The full moon was set to arrive the day before Halloween, and Emma was less than thrilled the moment she felt the pull of the moon. That was what it had to be – moon sickness as she had decided to dub it to Remus's amusement. Emma was fairly positive it didn't actually have a name, but it was good enough for her. She had decided to stay the night after dealing with the Boggart and woke up Saturday morning feeling extremely agitated. Remus was not any better.
At least she finally was starting to understand what was happening. It made her feel a little better, but she was exhausted, and her diluted dose of Wolfsbane didn't seem to help as much as it usually did.
Remus served his breakfast duty, canceled his office hours, and they both spent the entire day napping on the couch together. Sunday was spent much the same, but a letter from Elara finally arrived and unfortunately didn't give any answers. The only thing Elara had been able to confirm was that Emma's infection rate was higher, but she couldn't discern what that meant. It just meant that Emma was still left with her strange blood-status.
"I don't understand what I am," Emma grumbled into Remus's chest as he pulled her into a tight hug. "At least you know what you are. I feel like I'm in perpetual limbo."
"You're you," Remus said simply. "You don't need to be anything other than that."
"That's fine, but that's not the problem. The problem is, you can't say I'm entirely human anymore, but I'm not wolf either. I don't understand it."
Remus had no idea what to say to that, and so he said nothing at all. He didn't understand either. He was just relieved that another month would go by where she wouldn't transform. That worried him most of all. Remus understood Emma's need to want to have a clear idea of what she was, but could they consider her half-wolf like Elara suggested to him? It was unheard of.
The only two things that really managed to keep Emma going throughout the week was the fact the Hogsmeade trip was on Halloween, and she kept going to see Snuffles. It was hard to get outside sometimes, but she always made it a point to bring food to the dog, and he seemed excited to see her. After what felt like the longest week ever, Emma packed her things to spend the weekend in the dorms and left Remus Friday night with a long hug. It was the first time the full moon would pass by with her knowing what he was actually going through, and she wished she could help.
"Are you excited about Hogsmeade tomorrow?" Megan asked Emma Saturday night as the girls got ready for bed.
"Yeah, of course," Emma said, peering out her window. The sky had grown dark very early, and she was trying to pinpoint when Remus would actually have had to transform. He had started to teach her how to find the correct times, but her knowledge of the proper lunar timing was shaky. Emma knew the full moon rose earlier in the night, but she wasn't sure exactly when. She wondered if it was anywhere around when she started to feel her worst. There had been a point at dinner when she was sure her head was going to explode, and she was going to be sick. The potion did not help this time.
"Are you even going to be able to go? You look terrible," Susan said, looking at Emma in alarm. "You should go to the hospital wing."
Emma was more than aware that she must look like an absolute wreck. Without the help of the makeup that she had washed off her face, she looked terrible. She gave the rest of the girls a weak smile. She was feeling feverish, but she didn't want to make the trip to the hospital wing and potentially miss out on Hogsmeade. Pomfrey would try to keep her there. "I'll be fine in the morning."
It had possibly been the worst night Emma had felt in a while, and her cold sweats didn't break until just before 5 in the morning. That must have been around the time the moon finally shifted, and she breathed out a sigh of relief. If this was only a fraction of what Remus felt, how did he survive for so long? She wanted to call it quits hours ago.
She was sure that she had only just closed her eyes when she was woken up by Persephone.
"Whoa, you look like shit," Persephone said, yanking open Emma's bed curtains.
"Well, good morning to you, too," Emma grumbled, shoving her head under her pillow. She whined as Persephone pulled her pillow off of her and sat up. "Can't I just sleep?"
"I would, but we've got Hogsmeade to go into today. Come on, I'll fix you up, and we'll get you breakfast in the village before we get your ears done. Remus wants to talk to you before we head out – I already grabbed your earrings. I promised Daph that I would do her makeup today, too, so we can all meet in the courtyard before we go."
Emma begrudgingly pulled herself out of bed, got dressed, and allowed Persephone to work her makeup artistry. She needed it far more than she thought as she continually kept drifting off as Persephone worked. Emma had forgotten entirely that she was meant to ger her ears pierced while in the village. That was something to look forward to, at least.
"Merlin, we need to get you some coffee or something. Your dad said he would be in his office," Persephone said, dragging Emma out of the common room.
"I'm sick of stairs!" Emma shouted as she entered the Defense classroom. The office door was open, and Remus peered through the doorway, wincing ever so slightly as he walked.
"How are you feeling?" Remus asked, making his way down the stairs and gesturing for Emma to sit at his desk.
"I should be asking you that," Emma said, sitting down and propping her head on her hand. "How have you done this for so long? I don't even have to do what you do, and I'm just done."
"The potion didn't help at all?"
"No," Emma huffed. "Apparently taking it every single day this week didn't help at all."
"You should have told me. I could have gotten you something else to help or so you could have had it on hand, at least. I'll have to let Elara know tomorrow."
Emma huffed again, mildly annoyed at the possibility of having to change the potion again. She wasn't even sure what exactly they were changing, but she supposed it was better than having to suffer consistently. She would have to get the recipe for the Wolfsbane Potion sooner rather than later just to study it.
"Persephone said you wanted to talk to me, though, so what did you want?"
Remus's eyebrows raised at Emma's bluntness. He gave her an appraising look and then gestured for her to give him her hand. She looked at him questioningly but decided to acquiesce his request. She started to lift her right hand since it was free, but he shook his head, and she gave him her left instead. He fixed her with a hard stare that was full of unspoken warnings. "Do not make me regret doing this," Remus said firmly.
Emma opened her mouth to speak but immediately closed it. She was much more awake by this sudden change of events. Remus pulled out his wand and flipped her hand so that the inside of her wrist was facing up. He pressed the tip of his wand to the bracelet and caught it swiftly as it fell from her wrist.
"You took it off?" Emma asked in surprise. She pulled her hand out of Remus's so that she could rub the oversensitive skin where the bracelet had been. It wasn't a tight fit, but the band still aggravated her wrist.
He nodded, placing his wand on the table and placing the bracelet down next to it. "Yes," he said, "for the day. I didn't think you would appreciate the idea of me practically looming over you even when you're away from the castle. I am giving you a full day of freedom as a Halloween treat. Please – do not make me regret this decision."
"I won't!" Emma said delightedly, a broad smile crossing her face. She went to launch herself into his arms before quickly stopping herself. Her smile faded into a sheepish grin, and she leaned into him, giving him a much softer hug.
Remus chuckled softly. "I'm not delicate," he said, returning her hug. "I've had nearly thirty years of full moons." Remus felt her shake her head before pulling away to look up at him.
"Doesn't mean I want to make it worse if I can help it. If I feel like this, I can't imagine how you feel," Emma said quietly. She gave him another squeeze, unable to contain her excitement. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
"Go, Persephone's probably waiting very impatiently for you." Remus reached into his pocket and pulled out a dark, cloth pouch, jingling it. "I think there's enough in here for you to pick up at least two dozen bars of Honeydukes chocolate for yourself. Possibly more."
"That's a lot of chocolate," Emma said, her eyes widening. "Surely you're not serious."
"You don't want any money for Hogsmeade?" Remus asked teasingly. "Then I suppose I should just take this back." Remus went to put the pouch back into his pocket, and Emma looked torn. He sighed and took Emma's hand, deposited the bag in her hand, and folded her fingers over it. "Emma – please, it's fine. Consider it payment for picking up the orders I placed at Honeydukes and Scrivenshaft's. Just give my name, they already know you'll be the one picking up my orders. Don't get into too much trouble and have a butterbeer for me."
With another quick, delighted hug and a kiss on the cheek, Emma ran downstairs to the courtyard to find Persephone.
The walk to the village was bright and spirited, and Emma felt much better in the fresh air. Perhaps it was the excitement of the day, but she felt that it was going to be a good day. The air was perfectly crisp, the leaves smelled terrific, and she was excited to be going someplace other than the grounds for once.
Stepping into the village was like stepping into another world. It immediately reminded her of Pentruf Mympwyol, and she found herself wanting to go everywhere. Persephone had been to Hogsmeade before and wasn't as enamored, but she indulged Emma and her curiosity.
Their first stop was to The Three Broomsticks, where Emma did, in fact, have a butterbeer for Remus. It was just before noon, and she didn't want to get too full knowing the feast was later, so she split a platter of fish and chips with Persephone.
"How have you never had fish and chips?" Emma asked Persephone in pure awe. No one should ever go through life without experiencing a chip.
"Well, you know how mum and dad are," Persephone said, taking another chip off of the plate. "The only times I have anything less than wizarding style cuisine is with you and Remus."
"I'll make sure we have this every day the next time you come over if that's the case!"
"I'm looking forward to it," Persephone grinned.
With food out of the way, Persephone led Emma to a rather small building where she was meant to get her ears pierced. It didn't appear to be much when they walked in, and Emma was worried they had walked into someone's home. "Are you sure this is the right place?"
"Yes," Persephone said with a heavy sigh. "This is where my piercings were done."
Within moments, an older witch stepped into the room. After greeting the girls, they were swept into the back of the building. Emma was still positive they had just walked into someone's home to do this, but the woman seemed to know what she was doing. Remus wouldn't have let her go if he didn't investigate himself. In barely anytime at all, Emma had earrings in her ears, and she was thrilled by it. She had always loved how ear piercings looked. She had only told Persephone in secret, which led to her talking to Remus about it, but now she had them.
Staring at herself in the mirror, Emma turned to the woman with a grin. "How much would it be for two more?"
Emma left the shop with four piercings in total, three in her left ear – two in her lobe, and one in her helix, and the single matching lobe piercing on the right.
"Remus is going to kill you," Persephone snickered as they walked out of the shop.
"He'll get over it," Emma said. "I'm not too worried about it, to be quite honest. They look cool."
When they stepped back onto the High Street, Emma couldn't help but look around longingly. "Effie, is it…all right if I went off on my own for a bit?" Emma gave Persephone a sheepish grin. "Dad's given me complete freedom for the day, and I just…"
"Mate, I get it," Persephone said with a laugh. "I can go meet up with Trace and Daphne. Just meet me around 3 at the gate? Gives you a good three hours of pure freedom."
Emma gave Persephone a quick hug. "You are the best," she said, kissing Persephone's cheek.
"Go – have fun, Little Lupin! You deserve it."
With a delighted smile on Emma's face, the girls parted ways. It made her entirely nervous, but she was filled with a giddy exhilaration. She could go anywhere for any reason at all.
With no destination in mind, she strolled aimlessly down the crowded lane of the shopping area. Spotting Zonko's Joke Shop, a mischievous grin crossed her face. She wondered what nonsense she could find to prank Remus with. The twins were always talking about the store, and she wanted to see it for herself before visiting Scrivenshaft's and Honeydukes. It didn't matter that he would probably anticipate her mischief, she still wanted to try.
As she approached the door to Zonko's, a sudden blur of black knocked into her leg. She stumbled slightly and recovered, startled to see an entirely too familiar black dog.
"Snuffles?" Emma asked, grinning at the dog. "What are you doing? Are you following me again?" The dog always seemed to follow her wherever she was like a shadow. In a way, she supposed he was.
Snuffles rammed his head into her hip with a small, almost urgent yip. He quickly bolted away, and Emma took that as the dog's way of telling her to follow. She frowned slightly, watching as people laughed as he ran through the crowds. Snuffles turned to look back at Emma and let out a louder bark, his tail swishing excitedly.
Emma knew that it was probably a terrible idea, but she ran after Snuffles anyway. She had plenty of time to go through the shops, and Snuffles seemed like he wanted her attention for something.
Snuffles was leading her further and further away from the shops and into the residential area. He made sure to keep several feet ahead, only looking back to make sure she was following. He made a sudden turn, and their journey was suddenly on an incline.
"Snuffles!" Emma shouted, panting from their chase. "Would you please slow down?" It took a while for Emma to figure out where they were going, and she skid to a halt. "The Shrieking Shack? No way! Don't you know that place is haunted?"
Snuffles was already at the fence line and stared back at her. He tilted his head in that adorable, curious dog way, and she sighed, resigned. Continuing towards Snuffles, Emma started to get a bad feeling. There was no one around, she left her wand at the castle, and there was nowhere for her to go. The way Snuffles pulled back a piece of loose barbed wire back made Emma nervous. He looked far too expectant for a dog, but Emma had no idea what to do. They were incredibly alone.
It was a very poor time for her to remember McGonagall's class on Animagus, but the thought fluttered through her mind anyway. She stopped immediately in her tracks, staring at Snuffles with wide eyes. Emma was in even worse trouble than she thought.
"Shit," she said in a sharp whisper. "You're not a dog at all, are you?"
There was an almost panicked expression on the dog's face, and he growled, but Emma held her hands up in surrender.
"I'll come with you," Emma said, her stomach twisting into knots. "But please don't hurt me…"
Snuffles seemed almost offended that she would even say such a thing, and his growl turned to a whine. Taking a steadying breath, Emma crawled under the barbed wire that Snuffles moved for her, and she followed the dog as he led the way up to the shack.
"Do I know you?" Emma found herself asking the dog as she followed him. "I must if you keep coming to me…"
The moment Snuffles looked over his shoulder, and Emma truly looked at the dog, she gasped. It was almost as if several hazy memories broke through all at once. Her dreams with the black dog and a much younger and handsome man with long wavy hair made sense. At one time, she knew a man who could turn into a dog at will.
"Padfoot," she breathed, not sure if she should continue to follow or try to run. "Is that you, Sirius?"
The dog tensed up and seemed to sense that Emma was terrified and immediately stopped. He made no indication that he would do anything if she ran and just sat down. All he did was stare at her, his ears pushed back with his head low. Was he somehow just as terrified as she was?
"Well…at least you're not Greyback," Emma laughed nervously. "Lead the way."
She only received a blank look in response, but on they went until they cleared the corner of the dilapidated house. Emma didn't like that they were so far from the village, and she couldn't be seen, but she had to rationalize with herself. If this was truly and honestly Sirius Black, he had every possible opportunity to kill her while Remus had left her alone. Of course, it all depended on if this was the exact same dog, but she couldn't see it being anything but. Emma peered back the way they came, wondering if she would be able to escape if she needed to, but she was tired. It was such a long way that she had no idea if she could.
Emma shrunk back against the side of the house when she turned back and saw a rather tall and dirty man standing feet away from her. It was Sirius, but he was a shell of the man that she had seen in the photos. His hair was long and matted just like his fur, and his face looked almost skeletal. If it weren't for his eyes, Emma would swear that she was looking at a corpse. The only thing alive about the man was his shining grey eyes.
His robes were dirty and tattered, clearly worn out from months being on the run. At least he was dressed at all; McGonagall had said sometimes Animagus forget to remember their clothes when transforming back.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said quickly. His voice was hoarse as if it had been ages since he had used it. "I would never hurt you," he added sadly. "How did you know who I was, Moonshine?"
Moonshine? The name brought back very vague memories to Emma, but she couldn't pinpoint any of them. Sirius seemed genuinely sad, and that was not at all what Emma was expecting. She had pictured Sirius to be almost like Greyback, feral and violent, but this man just reminded her of Remus. He was nervous and shy and unsure. But was this just a trap?
"I didn't," Emma said quietly. "Not until a moment ago, at least." She gulped, trying to figure out what exactly she should do. Seeing how skinny Sirius actually was, she was sure that she could fight him if she had to, but if he transformed…She wasn't too sure how she would fare. "Why did you call me Moonshine?"
"One of the many names I had for you. Used to drive Remus mad that I never picked a name for you." Sirius stared at her a moment and leaned from side to side to look at her ears. "Did you just get your ears pierced today?"
"Yes, but that's beside the point," Emma huffed in annoyance. Why wasn't she more terrified? "Why didn't you hurt me when you were at the cottage?"
"Moonshine, I would never hurt you. I truly mean that," Sirius said, looking hurt. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you. I just needed to get you somewhere we could talk. I need your help."
"My help? If you're here to ki-"
"I'm not here to kill Harry," Sirius said sharply. "I'm trying to protect Harry. I know what everyone and everything says – I know what Remus thinks – but none of it is true."
"What's not true?"
"What everyone thinks. I-I'm not here for Harry. I'm here to get Peter."
Emma stared at Sirius as if he had gone mental; he must have in Azkaban. Remus had told her the story of what Sirius had done. Peter Pettigrew was dead, and he had killed him, so why would Sirius tell her he was here for him?
"Peter? Peter Pettigrew? The one you killed?" she asked in disbelief.
"Dirty bastard isn't dead. He's here." Sirius grabbed onto Emma's shoulders as if to implore her to believe him, and she flinched. There was a flicker of remorse in his face, and he let out a frustrated growl. Sirius reached into his robe pocket and pulled out a torn bit of paper. He quickly unfolded it and shoved it at Emma. She took the proffered paper skeptically but looked down at it anyway. It was a clipping from The Daily Prophet from when the Weasley's were in Egypt.
"This is a photo of the Weasley's," Emma said, glancing up at Sirius in confusion until he pointed a skinny finger at the rat sitting on Ron's shoulder. "You think Scabbers is Peter?"
"Scabbers?" Sirius asked, clearly aggravated. "No, that's Peter. He's an Animagus like I am. Look at his toes – he's missing a toe."
Wormtail, Emma thought to herself. Peter was a rat.
"Dad said the only thing they found of Peter was -"
"- his finger. Bastard cut it off and blew up the whole street and left me to deal with the aftermath."
"But why did you go after Peter? Weren't you the Potter's Secret-Keeper?"
"No – Peter and I switched so that I could be yours. But I won't deny that I as good as killed them by switching."
Emma stared blankly at Sirius. This was getting weirder and weirder. Remus had told her that Sirius was the Potter's Secret-Keeper, and he had defected to Voldemort's side during the war. Sirius was the spy; he was the traitor. None of this made sense. Bile rose in her throat as she remembered Scabbers being in the girl's lavatory with her and Hermione at the beginning of the month. She wasn't sure if she hoped Sirius was lying to her or not. What was she supposed to do?
"I – what? What do you mean by that?"
Sirius heaved a heavy sigh, pulling an elastic off of his skinny wrist to pull his hair back. Emma stared at it for a moment, sure that it was one of the ones from her room that had gone missing, but she wasn't about to ask.
"There was a lot that we all kept from Remus. Peter had us all convinced that Remus was a spy because of all the time he spent living with the werewolves during the first war." His eyes grew wide. "I know that you know he was a werewolf, but did he tell you that he lived in the packs?"
"Yes, I know," Emma frowned. "I mean, you know that we weren't talking for the first half of the month, but it's come up."
"And you don't care, right? That he's a werewolf?"
"I already told you last week when you were Snuffles that I didn't. What happens one night a month doesn't change who he is the rest of the month."
"He always used to worry that you would never understand when you got older," Sirius said softly. "You were always the most important thing to him."
"Can we go back to you being my Secret-Keeper? What are you talking about?"
Sirius considered Emma for a moment. "I'll tell you more if you promise to help me. I can't tell you everything right now because I might need your help again, but I will tell you."
"What makes you think that I'll help you?"
"I don't, not really," Sirius admitted. "But you're a Hufflepuff, and if there's any trait that's guaranteed in a Hufflepuff, it's fairness."
"That's not really fair to use against me."
"That's not it. Not entirely." Sirius shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. His gaze softened as he looked at her as if he remembered something. "I'm very sorry to hear about your mother. She was a brilliant woman. She…I need you to promise to help me get Peter."
"And you'll tell me what you know?"
"Yes," Sirius said quickly. "Not all of it, not yet. There are certain things that I'm still trying to figure out from what you've told me as Padfoot, but I will tell you."
It was Emma's turn to consider Sirius, trying to put together their confusing conversation. The idea of knowing more about her past was tempting. He seemed genuine, but should she really trust him? He never hurt her at the cottage, and he didn't seem to have any intention of hurting her now. In fact, he had even kept his distance from her. If Sirius was as deranged as everyone said, he would have hurt her already. Worst case scenario, if she felt there was something wrong, she could go to Remus. She hoped.
She was excellent at terrible decisions.
Biting her lip, Emma held out her hand, and he gave her an awed look. "I'll help as long as you promise to tell me everything."
Instead of shaking her hand, Sirius pulled Emma into a hug. "Moonshine – thank you. If you help me get Peter, then…then my name can be cleared. I can be a free man again. Perhaps we can be a proper family again…"
The boniness of Sirius' frame made Emma sad, but she struggled to understand Sirius's comment about being family again. What did that mean? "The night of the full moon back home…you transformed back. I thought that someone was holding me, but I wasn't sure."
"I couldn't stand watching you in so much pain. You reminded me too much of Remus just before he transformed. But you're not a werewolf?"
"No, it's…complicated, and I don't know if I really understand. We're still trying to figure that out. I imagine you remember everything I've told you so far?"
Sirius pulled back from Emma, letting her go, and nodded. "Everything," he said.
"So, you recall when I said I tried to off myself?"
"Unfortunately," Sirius grimaced. "Moonshine, why would you do such a thing?"
"Well, I told you already. I didn't think Dad really cared about me. He called me his daughter for about a month before he stopped out of nowhere. Then mum got sick, and then this girl I was with at the children's home was making my life absolute hell. Mum died, Dad and I got into huge fights, and then I just didn't want to live anymore."
"The girl from the lake – was she the one?"
"That would be her. With everything going on, I just gave up. I decided that I would try and make the Draught of Living Death just to end things. I figured if I botched it up, it's not like it would matter, and I could just go to sleep and never wake up."
"But she said you bled out on the floor of the classroom?"
Emma paled slightly. "I uhm, may have cut myself just to really make sure I didn't make it through. Joke's on me, though, because Dad's Healer friend suggested that we use the potion made from when we did the whole adoption deal. She figured that if a werewolf can heal itself every month that the potion could do the same for me.
"It was never even a thought for Dad because he never wanted to fully complete the whole thing because he was afraid that it would turn me. Now I'm just some weird cursed thing because his blood was introduced to mine, but at least I can say he's my dad now..."
Sirius's eyes flicked down to the fresh scar that was exposed under her sleeve, and Emma nervously covered it up. "And yet you hurt yourself again even after everything? After what he did for you?" Sirius sounded almost angry, and it made Emma scared. This was the Sirius from the posters. "He did what he had to just to keep you alive! Remus never wanted to be the reason someone turned, but he took a chance on you!"
"That was exactly why I did it," Emma said defensively. "He didn't tell me what he was, let me suffer for months, and didn't explain to me why I suffered. I didn't know what to do, so I just…I broke." Tears sprung up in her eyes, now more aggravated. This conversation was ridiculous. "I think he thought I was going to try and off myself again. Got collared up, but he let me off my leash for the day."
Sirius nodded in understanding, mood shifting. "I think I might have had the record for wearing those things," he said quietly. "Moony did too, for a while. Did he tell you?"
"He did," Emma said dryly. "Now, can you tell me about this whole Secret-Keeper, thing?"
"All right, fine. It was at some point during your first birthday, your mother came up to me. Remus had gone inside with you because you'd managed to ruin the cake -"
"Dad showed me that…"
"H-he showed you?"
"Yeah, he, er…for my birthday this year, we used Dumbledore's Pensieve, and he showed me some of his memories."
"Did he? Bloody sentimental prat, of course he would. He always was the best gift giver out of all of us…I'm getting off track – your mother came up to me, rather frantic, begging me to serve as Secret-Keeper. She said that she was afraid something would happen to you, and she needed to make sure that you were kept safe. But she made me promise to not tell Remus and that he would figure out what to do when the time came. Your mother told me that she was positive that something would happen to her, and she didn't care, but she wanted you kept safe."
"She said that she knew something was going to happen to her?"
"That was what she said. I didn't know the context or what she thought would happen. I wasn't particularly fond of not telling Remus, but again – it was a time where none of us was sure what was happening. I think that was around the time I got worried that Remus was the spy…
"I don't know exactly what happened, other than Margaret and Jude were brought to St. Mungo's, and you were nowhere to be found. Obviously, you must have been because you're here now. How long were you in the children's home before Remus finally got you? A year? I can't imagine it took them long to find you. Although how you wouldn't know Remus was a werewolf in that time -"
"Almost ten years," Emma said quietly, cutting Sirius off. "I didn't meet him again until August before my first year. I didn't even remember him. I seemed to remember everyone else, but I didn't even know who he was. All I knew was that he was my uncle, and somewhere deep down, I trusted him with my life, but he was a stranger. I don't understand because I remember other people, just not him."
"T-ten years?" Sirius's voice was almost strangled. "Merlin, I-I would have thought… The Muggles Harry lives with…" He clenched his fist for a moment before relaxing it. "Are you still friends with Harry?"
"Not really," Emma said quietly, lifting her hand to run it through her hair. "His one friend doesn't like me for some reason. I'm very close to Neville, though."
Sirius seemed slightly placated by that. "Well, at least one of the kids got their Moonshine back. Shame what happened to Neville's parents as well, they were good people…" Sirius suddenly grabbed onto Emma's wrist and lifted it to stare at her hand. "Who used the Cruciatus on you?" he breathed out.
"The what?"
Sirius met Emma's confused face and swallowed hard, his brows pinching. "The torture curse…do you know who used it on you?"
"I don't understand," Emma said quietly. "I don't even know what that is."
Sirius let go of Emma's wrist and held his hand up. "Watch my hand," he said softly. "And then watch yours."
Emma didn't understand, but she watched Sirius's hand for a moment. It was still for a moment before giving a gentle shake. It was the exact same motion she saw her hand doing a while ago. She watched for a few moments longer before lifting her hand and waiting to see if started to do the same. It wasn't nearly as severe as the way Sirius's hand shook, but it was there. But Remus said it was from being stressed when she asked him about it…did he lie to her again?
"People who've had the Cruciatus cast on them will have this tremor. I always wondered when you were smaller…" Sirius sighed, putting his hand down. "Moonshine, you have to talk to Remus and ask him about it. I can't…You have to talk to him."
Whenever Emma felt as though she had just processed one thing, it seemed as though another thing had come up. "The torture curse?" Emma asked breathlessly. She could remember the vestiges of pain, a blood-red light…was that what that was? Was that what she remembered that one night? "Sirius, I-I have to go…"
"Moonshine…" Sirius reached out and grabbed Emma's hand. It felt so strange in hers, but so familiar.
"Sirius, I have to go. If you're telling me the truth…" Emma stared at Sirius for a moment longer and sighed seeing the worried look on his face. "I'll help you get in tonight," she said quietly. "During the feast, I'll make sure that the doors are open near the covered bridge. Not sure how I'm going to do it, but I will. Be waiting. I won't tell Dad that I saw you or know who you are. Just don't get caught."
Sirius nodded and let go of Emma's hand with a small nod. He looked at her sadly and gestured for her to leave.
Today was not a good day.