Footnotes
Entry #11: December 25th
Emma and James weren't at back at school until late Christmas Eve. And once they got back they went straight to bed. But the next morning they tried to be as normal as possible. Most of the kids had gone home for the break, so we basically had the entire school to ourselves. In fact we had the Gryffindor tower to ourselves. We got out our gifts and opened them in the common room. The twins went last and once Emma got her gift from Baby she tears up again. Attacked to her gift was a latter, that Emma read out loud.
"Dear Emmy, until now I didn't think writing to you would be important until I wrote this. I would have dad do it, but then I'd get in trouble for opening my Christmas present early. That's why I'm writing, to tell you how much I liked your gift. The one from James was good too, I guess, but he still didn't give me Sirius like I asked him too. That's all for now. I love you big sis, and send my love to James and Sirius and everyone else. Baby." As Emma read her voice was cracking under the strain she was using trying not to cry. She dabbed at her eyes and handed the letter to James and then opened her gift. It was a muggle book, a complete collection of Shakespeare plays. She then opened the next gift from her father. It was a necklace inside of a small box with a note on top. The note simply read, "It's time you had this." The necklace itself was a beautiful crystal dragonfly on a thin silver chain. Emma couldn't say anything. James leaned over and hugged her and so did Lily.
"My mother's necklace, he gave me mum's necklace, her favorite…," Emma trailed off and got up to be alone. We sat in silence all of us looking at our gifts: it seemed so immaculate now.
"It's so odd, this feeling inside me," James began. "It's like, a hollow log is walking in my body. Em and I are alone now, oh god, we're alone. Mom's death was so hard on Emma and now that Baby is gone…I fear for Emma. She's heartbroken." As he said it, he gazed after his sister. I got up, leaving everything behind to try and find her. I wandered the empty halls, calling her name softly. Finally I found her, curled in a window seat by the Room of Requirement.
"Em…"
"I can't believe that James is really all I have left of my family. Sure I have memories, but memories can't rock you to sleep, or hold your hand. They can't draw you pictures that you'll keep hidden and treasured…" Emma said crying softly. I sat down next to her and held her hand which she willingly allowed.
"When my father died of terminal cancer, I thought that my life was over. My dad was the only person who in my family understood me and made the others worth tolerating. It was so frustrating that something like cancer, that not even magic can fix, took out such a strong man. I was only six, and I lost my hero that year," I told her as she tried to hold in the tears. She looked at me, in a very odd way.
"I'm sorry, I never knew…"
"It's okay; it was a long time ago. I got over it and I know that in time you will too. Now let's go back to our family: I know they'll be waiting with open arms for us."