"No- Molly, I'm fine really. It's not a big deal. I've never been much of a dancer," Emma tried to release the Weasley matriarch's hold on her wrist, who was currently pushing her to dance with Charlie.
"Nonsense dear! Besides Charlie is already waiting there. You see? You wouldn't disappoint him now, would you? Off you go," with a slight shove Emma hesitantly walked towards Charlie who stood on the dance floor awkwardly waiting for her. She could see Bill and Fleur dancing away from the corner of her eyes, along with many others on the floor. The wedding had been a simple yet elegant affair.
One that had only left Emma with a sense of anxiety in her stomach no matter how happy she was for the newlywed couple. It didn't help that Emma could feel Remus' gaze on her the entire time while she remained steadfast in looking forward at the altar where the ceremony was happening. The wounds of their break-up still festering fresh in her mind- if she could even call it that. Don't you break up when you're in a relationship? Was that even dating? Whatever it was now is over, that's all she knew for sure.
It felt as if that whole evening had gone by in a blur as she remembered Tonks' eagerness to make him feel better not even an hour after what had happened. She hadn't seen either of them since the day she walked out other than for the Order meetings. Thinking that he had just needed a few days more to think, she had attempted to talk to him the first time she saw him. But he just walked past her without another glance.
She got the message. Loud and clear.
Molly and Arthur had been nothing but welcoming since the moment she had shown up at the Burrow, with her suitcase and in a mess. In the following months, she had busied herself around the Burrow and a weekend or two at Hogwarts now helping out with whoever needed her. With Dumbledore now gone, his presence left a gap in many things they had to achieve at the Order. Molly had taken her temporary residence at the Weasleys' as a chance to talk up Charlie to her, who she kept reminding her would be at the wedding.
"Sorry about her. She's pretty stubborn once she has her mind set on something. I think she really likes you. That and now that Bill's married, she's hoping I'm next soon," Charlie apologised sheepishly once she was within hearing range. He held out his hand for her which she took with a small smile.
"It's okay. I know she means well," her voice was low. She didn't bring herself to look at Charlie in the eyes dreading seeing the look of pity. It seems that some people in the Order had taken to treating her as if she were made of glass. Molly and Remus included. Don't need his pity that's for sure, she thought grimly. Charlie led her in the dance and they slowly waltzed around the other couples while he tried to initiate some small talk.
Her gaze was now fixed on his shoulders, occasionally shifting her eyes around her to make sure she wouldn't bump into anyone. Although for some reason she felt a gnawing sensation at her back that she couldn't shake off. She thought that she could feel his gaze burning holes in the back of her head.
"I heard about you and Remus," he said suddenly drawing her attention.
She scoffed. "Remus and I? You mean the part where he tossed me out like an old issue of Witch Weekly?"
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," she looked at Charlie who was smirking. "I mean he looks like he's ready to rip my head off this second," he pulled Emma a little closer which earned him a view of Sirius holding back Remus by the arm from doing something he'd regret such as storming over. "I think I can see him itching to grab his wand now," he whispered in her ear. Instead of responding Emma just gulped, unsure of what to make of his claims. He gave a curt nod to Remus who continued glowering at him as the couple continued swaying lightly to the music.
"You must be imagining it," she retorted still unable to see the scene unfolding behind her. "I doubt I am," he said twirling her now during which she managed to catch a quick glimpse at him. Her face didn't reveal any emotions for the brief second their eyes met and before she knew it, she was facing Charlie once more.
"May I?" a voice cut in and Emma thought her heart almost stopped beating. Charlie froze, unsure what to do, so he looked at Emma instead. "No," her response was short. She didn't even bother turning back to look. She knew who it was.
"Emma please," the three of them were now standing awkwardly in the middle of the dance floor not moving. The other guests started looking at them. "Leave. You're making a scene," she angrily whispered to him, her eyes still fixed ahead. Suddenly she felt a rough hand grab her upper arm and turn her around, away from Charlie's grasp to face Remus. He had an unreadable expression on his face. She could smell the Firewhiskey on him.
Why was it, that when they got like this, she always smelled some Firewhiskey on him?
"Emma," Remus started. It hurt her to hear him sound so broken but then she remembered that he did this to himself and that she was sick of playing hot and cold with him. "NO! I said leave me alone. I think you've done enough," she yanked her arm away and stormed off outside the tent. Several heads turned to look at the two men who stood still on the dance floor.
Remus decided to take this chance to follow her out but before he could a hand stopped him. "Leave her alone mate. Not now," Charlie said softly and Remus almost felt bad for shooting daggers at him for the last ten minutes.
He gave a slight nod and walked back in the opposite direction towards Sirius and Harry. "Not. A. Word," he growled before Sirius could pitch in another sarcastic comment about his behaviour. To say that Sirius had been pissed would be an understatement. He was furious and had chosen every possible moment to make comments about it over the past 3 months. It didn't help that Remus himself hadn't been doing too well either. While he thought that giving Emma her space was the best way he could help her, when he saw Molly eagerly setting her up with Charlie it gutted him.
You have no right to feel that way. You gave it up when you gave her up. Did you expect her to stay celibate without you? he thought to himself bitterly. He didn't. Perhaps the sooner she moved on, the better…but then there had been something about seeing her in the arms of another man that had just gotten him and his wolf riled up.
While they were almost always in conflict, when it came to Emma, her presence soothed them both.
Sirius rolled his eyes and continued his conversation with Harry, who kept throwing a similar expression of longing towards his favourite redhead across the room. They too had parted ways following Dumbledore's sudden demise. Sirius was growing frustrated at the one-sided conversation he was holding between the three of them. Remus would nod every few moments to pretend he was keeping up with the conversation while his mind- and heart was still with Emma.
"Merlin's beard! What has gotten into the two of you acting like lovestruck teenagers? I can expect this from Harry, but you Remus? Get a grip and pull your head out of your arse. You did this yourself," Sirius shoved a finger into his chest breaking his train of thought.
"Yes, Sirius. I remember well- seeing how you love jumping at every chance you get to point that out," Remus was definitely bitter. "Tell me if you're so concerned about her, why don't you go and offer your shoulder to cry on. You've been doing a lovely job at it for the past few Order meetings," Remus said words he didn't mean in his heart. Because he knew that Sirius was only trying to repair the damage he had inflicted on her. But in that moment, he just wanted someone else to hurt as much as he did.
"That's rich coming from you Moony. Don't think I didn't see you taking up my dear cousin's offer to lighten your mood, not even an hour after you had the audacity to-" Sirius was cut off as Harry tried to hold back from making a larger scene than what Remus just created a few moments ago.
Remus scrunched his face in confusion unsure as to what his friend was insinuating. All Tonks had wanted was to talk. But before Remus could say anything more the reception was interrupted by a silver lynx Patronus that came with a grave warning.
"The ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."
The message was gone as soon as it had appeared. Within seconds, chaos erupted. Remus gave Sirius a quick glance, both marauders agreeing silently between themselves in an instant before running off to find Emma.
Loved ones and family members ran to each other before disappearing on the spot, Molly and Arthur frantically hurried to gather their brood, a very frenzied Sirius barely managed to stop Harry from chasing after Ginny and instead shoved him towards Hermione and Ron, who then apparated with a crack! Remus ran outside, pushing aside the now disappearing guests as a few men in Death Eater masks showed up. Sirius was on his heels, deflecting the few curses meant to maim the duo.
"EMMA!" they called out, but she wasn't out by the front. Dodging more spells wordlessly, they made their way to the back where they found her. Arriving just in time, Remus saw her lifting the hem of her dress to get her wand to quickly disarming a Death Eater. But not before his spell hit her and he ran to her break her fall while simultaneously stunning the Death Eater unconscious. He knew that they had to get out of there. As soon as he caught her before she hit the ground, he felt Sirius grab his arm and then they were gone.
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Just before she hit the ground, Emma felt someone catch her. And before she knew it, she felt the familiar sensation of being whisked away, literally, before realising she was being apparated. She would've panicked had it not been for the familiar sensation of being held by the most comforting presence she loved. A few moments later she hit the ground with a thud! Well, she didn't, but the person she was on top of did and let out a muffled Ouch!
"Blimey Moony- what is this place?" she recognised Sirius' voice. "What?" she was confused still trying to process what had happened in the last five minutes. She felt warm hands tightly gripping her waist still and someone breathing on her neck. Her breath hitched when she recognised the familiar scent of chocolate.
Trying to put as much distance between them in a hurry she sat up placing her hands on his chest and looked down only to notice her straddling Remus, currently on his back. Her cheeks burned and words caught in her throat as she was unable to form a coherent sentence, stuck at how familiar this had been only a few weeks ago. With her hands still on his chest, she could feel his fast breathing as well as he looked at her with concern not bothering to respond to Sirius' question.
"Oi, we won't have none of that here," Sirius' voice broke their trance.
"Sorry," she muttered and got up and turned to face Sirius not entertaining what just happened between Remus and her. She looked around and saw that Remus had apparated them to the middle of some forest. "Thanks," she eventually said to the duo "..you know for helping with the Death Eater," she gave Sirius a small smile.
"Don't thank me, love. Moony here did the work," Sirius chuckled.
Emma refused to acknowledge it any further. "So, what is this place really?" she reiterated the question.
"We're near my cottage- well my old cottage," Remus cleared his throat and said. Emma finally looked at him with raised eyebrows. "I lived there before teaching at Hogwarts and then shortly after until I joined the Order again," he explained looking into the distance where Emma and Sirius could spot a small dwelling.
"It's the first place I could think of. But we'll need to keep moving. They will come looking for us here seeing that they know the three of us are together," he concluded. Sirius was deep in thought with his arms folded across his chest.
"Good thing I let 'Mione convince me into putting an undetectable extension charm on my purse when she was doing it for her and the boys. She even helped put together some supplies for me. Us now, I guess," Emma pursed her lips as the gravity of not just being on the run but also being stuck with Remus for the foreseeable future dawned on her.
"I have some I have a small tent in here that could fit up to four adults- kind of like the ones they use during the World Cup," she added contemplating how this was going to go. It hadn't occurred to her that she would be in a situation needing two tents, or one needing her to be under the same roof as him.
This just keeps getting better, she thought trying to keep the tears at bay.
"Great. Now you wouldn't happen to have any extra men's clothes lying around in that cottage would you Moony?" Sirius asked.
With a nod Remus hurried towards the cottage, leading the way. He turned back to make sure they were following and even offered Emma a small smile which only earned him another glare and a look of contempt. Both from her.
It was going to be a long war, Remus sighed.
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A/N: Hello readers! FYI the quote "The ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming." is from the book itself verbatim, completely JK Rowling's writing. I will try to keep my updates for weekends starting now. Not many chapters left now. Reviews appreciated.