TW: Fenrir Greyback is his own warning
The moment she started to drift off, Emma was jolted back awake by a heavy weight on her body. She was suddenly trapped, and her heart began to race when she realized she couldn't move. In one swift movement, she had been turned so that her left arm was trapped under her body, and her right was held tight to her side. Before she could make a sound, a hand was clasped tight over her mouth, and her nose was assaulted with the scent of earth and the copper tang of blood. She couldn't turn her head, held entirely in place, but Emma knew if she turned her head, she would meet Fenrir's sharp eyes. No one else would smell so strongly of either.
She could tell that he was shirtless, his hairy chest pressed against her back. She tried to imagine that he wasn't completely nude, but Emma had her doubts. He was straddling her back, and his very bare leg holding her right arm against her body was concerning. Did that mean Fenrir come back to finish what he started?
"Shhh, it's just me," he rasped, his voice hoarse.
No shit, Emma thought to herself, trying to bring her breathing back to normal. There wasn't much Fenrir could do to her at that point that he hadn't already done.
"I was planning on leaving you alone for a few days, but a certain little songbird's sung a little too loudly. It seems that a certain someone didn't make sure a certain little bird returned home."
Emma immediately tensed up. She looked over at her window as if she expected Duke to be sitting on her windowsill. How did she forget to make the owl fly home? She thought that she had thought of everything, but she didn't.
"I bet you won't make that mistake again, will you?" Fenrir asked, his breath hot against Emma's ear. "Well, one of my associates came to me and gave me some fascinating information. It turns out that the moment the Aurors were switched out here, Ellis decided to make his way to St. Mungo's to squeal. Judas is pissed, and now you need to be moved. I can't have you two meeting each other right now."
Fenrir pressed a kiss to Emma's cheek, and he chuckled at her noise of disgust. He leaned over her further so that she could finally meet her frustrated and confused gaze. "What's that look for, fy lleuad? Did you think I wouldn't think to have someone at the hospital keep me up to date on things? I told you that I don't trust the bastard, and with good reason." Fenrir pressed another kiss to Emma's cheek, and she pulled her gaze away from his with a growl. She was tired, but he was angering her, and she tried to channel that energy into getting the werewolf off of her. It only made him bear down on her harder.
"You're such a pretty little thing when you let Soleil play, did you know that? You're going to be a small wolf, but you are going to be powerful," Fenrir said with a sigh. He turned Emma's face, forcing her to look at him again. "Speaking of which…do you know the quickest one-way ticket to St. Mungo's?"
Emma immediately stopped struggling, going completely limp, and she was pretty sure that she had stopped breathing. Fenrir couldn't be serious. There was no possible way he could consider biting her right then, but his excited growl and the twist of his lips said otherwise.
"Oh, yes, fy lleuad bach, it turns out that I'll get the pleasure of finding out just how sweet you taste, after all," Fenrir said excitedly. "While it's a shame that I won't have the privilege of turning you yet, it's no matter. I've wondered if you taste as sweet as you smell, and a werewolf bite guarantees you'll be out of here and safe."
Safety from a bite made absolutely no sense to Emma, and she wasn't sure that Fenrir was telling her the truth. He had to be toying with her. It wouldn't be the first time he had made the threat, but when he moved his leg to free her right arm, she was concerned. He held tight to her wrist as he stretched her arm out, and Emma felt her panic starting to rise again. She tried to make a noise in the hopes of alerting Tonks, but Fenrir's grip over her mouth didn't allow for much noise.
"Save your voice; you're going to need it," Fenrir tutted at her as if she was a small child. "Now, how did I say that I was going to do this again? Do you recall, Rabbit? I hope you do because if you give me the wrong answer, you're going to pay for ruining my coat."
Emma had royally screwed up when she recognized the dark tone in Fenrir's voice. She looked at him with wide, round eyes, and his lips pulled back to bare his teeth, his smile with his sharp canines menacing.
"Did you think I was going to miss that one? You left all the evidence right outside your window for me to find," Fenrir growled, his eyes darkening. "I gave you a gift, and you didn't appreciate it. You're lucky that I don't do worse to you to make up for ruining something that I gave you."
The situation was growing worse and worse. Emma struggled hard against Fenrir, determined to get him off her, but he wasn't moving. He dropped his full weight back on her again, his grip tightening over her mouth. She whimpered pathetically when Fenrir twisted her arm back painfully. The positioning was awkward, and Emma worried her arm would break from the pressure.
Fenrir tutted in her ear. "I'm afraid that's the wrong answer, fy lleuad. I think the correct answer was that I would make you look exactly like your father," Fenrir said, pressing a kiss to Emma's temple and taking in her panicked expression with a delighted smile. "I suggest closing your eyes if you don't want to lose them. I'll be very disappointed if you don't howl loud enough to catch someone's attention here tonight."
It seemed incredibly inane for Fenrir to tell her to scream because it was impossible not to. She thought that he would have bitten her first, but his left hand covering her mouth came up and raked through her face first. It took her a moment to register when his teeth sunk into her arm because she was too focused on the heat radiating from her face. Everything felt like it was on fire, and she expected pain, but not like this, and she couldn't get Fenrir off of her. He had her held in such a way that it was like trying to hit a brick wall.
She was suddenly flipped onto her back, and he had both of her wrists locked in one of his hands. When Fenrir demanded she open her eyes to look at him, she did. Her blood dripping from Fenrir's mouth made her sick, and he licked his lips hungrily. His pupils were blown out with the thrill of what he had just done, and Emma had never been more disgusted. Rage filled her, and she didn't care to stop her snarl. If Fenrir didn't have her wrists locked together, she would have attacked him, tearing into whatever she could.
"Perfect," he purred, bringing his bloodied hand up to her face to brush his fingers over the tender scratches. "You might just be a much better creation than your father. You look just like him, but so much more beautiful. Even better, you taste far sweeter than I thought you would. Now that I've had a taste, it's going to be very difficult for me to resist tearing your throat out and feasting on every part of you. Although, fortunately, I have other plans for you. Now you're just missing one more thing…"
There was a shouting noise outside her room, and Emma's eyes shot over to the door. Except Fenrir wasn't done with her, and he took advantage of her momentary distraction. He leaned back down with a surprising speed and sunk his teeth hard into her left shoulder. It was the exact spot he wanted to bite her in the first place, and her scream came out so much like a howl that she hated herself for it.
The door opened just seconds too late. Fenrir had bitten her for a second time and had slipped out her window as fast as he had come in.
There was too much noise for Emma to handle, and she forced herself back onto her side to curl herself up and cry. She covered her ears to block out the loud noises she heard and closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to look at herself or at anyone. Emma realized that trying to cover her ears was stupid when the noises were coming from her. She couldn't block that out.
Emma flinched violently as something touched her cheek, automatically anticipating pain. Her screaming died out to sobs. Someone pulled her hands away from her ears and held her hands tightly.
"Emma, open your eyes; it's me. Focus on me, kid."
Kid. Emma knew who this was. She forced her eyes open to meet familiar, sorrowful brown eyes. If she wasn't in so much pain, she would have launched herself at Elara, grateful to have someone with her who wouldn't ever hurt her. Emma looked past Elara to take in just how much commotion there was, and she curled in on herself. There were too many people in her room, too much noise, too much everything.
"I am so sorry, sweetheart," Elara said shakily. Elara's hands were shaking just as much as Emma's entire body was. She swore under her breath and called Tonks over to tell her something that Emma didn't quite catch. Tonks stared at Elara for a moment, her eyes widening before her face fell. What had Elara said? The two women gave each other nods, and Elara turned back to Emma, squeezing her hands gently.
"We have to move you to the hospital," Elara said gently. "We need to get you cleaned up, baby. The sooner, the better."
Emma whined at the idea of having to move, and Elara pulled a hand free to run it through Emma's hair.
"I know it hurts, baby. I promise that I will make you the best potion cocktail you have ever had. You know I make sure that you're taken care of," Elara said in a tone so soothing that it started to calm Emma's nerves. She worried her lip between her teeth for a moment. "I asked Tonks to try and spring Dad from the Ministry early," she added, tears pooling in her eyes when Emma started to sob harder. "I know you're scared, I know you don't want him to see you like this, Emma, but he needs to know. You don't want him to find out about this from the Prophet. I promise it will all be fine."
Emma wasn't too sure anymore.
TMCTMCTMC
Elara truly always managed to put together the best combination of potions, and Emma was blissfully settled in her hospital bed. She was certain that Elara may have overdone it on the Draught of Peace, but Emma didn't mind in the least. It was never her favorite potion to take as it made her queasy, but it kept her from having a complete meltdown.
Ellis's strange request for her to pack her things up had been helpful. It was one less thing that had to be done before leaving Saint Nicholas's. She still didn't understand the exact reason why he had her do such a thing, and she wondered if it had something to do with Jude. Her mind kept running through everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, but none of the pieces fit together.
The entire act of getting to St. Mungo's had been a process, but Emma had mostly blocked it out. All she had been able to focus on was the pain and not wanting to see her father, even though she wanted him with her. There had been a moment of severe panic when Elara very gently suggested pulling her memories to make copies of them. Emma still couldn't find it in herself to talk, almost as if she had completely forgotten how, and she was not proud of how she broke down. That had been the first dose of Draught of Peace. It hadn't been the last.
At some point, Emma imagined that someone managed to convince her to let them make copies of her memories. Elara quickly figured out that Emma wasn't going to talk anytime soon, and she explained that it would be easier to understand what happened. A report of what happened was going to have to be made, and if she couldn't give testimony, then her memories were needed. She wasn't entirely sure if they had actually done it because she had been fed potion cocktail after potion cocktail. The amount of adrenaline coursing through Emma's system had sped her metabolism up, and she was burning through the effects of the potions too quickly. Everything was a blur.
Getting Emma cleaned up had been another process, very halting and slow. Cleaning her face was painful, and Emma hated that she could feel her skin trying to stitch itself back together. It was itchy and made her feel like bugs were crawling over her skin. Elara had finally given up on caring about dosages and had given Emma the strongest pain relief potion they had. It helped immensely. Elara had needed a moment when she started to clean the bites. She nearly wept from relief when she realized the bites weren't while Fenrir was transformed. It wasn't clear how much time had passed between Emma being found and when the call came, and she had expected the worst. She was angry that Fenrir had bitten her at all, but at least Emma wasn't a full werewolf.
Elara's relief was overshadowed by her very evident panic as she helped Emma change into a pair of hospital-issued pajamas. She was in the middle of apologizing for the clothing being so scratchy but suddenly stopped talking. Emma, so concerned about the scratches on her face, forgot how scratched up her body was. It only led to starting the previous cycle anew as more memories were taken and copied, and more potions were given.
Emma was never going to be able to stand the smell of the silver and Dittany mixture or Murtlap again. She couldn't wait to take a shower to wash herself off and smell normal.
With everything finally out of the way, Elara got Emma settled into a bed with a decent buffer from other patients. Emma's closest neighbor was three beds away to her right and no one across from her. It was a welcome surprise that the bed lifted so that she could recline. Even better, Elara decided to surround Emma with multiple pillows. Emma immediately curled up on her right side, snuggling into the very soft pillows.
"Just little perks," Elara said, trying to make Emma feel better. Elara explained, very quietly, that she had been getting ready for bed when the emergency message came through. She purposely kept herself on call after the full moons for instances just like Emma's. The moment she heard where she needed to be, Elara didn't bother getting her Healer robes. She changed out of her pajamas, grabbed her wand, and left.
As grateful as Emma was, she felt guilty that Elara was losing her day off because of her. Emma took in the dark circles around Elara's eyes and her pale skin. She didn't even have any time to really recover from her transformation, but Elara had dropped everything just for her. Emma's expression must have given her thoughts away as Elara pressed a kiss to her forehead. Elara told her that there was only one place she needed to be, and that was with her. Emma knew that Elara loved her; she just didn't understand how much. "Your father isn't the only one who loves you, you know," Elara said, stroking Emma's hair. "Bet you didn't ever expect that when we first met, did you?"
If Emma wasn't on a ridiculous number of potions, she probably would have started crying. Again. Emma never expected it at all.
Elara stayed at her side, just talking about random nonsense to keep her distracted. No one had bothered to say whether or not Remus was being allowed out of the Ministry's mandated program early or not, and Emma's anxiety lingered. Out of fear he would just show up, Emma slowly pulled her blanket up to cover her face, only daring to keep her left eye out in the open.
Each time the doors to the ward would swing open, Emma would hide further. It was unfortunate that the only way Emma could comfortably lay was facing the doorway. She was tempted to try and turn onto her other side, but her shoulder hurt too much. Elara took notice and stood up from the bedside chair to get more potions, but Remus had suddenly arrived.
Emma immediately hid in her blanket and pillow cocoon. She couldn't look at her father yet. She wanted Remus there; she truly did, but not like this, not when she was one of Fenrir's victims, and it was her fault. Remus stood frozen where he was, glancing first at Emma, who was hiding and then staring hard at Elara with wide eyes. Tonks, who had gone to retrieve him, stood at his side looking sympathetic, placing a hand on his arm. Rather than focusing on her father, Emma focused on Tonks, trying to figure out how her blue hair was suddenly dark purple, short, and spiky. How was that possible? Did she imagine how Tonks looked earlier?
Elara sighed, looking over at Emma and making her way over to Remus. Emma watched them both warily, sniffling as she tried to hold back her tears. Her father looked terrible, shell-shocked, and pale. This was his worst nightmare, too. It was the very thing he had spent years trying to prevent from happening to her, and Emma worried that he would be mad at her. She had been so careless…
Emma could only catch snippets of what Elara was saying. It was something along the lines of not knowing exactly what happened, that she refused to talk to anyone, and that Elara hadn't viewed the memories yet. Tonks said something to Remus, and he gave a slight nod. He looked over at Emma for a moment, shoving his hands in his pockets, one of his nervous habits, and followed Tonks back out of the ward. Elara returned to Emma with another small dose of Draught of Peace with a promise they would be back, and it would be fine.
When Remus and Elara finally returned, without Tonks, Remus looked impossibly paler than before. Elara looked just as terrible, looking angry and ill at the same time. It took Emma nearly no time at all to realize that they had disappeared to see what she wasn't able to tell them. She didn't want to know how everything looked through a Pensieve. Based off of their faces, it wasn't very good.
It was a wonder that Remus could manage to keep himself composed when he finally made his way to her bed. He sat down slowly, not looking at her just yet, slipping off his blazer to give himself a distraction. Remus folded his blazer over his arms, staring down at his feet and taking a deep breath. His gaze lifted painfully slow as he turned himself towards her.
"Hi, baby girl," Remus said softly, his voice thick with emotion and still hoarse. It was rougher than usual after a transformation, and Emma finally noticed just how red his eyes were. His face shifted through several emotions at once before eventually settling into the saddest smile Emma had ever seen. "Is it all right if I hold your hand?"
Emma thought about it for a moment and very carefully slid her hand out from her cocoon. The bite on her right arm brushing against the fabric of her top pulled a whimper from her lips, and a thinly veiled look of concern crossed Remus's face. He laced his fingers with hers, his thumb rubbing hers gently. The relief Emma felt was near immediate. This was safe. It was calm, familiar, and gentle. Still, Emma couldn't bear the idea of showing her face.
"Are you going to hide from me the entire time?" Remus asked lightly, tilting his head with a soft smile on his face. Emma could see he was trying to keep himself together, forcing a smile on his face, but the look in his eyes shifted quickly. He couldn't seem to settle on one emotion, shifting from anger to sadness to worry. Remus sighed when Emma gave a slight nod, and he bent his head down to kiss her hand.
That was how they stayed for a while until Emma pulled her hand out of Remus's, raising it shakily towards his face. Emma never felt the need to touch Remus's scars on his face, or any of his scars at all. There was a scar on his right thumb that she touched often, but that was the only one that ever truly caught her attention. She knew that her father was self-conscious of his scars, but he rarely brought that up. Would she be as self-conscious of hers? She looked at him, silently asking if it was all right, and he leaned in closer to her. He understood what she wanted to do.
Emma started with the scar that cut through his eyebrow first. It had grown soft with age, soft to the touch. Curious, Emma gingerly traced her scratches with her other hand underneath the blanket. Where Remus's cut through his left brow, soft and smooth, and went down to his right cheek, hers cut through her right brow, rough and jagged, and down to her left cheek. She let out an almost exasperated sigh, pulling her blanket up further still. Emma dared someone to tell her that she wasn't her father's daughter now.
As she continued tracing the long scar across her father's face, she did the same with hers, needing to know how similar they were. She brushed her finger over the short scar that cut diagonally across the bridge of his nose, following the broken line to his cheek. Emma followed the scar along his cheek and then moved to the other cheek to follow that line next. The second scar was much shorter, running parallel to the long scar. It cut through his cheek and the one corner of his lips. That was where they differed, Emma found. She would only have to worry about her bottom lip scarring, but it didn't make the situation that much better.
An errant huff of laughter escaped her lips when she realized that even the accidental scratch from her father had a very similar counterpart on his face. It was further down than hers and at a different angle, but it existed. A mirror image, indeed.
Remus turned his face to kiss her fingertips when Emma didn't move her hand away. She met Remus's gaze for a moment and pulled her hand away and back into her blanket cocoon.
Maybe it would be all right, Emma decided. But she didn't even know what she looked like. She wasn't ready to look just yet. If the burning across her face was any indication, looking at her father would be like looking at herself. But how deep were her wounds? How jagged? Would they ever be as soft as Remus's? Curious, she touched the healed scar on her cheek, her brow furrowing slightly. Maybe they would be.
"You haven't looked at yourself yet, have you?" Remus asked gently. Emma glanced up at Remus, gave a small shake of her head, and cast her gaze elsewhere. She didn't think that she had to look at herself to know how she would appear.
"Move over a bit," Remus said after a long pause. "I'm getting in there with you." A whine left Emma's lips, clutching tightly to the blanket to keep it where it was, and Remus frowned. "I promise that I'm not going to look. You need a cuddle…and quite honestly, so do I."
There was no way that Emma could ever deny that, and she shifted over carefully to grant Remus space. When Remus got himself situated, propped back against the pillows, he held his arms open for Emma. She was quick to launch herself into his arms, not caring how much pain it caused her. Emma didn't even care that the blanket had slipped off her face. She needed to be held and feel safe.
"Oh, you poor thing, you are shaking like a leaf," Remus said, careful with how he held her. He settled for a hand on her arm, and his other cupping her head to his chest. "Hey, you're safe now. I've got you," he murmured into her hair, clearing his throat as his voice broke when Emma started to cry. "Daddy's got you. You're safe. No one is going to hurt you."
Remus ran his fingers through Emma's hair, talking about whatever nonsense he could think of as she cried herself out. Elara brought over another Draught of Peace to try and settle Emma's nerves, but Remus waved her off. He knew that prolonging the moment would only make Emma feel worse. The sooner she confronted her feelings, the better it would be, and he didn't want her being on so many different potions.
"You are so strong," Remus whispered to Emma as he pressed a kiss to her hair when her tears had finally slowed. "So incredibly strong. And so very brave," he said, kissing her forehead. Remus crooked a finger under Emma's chin but didn't dare lift her face.
Emma's face screwed up with the effort to keep her tears from starting again, but she slowly looked up to meet Remus's gaze. She was met with nothing but loving and fond warmth in his eyes. His eyes didn't stray from hers, didn't bother following the new scratches across her face. All he cared about was making sure that she understood that she was loved. "And you, my dear, are as radiant as the sun."
She managed a weak smile at that. Emma knew he was trying to make her feel better, being careful to find other features about her that were more important than her appearance. Though her father took the time to try and remind her that she was beautiful, he spent more time reminding her of everything else she was. It was enough to make the exterior Emma was trying to build back up crack again, and the moment tears started to fall, Remus was quick to catch them.
"I love you so much, Emma," Remus said gently. "Do you know that?"
She did know that, and she knew it with every fiber of her being. She had memories – old memories – that could back up that claim. Emma let out a breath, wondering if Remus would remember what he always used to do for her. She stretched her arm out so that she could walk her fingers up his arm, and Remus reached for her hand to stop her before she could go farther. He looked at her as if he didn't quite believe what she had just done.
"Do you…do you remember?" Remus asked, searching Emma's eyes. She nodded in response, and Remus looked torn. "When did this happen? Yesterday?" Emma nodded again, and Remus brought her head back down to his chest, squeezing her a little tighter.
"We didn't think it was actually possible…that it was even remotely true," Remus breathed out. He gently tipped Emma's face back up to look at him. "You really remember? You remember me? You remember Papa?"
Emma nodded, another weak smile crossing her face as she let out a soft breath of laughter. She reached up to pull his face towards hers so that she could rub her nose on his, and tears filled Remus's eyes. Emma didn't want to start crying again, so she decided to remind him of something funny. She lifted a finger to her forehead to trace the shape of Harry's scar, and Remus looked at her curiously.
"Harry?" he asked inquisitively, looking at her with even more curiosity when Emma nodded.
Emma then proceeded to pat Remus's head. When he didn't understand, she thought about it for a moment and then gently traced lines out from her nose to her cheeks to signify whiskers.
"Oh…Oh!" Remus started to laugh, the sound watery but joyful. Emma grinned when she realized that Remus understood her. "You called Harry and Neville cats," he said, smiling fondly when Emma gave a shy nod. "That's one of my favorite memories of you, one of many, actually. You said it with such sweet innocence that it left us all stunned. We loved to bring it up after the fact and ask how the cats were doing…"
Emma snuggled into Remus's side and whimpered as she yawned. She had realized that the Draught of Peace had worn off, but she hoped the pain relief would have lasted longer. The fire underneath her skin was starting to flare up again, and Elara was quick to bring over a potion. She had been talking to one of the other patients in the ward to give Emma and Remus their space but clearly paid close attention.
"Here," Elara said, pressing the bottle into Emma's hand. "It's the higher dosage again, but I don't think you'll go through it as fast now."
With a sigh, Emma downed the potion and sagged against Remus as she got herself comfortable again, the fire subsiding once more. She felt much better after having her cry and knowing that she had people who loved her close by. Emma wasn't sure that she would be able to leave her father's side with how scared of everything she was, but she didn't want to think about that yet. She nestled her face into the soft fabric of his shirt, wincing slightly at the odd pull of her skin. It was much harder to ignore the bug crawling feeling of her skin, and she wondered just how long that would last.
Emma was fully aware that things were going to change in her life again; they already had. She saw firsthand the type of person Fenrir truly was, and perhaps that was what hurt her most of all. Emma knew that Fenrir was a monster, but for two weeks, she had believed that there was a possibility she could have been different. It hurt her to realize that she wasn't, but she should have known.
There might be a strange and hidden side of Fenrir that loved her, but his love for her wasn't truly love. The only thing she knew for sure about Fenrir was that if he said he was going to do something, he was going to do it. Nothing would change his mind from an idea entirely; he just changed his plans. The only good thing was Fenrir couldn't hurt her any more than he already had. He had broken the trust she had in him, shattering whatever lingering feelings she had. Emma supposed he had done her a huge favor in that regard.
She looked up at her father sleepily, enjoying the feel of his fingers massaging her scalp in the spots that soothed her most. A chill swept through her at the reminder that Fenrir knew those spots because of her carelessness. She hoped that whatever memories they had actually pulled didn't include that bit of information. Emma didn't even know what she had managed to give up, but she didn't think anyone else knew. Remus clearly picked up on her sudden unease, his expression curious, but Emma just smiled up at him, and he returned that smile. His gaze softened into the look that he reserved only for her, adoring and fond. This was love.
Remus expected nothing of her. Ever. He loved her unconditionally and always had. She wished that she had understood that better before, but it didn't matter. They couldn't turn back time, and Emma wasn't sure she would want to anymore. Would she like to have done so many things differently? Of course, but who didn't? She nearly laughed at the sudden realization those months of therapy actually did something for her.
This could be okay, Emma decided. Not perfect in the least, but okay. She had to look at the positives, and as few as they were, they were there.
She was alive. Fenrir could have easily killed her multiple times over the past two weeks but didn't. She still wouldn't transform, despite what the bites would suggest. They were ugly and told a different story, but she knew the truth - she still wasn't a werewolf. She bore the scars given to her by someone with a sick motive. But she was alive.
Emma had people that loved her and would love her no matter what. Remus was her number one supporter and gave her so much love that she didn't know what to do with it sometimes except to return it. Elara took care of her, playing the role of the cool aunt she never got to have, and encouraged her in other ways. She had Sirius and even in his briefest moments still gave her so much love, even when she was mean to him. He was still learning, and she was a tough act to follow. It took Remus over two years to figure her out. She had to give Sirius time.
"Would you like me to tell you a story?" Remus asked, humming softly when Emma shook her head. "No? Do you want me to tell you about how terribly boring my night was without you? I swore I would never tell you this, but I missed your head scratches." Emma shook her head again, burying her face slightly into his chest so he couldn't see her start to smile. Remus chuckled softly, happy just to see that Emma could find reasons to smile. "Not even that?" Remus was quiet for a moment before asking, "Do you want me to just sit here with you?"
Emma considered it for a moment, snuggling closer. She then tapped the spot on his chest where she knew his tattoo for her sat. He was doing an excellent job of understanding what she wanted without actually saying it. She hoped this would be another one of those moments.
"Oh, Merlin, do you want me to sing to you? You know my singing is awful, especially right now," he chuckled. Emma gave a slight shrug, and he smiled at her. "All right, I suppose I can sing for you."
Emma closed her eyes, feeling infinitely calmer listening to Remus singing softly to her, glad to know he knew exactly which song she wanted. She thought that "You Are My Sunshine" was truly a terrible song outside of the chorus, but she was never happy with just that and made Remus sing the entire thing. It didn't matter that the song was sad. As far as she was concerned, the chorus was for her, and that was what she chose to focus on. A pang of guilt flooded her system as she realized singing to her was probably pure torture for him. He must have picked up on her thoughts as he switched to humming the song softly, pressing kisses into her hair. Emma felt like she actually enjoyed the humming better, the sound much softer and more soothing to her ears.
Between the warmth radiating off his body, his familiar scent, and the softness of his humming, Emma felt herself wanting to give in to her exhaustion. She was tired and worn out, and a yawn tried to escape, but she held it back.
"Rest, my love," Remus said. "I'll be right here when you wake up. I promise."
Emma searched Remus's face, worried that he was telling her what she wanted to hear, and he was going to disappear. She had been so worried about him showing up, but now she couldn't stand the idea of him leaving. If he left, she wasn't sure how she would feel.
"I promise," Remus repeated, peppering her face with soft kisses and taking extra care with her healing skin. He smiled at Emma's grumpy little huff, tucking her hair behind her ear, knowing that her reaction was all for show. "Oh, how I have missed you pretending that you don't enjoy this."
A sleepy smile crossed Emma's face, and she readjusted herself. Her eyes fluttered close as her father began to hum a different song - Blackbird. The comfort she felt from the song made all the difference in the world.
Fenrir was right, Emma mused as she finally started to fall asleep. She would have to think twice about who she trusted.
Remus continued humming softly even when Emma had finally fallen asleep. He couldn't convince himself to stop because it kept him from fixating on looking at the harsh red scratches across Emma's face. Remus kept his cheek pressed to the top of her head, rocking Emma gently, not wanting to disturb the relative peace she finally had.
"She's finally resting?" Elara asked as she made her way back to the bed. She gently reached out to brush back a loose piece of Emma's hair. "Poor thing…"
"Out like a light," Remus said, trying to suppress a yawn. "I'm afraid I might be, as well."
"It was a hard night for you, too, Remus. Seven months of spending the moons together and not having your baby with you is tough," Elara said.
"She's had a much tougher time than I. Elara, you saw –"
"I know, Remus. There's no doubt that she had a difficult time, but she's strong. It's going to take time all over again, but she'll pull through. Your being here has improved her mood so much already," Elara sighed. "I've got good news for you at least. Tonks said that approval came through for you to be here as long as she's here. I'm going to keep her here as long as possible, so you're free to camp out. I think Tonks said she would try and push for an emergency order to get Emma home for a few days."
"I'm so glad that I still have to get approval to be with my daughter when she was just attacked," Remus muttered. "Complete bollocks – all of it. If she was home with me where she belongs in the first place, none of this ever would have happened." Remus blew out a puff of air. "Did Tonks tell you why she was placed on the case? I know she told me, but I don't remember what she said."
"Dumbledore said it was a conflict of interest to have Ellis," Elara said. "Even if things didn't go the way they did, it was a good move. There need to be more women on the committee, especially if they see you two like this. I just wish it didn't get to this point."
"I'm so glad that Emma had to become an example. She has suffered enough at the hands of grown men that have had no business hurting her."
"We can't change that, Remus – we have discussed this a million and one times," Elara hissed, gesturing to Emma, who was beginning to stir. "Get yourself together, Lupin – if you thought Emma needed you before, she needs you even more now. You understand what she's going through. You are the only person in the world that will understand her on a very personal level. She needs your strength. As strong as she is, she's going to need those reassurances. You need to be the man she needs you to be for her right now. You can completely lose your shit later, but not right now."
Remus stared icily at Elara for a long moment before letting out a deep breath. He rubbed his forehead with his free hand with a groan. "You're right," he admitted, looking back down at Emma. He kissed the spot between her brows in apology when he noticed her brows pulling together with distress. "I'm sorry, baby," he whispered to her. "Daddy loves you and is very angry because he worries about you…"
Elara gave an approving nod and held out a potion bottle. "Good," she said, "now drink this."
"Why?" Remus asked slowly, taking the potion bottle from Elara. "A calming draught? Because I want to go running out of here right now to go attack Greyback?"
"Just drink it, Remus. There are some things you need to know, and I am not letting you wake Emma up."
Remus shook his head and downed the potion, casting Elara an annoyed look.
"Feeling better?" Elara asked, watching Remus closely as he nodded. "Good. We've got a problem. You recall what Greyback told her when we viewed her memories? He wasn't lying to her. There's no doubt he was doing it because he wanted to, but he knew attacking her would get her out."
"What are you talking about?"
"Jude's not here anymore, Remus," Elara said. "He's gone."
a/n: heh...sorry.