Author's note: Please be aware that I own ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, everything, except my character(s) I place in here, belongs to the wonderful Lady J.K. Rowling. This is a Sirius Black/OC Fanfiction, or at least it will get to that point. I do have terrible spelling sometimes, but I do my best. However, if I misspell something that I have not caught I do appreciate having a correction mentioned. But I love reading Fanfiction's from here, and I hope I can bring others the same joys they have brought me, I figured it was time I give it a shot.

This WAS, my FIRST Fanfiction that I had the courage enough to put up for all to read. I started small and did my best to update as soon, and as much, as I could. I know tend to forget things so try to have some patience, even though I sometimes fail at having some myself. *cough, cough*Please Enjoy the story, for the pages have yet to turn for new, or returning, readers of journeys untold. Also, please be aware that this story is 100% mine. This is a work of mine that I did under a different account of fanfiction under the username Nattie8516 and now shares the same username under this Fanfiction site as well. So rest assured, I am the same person and same owner of this work and other's I shall be posting on this new site as well.

Chapter 5

1976-77 - Emma and Gabby's Third Year

"How did he get her alone in the first place!"

"You already know that answer Lily... Whoever it was disguised them-self as Remus." James sighed. He was tired and worried, they all were. But Lily's constant screeching was not helping anyone calm themselves down, least of all herself.

Lily's worry and fear quickly turned into anger. Emma had nearly been killed and she hadn't a clue as to who, or why, someone would have targeted her baby sister. But she had forgotten all about that, at this moment Lily Evans was dying to get her hands on whoever that person was. Her anger turned onto the boys, namely James Potter. How had they not notified! "How could you not have known it wasn't Remus, Potter! He's supposed to be your best friend. My baby sister is lying in a hospital bed half dead!" She shouted at him.

Marlene, fearing the worst, rushed them both and put herself between the two. "That's enough, Lily! Emma is alive, be grateful for that. James, nor the others, are expected to notice the smallest detail about someone. This intruder must have been watching them for quite some time if he could have pulled it off without anyone truly suspecting something was wrong. Peter said he didn't notice anything off besides him egging Sirius on before he and Emma slipped off, and that's not uncommon for the boys to do to one another." She clarified. Marlene needed to get these two to calm down.

Gabby had stayed in the room with Emma for the last three hours, the poor girl had been crying since the attack six days ago and Emma had yet to wake up.

Their parents had been informed and had been sent home for the night after spending four days by their daughter's bedside. The boys and the others had been questioned by Auror's and the Ministry of magic while Emma had been in surgery to stop the bleeding and stitched up. That had taken almost an entire day. Mr. and Mrs. Evans had told Lily to stay with Emma.

It hadn't come to Lily's shock that Petunia hadn't come with them to see their sister in the Hospital. As sad as that was.

"She's right, that was the only thing that was off about him," This was the first time Sirius had spoken in front of them since the Alley.

Sirius himself hadn't left Emma's side, James had to pry him away that morning to clean himself up. School was starting shortly and this only made them nervous to go to Hogwarts without Emma.

"I'm not leaving her here where I, we, can't keep an eye on her... We're having her moved to Hogwarts with Poppy." Gabby suddenly spoke up. She was supposed to be with Emma, no one had heard her leaving the room as their heads turned to the door.

Concerned and confused written on their faces. They glanced at the weary teenager. Gabby was dressed in comfortable clothes, brown leggings and a long, red knitted shirt, fit for the September chill that had been rolling in. No matter how tired she may have been she had a determined stare in her eyes. Gabrielle had witnessed her friend near death and had been helpless to do anything.

"Gabby, we can't move her, she isn't stable yet..." Marlene's heart broke with every word that left her, she didn't want to tell her cousin this, but she was apparently the only one being practical about Emma's condition. If they moved her now then something could go dangerously wrong.

Shaking her head, Gabby stopped them. She wasn't going to hear this and this was not up for debate. "I'm not asking, Mars. School doesn't start for a short while. We can all gather our things and stay at the Leaky Cauldron until we have to head for Hogwarts. One or two people can stay with her and once we leave we'll have her moved to Hogwarts. If we speak to Dumbledore about this, write to him, I doubt he'll object... Emma is one of his students who was attacked! What's the safest place for her if not Hogwarts where teachers, and we, can keep an ear to the ground and eyes wide open?" She seemed set in this and Marlene had to give it to the girl, she was definitely a Gryffindor, and a very overprotective person by nature.

Knowing she wasn't winning this battle Marlene nodded to Gabby. "Who's up for that idea?" It shouldn't have been a question, but everyone had quickly agreed.

"I'll take the first watch. All my stuff is at Prongs' place anyways." Sirius said, his eyes looking into Emma's room.

Lily's brow shot up instantly at Sirius. She had taken notice of how reluctantly he had not wanted to leave a few hours ago, let alone letting anyone try to aid him in finding help upon realizing Emma was in dire need of medical attention. Who was Emma safest with?

James Potter?

Peter Pettigrew?

Remus Lupin?

Or Sirius Black?

Lily's mind instantly rested on Sirius, for reasons unknown to her, for now. "Okay,"

Everyone's eyes went wide with shock. Lily Evans, just agreed to let Sirius stay and watch over Emma, after she had just thrown a fit about her not being able to keep a better watch on her little sister. "Wait, what-"

"James, don't start... Please. Sirius, stay with Emma. Everyone else, get a room at the Cauldron, same floor if you can, that way we can all keep close tabs on each other and update on Emma's condition. Now, if you don't mind, I am going to go back home, get our things and probably have another breakdown." She said as her eyes misted over at the thought of leaving her sister, they had grown to tears when she thought of the worse scenarios until a warm and comforting embrace enveloped her.

At this moment she couldn't have cared less that James Potter had pulled her into his arms. It was comforting, and that was all that mattered at that moment. She'd almost lost her baby sister. Lily was allowed to have her emotional and nervous breakdowns.

Everyone present nearly lost their jaws as they watched, Lily had not only accepted James' comforting embrace, but had wrapped her arms around him in return and buried her face into his chest, willingly crying into him. It was the first time she'd felt comfortable this close to him.

A thought instantly came to Marlene at thinking of friends. Her heart pounding with fear. She hadn't heard a single thing from Mary all summer, and after almost losing Emma her heart filled with fright as she paled a few shades, "Uh, I'm going to check on a friend while I'm at it. Gabby come on."

Taking notice of her cousin's sudden change of attitude Gabby nodded and walked off with Marlene. "Marlene, are you alright?" She hadn't ever seen her cousin this scared if she didn't count almost losing Emma.

"No, we need to go check on a friend... I haven't heard a single thing from Mary all summer. And after this, I'm starting to worry more. We'll Apparate at the corner of their street first, just to see if anything is wrong. I hope I'm just overreacting." Marlene admitted with worry.

"Okay," With that Gabby latched onto her cousin's hand and they were gone.

Moments later the two girls found themselves standing at the corner of Mary's street. A sick feeling washed over the two girls. "I don't like this Mars."

"Neither do I kitten... I have a bad feeling knotting up my stomach... But we'll just check, Yeah, that's it... Just checking in on her..." Marlene stumbled over her words, trying to remain as calm as possible, but her shivering had been uncontrollable.

Gabby knew her cousin was scared she knew Marlene was trying to hide her sickening fear as they walked down the street towards Mary's family home. But what they found sent cold chills and utter terror through them as they walked through the stone gate of the house. All of which was a disaster. If the outside was this bad, what happened on the inside?

Gabby gasped at the disaster they found. Her arms wrapping around Marlene as her cousin fell against her, her legs clearly failing her.

"Mary?" Marlene's voice was shaken and a painful wail rather than a call for her friend.

In a panic, Gabby clamped a hand over Marlene's mouth. "Mars. If someone is still in there, we are dead... Let's go around back, see if anything is in there." She whispered against Marlene's dark hair covering her ear.

Still shaken and rattled, Marlen's mind had nearly stopped cooperating with her, "Yeah, yeah. You're right... Come- Wait," She stuttered, her body still trembling as she pulled her wand out and sent a Patronus for help.

Curious where the beautiful hummingbird was fluttering off too Gabby watched in small wonder until she'd turned her attention to her cousin. "Who'd you send it too?"

"Dumbledore,"

Gabrielle was in total confusion as to why Marlene would send a Patronus of help to their Headmaster instead of the Ministry of Magic? "Why not the Ministry?" It was truthfully a good question, but Marlene had a better answer. "I trust Dumbledore over the Ministry."

Rounding the house, the two entered as quietly as they could, both took in the disaster.

A rotting smell filled the air making the girls gag at the stench.

Looking at one another with worry, tears filled both their eyes as they carefully continued through the house, holding one another hands and wands drawn in case they had the need to defend themselves.

The entire house seemed to have not escaped bloodshed. However, it was the living room that took the girls by utter surprise, leaving Marlene nearly in shock as she covered her mouth to silence her cry.

Laying left sprawled over the back end of the sofa was Mary's father's dead body.

"Dear fire and brimstone, what happened here?" Marlene whispered to herself in question. Her eyes burned with worry for her friend and because of the smell the house was filled with.

His corps looked as if something had torn into him, gutted him after using him as a rag doll toy. Blood was all over the room. Finally registering that Mary could very well have been a victim of this horrific act, Marlene made a dash up the stairs, not caring she was making a ruckus with a fearful scream for her friend. "Mary!" This deed had only been done a few days ago possibly, the body may have been stiff and blue, but it hadn't had the time over the whole summer to begin rotting like it smelled in the house. The heat from the summer had been enough to help it.

Gabby took in the scene as she followed her cousin up, claw-like slashes along the walls. The staircase railings had been half knocked off, practically destroyed as she ran her fingers gently across the bloodied claw marks. A sickening feeling sank into her stomach.

'I don't think anyone came away from this fight unharmed.'

Gabby blood ran with ice at hearing Marlene unleashing a gut-wrenching scream sending her in a sprint up the rest of the stairs to her cousin. "MARS!" the thirteen-year-old was graced with no response from the shaking girl. Gabrielle found Marlene on the floor crying over the mangled body of a young brunette. Tears welled up in Gabby's eyes and collapsed next to her cousin, "Dear God... I-is that-"

"Mary,"

Gabby wrapped her arms around Marlene's trembling body as she cried for the loss of her friend. The two had stayed put for what felt like hours until bright Lumos lights lit the room, "Good God, what happened here?" An Auror asked in shock, his eyes falling to the mangled body of what had once been Mary's petite form.

Albus pushed through the crowd in the hallway to get to his students with a fearful fury, "Marlene! Gabrielle! Come here girls, you don't need to be here any longer. Come on," he told them, wrapping his arms around the two girls kneeling beside the dead body of one of his students, the sight had him infuriated and aching at the loss of one of his Hogwarts kids.

Marlene shook her head as she continued to cry, "No, I can-I can't leave her-"

"Marlene, you cannot stay here. Let me take you girls home. Yes, come along, that's it... Alastor, find whoever did this. Please." Albus spoke to the Auror as he walked the girls out of the room.

Seeing the destruction of the house, Albus had made his own conclusion.

Death Eaters.

Vile beings of dark magic and Voldemort. Worst of all, it looked as if they brought a were-wolf with them, otherwise, the bodies wouldn't have looked like they did. Least of all the claw marks throughout the house.

"Of course, Albus. You know I will."

The damage had already been done, two of his students had found this crime scene and had seen the horror within.

Both girls would have mental scars from this day forward.

Days passed by since Marlene had found Mary and her family brutally murdered, but after everything had happened the group found only one good thing came out of the terrible week.

Emma had finally woken up, only to cry herself back into unconsciousness after hearing about Mary.

Lily wasn't taking the grave news at all either, but she was worried sick for her friend and the little cousin who had found the family in their murdered state.

Marlene would hardly speak about it.

Gabby had been the only reason any of them had known about the horrors of the house.

This was going to be a long and painful year. Lily just knew it.

Lily had taken to hanging around James more often, finding that he was rather good at comforting her. He hadn't even asked her out once, likely because he knew how serious this was. Deaths had been happening all summer, people had gone missing last year, now it was constant death around almost every corner.

'Who's next?'

Remus walked into Emma's room, a sigh leaving him as he found Sirius slumped in a chair next to their girls' bed, deep in sleep. They had all begun worrying for each other since this had started. Walking to his friends' side Remus gently shook him awake though he found out it had been a bad idea once Sirius shot awake, hand going for his wand. Worried he'd get cursed by Sirius, Remus held his hands up. "Easy there Padfoot, it's just me..."

At hearing his friend's voice Sirius blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes to clear the rest of the sleep from them. He was a mess.

Shaking his head softly he patted the boy's shoulder hoping it would offer some comfort. "Sirius, you have to leave sometime. You need sleep."

Huffing a sarcastic grunt, Sirius yawned and stretched his limbs. "I sleep just fine here. I sleep here in the chair or at the foot of her bed... Don't ask, I just sleep better that way." He clarified, in fact, he seemed to be sleeping in his Animagus form for the past three nights and had found he slept as comfortably as a puppy.

He was lucky he hadn't been caught.

At hearing this news Remus's brow shot up in amusement, "You sleep in your Animagus form on her feet?" He asked, an amused grin gracing his lips.

At catching onto his friend's little joke, Sirius blushed a light pink and grumbled at him. "Shut up, Moony."

"Dumbledore will be here sometime this week to move her to Hogwarts and into the care of Madam Pomfrey." He informed Sirius. That had been the reason he had come to see them after all.

Sirius's head shot up at this news, a little shocked their Headmaster had not only agreed to have Emma moved to the school's wing but to come himself to retrieve her?

Catching his shock Remus nodded and sat at the edge of Emma's bed, "Yes, I was shocked, but Lily had shown James and I the letter herself from Professor Dumbledore."

"When is he coming?"

"Now, dear boys, I have come early to collect Miss. Evans. I trust you will release her into my care?" The Headmaster's voice spoke suddenly from the door. He spoke in a soft voice, as it always was.

They'd have been lying if they said he hadn't nearly made them jump out of their skins, but he had, "I'm afraid that's up to Lily, Professor. She is her sister." Remus informed him.

A known smile graced the Professor's face, "Miss. Evans informed me to get the permission of whoever was watching over her. However, I believe I will have some difficulty, am I correct, Mr. Black?"

There was something that made the boys curious. Why did he come early to get her? And why was he asking Sirius if he'd give the Professor trouble in taking Emma out of there?

Sirius, not taking any chances with her safety, made a split-second decision he knew he wouldn't need to question. "I'll gather my belongings and be back here as soon as possible Professor. If that's alright with you?" Sirius half asked. He was not letting her out of his sight for a single moment and with Remus at Emma's side, he knew he could leave her in safe hands.

The two watched Dumbledore grin a bit, had it gotten any bigger the boys swore they'd see his teeth as he nodded slightly to him, "Very well, Mr. Lupin and I shall wait here for you to return."

And with that Sirius was off to get his things.

Fifteen minutes had passed, and he had returned with the others who wished to see the two off and speak to Dumbledore on what was being done about Mary and her family's unfortunate murders.

"The Ministry of Magic is conducting their investigation as we speak. Sadly, I cannot intervene in that matter. However, I shall protect the students that I can. Reason why I am gathering your sister tonight, Miss. Evans. I shall see the rest of you at the start of school. In the meantime, watch one another carefully." He said cutting their conversation to an end.

Dumbledore proceeded to get Emma ready for moving then Sirius and himself left with her on a stretcher tailing behind them, they were gone in seconds.

"Come on, it's late and we all need sleep." James spoke up, with everyone's agreeing nods and yawns they left for their rooms at the Leaky Cauldron.

September 1, 1976

The time came for them to return to school, their Third and Sixth year began.

James had to bite his tongue as Severus rushed up to Lily and begged her for an update on Emma, which she shortly gave him an answer. "She's alright Severus, thank you for checking though, I'll let her know you asked." She smiled sweetly as she watched Severus release a sigh of relief. "Is she at St. Mungo to recover? Was she sent home? Is she here?" he continued to dig for more. He worried for her, but to the boy's he sounded suspicious.

The Marauders panicked as they watched Lily open her mouth to give him an answer.

Fearful something would happen again. Remus jumped in and spoke as kindly as he possibly could. "That's none of your concern, Snape, but thank you for checking up on her recovery. Her location is not being given away at the moment." Remus was no fool when it came to Severus Snape, they all knew what Snape did behind closed doors.

Dark Arts.

A dangerous thing to get involved in, they always saw him with a Dark Arts of magic and books on curses, ever since he became a Slytherin, maybe even beforehand.

Everyone looked at Remus confused, he had never really been verbally rude with Severus, just never really spoke to him, even James frowned at Remus when he'd spoken, but they quickly realized why he had said it. Emma's safety. They didn't trust anyone outside of the group.

Snape scowled at him as he said so but forced it back down. Looking back to Lily, he nodded her a good night and went along his way.

"Remus-"

"I'm sorry, Lily. But I will not trust anyone outside of us who were with her when this occurred. I do not trust him. Now, I believe we need to join our classmates in the Great Hall, we can all go visit your sister tomorrow, it'll be too late to do it tonight. Hopefully, Sirius is in the Great Hall. He left something in our room before he left." With that Remus moved to leave. He just wanted to get this over with. Enough had happened as it was, and school had barely started.

"He left something? I didn't see anything left behind." Peter said, confusion bright on his face.

Nodding, Remus's hand slipped into his coat pocket, his thumb brushing against the small pagers like a deck of cards. "Yes, well. I saw it when we got back to the room and put it inside my coat pocket before going to bed... Figured he'd like to have it back."

"Really? What was it?" James asked, grinning curiously.

"Uh, a small sketchbook if you must know." Remus clarified, walking off with Lily and the other two young ladies.

The two left behind shared a confused look, their brows frowned in curiosity, "Sketchbook? … Wait, Moony!" The two shouted after him, racing to catch up with the retreating group.

"I didn't even know Sirius could sketch." James said with a bit of a fallen face. Sirius was practically his brother, they knew just about everything about one another, why hadn't he known he could draw? And the more annoying question was, was Sirius good?

"Yes, well. None of us did Prongs. But you know Sirius, he's a private person. I just figured he'd like it back." Remus said blinking to his friend a bit astonished James was a bit saddened about not knowing something so simple.

The silence was awkward as they all gathered into the Hall and on top of that, Sirius had failed to show up, which worried the group.

Curiosity had finally won with James and Peter, "Moony? Can we see the sketchbook?" Peter asked, his eyes were big with hope, wanting to see his friend's art skills.

Remus grinned at their nosiness. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to say no, boys."

James huffed playfully but shrugged it off while Peter sulked a bit. This made Remus grin wider as he remembered looking at it himself. He'd only looked in it simply because he'd found it open to a specific page.

A sketch of Gabby, Lily, Mary, Marlene and Emma with Alice from the year before when they had been horsing about in the common room near the fire. They had all been smiling wide with laughter at their fun. Remus assumed Sirius had been looking at it simply because of the happy smile Mary had been drawn with. Probably one of the last sketches Sirius had done of the poor girl before her unfortunate demises.

Emma stretched her limbs tiredly the next morning, she hadn't realized there was a bit of a weight laying on her stomach until she found Sirius Black asleep. Leaning forward with his head rested comfortably against her stomach as a makeshift pillow. She figured his back was going to be the death of him that day. But the sight still brought a smile to her face.

"Wonderful to see you awake Miss. Evans. Might I have a bit of a word with you?" The feminine voice spoke suddenly startling the girl, which had woken the sleeping Sirius as he launched himself upright with a painful grimace on his face. His wand drawn only to lower it instantly at seeing a grinning McGonagall and Dumbledore standing off to the side of the bed. "Uh... Professors?"

"Mr. Black, classes started two hours ago this morning. Please go clean yourself up and attend them." McGonagall said a tad sharply, her motherly glare directed at him.

"Uh... yes, Professor." Stretching his body painfully, he leaned over and pecked Emma on the top of her head and wished her well before leaving.

"Miss. Evans, we need to speak to you about what occurred two weeks ago regarding the assassination attempt on you... Did you see your attacker?" McGonagall began.

'Well, she certainly always gets right to the point, doesn't she?'

"Um, no Professor. H-he used Polyjuice potion, he took the form of Remus Lupin." Emma spoke rather nervously at the memory.

At this, both professors' face's fell farther, they seemed to get a little panicked, yet they held it back well. McGonagall, however, sat in a chair beside her, sympathy clear in her eyes. She, and everyone at Hogwarts, knew how close she and the four boys had gotten along.

"What transpired between the two of you while you were alone with him, Emma?" Her tone was soft, not as stern as she'd had probably liked.

The two Professors' watched as her cheeks grew a tint of pink, and ideas everywhere had formed in their minds until a few tears fell onto her folded hands that rested on her lap. "He… H-he kissed me. P-pretended to be Remus, then stabbed me…I barely remember anything after that except ginger hair, a soft voice, and Sirius's voice. I can remember bits and pieces of Lily and Gabby. I just keep remembering his face as Remus, and I can't help but be afraid of my own friend. Even when I know it wasn't him..." She cried, her tears streaming down and onto her sheets. She felt McGonagall sit on the bed and pulled her into a comforting embrace shushing her calmly.

"You're safe dear... You're safe." McGonagall told her, trying to help calm the girl down as she trembled and cried.

"He said he wished he'd have kept me alive a bit longer to play with! He's completely insane!" Emma told them, if they were going to figure anything out, anything she could remember would help them, no matter how embarrassed or scared she was at remembering and telling another what had happened.

McGonagall stiffened and swiftly looked at Dumbledore, her expression was full of horror. First Mary's murder along with a few other, or many more to their unknown sources, others that and gone missing, then the assassination attempt on one Emma Evans. And she had been the only one to have survived these attacks thus far. McGonagall was no liar. She was terrified for her student, much like Dumbledore was. Emma had survived, which likely meant that whoever had been the one to do this most likely knew she had survived as well.

Meaning that Emma Evans was still a target.

McGonagall continued to comfort the young witch, both looked to Dumbledore as he placed a gentle hand atop her head and spoke the only comforting words that he knew he could give her. "You are safe here, with the Staff, your sister and friends. You're safe, dear child... McGonagall will escort you back to your dormitory when Poppy confirms you are well enough to leave. Which should be soon. Now, if you ladies will please excuse me, I must report our findings to the Ministry." He bowed his head politely to them then walked out of the wing.

Minutes passed and Madam Pomfrey had cleaned her wound, redressed it and handed her some salve. "Today should be the last day your wound needs any dressings, just wash it regularly and place the salve on. The healers at St. Mungo did a fine job fixing you up. Now, off to classes and try not to strain yourself. Minerva, have a nice day." Madam Pomfrey smiled at the two.

Smiling to the head Nurse, Minerva nodded her head with gratitude. "Thank you, You as well, Poppy. Come along Miss. Evans."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey." and they were off to the common-room, Emma cleaned herself up then got ready for the day and went to her classes that remained of the day.

After dinner, Gabby and Remus walked her to the first classes she had missed and gathered up what she had missed before escorting Emma back to the common room, where she proceeded to be lifted into tight hugs from James and Lily.

Klay was even sitting in the common room, permission granted by McGonagall only for tonight. He had hugged her tightly, nose buried in her hair. Had the group been anyone else they'd had thought Klay was cheating on Gabby with her best friend, but they all knew their relationship. Klay had taken it upon himself to be the big brother while the boys remained just the boys. Even Lily was beginning to look at the young Hufflepuff as a little brother. "I'm so glad you're alright, Rosie... When Gabby said you'd been attacked I honestly don't remember what I did. I'm missing some time. I'm just happy Sirius stayed with you, I'd have expected nothing different from them for you… So, what happened?"

"I uh... I think we all need to talk about it. But, I need to speak to Remus before I say it to anyone else." They all saw her fear, her hesitation. And it broke their hearts. Something had indeed happened in that alley that made her afraid of Remus, and he didn't like that.

His eyes darkened with sadness and anger, though he quickly collected himself, that was the last thing Emma needed to see in the real Remus if she was going to get past this attack. Unfortunately, it was difficult for Remus to relax as he forced a smile and nodded to her. "Of course. The halls of the tower should be pretty much empty by now." He told her and left the common room, a nervous Emma following closely behind.

Emma had a feeling she was about to regret this, but she had made up her mind. She was going to talk to Remus first, then she'd decide if she wanted to go through with the latter idea.

Remus stopped on the stairs of the tower and turned to look up at Emma as she stood stiffly on the stairs with him. "Now, what is it you need to speak to me about?" By now he was as calm as he would ever be. Remus knew it was about the attack, about what happened between her and the impostor. And he'd be lying if he said he didn't want to know, because he did.

The rat-bastard had played a dirty trick on all of them and targeted their girl, the only girl of their group, aside from Gabby. Yet Emma's Dear friend was hardly around them, a reason why the pretty little blond wasn't really considered a part of their 'group'.

But for the nasty trick, they would pay for it.

Taking a breath of courage, Emma released a long breath as she began to mess with her nails. "He acted just like you, up until he challenged Sirius, but something he said didn't make any sense... He said Sirius should have learned by then to have been more careful with me. He challenged him, Remus, and I don't have any idea why he would say anything like that. But, there's a lot more... He, uh… He kissed me. It felt wrong when he did, and I shouldn't have let him. I knew something wasn't right, but I ignored it. I am so sorry, but now I can't get the thought out of my head, and it's bothering me." Emma was so embarrassed that she had covered her face away from him.

Blinking from slight shock, Remus shook his head, in hope, this would sink in, "... Um... Wait, he, impostor me, kissed you?" He had no idea where it came from, but he began to laugh. And Emma let him, because if she was honest, she'd have laughed at her also. However, she couldn't help the tears that welled up in her eyes as he did. She couldn't fight it, even if she wanted too.

His laughter began sobering as he watched her, instantly regretting it, "Wait, when you say you can't get the thought out of your mind, you don't happen to mean, kissing me? Do you?" He wasn't gifted with a verbal answer, so he watched as a tear or two rolled down her cheeks, her jaw clenched tightly. She wasn't looking at him, but at the steps she was currently standing on and breathing in deep and heavy breaths to keep her nerves calm.

He felt his heart jump. 'She wants to know what it would have been like to have had it really been me?'

Remus was shocked, he had no idea what to do. Sirius was one of his best friends and the girl his friend was in absolute love with wanted to kiss someone else, all because of what had happened. Remus swore that once he got his hands on whoever did this they were going to pay dearly as he forced himself to watch her wipe the falling tears with her.

Seeing this made Remus's heart clenched painfully, he'd not only laughed at her, he'd humiliated her, even if it wasn't in front of others. Remus had laughed at her after she had admitted to something that was not only bothering her, but was causing conflict in her and against their friendship. Remus knew his choice instantly and without questions he gently rested his hand against her cheek, an action that had her finally looking at him. Instead of kissing her lips, Remus pecked her cheek with a smile and softly whispered into her ear. "I'd never be able to kiss you, Emma, not because I don't want to believe me, but because you're not mine to kiss." He felt her blush and smile big in relief.

Wrapping her arms around him in a hug, she kissed his cheek a couple of times with a smile, "Thank you, Remus. You'll always be one of my favorites, even though I shouldn't between my friends, but sadly I do have favorites." She giggled into his hug. Stepping back from the friendly embrace, she couldn't keep the smile off her face. She was happy she could know the difference if it ever happened again. She just hoped it stayed that way, she really didn't want to be a target a second time around.

Finding it funny, he chuckled with laughter, "Really, then who's the first favorite?" He knew he shouldn't have asked, but he just had to know if he was right.

At her blush he knew the answer, she only ever did that for one person, "I can't tell you." She joked.

Leaning in playfully, Remus whispered into her ear, "Let me guess…. Hm…. Sirius Black." He hadn't asked, and it wasn't a question either. He grinned as her eyes sparkled.

Emma's cheeks flared pink and a small hitch in her breath caught in her chest. She stood on the steps stunned, eyes wide, was she really that obvious?

'Had Sirius noticed these few years and just hadn't cared at all?'

"How'd you-"

"It's not that hard to see it, Emma. Even Sirius makes a bad job of hiding it... But he knows that as long as you both are in school that he can't, well, shouldn't, act on his feelings… Yet. I'm afraid you both will be waiting for a little while. Now, come along. I think the others would like to finally know." Draping an arm around her Remus walked them back to the Common room.

Though Emma had it set in her mind that Remus was just trying to make her feel better, there was no way that Sirius Black held any feelings for her besides being good friends.

Unfortunately, they had failed to notice someone had followed them in the form of a seething Avery.

'How did she survive!'

A student at Hogwarts he may not be anymore, but he still had his ways back into the school.

All thanks to Severus Snape and Regulus Black.

Thank you all for taking the time for reading, I hope you've all enjoyed so far! Have a wonderful night/day!