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 SEVENTY-ONE
Trouble In Paradise
The next afternoon, I opened my school trunk, which was on the floor of my bedroom at the Potters'. I reached in, looking for my diary and quill.
"AAAUUURRRGGGHHH!!!" I screamed, and withdrew my hand, only to find a snake wrapped around it, and not just any snake.
The King Cobra, which was winding its way up my arm, flicked its tongue out at me as I stared at it in shocked silence.
"Ssso nice to sssee you again," He said, raising himself up so that he was looking at my face.
"Getoffgetoffgetoffgetoff!!!!" I yelped, shaking my arm wildly.
"Pleassse don't make me bite you…" The snake said plaintively, causing me to stop what I was doing, since I knew how venomous cobra snakes were, and that King Cobras bite hard. "That'sss better. We didn't get a chance to properly be introduced, but my name isss Ssseptimusss…"
"Okay 'Ssseptimusss'," I glared at him, which wasn't a good idea due to his length and toxicity. "Would you mind telling me how the hell you got to be in my trunk and why?"
"Certainly…" He began but, just then, my bedroom door crashed open and James and Sirius ran in.
"Emmy," Sirius cried. "What's the..?" He and James stopped dead at the sight of me with a huge snake wrapped around my arm.
"Uh…" James said. "Isn't that the snake that Snivellus..?"
"Yes, this is Snape's snake," I said, rolling my eyes. "He stowed away in my trunk somehow, and I'm about to find out why…" And to Septimus I said: "Why did you come with me?"
James and Sirius were staring at me, since they could only hear me and Septimus hissing to each other, and had no idea what was going on. Occasionally I nodded, and once I shrieked: "THEY'RE WHAT!!??" In English, but for the most part they were in the dark.
Finally, I closed my eyes and sighed in disbelief before, to Sirius and James' complete shock, I allowed Septimus to slither onto my shoulders, and I turned and faced the boys, opening my eyes to reveal that I was worried.
"Emmy, what!?" Sirius fairly yelled, but wouldn't come any closer to me because of the snake.
"Septimus," I said, in English, indicating the snake on my shoulders. "Overheard Death Eaters in the Forbidden Forest, they've…they've…oh God, I can't even say it!"
"Emma, what!!??" James shouted.
"They're going to start attacking places, until…well, until I hand myself over." I said flatly. "And, before you ask, yes I do trust Septimus." I hissed this to him, and he spread his hood proudly. "He may be a snake, but he's not in with the Death Eaters. He heard Nott, Lestrange, Rosier and someone else talking about it."
James and Sirius were silent, staring at me.
"They're going to kill muggles, cause widespread chaos and damage," I went on, glancing out the window at a shape that was slowly advancing. "They plan to go to Bali first, they picked a random spot that lots of Australian muggles travel to…" It made me feel angry. Who did Voldemort think he was? Osama Binladan? "Remember, guys, that I am Australian. I have to go to Bali and…"
"No!" Sirius growled, at the same time James said: "Let the Ministry handle things!"
Haphazard flew in through the window and promptly collapsed onto the bed.
I hurried over to him and took the letter from him, reading it quickly.
I began to shake.
Septimus hissed angrily.
"R-Remus!" I gasped. "Oh…oh no…oh no!" I was pale, and I sat down on the bed quickly. "Why did his parents have to decide to holiday in Bali!? With Tonks' family!? Remus….no! I'm going! I have to go! And you can't stop me!"
Sirius looked stricken.
***
"I've been to Bali a few times," I told James and Sirius as we stood in the living room with Maggie and Reginald. "I think I should be able to get us there safely – Siri, you can Side-Apparate along with me, and I can guide Prongs…" I was shaking though, because I was so nervous, so it's no wonder that the others were gazing at me apprehensively.
We had debated whether or not to just let the Ministry deal with it.
Well, they'd debated. I'd been ready to go from the second I'd told them they couldn't stop me from going. There was no time to waste – anything that threatened Remus and Tonks' safety was not to be taken lightly. I'd ended up slapping both Sirius and James for taking too long to decide, and then I'd threatened to go by myself.
And so here we were, in the living room, about to Apparate to the island of the gods.
"Give me your arm, Padfoot," I whispered. Sirius looked stricken again. "All we are doing is warning them…we shouldn't have to fight…although, legally, Prongs and I can…Remus too, if need be."
"Em!" Sirius grabbed my shoulders and kissed me full on the mouth. I wrapped my own arms around his neck, as the kiss deepened, and then…
Sirius sprang back like he'd been stung, and a second later I found out why. Septimus was curled up around my ankle, leg, waist and neck, and had apparently gotten in the way of me and Sirius kissing.
"There isss no time for thisss…" Septimus hissed sternly.
"He says there's no time for this." I told Sirius, but I could see that there was an instant hatred between the two. Oh well. That was their problem.
We said goodbye to James' parents (who were incredibly worried about what we were going to do) and then the three of us linked arms.
"One," James said. "Two…three…"
We turned on the spot, and Disapperated.
***
We came back into existence on Kuta Beach, one of the world's most famous beaches. Because of some careful planning on my account (when I wasn't panicking), we were dressed the part – James and Sirius both wore long shorts and beach-y tops, and I wore a pair of short-shorts and a pink singlet. My wand was in a small shoulder bag. James' and Sirius' were in their pockets.
"Okay…" I began.
"Whoa…is it hot here, or is that just me?" Sirius wondered.
I gave him a look. "It's you dear. Go and jump in the ocean. For now…we have to find the Lupins and the Tonks…"
James took out his wand. "Point Me." He said, and his wand quivered, before pointing us north-east, toward the 'city'.
"Well, let's go." I said, but Sirius stopped me.
"Ah, love? You might have to ditch the lizard." He said and, although he wasn't speaking in Parsletongue, Septimus got the gist of it and hissed angrily at Sirius.
"We can't worry about that now, it's not that uncommon around here I don't think," I replied, although I had to wonder about peoples' reactions to seeing a small young lady with a giant cobra around her neck. "Come on – who knows when the Death Eaters will strike?"
"Probably around the same time the snake does." Sirius muttered, as we started off along the beach.
Septimus hissed angrily and bared his fangs at Sirius.
"Play nice you two or I'll hex you." I threatened. "I can do that now."
***
No One's P.O.V:
"Did she take the bait?" Lestrange asked, his eyes glittering.
"Yes…" Nott smiled evilly. "The Dark Lord will be pleased…letting that snake overhear our plans, knowing that it would tell the Pax girl because it owes her…" There were burns on his faces – Voldemort had been displeased with the latest failure. He was getting impatient.
"Let's go. Rosier will be waiting for us." Lestrange said, turning on the spot, and Nott followed in his wake.
***
"There's the world's oldest cockatoo," I said, pointing across the road. "And there's that shop with the woman that told me to come back for pie – and I never did…" Actually, she might have said 'come back to buy', but who knows? Maybe she didn't even exist in this reality… "And over there is the Dynasty Hotel…and that's where Remus is staying!" I declared, grabbing onto Sirius' arm and shaking it. "I know it, I just do! Come on, let's go!"
Sirius allowed me to drag him up the driveway, with James hurrying along beside us. I wondered what we must've looked like – a small girl with a poisonous snake draped across her shoulders, and two hot English guys, one of whom was allowing himself to be dragged along by a girl who was shorter than he was.
People kept on staring at us.
I didn't care – I was just intent on getting to Remus as soon as possible. Before the Death Eaters attacked.
We came into the front lobby.
The guy behind the desk took one look at us, and nearly fainted. Sirius and I stayed behind with Septimus, as James went up to the guy and asked if the Lupins were staying here.
He came jogging back to us. "They're here," He said, taking my hand. "Come on White Fang, Padfoot, let's go."
We walked along the smooth tiled floor, and out to the back of the hotel, where the pool was.
I have to hand it to Sirius – he handled the muggle girls in bikinis well.
How did they react to him?
You'd have thought an angel had just landed in the pool area or something. I have never seen so many girls freaking out.
This annoyed me. Couldn't they tell who I was?
Or was I just the 'snake girl' to them? The short, feisty-looking snake girl who was looking around for something?
"Maybe we should split up and look for him," James suggested. "They guy at the desk said Moony and his family hadn't left the hotel today…"
Split up? Here? Would Sirius be able to..?
Yes. I decided I had total faith in my boyfriend. I smiled. "Excellent plan."
Sirius looked a little uneasy – until I leaned up and kissed him. Then I turned and trotted off in the direction of the beach to look for Remus.
***
"Witch." A voice whispered from behind me, and I spun around. I looked down.
An adorable little Balinese girl was standing there, gazing up at me. She had wide brown eyes and a missing tooth.
"Aww…" I said, and then knelt down to eye level with her. "Do you know about witches, little one?" I asked her.
She nodded. "Mama saya adalah seorang penyihir. Dia punya seekor ular juga, tapi tidak seperti ini. Mama saya dapat berbicara dengan ular!"
I shook my head. The only word I'd understood was Ular, and that's because I'd once gotten a henna tattoo of one. There was a real one on my shoulders right now. But then the girl was taking my hand, and leading me through the art markets toward a shop.
"Her mother isss a witch," Septimus hissed in my ear. "And ssso isss thisss girl. Ssshe'sss a pure-blood, I can tell…"
"Well thank you, Dr. Spock." I hissed back.
A Balinese lady met us outside of her beach stall.
"La La Poe?" She said to the little girl. She glanced at me. "Mana saja kau, anakku? Siapa ini?"
"Dia seorang penyihir juga, Mamma!" 'La La Poe' said excitedly.
The woman glanced at me curiously. "You're a witch?" She asked in a soft voice.
I nodded. "Yes."
She smiled. "There are two magical families staying here as well, they're such wonderful people, just arrived this morning…"
"Did they have a boy with them?" I asked quickly, compulsively clenching and unclenching my fists by my sides. "He has golden-brown hair and gold eyes? And a younger girl, she'll have blue hair or pink hair, whatever colour hair she wants? They're English, umm…"
The Balinese witch nodded. "Ya. I was speaking with them today, the boy you speak of, his mamma bought a sarong, before they went down to the beach…"
"I gotta go, terima kasih!" I cried, turning and taking off sprinting toward the beach.
***
I arrived on the beach, and stood there in a panic, looking around for Remus. Septimus slithered from around my shoulders and onto a nearby tree branch, as I scanned the sand and surf, looking for gold hair or weird-coloured hair, or the parents or…or something!
"Remus…" I muttered, turning in a complete circle. "Where are you?"
Suddenly, I became aware of someone with long light green hair flying across the sand toward me.
"Emma!" Nymphadora Tonks exclaimed, standing in front of me, her eyes sparkling. "What are you doing here!?"
I was so relieved to see her that I flung my arms around her and said: "Looking for you guys – where's Remus?"
"I'll take you to him!" Tonks said, and dragged me across the sand before I could retrieve Septimus, whom I heard hissing in frustration from behind us.
***
Seeing Remus standing there, in the surf, wearing boardshorts and dripping wet, I was so happy to see that he wasn't dead. The emotions that had run through my mind when I'd gotten the letter had been absolute fear and shock.
Now, a swelling amount of happy emotions bubbled up within me, as Remus turned around and saw me standing there with Tonks.
His face showed his surprise, as did his voice. "E-Emma?"
I left Tonks' side and went sprinting across the sand toward the ocean and towards Remus.
He also ran towards me, his arms open, and we flung our arms around each other.
"What are you doing here?" He whispered in my ear, as we stood there in each others embrace in the shallow water.
"You're in danger," I whispered back, my voice trembling. "Death Eaters…coming…they…"
From somewhere nearby, there was a huge explosion.
Remus and I tightened our embraces around each other.