A/N: refer to trigger warning list in chapter one

tw: ref/implied child abuse, ref/implied sexual assault, suicidal thoughts - check tag list just in case

Emma wasn't sure how to process the waves of emotions going through her as she made her way back to the castle. It wasn't as though she hadn't felt them all before at several points in her life, especially recently, but everything felt multiplied. She was angry, she was sad, she was confused, she was disgusted…and it all rolled in a tumultuous cycle that she couldn't decipher. Perhaps they everything she felt was beginning to blend together, but Emma wasn't too sure.

The only decipherable feeling she knew was her need for Sirius to be lying to her. He had to be lying to her, and she would tell Remus everything, and then Sirius could go straight back to Azkaban. He was completely mental, that was the only reasonable explanation she had.

Nothing about her life made sense anymore, and it seemed like something new came up every week. Emma had long since gotten over the fact Remus was a werewolf. The idea was a complete non-issue to her by that point; it was just a fact of life. She knew he was nothing like Greyback and had figured that out just from the books she read. Remus wasn't a monster, but Greyback had made it his goal to be one.

The fact that she had cursed blood and was now far more Lupin than she ever was Nickels was a strange thought to her. The fact that she was considered entirely Remus's was perfectly fine with her. She wanted to be his daughter; she always did.

Emma had spent so much of her life being told that she was weird growing up. If she was strange then, what was she now? Elara and Remus both said that she wasn't a werewolf, but neither of them knew enough to elaborate more. It wasn't as though she needed a label, she just wanted to understand. Was she human? Was she wolf? Was she half-wolf? Or was she none of the above? No one knew.

Then to have Sirius Black, of all people, tell her that someone had used a torture curse on her as a baby? A curse that was so powerful to leave her with a tremor that only seemed to get worse when she was stressed? The very curse that had destroyed her mother and Neville's parents? Emma couldn't take it. She was an absolute freak. Remus had to know the truth.

Emma almost wished that the door to the Defense classroom was closed so she could slam it open. It might have made her feel a bit better, but instead, Emma rounded the corner of the door with a huff. When she did, Remus was already staring, clearly anticipating someone's arrival. The concerned look on his face told her that she wasn't who he expected.

"Emma? What are you doing back so early?" Remus asked cautiously, setting his quill down on his desk.

"Did someone use the Cruciatus curse on me when I was a baby?" Her question came out as a snarl, and Emma nearly flinched at the ferocity behind it. She didn't like how half of her emotions came out anymore.

Remus's expression immediately closed off, and he leaned forward on his desk. "Where did you learn about the Cruciatus?"

"Answer. The question," Emma snarled through gritted teeth. Her anger only intensified as angry tears flooded her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She had cried far too much over the past year, and she was sick of it. "Don't lie to me."

Remus could only stare at Emma, trying to figure out what exactly had led to her sudden question. Perhaps it had slipped from one of the older students as they had just covered Unforgiveable Curses. Maybe it came up in impolite conversation that she heard while in the Three Broomsticks. Or, perhaps, and he certainly hoped this wasn't the case, she had come across someone who recognized the long-term effects. Remus didn't like the possibilities of any option and decided to try and focus his attention momentarily elsewhere as he tried to think.

He tilted his head over so slightly, a frown crossing his face as he looked at Emma's pierced ears. Remus had only expected her lobes to be done, had mentally prepared himself for it really, but the additional two in her left ear was surprising. That wasn't at all what they had agreed on, and he pursed his lips. It was just another one of those things that were completely and utterly out of his control. Though he wanted to comment on it, he knew it wasn't the right time. Perhaps letting her go to Hogsmeade was an even worse decision than he thought.

Still unsure of what to say, Remus took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. He had expected Emma to go out and enjoy Halloween in the village before the feast. He had hoped for her to finally have a reprieve from all of her swirling thoughts. Instead, it appeared that it had all been for naught. No good deed goes unpunished.

"Well? Are you planning on answering me?" Emma demanded, mirroring his stance and crossing her arms.

There was a glint of fear in Emma's eyes that radiated underneath her anger. He could hardly blame her for trying to push that feeling aside, trying to build up her wall to mask her true feelings. If it were any other time, Remus might have laughed at the way she was standing – arms crossed, hip jutting out with a defiant, set jaw. It was such a typical teenage girl pose, but she was terrified. This wasn't funny.

Remus picked up his wand from his desk and pointed it at the door behind her to close it. He studied Emma's face a moment more and stood.

"Come on, I need to show you something," he said, torn between going over to her and hugging her or leaving her be. The worried crease that sometimes appeared between her brows sprung up, and all Remus could do was sigh. Her walls were cracking, and the illusion she was trying to portray was slipping. "It's about the things I haven't been able to tell you…"

Emma let out a small gasp and suddenly looked as though she didn't want to know, as if she regretted ever storming into the room. Her tongue darted out to nervously lick her lips, and she pulled one of her arms free to rub the back of her neck. She stared at Remus for a few seconds longer, and then her eyes began to look at everything but him. Remus knew Emma was scared, but her curiosity and need to understand more would win out in the end. It always did. All he could do was be there for her.

When she finally met his eyes again, she nodded, and they proceeded to their living room.

"Get yourself comfortable," Remus said. "I'll get you something to drink."

Remus gave Emma's shoulder a gentle squeeze as he walked past her. He needed a few moments to gather himself for the impending storm that was sure to come. Preparing drinks for both of them, though far too quick for his liking, would allow him that time.

It wasn't as though Remus wasn't expecting to have this particular conversation with Emma, it was the fact that he didn't want to. Telling her meant that he had failed her in so many ways in her young life. Elara and his father tried to tell him that none of it was his fault – he was too distracted, too many places at once…but he should have known. The fact that there were records told him that he should have known.

Realizing his hands were shaking too much, Remus waved his wand to have their drinks made with magic. Even though he preferred to do it himself, he feared he would drop everything and unsettle his nerves further. Instead, he made his way to his room to retrieve the folder that held Emma's medical records.

Elara had managed to get ahold of them after a lengthy search. She couldn't understand how there were no records for Emma at St. Mungo's outside of the new file made when he took her in. If Emma was born in the wizarding hospital, there was no reason why a file didn't exist. They kept records for hundreds of years, so it had to exist somewhere. It was the file that Elara had presented to him on the last visit to St. Mungo's after duplicating its disturbing contents. After searching for weeks, she finally found the original folder started in 1979 that went until mid-October 1981.

The first issue that had left them confused was the name attached to the folder – Emma Hope Lupin. That had made zero sense to him as Margaret had explicitly told him that her name was Emelyn Theodosia at birth. Inside was two separate birth certificates. The first one, the original, declared her legal name as Emma Hope Lupin with no father listed. The other, amended nearly a year later, stated that it was Emelyn Theodosia Nickels with Jude's information added.

That alone had been concerning and left both werewolves confused as they tried to figure out what happened. It went against everything Remus ever knew about Emma, but the only person they could ask for answers was Jude. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to be possible. It had been one of the things Remus had wanted to consult with Dumbledore about but hadn't had a chance to. Suddenly it appeared that particular conversation would need to be had much sooner since Emma would find out in minutes.

The issue regarding Emma's name wasn't even the worst part. It was the reports from the Aurors and the eventual Muggle authorities that set Remus off that day. The fact that his sister had needed to try and go to two different authorities to try and fix what was happening behind the scenes was painful.

Every concern that came up when Elara ran her tests in June was a reality. They tried to explain most of it away, but there was undeniable proof. They could no longer ignore the existence of the things that had happened to Emma.

He was grateful that the examination rooms at St. Mungo's had powerful silencing charms and was even more thankful for the calming draught Elara insisted on. Without it, he would have run back up to the Janus Thickey Ward to kill Jude himself. It didn't even matter to him that Jude couldn't defend himself, he wanted to tear the man limb from limb. And then he would have gladly gone to seek out Greyback and done the same to him. Remus already harbored his resentment towards Greyback, but now his anger went even deeper. It would only make Greyback's death that much sweeter. The only benefit was Emma didn't seem to remember any of it.

But then Remus remembered their first lengthy Friday discussion, and he felt sick. Maybe she actually did.

Remus joined Emma in the living room, folder tucked under his arm and both mugs in hand. Emma sat in her usual corner, curled into a ball, and looking incredibly small. She gave him a shaky smile as she took her mug from him and gave an appreciative hum as she took a tentative sip of her hot chocolate. He would have preferred to give her tea, but he couldn't deny the therapeutic qualities of chocolate.

"You're not going to wait for it to cool off?" Remus asked, trying to keep the mood as light as possible. "You usually wait until it's cold." He sat down next to her, not wanting to be so far apart from her for this conversation. The armchair somehow felt like it would be miles away. He placed the folder down on the table, and Emma's eyes were immediately drawn to it.

"Where's the fun in waiting for hot chocolate to cool off?" Emma eventually asked, finally meeting his gaze over the top of her mug. "It's in the name, you know."

"Yes, I suppose you're right." Remus took a drink of his tea – chamomile for his nerves – set the mug down and picked up the folder again. "None of what's in here is going to be easy to take in," Remus said slowly, turning to Emma. Her breath caught slightly as she looked at him, alarmed at the grave look on his face, and she took another sip of her drink. She needed liquid courage, and the hot chocolate helped.

"It's that bad?" she asked quietly, taking another nervous sip.

"I'll just say that admitting what I am to you was far easier than this."

Emma nearly dropped her cup, but she recovered quickly, only managing to slosh it around in the cup. She took a much longer drink of hot chocolate. Remus winced, knowing that it still had to be incredibly hot, but Emma made no indication it bothered her. She set her cup down on the table, and she took a deep breath as she turned back to him.

"So…what life-changing things are you going to bestow upon me today?"

Remus sighed, rubbing the back of his neck and looking down at the folder in his hand. "The first thing I need to tell you is that you are so much more than what this folder contains," Remus said firmly. "In a very roundabout way, I have been trying to prepare you for all of this. I wasn't planning on showing you any of this just yet because I didn't think it was the right time. I wanted to wait for a time where you were more settled and at ease. However, it appears that once again, life has other plans. I do not have all of the answers for certain things, but whatever questions you have, I'll try to answer to the best of my ability. We are still trying to find the rest of the truth. Do you understand?"

With another deep breath, Emma nodded. "I understand…" she answered but didn't sound entirely sure.

Opening the folder, Remus frowned as he shifted through pages to find both copies of Emma's birth certificate. "The first thing that we're trying to figure out is this," Remus said, handing the ornate pieces of parchment to Emma.

She looked at them curiously, but to Remus's surprise, she only looked mildly puzzled by the birth certificates. Emma stared at one and then the other, her forehead wrinkled in thought as she tried to process her thoughts. Finally, she handed one of the birth certificates back to Remus, the one that read Emma Hope Lupin and looked at him as though he was stupid.

"This is me," she said with a resolute nod. She looked at the other birth certificate still in her hand. "This isn't. This was never me…"

Remus glanced over at Emma curiously and then down to the parchment in his hand. "What makes you say that?"

"I'm a Lupin," Emma said with the hint of a smirk. She handed Remus the other piece of parchment to Remus and then shook her head. "I had to have always been Emma Hope…that was one of the things I remembered about Grandpa when I saw him again. It confused me, but it was such a strong memory of him calling me Emma Hope. The only people who I can recall calling me Emelyn are you and my teachers while at primary at the start of the year. Oh, and I suppose here as well, in the beginning… But I've always been Emma. Just Emma."

She huffed out a laugh. "I know it's too late to change it now, but Emma Hope Lupin sounds way better than Emelyn Theodosia Lupin."

"I have to agree," Remus said with a soft smile. "Perhaps we'll have to look into getting this amended again when the year lets out."

That brought a delighted smile to Emma's face, but it quickly fell. "I'm going to assume that was the easy bit of information," she said quietly.

"Unfortunately. And here I thought that was going to be difficult."

Emma gave him a wry smile before gesturing for him to continue.

"Before I show you the rest of this, I need you to realize that a lot of this explains a lot of who you are today. It also explains a lot of your later behaviors when you were a baby before you disappeared.

"You were always very particular with who you would let hold you or touch you. You had an extreme aversion to men in general except for me, your grandfather, and as much as it pains me to admit it, Sirius. You would tolerate James and Peter, but you never seemed to be comfortable with everyone together unless I was holding you. You had absolutely no issue with women whatsoever. You loved and absolutely adored Harry's mother, Lily, and you absolutely adored Neville's mother.

"What you didn't see from your first birthday is that it was a constant rotation between me, your mother, and Sirius holding you. You weren't happy unless you were with one of us. You didn't want to be put down, you just wanted to be carried everywhere, and we could only hold you a specific way. You would cling on to us tightly, not quite relaxing, and we couldn't figure out why. If we tried to give you to someone else, you made your thoughts very well known. We just thought it was because you didn't like having so many people around. I don't believe that was the case."

Emma picked up her mug thoughtfully and tried to piece together the memory Remus showed her along with what Sirius had said. Perhaps Sirius had been telling her the truth, but now she wished she had stayed to ask him more questions. She didn't get much information from him as she'd wanted. Emma took another sip of hot chocolate and set her cup back down. "Why do you believe that it's something else?"

"Because there's proof of it," Remus said, reaching into the folder and pulling out another piece of parchment. He stared at it for a moment before passing it to Emma, who only looked back at him in confusion. Remus cleared his throat, trying to keep his emotions from rushing to the surface. "That is an Auror's report from when your mother found Jude casting the Cruciatus on you," Remus said, his voice thick. "This was after your first birthday, but I have strong suspicions, and apparently your mother did as well, that it was not the first time it happened."

"Oh," Emma said, turning pale as she turned her attention to the parchment in hand. The further she read, the more ill she became. "What does the Cruciatus do exactly? I feel like I recall someone mentioning it to me before, but I don't know why."

"I was the one who told you about it a few years ago. It's the curse that was cast on your mother and Jude, and the very same one used on Neville's parents," Remus said, taking back the parchment from Emma as she held it out. "It was prevalent during the first war amongst dark wizards, regardless of whether or not they followed Voldemort. It's a curse that's designed to torture someone. It…it attacks all of the pain receptors in the victim's body. Its effectiveness is fueled by the caster's desire to inflict pain on their victim. It's hard for an average wizard to handle as it is…I can't imagine…"

The more Remus spoke, the more Emma's skin began to prickle. "It's a red color when the spell is cast, isn't it?" Emma asked, rubbing her arms as if the ghosts of the spell was coming back to touch her all over again. Screams…she could remember screaming—a white-hot pain and then nothing.

"Yes, but not always," Remus answered quietly, looking pale. "You remember it, don't you?"

"I remember…the light and -" Emma stopped rubbing her arms and held her hand up in front of her face to watch the subtle shake "- I remember pain, but I don't, if that makes sense. Just…heat."

"It's one of the worst pains imaginable," Remus said sadly. "Jude deserves a fate far worse than death for it." He hesitated as he picked up a small packet on regular paper, and Emma was very quick to pick up on his reluctance.

"Why wasn't he taken to Azkaban? If it was considered an Unforgiveable…"

That was one of the questions that Remus asked himself the most, but he knew the answer. He just wished it wasn't the case. "They were Unforgiveable, but they weren't considered illegal during the war. The laws were much different then."

That was unfortunate, Emma mused. At least now she knew she had a concrete reason for not liking Jude, but she had a feeling that didn't quite explain everything. There was something in the packet that Remus held that he clearly didn't want to show her. He was holding onto it so tightly that she imagined it was the same way a dragon would hoard its treasure.

"But there's more?" Emma asked Remus quietly.

"There is," Remus said, turning to face Emma. "I need you to know that I love you – I have loved you since the day you were put in my arms. There was a part of…Moony that saw you immediately as his - I know that sounds incredibly possessive of me. My love for you has always been very strong, and I need you to understand that. If I had any idea, any at all, that this was happening, I would have done everything in my power to keep you from harm…" Remus trailed off as if he couldn't bear continuing on, and he swallowed hard.

Emma held her hand out for the packet slowly. Remus wasn't even this worried admitting he was a werewolf. He was nervous, sure, but he didn't close off like he was now. What could possibly be worse than what she already knew? And then, as she read the words at the top of the page, her stomach dropped. Things could get worse.

An old memory from her days at the children's home resurfaced. She remembered something she had seen on the television once. It was a story about a young girl, around her age at the time, who had been molested, and they were looking for the culprit. Emma didn't understand what that meant, and she regretted asking one of the workers about it shortly after. She couldn't imagine the idea of someone doing such vile things to someone. Emma never could have guessed that she was a victim as well.

She felt herself being ripped in several different directions. Simultaneous feelings of rage and complete sorrow gripped her painfully. Emma thought she knew pain, but this was the worst she'd ever felt in her life.

Unlike the Auror paperwork, which was done on parchment, it was evident this was done with the Muggle cops. The form was filled out on regular paper, the answers typed up on a typewriter and not hand-written. She tried to imagine her mother making her way to the Muggle authorities to try and fix things. Clearly, if the Ministry failed, then the Muggle police would be able to make things right. Right?

Oh, how wrong she was. The first page was mostly information she expected - names, numbers, other important information. She paused briefly in confusion as she noticed the emergency contact information held two names instead of one – Sirius Black and Remus Lupin – along with a phone number. Had they owned a telephone? What was the significance of both Remus and Sirius's names being together? She spared a glance up at Remus, trying to read his expression, but his face was blank. Emma continued on, trying to ignore how much her heart hurt as it pounded in her chest.

The second page was worse. It held actual details. Details of what her mother found, details of what the Muggle hospital found. There were mentions of more information being included in the packet, mentions of photos and diagrams that Emma wasn't sure she wanted to see.

There was a box that contained descriptions of each possible thing that could have been done to her. The possibilities seemed almost endless, and each checkmark she saw that was listed in the affirmative, the worse she felt. How could any of this have happened to her? What had she done to deserve it? She was only two.

An errant huff of a laugh escaped Emma's lips at the final boxes on the page. They listed the suspect as unknown, but Emma knew precisely who it had been. Her huffed out laugh came out again, and she dissolved into laughter. Emma was sure it came out in the same way Sirius's laughter came out in the photos they used in the Prophet – wild and crazed. Something she deemed entirely impossible had happened, and she knew right then and there that Sirius was telling the truth. No one could laugh so manically unless the unthinkable had happened. She closed the packet, unable to continue, and set it down in front of her as her laughter turn to sobs.

How did her life get to be this way? What sort of sick and twisted person was Jude that he would hurt her? How could so much power have been given to someone so that they could take advantage of her in a way no one should have been allowed to? She felt broken in a way that she hadn't felt in months. She was only two.

Emma couldn't help herself from crawling onto Remus's lap and burying her face into the crook of his neck as she cried. His arms gingerly wrapped around her, holding her close as he stroked her hair. This was safe, it had always been safe; Remus had always been safe.

The soft string of Welsh that he whispered to her evoked the stirrings of memories that she couldn't quite form. There had to be dozens of moments of him holding her exactly like this when she was smaller, trying to speak all of the things he couldn't say in English. Even though she couldn't understand everything he was saying, it was soothing all the same.

"I know who it was," Emma eventually stuttered out when her crying slowed to a point she could speak. Remus said nothing and only pulled her closer. "D-do you remember when I mentioned the memory with Greyback I didn't want you to see? It was him…"

Remus sucked in a sharp breath. He already figured that, but hearing it was worse. He gently tipped Emma's face up with a finger and leaned back to look at her. "What do you mean?"

"The…memory I didn't want you to see in the Pensieve with Dumbledore," Emma said, sniffling. "He…his hands…everything." The memory swept over her, and she felt sick. She couldn't think about it; she didn't want to think about it. Emma climbed off Remus's lap and curled back up in her corner. Suddenly she didn't feel safe at all anymore. "I think I want to be alone…"

Emma made to stand up, but Remus gently took her hand and sat her back down. "I'll go," he said quietly. "I should probably head into the village before it gets too late."

"Oh," Emma said quietly. She reached into her pocket to pull out the pouch he gave her earlier and held it out for Remus to take. He gently closed her fingers back around the pouch.

"Keep it," he said. "Consider it your allowance. I refuse to take it."

Emma stared at the pouch in her hand and nodded, dropping her hands to her lap. Her heart ached as Remus very softly took her face in his hands and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. It was such an incredibly caring gesture that it almost physically hurt. This was how her life should have always been. She should have grown up with someone who cared for her like this, but now she didn't know how to handle it. It didn't feel right anymore, as if she didn't deserve it.

"I love you so much, sweetheart," he whispered. "We'll take things one day a time. I will never, as long as I live, let someone hurt you again." Remus gently brushed his thumbs over her cheeks to wipe away the fresh tears that started. "I promise."

Emma could only give him a weak nod in response. As Remus let go of her face to head into Hogsmeade, all she could think of was the fact she wasn't sure that she could handle "one day at a time." Emma met his gaze as he turned back to look at her, looking as though he felt that he shouldn't leave. Remus paused as he searched her face, but he gave her a small smile and continued on.

With Remus gone, Emma anxiously rubbed at her arm, trying to remember not to scratch at it even though she desperately wanted to. This was too much – all of it was too much. Not only was she some weird cursed being, she now had to live with everything else? She was now not only a freak, but no one would ever want her if they knew the truth. How could she ever try to explain that to someone – that Greyback had preyed upon her so young? She couldn't.

The moment Emma hurt herself again, she knew she was walking a fine line. Admitting it to herself was difficult, but she had been walking that line since her first attempt to end her life. The rational side of her said to have someone get Remus. That would be the sensible thing to do, but there was another side that was fighting her. The warring force was telling her to just end things once and for all.

Remus had recognized her wobbling along that line, and that was why he had taken further measures to try and keep her from acting on her plan. But he hadn't put the band back on her before leaving. The only thing that kept her tethered to that line was him and her overwhelming guilt over her first attempt. However, his security measure wasn't there to save her. The more her thoughts swirled, the more Emma couldn't find it in herself to really care anymore.

Emma scrubbed her hands over her face as a sob threatened to take over again. A loud noise coming from Remus's office made her jump. Temporarily pulled out of her internal debate, Emma jumped up from the couch and walked out to Remus's office. Sitting across the way was a massive tank with a strange-looking creature. She hadn't noticed it before, but she was so focused that it was easy to miss. Curious, Emma approached it and let out a shout as it shoved its face up against the glass.

"What the hell are you?" Emma asked the creature, walking over to Remus's desk to see if there was anything that would explain what it was. Not finding anything of note, Emma sighed and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. Curiosity slowly taking over, Emma searched Remus's shelves until she found a book on dark creatures. Flipping through the pages, she searched for a picture that looked like the odd monster that was currently staring at her and making faces.

"Oh, you're a Grindylow," she whispered, looking at the creature and then down at the page. She frowned slightly as the Grindylow shoved its fingers in its mouth and bared its teeth at her. "Ugly little bugger."

As Emma kept staring at the Grindylow, she realized she could draw. Yes, she could draw the stupid ugly Grindylow and forget about everything she read. That would be perfect. It had been a while since she had bothered drawing anything, but it would be fine. She rushed out to her room, grabbing her sketchbook and pencils, and returned to the office. She turned Remus's chair around and settled herself into it, pulling her knees up to her chest.

Emma was okay, she knew she was okay. It didn't matter what happened to her, did it? No, she was fine. Remus would take care of her – he always took care of her, had always taken care of her. Even when she was small, she knew that she could trust Remus. He might have lied to her over the years, but she could understand why.

She didn't really agree with it, in fact, it still made her angry that he could be so incredibly dense, but she loved him. Remus wasn't a perfect father, but he tried his best. Right? Was there even such a thing as a perfect father? It wasn't as though she had much to compare to, but Remus had to be very close to being the definition of one.

The Grindylow pulled another face, and that was where Emma started. She made the outline of the ugly creature, trying to make sure she made its eyes right. She sketched out it's eerily pointy and thin fingers that didn't seem to match the rest of its fat body and head. Content with the outline so far, Emma moved along to its teeth. The Grindylow's teeth were like sharp little razors, and the more Emma drew them, the more Greyback's sharp smile came into focus. The Grindylow was mocking her. With a cry, she tossed her sketchbook on the floor and threw her pencil at the wall, the intensity snapping the wood in half. Her grief overtook her, tears spilling out of her eyes. She shoved her fists into her eye sockets, trying to push away the vision of Greyback's face, but it loomed closer and closer in her mind.

Emma couldn't live like this; she didn't want to live like this. Everything she learned just confirmed to her that Greyback was never going to stop going after her. Her story was woven with his years ago, and his constant presence was never going to go away. She just didn't understand why. She just knew Greyback was ruthless, and there was only so much Remus could do; Remus had to know that. As long as Emma was alive, her story would always involve the werewolf in some way.

If she didn't end things herself, he would be the one to do it for her. Emma saw no other possible ending. She couldn't stand the idea of Greyback being able to take more from her.

Taking a deep breath, Emma tried to reframe her thoughts. That was wrong. Remus would do whatever he could to keep her safe. She would force herself to go down to the feast with everyone else. She would get dressed in her robes and dutifully join everyone like she was supposed to. She would make sure that Sirius had a way to get into the castle and take care of that obligation. He wasn't lying to her like she thought, so maybe he was telling the truth after all.

When she opened her eyes again, the Grindylow stared back at her. For a moment, she was fine, but it bared its teeth at her again, and Greyback returned to the forefront of her mind. As much as Emma didn't want to admit it to herself, she knew that she couldn't live with the truth. She would try to make an effort to not disappoint or hurt Remus again, but she made no guarantees. She wasn't sure she was going to make it through the night. Emma just hoped that Remus could forgive her if she didn't.