Every time Emma thought she had gotten used to waking up in a jarring manner, there seemed to be an even stranger way. Even though she knew exactly how she would wake up, nothing could fully prepare her for the literal sensation of being pulled out of water. It felt almost like her worst nightmare.

The moments following felt like a blur – her giving Cedric a look of confusion as he gave her one in return, a steady mix of pure relief and something else she couldn't understand. She could recall being pulled from the water, lifted onto a dock, and the loud cheers that followed. In one fell swoop, Pomfrey descended upon her, bundling her up into a thick and warm blanket to ward off the sharp chill in the air. The woman muttered things that Emma could only half understand. Emma could see Newt talking to her grandfather, almost excitedly, before Lyall shot the much older man a look and joined her to make sure she was okay. Cedric seemed to only be half paying attention to what was going on, smiling uncomfortably as he was jostled around by their excited classmates.

It was an experience that Emma didn't want to relive ever again.

Being back in the common room felt like an outright miracle. Despite being in an enchanted sleep for hours, Emma didn't feel rested. In fact, she would dare say that she felt even worse than she had the night before.

No amount of potions or charmed blankets seemed to pull the chill that had seeped into her bones out from underneath her skin. Emma's eyes seemed to burn with every blink, feeling dry and sensitive to touch. Her stomach was still cramping painfully, her muscles sore and achy as if she had been running for hours. Something felt off, but Emma couldn't figure out what. It wasn't as though she remembered anything, so what was wrong? Out of curiosity, Emma had questioned Cedric about it, but he had told her nothing strange had happened. The look on his face said otherwise.

As the night continued, the common room very slowly cleared out. One by one, delighted Hufflepuffs would make their way to their beds. The second task being on the weekend meant that the circular room was fuller for longer and far later than usual. Small groups still dotted the room when the clock hit 3 AM, but Emma didn't mind. It was blissfully quieter than before, and she wasn't going to be too bothered by it.

The music that had been turned up to the max hours before had been dropped to an almost light hum. Emma bobbed her head to the tune, her eyes closed, as she sat as near to the fire as she possibly could. Several blankets were draped over her shoulders and one over her head. All she wanted to do was get warm, but it seemed impossible. A wayward, violent shiver ripped through Emma's body, and she let out a noise that was half whine and half groan. Was she ever going to get warm?

Emma felt movement at her side, and she cracked open an eye to see who had decided to join her. A small smile crossed her face when she saw it was Cedric, but he looked just as confused as when he pulled her from the lake. She expected him to look tired, but she didn't understand the expression on his face.

"You all right, Cedric?" Emma asked when he didn't say anything. He remained quiet, his gaze shifting between Emma and the flickering fire in front of them. "You…are all right, aren't you?"

"I'm fine," Cedric said quietly. "But can we talk?"

"Yeah, of course," Emma said with a frown. She shifted herself a little closer to the warmth of the fire, taking in a rattling breath. If she was struggling from the cold, she didn't want to know how Gabrielle was doing. She was much younger and smaller than the others, and Ron and Hermione had been struggling as well.

"More happened in the lake that I didn't say," Cedric said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I should start back at the beginning," he said with a sigh. Cedric ran a hand through his hair and launched back into the story of his time in the lake. He went through the story of dealing with the Grindylows, repeated his odd moment with Myrtle, discussed the plants that had nearly trapped him in their midst. Cedric brought up running into Fleur and Viktor when they found themselves tangled up with a rogue group of Plimpies. Though they weren't harmful, when they arrived in a swarm, it was a nuisance. He retold the story of Krum running into a Kelpie and mentioned Fleur's distress of the Grindylows again. When Cedric reached the point of discussing the merpeople's village, his tone shifted.

"It was odd," Cedric said. "Harry was there first, as everyone's mentioned, but he was too busy trying to get the others. You were all just floating, though Harry had Weasley already. I had the same idea as Harry since the other two struggled, but it seemed more important for me to get you out first. I didn't want the others to see."

"Didn't want the others to see what?" Emma asked slowly, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"In the lake…you weren't, well…you weren't entirely asleep, I don't think."

"I'm sorry? What do you mean?"

"Well, your eyes were, uhm, they were open. I know that you were protected and that you were fine, but you seemed…aware."

"My eyes were open?"

"You weren't fighting the idea of being in the water, but you seemed very conscious of what was going on. If anything, it was like you were more annoyed to be where you were…but you weren't you. It was like your eyes were more…animalistic."

A deep flush crossed Emma's face at the realization of what Cedric might have been talking about. She couldn't say that she was entirely aware of what was going on in the water as she was grossly unaware, but it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. Emma lifted a hand to rub at her still dry eyes with a frown – at least she had an explanation as to why her eyes felt so dry.

"It, uhm, it appears you might have met Soleil," Emma muttered, rubbing the back of her very hot neck.

"Soleil? You mean –"

"My wolfy side? That would be correct," Emma said with a nervous giggle. "They were, uhm, hoping that she wouldn't try anything."

"I didn't really realize that she had a name," Cedric admitted. "I know you've mentioned the name before, but I didn't realize that it was actually a thing."

Emma nodded, pulling the blankets closer around her body with a shiver. "Soleil is…well, she's something else."

"You…she…" Cedric trailed off, not sure of what to say. "Are you the same?"

"Consider us two different people," Emma replied. "We don't quite…work well together."

"You don't? What do you mean?"

"Well, we kind of have the tendency to do our own thing or want to, rather. It's a bit difficult most days, but especially during the full moon. Supposedly there's a way to work together, so we're less combative, but not at that point."

"You're combative?"

"We are," Emma said with another nod. "Constantly at war with each other. Wanting to do something completely different…There are times when I'm never entirely sure my thoughts are even my own. I know that seems ridiculous, but –"

"It doesn't seem that ridiculous," Cedric said earnestly. "I can't imagine how difficult that has to be."

"I don't even know how to describe it."

Cedric fell silent, turning his attention back to the fire. "It seemed almost like…Soleil was relieved to see me."

"Well, she probably was," Emma said, turning her head to look at Cedric better. She dropped the blanket off her head and added it to the pile around her shoulders. "She knows you in the same way that I know you. Do you mind if I tell you something really, really weird and something I've never told you before?"

"What's that?"

"You're pack."

"I'm pack?"

"You're pack," Emma repeated, huffing out a laugh at the blank expression on Cedric's face. "It means you're family, whether you like it or not. Justin's there, obviously my boyfriend…it's the people that Soleil have decided belong with us."

"Oh," Cedric said quietly, letting that information sink it. "She sounds a bit territorial, no?"

"Just a bit," Emma laughed. "She likes who she likes. If she seemed relieved to see you, well, that means she was." Emma yawned, leaning over so she could rest her head on Cedric. She closed her eyes with a small smile when Cedric put his arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry that it was me and not Cho. I know I'm not who you would miss most."

"But you would be," Cedric said quietly. Emma lifted her head from Cedric's shoulder to give him a funny look. "I…like Cho. A lot. But the relationship I have with her is much different than the one I have with you. She might be my girlfriend, but she's not my family."

It took Emma a few moments longer to process what Cedric said. She opened her mouth to say something, but instead, she smiled at him in response. Sometimes there were things that didn't need a response, and it felt like an appropriate time to not say a word.

Things seem to settle down and explode at the very same time after the second task was completed. It took Emma more than a week to fully recover from her time in the lake and multiple visits to Pomfrey. The cold never seemed to leave her bones and left her chilled to the core, even with her body constantly being warmed. It wasn't until Emma managed to talk to Elara that she received any helpful information. She was practically good as new with a very careful combination of potions, but the cold still seemed to persist.

Just when Emma thought that Cho wasn't going to find too much issue with her being the hostage for the second task, she was proven wrong. A few days after the task, Emma found herself walking into what was a very heated argument.

Cedric was standing over by the Ravenclaw's table, looking exasperated as Cho seemed to be talking to him. Everything about Cho was tense, her jaw clenched, and brows pulled close together as she spoke to him. Emma didn't dare look for very long as Marietta Edgecomb, who sat diligently next to Cho, turned her attention on her. It was no secret that Marietta had nothing good to say about her, and Emma didn't want to deal with it.

"Good job, Emma," Justin said, nodding his head in the direction of Cedric and Cho as she sat down next to him. "I didn't think you could annoy Cho any more than you already do."

"Let me guess – she's not enthused that I was one in the lake for Cedric to find?" Emma asked bitterly. She grabbed a piece of toast which she buttered without care and took a bite.

"Well, obviously," Justin said. "She had, erm…quite a few choice words to say this time."

"It's a wonder that you didn't hear her," Finley grumbled from a few seats down. "She was practically shrieking before you got here."

"Was it like the Yule Ball?" Emma asked in alarm.

"Worse," Justin replied, looking purposely around the room. Emma followed Justin's eyes around the room and sunk down as far as she could to hide. She couldn't wait for the day that she wasn't a topic of conversation.

March arrived with cold, bitter winds that left everyone's skin raw when stepping foot out onto the grounds. The new month also brought along the next trip into Hogsmeade.

"Padfoot's back in the area," Harry told her that Saturday morning. Emma stopped eating her breakfast mid-chew to look at him in confusion. No one seemed to pay attention to the odd nickname except for Caspian.

"He's back?" Emma questioned, looking around to make sure that no one was truly listening in on their conversation. Most of the Hufflepuffs seemed engrossed in figuring out their plans for the day.

Harry nodded in response, reaching into his pocket and pushing a scrap bit of parchment into Emma's hand. She read through it quickly with a sigh. It had been weeks since she had heard from Sirius, his last letter coming with one from Remus at the beginning of February.

"So, what are you bringing him, then?" Emma asked, passing the parchment back to Harry.

"Whatever's at lunch," he said with a shrug. "He didn't specify anything. But I figured you'd want to come, so perhaps you'd know what he'd like?"

"It's not like he bothered asking for me," Emma said bitterly.

"You're his…." Harry trailed off as if he realized he shouldn't be speaking so loudly about Sirius's presence in Hogsmeade. "You're his kid."

"But he didn't ask for me."

"Emma, just come with us. Did you have plans?"

"Not really. Just planned to –"

"Then just come with us to see him. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."

The last thing Emma wanted to do was go into Hogsmeade, but she missed Sirius. Even though Remus was her favorite, she didn't mind spending time with Sirius where she could. Rather than argue further, Emma decided she would join the others. The trio wasn't her usual company, but hopefully that meant she wouldn't be bothered by anyone else.

Loaded up with food for Sirius, the three made their way into Hogsmeade after having lunch. Emma questioned the choices that the trio had made and could only shake her head. At least she knew the foods that Sirius liked best to pack, though she wished that she had known much sooner. She would have grabbed much more, but at least she knew to try and send him food when she could.

Stepping into Hogsmeade had Emma a little nervous. She half expected Fenrir to pop out of nowhere as they walked towards Gladrags. Emma only half-listened to Harry, Ron, and Hermione talk, but her ears perked up at the mention of an odd name. They all stepped into the shop, and Hermione seemed to set right off to work, dragging Ron along with her. Harry and Emma followed, with Emma more and more curious.

"Who's Dobby?" Emma questioned as she watched Hermione and Ron debated between several pairs of socks.

"A house-elf that's obsessed with me," Harry said with a sigh.

"You have a house elf, too?"

"Well, not exactly…." Harry gave Emma a funny look, glancing over at Hermione before responding. "You have a house elf? Didn't think Lupin could afford one."

"It's Papa's family's house elf," Emma said, crossing her arms and shifting slightly. "I haven't actually met him, but I know we have them."

"Well, best not to let Hermione know that," Harry said, turning and picking up a particularly ugly pair of socks with moving Quaffles with mild interest. "I freed Dobby from the Malfoy's a few years ago. And now Dobby has decided that he's in my debt, and well…." He trailed off, gesturing vaguely to the socks in front of him.

Emma wanted to question Harry some more, curious about the story behind the Malfoys losing a house elf but decided not to. She heaved a heavy sigh as Hermione shouted something at Ron and rolled her eyes. If it weren't for Sirius, she wouldn't dare hang out with the three of them if she didn't have to.

With two pairs of socks purchased, they set off towards the edge of the village. It was the section of the village that Emma had looked at in longing. The cottages were more spaced out with far larger gardens, and she could almost picture herself living there when she was older. They continued even further towards the mountain that ran along one edge of the village, and then they took a turn. Emma couldn't help but smile at the black dog standing on its back legs, front paws dropped over the top of the stile at the end of the road, newspapers in his mouth.

"Hi Papa," Emma said after rushing over to the dog. She leaned over the stile to scratch the spot behind Padfoot's ears and giggled when he butt his head against her hand. He dropped down to all four paws when the other approached, gave Harry and Emma's bag a sniff, wagged his tail once, and then set off towards a scrubby patch of ground.

The four followed Sirius to the foot of the mountain, walked up the rocky path, and climbed higher and higher up the mountain. The journey was exhausting on only two legs, the pathway covered in rocks and dirt, winding this way and that as they ascended. The sun bore down on them, leaving them hot and sweaty.

They continued walking until Sirius suddenly disappeared. When they finally arrived at the place Sirius disappeared, they found a fissure in the rock. Looking at each other with uncertainty, they wedged themselves into the crack only to appear in a cool, dimly lit cave. Emma's eyes widened in surprise at seeing Buckbeak tethered to the end of the cave, and she wondered how Sirius managed to sneak him through the entrance. The hippogriff gave them a look, and all four dropped into a low bow, waiting anxiously for him to return one. Buckbeak stared at them for one very long moment before dropping to his front knees in a bow.

When Emma straightened up, she was surprised at how Sirius looked. He didn't look clean like the last time she saw him and was back in the clothes he wore from Azkaban. Emma wondered if that was on purpose and frowned slightly when she took in his scraggly long hair and much thinner frame. He had been filling out his clothes nicely when she had seen him last. Though he didn't appear as emaciated as he had after leaving Azkaban, he was still small.

"Chicken!" Sirius said hoarsely after removing the Daily Prophets from his mouth and tossing them onto the floor. Emma and Harry were quick to pull out their bundles of food and handed them over to Sirius. He looked incredibly appreciative.

"Thanks," Sirius said, dropping down onto the cave floor where he was, ripping into a drumstick with his teeth. "I've been living off rats mostly. Can't steal too much food from Hogsmeade; I'd draw attention to myself."

Emma's face twisted at the mention of eating rats. She wondered if Sirius secretly took secret joy in eating the rats and pretending they were Peter. Emma sat down on the ground next to Sirius and gave him a small smile when he threw an arm around her quickly for a hug before returning to his food. She supposed that Harry was a little correct in saying he was happy to see her, his eyes lit up, but he was more interested in his food. Emma didn't blame him.

She was quiet as she listened to the four of them talk. Harry and Ron were looking through the copies of the Daily Prophet Sirius had brought and started to discuss Crouch looking ill. She had seen the articles in the paper before, but she didn't think they were anything of note. As far as she was concerned, the paper had turned into nothing more than a glorified gossip magazine.

Sirius, however, seemed interested the moment the World Cup was mentioned. Emma was unaware of what had happened after she got lost in the woods and found herself fascinated listening to the story of Crouch's house elf. She was startled to learn that it was Harry's wand that was used to case the mark into the sky. Sirius was suddenly on his feet, pacing the cave with a nervous energy that she only associated with Remus. He listened closely to Harry's story from the World Cup, seemingly trying to piece together who had taken his wand to cast the Dark Mark.

"Emma, didn't you tell Daddy and me that those two werewolves walked you up to the box at the World Cup?" Sirius asked, taking a brief moment to pause his pacing. "Could it have been one of them who took it?" Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at Emma in alarm.

"Yeah, but I got lost," Emma said. "And none of the werewolves would've done it. They were with me, and I would've known if one of them cast the spell."

"Doesn't mean that they didn't take Harry's wand."

"Eirwyn and Raoul never got that far into the box."

Sirius hummed to himself and returned to asking the trio more questions. The conversation seemed to take a hard turn the moment Harry asked if Sirius knew Crouch. She was as unaware as the others that Crouch was responsible for Sirius never having a trial. Emma already didn't like the man after how he looked at her before the second task, but she liked him even less. Her curiosity was piqued at the mention of Barty Crouch Jr, and she couldn't stop herself from joining the conversation.

"Was Barty a Death Eater?" Emma blurted out.

"Not sure," Sirius replied. He gave Emma a curious but almost knowing look. "I suppose you've read about Barty in Maggie's diary?"

"Not…not exactly," Emma admitted. "Not yet. Kind of complicated."

Sirius's expression was unreadable, but he nodded. "We'll talk more about that at a later time. I'm not leaving the area, so there'll be plenty of time," he said before continuing the conversation. After a long while, the conversation broke off, everyone unsure of where to proceed next.

"What time is it?" Sirius asked.

"It's half-past three," Hermione replied.

"Hmm," Sirius hummed to himself. "You lot should be heading back, but before that –" Sirius looked over at Emma, pulling her into his side "– I would like to talk to my daughter."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were quick to make their way over to Buckbeak, whispering about everything they had learned. Sirius turned to Emma and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Oh, sweet girl, I've missed you," Sirius said. He began to chuckle, making Emma smile as she held onto him a little tighter. "I'm sorry, I must smell terrible."

"You've smelled worse," Emma said, leaning back to peer up at Sirius. "Besides, I think I like the wet dog smell."

"Haha," Sirius said sarcastically. He pulled away, holding Emma at arm's length and searching her face. "So incredibly like Daddy you are." Sirius lifted one of his hands to run his fingers through Emma's hair, humming softly as he played with the strands. "Have you talked to Daddy lately?"

"Sort of," Emma replied. "We talk, but I know he's hiding things from me again, and I don't like it. He won't tell me what's going on and whether I'll be able to come home this summer… But how have you been?"

Sirius hesitated for a long moment, shaking his head as his gaze drifting over to Buckbeak. He sighed, running his hands through his hair where he could, grimacing as his fingers would catch a mat in the strands.

"Don't worry about me," Sirius said. "I'm fine. But as for you going home…well, the last time I talked to Daddy, we thought that things were going well. Jude seemed to back out, but it turned out that there was an incident around Christmas. He decided to change his mind."

"What do you mean?" Emma asked, feeling her stomach sink at the mention of Jude and Christmas. They had never managed to get an answer as to what had happened for their last meeting being put off. Everything had been quiet, or at least Emma was under the impression that nothing was said.

"Well, he just so happened to be attacked by what he said was some of Fenrir's group," Sirius sighed. "And the issue now is that the Ministry doesn't seem too keen to let two werewolves live together because of it. Basically, everything is back to where things were in the beginning."

"That's not fair!" Emma said, annoyed at the tears that suddenly filled her eyes. "I thought that with Newt –"

"And Newt's information helped…until the issue with Jude," Sirius said with a sigh. "I don't know what the exact details are. I plan to try and get home for a night or two for Daddy's birthday to talk to him. But last I talked to him, so far, it's either that or…."

"Or what?"

"Well, to start, there have been talks of not allowing you at Hogwarts next year. Again."

"But they can't do that! I'm not a threat!"

Sirius gave Emma a look and sighed. "Dumbledore isn't allowing it to happen, but that's one of the things they want to do. Besides that, and they can't do anything about it – not really, but they want to put you… Well, the other options aren't any better."

"What's else?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Papa, what else are they considering?"

Sirius swallowed hard, crossing his arms and lifting his shoulders in a slight shrug. "Throwing you to the wolves," Sirius said quietly. "Just like all of the others. Of course, nothing is stopping you from living an almost normal life. It's not like we can't afford it, but with Umbridge dealing with the case…." Sirius trailed off, turning his gaze back to Emma and giving her what she imagined was meant to be a reassuring smile. "But that won't happen. We're not going to let it, and we'll continue to fight it."

"It's not like it matters," Emma muttered. "I'm of age in less than two years now –"

"We will continue to fight as long as we need to, but we're not going to have to. You're going to come home this summer."

"And if I'm told I can't?"

"We're not going to let that happen."

Emma wasn't sure where to look, casting her gaze around the cave and taking in the old newspapers and rubbish that Sirius had collected. She didn't like that the odds had changed once more and that whatever Fenrir had done had given Jude an advantage again. Her thoughts started to move quickly as she tried to figure out the next course of action. It felt like such a setback to have things go back to where they were, and time felt like it was running out.

She found herself watching Buckbeak preening while getting his feathers pet. He turned his massive head, one of his bright orange eyes meeting Emma's. As if she were jolted with a bolt of electricity, Emma suddenly understood what the only thing left that she could do. She would have to admit that she needed help after thinking that everything was going to work out.

Emma would have to go to Fenrir and force him to help her, and she knew exactly how to get him to do so.

a/n: I don't even know what to write for these anymore other than we're...very very very very very close to the third task. Six chapters left of book 4. Who's ready for it?

To my late night readers - please go to sleep.

For my afternoon readers - I hope you've had a wonderful day so far.

For my morning readers - Have a wonderful day!

I love you all~

Xoxo, Cat

Comeee jooiiiinnn the Discooorrrddddd~