She thought her life was over – but fate gave her another chance, in a world of magic. Now, running around Hogwarts with James Potter and his friends, she's about to make choices that will change the future in ways she never thought possible…
Marauder's Phase
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Christmas Cheer
Before I knew it, December was upon us, and so was the Christmas break. Remus, Peter, James and Lily were all going home for the holidays but, the day before they were all leaving, James approached Sirius and me.
I was curled up on a big chair by the roaring fire, intent on finishing my long over-due Transfigurations homework. Sirius was sitting on the chair next to me, apparently dozing, but he woke up immediately when James approached us both.
"Listen," He said earnestly, looking at me and then at Sirius. "About this holidays…I got a letter from my Mum, inviting both of you to come 'round to our place for Christmas…"
I suppose I should back-track a bit.
A lot had happened since that fateful day in Diagon Alley, when Lily and I had witnessed, first hand, how Dumbledore had stopped the dark forces from attacking us…
From attacking me.
Since then, I had taken a few tests to determine how much I knew about magic.
Some results surprised me, and others didn't shock me at all.
I knew a good number of spells already, these being:
Rictumsempra. As I had used on Sirius to make him submissive.
Wingardium Leviosa. What I had used to hang up my washing.
Furnunculus. Which I had used in an attempt to harm Bellatrix.
Expalliamus. I had used this to disarm Bellatrix before she could use the Cruciatus curse on me.
Stupefy. This was the very first spell I'd used, to knock out Sirius when I'd first been forced to transform from wolf to girl.
Incendio. I nearly giggled when I showed Professor Dumbledore I could use this – indeed, I was remembering setting Snape's books on fire.
And Lumos and Nox, which lights/extinguishes a wand tip.
It may not seem like much but, remember, I'd only known I was a witch for a very short time, and the fact that I had any magical abilities amazed me. I'd learned these spells without any tutelage. With Dumbledore's help, however, I was able to learn different spells such as:
Diffindo. It split the seams on a nearby bag.
Enervate. This counters Stupefy.
Petrificus Totalus. The full body-binding curse.
Orchideous. Okay, I discovered this one on my own but, still, it was kinda cool creating a bunch of flowers like that. They were sunflowers.
Tarantallegra. This one forces your opponent to dance – very cool.
I also learnt a few charms:
Accio. This summons an object. I had summoned Professor Dumbledore's spectacles right off of his face.
Alohamora. This one opens locked doors – convenient.
Mobiliarbus. Great, now I could use this one on Sirius and get back at him!
And Remus had promised to help me learn the Patronus charm – a definite highlight of January.
I had started classes a week ago…
They were…hard, and I mean really, SUPER hard…
But for now…
"Yeah, course I'll come, I always do anyway." Sirius told James, grinning.
I had a feeling that Mrs. Potter had extended the invitation to both of us, so as not to make me feel uncomfortable. Still, I felt uncomfortable. "A-are you sure? I mean, is she sure?"
James regarded me. "You can send her an owl if you want." He said, and I stood up.
"I think I might just do that…my first letter by owl. Wow." I shrugged, and asked James to take me up to the owlery.
***
Dear Mrs. Potter, I wrote and, as an afterthought, added and Mr. Potter.
Thank you for inviting me to stay with you for the Christmas holidays. I hope it's not too much trouble (although James assures me that it is not) but I am writing to accept your invitation so that you will not be too surprised when I get off the Hogwarts Express with James and Sirius tomorrow. I would love to spend the holidays with you.
Thank you for you kind invitation,
Sincerely,
Emma Pax.
"You're so formal," James informed me, as we watched the furry grey owl – which we had christened Haphazard – fly off into the snow.
"Well, it never hurts to be polite." I replied, looking down at my mittened hands, which were placed on the snowy balcony ledge. "I just hope that they can read what I've written…" I frowned. "Besides…it'll be my first Christmas…away from home…" My parents had never exactly mistreated me, but let's just say that I felt like more of a burden, or a liability, than an asset. They never told me that they were proud of me. Not once. But…Mr. and Mrs. Potter had 'adopted' Sirius as their 'almost-son', so they must be alright. I would see. "I think it'll be alright." I said firmly, nodding.
James grinned. "It will be…" He said, before casting a spell which caused a second year Hufflepuff student to slip on the icy steps outside of the owlery.
"James!" I cried. "You can't go hexing people left and right just because you can…and don't you dare strangle the poor boy with his own tie!"
"Aww, you're no fun." James complained, freeing the poor second year who ran off crying. "Yeah, you'd better run!"
"James!"
***
The Hogwarts Express was a beautiful scarlet steam engine, as impressive as it had been in the movie and even more so.
The Marauders, Lily and I found a compartment and, despite her better judgement, Lily sat with us – her, me and Peter on one row of seats, facing James, Sirius and Remus.
As the train chugged out of Hogsmeade station, to begin the long journey back to London, we found it very easy to make conversation. James flirted with Lily at every given opportunity, and she brushed him off with a few well-placed comments. The plump witch pushing the trolley came by and, feeling generous, I bought everyone something that they wanted. Despite a few protests here and there, I stood firm – I wanted to buy some things for my friends, and that was that. I had never been able to treat my friends to something before, so this was a very rare occasion indeed, as I discovered the joys of Chocolate Frogs ("Another Dumbledore…" Peter complained, and Sirius' chocolate frog leapt about five feet into the air only to be snapped up by one hungry Black) and Bertie Bots Every-Flavour Beans ("Tripe!" James yelled in disgust, at the same time Lily shrieked: "Sand!", and I felt brave enough to try a fiery red one, which turned out to be Nine O'clock Chilli, and Remus was lucky enough to get a honeycomb-flavoured one which was one in a million I reckon) and, my personal favourites, the Pumpkin Pasties and Cauldron Cakes, classic but oh so good. That, washed down with some nice pumpkin juice, was enough to keep me satisfied until we arrived at the London Underground, by which time I'd been to the bathroom twice, played a game of Exploding Snap with James (which he'd won) and purposely tripped Serilda Roans in the corridor as I came back from the bathroom for the second time and she'd called Lily a mudblood.
***
It was my first time in the London Underground, so I didn't know what to expect. I mean, I've been in the Perth City one before, so I knew all about the different platforms and trains, so I was cool with that.
But as I wheeled my trolley that held my suitcase and Haphazard's cage, I watched a number of things happen.
First, Molly Prewett ran to her parents, who seemed to be surrounded by half a dozen kids, all of them younger than Molly and with flaming red hair like hers.
Remus and Peter said goodbye to us, and went to meet their respective families. Mrs. Lupin caught sight of me, as I hugged Remus goodbye, and smiled serenely. I smiled back at her.
Alice Conners greeted her parents, whom looked remarkably like her, pretty and round-faced and friendly.
Someone's cat got away, and tore off down the platform after a stray mouse.
Serilda Roans' parents acted remarkably like her, although her Mum was shorter and tanner than Serilda was, and her Dad was larger and wider than either of them. They acted as if they were ten cuts above the rest.
The same went for Lucius Malfoy and his parents.
It didn't surprise me that Snape was staying at school for the holidays.
Regulas Black and Bellatrix Lestrange went up to a woman whom I assumed was Sirius and Regulas' mother, because she embraced Regulas for a moment, patted Bellatrix on the shoulder, and then glared at Lily Evans, who was meeting her muggle parents and…if I wasn't mistaken, that was a younger-looking Petunia Evans there, too, hugging her sister awkwardly. Then, Mrs. Black caught sight of Sirius, and yelled across the platform to him, for all the world to hear: "Don't bother coming home, you horrible excuse for a son!"
Sirius looked like he wanted to murder his mother – I think I did too – but, nonetheless, I grabbed Sirius' arm and steered him toward the Potters, but not before we both received a strange look from Regulas Black.
He and I locked eyes for a moment – and something indefinite passed between us, almost like a warning –before I forced Sirius forward, pushing him across the platform with my spare arm and toward Mr. and Mrs. Potter.
James' parents looked remarkably like him. They both had hazel eyes, and dark hair, and were wearing trousers and warm jackets.
Mrs. Potter embraced Sirius like he was her second son and then, to my surprise, hugged me as well.
"James has spoken very highly of you in his letters, Emma," She said, and I thought I'll kill him…. "Thank you so much for your lovely letter yesterday." She added.
"It's okay," I said, as she pulled away from me. "Thanks for inviting me to stay, Mrs. Potter…"
"Oh please," Mrs. Potter said with a smile as we made our way toward the barrier. "Call us by our first names, Maggie and Reginald. You're fifteen after all." She added.
"Reginald?" I muttered, and Sirius grinned.
Still, I realised, as we went through the barrier indiscreetly and came out into the London Underground, Mrs. and Mr. Potter…oh, excuse me, Maggie and Reginald (I hoped I'd be able to say that with a straight face from now on) were the two kindest people I could ever hope to meet. They stowed all our things in the trunk of their old blue Ford Anglia (I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the thing) and then Maggie pulled me aside.
"Dear, the owl that delivered the letter yesterday…" She began.
I gulped. "Haphazard…" I had christened the furry grey thing 'Haphazard', because of his unsystematic, often sporadic ways. "Is he alright?"
"Yes, he's fine, he'll just need a little rest is all," Maggie assured me. "I'm sure he'll be fine, I just wanted to let you know that he flew into the window when he arrived." She said, fussily straightening out my scarf, which alarmed me for a moment, because no one has ever straightened out my scarf before.
I was wearing a warm black jumper, blue jeans and sneakers, and my Gryffindor scarf, tied in a bow, the way Lily had shown me how to do it about a week ago.
As I climbed into the Ford Anglia, I happened to glance over to my left, to see Lily climbing into a car with her parents and Petunia.
Lily and her sister saw me looking, and Lily waved cheerfully to me, but Petunia gave me an odd look.
I couldn't read her expression whatsoever. I also wondered what on earth had possessed the Evanses to name their daughters after flowers…
Shrugging, I climbed into the car next to Sirius, who was in the middle of me and James.
Reginald started the engine, turned on the heater and the radio (which was playing a song a vaguely recognised, called Love Me Tender) and drove out onto the streets of London.
***
"Well, this is home," James said, somewhat proudly and for my benefit only, as we pulled out the front of the beautiful sprawling house set on acreage, and sporting a sun deck.
"Oh my God…" I whispered, climbing out of the car and gazing in awe. The house was amazing. "What a beautiful house…"
Maggie smiled at me. "Why thank you, Emma." She said, as she and Reginald got our things out of the trunk and inside, this time with the aid of magic.
James, Sirius and I followed them inside – and I got my first real look at a wizard house.
Everywhere I looked, there seemed to be something amazing to see.
Dishes were cleaning themselves…a sweater was knitting itself…and the clock on the wall…
I crept closer to it, and peered at it.
There were three hands on it, each bearing the name and picture of a member of the Potter family, plus another, handmade hand, with Sirius' name and picture on it. All four hands now pointed to HOME, but there were other things too, such as SCHOOL, WORK, TRAVELLING, PRISON (I shuddered to think of where Sirius' hand might be one day, if I didn't prevent it from happening) and SHOPPING.
Where the number twelve should be, a plate read MORTAL PERIL.
I cringed.
Turning away from the clock, I became fascinated by the books on the shelves behind me. Wizarding Wonders of the Modern Age, One Minute Feasts – It's Magic!, a copy of a magazine called Enchantment Tonight, Spectacular Sorcery and, my personal favourite one, Charm Your Own Cheese.
A shiny grey tabby cat wound its way around my ankles, as I stood there staring at what looked like an ordinary muggle piano.
James caught me staring. "Do you play?" He asked.
"N-no, not really…" I half-lied, because I played by ear. "I mean, well…a little bit…"
"Play something then." James and Sirius said in unison, and I sighed.
Sirius steered me over to the piano, and I sat down. I ran through my mental list of songs I'd learnt – Ai No Senshi, The Power Of Love Long Kiss Goodbye, Oh Starry Night, Pokemon Battle Frontier, My Will, Summer Sunshine, Darkness…
Before I finally settled on Ai No Senshi, which seemed safe enough, since I'm no Mozart.
I play the piano by playing the melody (or the words spoken as it most often is) on my right hand, and a harmony that involved a three-beat chord with my left hand. As I said, I'm not very good, but I could imagine the song very clearly in my head.
I began to play.
And, to my complete surprise, an image suddenly appeared above the piano as I was playing, and I was so startled that I nearly lost track of what I was doing. The image above was of a group of people – six of them, in fact – apparently involved in some kind of a battle, which makes sense since Ai No Senshi is the Sailor Moon R battle song.
But these warriors looked like…wizards…
I played the entire song from start to finish and, when I was done, I dropped my hands to my lap, the image disappeared, and I said: "Whoa…now that's a piano…I wonder what it sounds like if it's being played properly…"
"What d'ya mean, properly?" James asked, grinning. He suddenly sat down next to me. "You mean like this?"
"Oh God, not this song again…" Sirius groaned, as James began to play the piano, and my eyes opened wide.
James could play. Not like I can but, I mean, proper playing (I don't consider what I do to be proper). His fingers flew across the keys and, as I watched, a night sky and shooting stars began to appear in the space where my warrior image had appeared before.
I also recognised the tune.
A Whole New World? I wondered. Isn't that from…Aladdin?
Sirius, standing behind us, suddenly began to sing, and my jaw dropped when I heard how good his voice was, kind of deep and meaningful:
"I can show you the world, shining shimmering splendid, tell me princess, now when did you last let your heart decide…?"
Oh God… I thought.
"I can open your eyes," Sirius continued. "Take you wonder by wonder, over sideways and under on a magic carpet ride, a whole new world! A new fantastic point of view! No one to tell us no, or where to go, or say we're only dreaming…"
I know the song. I really should have kept my mouth shut but I didn't, because instinct just took over, from years of watching Aladdin when I was younger.
I sang: "A whole new world, a dazzling place I never knew, but when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear, that now I'm in a whole new world with you…" I smiled.
"Now I'm in a whole new world with you…" Sirius sang.
"Unbelievable sights, indescribable feelings! Soaring, tumbling, free-wheeling, through and endless diamond sky! A whole new world!"
"Don't you dare close your eyes!"
"A hundred thousand things to see!"
"Hold your breath it gets better!"
"I'm like a shooting star, I've come so far, I can't go back to where I used to be!" Tears entered my eyes here.
"A whole new world! With new horizons to pursue!"
"Every moment gets better!"
Sirius and I looked at each other, and then we both sung: "I'll chase them anywhere…there's time to spare…let me share…this whole new world with you…"
As I said, I'm no good singer, I can just sing…okay.
So why were Sirius and James looking at me in shock?
James stopped playing, and Sirius and I stopped singing.
Maggie came into the living room from the kitchen, her eyes shining. "You three…" She began but, just then there was a screech, and a small grey own flew into me, knocking me into Sirius.
We fell to the floor.
"Haphazard!?" I cried, picking up the small grey owl and shaking him gently. "Speak to me, Happy!"
The small owl hooted feebly.
"Baka." I muttered the Japanese word for idiot I learnt from watching anime – and then realised I was sitting in Sirius' lap.
I leapt up, and said to James: "So, umm, where will I be sleeping?"
"Come on, I'll show you." James replied, glancing from me to Sirius in amusement.