon as word got out that we were dating Lucius began to give Emma so much crap. Other girls who thought I was going to date them also began to bother her in between classes and soon I was forced to take action into my own hands. After a few beatings and a couple of nights of detention with Hagrid people accepted our relationship.

"It's one more Monday that we have behind us before we're down with school," I replied. Emma just smiled and shook her head. For some time now we had noted that outside war activity had been oddly quiet and that made the older students and staff at Hogwarts kind of nervous. I've pushed it aside and tired to move on but still something didn't feel right. I had this feeling…like something was going to happen.

"Hey spaceman, are you going to class or are you gonna sit there all day?" Emma asked pulling on my hand. She sat down next to me again and laughed a smile on her face. The bell had rung and students were starting to go to class.

"Sorry I got lost in thought," I replied.

"Better watch it Em," Lily joked winking at us. I got up and took Emma's hand gladly leading her to Divinations. She squeezed me hand as we walked and I raised an eyebrow at her. She sighed and stopped. Students milled past us half asleep. She went up on her tiptoes and kissed my forehead. I continued to stare at her, a half smile on my face.

"I don't want to lose you, ever," She said. And then she grabbed my hand and tried to drag me behind her to class. I pulled her back and held her in my arms briefly kissing her on the lips.

"And it would kill me to lose you," I whispered to her. She smiled back at me and we started walking to class again. Now, the only thing that mattered to me was Emma and her safety. I couldn't keep the smile off my face as we took our seats. Professor Trelawney began the instruction and I got the idea to be funny and whisper things in Emma's ear.

"Did it hurt, when you fell from heaven?"

"Shh…Sirius, we're learning something new today," She said pushing my face away. I could see a small glimmer of a smile on her face as she did it though. I smirked. I watched as she kept her focus on our whacked professor a look of concentration on her face: that look was half the reason I was so crazy about her.

"Are you tired?"

"A little…yea,"

"Because you've been running through my mind all day," I told her. I got a smirk out of that one but no giggle. She continued to take notes, ignoring my attempts to make her laugh. I tired one more time.

"My life is like a broken quill without you, it's completely pointless," I whispered. That one got a giggle. She looked at me that sparkle in her eyes as she tried her hardest not to laugh. I gave it one more shot.

"I like your clothes…"

"It's my school robe Sirius," She said looking away from me again.

"But they'd look better on my floor." Emma's face fell, and I started to apologize. All eyes were on the front of the room and I wasn't quite sure what was going on.

"Sirius!" Emma hissed as I continued to try to make things better. I finally took my eyes off of Emma and looked at Professor Trelawney and I gasped. The professor was sitting in her chair, her eyes rolled up in the back of her head, only the whites of her eyes showing. The crystal ball that always sat on her desk was glowing like there were a thousand fire flies inside of it. No one said anything.

"They're coming…" Trelawney said in a deep a creepy voice that was so not her own voice. Emma got to her feet and ran to the window gazing out of it intensely. I noticed Emma was shaking all over. Nobody moved yet, everyone was too afraid.

"They're coming they're coming they're coming!!" Screams came from the class and Emma stood on the desk and yelled for silence, trying to calm everyone down.

"Longbottom, Alice, go and tell the other teachers that we need to get the younger kids into their common rooms. Same with you three, now get going. Sirius, you're coming with me, and the rest of you get ready to fight, the school is under attack," Emma shouted. I grabbed her hand and helped her off the desk and we took off at a sprint to he Headmaster's office. He was waiting at the bottom of the stairs for us.

"Help me gather the older students in the Great Hall," He said. We nodded and ran again, even though both of us were out of breath. First we went to Professor McGonagall's room to collect her students. When we burst in she stood there aghast and the class froze, confused. From the look Lily and Remus were giving us I could tell that they just got why we were so worried.

"We need everyone to go to the Great Hall, Headmaster's orders," Emma said panting. Everyone got up and did as they were told. Lily and Remus rushed to our sides and Lily grabbed Emma's had, afraid.

"What's going on?" Lily asked. Emma quickly explained to her while I told Remus what happened in Divinations class. Suddenly Emma stopped and looked about.

"Lil where's my brother?"

"I don't know…"

"I'll find him," I replied sensing the worry in Emma and Lily's voices. I quickly gave Emma a kiss and ran off to find my best friend. I watched out of the corner of my eye as Remus took the girls to the Great Hall. As I ran past the people flocking to the Great Hall I eyed the crowd but I saw no sign of my best friend. I pushed my way up to the Gryffindor Tower frantically still looking for James. I checked everywhere, but as I ran past an empty hall way I thought I spied that familiar unkempt jet black head of hair. He was just standing there in front of a small window gazing out at the forest beyond him. There I saw swarms of Dementors and Giants making their way towards the grounds.

"Oh Merlin…" I gasped unable to keep it in. James still hadn't said, or moved, all he did was stare and I found this quite odd. I grabbed his arm and began to drag him down the stairs to go fight with the others.

"Where are we going?" He finally asked. I yanked him down another flight of stairs before I answered him. I was a little mad that he hadn't stayed with Lily or thought to make sure Emma was okay. She was worried sick about him…

"We're meeting up with the others. What were you doing standing there?"

"I…I don't remember…" James replied as we reached the main landing. With his free hand he starched his head looking lost. I pulled him along the now empty halls trying to get to the Great Hall before everyone left to fight. I was too late; they had already begun the battle as the monsters got closer to the grounds.

"Oh shit James! We have to get out there!!"

"What's going on?" James said. I stared at him in pure disbelief. How could he not know?

"We're under attack."

"We are?!" James exclaimed. I took him to the hospital wing. Something was wrong and I was not the person to figure out what it was. After I dropped him off, leaving him still very confused, I raced down to the grounds to find Emma. When I got to the front doors and I pushed them open I felt like I was moving in slow motion as my haste drove me to protect Emma. Once I got the doors to swing open and I saw what was before me I stopped dead in my tracks. The 5th years through the 7th years were all standing in rows in front of the forest, wands drawn and at the ready. The giants were getting closer. Dumbledore stood in front of everyone, Fawkes the Phoenix on his shoulder. I was still frozen in place at the doorstep of the school watching the odd scene play out before me. Dumbledore nodded at Fawkes and together they cast a huge fire blocking the path. Then the students began casting spells into the fire making it grow. I watched as some of the foes were consumed in the flame, and as others fled in fear. Dumbledore turned toward the students a curious expression on his face. I ran towards the front, knowing that Emma would be there up close and personal with all the action. Staff members were coming out of the school and taming the flames that light the gloomy day. Soon, no doubt, the Ministry of Magic would be here.

"Emma!" I called over the commotion trying desperately to find her. I spotted Remus and Lily but Emma wasn't with them.

"Where's Emma?" I asked them. As the words left my mouth I felt something bump into me and I could feel arms wrapping around my waist. I twisted a little to see that it was Emma, holding on to me tight.

"Em, what's wrong?" I asked her. She was crying a little.

"I thought I had lost you. I couldn't find you anywhere!" she said letting go. I placed my hand on her soft cheek and she weakly smiled.

"You aren't going to lose me okay? Now come on, we need to check up on your brother."