1995. 9. 10

Dumbledore walked into Grimmauld Place unannounced, carrying the body of a young girl in his arms. Sirius and Remus were upstairs- Dumbledore could hear them- setting a surprise for Emma that would never be used. After she had left for Severus Snape's house, Sirius had decided that if his daughter was so interested in Potions, she should have her own lab; mostly, so she wouldn't have to go to Snape's house. What would become of that room now?

Dumbledore laid the young girl's body on the couch, staring at her through his half-moon spectacles. What had she done to deserve such an early death? Hesitantly, Dumbledore proceeded up the stairs, already knowing what he would have to say to the two men. He found them moving a couch out of a bedroom. Upon seeing him, both of them dropped the couch in surprise, for they were not expecting the Headmaster.

"Dumbledore?"

"I am sorry to intrude on you so suddenly, but an urgent matter has come up that we must discuss."

"Is Emma alright? Is it Harry? Is he okay?"

"Sirius..." Remus gave him a wary glance, signaling him to shut up.

"This is one of those situations that you need to see for yourself." Dumbledore gestured to the stairs. At which point, Sirius bolted, Remus not far behind. The two men had had their share of heartbreaks. Remus at Hannah's death. Sirius and Jen's and James' death. However, none of those deaths could compare to the heartbreak the two men felt now upon seeing young Emma laying on the couch, her face as white as snow.

Sirius grabbed her shoulders and shook her violently. "Emma? Emma!" His voice was cracking along with his heart. Remus had been there when Sirius found Jennifer dead. Then, he thought his friend could not have been anymore broken, but he was wrong. Sirius began to sob heavily into his daughter's shirt, muttering "no" continuously. Remus, on the other hand, covered his mouth with his hand, sobbing silently behind Sirius. Even though Emma was not related to him by blood, Remus had practically raised her after Sirius went to Azkaban. He had seen her grow into the beautiful woman that she was; he had seen her develop her love for mischief and magic, just like her father.

"Death Eaters." Dumbledore said, answering their thoughts of what happened.

"I'm going to kill him..."

"I'm afraid that Severus had nothing to do with this, Sirius. If you'd like, I can share all of the details with you."

"She... she was at Hogwarts... wasn't she... That's why... That's why you brought her here... He took her there... didn't he...?"

Dumbledore did not answer. Sirius was completely shaken, feeling as if he was losing his mind all over again. Remus had always been more composed that Sirius, but even now, he could not hold in the sobs. Slowly, he walked towards the couch and stroked Emma's hair.

Sirius mourned over his daughter's body for two hours before he was able to pull himself away from her to go into the kitchen where Remus and Dumbledore were discussing the details. "Which one of them did this?" Sirius demanded, fists clenched. "I don't know, Sirius. Her body was discovered near the Shrieking Shack. No one saw what happened." If Dumbledore told Sirius that Severus knew what happened, he would blame him and probably try to kill him. Therefore, to protect Severus, Dumbledore intentionally omitted any information about him. He had told Remus, however, that Severus knew what had happened. That Emma had been told to skip the meeting, but she went anyway. Was it a death wish? No. Emma was simply too naive and thought that they would simply give her more time.

The Death Eaters, however, had taken her life instead.