Author's note: Please be aware that I own ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, everything, except my character ocs' I place here, belongs to the wonderful Lady J.K. Rowling. This is a Sirius Black/OC Fan-fiction. Eventually it will get there.

Welcome back readers! I hope you enjoy this one as much as you have the first Story that began this journey! :) Thank you all for reading and the wonderful reviews!

Thank you all for the reviews! I'm glad you're all enjoying how its set! Thank you all for the reads and I hope you'll still enjoy them as they go! :)

ENJOY Chapter 16!

UPDATED:9/30/2019

Chapter 16

Summer of 1993, July 15th

"Harry, Draco! Dinner's ready!" Emma smiled wide with laughter as she listened to the two boys laughing and racing down the steps, playfully shoving one another as they stumbled into the kitchen to help her set the table.

"Hey, is Hermione supposed to be coming sometime in the next week or two?" Draco asked, he had completely forgotten about that, he wasn't sure why he had just randomly thought of it.

Hermione had been iffy on coming around with Draco now friends with the boys, but both her boys had vouched for Draco Malfoy. He'd apologized and told her that he'd only been a jerk because he was jealous of the friendship, she, Ron and Harry had. A real friendship he was missing out on with anyone.

"Yeah, Aunt Emma is picking her up in two or three weeks, I think, she went to Paris with her parents for a few weeks, said her dad had a Dental business trip. Her and her mum had always wanted to see Paris again, so they had decided to go with Hermione's father." Harry explained finishing up the placements while Draco finished setting the silverware for dinner to start.

"Is uncle Remus coming to dinner tonight Aunt Emma?" Draco asked curiously. After all, he and Harry had made a place for him

"Already here my dear boys," A voice said from the archway of the Dining room, tall, sickly pale man stood in the entre way smiling wide at the three-smiling people and laughed when the boys rushed to him and embraced him in their arms.

Draco had quickly adjusted to the life at the Potter Estate, loved it even more when Emma would take them to the cottage in the woods for a getaway. He loved the quietness the woods gave them, no screaming and no big places to worry about. It was peaceful, and he knew deep down that his mother would love this place also, even his father would enjoy something like this. Peaceful and quiet, no worries to have to worry about. Nothing rich and fancy to worry about breaking, no shouts for the house elves. Even when Draco wanted to do something himself his father had always screamed at a house elf to do just about everything, and that had always annoyed Draco. He liked it there with Emma, Harry and Remus. It felt like a real family. He only wished his mum was there to make it feel complete.

No one noticed the person that watched them from afar. Dirty, hungry, tired and his heart shattering as he watched the little interaction, as thick and heavy tears rolled down his sunken face from the hardships, and horror, he'd endured the last twelve years. He watched the boys hug Remus, watched Remus hugging Emma and everyone laughing. A thought struck him cold to the core, that his life had been more than just robbed from him but betrayed by the woman he'd love till the day he died, even in death he'd still find a way to love her. He had no idea that it was Aunt and Uncle in different means. His mind was under the major impression Emma had left him in her past and Remus had moved in on his girl when he'd been sent away. But he had nowhere else to go, as much as he hated watching it, worst of all, the site killed him to watch. But he was able to look at Harry and Emma, both smiling with utmost happiness, see their laughter's they ate at the dinner table.

Sirius sighed and shifted to go for a hunt, he might have hated to do it, but he was hungry, and he'd eat just about anything, raw or trash. He really had hit rock bottom then fell even farther. But, as he neared the house to look around the garden he felt something make contact with one of his paws and gave said paw a small shock. This grabbed his attention and his heart to jump into his throat as he watched a small Willow the Wisp appear before him in the shape of a small, glowing blue, fox that yipped at him with warning.

Just as this was happening outside, inside something else was happening. Emma's small bracelet began to flash a very dim blue, just enough for her to notice. Something she had done herself as to not alert anyone in case Sirius had come around, she wanted her own alarm for herself if he was there to warn him.

Sirius sighed, and his ears fell back, saddened he wouldn't be able to sleep comfortably, at least not in the gardens, a place he'd always enjoyed as a young boy and young man. But she had warned him.

Emma had found a way around Moody's and Remus's magical alarm system around the home. Unfortunately, she was unable to find a way to set up a safe place for him due to Remus and Alastor constantly keeping a close eye on her. They knew she'd try something to help him. They knew all they had to do was to wait, watch and hen attack then Sirius would be back in Azkaban. That was one of the only reasons why Remus was now so suddenly always around.

"So, I was asked to be the Defense against the Dark Arts Teacher this year." Remus said in hopes of starting a small conversation.

"That's wonderful, though I still think they should have been applying Severus to that station, he is very good at it." Emma said without thinking, "No office, you're Magnificent in practically every class Remus, I'd never doubt your ability to be an amazing teacher." She quickly clarified.

Remus smiled and nodded, taking a bite of his food, "You and I both have a bit of a different opinion about Severus Snape when regarding that type of subject, Rose. But no offence taken. So, try not to worry your pretty head. Though, it does remind me that we have yet to finish our little disagreement regarding a certain Sirius subject." He tossed back.

Emma knew this meant he had taken some offence to what she had said and was also hinting to her that they were going to finish their eight, almost nine-year argument regarding Sirius Black. Unfortunately, when he had mentioned this Emma had lost her appetite quickly. Sitting her silverware aside, Emma wiped her mouth with a napkin and took her dishes to the sink and started cleaning the kitchen of used pots, pans and bowls she had used to cook.

Draco and Harry both watched with slight amusement, though they were mostly worried, as Emma left.

She hadn't come back yet, and that was five minutes ago, "Are you sure you two aren't married?" Draco had to ask, simply because every time he and Harry turned around, they were acting almost like a husband and wife, minus the Lovely-Dovie stuff.

Harry gently laughed as he tossed a few peas at Draco, who tossed a carrot or two back to him.

"Enough, Emma work hard on dinner. She's just having a few difficult things going on. Her and I are both on edge is all." He laughed at them as they stopped, but the boys had made Remus smile and gently laugh for a few seconds. Taking in a deep sigh, he rubbed his face from the exhaustion, "but yes, I'm sure we are not married. Let's finish supper then it's up to shower and to bed after you do some summer work for classes. And don't think I don't know you weren't given homework boys. I knew two boys just like both of you when I was growing up and it took myself, Emma and a few others just to get them to do their summer work in time to turn it in. If they were that lucky." He said knowingly, grinning with success when they silently groaned and gave each other a look of, "We've been caught," meaning they hadn't touched a thing of summer work since they got home.

Finishing dinner, Remus picked up their plates and sent the boys up-stairs. Taking the dirty dishes into the kitchen where Emma was still cleaning, worst of all, she was cleaning in silence. That was never a good thing. She always had the radio going, lightly singing along and slightly dancing to the music as she went along, but he supposed he had gone too far with his Sirius comment and felt like a total git for it. Walking into the kitchen he slipped the dirty dishes into the hot-water and soap filled sink, with a defeated sigh as he placed a hand to her lower back, like he always had in the past to try comforting her, but he'd find it wouldn't work this time, because this time Remus Lupin had truly messed up, "Emma-"

"Don't, just go clean up and get some rest. The Full Moon will be coming around shortly in a few days and you know, very well, how much you hurt before and after. Not to mention how moody you get, Moony." Her tone was soft yet sharp, this caused Remus to shiver. Her tone held a deadly edge to it and Remus couldn't help but flinch, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have even brought him up, especially not at dinner." He was trying to apologize, but she was set in finishing her cleaning and it looked as if she was cleaning the Manor's entire culinary kitchen.

'Ooh yes, I have made her quite mad this time…'

With a sigh Remus trapping her between himself and the sink as she worked, and it seemed she wasn't even affected by it, the action of her ignoring his presence stung him deeply. Over the years he found himself falling for her, well, if he'd be honest with himself, he had fallen for her a long time ago, but he'd loved Sirius and their friendship and had kept himself at a distance. But Sirius had betrayed them, her family, her sister and his best friend had been murdered in cold blood all because Sirius had turned over their location. "He always had a way with you, Emma. I know you love him, but it's time you see before it's too late that he is the one that betrayed you, he handed you all over to Voldemort. Sirius Black is a traitor and a murderer. You not only have Harry to protect now, you have Draco in your home as well, and dare I say they are more your own children than your nephews. Draco practically has two mothers! If Sirius finds these boys as your weakness, he will slaughter them both-" his words ceased the moment Emma turned on him in a dime, anger clear on her face as her cheeks grew pink, a sign she was trying very hard to control herself as she glared up at him, "Stop… Just… Stop."

"Emma, I have tried the last nine years to get you to see that the figure in your memory was Sirius, he snuck into your hospital room and tried erasing your memory so he could frame Peter and came back looking like a hero in our eyes, in your eyes! Why can you not see that he played you from the start, he played us all from the start! He never loved you -"

SLAP!

The sound echoed through the Manor.

Remus was in sheer shock, his right cheek burning like Hades himself had tossed a fireball at him and Emma with heavy tears rolling down her face in an endless stream. Remus hadn't moved an inch, not even a muscle as she walked away from between sink and himself and out the kitchen doors to the garden and into the woods at the back of the Manor.

Emma fell to her knees, curled herself in and rested her head against the cool ground with her arms tightly around herself as she cried herself senseless.

Sirius witnessed the whole thing and he sadly couldn't help the long and painful wince he himself had done on Remus's behalf. He may not have been able to hear the conversation, but the large kitchen window that showed the side view of the sink in the kitchen had let him watch everything. Emma had never struck Remus before, and this had shocked even Sirius, though he felt some pride swell up in him as he could hear the slap outside, which meant he had definitely pissed her off. However, Sirius was getting angry himself at the Were-wolf for making her angry enough to slap him.

'What the bloody hell did you say Moony!' Sirius's heart shattered as he watched Emma ran from the house, through the gardens and right into the woods. She had fallen only five feet from where he was hiding. Sirius was relieved he could smell her natural scent, fresh roses in spring water, but what made him happier, was that she was not mixed with any other scent at all, it was purely hers', pure Emma. His Emma. His engagement ring was still very clearly on her wedding figure in full glory. A silver ring that was engraved with the words, "Forever and Always, eternity shall we always be bound," on the outside, and he knew the engraving on the inside had stayed the same, "Sirius Black and Emma Evans". She was still his, she hadn't betrayed him at all. His heart pounded in his chest like a drum with her so close that he could feel her hair in his hands, hands that ached to touch her, to hold her. He hadn't realized he had done anything until he was kneeling in front of her, in full human and in his hideous appearance all thanks to the care of Azkaban had done for him, which was nothing. He knew he needed a bath, preferably a shower, ages ago. His hands shaking as they found their way gently lacing through her dark red hair. He began to panic. If she saw him, what would she do? Would she scream and shout for Remus to save her? Did she believe he had been the one to betray James and Lily and herself twelve years ago? Would she capture him? Or kill him?

Emma froze in panic when she felt a shaking hand run their fingers through her hair. Her fear had left instantly when she felt the gentleness of the way they moved for just a few seconds, there was only one person who ran their fingers through her hair like that, twirling a small strand around their index finger near her ear. Feeling their hands freeze in their motion she slowly looked up. Her eyes found dirty grey and white strips, a lot of tears in the clothes. And from the quick and clear close observation, Emma knew they were most definitely more than a second handed prison uniform, but it was the sunken in face and long greasy hair that shocked her. But his eyes were the same, they were aged obviously from the prison, and from the harsh life in Azkaban he had to have suffered for years, years she had continued to fail in freeing him from.

Her emerald eyes re-filled with tears as she looked at him, he looked terrible and in pain, he looked extremely malnourished and sick-like and was in grave need of a bath. But she hadn't cared, he was there. Emma's body leaped at him all its' own, her arms wrapping around him and cried into him, she didn't care about anything, not even the smell could keep her away at that moment, he was truly there. He was home, and in her reach, "I can-can't take it an-anymore, Sirius… P-please be real. Please be real…" Emma couldn't help it. He had to be, he just had to be real if he was there. She felt the warmth of his skin, no matter how clammy and gross he may have felt from the years of being malnourished and refused any form of hygienic things it should have been another sign he was real. But she couldn't help begging him to be.

His body relaxed as he sighed with relief, his arms wrapping around her. His grip may not have been as strong as it used to be, but he held her as tight as he could. Sirius finally had her back in his arms. He'd been tortured for twelve years to confess to aiding Voldemort and in helping murder James and Lily, but each time he had refused and screamed to the heavens of his innocence.

"I'M INNOCENT, PLEASE! IT WAS PETER! IT WAS PETTIGR-AHHHHH! ROSE! Remus? REMUS, PLEASE! ROSE, I'M INNOCENT I SWEAR! Em-Emma ca-c-can-can prove it-it wasn't me, s-she was there when we split up!" He'd screamed for four years for her to come get him, how could she not come for him? To leave him there, unless she hadn't made it out of surgery, had he been too late?

"Emma is of no use to your case, Sirius." He'd felt his heart sink then jump when his pain filled eyes fell on Remus walking into the cell as they tortured him. He had hoped Remus was there to get him out, to say there was a new development in his case, but his words had struck Sirius harder than he thought, "What do you mean she isn't of any use? What happened! Where is she! Remus, where's Fox?"

It had been twelve years of endless torture thinking he hadn't been there in time to save her, twelve years he had spent crying and shouting he was sorry he'd left her, them and Harry. The ones doing the torture would always walk away with laughter as they left him in his cell. Eventually, he stopped screaming and fell silent, for eight years he thought she was dead. Eight painful years, until Hagrid ended up in the cell next to him, "No, ya bloody fool, Emma's alive, she just got custody of Harry. Why would ya think she hadn' made it! She's a figh'er that one is!"

"No, I'm real... I'm real... It's alright now, Love... I got ya." it seemed she had been torturing herself over the years also, "Why didn't you come for me when you woke up?" He knew it was a bit of a blow, why was she in his arms crying herself near insanity when she was clearly awake and knew he was not the one that gave up the location? Unless, she thought he was in on it with Peter?

Sniffing back her tears Emma moved just a little to look him in the eyes, to study the damage the Ministry and Azkaban had caused him, "Someone got into my room after surgery and attempted to erase my memories. They didn't get far, but they still messed with that night, the only thing missing is the one that gave up the location. Everyone keeps trying to convince me it was you, but I know you left, you traded keepers last minutes at the safe house, the memory hasn't been touched or messed with. I don't know why that could have given rise to more questions. But they ke-kept saying you had seen the location either way, that you knew it and that even if you had traded keepers it meant nothing to them. It basically helped keep you in prison. I have been refused and rejected, finally threatened by the Ministry if I continued to try reopening the file. It shouldn't be an issue though! Alastor himself said he sealed it. He should be able to get the file. But he can't."

This did throw him for one, Wormtail had messed with her memories before he had found him, it was yet another time Wormtail had gotten close to her, close enough he could have killed her instead. So, why mess with her memories when he could have just killed her?

"Emma? Emma are you out here? Look I'm sorry, I know you love him, but I just want to help you from being hurt any more than you are." It was Remus, he sounded worried as he walked out the back door of the kitchen and into the gardens to find her.

Emma began to panic, "Sirius you have to go, if he sees you here, he'll likely kill you. There's a cottage where you we last camped, you can get in. Just touch the door and it'll let you in. Just be careful, Alastor and others are looking or you… Go." She tried keeping her tone down to a gentle whisper, but she knew with all her crying Remus more than likely had heard her.

Sirius kissed her forehead before turning and running, he didn't want to let her go, he wanted to go home, to Harry and Emma, he wanted his friend back, a friend that had walked away from him as he screamed in his cell as he was being tortured to confess. The fact he hadn't confessed for twelve years should have said something, but it just made them all believe he had gone insane just like his cousin Bellatrix and was believing his own lies he had been telling. He remembered the camp site clearly, it was in Scotland at an edge of a set of Woods that was forbidden to humans, non-magical humans, but the woods were barely for magical human either, yet he and Emma had always loved it. They were never bothered, not even by the were-wolves or Giants. He had to give it to her, making a home that was just them, something he would know of. But he still had to find Peter Pettigrew, so the cabin would have to wait.

Harry and Draco had gotten cleaned up and ready or bed. Harry had just finished three papers from their school work pile for summer work while Draco had more to do, he was currently working on his fourth worksheet, since he hadn't done so well the first two years, the Professors had given him Summer work to make up the terrible grades for a better placing in the future, for that he really was grateful. But as Harry was helping him, he'd noticed he seemed a bit tense and his mind always going somewhere else.

Draco could clearly see Harry wanted to ask him something, and after an extra five minutes of that tense irritation he finally did, "Draco, you never did tell me and Ron who hit you. So, who hit you? Was it Crabbe and Goyle, your dad? And if it makes you feel better, I'm actually hoping it was one of those two and not your dad. We only ask so we know what to watch for, to help you."

Knowing he wouldn't get away from the topic, Draco gave a sighed nod, "No, it was my dad. He's never done anything like that before and I have no idea what's gotten into him. He's not been himself since I was eight years old, maybe. He used to be fun and happy, always excited about life, hated dealing with people but he's just how his is about that. But something happened when I was a kid, a younger kid, something that I didn't witness. I just remember he had a few friends over. Guess they were having their little 'gentleman's meetings' as Aunt Emma used to call it. Mum had a nastier word for it, but I don't like using it, anyway, he had stormed from the study that night angry. A few years later, I found Emma in the study with my father. I was shocked, for the first time in my life they weren't glaring at one another, they weren't screaming or being hateful. He was crying over something and she was… Well, I think she was trying calm him down, trying to help him, but after that he became cold and distant, hateful even. Worst part is, he became terrified of something, and that deep fear is what has made him go a bit nuts. I know my mum has to be worried sick for him, for me since I'm not home. I'm here, I'd like to go home to see her but I'm afraid that if I do my dad will lock me in the Manor and I won't have any way to get out of there. I'm more worried about my mum though, Emma hasn't heard a thing from her at all and neither have I."

Harry didn't blame him for his worries and concerns, he felt terrible for Draco, it had been Lucius that had caused the split lip, they'd hoped it hadn't been, but many times things don't go the way you want them too.