A/N: Thank you again for your wonderful review, Lu! I absolutely agree on the comparisons for the Wrackspurts! I have no idea if that's what Wrackspurts are meant to stand for, but I felt it was fitting as they appear to be Luna's creation. :D Thank you for continuing to read!

It seemed as though the week before the full moon came far too quickly, and Remus was more attentive than usual. She couldn't understand what it was that set Remus on edge, but he seemed to be watching her far more closely than usual. Emma couldn't figure out if he had always paid attention to her so closely before, but it made her feel slightly uneasy. It would be much harder for her to get out to feed Sirius that week.

She felt terrible lying to Remus on Monday morning after his class, but she was able to sneak down to Potions and attend class. She felt awful telling Remus that she was going to the library, but hopefully, he wouldn't feel the need to double-check. Snape, apparently impressed that Emma could actually keep a secret, agreed to teach her the Wolfsbane Potion. Their conversation after class was lengthy as he went over his expectations, but Emma made sure to pay attention. She would only be observing the process the first few months, and she was okay with that. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Remus when she was trying to help him.

That night, while Emma was working with Madam Pomfrey, Snape made a trip to the hospital wing. With him were two vials that Emma eyed suspiciously.

"One is your regular dose for tomorrow, but the other I would like you to take tonight. It's diluted further to prep your body for the additional Wolfsbane that you'll be taking with the second dose," Snape explained in his drawl. "Surely, I don't need to explain to you the lethality of the Wolfsbane as your dosage has been increased. You seem to have an innate ability for poisoning yourself, and I would prefer not to go through that experience again."

One bloody time, Emma thought to herself bitterly as she accepted the first vial from Snape. She unstopped the vial and tossed the potion into her mouth, instantly regretting it. She screwed up her face at the taste and shoved the empty bottle back to Snape.

"Do not vomit, or else you will only have to retake it," Snape warned. "It appears that once is your limit, and I do not believe you want to take it again."

Covering her mouth, Emma swallowed hard to keep the potion from coming back up. "Yes, yes, it is," she muttered. She couldn't imagine what a full-strength Wolfsbane Potion tasted like because the diluted brew was rough. "Professor, if the potion is meant to be made fresh, why can mine be taken at any point?"

"The longer you wait to take it, the more diluted it becomes. Since you are neither human nor werewolf, a stasis charm serves well enough to preserve the potion itself. This means that depending on how it metabolizes in your system, the frequency in which you require it may change." Snape watched as Emma worked on the Calming Draught that Pomfrey was having her make.

Emma frowned at Snape's mention of her not being human or werewolf but continued to work. She couldn't let him distract her, and she was nearly finished for the night.

"Knowing how to make the Calming Draught will make learning the Wolfsbane Potion easier," Snape said before placing Emma's dose of Wolfsbane for the next day down on the table and leaving.

The corners of Emma's lips twitched. It was the closest she would get to a compliment from Snape, and she wasn't about to pass it up. She couldn't wait to see Remus's face when she told him. He would be absolutely appalled and never believe her, but it would make her entire night.

The next day, Emma stood diligently next to Professor Snape as he worked on the potion during their double class period. The downside of the increased Wolfsbane in her potions meant that she was more tired than she'd ever been. She didn't think it was possible to be so exhausted, and Snape noticed right away.

"I'll readjust the dose again," Snape said, as he mixed the cauldron slowly. "As exhausted as you may be, I still expect you to pay attention."

"Sorry, sir," Emma said, straightening up and shaking herself out. She needed to watch what he was doing while cross-referencing with her notes. The potion was fragile as far as potions went due to its mind alteration qualities. Even one too many stirs could render the potion completely useless.

Emma watched as Snape added powdered Wolfsbane to a mortar and pestle and began to crush it further. "Why do you grind the powder again?" Emma asked curiously. It looked as though it was as fine as it could be, and she didn't understand why he was grinding it again.

"It helps to break up what may have possibly fused while waiting," Snape explained. "It allows for more accurate measurement and creates far less waste. You should already be doing this with most powders."

Emma quickly wrote that down in her notes. She continued to watch as he worked, only glancing up to see her classmate's curious looks. The Hufflepuffs knew that Emma had planned to speak to Snape and had been aware that something might change, but the Ravenclaws were lost. Mandy kept giving her questioning looks, but Emma only shook her head in response.

The moment Snape got to the point of adding the werewolf hair, Emma's brow furrowed. Where did they even come from? She didn't anticipate having issues getting werewolf hair, since her source could be Remus, but where did it come from ordinarily?

"Sir, where does your supply come from?" Emma asked, curious.

"This particular supply is from a source that's close to you," Snape said slowly, not looking up. "However, most of the supply comes from donors that are no longer with us."

"Oh," Emma said quietly, feeling incredibly ill. That meant that the werewolf was killed while transformed, and someone harvested the fur. Emma frowned and made sure to write in her notes to find alternative methods of getting her supply if she couldn't get enough from Remus. Emma wondered if her hair could possibly be sufficient, and she added it to her notes of things to test. She was determined to never have to purchase werewolf hair if she didn't have to. A smirk suddenly crossed her face as she added an additional note – 'Greyback is the exception. Harvest all of his fur to create the potion for all of his victims.' Emma made sure to underline that note several times with glee.

Emma wasn't entirely sure when her fear of Fenrir had shifted towards being angry with him. She still had her nightmares, but the more she thought about the werewolf, the angrier she became. Perhaps it fell under things that Emma had to choose to do. She had to choose to be happy, she chose to love the people that she did, she chose to learn to trust Remus, and now she chose to not let herself be scared. There was absolutely nothing that she could do about what happened to her, and it terrified her, but she couldn't let him win. Emma just wasn't sure how she would react the next time she saw him.

The rest of the week went smoothly. It was much easier to observe Snape making the potion during her lunch period. Remus preferred to take lunch in his office the week before the full moon, so she didn't have to worry about running into him. It meant that she could watch Snape brew, wait a little bit, and then make her way to see Remus as if she'd gone to lunch. She paid for skipping lunch, but she made up for it at dinner.

By Friday morning, Emma was starting to hit the point where the effects of the moon were much more potent. With the full moon arriving on Monday, she needed as much rest as she could get. Remus decided they would take the night off from any sort of therapy or spell work, which felt like a miracle. With a Quidditch game the next morning and Hogsmeade on Sunday, she was going to be busy.

The only thing that made her Friday easy was the fact it was easy to skip heading back to the Defense class after lunch. Emma begged the twins to keep Remus distracted for their class, so he didn't have time to question why she didn't return. As long as Remus was sufficiently annoyed, she was free and clear to go to Potions. She was going to pay for it, she was sure of it, but Emma needed to learn how to make the Potion. There were only a few more days that she had to get through, and then she didn't have to worry about it until the holiday.

"I believe that I will permit you to start to work on your doses next month as we will be on break when you require it," Snape said, just loud enough for Emma to hear. "I do not particularly enjoy the idea of allowing you to brew in my class again. However, it will allow me to have more time to work on my other potions while supervising you."

Emma was incredibly excited by the idea of making the potion herself. She had been expecting Snape to drag out her observation period for months, but he somehow changed his mind. She was tired of brewing Pepper-Up Potions and Calming Draughts and Wiggenweld Potions – this was exciting.

However, her excitement wasn't meant to last as exhaustion quickly took over. Snape didn't allow her to sit while he brewed, and being on her feet for so long didn't help. Emma would have to ask Remus if he would consider adjusting her class schedule to be full days again. The shorter days had been helpful, and she kept up with Remus's help, but it was hard to not be in class like everyone else.

To Emma's relief, Snape dismissed her from class early. She considered going up to her room, but she went to the dorm instead. She had a good half hour before Remus's class, and it would give her a chance to take a catnap.

However, her catnap wasn't a catnap at all and went much longer. Emma's eyes shot open the moment she felt herself wake up, fully aware that something was terribly wrong. She glanced over at the clock and nearly fell out of her bed in a panic. Emma was very late, and Remus was going to kill her. How did she sleep for so long?

Emma picked her shoes up off the ground, slung her bag over her shoulder, and slung her robe over her arm. Surely, Remus would understand why she was late. It wasn't like he didn't know what things were like; he couldn't be too mad at her. She blanched as she ran out of the dorms as she remembered what she asked the twins to do. All she could do was hope that Remus wasn't too annoyed.

Running as fast as she possibly could, Emma ran down the hall, up the flight of stairs to the entrance hall and up the staircase. She tossed on a shoe once she reached the first flight of stairs and continued on up the second. When Emma reached the landing of the second floor, she tripped and fell.

"Fuck," Emma hissed, ignoring her stinging hands and knees as she threw on her other shoe. She looked down at her stockings and groaned at the torn fabric of the one knee, but she couldn't think about it. As quick as she fell was as quick as she got up and ran to the third floor.

It felt like an eternity for her to make it to the Defense classroom, and she was just getting her robe put back on as she slammed the door open. The entire class turned to look at her, and Emma felt her face heat up. She didn't mean to slam the door open like that.

"Sorry," Emma said, her voice barely higher than a whisper. She looked around for Persephone and was about to go and take the empty seat next to her, but Remus met her where she stood.

"You're late," he said sharply.

"I-I know," Emma said, muttering a low, "Ow," as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder, and the leather touched her scrapes. She looked up at Remus, expecting him to look worried, but he was the exact opposite. He was furious. Emma opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't get past the look on his face and averted her gaze.

"We went over this at the start of term, Emma. I don't tolerate lateness."

"I know. I didn't mean to be…I just – can I please just go sit?"

"Can you? Sure," Remus said, shrugging. Emma started to walk around him, but he grabbed onto her shoulder firmly. "But will I let you? No."

"May I go sit?" Emma asked, looking over at Persephone pleadingly for back up.

"No," Remus said simply, glancing over his shoulder to look at Persephone. "And I suggest trying not to help her, Miss Moon, or you can expect detention."

Persephone looked at Emma in surprise and quickly turned around. "Why are you being like this?" Emma asked softly, looking back up at Remus. "I didn't mean to be late. I'm sorry…"

"Sorry isn't going to cut it. Not this time."

"But Dad -"

"Professor Lupin."

Emma ignored Remus's correction. "I didn't mean to be late. Please, just let me stay."

"Your actions need to have consequences, Emma. You can't just come barging in here and interrupt my class. It's rude to your classmates, and it's disrespectful to me."

"But –"

"No, Miss Lupin."

Emma's mouth clamped shut, as embarrassed tears flooded her eyes. Remus was never like this, and she didn't know how to react. Emma wanted to blame it on the full moon being so close, but she wasn't sure. She readjusted her bag again, wincing as the strap touched the scrapes on her hand.

Remus gave her a once over and gently took her free hand, flipping it over palm side up and sighed. "Go to the hospital wing and get fixed up," he said, his voice fractionally softer than before. "We'll talk tonight."

"But Daddy…" Emma's voice broke, but she refused to let her tears fall. Not in front of everyone, not again. She had been doing so well, and she couldn't ruin her streak, but Remus was making it hard for her to keep herself together.

"Go," Remus said sternly, fixing Emma with a hard stare before turning back to the class and resuming his lesson. He was acting as if she wasn't even there.

Emma stood in the doorway, staring at Remus's back incredulously for a moment. She let out a noise that was in between a laugh and a cry and left.

Remus glanced up at the doorway as the door closed, feeling slightly guilty, but continued on. He knew that he was harsher than he needed to be, but Remus had been worried when Emma didn't show up after lunch. He could apologize to her later.

As much as Remus didn't want to worry, he worried. He had his brief moment where he didn't have to worry when she went off with Luna, but he always worried about Emma. Emma not showing up after lunch had made him sick with worry, dread pitting in his stomach. Dealing with the twins and their antics didn't soothe his nerves in the least. It didn't take him long to realize it was on purpose, but he didn't understand why. Remus was so positive that Emma had finally gotten past her issues with not talking to him, but it felt like they took several steps back. What was she trying to hide?

He let the class out early and went down to dinner, hoping to talk to her there, but there were no signs of Emma at all. He had expected that, but when he stopped by the hospital wing before heading back to his office, it turned out Emma never made it there either. Things didn't feel completely awry, but something was making him feel uneasy. He tried to tuck his worry away and give Emma the benefit of the doubt, but he wanted to storm off to find her.

Remus went back to his office to work on the quizzes that he needed to grade. He didn't want to get a backlog of papers again after catching up, and at the very least, Emma would show up sooner rather than later. She usually did.

The sky had grown dark when Remus finally registered that Emma hadn't made her way back to her room. Remus looked up from the essay he was reading and frowned. He looked up at the clock and did a double-take. Not believing the time, he double-checked his watch. It was well past the curfew that he had given Emma, and it was growing steadily later towards castle-wide curfew. His dread came back full force and knotted his stomach and made his heart race. This was a problem, and though things had started to improve, Emma was nowhere near being close enough to being better. The approaching full moon wouldn't help her mentally, and he feared for the worst.

He stretched, taking several deep breaths to try and clear his head. Emma had to be okay; no one had heard anything that would indicate otherwise. Still, he couldn't help but feel that something was terribly wrong. He gently tapped his watch to try and pinpoint Emma's location, something he hadn't been able to do before. Remus wasn't entirely sure how the charm would work on his watch, and he was fascinated to see it transform almost like a map.

For a moment, Remus was briefly fascinated by the similarity to the long-lost Marauder's Map he made during his school days. Remus quickly shook his head to shake the thought from his mind – he had to focus. He was just glad that he thought to add additional charms to the monitoring bracelet Emma had to wear.

Remus's blood ran cold at the realization of where Emma actually was. Why was she in the astronomy tower? She wasn't allowed there except during class where someone could watch her.

He shot up quickly from his desk, tossing down his quill, and rushed out as quickly as he could. He just hoped that he wasn't walking into another bad situation so soon after the first. If he did, he knew it would be entirely his fault for his behavior earlier.

Remus had forgotten how exhausting it was to get up to the astronomy tower when one had to rush to make it to the top. The last time he had to ascend the stairs that fast he had been terribly late for the class. It was funny how that was one of the most stressful parts of his life. He steeled himself as he reached the landing, unsure of what would await him when he turned the corner.

He peered around the corner cautiously, not wanting to startle Emma. Remus let out a sigh of relief that Emma seemed okay. He wasn't thrilled that she was sitting at the ledge with only the thin metal guard rail keeping her from falling, but she was okay. The moment Remus saw a flash of metal gleaming in the moonlight, he changed his mind about Emma being okay. He immediately panicked at the sight and began to rush over.

"Emma, drop what you have and get away from the ledge."

Emma shouted, completely startled. She hit the back of her head against the metal railing with a heavy thud as she sat up straight and whirled around to glare at Remus. "What?" she snapped, rubbing the back of her head with watering eyes.

Remus's eyes immediately went to the metal object in Emma's hand, and his mouth fell open. Was that what he thought it was? "Emma, what do you have in your hand?"

"It's a bloody snitch," Emma grumbled, making no moves to leave where she was sitting. "What do you want?"

"You didn't come back," Remus said slowly. "And Madam Pomfrey said you never made it to the hospital wing, and no one's seen you for hours. I was worried – very worried."

"I didn't want to see you. I wanted to be alone," Emma said, turning back around, reactivating the snitch and letting it go. She let it hover in front of her for a few moments and quickly grabbed it out of the air. "You didn't even let me explain, so I just came up here after you made me leave."

"Where did you get a snitch from?" Remus asked, sitting next to Emma, letting his legs dangle over the edge like she was.

"Draco nicked it for me. Brought it to me a few hours ago with dinner, so I at least had something to do," Emma said quietly. She released the snitch, let it fly further out, and snatched it out of the air. She gave Remus a sidelong glance and repeated the action of letting the snitch fly away so she could catch it. "He stayed with me for a while, too. Only left about an hour ago, I think. What do you want?"

Remus was quiet, watching as Emma continued to let the snitch go and catching it again. "We need to talk," he said when he realized he should probably say something.

"So, talk," Emma said, grabbing onto the snitch by the tips of her fingers.

"We need to talk," Remus clarified. "Meaning you too, not just me." He watched Emma for a moment, surprised at how quick she snatched the snitch out of the air. "Have you thought of playing Quidditch? You're the perfect size to be a seeker."

Emma gave Remus a disgusted look. "And get on a broom? No, thank you. Besides, Cedric's the Hufflepuff seeker." She deactivated the snitch and tucked it into her pocket.

"Why are you afraid of flying?"

"I'm sure that you didn't come here to talk to me about flying," Emma said icily. "So, just get it over with. What punishment do I have to deal with now?"

"You know, typically in this situation, I should be the angry one," Remus said, mildly amused.

"Well, you'd be pretty angry if someone scared you and made you hit your head on a metal bar."

Remus sighed and placed his hand on her head. "Does it still hurt?"

"Of course, it hurts, are you daft? The railing is metal," Emma said, glancing at Remus as if he had said the stupidest thing possible. Her frown deepened as she leaned into Remus's hand as he gently massaged the spot that hurt. Emma wanted to be angry at him, but the warmth of his hand was soothing. At least that was one benefit to being a werewolf, she supposed.

"Sorry," he said. "I just saw the gold, and you were near the edge..."

Emma immediately rubbed her hands over her face and groaned. "Yes, Dad, I found a magical golden dagger to stab myself with because I needed to be extra dramatic. I'm not going to try and off myself again," Emma said, her face falling. "Why would you even think that after I told you the things I want to do? I knew you didn't trust me…"

"It's not that I don't trust you, Emma," Remus sighed, dropping his hand to Emma's shoulder. "I just…"

"You worry, I get it," Emma said, shooting him a look. "But I made you a promise, and I plan to keep it. If you trusted me, you wouldn't fly off the handle." Emma snorted at what she said and shook her head. "And that's why I don't like flying."

"It's because of your fear of falling."

Emma nodded, looking out at the grounds and peering up at the nearly full moon. "It's not a very pleasant feeling…no matter what height you're at."

"So, if you didn't feel as though you were going to fall, you would be okay with flying?"

Emma shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't really been on a broom since we stopped lessons in first year. I played Quidditch with Persephone and Caspian when I stayed over last year, but we stayed low."

"I'll have to take you flying, then. It seems scarier than it is, and I know Madam Hooch takes things very seriously," Remus said thoughtfully. "Your mum played for Hufflepuff. Did you know that? She joined the team in her fourth year. Have you gotten that far in her diary, yet? I'm sure that she will have written about it. It was a big deal."

"No, I didn't know," Emma said, surprised to hear that. "I didn't think she was that interested in Quidditch. I know she's written about matches, but I didn't think she liked it."

"She wasn't," Remus admitted with a chuckle. "She actually got mad…at my partner for something he said and tried out for the team. Turns out she was good enough to make the team. I have a feeling you would be good, too."

"What did she play?"

"Chaser, but she would sometimes swap with the keeper and play that instead. She was excellent at both. The Gryffindor and Hufflepuff matches were always fun to watch."

Emma folded her arms over the railing and rested her chin on her arms. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Why were you late today?"

"I fell asleep," Emma said with a slight shrug. "I was tired."

"Why were you tired? Emma, you were supposed to come back after lunch – you could have taken a nap then. Where did you go?"

"To class."

Remus was momentarily stunned, sure that Emma would have been off doing something she wasn't supposed to. After discovering she had no remorse over forging his signature to get into the Restricted Section, he didn't put much past her. She was more of a trouble maker than he thought, but going to class? That was completely different. Strictly speaking, she wasn't meant to be in class, but that was the last answer he expected. "You went to Potions?"

Emma nodded. "Yeah," she said quietly.

"Why?"

"I just wanted to go," Emma shrugged. "I'm weird enough as it is without being taken out of classes. I just wanted to feel like everyone else for a little bit."

"But you understand why I pulled you from your classes, right?"

"I do, but that doesn't mean I like it. It's been a month already, and you haven't budged on changing things. I know that you're scared, but if you want me to trust you, then I need you to trust me, too," Emma said, tilting her head to look at Remus. "I know I haven't given you a reason to trust me lately, but how can I earn your trust back if you don't give me a chance to? I don't like lying to you, and I don't like having to sneak around."

Remus sighed, peering out at the grounds. "Why didn't you just talk to me?" he asked softly. "Sweetheart, I thought we were meant to get past this."

"Dad, I do talk to you," Emma insisted, "but you're not listening to me."

"Maybe I have been a little overbearing lately," Remus admitted. "I just –"

"You worry. Dad, I know." Emma scootched herself closer to Remus and rest her head on his arm. "I don't want you to worry about me. At least not so much. I'm not going to disappear again. I'm not going anywhere."

"I would certainly hope not," Remus sighed. "How about we get through until the end of term, and then you can start going to class like normal next term? Would you be all right with that?"

"I suppose. It's only for a few more weeks," Emma said quietly. "At least now I know you finally listened to me. Maybe I'll have to come up here more often when I need you to pay attention."

"I would really rather you not," Remus said, shaking his head as Emma snorted in amusement.

The silence that fell was comfortable, but Remus frowned as he found himself growing cold. "Emma, have you been out here all night? It's freezing out."

"Well placed heating charms," Emma muttered sleepily. "Although the last one I cast wore off when you got here, so I'm absolutely bloody freezing."

"Merlin, Emma," Remus said, taking his cardigan off and wrapping Emma in it. "You should have said something."

Emma shrugged, pulling his cardigan tight around her shoulders. "I'm considering it practice for this weekend. Need to be there when Hufflepuff kicks Ravenclaw's arse tomorrow at the match, and then I need to be ready for Hogsmeade on Sunday."

"All right, you've been out here long enough. I think you're delusional – you're talking about Quidditch," Remus said, standing up and helping Emma stand as well.

"Or you've created a Quidditch fiend," Emma said, poking Remus in the side. She yawned and turned to Remus with a sleepy grin. "Do you mind giving me a ride back?"

Remus sighed, grabbed Emma's bag, and then bent down so that she could climb onto his back. "You're lucky it's late, and no one should be out to see this. It would be rather ridiculous for a professor to be carrying a student like this."

"Shush," Emma said, resituating Remus's cardigan around her shoulders so it wouldn't fall as she got herself comfortable. "You're my dad, and you did it for me over Christmas last year. Besides, you're warm, and I'm tired. Let me enjoy not having to walk downstairs. I think I deserve it after you were a complete arse earlier."

Remus grinned to himself, not wanting to admit she was right and made the walk back down to their rooms. He wasn't at all surprised that Emma had fallen asleep by the time he set foot back into the Defense classroom. It took her a little longer than he thought, but she was resting peacefully, and that was what he wanted. Her nights had been plagued by nightmares, and sleep didn't come easy for her lately. Remus took the time to get Emma as comfortable as he could with well-practiced movements. A smile crossed his face as he remembered how anxious he used to be over just removing her shoes. Now he could do that and much more without any real thought at all.

As he carefully tucked Emma in, pulling her blanket up and folding her arm around Boris, he realized Emma had a point. If he wanted her to trust him, then he needed to extend that trust to her as well. It would be a little harder for him to do, but Emma was worth it. She always was.