Disclaimer- Oh how I wish it were mine! I'll keep dreaming.
Authoress' Note- Forgive the lack of updating! I wrote furiously to finish this and has luck would have it FanFiction decided to disable the login in option for two days! AND it wasn't letting me upload this and I was afraid I'd have to upload this later today or (the HORROR) Saturday (yes going out of town for turkey day tomorrow until Saturday! PARTY!) This chapter was extremely fun to write! Not much else to say! E.D.J.
Thanks for the reviews!
Blinkgurl017- Glad you liked all the relationship developments in the last chapter!
Brooklyngirl- Yes Neal, yum, George, yum, Numair, yum, Nawat (from Trickster's Choice and Queen), yum. Nope, I won't hate you for giving me quotes from books I haven't read yet. I'll forget them all anyway until I read it and go "Hey! That's one of the one's Brooklyngirl said!" Anyway, I would prefer my reviews carried by African swallows since 'A five ounce bird, could not carry a one pound coconut!' Don't how that logic works, but heh. Glad you loved Sirius and his hippocampus picture!
TheLovelyLadyLily- Yay! I got recommended to other people! –grins- Glad you liked Sirius hippocampus picture!
La Conquistadora- You and your pookas… Anyway I don't think you should be trying to kill elephants with stones. You may get trampled by their gimungous (hey I made a cool word with giant and humongous) feet though I would laugh hysterically if that happened and then I probably would be trampled too because I'd be laughing so hard and wouldn't move out of the way in time. So yeah. I don't wish to be trampled, so don't throw the stones at the elephants in the first place. THIS IS ALL IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROPHECY!
Ch. 18- Emmeline, The Girl Who Helps All
After Monica's tear-filled confession, the only thing anyone could think to do was to go to bed. All except Emmeline. She'd been in the sitting room, scratching furiously on a sheet of parchment for close to four hours now. The plan had to be fixed now that she knew Monica did indeed fancy Sirius, but she was having trouble doing it.
Emmeline sighed and pushed back her hair from her face, listening for the soft crying that had filled the air all night. Yes, Monica was still at it. Emmeline sighed deeply and stood up. She walked over to Monica's room and quietly knocked on the door.
"Monica, can I come in?" Emmeline asked.
All she heard was loud sniffling, so she pushed the door open.
Monica lay on her bed, unmoving as Emmeline took in the disarray in the room. Broken quills, ripped parchment, and, for some reason, a large amount of Bertie Bott's Beans lay strewn across Monica's floor. Emmeline sighed and sat down on the bed next to Monica.
"Mon, do you want to talk?" asked Emmeline, grimacing at the look of her friend's unkempt hair.
No response.
"I'm not leaving until you say something," said Emmeline firmly.
"Fine," said Monica flatly, her voice muffled by her pillow. "Go away."
"Well played, Mon," said Emmeline, grinning slightly. "Will you please talk to me?"
Monica shook her head and loud sobbing soon filled the air again.
"Oh for Merlin's sake," groaned Emmeline. She grabbed Monica by the shoulders and yanked her into a sitting position. "Mon," said Emmeline slowly and deliberately. "Get a hold of yourself."
Monica only began crying harder.
Emmeline pulled Monica to her feet and half-carried her over to the mirror. "Monica," said Emmeline determinedly, pulling her friend's hands away from her eyes. "Look at yourself! You look as if someone's told you you're engaged to marry Voldemort!"
Monica gasped at the mention of the killer's name, but Emmeline merely rolled her eyes and pointed furiously at the mirror. Monica slowly lifted her head to look in the mirror then covered her eyes once more, wishing she hadn't.
Her skin was pallid and waxy looking after not venturing outside for so long and her blonde hair was limp and greasy. Her body looked diminished and malnourished somehow and Monica supposed it was from surviving on Bertie Bott's Beans for the past week. Not exactly nutritional despite the variety of flavors. She moaned and slumped to the ground.
"Em? What's happened to me?" Monica asked, her voice noticeably high-pitched in fear.
"Oh Mon," said Emmeline, hugging her. "You're just upset. It's a big shock, but it's not the end of the world. You're not being forced to marry him or anything. You don't even have to date him if you don't want to, but if you just forget it and never act on your feelings, you'll spend forever wondering what could have happened."
Monica nodded and asked, "Can I break it off with Gavin, but not pursue Bla…Sirius? Can't I just have time to think?"
"Of course," said Emmeline, wincing slightly as she thought of her and the Marauders' plans to make Monica and Sirius happen.
Early the next morning, Lily was woken by a series of loud raps against her window. Groggily, she slipped on her dressing gown and craned her head out to see what the hell had woken her up.
"EVANS?!" came an astounded voice from below her.
A sinking feeling filled Lily and she slowly looked down. Sure enough, it was James Potter she saw standing below her window, holding a handful of seashells he'd been throwing against her window, and looking quite red in the face.
"What are doing, Potter?" demanded Lily. "Do you know how early it is?"
James merely quirked an eyebrow at her, but said nothing.
Lily sighed. "Please Potter. I'm not in the mood for your annoying antics. What do you want?"
James unconsciously ran a hand through his hair, exhorting an annoyed look from Lily. "I was erm…actually looking for Emmeline. Could you get her for me?"
"Alright…" said Lily, confused. She turned around and went in search of Emmeline.
She found her asleep on the sofa in the sitting room, a crumpled sheet of parchment clasped in her hands. Lily shook Emmeline awake and asked, "What the hell are you doing with James Potter?"
"Jealous, are we?" said Emmeline, stretching her arms above her head as she yawned. "And if you'd liked to know, we've been having mind-blowing snogs on the beach for the past two weeks now."
"WHAT?!" shrieked Lily.
"Kidding, Lils," said Emmeline, holding up her hands.
Lily huffed and sat down on the sofa next to Emmeline with her arms crossed. "Not funny."
"For someone who hates the poor boy to bits, you sure are concerned about who he's snogging at the moment," Emmeline observed smugly.
"Em…" said Lily, gritting her teeth. "You know that's not true. I'm only concerned about your well being."
"Then why the sudden assumption that he's doing something with me?" asked Emmeline.
"Because the damn prat's standing outside my window asking for you!" snapped Lily. "That's why!"
"Oh bloody hell," mumbled Emmeline. "No wonder you're throwing a fit."
"I am not throwing a…"
Emmeline shoved a pillow in Lily's face, cutting off her angry retort.
"I have to go," said Emmeline, not even bothering to change her clothes for a meeting with four blokes even if… no she wouldn't think of that now.
"Why? What are you doing?" asked Lily suspiciously.
"Oh, Potter made me promise I'd help him with our summer Potions homework," said Emmeline, lying smoothly. "That's the only reason I can fathom why he'd be here. Unless he's looking for a random snog. In that case, I'll whack him hard for you, alright?"
"Good," said Lily firmly. "I think I'll go back to bed. Tell him to ring the bell in the future, but Merlin, please let there not be future visits from him."
With that, Lily walked back into her room, still muttering under her breath.
Emmeline grinned inwardly and thundered down the stairs, eager to inform the Marauders of her new plans. When she opened the front door, James suddenly appeared on the ground, halfway inside the house. She realized he'd been leaning against the door and had fallen over.
"Nice, Potter," she said smugly as she helped him up. "Real smart."
"Why did I have to get the wrong window?" James groaned. "How angry was she?"
"Pretty angry," said Emmeline thoughtfully. She grinned. "Especially after I told her about all our mind-blowing snogs."
"Our mind-blowing what?" yelped James. "You and I haven't ever…"
"Of course we haven't," said Emmeline, waving her hand dismissively. "And we never will!" she shouted, noticing the odd look on his face. "Stop picturing it!"
She kicked James hard in the shins and he yelped in pain. "Thank you," said Emmeline primly. "Now the point is, after I told her that, she went completely bonkers and I reckon she does, how do I put this, have 'a bit of a soft spot' for you."
"Really?" said James, wide-eyed. "That is interesting."
"Now James," said Emmeline sternly. "We're supposed to be focusing on Sirius and Monica right now."
"Yeah, yeah," said James absently, an ecstatic look on his face.
"Oh for Merlin's sake, come on!" snapped Emmeline, dragging him by the arm back to his house. "I shouldn't have said anything!"
When they'd reached the house, Emmeline was boiling mad at James' inability to walk and she rapped on the door, exasperated.
The door opened and Sirius, Remus, and Peter greeted her enthusiastically. Emmeline mumbled a hello and pushed James into the house.
"Now one of you will need to help with that," said Emmeline, pointing at James who stood stock-still where she'd left him, a dreamy look in his eyes.
"What's with Prongs?" asked Sirius as he and Peter swung James' arms over their shoulders.
"He's mooning over Lily," said Emmeline with a sigh. "I made the slight mishap of telling him I thought she might fancy him a little and he just turned into a soppy mess."
"You should have seen him after she accidentally thanked him for something," said Remus as they made their way up the stairs. "We couldn't get a coherent word out of him for three days."
"Lovely," said Emmeline. "I wonder how long he'll stay in a stupor this time."
When they finally reached the upstairs sitting room and had dosed James with cold water until he was in a somewhat present mental state, Emmeline drew her plan out of her pocket.
"Alright," she said firmly. "Due to recent events, which I am sworn not to reveal, I've made some changes to the plan. Sirius, you're going to have to become a one-woman man right now, if you want this to work. That means no dates, no snogs, no one-night stands, or anything else you might do with a girl. You're completely and utterly single now. If that's too hard for you, tough luck. You'll never date Monica otherwise."
Sirius made a slight cry of outrage, but then he nodded solemnly, knowing Emmeline was right.
"Also Sirius, no fake charm, wit, nothing. Be yourself. Monica will see right through everything else," stated Emmeline.
"Don't come on too strong either," advised Remus. "It'll give her the wrong idea."
"Ambre?" asked Sirius, somehow recalling the name of the girl he'd frequently been seeing the past week.
"Get rid of her," said Emmeline firmly. "You don't expect Monica to let you have a little fling on the side while your dating, do you?"
Sirius shook his head.
"Now our first mission was to break up Gavin and Monica, correct?" said Remus, glancing at Emmeline's sheet of parchment. "Is that still on?"
Emmeline shrugged slightly, choosing her words carefully, so as not to break her promise to Monica. "I'm not sure. I don't think she's entirely happy with Gavin, so she may break it off with him without our help. If she doesn't do it, I'm sure a few words about him will nudge her in the right direction."
"Excellent," said Sirius evilly, steepling his fingers. "I can't wait."
"Me either," piped up Peter. "Last time I saw him he kept telling me, 'Do you know how utterly fabulous your arse looks in those pants?' It was the creepiest thing."
All four boys shuddered collectively.
"I can see that particular door swinging both ways," said James thoughtfully, coming out of his Lily coma for a moment.
"You know it's a bit disturbing to hear you three contemplating the sexuality of Monica's boyfriend," said Emmeline smoothly. "Someone might start to think one of you fancies him."
That shut them up.
"Now," said Sirius, clearing his throat in a very manly way. "Do we commence with the plan today?"
"We'd have to plan something with the girls then," added Remus. "I don't know how it would work otherwise."
All four boys looked expectantly at Emmeline.
She sighed exasperatedly and stood up. "I'll make something up and get us all over here by noon or so."
"Great," said Sirius.
"Well if I have to spend hours trying to convince a bunch of girls, two of whom hate you four, to pay a visit over here, I'd better get started," said Emmeline, rolling up their plan parchment. "See you."
"I'll walk you downstairs," offered Remus, standing up.
He and Emmeline started toward the staircase and Sirius called, "Don't be too long, Remmy!"
They sighed and simultaneously made rude gestures at Sirius before starting down the stairs, laughing at the curses Sirius shouted after them.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Emmeline, still laughing, gasped, "We may need to actually snog or something, to get Sirius off our backs!"
"What?" asked Remus, taken aback. "Do you want to…?"
"No! I was just kidding!" babbled Emmeline, horror-struck. "I mean it's not that you aren't good-looking or anything! You're really really good-looking and I'm sure if we did ever do anything it would be…"
Remus cut her off by grasping her flailing hands and kissing her softly.
"Amazing," sighed Emmeline. "Why would you, how did you…?"
"I assumed you didn't want to continue babbling, so I intervened," said Remus, grinning at her. "I decided you wouldn't mind."
"I don't," said Emmeline softly, standing on the tips of her toes so she could kiss him again.
They kissed much longer this time and when they broke apart, they were both out of breath and grinning at each other.
"If you tell Sirius anything, I'll kick your arse," said Emmeline sternly, playing with a strand of his light brown hair. "I want to see the look on his face too."
"Of course, of course," said Remus, the corners of his mouth twitching upward. "Though I think he'll be the one who's most smug about it, seeing as he insinuated it enough."
"Too true," said Emmeline, leaning against his chest tiredly. She yawned. "Damn, I think I slept a total of four hours last night."
"Then you need to go back to Hestia's and get some rest," said Remus firmly, pushing her toward the door. "I'll see you with Lily, Monica, and Hestia at noon."
"See you," said Emmeline, kissing him gently before stepping out the door, a broad smile on her face.
-scream of glee- I will admit when I started writing this chapter, I had no idea Emmeline/Remus would reach this point, but I'm so glad it did! –scream of glee- Sweet, tender, fluffy, all that good stuff! Yes, I snuck in a bit of Lily/James for you in there since the past few chapters have all been Sirius/Monica including this one. Wow three different views of relationships all in one chapter! Ok I can't form coherent thoughts! Tell me what you think! E.D.J.