Footnotes

Entry #24: September 5th

Years past and lives everywhere changed as did the war. Lily and James got married after Kat was born and just recently had a baby right after Emma and I had our second child. Often James would bring Harry over to play with Kat and our son Draco. We even had a big party recently to celebrate Harry's first birthday. Sadly though, Emma's cancer came back and there was no beating it this time. It was a miracle we even had Draco. Emma was confined to bed rest, so Remus took Kat frequently to help out. I took off a lot of time from work to be with Emma as much as possible.

"I'll be back in an hour love, I just have to go in and sign a few things and go talk to Mad Eye," I told Emma as I held her hand and kissed her forehead.

"Okay…" She said weakly as I kissed her forehead one last time before leaving.

"Hey Sirius?" She called as I was halfway out the door. I turned and looked at her, waiting for her to finish.

"Yeah babe?"

"I love you," Emma replied softly.

"I love you too," I said with a smile. I checked on Draco quickly who was sleeping in his crib. Remus was climbing up the stairs with Kat in his arms as I left.

"She's in good hands, as always don't worry," He said. As I took the Floo powder to work I couldn't help but reflect on my family. When Draco was born we couldn't believe how much he looked like David, the twins' father. James always said that Draco looked like Baby.

"Ah Sirius, good to see you, how are Emma and the kids doing since I saw them last?"

"They are good Alastor. Emma's not showing any signs of improvement but she's not declining either. And of course Kat is a little monster and Draco is growing rapidly. I can't believe how fast they grow!" I said. Mad Eye Moody gave a laugh and then had me follow him to his office to get all this paper work and things over with. We signed a few things, and then Albus dropped by to have a quick chat and also sign a couple of paper Moody had.

"How is Emma doing Sirius?" He asked me placing a hand on my shoulder. The gesture was very touching, knowing that Albus Dumbledore and the rest of the Order was concerned for my wife and family.

"She's hanging in there. Doctors say she doesn't have much time left though. I know that she knows that too. It's made things kind of tough with the kids," I said. Albus gave me a sympathetic smile and a nod.

"And how are the kids?"

"They're doing great. They look far too much like Emma both of them. Draco's getting the grasp of the whole being one. He's finally started talking and we can't keep the little bugger out of everything. Kat's taken to Remus a lot too. She follows him everywhere he goes and cries for hours when he leaves," I told my former headmaster. He nodded and smiled widely and laughed as I told him more stories about my silly and crazy children. It took my mind off of the pain that I felt for Emma. I was so upset that she was so sick. I didn't want our children to grow up without her. As I got closer to getting done with the paper work I realized how much I missed my family.

"You should just go home Mr. Black. Your wife and family needs you and it's not fair to keep you here any longer when you should be at home with them," Moody told me. I did as he said and I quickly went home. The house had a still to it that I didn't like. Lily was over and she was holding Harry who was sleeping in her arms. Attached to James was Draco who was trying to walk about the house. I didn't notice at first but now I could see that tears were streaming down Lily's face. James was trying to hold in an emotion that I wasn't sure of, rage, sadness or a mixture of both. Remus came down the stairs to greet me, and Kat ran to me.

"Daddy!" She said sweetly as I scooped her up. Remus also was crying. I gave everyone a confused look as I wiped some chocolate off of my daughter's face.

"What's wrong? Is Emma alright?" I asked them. Remus shook his head and James turned away from me.

"Sirius, I don't know how to tell you this…." He began. I shook my head. This wasn't happening.

"No, oh…god…oh god…no…" I sank to the floor with Kat still in my arms. She clung to my neck and hugged me closely as tears began to uncontrollably flow down my face. I buried my tear stained face in my sweet daughter's shoulder.

"Oh Emma…. I'm so sorry…."