Chapter XIV: Changes
"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or
present are certain to miss the future."--John F. Kennedy

"My... my mo... mother?" Emily stuttered out.

Liz looked at her daughter, tears in her eyes. "Yes, Emily, I'm you're mother."

Emily looked at her father and this woman critically. "No, you two are lying. My mother is dead. She's been dead since I was a baby, you two are just lying to me."

"Emily..." Sirius started.

"No, Dad. No. You're lying. I mean, why the hell should I trust you anyway? Where have you been my entire life? In prison, and I was left, by myself, in abusive foster homes. At the age of one I lost my entire family, and you can't just waltz back into my life with apologies and lies and expect everything to be okay again. It doesn't work that way dammnit!!"

"Emily, don't swear. And don't talk to your father like that." Liz told her daughter, mostly in professor mode.

"Don't tell me what do. Neither of you have any right. You *Dad* lost that right long ago, and you, whoever you are, are certainly not my mother, and I will say whatever the hell I want to." Emily said, tears now slipping down her cheeks.

"Emily..." Sirius started once again, stepping towards his daughter, feeling his heart break a little when she stepped back.

"No, don't you touch me. Don't come near me." With that, she turned and ran from the building, ignoring the shouts from the two behind her to stop.

She just ran. She didn't know how long she ran or how far, but when she finally stopped, falling to the ground in exhaustion, she guessed to have been several miles. She knew that tears were running from her eyes, they were blinding her, but she made no move to wipe them away. She just lay there and eventually cried herself to sleep.

***

Meanwhile, Liz and Sirius made their way back up to the castle, knowing they had no chance of finding their daughter by themselves, even using Padfoot's nose. So, they made their way to the castle and to Dumbledore's office where they quickly told him what had happened. Dumbledore quickly rounded up Snape, Hagrid, and McGonnagal to aid them in the search. The six of them split up, agreeing to meet back in the office in two hours, regardless if she had been found.

Snape, not really knowing where a hurt and confused fifteen-year-old girl would run off to, started to search the forest, not the Forbidden Forest, but the one on the opposite side of the castle. He wandered for about an hour before he noticed a speck of white ahead of him. Her shoe. He let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, and found himself relieved that she appeared to be alright, just asleep. Cautiously, he approached his neice.

She rolled over and groaned, opening her puffy eyes slowly. The sun wasn't as bright as it had been when she had fallen asleep and she wondered how long she had been out there. Once her eyes did adjust to the light though, she was surprised to see her uncle standing above her with a look of...relief?...on his face.

"Professor Snape? What are you doing here?"

"You have half a dozen people out searching for you at this very moment Ms. Black. Your parents are worried sick about you."

Emily scoffed at this. "My parents, right. My father, who missed out on my entire life, only to come back thinking apologies and lies will make up for all that he missed out on. And my "mother". Oh, couldn't forget about her. That woman is not my mother. My mother is dead."

Sighing softly, Severus took a seat on the ground beside his neice. "Those are rather harsh words, don't you think?"

"They deserve them."

"Emily... oh child. First off, I hate to disappoint you, but that woman is your mother. I have drilled over every little thing. Things that no one else knows. That is my sister. No doubt about it. As for you father. It's no secret that I've never liked him, and that's not going to change. But not even I can deny how much he loves you. He would have been there if he could. What happened to him... I would only wish on a few select people, ones who are truly evil. Your father is not. I know that you're angry and confused right now, but the blame should not be placed on them. They truly do love you and your comments hurt them earlier. I don't think you truly wanted to hurt them. Despite how you feel right now, you do love them."

"That doesn't change things. Even if she is my mother, that doesn't change the fact that I spent 14 years in abusive foster homes. It doesn't change that I've been alone my whole life. And now, to have the two people who were supposed to love me the most, just come sweeping back into my life, offering apologies that will never make up for anything. You just couldn't know how any of that feels."

"You're right, I couldn't. But don't you think, as much as it hurt you to have been torn away from them, it hurt them even more? Them, the two people who love you the most, had you, along with your brothers, torn away from them unexpectedly and painfully. Did you ever stop to think how they feel. They thought you were dead as well you know. You don't know the pain of thinking your child is dead."

"Neither do you." She accused, but he could see that she had calmed down now.

"No, but Lana did. Her and Lupin. I visited her after the miscarriage. That's the kind of pain that doesn't ever go away. It's carried with you until the day you die."

She looked up at her uncle, a curious look on her face. "You know, you're not as mean as everyone says."

Looking back down at her, he smiled. It was a small, tight smile, as if his lips weren't used to moving that way, but a smile nonetheless. "Don't tell anyone. You'll ruin my reputation."

She found herself smiling back.

"So are you ready to go back and apologize to your parents now?"

"I guess, I just don't know if I can handle this big a change. I don't know if I can just let go of the past."

"A man once said 'Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.'"

Emily thought about that for a moment. "Alright, lets get back, I suppose I do have some apologizing to do. And I guess I need to meet my mother."


To Be Continued

Author's Note: Well, as you can see, 6 days turned into almost 6 months and for that I sincerely apologize, but I have finally gotten over a horrible case of writer's block and am back with those exciting chapters I promised oh so long ago.