Please Note: The character in this randomly-named chapter is a direct reference to my primary school music teacher who is a proud mother and a wonderful woman, and NOT to the vampire family living in Forks. She just has the same name as THEM…I repeat, this is NOT a cross-over fic! I hate cross-overs! So for the last time, no, the vampire Cullens WON'T show up in it! *Throws Sword of Gryffindor at you*

Also, there's a bit of violence in this chapter. Nothing you're not used to. *Pulls sword out of your eye*

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 EIGHTY

Use The Forks

I awoke to find myself alone and, for a moment, I panicked. I sat bolt upright, and called: "Remus? Remus!?"

He appeared immediately, crawling in through the mouth of the cave, and coming over to me.

"Morning," He said briskly. "Em, I know where the others are, are you ready to…go?"

I was already outside, waiting for him. "Remus, hurry up…" I complained.

He raised an eyebrow, and collected our bags. "Forgetting something?"
"Oh, yeah…" I grinned sheepishly, and put out the fire. "Okay…now let's go."

***

Remus and I trudged through the thick forest, stopping only briefly to rest every ten minutes or so. We had a good ten kilometres to hike until we reached where Sirius and the others were, and the rain from last night had made the forest floor slippery. Neither Remus or I spoke – we were just too preoccupied with trying not to slip, and every so often one of us would catch ourselves on a nearby tree branch.

"Look," Remus said after awhile. "The forest is starting to thin out…"

And it was too – I believed we were reaching civilisation, as we started to hear noises from the road and, presently, we came to such a road. We stepped out of the forest, onto the tarmac – and were nearly run down by a truck! I grabbed Remus' arm and dragged him back, as the truck sped past us – and then it stopped.

Remus and I both tensed.

"You kids need a lift somewhere?" Called a man's voice. "I'm going into town…not too far now. Need a ride?" He sounded friendly enough.

Still, Remus and I exchanged a glance. We looked into each others' eyes, gold into hazel, asking the silent question. Remus shrugged. I sighed. He took my hand and squeezed it.

"Okay," I called to the man and, with Remus' hand in mine, trooped over to the truck. The man inside was at leats fifty, and smiled kindly at us. Remus sat next to him and I sat next to the window, as the truck trundled into town.

***

"This is Forks?" I asked in disbelief, staring at the teensy tinsy town. The movie about it didn't do it any justice.

The man shot me a Look.

"Uh…I mean…how…quaint…" I stammered. Next to me, Remus' shoulders were shaking in silent laughter, as the man turned the truck into the carpark of a diner, and we all got out.

Remus and I walked into the diner; because we hadn't eaten since yesterday lunch, and sat down at a booth together after thanking the man for bring us here. Remus turned to me and whispered: "The others should be here in about ten minutes. Do you have any muggle money?"

I shook my head, my heart sinking.

"Me neither," Remus turned to the waitress who was waiting to take our order, and addressed her. "Uh…Sickles?" He asked quietly, and hesitantly.

She regarded him with a puzzled expression for half a second, before nodding, and handing us two smaller menus from her apron pocket. "Yup. That'll be fifteen Sickles and four Knuts, no matter what you get. And it all comes with pumpkin juice, just for you. So what'll it be?" She was in her late forties, and wearing lots and lots of make-up. She had a strong American accent, and was wearing a pink waitress outfit, the kind with a shirt and skirt. Was she on rollerblades? I checked. She wasn't. Thank God.

Remus and I examined the special menus quickly, and then I said: "Can I get the Witchy Waffle Wonder, the one shaped like a Hippogriff, with extra maple syrup and a Chocolate Frog as a free gift?" I handed her my menu.

She nodded, and took the menu. "And for you sir?" She asked Remus.

Remus said: "Uh…can I get the Smiley Face Bacon Special?" He pointed to the picture of the meal he wanted, which had two egg eyes and a strip of bacon for a smile. "Umm, but with a bacon nose? And bacon ears? And a bacon moustache, five o'clock shadow and bacon body?"

The waitress looked at him wryly. "Why don't I just shove an entire pig down your throat?" She asked, taking the menu from him.

Remus looked visibly excited. His eyes lit up. I bit back a laugh.

"I was kidding." The waitress rolled her eyes, and gave me a Look. I shrugged.

Remus pouted. "Umm, okay then, sorry…but the bacon man lives in a bacon house!"

"No he doesn't!" The waitress replied, as she left.

"Time of the month?" I whispered to Remus.

His cheeks turned pink. "Do you have to say it like that?" He asked me, pulling a book out of his backpack and burying his face in it.

"Now you know how I feel." I smiled sweetly, and watched a slight drizzle of rain fall outside the window. "Cept' mine's a chocolate craving."

"Lucky you know me then, isn't it?"

"Yes, Mr. Willy Wonka." I replied, and Remus grinned. "So, you who supports Honeyduke's all by yourself…about your 'furry little problem'…" I began but, just then, the waitress came back with our drinks, and I didn't get a chance to ask Remus about it.

***

Remus and I were just finishing up our meal, and standing out the front of the diner, watching the rain fall, when a shiny silver car pulled into the carpark. The licence plate read MOM, and a beautiful dark-haired woman was driving. She had her hair pulled back into a ponytail, and appeared to be in her early to mid twenties.

Even before she'd stopped the car, the front passenger door opened, and Sirius jumped out.

My heart leapt up into my mouth.

"There you are!" He called to me. He was drenched, but I left the dryness of the diner and ran to him, throwing myself into his arms. Suddenly, I sprang back and, without warning, lifted up his shirt, to reveal bandages. "Sirius!!"

"What happened Padfoot!?" Remus asked, hurrying to our side.

"Got attacked by Rosier and Lestrange," Sirius said grimly, gently drawing my hands back and holding them in his own. "I was standing right in front of the twins, I couldn't move or else they would've been attacked. Lily and James also suffered minor injuries, because they were helping Calliope and Sam protect the kids."

My heart seemed to thud painfully. The only reason I was uninjured…was because Remus had gotten me out of there so fast. I felt so selfish.

"What about Calliope and the others?" I asked in a whisper. "Are they alright?"

"They're fine," Sirius said, nodding to himself. "Janet got a Patronus from one of her American Ministry friends – the Marrons are all fine, because help arrived soon. As soon as we could, Prongs, Lily and I Disapperated – Lily lost a fingernail, but Janet grew it back for her last night. They've captured Rosier and are still pursuing Lestrange, but the rest of them got away." He sounded tired.

Remus and I exchanged a tense glance. The rest of them got away…that meant that we were still in danger.

The witch who had driven Sirius here came up to us – she was carrying an umbrella and wearing a white jacket over blue pants. She was also pregnant – very pregnant. As in, 'she might've had her baby right there in the carpark' pregnant.

She smiled at us all, and shook hands with me and Remus.

"My name is Janet Cullen," She said, and I drew in a sharp intake of breath.

Remus guessed my reaction. "Don't mind her," She said, smiling at Janet. "She thinks her whole life is a movie."

"It is." I muttered under my breath, and the rain seemed to beat down twice as hard.

***

Janet drove us to her house, which was small from the outside but, like most wizard houses, housed a lot more than just furniture. She had three cats aptly named Veela, Lethifold and Snidget for their personalities and looks, and a messanger owl called Harley. She also had a husband named Scott, who turned out not only to be a healer but also to be a great cook. He was tall, with golden blonde hair and glasses, and met us at the door when we arrived at the house. He was wearing a cooking apron, and had a gorgeous silvery-gold cat at his heels.

"I just received word from our friends in Tucson," Scott said, and I hurried up the porch steps to better hear him over the rain. "The Death Eater known as Lestrange managed to escape – he Apparated over a waterfall in the Coronado National Forest, and they have no idea where to." He looked tired and weary, like an older version of Remus. "The Ministry's preparing for the worst, which means those who escaped take the bait and come here."

"We'll be fine," Janet said firmly, hustling Remus, Sirius and me into the house and closing the door behind her. "If they come, then we will be ready for them."

We were standing in the front hall, sopping wet and dripping puddles all over the tiles, but the Cullens (aurgh) didn't seem to mind at all.

"Scott," Janet said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "This is Emma Pax and Remus Lupin."

"Oh," Scott looked at us clearly for the first time through his glasses, which he took off and cleaned before shaking hands with Remus and myself. "A pleasure."

"Hi." Remus and I said in unison, just as footsteps could be heard from further within the house and, a moment later, Lily and James appeared – Lily's left arm was in a sling and James was on crutches – but they nonetheless greeted us enthusiastically, as if we'd been separated for a year. We went into the living room (which housed a variety of instruments including a baby grand piano, a cello, an acoustic guitar, a golden harp, an ocarina and an oboe) to swap stories, and Remus and I gave a detailed – though still highly edited – rendition of what had happened to us from the moment we'd Apparated out of Tucson.

Something was nagging me, but I had to wait until Janet and Scott had left the room before I voiced my opinions.

They left to make dinner, leaving the four of us alone in the living room, which was small but cosy. Lily and James sat side-by-side on one couch, and he kept an arm around her shoulders. Remus sat on the piano stool, next to the sofa chair I was sitting on. Sirius was perched on the arm of the chair, as if afraid to leave my side for even a second now. A big, fat calico cat was sitting on lap, purring contentedly as I stroked his fur.

"Does anyone else feel like we're being used?" I asked finally, and the others looked at me, surprised.

"Well, yeah Em," James said quietly. "Of course we're being used. Didn't you figure it out?"

"I had kind of hoped they wouldn't use five school-aged wizards to hunt down Death Eaters." I replied. "That maybe we were…I dunno, working with them?

"Nope," Sirius shook his head. "Sorry White Fang, but we're being used."

"Me too?"

"You especially." The eldest Black brother emphasized.

"I hate that Dolores Umbridge, and Bob whats-his-name," I grumbled. "We were crazy to ever listen to them, and now we're putting innocent families in danger because of it."

"We'll be fine," Lily said, echoing Janet's earlier words. "We can pull through this. We won't give up."

***

Later that day, the storm had let up, and now water just dripped lazily off of the foliage, which was looking particularly green from where I was lying in a hammock out the back of Janet and Scott's house. Remus was sitting on the patio steps, staring out into the forest, and I guessed what he was thinking.

"We'll be able to run all over the forest tonight," I told him. "Siri can come with us, although James will probably want to stay with Lily…on second thoughts, Siri should stay too, with his injuries…" I added sleepily. The rocking motion of the hammock was soothing to me. It made me want to sleep. From inside the house, I could hear the gentle sounds of James playing the piano, and the even more gentle sound of Lily's singing voice.

"Just the two of us then." I thought I heard Remus say, before I drifted off to sleep.

.*.

I was wearing silver dress robes, and standing in the Great Hall at Hogwarts, but it sure didn't look like the Great Hall that I knew, because everything was draped in shades of silver, blue and gold. There were other people in the Great Hall with me, but they were dressed up so glamorously that it took me a moment to recognise them all.

Lily and James danced by me – Lily in robes of bottle green that brought out her eyes and James in smart black dress robes – but James was wearing the Sorting Hat, and it kept slipping down over his eyes.

I spotted Peter over at the buffet table, dressed in dark grey robes and attacking a large, suckling pig with the sword of Gryffindor.

Sirius stood up onstage, looking handsome as ever in deep blue robes, and sopping wet for some reason as he sang a song that went: "Back come won't it, gone it's, late too, black prospect's the – hour an past but…" What? The song meant absolutely nothing to me.

Then I noticed Remus standing there, in shining robes of gold, and wearing a sign that said WEREWOLF.

("Took we what recover to and, look to have you'll long hour an…").

I started toward him to remove the sign but, just then, somebody grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

I turned, to find myself staring into the smouldering eyes of one Regulus Black, who was wearing robes of silvery-green, and looking very different from how I usually found him.

"Let me go," I told him impatiently. "I have to get to Remus…and why is Sirius soaking wet?"

("Miss sorely you'll what taken we've: this ponder, searching you're while and…").

"No, I can't let you leave," Regulus said quietly. "You owe me. Besides, I'm saving your life, Emma."

"I have to help Remus!" I protested.

Regulus' grip suddenly turned iron-hard. "No! I can't let you go there!" He said strongly. "I won't!"

("Ground the above sing cannot we, sound voices our where us seek come…").

Walburga suddenly appeared by Regulus' side, and jammed the Sorting Hat onto my head. "You have her now, Regulus!" She cried gleefully. "I'm so proud of you son!"

The Sorting Hat grew heavier, pressing down on my face until I couldn't breathe…

.*.

I awoke to find a huge black cat lying on my face, and I reached up, pushing him away from me and gasping in huge amounts of air.

"Bout' time you woke up, Emmy," Came Sirius' voice from the porch, and I sat up in the hammock to realise that it was late evening, closer to night.

Sirius and Remus stood leaning against separate porch posts, their eyes glowing in the light from the kitchen window.

"Is it time to go now?" I asked them realising that, of course, Sirius would not have let me go out without him.

"It's time." Remus nodded.

***

No One's P.O.V:

A huge black dog and a smaller white wolf stood side-by-side in the middle of the forest, watching the werewolf lay shaking on the ground before them. The white wolf whined uneasily, and crept to the werewolf's side, nudging him with her nose.

The black dog watched them. His ears were flattened slightly against the back of his neck – Sirius did not like his girl being so close to a werewolf, even though she'd proved on more than one occasion that she could handle him.

Emma nuzzled Remus' neck, and he nuzzled her back, his eyes showing more gold than red, until a sound made his ears prick up.

It was a howl – but it was not the howl of a normal wolf.

It was the howl of an excited werewolf.

One that is on the hunt.

***

I didn't want to believe it but, as I sank my teeth into Remus' muzzle, we had somehow managed to make it back to the Cullens' house – and we were met with a terrible sight, even more terrible than the sight of my two best friends locked fang-to-fang as I landed on the ground, a deep gash oozing red blood from my shoulder.

A second werewolf, much larger than Remus, stood there, cornering Janet and Scott up against the driveway. A low growl slipped from between my teeth – I had doubts in my mind over who this werewolf could be.

He turned his head to me, red glinting in his eyes.

I looked at Fenrir Greyback, and then glanced at Remus and Sirius, still locked jaw-to-jaw, and was torn. Who should I protect?

I suddenly heard the galloping of hooves and turned back to Greyback, just in time to see a familiar-looking stag and a not-so-familiar-looking doe appear from behind the house. The stag lowered his antlers and charged at the large werewolf, whilst the doe placed herself protectively between the battle and the Cullens.

I suddenly heard a yelp, and turned to see Remus pinning Sirius to the ground, about to sink his jaws into the black dog's chest.

With a fierce growl, I lunged at the werewolf, and sank my teeth into the side of his neck. With a wild howl, he leapt aside, raking his claws across my face, trying to dislodge me. With blood streaming from my wounds, I let go of him, landing on the ground, positioning myself protectively in front of Sirius, as the doe – who was she? – was doing with the Cullens, watching James battle it out with Greyback…hey, wait a minute…what was wrong with Janet? Why was she suddenly sinking to the ground, clutching her stomach like that? Why was Scott now leaning over her, a mixture of fear and excitement on his face? Why…oh…

I understood immediately, just as Greyback attacked – he sank his huge yellow teeth into the side of my neck, and I yelped with pain.

"STUPEFY!!" A female voice shouted, and a streak of red light hit Greyback, knocking him away from me but not knocking him out.

He became still, staring at the red-haired girl that stood where the doe just had, and a look of hunger came across his eyes. He growled, a savage, werewolf sound.

I ran, turning and placing myself between Lily and the savage werewolf, and Greyback lunged – only to be attacked by Remus. My very own werewolf crashed into his creator, a fury of claws and teeth, as they came apart, blood dripping from both their bodies, and Greyback snarled, before turning tail and running into the woods, with Remus right behind him.

I barked a sharp warning to the others: Remus!

James galloped past me and Sirius, who had slightly recovered from his battle with our best friend, sprang to his feet and raced after James into the trees.

From behind me came a sharp cry of pain, and I spun around to see Scott picking up his wife, who's face was now red and her dark blue eyes alight with pain.

"The baby's coming!" Lily exclaimed, hurrying ahead to open the door for them, as Scott carried Janet past me and into the house. "Quick!"

I stood there in the rain that had suddenly started to pour and stung my wounds, and then I transformed, paying no attention to my own needs as I bolted up the steps and into the house.

There was a baby on the way – no way was I going to miss this.

All everyone ever seemed to do was die when they were around me.

It was high-time somebody got born when I was around.

***

The next morning, Remus, Sirius and James returned, all three of them injured and exhausted, and welcomed back into the open, relieved arms of Lily and myself. They managed to tell us that Greyback had gotten away, that he'd Disapperated as soon as he'd de-transformed. Somehow, I wasn't surprised. Scott, who was quite calm now, set about healing their injuries (he'd already helped Lily and I) and, when he had, Lily and I took the three boys to a quiet room at the back of the house.

The sun was shining today in Forks, sunlight streaming in through the window and onto Janet's tired face, as she sat in the rocking chair, cooing softly to the tiny creature in the bundle of pink blankets that she held in her arms.

"Welcome to the world, my little star dreamer," She sang, in a soft, sweet, Mother-like voice. "My perfect little Emma-Lily…"

"It's a miracle." Remus said hoarsely, from where he stood behind me with his bandaged hands on my bandaged shoulders. We looked like a scene from Grave Of The Fireflies, except that we were all alright and everything was perfect at the moment. Nobody had died. "Is…is she a witch?" My werewolf wanted to know.

Lily nodded. Her eyes were sparkly and moist today – she and I had already been allowed to hold the tiny newborn, whose eyes were a deep, sapphire blue. "She is – she'll be a powerful, beautiful witch when she grows up, just like her mother…"

At this, Janet looked up, and she smiled to us, beckoning us closer. We all crept into the room for a closer look at the little miracle.

"Wow…" James murmured, his hazel eyes very wide behind his glasses.

"Emma-Lily…" Sirius muttered, shaking his head in disbelief as he stared down at the attentive baby witch. "It has kind of a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

"Yeah…it does…" I agreed. I smiled fondly at the blue-eyed baby and, I could swear, she smiled back at me. "It sure does…"