Emma felt as though she couldn't get back down to the dorms fast enough. Her first order of business was to see Professor Sprout to figure out how therapy would work that year. It took an extraordinary amount of begging on Emma's part to convince Sprout to reach out to Remus to try and cancel that night's appointment. With Emma returning to school, the Ministry had been willing to reopen the Floo at the cottage for calls only. It would be last minute, but Emma just didn't have the energy to go through with it.
Sprout must have Floo called Remus right away as Sirius was at the ready when she made it to the dorm. She stepped around the curtain and met Sirius's sympathetic gaze. Sirius didn't even bother waiting for Emma to say anything and got up from her bed. The moment Emma was in Sirius's arms, she broke down into tears.
"I just want to go home," Emma cried. "T-take me home with you."
"Oh, sweetheart," Sirius murmured into Emma's hair. "I'm so sorry that you've had a rough day. Daddy told me about the letters."
"It got worse," Emma choked out.
"All right," Sirius said softly, rubbing Emma's back and making soothing noises to try and calm her. "Shhh, try and calm down, or you'll make yourself sick. Do you need me to help you like Daddy does?" Emma managed a weak nod, her breath hitching with her hysterical and broken sobs. "All right, you can do this," Sirius encouraged, taking a deep, albeit shaky, breath and trying to coax Emma into doing the same.
It was a painstakingly slow process to get Emma to a calmer state of mind. He picked Emma up, carried her over to the bed, and sat her down on his lap to keep her close. Just like Remus taught him to do, he reached over for both of her stuffed animals and put them in her arms to hold onto. Slowly, Emma's sobs died out hiccoughs and wide yawns, and she snuggled into Sirius's embrace.
"'M sorry," Emma murmured with a sniffle.
"You've nothing to be sorry about," Sirius said lightly. "You've had a very rough first day back. I have to confess that Daddy and I were worried that this would happen."
"So you two already talked about this? You already knew you were going to come back when you left?"
"Well, we didn't expect things to be this difficult," Sirius admitted. "And I was hoping to be able to come back to be with you. We didn't want to say anything when I wasn't entirely sure that I could. Fortunately, things worked out how they did, and I didn't have to stay out in the rain. I had completely forgotten about the annual sleepover, but I wouldn't have left until I got to be with you."
Emma hummed softly, closing her eyes as she tucked her head under Sirius's chin with another yawn. "'M so tired," she muttered. "I just want to sleep."
"I know, pumpkin," Sirius said. "I know. What do you have after lunch?"
"Double Charms and Transfiguration." Emma tried to make herself as small as possible as she curled up against Sirius. "I don't know that I can go, Papa. Today's been too much, and I'm not strong like your or Daddy."
"You are so strong. So much stronger than Daddy and me. You have had held yourself together so well," Sirius said. "Today wasn't meant to be so hard. We all forgot to mention having your mail redirected, and we feel terrible. Your grandfather made sure that it was one of the first things he did when you went home with it, and Daddy had it set up a few days after he got home. We didn't realize you were still going to need it here."
"People are horrible. I can't believe they would send letters like that to Daddy."
"They are," Sirius agreed. "People are terrible. But what else happened today? Did you want to talk about it?"
"Not really," Emma sighed. "But you want me to, don't you?" Emma took Sirius's silence for confirmation, and she sighed. She gave herself a moment to collect herself before explaining how her entire morning had gone, starting with History of Magic. That wasn't an entirely unexpected situation, they had already figured that would happen, but they had hoped it wouldn't.
Whatever magic existed in Hogwarts would have changed every one of her records. Sirius asked Emma if she had even looked at the name on her schedule and frowned up at him. She hadn't even thought to check. Emma reached into her bag that sat next to them on her bed and pulled out her schedule, and sure enough, it read Emma Black. Sprout had never said a word.
"We'll have Daddy get that fixed," Sirius said. "Nice and easy fix."
"But I don't think the rest will be," she said quietly. She took a deep breath and continued to tell Sirius how Potions had gone. His hold on her tightened considerably with his aggravation over what Snape had done to her.
"Slimy, greasy bastard," Sirius growled, pressing a kiss to Emma's head. "You know that we can more than afford a tutor for you, yes?"
"I know," Emma said. "I think I want to look into it. I'm not sure if I can handle a year with Snape. Not without you or Daddy being here, at least."
"All right," Sirius said, smoothing back Emma's hair. "We'll talk to Daddy, and we'll try and get something set up. Honestly, I think me and Daddy will be much happier if you don't have to spend any more time with him. And did anything happen in Defense?"
Emma cast Sirius a reproachful look before launching into her explanation of what happened with Moody. Sirius's brows knit together the more Emma told him, a frown crossing his face.
"It sounds like Moody and doesn't all at once," Sirius said thoughtfully. "I can see him wanting to show what illegal curses look like, but to use you as an example? That seems strange."
"Maybe it's because he's retired and doesn't care," Emma said. "He apologized for it, but…"
"That was your secret to keep," Sirius said. "No one ever needed to know that the curse was cast on you, especially if it was in your file. That's private information."
"But if it helps –"
"It made you uncomfortable," Sirius said firmly. "And it was highly inappropriate. We'll make sure that Daddy knows that, too. But if he knows about Jude…" Sirius trailed off with a sigh as he brushed the backs of his fingers against Emma's cheeks. Whatever he was about to say didn't appear to be that important as he changed the subject. "Are you hungry?"
"No," Emma muttered.
"Why don't you have a kip, then? I think you being tired still doesn't help. You've only got two more classes left, and perhaps Flitwick will let you out early."
Sirius let Emma sleep until nearly the last possible moment, which she appreciated. It didn't do much to help her mood, and she felt she looked terrible with her washed off makeup, but at least she was a little more awake.
"Just two more classes," Sirius said gently, tugging Emma back out of bed. "Two more, and then it's the weekend. Daddy made sure to Floo call and got your records updated, so there won't be any accidental slips during attendance. He said that he will put in an ad in the Prophet, anonymously, of course, to try and find you a tutor. Daddy already put in the approval list for your mail, so that should be taken care of relatively quickly."
A small frown crossed Emma's face as she gathered her things. "Sounds like you two did a lot while I was asleep," she said.
"We worry about you, sweetheart," Sirius said gently, kissing Emma's forehead. He lifted her notebook towards her. "Did you want this for during your break between classes to talk to Daddy? I know that you wouldn't be able to get away with it during Charms or Transfiguration."
"No," Emma said softly. "I'll just wait until dinner."
"Okay," Sirius said, giving Emma a fond smile. "Just a few more hours, and then your weekend will start. I love you, sweetheart."
"I love you, too," Emma said, returning Sirius's smile. She turned to leave, but Sirius called her back, and she looked over her shoulder at him curiously. Sirius looked as though he didn't want to say what he was about to say, and it made Emma worried. Sirius had firmly placed himself in the role of "Fun Parent," and if he was uncomfortable…
"We know that you don't want to," Sirius started carefully, "but Daddy and I want you to see Dr. Wheeler tonight."
Emma felt herself crack a little "But I –"
"Emma, please. It's important."
Both Charms and Transfiguration seemed to last five times longer than they usually would. Remus had worked quickly to make sure Emma's records were correct as Flitwick and McGonagall ran through attendance as expected. She was once again Emma Lupin, and that's all that mattered. She was more than happy for both classes to be over, and though both professors clearly wanted to talk to her, Emma left before they could.
Rather than joining everyone at dinner, Emma avoided everyone as best as she could. She visited the kitchens to get dinner for herself and Sirius and immediately made her way to her dorm. It took Emma far too long to realized that Sirius had taken a shower and borrowed some of the clothing she had from Remus.
"I plan to make sure that Dad goes out to pick me up a few things," Sirius said softly as he looked down at Remus's jumper. "I hope you don't mind for right now…"
"No, of course not," Emma said with a sad smile. "Just makes me miss him more. I know I saw him yesterday, but it's not the same."
Therapy went just as Emma thought it would, and Emma felt like she was reliving her appointment from the previous week. She understood that her fathers wanted her to keep her therapy appointments, but Emma didn't feel it was useful. Rather than helping, Emma felt far more agitated than she did before, and even that seemed to drag on longer than usual.
Since they hadn't come up with a different location for her appointment, Emma found herself in the Hospital wing in Madam Pomfrey's office. It wasn't where Emma wanted to be at all, and she vowed to think of a new location. There had to be a much better location to be in. Through the entirety of her appointment, Emma thought about Moody's words. She tried to convince herself to get looked at after her appointment was over, but she couldn't bring herself to follow through. Perhaps she could get looked at some time in the next few weeks.
Emma was silently grateful that Sirius knew to transform into Padfoot and hide under her bed as her curtains were open when she returned to the dorm. Her immediate reaction was to panic, and she shot nervous glances at the others, who stared at her almost nervously. Though they weren't looking at her with thinly veiled disgust, the other girls still weren't sure of her.
"Why are my curtains opened?" Emma snapped in aggravation. "They were closed for a reason."
"We just wanted to make sure your cat got back safe," Susan said softly. "One of the Ravenclaws…"
"One of the Ravenclaws what?"
"Er, well, one of the boys tried to get to your cat," Megan said, looking pointedly at Figaro. "They figured out who she belonged to – the older boys."
Emma felt her stomach plummet as her eyes shot over to Figaro sitting in her cat-bed, cleaning her paw as cool as can be. "She looks fine," Emma said slowly, looking at the others.
"Because she is," Susan said. "It was honestly fascinating to watch."
"What happened?"
"Well, it appears as though your cat has some sort of modified shield charm," Sally said, glancing over at Figaro. "But she also has a pretty powerful knock-back jinx attached to her. One of the boys managed to get really close to touching her, but before he could get any closer, he was shot clean off his feet."
"About 15 feet away from her, actually," Leanne added. "Your cat – Fig the tag said? – didn't even seem to care. It was like she knew what was going to happen."
"A few more boys tried and had the same thing happen, but then they couldn't get close to her at all," Hannah said quietly. "We decided to see what would happen if we tried to pick her up, and we had no problem whatsoever. We didn't think it was a good idea to let her keep walking around and decided to just bring her back for you."
Emma looked between the girls and Figaro in surprise, and she wasn't entirely sure how to feel. It sounded as though Fenrir had made sure to put protection charms on Figaro's collar that would know if someone had ill-will towards her cat. If the older boys had figured out Figaro was hers, they must have been planning something terrible. Fenrir had clearly anticipated that being an issue and had taken care to make sure nothing would happen, and it was entirely Fenrir's style. Lure someone in, think they have a chance, and then strike. It was both brilliant and disturbing, and Emma couldn't stop the odd surge of appreciation for what he'd done. He knew that Emma would be devastated if something happened to Figaro and made sure nothing would happen. It only made Emma hate Fenrir just a little bit more. The more he did nice things for her, the more annoyed she would get.
"You brought her back for me?" Emma finally questioned, looking between everyone before settling on Hannah.
"We didn't want her to get hurt," Hannah said, sounding unsure of herself. She fidgeted slightly with her fingers before deciding to pull her blonde hair up into a ponytail and turning away. "It was the least we could do."
"We're sorry," Susan added, breaking the stunned silence. "We didn't…" Susan trailed off, looking around at everything else distractedly. "We need time, but we're sorry. We don't…we don't think that you're a werewolf, but we don't understand, either. Apparently, there's a lot we don't understand…"
Emma was completely and utterly shocked. She fidgeted nervously with Fenrir's ring, spinning it around her finger with her thumb as she tried to think of what to say.
"I…thank you," Emma finally managed, focusing her attention on Figaro. "But I think I need time, too. Good night." She quickly made her way to her room and closed the heavy curtains, casting her usual spells. Nervous, Emma dropped down to her floor to peer under her bed and let out a sigh of relief when she found two silver eyes staring back at her.
"I went through the entire routine already," Emma said softly. She frowned when Padfoot didn't move from his spot and remained curled up in his corner. "Are you going to wait until everyone's asleep?" Padfoot gave the smallest of nods, and Emma sighed, reaching up to pull one of her blankets off her bed. Even though they had wide rugs in their little nest areas, Emma couldn't imagine it was particularly comfortable.
"At least take the blanket," Emma said. "I could always come under there with you, you know."
Padfoot gave a soft wuff in response before grabbing into the blanket with his teeth to pull it close. Figaro took the opportunity to sidle underneath Emma's bed to join Padfoot and curled up beside him.
"Well, it seems like someone else has decided to give you company instead," Emma sighed. She watched as Figaro rubbed her face along Padfoot's, her purring loud and tail held up high. "I guess I'll talk to Dad for a bit, then."
As much as Emma hated not having her notebook to talk to Remus, she had to admit she enjoyed reading his conversations with Sirius. She had worried that she would come across something questionable, but all they talked about was her.
Her stomach knotted at the clear worry between both of her fathers about her, their concerns over what she had said, and her behavior. Sirius had missed the worst of her mental state her second year, but he had seen the small snippets of it during their short time they were all together. She hated worrying Remus as it was, but to learn she worried Sirius as well made her sick. Emma thought that she was better, sometimes felt like she was better, but everything felt like it was crashing down on her.
Rubbing her forehead hard, Emma picked up her quill, found the last page written on, and started writing. Remus's letter had been a huge help, but she needed his words in real-time.
She wasn't entirely sure how long she had been talking to Remus when Padfoot finally crawled out from underneath her bed. He shook himself out, and in the blink of an eye, Sirius was standing on two feet.
Emma could see the guilt written all over his face, and she flipped back a few pages in her notebook with an understanding of why. She ran her fingers over the words written down on the page, tears filling her eyes.
"You're leaving already, aren't you?" she asked sadly, lifting the notebook off her lap. "I saw you and Daddy talked about it…"
Sirius sighed and nodded. He sat down in the space next to Emma and pulled her into his arms to hug her tightly. "I'm sorry," he said gently. "I'm so sorry. It's just –"
"It's not safe," Emma finished for him, tossing the notebook aside. "It's really not safe. If they caught you earlier…" Emma's breath hitched with a dry sob and she held onto Sirius as tightly as she could.
"No," Sirius agreed, squeezing Emma tighter. "I love you so much, sweetheart," Sirius said. "Please don't forget that. The moment I can come back, I will. I promise." Sirius leaned back to take Emma's face between his hands, his eyes searching hers. He pulled her face closer to press a tender kiss to her forehead before leaning back to meet her gaze once more. "Please don't do anything rash – I know you get that from me. Daddy and I love you so very much and we don't want you to slip back where you were. You have come so far, and I know things are scary, but you are so very strong, pumpkin. I promise that I will always come back for you." For the first time, Emma felt that she could truly believe him.
Emma felt very alone the very moment Sirius left. She watched Padfoot run as long as she could, hanging onto her windowsill as he departed and only slipping back into her room at the last swish of his tail. She ran her hands over her face and looked over at Figaro with a heavy sigh.
"Guess it's just you and me now, Fig," Emma muttered. She sat back down on her bed, pulling her notebook over to write to Remus and let him know Sirius left.
'Get some rest, fy nghariad bach,' Remus wrote to her. 'It will be late when Papa gets here. I don't want you to stay up all night. Rwy'n dy garu di.'
Emma felt like everything was slowly falling apart, and she could practically feel Remus's insistent stare through the pages. It didn't help that he knew her too well and knew she was already planning to stay up all night. Sirius wouldn't be arriving to the cottage until at least 4 in the morning, if not later, and she wanted to be up when he made it.
'Rwy'n dy garu di, Daddy,' Emma wrote back reluctantly. 'Nos da.' She grabbed her wand to clear the pages, not wanting to bother to write any more that day.
With another, far heavier sigh, Emma flopped back onto her mattress. She grabbed onto Remus's discarded jumper that sat next to her, holding it tightly. Emma had told Sirius just to wear Remus's clothes back home, but he left them for her instead, and she was silently relieved.
The softness of Remus's clothing was soothing to her, familiar and comforting like a warm blanket. In her early days with Remus, she always found solace in wrapping her fingers in the fabric of his clothes. It was undeniable proof that he was there, that he existed, and she loved the way the material felt underneath her fingers. She loved the feel of his thick woolen jumpers and the glide of the fabric of his button-up shirts and found herself missing being able to play with his clothes absent-mindedly. But she couldn't focus on that, not right now.
Too exhausted to sleep, Emma got back up. It was late, but not too late that She crept out of the dorm and made her way over to the boy's dorm, grateful that the other boys were asleep. It was almost like Justin knew that she would make an appearance as his curtain was still open and didn't look too surprised to see her. He set whatever comic book he was reading aside and gave her a knowing smile when he saw her face.
"Give me fifteen minutes, and I'll meet you in the common room," Justin said.
Sometimes Emma swore that Justin had to be an absolute saint as Cedric followed him into the common room. There were times that he seemed to know her better than herself and she had no idea how. Cedric looked groggy, clearly just woken up by Justin, but carried a guitar along with him.
"I hope you don't mind," Justin said, sitting down next to Emma on the couch and throwing an arm around her. "Thought it would be a good idea to bring in reinforcements."
"And I've been looking for an excuse to play this," Cedric said, settling on Emma's other side. "I know how much you love music…"
"I didn't even know you played," Emma said, relaxing against Justin.
"I do," he said. "It's been a while, but hopefully I can still play all right."
Things didn't seem so bleak the next morning when she woke up. She had fallen asleep on Justin, and Cedric had fallen asleep on her with his head on her shoulder, guitar sitting on the table in front of the sofa. At some point, someone had pulled a blanket over all three of them, and Emma couldn't help but smile. Even if no one else bothered to talk to her, she could be fine with who she had. Justin had never left her once, and she had a feeling Cedric wouldn't either. Soleil seemed to be curled up happily in her mind, and Emma knew both boys we considered part of her pack without a doubt.
As she closed her eyes again to take advantage of the last bit of silence in the common room, Emma had to concede that Fenrir had a point. She would never admit it to him, but she had a solid understanding of what he meant when he spoke of the pack. Pack was so much better than having friends; pack meant family.
That weekend seemed to be the start of a near daily occurrence of strange things that decided to precede her fifteenth birthday. Before heading to breakfast that Saturday, Emma had suddenly remembered Fenrir's letter from the day before. She had been silently relieved that it didn't contain much other than information on how to contact him – Send your letters to F. Grey – and – look out for his letters. With a begrudging sigh, Emma grabbed her notebook to write to Remus to ask if Fenrir's letters were blocked. Emma wasn't expecting to read that Dumbledore was the one who recommended that line of communication remain open. Remus wanted to keep that particular channel closed, but Dumbledore had other ideas. Emma wasn't sure that she wanted to know why and silently reminded herself she still needed to speak to him about what she learned.
Breakfast was once again an issue as the redirect on her mail hadn't taken effect. It seemed that she had even more mail than the day before, and with the help of Justin, Cedric, and George, they made their way through the piles. Emma was surprised to see that Hannah and Susan joined in on the task.
To Emma's aggravation, several people had even decided to send Howlers. The nerve. Unfortunately, no spell that George or Cedric could think of worked to silence the screaming letters. She flinched violently at the Howler that screeched at her. It took Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick's quick dash to where they sat to silence the letters as they arrived.
"You've got a letter from Gringotts," George said, passing the envelope to Emma. "And it appears a letter from that Healer at St. Mungo's."
Emma was more than delighted that Elara had written to her, but it was the letter from Gringotts that fascinated her most. She had seen Gringotts statements before, but her account was opened a few weeks prior. It seemed odd that they would send her one so soon, and it felt even stranger that she would receive the letter and not Remus.
She split the envelope and pulled out the letter as George and Cedric went to find Sprout to give her the pile of letters. Emma quickly grew confused; it wasn't a bank statement at all, but a deposit notice and she choked on her pumpkin juice as she read the following words:
A deposit of 432 Galleons, 8 Sickles, and 3 Knuts has been made to your account.
Emma stared at the letter in absolute shock. From what? She knew that wasn't the contribution Jude had to make monthly, and she doubted that was an investment. There wasn't enough time for her to accrue a balance that high, and as the name on the statement read Emelyn Nickels, she knew it wasn't the Black family vault. Did Sirius have Remus make a deposit in her account? She had no idea what to think.
On Sunday, it appeared that some more of her classmates were starting to warm up to her again. Having enjoyed playing his guitar for Emma, Cedric had begun to play in the common room with everyone else around. She worked quietly on the homework that the fourth years had already been given, with Cedric at her side playing his guitar. When Wayne slowly made his way over to join her, she was suspicious but didn't dare question it.
Wayne Hopkins had been Emma's first real crush while at Hogwarts. She had found herself having feelings for a few of her classmates by the end of their first year, but Wayne had won her over first.
He was tall with wavy, dark hair and blue eyes, and Emma always felt very comfortable with him. She wasn't as close to Wayne like she was with Justin, but they were friendly with each other. Wayne was always sweet to her with brilliant humor that always had her laughing. It was with dawning realization as she looked over at Wayne that she understood why she had liked him so much – he reminded her of Sirius.
While she wasn't close with Wayne like she once was, she would take any allies she could get. As the night continued on, even Susan and Hannah decided to join them, their conversation as civil and polite as it always used to be.
By Monday morning, Emma thought that Hell had to have completely frozen over. The Hogwarts rumor mill seemed to have worked at least five times faster than usual. Luckily the Slytherin and Hufflepuff pact of secrecy meant that no one outside of their class knew of her experience with the Cruciatus. However, Moody's absolute refusal to believe that Emma was a werewolf had left their class and created a clear divide amongst the students of Hogwarts. Some wanted to believe Moody, others were firm believers that Emma was without a doubt a werewolf, and others were conflicted. However, no one seemed more conflicted than her old roommates from Saint Nicholas's.
Persephone pulled Emma out into the entryway in the middle of breakfast to join the crowd that was being made. Emma was startled to see Jocelyn and Chloe practically at each other's throats and was more surprised to find that it was because of her. She watched on in awed horror as Jocelyn and Chloe screamed at each other, their voices shrill and cracking with their anger.
Chloe, to Emma's shock, had firmly rooted herself in Emma's corner. Jocelyn, not at all to Emma's surprise, felt that Emma was increasingly dangerous. Emma watched as Chloe sent a Bat-Bogey Hex at her sister before stomping off and ignoring Jocelyn's enraged shouting. The crowd very slowly dispersed as Jocelyn rushed up the stairs to the hospital wing and cast Emma furtive glances as they left.
"What the fuck just happened?" Emma asked Persephone when she finally found her voice.
"I have no idea, but they have been at it all weekend," Persephone muttered. "Good job, Little Lupin – you've managed to become the first hot topic at Hogwarts two years in a row."
"Oh, wonderful," Emma muttered. "Just what I wanted to be…"
Herbology felt like a strange class to start her day with after witnessing Jocelyn and Chloe's fight. It was even more bizarre that Neville, her usual Herbology partner, barely talked to her. Emma liked having Herbology in the mornings, even in the winter, because it gave her a welcome start to her day. She enjoyed the relative peace of working in the soil and sometimes playing with the plants, but Neville's lack of communication made Emma confused. Neville insisted that nothing was wrong, but it was unlike him to be short with her; something was clearly bothering him. She hoped that it was just Neville having a hard time readjusting to being back at school, but she wasn't entirely sure. Emma could only hope that it wasn't because of her.
It was almost unfortunate that her day was filled with her extracurricular classes. Care of Magical Creatures was an absolute nightmare with Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts. Ancient Runes had mostly been all right, but Emma found herself oddly bored after working on the subject with Remus. After lunch was Divination, and Emma almost immediately regretted adding the class back into her schedule. The very moment Trelawney opened her mouth, Emma questioned how Fenrir managed to convince her to continue with the subject. Persephone couldn't stop her snickering the entire class, amused by Emma's aggravated huffs and over-exaggerated eye rolls. At least it was only one day a week that year, but two hours at one time was too much.
Emma was very fortunate that she made it into the entrance hall after Charms just in time to witness Draco being transformed into a ferret by Moody. While she had no idea what Draco had done, she was sure that he deserved it. She would be committing the memory of Draco as a ferret to live in her mind forever.
Tuesday seemed to be the day that each significant werewolf in her life decided to write to her. Her mail redirect had finally started to work, and she was happy to receive letters from Remus and Elara. However, a third, more annoying letter arrived from Fenrir as well.
Remus's letter was a rehash of everything he had already told her but was sent for appearance's sake. Emma had been mortified to learn that Remus hadn't immediately put in an ad in the Daily Prophet but instead wrote to his ex-professor, Horace Slughorn. She was relieved that Slughorn wasn't interested in teaching as she had found the man odd when she met him, but her relief was short-lived. Slughorn had decided to reach out to Snape for suggestions on a tutor, and Emma knew that Snape had to know who it was for. She wasn't looking forward to Potions for the rest of the week because of it, but apparently, Snape had someone in mind. Emma was already dreading to find out who it was.
Elara's letter was of a lighter variety as it usually was but was also for appearances. She had practically moved back into the cottage and used the notebook just as much as Remus or Sirius did. The letters were mostly meant to cover all the issues that she couldn't discuss with her fathers. When Emma mentioned George had been acting funny around her lately, Elara more than rose to the occasion. Elara was determined to help Emma figure things out, and Emma was beyond grateful.
Fenrir's letter was short but explained far more than Emma expected.
The Gringotts deposit is your cut of the Wolfsbane Potion's sales and your winnings from the World Cup. Treat yourself. You deserve nice things for the hard work you did, and I expect more of that from you.
While I believe the Wolfsbane Potion is a very-well marketed poison, I can appreciate the effort it took to make. You made it look effortless. Remember - never do something that you're good at for free.
Always yours,
Fenrir
Emma was both appalled and amazed. The money was hers? She had unwittingly worked with Fenrir, and he gave her a cut of the sales? Even more surprising, the pouch that Fenrir sent with her to the World Cup was actually hers? Raoul had mentioned it, but it just seemed odd that Fenrir would do such a thing. The way his letter was phrased suggested that he more than expected her to work with him again; she would have to tread carefully.
Luckily her Tuesday was an easy day but starting it off with double Defense left her uneasy. Emma still wasn't sure that she liked Moody and was embarrassed when he apologized to her again and asked her if she had been checked by Madam Pomfrey. He seemed only mildly annoyed that she hadn't. Still, his disappointment was evident, and he gruffly mentioned she should do it soon. Emma decided she would go that Saturday.
Wednesday held her first Potions lesson of the week, and just as Emma suspected, Snape was relentless as always. She knew he was trying to force her into saying something stupid and worked hard to tune him out. Somehow Snape made Hagrid's Skrewts seem like much better company when she made her way to Care of Magical Creatures after.
"What?" Emma snapped, setting down the deep navy colored dress
Everything felt much different on Thursday when Emma woke up. It was her last day of being fourteen. She wasn't sure if she should lament the sudden, surprising loss of her childhood or celebrate making it another year. Her birthday was going to change everything, and she was terrified of what it would mean. She half expected Fenrir to come marching straight up to Hogwarts to demand that she leave with him. Emma refused to allow herself to think about it and hauled herself out of bed. It wouldn't do well for her to dwell on it too much, and she had double Potions to get through that day.
Emma was surprised when the only piece of mail she received was her dress robes from Madam Malkin's. She had been anxiously awaiting to see what Persephone had come up with, and Emma was not disappointed. Even Megan, Leanne, and Sally, who still hadn't quite warmed up to her, had to stop their conversations to stare.
The dress robes were far more beautiful than Emma ever expected them to be. She wasn't sure what to expect for her first set, but Persephone had helped design something perfect for her. The dress itself was the color of the night sky, a dark wash of a deep navy-blue velvet with a low neckline that made her blush. If Emma was correct, when she put it on, it would flare out at her waist and, with the right shoes, would just barely brush the floor. The dress's slim straps made Emma a little worried, she would have preferred sleeves, but the dress wouldn't have looked the same.
While the dress itself was plain, it was the rest of the outfit that brought out its beauty. Along with the dress came the most ornate cape Emma had ever seen. The cape was made of some sort of floaty, see-through material that seemed to shift from a brilliant blue to almost black. The cape was dotted with brilliant, sparkly crystals and had a beautiful, embroidered celestial motif that made Emma smile. Persephone knew her all too well, and the embroidered white stars seemed to shift along with the brilliant gold-colored suns and silver crescent moons.
Curious, Emma decided to see how the cape would sit on her body, and she threw it on over her school robes with amazement. It sat just off her shoulders and fanned out in a wide circle at the bottom. The cape fastened in the front with a brilliant, glittering clasp in the shape of the sun, and Emma was never more appreciative.
"I see it's finally come in," Persephone said, coming over to inspect her handiwork with a wide, brilliant smile. "It came out so much better than I thought it would. Now you've got everyone with you when you wear this. I thought you'd like something that you could get more use out of with separate pieces. The cape is gorgeous."
"It's perfect," Emma said, doing a quick little walk at the insistence of Susan, and she beamed at how the cape fluttered out behind her. She hoped that when everything was put all together, she would feel as ethereal as she thought the outfit looked. "Thank you, Eff. Really."
"Better watch out, George," Cedric said over to the Gryffindor table. "I think you might be with one of the prettiest girls in the entire school."
Emma couldn't stop herself from smacking Cedric's arm. "You're such an absolute git sometimes," she laughed, pulling the cape off and placing it back in the box. "I'm not that pretty at all."
"You are beautiful," Justin said. "Right, George?"
"Right," George said with a smile. "Absolutely beautiful." Emma couldn't help but notice the way his smile didn't quite meet his eyes. When Emma asked George what was wrong, he insisted that everything was fine, but it bothered Emma for the entire day.
When Emma woke up the next day, it felt like her birthday had brought along the definitive and resolute loss of her childhood. She didn't think it would feel real, and Emma felt like the heaviest weight in the world had been placed on her shoulders.
In one world, possibly the most important one, she had just become of age, but in the other, she still had another two years. It had always bothered Emma that she didn't quite fit in either world, but it felt so much more apparent that morning. She had big decisions to make, and time was ticking far quicker than she wanted it to, with no time for her to really think. The Professors had already started to pile on the homework, and it was only the first week of school. If the school year went the way it began, Emma worried she wouldn't be able to do any of the research she wanted before she had to see Fenrir. There were things she wanted to educate herself on before that day arrived, and she still worried that it would be that day.
Not wanting to think about it right then, she picked up her very warm notebook from her nightstand. Emma smiled as she opened it and activated the pages.
Remus, Sirius, and Elara wrote pages and pages and pages for her to read. Emma was so happy to read their words and heartbroken at the same time. The pages were full of favorite memories, promises Emma wasn't sure they could really keep, and incredibly loving words. They all knew just how worried she was about what the day could bring and tried to find every little thing that would make her feel better. Emma wished she could convey just how much their words meant to her.
Emma tried to approach the day as if it were any other day. She wasn't expecting much from anyone except for her parents and Elara, which she was okay with. Emma could be content if everyone else forgot her birthday, but when she made it to the Great Hall, it appeared that wouldn't be the case.
Her eyes grew wide in surprise as George quickly pulled her over to the Hufflepuff table with a delighted, "Happy birthday!" George sat her down between a surprising group of people before sitting next to her with a smile. With an even wider smile, George picked up a plate of her favorite cinnamon sugar toast that had a candle speared into the top of the stack.
An embarrassed flush crept across Emma's cheeks as she took a look at who was actually present – she didn't expect it at all. Fred was a given addition to the group. Luna sat across the table next to Neville and Caspian. Wayne, Susan, and Hannah were sitting a little closer than usual. Justin and Cedric sat to her other side, with Persephone joining the small group just as George started off singing Happy Birthday. Ron, Harry, and Hermione made their way over at the end of the song, and Emma's face felt like it was on fire.
"Make a wish," George said when the song was finished, his eyes glittering. Emma looked at him with a smile and then turned her attention to the candle, trying to think hard about what to wish for.
In truth, there were a lot of things that Emma could wish for. She could wish for a Time-Turner to try and fix things or wish for her family to be all together. She could wish for a massive purple polka-dotted rhino or a glittering fairy companion. Emma knew that it was just a silly tradition to wish on a candle, but it didn't really matter for the moment. If Emma really had to make a wish, there was only one that she had. Casting the candle a wary look, Emma blew it out with the wish of her and her family's happiness. Emma only took in a breath when she decided the candle wasn't a trick candle; with Fred and George, one could never be too sure.
"I hope you made a good wish," Justin said with a grin.
"Yeah, I think so," Emma said, pulling out the candle and taking a bite of her toast.
Fred pulled Emma's piece of toast out of her hand and shoved a pile of gifts into her hand. "Here, open ours first!" Fred said excitedly, grabbing one of the boxes and passing it over to George to hang onto. Emma couldn't help but stop her laugh, even though she really wanted to eat. It appeared that she was expected to get through gifts first before eating, and she didn't entirely mind.
The Weasleys seemed to have outdone themselves. From Fred, she received what appeared to be a small menagerie of animated animal figurines. She marveled at the tiny animals that walked around in their cages, from roaring lions and tigers to even, to Emma's amusement, a pink hippopotamus. George had given her a diary that would only allow her to write in it if she gave it a joke or a riddle and would give her one in return. From Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, she received a quilted blanket in beautiful shades of yellow and homemade sweets.
Neville gave her another plant, this time of the magical variety, that seemed to have a mind of its own like the Hufflepuff's plants. Emma enjoyed waving at the plant and having it wave back to her. She swore that it had eyes hidden within the confines of its purple petals.
Harry and Ron gave Emma a large box with various candies, and Hermione gave her a new quill and a bottle of vibrant purple ink. Luna gave her a set of handmade earrings meant to keep away Nargles that matched the pair she wore and paint with paintbrushes.
Emma was in the middle of sorting through the pile of candy that Wayne, Susan, and Hannah decided to give her when the morning post arrived. Her stomach did an excited little flutter of what she would receive from her family. She was only expecting to receive three gifts in the morning post, but six owls arrived, dropping boxes of various sizes.
"Oh, looks like mum sent something," Persephone said, eying one of the boxes with a bronze bow with a knowing look. Persephone looked at the small box with the emerald bow and hummed to herself. "And it appears you've got something from Narcissa."
"Narcissa? Really?" Emma said, carefully opening Persephone's gift.
"Everything she sends will be in Slytherin colors," Persephone explained. "And that's from both Cas and I, by the way," she added in explanation as Emma opened the box and immediately grinned, pulling out a Holyhead Harpies jersey.
"Is this your way of telling me that this is the team I should support?" Emma laughed.
"It's an all women's team. Of course, you should support them!" Persephone said.
"The Catapults are better," Emma pointed out, putting the jersey back in its box before moving along. "They're usually in a higher standing than the Harpies."
"I don't think I'll ever get used to you talking about Quidditch. Remus ruined you."
Emma snorted and accepted Justin's gift. Justin's gift seemed to set Emma up for a day of pampering herself. He gave her a gift basket that contained a book, a nice smelling bubble bath, skin creams, and even a candle.
"I had mum help me," Justin admitted with a sheepish grin. "After the summer you had, I wasn't sure how much relaxing you really got to do."
"And I'll give you the password to the Prefect's bathroom," Cedric said quietly to Emma before lifting his guitar and handing it to Emma.
"Am I holding this for you?" Emma questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm giving it to you," Cedric said. "You like music a lot, and the guitar seemed to relax you."
"I don't even know how to play," Emma said in surprise. She started to hand Cedric back his guitar with wide-eyes. "Cedric, I can't take this – this is yours."
"And I want you to have it," Cedric said, stopping Emma from trying to hand the guitar back. "I'll teach you – I promise. You'll be a professional by the end of the year."
"Thank you," Emma sighed, giving Cedric a tight hug in appreciation. She pulled back and looked at the pile still left on the table. "I think I should eat and probably take everything back. I'll open the rest there."
Emma realized it was an excellent idea that she took everything back to the dorms instead of opening everything at the table. She was even more grateful that it was Persephone who went with her to drop everything off. The gifts she received started off normal enough but seemed to get progressively more interesting as she went on.
From Lyall, she received a new set of dragonhide gloves. From Narcissa, she received a beautiful jewel-encrusted jewelry box with the Black family crest on it with a letter saying it was once hers as a young girl. Remus and Sirius put together Emma's typical gift of chocolates, a few new books, a new set of crystal vials, and silver scales to replace her brass scales.
Persephone nearly fell on the floor with laughter at Elara's gift and Emma's horror of what she had received. Elara had added a note to not open her present in front of anyone, which made Emma curious. The gift Elara gave her started off innocently enough with a nice set of fresh skincare items, and it made Emma question the note, but then she understood. Emma was not expecting to receive possibly the fanciest set of underwear she had ever seen with an added note of, "Just in case."
"My God," Persephone said, doubling over in laughter as Emma's face grew redder and redder. Persephone reached into the box to look at what Emma swore was just black strings with lacy bits. "This is even better than when we went shopping for your first bras our second year! You about died in the lingerie section!"
"It is not!" Emma said sharply. "I can't help it that we got shit knickers at Saint Nicholas's, and I was startled by the selection in the store. I had never seen lingerie before and didn't even know it existed. I certainly didn't go in thinking I would ever to own something like this!"
"You have such an incredible aversion to being sexy," Persephone laughed, wiping her tears of mirth from her eyes. "Oh, Merlin, Remus would have a fit if he knew about this."
"No wonder Elle sent her gift separately," Emma said, hastily shoving everything back into the box. "Dad would absolutely have a fit. Definitely going to have to make sure these are very well hidden."
"You should wear that little number under your new dress," Persephone said, waggling her eyebrows. "You'll feel like an absolute goddess."
Only two gifts were left sitting on Emma's bed, and she frowned when she realized who the unspoken gift was most likely from. She grabbed the present from Sage first and unwrapping it. A sad smile crossed Emma's face as she pulled out what looked like a photo album, and she looked up at Persephone. Persephone returned Emma's sad smile and sat down on the bed next to her.
Emma opened the book and huffed out a soft laugh as she was greeted with photos of her younger self with Persephone. She only had vague memories of the pictures being taken, and she laid her head on Persephone's arm as she flipped through.
"We were so small," Emma said quietly. "Things were so much easier then…"
"Mum must have gotten them from Dad," Persephone said. "She didn't see them until a few years ago but only saw a few of them."
"Oh, God," Emma said, pointing at a photo with the two of them and a much smaller Boris. "I don't remember this photo being taken at all."
"I don't either," Persephone said. "We really were little, weren't we?" She looked up at the last package. "That one's from Fenrir, isn't it?"
"Most likely," Emma said quietly, setting the photo album aside and pulling the last box onto her lap. It was on the smaller side and had a letter on top. "Look at what he sent or the letter first?" Emma asked Persephone.
"See what he sent first," Persephone said.
Emma nodded, taking the letter and setting it off to the side. The box was thin and only wrapped with a bow. Emma pulled the string and opened the box, bracing herself for what it would contain. The moment the lid was off the box, Emma nearly burst into hysterical laughter. After making terrible jokes about Fenrir giving her a collar, it appeared he had done precisely that.
"Oh, you've got to be bloody kidding me," Emma muttered to herself, pulling out a white-gold chained choker necklace. It was similar to the necklace Remus had given her but with a shorter chain and a jewel-encrusted crescent moon that faced the opposite direction. When Emma looked at the pendant closer, she could only roll her eyes. On the back of the pendant was an engraved letter G in an elegant script. She could practically hear Fenrir's thoughts on his gift choice. It was ornate enough to appease whatever pure-blood tendencies he had left, and the shorter chain had multiple meanings. The necklace's short chain meant it would be her most prominent necklace. It would essentially put Fenrir above everyone else and signified the very short leash he would have her on.
"Em, you're not going to wear that, are you?" Persephone asked, her eyes growing wide.
"I don't want to," Emma said quietly, setting the necklace down to open Fenrir's letter. "I don't trust him not to have eyes somewhere in the castle, though."
"But what if you put it on and it seals itself? What if you can never take it off?"
Emma glanced up from Fenrir's letter to frown at Persephone. "We've got Moody here," Emma pointed out. "And we've got Dumbledore. I'm sure if it did, someone could figure out how to get it off."
Fenrir's letter contained everything she thought it would. It was equal parts threatening and him being over-excited for what the future would bring. The last few paragraphs of Fenrir's letter stuck out in her mind the most, and she had to reread them several times.
Just because you refuse to write back, it changes nothing, Emma. Pretending that I don't exist means nothing to me, and you know that. However, your acting like a petulant child makes me question just how serious you really are. You're an adult in our world now – start acting like it.
We will be powerful together, but I will not hesitate to put you in your place. I would like to have a willing mate – you will never want for anything at my side. But we will discuss all of this when we meet during your first Hogsmeade trip. When you finally accept the decision to join the pack where you belong, I will explain everything to you. I will be expecting to hear from you when the date is made available; don't make me find out from someone else.
Time's ticking, Emma. I eagerly await the acceptance of what you truly are.
Always yours,
Fenrir
Fenrir had made it clear on several occasions that he wasn't going to use Persephone for intel any longer. His reference of hearing from someone else about Hogsmeade meant that there was someone else she needed to worry about, but she didn't know who. Once more, Fenrir was leaving her with very little wiggle room, but at least he confirmed he would give her until Hogsmeade. That wouldn't be until at least the next month and gave her the time that she needed.
"Well," Emma said, picking up the necklace and unclasping it, "looks like I don't have too much of a choice."
"What do you mean?"
"He'll know if I'm not wearing the necklace," Emma said, clasping it carefully around her neck. She held her fingers against the clasp, nervous that Persephone was right and that it would seal itself, but it remained an ordinary necklace. "I'm going to be doing far worse things than wearing yet another gift from Fenrir. I think his ring is far worse than a necklace."
Emma spent her time in the back of the History of Magic classroom writing to Remus in her notebook and telling him about her morning. She told him about every gift she received but made sure to keep the one half of Elara's present and Fenrir's gift to herself. Emma told Remus nearly everything, but he didn't need to know about those. Near the end of the class, which Emma absolutely didn't pay attention to, she started to feel cheeky. With a soft, huffed out breath, Emma found herself thinking of her fourteenth birthday.
'At least I don't have to worry about dealing with a Boggart this year,' she wrote with a small grin.
'Merlin, you are going to remind me of that every year now, aren't you?' Remus wrote back, nearly making Emma giggle.
'Considering it was a terrible idea of a lesson to do on my birthday – yes, I am going to remind you every single year.'
'I suppose that I deserve that. And I will never stop apologizing for it.'
'You made up for it in the end,' Emma replied. Remus had managed to outdo himself after his terrible Boggart lesson by showing her his memories in the Pensieve. 'I just wish that you were here…'
Emma considered bunking off Potions for her birthday but didn't want to give Snape a reason to give her detention. She slowly made her way down to the dungeons, taking as much time as possible, Justin walking beside her. Emma had to admit that she was having a much better day than she ever could have expected. She felt loved and appreciated, and even though her birthday meant monumental changes, it didn't matter. Her friends – her pack – came together to make sure that she would have a wonderful day.
She was in the middle of laughing at something that Justin said when it quickly died out, catching in her chest with a sharp gasp. Every single hair on her body raised, and she had to do a double-take to make sure that she wasn't seeing things. Despite being in the Potion's classroom, Emma was positive that a Boggart had crept its way into the dungeons. She wasn't even aware of what her Boggart would be until she was suddenly faced with it in person.
"Em, you all right?" Justin asked, putting a hand on Emma's shoulder and giving her a small shake.
"Dunno," Emma said, genuinely meaning it, for standing next to Snape's desk glaring at her was the younger Greyson Fenmore.
She should have bunked off Potions, after all. Happy birthday to her.
a/n: HEHEHEHEHEH. Anyway - a lot happened this chapter. A lot more is going to happen. The rest of the chapters shouldn't be so jampacked...I don't think. I say that and then I wind up turning myself into a liar.
I want to give a sincere thank you to the wonderful members on my discord - Lucasjan from here, BlindHawkeye from ao3, and Nerodeath (I'm so sorry, I forget where you said you read this - let me know and I can fix this) - for helping me figure out what to do for Emma's birthday. I was struggling so much with what to do and between the three of them they helped to compile an insane list of gifts. I hope you don't mind how I made things fit together, and I can't thank you enough for helping me figure things out!
Also, if you ever read on ao3, BlindHawkeye has been playing in my world and has written two fics so far! I love them so much and they crack me up - definitely check them out if you're ever over there. They're listed as a related work under this fic on ao3, or you can punch in her name! They're so so so funny and she's so creative!
To all of my late night readers - please go to sleep, good night and sweet dreams!
Come join the Gremlin pack and join the Discord if you'd like to help me out from time to time! Either punch in the link below (just remove the spaces) OR head over to my twitter bio and grab the link from there (link in my profile) -
discord . gg / 9gXkaaq2qJ
Lucasjan - thank you thank you. Definitely a bit of a dreadful day for Emma that didn't really get better. Very unfortunate!
Shard - Just realized we've got two Juniors in this story ahaha. D: Barty AND Greyson - oh, well! All the same, YES. Barty is...well, he's Barty and I can't wait to see what strange things I can come up with for him. I have a very limited amount of time with his character, and damn it - I am going to have fun with him! And ahhhh! I keep wanting to message you but I never want to bother you (my Hufflepuff is showing oml). I figured life got busy, but we're still there whenever you can pop back in! Definitely miss you (and maybe I'll quit being weird and just say hello finally).
Maricate - I am so sorry but I absolutely laughed. I just love the whole "I hate you, but great chapter." Now, good ol' Moody is going to be an interesting character, so time will tell with what's going on. Hehehehehehe. Thank you as always! :D
