Emma tried to keep her panic to a minimum the moment Remus left the ward. Thankfully he took both Mr. and Mrs. Weasley with him, and she wasn't too gutted about Percy leaving. Ron and Ginny slowly approached her bed, and they all looked awkwardly at each other. It was going to be a lot harder to deal with without her father than she thought.

Needing something to do, Emma gestured vaguely to her bed, propping herself up at the head of the bed. She pat both sides of her and then gestured to the front of the bed, desperately hoping they understood that she wanted them to sit. It felt silly for them all to be standing, and the man a few beds down kept giving them funny looks.

George understood first and sat on the spot to Emma's left. Fred hesitated for a moment before going to Emma's other side, sitting to her right. Ron climbed onto the bed near her feet, and Ginny took the chair, not wanting to add another person to the bed.

"Well, this is weird," Ron finally said, making Emma snort and nod in agreement.

Emma poked Fred's side and pointed to the parchment and quill that sat on the bedside table. She flashed him an appreciative grin and scrawled out a very quick, 'You all can ask questions if you want. I don't mind.' Emma let Fred and George read the parchment first before turning it to show Ron and Ginny.

"Does it hurt?" George asked, grimacing slightly as he looked down at Emma's arm. "All of it?"

Emma huffed out a laugh and nodded as she picked up the quill. 'I have to take something for the pain every two hours. I take the highest dose they can give me because I burn it off too quickly.'

"Do you have to take them so frequently because you're half-werewolf?" Fred asked. He passed a quick look with his siblings. "You are still only half, right?"

Emma placed the parchment down in the middle of the bed so that everyone could read what she was writing. 'Yes, but Greyback planned to turn me.'

"It really was Greyback, then?" George asked, his eyes wide. "The Prophet just said it was a werewolf attack but didn't say by who."

"Was it scary?" Ginny asked. "I can't even imagine."

'It wasn't entirely unexpected,' Emma wrote with a shrug. She rubbed hard at her eyes. 'I don't know how to explain myself without it seeming weird.'

"What do you mean?" Ron asked curiously.

Emma was spared from answering that question by Elara walking into the ward. She breathed out a sigh of relief and sagged back into her pillows. Elara could help her figure out how to get through having company. Elara gave Emma a sympathetic look as she started her rounds; she would get to Emma last.

"This ward is miserable," Ron said, taking a look around. Emma had to agree.

The ward held 16 beds and clearly wasn't given any recent updates compared to the rest of the hospital. The walls were wood-paneled, and nearly all of the light came from the strange bubble lights in the middle of the ceiling. There was a portrait of a wizard named Urquhart Rackharrow that kept staring at the patients but never speaking. Emma looked longingly over at the window at the end of the war. She was so close to it, and yet so far.

'This ward is absolute bollocks. Feeding Hagrid's Flobberworms was more interesting than this room,' Emma wrote, making the four Weasleys laugh.

"It's…charming," George offered, eying the portrait on the wall. "Does he always stare like that?"

'Yes.'

"Very er…fascinating, he is," Fred said.

"Bit creepy, yeah?" Ginny said, scrunching up her nose.

They all looked up as Elara finally approached, a small smile on her face. "Hey, kiddo," Elara said to Emma as she stopped next to Ginny. "How are you doing today? Ran into Dad before he left, and he said you had a bit of a rough morning."

Emma rolled her eyes, unconsciously leaning against George as she wrote out her message to Elara. She shoved the parchment out to Elara to read, 'He let me sleep for twenty hours. That's ridiculous.'

Elara looked at the parchment and then up at Emma and George, an eyebrow arching in amusement. Emma looked at Elara curiously, looked at George, and turned back to Elara, her face flushing.

"Well, you wouldn't have slept that long if you didn't need it," Elara said pointedly, making Emma roll her eyes because Remus said the exact same thing. Elara bit back a laugh and looked at the Weasleys. "And who exactly are you sharing your bed with?"

"I'm Ginny," Ginny said first with a laugh. "Currently the only one not on the bed."

"Ron."

"I'm Fred – the better-looking twin."

"Ah," Elara said before George could say anything, her eyes glittering. "So that leaves George as the one Emma is currently leaning on, yeah? Hate to break it to you, Fred, but I think that means Emma thinks your brother is the better-looking twin."

Emma covered her face in embarrassment, and George let out a nervous laugh. "Er, yeah, I'm George. Heard about me, eh?"

"Oh, you have no idea," Elara said brightly. "I'm Healer Douglas, one of the three attending Healers in the ward, but you lot can call me Elle."

Ginny straightened up suddenly in her chair. "Oh, do you need us to move?" she asked, looking at Elara.

"If you lot don't mind," Elara said. "Just need fifteen minutes with Emma, and then you can come back. I think your parents are chomping at the bit to get back in here to meet my lovely little patient. Go distract them for a bit longer and come back. If you want, you can bother the Welcome Witch for some games. I'm sure Emma's bored out of her mind here."

Emma was more than bored. The moment the Weasley's left the ward, Emma sagged back against her pillows, already exhausted. Why did she agree to have guests?

"That type of day, eh?" Elara asked with a hint of a smile. Emma looked over at Elara and just blinked slowly. She held up two fingers, pointed to her eyes, and then pointed her fingers at Elara to say she was going to be watching Elara closely. Elara only laughed in response.

"I'm sorry," Elara said. "I couldn't resist. I was wondering what the infamous George Weasley looked like. Your father is terrible at descriptions because all I could see was red hair and a lot of it. But you two are cute."

Emma reached out for her parchment with a sigh. 'Yeah, but he's never going to want to be with me now.'

"Why not?" Elara asked, shoving her hands in the pockets of her robe. "You're absolutely beautiful."

'I'm not now…' Emma rubbed hard at her eyes as she felt tears start to pool.

"Emma, you are beautiful," Elara insisted. "Don't you dare think otherwise. You're still you at the end of the day. Plus, that boy was looking at you like he's never seen anything prettier."

'I look like a monster.'

"Do you think that about Dad?"

Emma frowned at that and shook her head. 'That's not fair,' Emma wrote. She would never think that of her father and never did.

"It is too fair. Dad said that you refuse to look at yourself. You made him cover the mirror in the toilet so that you didn't see yourself. You can't have an opinion of yourself if you haven't looked. You might find that it's not as bad as you think."

Out of habit, Emma crossed her arms defiantly and winced as she touched the bite on her arm. As far as she was concerned, it was as bad as she thought.

"All right," Elara sighed, "how are you doing today? Any new aches or pains?"

Emma shook her head, placing her arm in Elara's outstretched hand and quickly looking away. Her face twisted slightly as the bite was exposed to air from Elara lifting the bandages.

"Still the same, then?"

Emma nodded, trying to stare out the window. It really was an awfully small window, and Emma wondered why they even bothered putting a window in the ward at all.

"What about your throat? Still not talking by choice or because it hurts?"

Emma didn't respond, and Elara hummed thoughtfully. "Dad said that you were thrilled to have honey in your tea when you normally don't," Elara pointed out. "Did the honey help?"

With a sigh, Emma nodded. Emma could see the allure of sleeping twenty hours straight when it meant she slept through everything Elara was currently doing.

"Let's see what's going on then," Elara said. "Turn and face me so I can check."

It was the sort of check that made Emma appreciate what could be done magically. She was never fond of the poking and prodding Elara had to do. Elara was always gentle with it, but Emma's throat hurt far more than she thought.

"You actually might be better off not talking for a while," Elara said with a sigh. "You'll be fine, but right now, I'd rather not have you talk if you don't need to." She sat down on the bed next to Emma and handed her the parchment and quill. "So, you knew about Jude already?"

'Fenrir told me. And it felt like he was in here. That was what woke me up.'

"Did you tell Dad that?"

Emma shook her head. 'I didn't think it mattered. What do you think Jude's going to do?'

"I don't know," Elara said sadly. "None of us do. The situation is, well, to be honest, everything is complete and utter shit right now. Did Dad tell you the current plan, or were you two cuddling all day?"

Emma looked at Elara curiously and then grinned. They most definitely cuddled all day so far. Emma listened to whatever stories from when she was younger Remus wanted to tell her. She enjoyed knowing exactly what he was talking about, and she really enjoyed hearing how he experienced the moment. It was one of the things that kept her spirits up, and Emma would never pass up a cuddle, especially with how cold the ward was. Remus's body heat felt wonderful when she felt chilled by the over-charmed room.

A knowing smile crossed Elara's face, and she chuckled. "You both needed the cuddle, so I don't blame you," she said. "So, first thing's first, I don't want you to get your hopes up, but we're trying to get you home for a little bit. We can't guarantee anything, but Tonks said there's a strong possibility that the anti-werewolf legislation can be looked past. Unfortunately, it's only temporary, but we're hoping to get you through some more of the summer. The goal is to keep you somewhere safe until you head back to school. At some point, Dad's going to have to go to an emergency hearing for you."

Emma grabbed for the parchment in excitement. 'How long could I be home for?'

"At most three weeks, but there's absolutely no guarantee that he'll get even that. The only thing that works in your favor is that it was Greyback that attacked you. They're going to see you being at the children's home as a liability."

'But what if Jude tries to do the same thing? If Dad can do it, couldn't Jude, too?' Emma wrote in a panic.

"We don't think he'll do anything yet," Elara said. "Speaking of which, why were your things packed already?"

'Ellis told me to pack. I don't know why.'

Elara frowned at that. "He just told you to pack your things?" Emma nodded, and Elara looked at her thoughtfully. "Dad also said that you remember things again? Greyback actually went and gave you your memories?"

A slow smile crossed Emma's face, and she nodded as she picked up her quill. 'I do, and he did, but things are still a little fuzzy. Fenrir said I should be checked to see if I was obliviated at any point.'

"He told you that? Really?"

'He said he wouldn't put it past Jude. Apparently, he's good at memory spells.'

"Fuck," Elara breathed out, rubbing her jaw. "Sorry, that wasn't professional of me. I forget I'm at work sometimes. Emma, do you think that you can pull that memory up for me so I can have a copy of it?"

Emma pulled her lower lip between her teeth and winced at the pull of the scratch on her lip. 'Would it be better just to give you every moment I spent with him? I was with him nearly every night. There's a lot that he told me.'

"If you're okay with it, I think that it'll answer a lot of questions."

'Will Dad be mad that I spent so much time with Fenrir?'

"No, he won't be. You were in a difficult position, and cooperating with him was the right move, regardless of your, I'm sure, very conflicted feelings." Elara sighed, gently squeezing Emma's knee when she didn't look too sure about that. "Emma, believe me when I say he understands. He was you at one point, you know."

That struck a chord with Emma, and she looked at Elara, her brow furrowing slightly. She gingerly touched one of the scratches on her face and frowned. Fenrir attacking her was because he wanted to, she had no doubt about that, but Emma suddenly felt like there was another reason. Fenrir made it very clear that he wanted her, but she wondered if he was using her as a replacement for her father. It would be perfect. She had already looked like her father, she was still young, and she had formed a relationship with Fenrir growing up. Emma was everything that Fenrir didn't get with her father, and that explained a lot.

"I know what you're thinking. The thought crossed my mind, too," Elara said quietly, pulling Emma's hand away from her face. "Of course, your father doesn't think so, but I couldn't see a reason why Fenrir would go for the exact same pattern on your face. It's not his norm, but it doesn't make it any better." Emma cast Elara a dubious look, and she laughed. "No, I didn't just go into your mind to figure it out. Fenrir's done that enough to you, I'm sure. I've seen you enough to know where your mind wanders off to," Elara explained, placating Emma's curiosity.

'What's the rest of the plan?' Emma wrote, folding her legs in front of her.

"Well, my goal is to keep you here as long as I can possibly get away with while everything is getting situated. If for whatever reason, the Ministry decides to keep you where you are, I'm going to make it a point to find reasons to keep you here. I know it's not ideal, but we're making plans for plans. We're not letting anything happen to you again if we can help it."

Emma let out a long breath and nodded. It wasn't ideal in the least, but she didn't want to have to go back to the children's home. If it meant staying in St. Mungo's for a month, she would do it. It was certainly better than the alternative. She looked up as the doors to the ward opened again, and Fred and George walked back in. They stood awkwardly at the entrance, unsure of whether they should approach or not.

Elara gave Emma a reassuring smile, squeezing her knee again. "I can't promise that everything is going to be perfect, but we really are trying to figure out what to do. I noticed you've been looking at the beds near the window, so I'll start to set up a bed for you for after you can get cleaned off. And right now, I'm going to grab you your favorite potion in the whole world because I'm sure you need it," Elara said, standing up. "I know you're not going to like it, but before your grandfather comes tonight, I have an appointment for you with Dr. Wheeler."

It could be worse, Emma decided. She gave a half-hearted shrug and got herself comfortable again, waving for the twins to come over.

"How are you feeling?" George asked, sitting back down in his previous spot.

Emma gave a slight shrug as Elara came back with a pain-relief potion. She sighed, downing the potion quickly. If Emma never had to see another one of those potions, she would be perfectly all right.

"Clean bill of health?" Fred asked jokingly. "Look as though you don't even need to be here at all. I think they're messing with you."

Emma snorted, giving Fred a thumbs up. Silence fell, and Emma stared down at the parchment on her lap. 'Where are the others?' she wrote, looking between the twins curiously.

"Well, Ron is currently flirting with the Welcome Witch," Fred said with a laugh. "Ginny is with mum and dad. Percy went back home – the prat – and so we decided to come back here. I think I might have actually dragged George back, to be honest."

'Why?' Emma wrote, growing more and more curious.

"Well, George, who is being awfully quiet because he's nervous, has something he wants to say to you."

Emma looked at George, tilting her head. She was afraid to know what he would want to say to her. Maybe he didn't want to be friends with her anymore? Every horrible possibility started to run through her head, and her stomach flipped with anxiety.

"I know this is awful timing, but I don't know that I can wait for us to be back at school," George said, trailing off as he ran a hand through his hair sheepishly. Emma's stomach sank. He didn't want to talk to her anymore.

"Uhm…well, my plan was to ask you out on a date at…some point over the holiday, but then you never wrote back. I got worried that maybe you weren't actually interested in me. I didn't realize how much was actually going on. I had no idea that you didn't have an owl and when my letters kept coming back… Anyway, there's this Muggle bookshop in the town near where I live that I thought you might like. I wanted to take you there and maybe, er, have a picnic or something."

A sad smile crossed Emma's face as George trailed off again. That was a bit disappointing for her to hear, but she expected it. 'It's okay if you don't want to anymore,' she wrote. 'I understand.'

"No! No, I do. A lot, but now that I know how things have been for you, I don't know how easy it would be. Which is why I'm having such a hard time right now…"

Emma frowned, tilting her head as she looked at George. She really had no idea where this conversation was going.

"What I'm trying to say is, er…"

"Oh, bloody hell, I can't listen to this anymore," Fred said. "Emma, what my brother is trying to say is he wants you to be his girlfriend, but he's being stupid."

Emma looked over at Fred, her eyes wide, and then over at George. There was no possible way that was true. She blinked owlishly at him and then frantically grabbed onto his hands, pulling up his sleeves to inspect his arms.

"Er, what are you doing?" George asked, looking at Emma in confusion.

Emma let go of George's arms to grab her quill, scratching frantically at the parchment. 'I'm making sure you weren't bitten by something as well,' Emma wrote. 'This is a terrible prank, George.'

"It's not a prank!"

"You're not the one who has to listen to him, Em," Fred said. "It's all, Emma this, Emma that, at home. Makes it a bit hard to work on our future product line when he's too busy thinking about you."

Emma was stunned. 'You really can't be serious. Even with how I look? Me?'

"Yes, of course you," George said earnestly, his voice soft and his cheeks turning pink. "You're, er…you're very pretty. You know that, right?"

'But I was attacked by a werewolf. I don't look the same.'

"You'll never be anything less than beautiful to me."

Emma's breath caught in her chest, and her mouth fell open as she stared at George incredulously. Hopeful butterflies fluttered in her stomach, but she was too afraid to believe him, but he looked sincere. 'You're actually serious?'

"Yes, I really am."

"I think you're meant to be the one to ask her, not your brother," Elara said as she walked by with the things she needed to set Emma up at the bed at the end of the ward.

George laughed nervously. "It probably should be me, yeah?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck. He sighed, gently taking Emma's hands in his. "This wasn't how I wanted to ask you at all, but like I said, I don't know that I want to wait to ask…so, Emma Lupin, will you be my girlfriend?"

Emma's brain had gone fuzzy, and she immediately started to believe in Luna's Wrackspurts because she most definitely had them. This was absolutely not how she would have ever expected to be asked out, but she was starting to expect her summer to be strange.

"Emma, this is the part where you answer the poor boy," Elara said on her way back to the other end of the ward. "Don't try and pretend you didn't spend weeks talking about how you wanted George to ask you out."

"You did?" George asked, looking surprised.

Emma could only nod, pulling her hands from George's to cover her face to try and hide her bright red cheeks. The moment she was ready to talk, she would give Elara a piece of her mind for this.

"Oh, wicked," George said, clearing his throat. "Well, er…what do you say? Yeah?"

Anxious and giddy giggles left Emma's lips, and she peered at George through her fingers, nodding furiously.

"Yeah? Really?" George asked excitedly. Emma continued to nod, and George went to hug her before stopping himself.

"She's not going to break if you hug her, I promise," Elara said, passing by again.

Emma pulled her hands away to shoot Elara a glare. The cheeky grin on Elara's face told Emma she was obviously finding excuses to keep walking by, and Emma couldn't believe her. With a sigh, Emma decided to take the initiative and hug George herself, smiling when he put his arms around her. She really hoped that George would still take her out on that date.

TMCTMCTMC

When Remus returned to the ward, he had to stop and take a moment to take in the sight in front of him. Emma was surrounded by what seemed like a sea of red-haired children. Ron sat at the foot of the bed, and Emma remained in her spot at the top, legs folded in front of her as she stared hard at the chessboard between them. Ginny sat in the chair next to the bed but had moved it to sit beside the chessboard to watch. Fred sat next to Emma on her right, and George sat on her left with his arm very much draped loosely around her waist. Remus always braced himself to have an overprotective need to take George's place, but instead, he felt at peace. He felt settled, Moony felt settled; this was what Emma needed.

Percy was noticeably not amongst the children, but Remus wasn't entirely surprised after hearing he insisted he needed to prepare for work at the Ministry. Remus had been stopped by Arthur and Molly when he returned, so each Weasley was accounted for. Fred tapped Emma's shoulder, and she leaned slightly in his direction, not taking her eyes off the board. He cupped his hand to her ear, and a smile broke on her face as she pushed one of the pieces with a finger.

"That's cheating!" Ron said, his jaw dropping as he shot Fred a glare.

"Oi, you're not the one in the hospital!" Ginny said sharply, punching Ron's arm. She looked at Emma and gestured to the board. "That was an excellent move, Emma."

Emma snorted, leaning back into George with a happy little smile.

Elara, who had exchanged shifts with one of her coworkers, caught Remus's eye with a wink. She made her way over to the bed, and there were simultaneous groans from all the children. Elara purposely placed herself in front of Emma's vision to keep her from looking at Remus standing near the entrance. "Really?" Elara asked, putting her hands on her hips. "I let three out of four of you on the bed again, and you're going to complain? I told you lot I was going to have to do Emma's bandage change at some point." There was another collective groan that made Remus smile, and Elara sighed and shook her head. "All right, boyfriend's brother – out so I can start with her arm."

Boyfriend's brother? What did he miss in the two hours he was gone? Remus remained where he stood, crossing his arms as he continued watching. Fred slipped out of bed to let Elara take over the space he was in, and Emma thrust her arm out, turning her head the other direction. It broke Remus's heart that she still wasn't ready to look at herself.

Fred looked up and froze when he noticed Remus, and he turned back to look at George. George looked at Fred curiously and followed his brother's gesturing. George's eyes grew wide, and Remus arched an eyebrow at him, making the teenager turn a brilliant shade of red and give a sheepish smile in response. That was a very unexpected development, and he allowed himself to give George a nod of approval. If it meant Emma was happy, that's all that mattered. He was very curious to know the story behind how that happened. Clearly, he had missed a lot while he was away.

Instead of torturing George, Remus turned his attention to what Elara was doing. He still hadn't seen what they looked like. So far, Remus had only seen the scratches on her face. If Emma wanted to show him the other scratches, she would, but he knew it would be a process. He was relieved that the Weasley children had the sense to mostly look away, though he didn't blame their curious glances. This was new for them, too.

Remus winced instinctively when Elara pulled the bandage back. It was hard to tell that her bite wasn't caused by a transformed werewolf from a distance. Fenrir's acceptance of the wolf had led to small changes to his anatomy, especially with his teeth. While most of the pack had their teeth shaved, a process that had repulsed Remus, Fenrir's teeth had taken on their pointed shape on their own. The bite pattern wasn't entirely the same as a transformed wolf's bite as Fenrir was forced to accept human limitations, but it was close enough.

By how deeply inset the teeth marks were, it was a wonder that Fenrir didn't bite through Emma's arm. He frowned as he noticed the drag of the bite where Emma had tried to pull her arm away. Remus took a deep breath to try and keep himself calm, and his heart broke as he caught the sounds of Emma's sniffles as Elara cleaned the wound. Knowing his daughter, that meant she was refusing the potions Elara tried to give her.

"I'm almost done with this one, Emma," Elara said soothingly. "I know that George is holding you right now, and I know that he takes your breath away, but you really need to breathe for me, baby."

Emma's sniffles gave way to pained laughter, and the others joined in. Remus had left Emma in beyond excellent hands.

Elara straightened up with a sigh and looked at George. "All right, boyfriend, time for you to get out," she said, walking around to the other side of the bed. George gave Emma's hand a squeeze and slid out to stand off to the side. Elara gave Emma a soft smile and ran a hand through her hair. "This one is going to be a little worse, but you can do it, yeah? If this bite is healing as nicely as the other one, then I won't have to do this again."

"You hear that?" George said gently. "You're almost done!"

With a small sigh, Emma turned her head the other way, her gaze fixed on the fresh bandages on her arm. She ignored the curious looks of the Weasley's and tried to ignore what Elara was doing. Emma finally looked up and spotted Remus, her eyes growing wide. She shot Fred a look, and he gave a slight shrug.

"He's been there the entire time," Fred said, giving Emma a sheepish grin.

Emma, to her credit, looked embarrassed for a few seconds before she reached out for Remus. It reminded Remus so much of when Emma was a baby that he was over to her in a heartbeat. Remus set the bag he brought with him for Emma down on the floor and sat down in the spot Fred had occupied only moments prior. Emma looped her arm around his and leaned against him, her little sniffles returning.

Remus looked at Elara over Emma's head as she worked, and they shared a look. The bite on Emma's shoulder was worse than the one on her arm. It was much deeper and more defined, but a cleaner bite. Emma had been too surprised for that one to react quickly to it. They both knew that Fenrir wanted that mark to be seen, purposely placed that any other werewolf would know who it belonged to. Remus had been subjected to a very similar bite from Fenrir, but at least his could be hidden well. Emma's would be a problem. A sharp hiss escaped Emma's lips as Elara touched a sensitive spot, and she clutched tight to Remus's arm.

"She didn't take anything?" Remus asked Elara curiously.

"Emma has been refusing any and all potions since you left," Elara said. "She's insisting that she doesn't need them. I only got a half of a dose in her earlier before she refused everything outright."

"Sweetheart," Remus said gently, "if it hurts, just take the potion. It's all right to need help, and if it helps you to be more comfortable, it's fine."

Emma shook her head and hid her face in Remus's arm.

"We've tried to tell her to take something," Ginny added, "but I don't think she likes how it makes her feel."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, pain potions are infused with a calming draught of sorts, aren't they?" George supplied, looking at Elara for confirmation. "I don't know that Emma likes that feeling. It's like when you're flying, and you feel weightless. That's what Emma doesn't like."

Leave it to the Weasley children to clear up a mystery about Emma. That made a lot of sense to Remus, especially considering how alert Emma was. She felt like she needed to be aware of everything, not wanting to let her guard drop. It was a fear-based reaction, and Remus felt guilty that he left. It was still too soon for her to be alone.

"Emma, I'm here now," Remus said lightly. "You are safe. Nothing is going to happen to you here, especially with me around, I promise." Very slowly, Emma lifted her gaze to meet his. "You can't tell me that you're not in pain. I can see it in your eyes, love. You don't have to be brave all the time."

"And you've been pretty damn brave," George said.

"Very," Ginny agreed.

"I think the Sorting Hat might have placed you in the wrong house," Fred added. "You're clearly a Gryffindor."

All three Weasley children turned to look at Ron, who looked confused. Ginny punched him again, and Ron straightened up. "You've been pretty brave, yeah," Ron said with an unsure nod. Ginny rolled her eyes, but it was a decent attempt from Ron.

"All done," Elara finally said, and Emma straightened up slightly, though she kept her arms locked around Remus's. "I think we can keep it covered for a few more hours, and then you can let it breathe. I know you're itching for a shower. Now, what do you say about that potion?"

Emma looked at the group surrounding her, looking incredibly unsure. She studied everyone's faces in turn, her frown growing at each encouraging nod. Emma finally looked back at Remus, searching his eyes, looking for the reassurance that she needed.

"I'm not going to leave you alone again," Remus promised. "If you're here, then I'm here."

It took Emma a few more moments of looking at everyone before she finally turned to Elara with a slight nod. It was a step in the right direction.

Emma ultimately didn't win her chess match with Ron, even though she had guidance. At one point, she decided that she knew exactly what she was doing and looked mildly crestfallen when she realized she lost. Ron offered to teach her how to play the game strategically when they returned to school, to everyone's surprise. Emma supposed that meant they were finally friends, after all.

Shortly after, the Weasleys left with plenty of hugs and kisses that left Emma as red as their hair and even left her with small gifts. Molly had taken the time to spoil Emma like no tomorrow with plenty of homemade food, pies, and even a very decadent fudge that Remus couldn't find fault in. To Emma's absolute delight, Molly brought Emma a knitted, patchwork blanket and another jumper that she happily put on over her pajamas. Emma only grew happier when Molly spotted Boris and Bee propped up against Emma's pillow and insisted that she would have jumpers for them as well.

Emma's energy drastically decreased when they left, and she snuggled against Remus with a yawn. She was happy and felt at ease being surrounded by people who loved her. She didn't want to meet George's parents the way she did, but they were sweet. Emma felt a little worried that Mrs. Weasley had to put in more effort to like her, but she was grateful that the woman tried. Emma understood her situation was strange, and Mrs. Weasley had clear concerns over her being half-werewolf. She didn't voice the thought directly to her, but Emma caught snippets of her conversation with Mr. Weasley. Mr. Weasley tried to reassure his wife that it didn't matter if George was happy, that even if Emma was a werewolf, it was only for one night.

It was odd to hear someone else say the exact words she often told her father, but she now knew how much damage a single night could cause. Emma tried to not let it get under her skin when Mrs. Weasley still brought her gifts that she was grateful for. At least the woman was trying.

"That was a mighty big yawn, sweetheart," Remus chuckled, kissing the top of Emma's head. "Had a lot of commotion for a while, yeah?"

Another yawn escaped Emma's lips as she nodded. She got up on her knees to reach over Remus to grab the notebook and pen he brought with him, giving her father a grin when he scoffed in disbelief.

"You know I could have grabbed that for you," he said, giving her a mock-glare with a smile on his face.

'You've done enough for me,' she wrote, reaching back to pull her stuffed animals on her lap. She picked up Boris to stare at him with a slight frown. The bear really did look like his human counterpart, and she set him down to write back in the notebook. 'I think I need to give my bear a new name. It's a little weird knowing there's a real Boris now.'

"Do you have a new name in mind?"

Emma looked at the bear thoughtfully before shaking her head. 'Do you?'

Remus picked up the teddy bear and took a good look at him. The bear had been through so much with Emma, and as Remus brushed his finger over a patch he had to add, he felt inspired. "It's going to sound silly, but what about Patches?" Remus suggested. "He's been everywhere with you, for all of the little moments you've needed to be patched up. And he has one of his own. I think it would be a fitting name."

Looking even more thoughtful, Emma took the bear back from Remus to study the bear. She set the bear back down on her lap, one arm locked around its middle, and wrote, 'It's perfect.'

"Now…what's this about George being your boyfriend?"

'I'll tell you later,' Emma wrote, covering her face with her bear with a giggle.

Emma was getting sick of staying in bed, but she dealt with it only to prolong the moment before she could take a shower. She made an agreement with her father that when Elara gave her the okay to get washed off that she would finally look at herself. It felt like she would never be ready for the moment, but she knew it would have to happen.

Her heart started to race when Elara made her way over to check how things were healing up. Emma frowned when Elara gave her a sympathetic look as she pulled away the bandage from her arm. She felt disgusted when she looked at the bite, and she pulled her gaze away quickly; looking at herself was going to be difficult. Her stomach flipped when Elara gave the all-clear that she could take a shower.

"You're not alone," Remus reminded Emma. "It'll be fine – I promise. I'll come with you to look."

She felt ridiculous standing in the shower room set off from the ward. Emma stood in front of the mirror, her arms crossed, tapping her foot. Every time she thought she could look up at herself, she couldn't find it in herself to do so.

"Sweetheart, you can't avoid looking at yourself forever," Remus said lightly.

Emma turned her head to give her father a look that said she planned to do exactly that and had made plans already. It seemed stupid when she had let others see her, but the idea of having to acknowledge herself was terrifying.

"Close your eyes," Remus said. Emma shot Remus another look, and he gave her a pointed look until she did what he asked. He turned her face forward, lifting her chin so that she actually faced the mirror. "I know you're not going to want to look, but the longer you wait, the worse it'll be," Remus said gently, letting go of Emma's face to smooth back her hair as he stepped behind her. He kissed the back of her head, rubbing her arms. "My mum did this with me, and now I'm going to do this with you. Take a deep breath, and I want you to open your eyes on three. One, two, three…"

Emma opened her eyes on three, already hating how she looked before she even focused on her appearance. Her expression shifted several times very quickly as she studied herself in the mirror. She was startled to look at herself. The scratches weren't as deep as she thought they were, but they felt terrible. They were a little easier for her to accept than she thought because she had grown used to seeing the same scratches on Remus's face. Elara had been right; it wasn't as bad as she thought, but Emma wasn't sure that she liked it.

They were stark against her pale skin, and she finally understood the stunned looks she had been receiving at first look. The scratches looked angry and aggravated despite the care taken to start diminishing their appearance. Emma leaned in closer to the mirror, letting out a soft hum when she noticed the silver streaks of hair in her eyebrow on either side of the scratch. That wasn't something she expected. Her moment of acceptance moved into disgust of herself. It wasn't because she felt that she was ugly from the scars, but it was because she had them at all. Finally, Emma's expression settled on guilt as she looked back at Remus in the reflection. She shouldn't feel terrible about herself.

"You don't have to pretend that you're okay with it," Remus said, reading through her expression. "Just because we look alike, it doesn't mean you have to accept it. It's your face, not mine. I know they look rough right now, but you know they'll smooth out. It takes time, love. I know you're sick of hearing that, but it's the truth."

Emma frowned, her eyes flicking back and forth between herself and Remus in the mirror. She wanted to pick out where they were different, and suddenly that task became a lot more difficult. Angry tears filled her eyes as she pulled herself away from the mirror. Emma wasn't sure what she was mad about anymore, whether she was angry with herself or angry with Fenrir. Perhaps both, perhaps neither. Having to confront herself meant having to face the fact that she still felt incredibly torn.

With a sigh, Emma pointed at the scratch through her eyebrow, asking him silently why the hair had gone grey.

"It's because it's a cursed wound," Remus explained. Emma looked at Remus in the mirror's reflection curiously, touching her hair. Remus looked back at her, looking as though he also had to confront his own feelings to help Emma navigate hers. He looked uncomfortable as she felt.

"For me…it's because I…I hate what I am, and I resist it," he said slowly, his voice full of self-loathing that Emma hadn't heard in a very long time. "If I resisted harder, chances are I would be completely grey. Elara was bitten multiple times, and she resisted her transformation very hard in the beginning." Remus cleared his throat to give himself a moment to change his tone. "It's never easy to go through, and she thought she could fight it. Her hair was always dark, but after her third transformation, it went completely grey. It took her a while to get over it, but I think she likes it now."

Emma turned herself around so that she could hug Remus tightly. She had never cared that he was a werewolf, even when she was younger. A part of her wondered if it would have been easier for him to accept in their time apart had he known that.

"I know you don't care," Remus said. "I just don't know that I'll ever be able to accept myself. But…you make things a little easier for me."

A sad smile crossed Emma's face when she pulled away to look at herself in the mirror again. She glanced at her unbandaged arm and looked at her shoulder, not wanting to move her shirt's collar to look. With a sigh, Emma slowly pulled aside the fabric and felt her stomach drop as she looked at the wound. It was somehow much worse than the bite on her arm, and Fenrir's words started to echo in her head in understanding.

You belong to me, Rabbit. And everyone is going to know it.

Lu! I'm glad the wait was worth it! Definitely in the top really difficult chapters for me to write. Fenrir is absolutely terrible, and I did NOT have a good time writing him at allllll. I hope you enjoyed this one as well! :D