Life at the cottage moved slowly and quickly all at once. Days went by in the blink of an eye, and nights stretched out longer than Emma could have ever imagined. Arguably speaking, Emma was happy, or at least as happy as she could allow herself to be. Emma loved having Remus and Sirius in one spot, and most days, she adored that they were safe within their little bubble. Other than a shopping trip for Emma to finally get new clothes and refresh her toiletries and dance classes, they remained home. Remus would sometimes head out to get groceries or take away, leaving Emma with Sirius, but it was okay. She was happy, they were happy – it was almost perfect.
Not every day was perfect bliss. Sirius frequently struggled with his issues from Azkaban and spent nearly as much time as a man as he did a dog. When Sirius was really having a difficult day, he would go out into the yard to find Buckbeak, who liked to wander the woods. He would leave and not return until hours later, leaving Emma and Remus by themselves. Emma couldn't help but feel like it was because of her most days. Remus couldn't convince her that it wasn't partly her fault.
Emma's thoughts were frequently scattered, especially at night. When it was time to start getting ready for bed, Emma would slowly lose her focus, and the walls she kept up would begin to crumble. Her Friday appointments with Dr. Wheeler were meant to keep her from losing herself to her thoughts, but it was difficult. There were too many things on her mind, and seemingly at all hours of the day. Emma desperately wished she could shut her mind off for longer than a few minutes.
Their first week together was spent trying to figure out a routine. Emma didn't think it would be difficult finding a routine with Remus, they had one before, but even that was challenging. Though the cottage had been home for three years, it felt like the first time she was there all over again. That feeling was further compounded the moment July 31st, a tough day for all of them, rolled into August 1st.
Harry's birthday had left Sirius feeling particularly morose. Sirius wanted to fly out to Surrey to surprise Harry, and Remus had to remind him of all the reasons why that was a terrible idea. The argument that followed between the two was explosive, and Emma quickly retreated to her room to snuggle with Figaro. She didn't think it was a good idea to point out that she was having a difficult day, and she really didn't want to draw attention to her jealousy. Sometimes it felt like all Sirius could do was talk about Harry, and she was getting pushed to the side. It was a stupid feeling for her to have, especially on Harry's birthday, but the feeling was there all the same.
Emma barely even reacted when she heard the back door slamming, Buckbeak's squawk, the strong whipping of wind from Buckbeak's wings, and then nothing. She allowed herself a few tears to fall, which she quickly wiped away, and curled up underneath her covers with Figaro. It was one of the days that Emma questioned whether she genuinely wanted all of them together or if she wanted to be selfish and keep both her fathers to herself.
The silence stretched on for what felt like a long time until there was a soft knock on her door. Emma didn't answer and curled herself around Figaro further, letting the kitten play with her fingers. She lifted her head slightly when her door opened a few moments later, and Remus peered in.
"Do you mind having company?" Remus asked with a sad smile. As if Emma would ever say no after the argument that he had with Sirius.
She picked Figaro up and moved herself to free up space on her bed. It didn't take long at all for them to get situated in their usual positions. The only thing different was Figaro enjoyed cuddling and liked to curl up on Remus's stomach.
"We do this a lot," Emma commented, looking up at Remus with slight amusement.
"We do," he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead and then proceeding to pet Figaro, who purred happily. "I'm sorry," Remus added after a few minutes.
"For what?" Emma asked.
"Sirius," he said with a slightly watery laugh. "I'm sorry you had to see that."
Emma gave a small shrug in response, curling up closer to Remus. "It's fine," she said.
"No, no, it's not," Remus said. "This time is supposed to be for you, and it's meant to be relaxing and calm. Sirius gets a little…"
Remus didn't need to finish for Emma to understand all the unspoken things he was trying to say. Emma understood because she was equally as guilty of being impulsive, just like Sirius. She didn't entirely blame Sirius for wanting to go and surprise Harry, but still…
"Do you think he'll come back?"
"I think he will," Remus replied, not sounding too sure. "I'm hoping he just needs some time to get his thoughts together, and he realizes it's a terrible idea. If he gets caught…"
That was a thought they tried to avoid thinking about as much as possible.
"Maybe we should get Harry a cake," Emma said quietly. "Or a card, or something…I could stay here and see if Papa comes back if you wanted to do that."
"You think we should?"
"It's his birthday. I haven't written back to him still. Would be nice to send him something at least…especially if…" Emma trailed off, afraid of betraying the thoughts she actually had. Somehow, she had a feeling Remus already knew what she was thinking, but he didn't question her.
Remus sighed, squeezing Emma tightly to his side. "Are you sure?" he asked. "I could head out later if Sirius comes back –"
"It's fine. Really," Emma insisted, giving Remus a small smile. "I think I can handle being here alone for a little while."
Another sigh escaped Remus's lips, and he pressed another kiss to Emma's forehead and wrapped both his arms around her. "I really do have the best daughter in the world," Remus said softly. "I have no idea what I did in my life to deserve having such a sweet child. I truly am the luckiest man in the world to have you."
"I'm even luckier to have you," Emma murmured in response, allowing herself to relax into Remus's embrace. She would always feel like she got the better end of the deal.
Sirius returned to the cottage hours later, looking no happier than before, and immediately transformed into Padfoot. At some point, Remus and Sirius must have talked as things seemed normal by the time Emma went to bed that night.
August 1st brought forth far more emotions than Emma could have ever expected to have. There was something that felt incredibly wrong about everything. She was home, and that made her happy, but she had too many conflicting thoughts. Everything up until that day three years prior had been so incredibly unfair. Her life was too entangled with Fenrir's, and it frustrated her to no end. She still couldn't separate her feelings as much as she desperately wanted to, and it left her feeling guilty and disgusted with herself.
Emma wanted to talk to Remus about it, but the last thing she wanted to do was hurt him. How could she ever admit to Remus that the feelings she had for him were the same with Fenrir, even after everything? She couldn't. Emma wasn't the daughter Remus thought he had, and it made her sick. She was a terrible excuse for a daughter, and she knew it. There was no reason for her to feel the way she did about Fenrir.
Rather than being happy about finally being with her family for three years, Emma spent the day half on the verge of tears. She took up residence on the couch for the day, buried under a pile of blankets. Mindless television seemed like a much better idea than allowing herself to think about all of the things she didn't want to think about. Remus and Sirius tried to get her up to do something at several points throughout the day, but Emma refused to move. Not even chocolate cake could tempt Emma out of her blankets.
One of the things Emma seemed to forget was that she had two incredibly stubborn fathers. Rather than trying to get her to move, they went a different route. As the sky started to grow dark, Remus had grown tired of watching Emma do nothing. With a slightly pointed look over at Sirius that Emma completely missed, Remus set into action. He wasn't about to let Emma brood any longer.
Remus lifted Emma's blankets, ignoring her disgruntled noises of protest. He shoved himself into the empty space in front of her, turning on his side to face her. Remus wrapped his arms firmly around Emma, pulling her close. Sirius, undeterred by the lack of space on the couch, transformed into Padfoot. He wedged himself into the slim space between Emma and the back of the couch, just wanting to be close to his family.
Emma had been doing well with fighting back her tears up until that point. The moment Remus started to tell her everything he loved about her, she broke. She couldn't handle him telling her every single one of his happiest memories over the past few years.
"I know what's bothering you," Remus said after a while, leaning back just enough so that he could clean Emma's face of tears with his sleeves. Emma couldn't meet Remus's gaze, bracing herself for what she hoped he wouldn't say. "I know that you don't want to talk about it right now, but I think we should at some point. You're not the only one who has felt the way you do about Fenrir…Even after everything."
That forced Emma to look at Remus, her brow furrowing and tears slowing with his confession. She never would have expected Remus to tell her that of all things. Remus had told her of unspeakable things, things that she kept tucked in the deep recesses of her mind. It didn't seem right, not after what he told her about himself. It made her heart ache in a way she didn't entirely expect, and it made things better and worse at the same time.
"I think you forget just how much I've gone through, love," Remus said gently, pulling Emma's head back to his chest. "I don't want you to ever think that I'll ever love you any less because of your situation. You didn't ask for your life to turn out the way it did; I never asked for mine to wind up the way it is, either. I don't want you to feel as though you can't talk to me because you have always been able to. You know that I love you, and I will never judge you for anything."
Emma snuggled closer to Remus, and Padfoot's furry head dropped onto her arm, not wanting to be left out of the cuddle.
"I'm not the only one who understands what you've gone through, you know," Remus added. "You can talk to Sirius, too – he won't judge you either. You, my dear, have been born into a family of misfits who have experienced the same things as yourself."
It took Emma a long moment to understand what Remus was referring to, not sure of what Sirius could have experienced. She had to think hard about it, and then her thoughts brought her back to the first conversation she had with Sirius. The tremors that he showed her wasn't from Azkaban – it's because someone used the Cruciatus on him as well. Emma turned her head to look at Padfoot, green eyes meeting silver. She freed up one of her hands to pet the top of his head, and his tail gave a thumpthumpthump against the couch.
They really were a family of misfits, weren't they? As if having a werewolf and a convicted felon for parents wasn't strange enough, they also had childhood trauma to share. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to talk about the things that sat in her mind – they could both understand her.
Emma ruminated over the possibility of talking to them, actually talking to them about everything in her mind. It had become easy with Dr. Wheeler – the woman became a third party to Emma's thoughts, nothing was personal. Talking to Remus about anything involving Fenrir or talking to Sirius about anything remotely related to who knows what seemed terrifying. Even if neither of them would judge her, she still had the crippling fear of hurting them.
"Now, what do you say about that cake?" Remus said after a while. "You haven't eaten a thing all day, and I'm afraid your daily chocolate intake is severely lacking."
The growling of Emma's stomach answered for her.
Each day ebbed and flowed, blending not quite seamlessly into the next. Emma took the time to catch up on her summer work with both Remus and Sirius's help. Sirius seemed to enjoy Emma's summer work more than she did, and he did most of the helping. He seemed thrilled to be refreshing his knowledge of magic, and Emma wasn't opposed to extra information. She decided not to work on her Potion's essay, a move that Remus questioned, but Sirius whole-heartedly agreed with.
"If it weren't for Snivellus, this mess wouldn't have even started," Sirius sneered, his tone biting. He threw his arm around Emma's shoulders in clear solidarity with her decision. Remus pulled a face that said he was fully prepared to argue that point, but Sirius wasn't done talking. "If Emma doesn't want to do her bloody Potion's essay, then she doesn't have to do her essay."
It only served to put a pensive look on Remus's face as he leaned back in his armchair. Emma hated when Remus looked thoughtful because it meant just about anything could come out of his mouth. Even when Sirius had moved on from the conversation and moved along to checking Emma's Charms essay, Remus was still thinking. Emma kept casting him looks from where she sat on the floor in front of the coffee table next to Sirius, not liking Remus's silence.
"I wonder if it's worth revisiting the idea of getting Emma a tutor," he finally said when Sirius looked over at him. "It was the solution we were considering last year when Snape wasn't yet willing to let Emma back into class. It's not as though money will be an issue to pay for one, now."
"No," Emma said sharply, shooting Remus a look. "He gets paid for it already so he can do his bloody job. I don't particularly relish the idea of a year with Snivellus, but the greasy bastard makes good money. He should do his job instead of sticking his large nose in everyone's business."
Remus shot Sirius a look and made a vague gesture in Emma's direction, but Sirius only barked out with laughter. Sirius pulled Emma into his arms, pressing a very loud kiss to her hair with his joy.
"That's my girl!" Sirius said jubilantly, making Remus press a hand to his forehead.
"Merlin save us all if Snape ever hears her call him that," Remus groaned. He rubbed his forehead, looking less than amused. "Emma, please just think about it. Is it because you're worried about money again?"
"No," Emma said, snatching her Charms essay off the table to add it to the pile of work she had managed to complete. "I'm just making the point that if he wasn't a slimy git, then nothing would have happened. If you two are going to force me to go back to Hogwarts, then he gets to deal with the utmost pleasure of teaching me. I know what I need to do to get by with the bare minimum in his class."
"Emma, I don't want to see your grades drop –"
"Who said anything about my grades dropping? I'm just doing the least amount of work."
"She's our daughter," Sirius said to Remus with a bright smile. "Our wonderful, beautiful, and absolutely brilliant daughter. Oh, she is going to be such a troublemaker this year, and I can't wait to hear the stories."
A sly grin crossed Emma's face as she looked over at Sirius.
"That is a terrifying prospect," Remus sighed. "Right, well, regardless – money won't be an issue for you. If at any point you feel you would prefer to have a tutor, that can be arranged. Though that brings in another issue…"
"What issue would there be?" Sirius asked.
"I hardly doubt we'll have much luck finding a tutor for a half-werewolf child," Remus said dryly. "At least before there was relative anonymity. Now there's no hiding considering her face has been plastered all over the Prophet."
"Throw enough money in their direction, and they'll come scrambling," Sirius said, waving Remus off. "Don't even need to give a name."
"And who would do the interview?"
"I would like to think I could interview my own Potion's tutor," Emma said.
"I'm sure you could, love, but I would like to make sure that everything checks out. I'm not going to let just anyone around you," Remus said, giving Emma a look that told her there was no point in arguing. "I ask very little of you, Emma, you know that. Right now, there are very few people I trust your safety and education to."
"So if money's not an issue anymore, then I don't go back to Hogwarts. I stay at home, and you can teach me everything I need to know."
"Emma, sweetheart, we have talked about this already."
"It's a good idea," Emma huffed.
Remus sighed and met Sirius's gaze. "I did wind up becoming reacquainted with your little cousin during my stay at the Ministry," Remus said to Sirius.
"That narrows it down, Moons," Sirius said, raising an eyebrow. "Which one of my family members did you manage to meet?"
"Nymphadora, actually."
"Dora? Little Dora? Andy and Ted's daughter?"
"The very same. She only just completed her Auror training, actually."
"Nymphadora?" Emma interjected, looking between Remus and Sirius curiously.
"Er, Tonks," Remus replied, giving Emma a sheepish grin at her look of surprise.
"Tonks?" Emma asked incredulously.
"Which makes her your cousin, too, Pumpkin," Sirius said, completely missing Emma's look of confusion. "What's the point you're trying to make, Moons?"
"Well, maybe we could somehow consult Andy and Ted on the situation. They could possibly serve as a proxy in this situation," Remus suggested lightly. "And perhaps now would be a good time to introduce Emma to the Black family tree."
Sirius looked over at Emma and immediately began to snicker at the lost expression on Emma's face. "That's a very appropriate reaction," Sirius said, pulling a loose piece of parchment out of Emma's pile and grabbing a quill. "Now, I wouldn't normally give a shit about this, but, er…might be a good idea to know who you're related to. The Black family is very select 'Toujours pur' and all that shit, but good luck finding a Pure-blood family that doesn't have a Black somewhere. At least half-bloods like you have a chance."
Emma wasn't sure that she liked the idea of that and moved her things off to the side.
"I'll go get us all something to drink," Remus said wisely. "I have a feeling Emma's going to need something once she actually sees how it's broken down."
Remus greatly underexaggerated just how much Emma of a drink she would need. She almost considered asking Remus to give her a shot of Firewhiskey because Sirius's family tree was horrendous. Emma was struggling to understand how Sirius's parents were his cousins. She looked between Sirius and Remus with complete and utter horror, both men looking amused by her reaction.
"So, what I'm gathering from this…is nearly no one I know is safe because we're all related in some way," Emma said with a frown. She looked back down at the chart Sirius drew out and picked it up, stabbing her finger at the line that said 'Weasley.' "Daddy, this is a problem."
Remus gave a slight shrug. "Draco didn't appear to be a problem," he said, biting back his amused grin at Emma's indignant shout.
"DADDY!" Emma said sharply. "I didn't know so, therefore, that is not my fault! God, and Persephone, too?" Emma threw the chart back onto the table and leaned forward over the top of the coffee table. Sirius rubbed Emma's back gently in sympathy.
"Well, at least you can say you've experienced something of Pure-blood life," Sirius said with a sigh. "Everyone goes through it a few times at Hogwarts."
"I spent weeks making fun of people for this exact issue, and now it's come back to bite me in the arse!" Emma moaned, leaning heavily against Sirius with a pout. "I don't like your family."
Sirius snorted. "That makes two of us," he said.
"Now what do I do?"
"Well, it's not as though you're actually related to Sirius," Remus pointed out. "And even if you were, there's enough distance that it wouldn't matter."
"That's not the point," Emma said, waving Remus off. "The point is that if I were related to Sirius, George would be my cousin."
"Your…fourth cousin, I think," Sirius frowned, looking at the family tree he made. "Fifth? Sixth? I get lost trying to figure this out…"
"Papa," Emma whined. "This is terrible. I get my first real boyfriend, and now he can't be my boyfriend."
"I mean, he could be –"
Emma nearly shrieked but turned her face into Sirius's chest instead. "I can't be with George!" Emma said. She sat up straight all of a sudden and looked at Remus and Sirius with wide eyes. "Please tell me that we're not related to Fenrir somewhere, too."
"No!" Remus and Sirius said at the same time, looking just as distressed as Emma had been moments before.
"He's certainly not related to the Blacks," Sirius said firmly.
"And he's absolutely not a Lupin in any regards," Remus said, his forehead wrinkled.
"And we're not somehow weaved into the weird line of Blacks anywhere?" Emma asked Remus.
"No, not at all. I don't know who we're descended from, but it's certainly not a Black," Remus said. "There were more Pure-blood families years ago, but they either died out or married too many Muggles."
"Well, that's something, I guess," Emma said with a frown, leaning back into Sirius. "I have to deal with him enough. Not sure I could handle that as well. But what do I do about George?"
"What do you want to do?" Remus asked.
Emma had no idea what she wanted to do. On the one hand, she wasn't actually related to Sirius, but on the other, the idea of the entire thing was disturbing to her.
"I feel like how Luke must have felt when he found out Leia was his sister," Emma said when she looked over at Remus. "And they had actual planets between them – I've only got one bloody school." Emma looked down at the chart on the table again. "I think I need to keep this so I can cross-reference the thing."
"Well, the good news is that you don't need to think about it right at this exact moment."
"Which means I'll be thinking about it nearly every day."
"Or I could give you an entirely new topic to distract you."
Emma's frown deepened as she looked back over at Remus. "Why do I have a feeling I'm going to somehow hate this conversation more than looking at Papa's bloody family tree?"
"Because you will."
Remus's topic of choice was a definite distraction from the mess that was Sirius's family tree. Emma had wanted to know more about the werewolf side of her but almost immediately regretted it. She was disappointed to find out that she wouldn't grow any taller, though she had stopped growing a few years prior. Emma had tried to maintain some sort of hope that a miracle would occur, and she would grow, but that wouldn't be the case. She felt suddenly very self-conscious realizing that she was in her "adult" body. It seemed so strange to her when she was only going to be fifteen and be of age among werewolves. Even being an adult at seventeen felt weird to her, but fifteen was only a month away. There was nearly no time for her to process that she was more mature, both physically and mentally, than her classmates. She certainly didn't feel it.
"Merlin, the number of times Moony had to shave when we were at school," Sirius said quietly, slipping back into remembering their time at Hogwarts. "He would wake up in the morning, shave, and then by the time lunch came around, he already had a bit of a beard coming back in."
Remus ran a hand over his jaw with a frown. "Still not any different," he said with a sigh. "Just one of those things I had to get over because there was no changing it. But that's only one half of things…"
Emma could have gone her entire life without having to sit through yet another conversation about sex. She didn't want to know anymore. If she thought the "normal" magical equivalent of sexual education was terrible, it was worse with werewolves. Having to listen to Remus talk about things like "fertility" and further feelings during the full moon was a nightmare. Something that Emma thought could be mildly straight forward had somehow become more complicated. It was all things she never had to consider and never planned to think about. To make things worse, even Sirius had any input in the conversation. Every time Sirius would open his mouth to add something, Emma's face twisted further in disgust.
"Ordinarily, I wouldn't have even considered bringing any of this up, but I would rather you know. I don't want you to get into a situation where you actively forget what you are and that Soleil will most likely want to take over. I know it's incredibly uncomfortable," Remus said apologetically. "It's important for you to understand that things are different. You're as human as you can possibly be, but you have a little friend in your mind at all times. To make it worse, you will be of age in one world, and I can't change that. The rules are completely different for us, and I don't want you to be left in the dark. I don't anticipate you being in the company of other werewolves, but I've been proven wrong too many times. I didn't know any of this information until I was older than you, and I had to figure most of it out myself."
"I feel like this is a conversation that I should be having with Elara and not you," Emma groaned.
"And you will because there's more that you need to know," Remus said, giving Emma a sympathetic smile. "I can only explain things from a male werewolf's perspective. My job is to make sure that you know everything that you need to know, and I've done a miserable job of it. I'm making it a point to make sure you know everything."
Emma only let out a single, bitter, "Ha" in response.
"Sweetheart, let me put it this way – at least you're having this conversation with me and not with Fenrir."
There was absolutely no way that Emma could argue that point. She had many conversations with Fenrir, but luckily the current topic was not one of them. The idea of talking to Fenrir openly about the concept of sex was a disturbing thought, and Emma was very grateful it was with Remus instead.
It was a slow process, but conversations started to become more open. Emma slowly began to talk through her older memories with Remus and tried to voice her conflicting thoughts on Fenrir. Remus listened patiently, never interrupting her and offering comforting hugs whenever she needed them. Even though the conversations were difficult for both of them, Remus forced himself to get through it for Emma's sake. Luckily the moment the conversation would turn to Fenrir, Sirius would make himself scarce and spend time with Buckbeak. Emma couldn't handle having conversations about Fenrir with Sirius in the room.
"It's what he does," Remus said. "He…he wedges himself in wherever he can until you can't get him out."
"But I hate that I can't stop feeling how I do," Emma said, feeling incredibly broken. "I know what he did to me, I know what he was going to do to me…and I just remember everything he ever did."
"It was the same for me," Remus said sadly. "He made me feel like there would never be anything else, all the time. There were so many days where he tried to show me what life could be like if I stayed with the pack. For a while, I almost believed him, but then I would remember you and be reminded that there was another way of living."
"That's so much different than what he taught me, though," Emma sighed, pressing the palms of her hands into her eye sockets. "He told me that it was better that I know all aspects of things. He never outright told me he was a werewolf, but I knew that his life was much different than mine. Fenrir never said that he was the only thing I would have, just that he was making sure that I was taken care of until you came along, essentially. He never told me that you even existed, just that there would be a day where he wouldn't be there all the time."
"I think he learned from me," Remus replied after a moment. "He had too much of a hold on me, and it worked for some time, but I had somewhere else to be. I think by the end of the war, he realized that no matter what he did, I wasn't going to stay."
"But that's another problem," Emma said. "He has it in his head that if he has me, then you'll go right back to him."
Remus's lips pressed into a thin line. "He's not entirely wrong," Remus admitted. "It's not as though I have much keeping me here besides you. It's not something I would necessarily want to do; I enjoy modern conveniences, after all. But if for whatever absolutely awful reason, you found yourself in that situation, I would go."
"What about Papa?"
It looked like Remus was doing some quick thinking as he peered over in the direction of the fireplace. "At the end of the day, you're much more important to me," he said slowly, pulling Emma into his side. "I will never say that I don't love Sirius because I do, but if I had to choose between the two of you, I would always choose you. Really, no matter what, any choice I'm given, I'll always choose you. You are what I care most about in the world, and I need you to understand that. I am always going to love you. No matter how scattered or how confused you are, I will never stop loving you."
It was possibly one of the most reassuring things Remus could have told her. She still couldn't stop herself from feeling guilty over everything else, but for once, she finally believed Remus.
Time moved impossibly faster after that point, and Emma hated it. Each day that passed was one day closer to the inevitable. As much as Emma wanted to stay home, she had no faith in the Ministry allowing her to stay home. Something was going to go wrong, and she knew it deep down in the very fiber of her being. What that "something" was, Emma wasn't sure, but she knew it would happen.
There wasn't enough time for anything – not enough time for cuddles or late-night ice cream; not enough time for batting around small objects between the three of them for Figaro to play with. There wasn't enough time for dances in the kitchen or listening to stories that made Emma laugh until her face hurt from smiling too much. There wasn't enough time to play in their new garden or figure out how the cottage would be renovated. Somehow among every bit of pain that she felt, Emma managed to find small glimpses of happiness.
Sirius took off with Buckbeak three nights before they had to be at the Ministry after Emma's appointment with Dr. Wheeler. They had the conversation that he would have to head back out on the run again, but it still bothered Emma to see him leave. She had finally gotten to know what life with her family would be like, and they had to be torn apart again. Sirius promised that he would write as soon as he was settled for longer than a few days, but it still left Emma worried.
Emma abandoned sleeping in her room that night, feeling much more settled with Remus there. Having Figaro helped during the night, but she hadn't gone to bed without both Remus and Sirius with her. Her sleep routine was interrupted, and she struggled to cope. The next day wasn't any better.
Waking up to hear Snape's drawl from the living room talking to Remus was the last thing Emma wanted to deal with. She grumpily pulled Remus's blanket around herself like a cloak and stomped into the living room. Emma didn't bother masking the way her lips curled in disgust as she met Snape's gaze.
"What is he doing here," Emma growled out at Remus.
Remus raised a hand to try and placate Emma's anger. "He brought your first dose of Wolfsbane," Remus said in explanation. "You know there's only a week left until the full, sweetheart."
"I'm not taking it."
"Emma –"
"No, I'm not taking it if he made it," Emma snarled. "He's the reason everything got ruined."
"If you recall, you're the one who didn't come to my classroom to make the Wolfsbane Potion as was required," Snape drawled, sounding very bored.
"Excuse me?" Emma said slowly.
"Emma –" Remus said his tone warning.
"No," Emma snapped at Remus. "He is not going to come into our home and tell me that I did something wrong when none of that was my fault. He made the bloody potion that night, and he was the one who decided to leave it because he insisted on trying to frame Papa. If he wasn't such a nosy bastard, he wouldn't have nearly gotten himself killed. If it weren't for him, we could have just gone home like normal, I wouldn't have been attacked, and I wouldn't have been bloody miserable all fucking summer."
Emma's chest was painfully tight, angry tears in her eyes threatening to fall from her eyes. The last thing she wanted to deal with was Snape, and he wasn't going to get the satisfaction of her tears. She shot Remus a frustrated look and gave Snape the dirtiest look she could manage. With a growl, Emma whirled back around and went back into Remus's room, slamming the door behind her.
When Remus finally entered his room moments later, Emma was so sure he would give her a lecture. He sat down on the edge of the mattress next to her and set down the vial of Wolfsbane. With a soft sigh, Remus stroked her cheek with his knuckles, and Emma nearly growled at him just because it annoyed her how quickly it calmed her.
"I'm proud of you for finally saying that what happened wasn't your fault," Remus said gently. "I should've woken you up, but I was taken off guard. I completely lost track of time."
"I think I'm tired of blaming myself for everything," Emma muttered, closing her eyes and trying to focus on the rhythmic pattern of Remus stroking her cheek. "It wasn't my fault, and it wasn't yours," she added, knowing that Remus would insist it was his fault next. "I'm not taking the Wolfsbane if he made it. I would rather suffer again."
"Emma, please," Remus said gently. "I don't need you getting sick from not taking the potion again. I know last time wasn't your fault, but please – for me."
Emma opened her eyes to level Remus with a displeased look. She took the potion.
Sunday went almost similarly to Saturday in terms of Emma's mood, but Remus was careful to make sure that Emma didn't see Snape. Just like at Hogwarts, they jokingly clinked their bottles of Wolfsbane together before downing the potion with matching faces of disgust. It was such a ridiculous ritual they had, but somehow it made the process a little bit easier.
They kept their conversations as mundane as possible as they packed up Emma's trunk, hoping that it would only have to be unpacked at home again. Remus tried to be optimistic, but Emma couldn't be. She tried to maintain some level of enthusiasm, but it was difficult. They had long conversations over what Emma should actually take with her, torn between whether or not she should pack her blanket.
"Do you want to take it to school with you?" Remus finally asked.
"But what about holidays?"
"Sweetheart, you always make it sound like I am going to let you be uncomfortable," Remus said with a laugh.
"I know you wouldn't, I just…" Emma trailed off and threw herself into Remus's arms, needing to be close. "I'm worried about tomorrow."
"I know, but we mustn't think negatively," Remus whispered.
"Only you would use a word like 'mustn't,'" Emma muttered, burying her face into Remus's chest. A small smile crossed her face at the familiar rumble of his chest as Remus chuckled.
"It's the truth fy nghariad bach," Remus insisted. "Let's just enjoy tonight, and we'll worry about things when we get to the Ministry. It'll be fine. No matter what happens, we're always going to have each other, and that's what matters. No matter how much distance there is, I'm not going anywhere. I promised you that you would never be alone, and that's a promise that I always intend to keep. We'll get through things just as we always do – with each other."
Emma didn't feel that it would be enough, but there wasn't much to do to change it. What happened next was going to happen, and she would try to latch onto Remus's optimism. She didn't want to be miserable for potentially her last night home, so she wouldn't be.
a/n: Wow, it's been a while since it's taken me forever to write a chapter. For some reason this chapter was just not flowing and was scrapped multiple times. I finally hit a groove and things started to fit together.
However - in the middle of writing this chapter, I decided to write out the Black family tree and wanted to sob. I'm throwing a lot of canon, but it was always super important for me to leave Sirius's family tree mostly intact. This meant I ran into many many many unfortunate discoveries. That being said, I'm curious - should Emma stay with George? We've had some fascinating (and unfortunate) ship possibilities over on Discord, so I'm curious to know what suggestions will be made.
Also, this is me kindly requesting favorites and comments and the whatnot. I love talking to everyone.
Also, note for all of my late night readers - go to bed.
Lucasjan - I certainly try. Thank you as always!
ShardAura - More fluff, more fluff, more fluff! I needed to write fluff so badly. They're a chaotic little family trying to figure things out. I love them so much.
Maricate - Fenrir was in my super dislike pile, but I think he's moving into my tolerable category. Jude on the other hand...well, everyone will find out soon enough, I think. Monstro was so scary as a kid! I think Pleasure Island scared me most from Pinocchio, though. The pink elephant parade is absolutely brilliant now, but definitely fits into the creepy factor as a kid.