Note: Watch the incredibly funny anime Hetalia Axis Powers on You Tube! It's rated MA because it really stereotypes and some people may find it offensive, but it's all in good spirit, really! My favourite character is England (Arthur Kirkland), with America (Alfred F. Jones), Russia (Ivan Braginski), South Italy (Lovina Vargas) and Japan (Honda Kiku) coming close behind. The nations of the world have all been personified – but not Australia. -_- Well, that leaves room for an Australia OCC, on my DA account!
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 ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN
Two Brothers
I was happy, despite the fact that I seemed to have surrounded myself with sad people (with the exception of one). I was sorry that Regulus' Mum was dead (only now I didn't have to worry about her telling the Death Eaters where I was). Really, I was.
And I was a bit annoyed that Sirius wouldn't let Regulus anywhere near me between the time he found me in the park and the funeral. Every time Regulus (or Bellatrix or anybody else for that matter) got near me, then Sirius would send them a Death Glare, and they'd back away instantly. Sirius was notably ignoring Kreacher (and the house-elf ignored Sirius), although that seemed to be nothing new. He was awed by Mad-Eye Moody, and seemed to enjoy being around the Auror.
I could tell that Sirius wasn't happy about being stuck in his house again, especially with the Aurors coming in and out all the time, after the recent Death Eater almost-attack. Regulus and Bellatrix being there was almost unbearable (for him). But, he was happy to be by my side again.
And I, in turn, was so happy that things seemed to have been repaired with me and Sirius again that I could sing. Not even the prospect of another funeral could make me feel sad, especially with Sirius practically glued to my side day in and day out. He hardly ever let me out of his sight, held my hand whenever the opportunity presented itself, and even took me to see a movie playing at the muggle theatre near to Grimmauld Place, a cinema that showed all old movies. We saw The Wizard Of Oz.
"Is it wrong for me to wish that my Mother had died like the Wicked Witch did?" Sirius had asked me.
I'd rolled my eyes. "Yes, Padfoot, very."
It was even more wrong on the day of the funeral, when Sirius felt the need to hum Merry Old Land Of Oz as we walked to the cemetery.
Here we were, walking side-by-side toward a graveyard, both of us dressed in black and me with my head bowed (I was picking up on Regulus' mood from half a mile away). Mad-Eye, with his bowler cap in place, was walking in front of us (well, whatever you want to call his limping style of locomotion), and a stern-faced female Auror was walking behind us. Regulus, Bellatrix and everyone else were already at the cemetery (Kreacher was not coming).
Suddenly, I became increasingly aware of Sirius' humming. He was up to the part that goes we get up at twelve and start to work at one, take an hour for lunch and then at two we're done, when I eventually stomped on his foot, which wasn't hard to do since we were walking so close together.
"OW!" He yelled, giving me a Look with a wounded expression. "Ems, that hurt!"
"Good!" I snapped, crossing my arms though I continued to walk at a fast enough pace to keep up with Mad-Eye (who seemed to want to get to where we were going).
"Hey, what's wrong anyway?" Sirius asked, sounding genuinely surprised.
"Well, if you don't mind," I said with exaggerated sarcasm. "We are on our way to a funeral!"
Sirius looked at me for a second, before he grinned. He began singing: "Ding dong the witch is dead! Which old witch? The wicked wi-!" That was about as far as he got, before I reached up and whacked him on the back of the head – hard – before storming up off the footpath, past Mad-Eye and to the corner. Up ahead, the cemetery loomed.
"Hey, Ems, wait a minute!" Sirius hurried to catch up with me. He put a hand on my shoulder. "Ems?"
"You have ten seconds of my time," I said grimly.
"Look," I could tell that Sirius was confused. After all, I hadn't even liked his mother, so why was I so annoyed at him for disrespecting her funeral? "If it means so much to you, I'll behave myself." He promised, hand over heart.
I gave him a sceptical look. "Do you really mean that?" I asked him.
He looked at me. "Well, I don't think we have time to perform an Unbreakable Vow…"
"No, we don't," I agreed. "So I'll just have to take your word for it," I held out my hand, and he shook it, no magic involved.
"So," Sirius didn't let go of my hand. "What's got you so…-?"
He was suddenly cut off, as Mad-Eye stomped past us, saying gruffly: "Move it you two, we've got a funeral to attend!" He crossed the road without looking, heading into the graveyard.
"He's scary," I muttered to Sirius, as we hurried across the road after him.
"I think he's brilliant," Sirius replied, grinning.
"Oh, undoubtedly." I agreed, nodding. "Brilliant…but scary…"
Depending on who died, funerals can range from being unbearable to an enormous waste of time. The funeral of Walburga Black was somewhere in between that, as I sat in the front row of a group of wizards and witches with Sirius, and listened to someone talk about the life Walburga had led. Sirius was very true to his word – he didn't say a word during the entire funeral, but just stared straight ahead the entire time, holding my hand in both of his.
I was doing alright, until Regulus got up to make his speech. He stood up, and walked to the front of the room, and took a little piece of paper out of his pocket.
"My Mother…" He began, and then his voice cracked.
I looked up quickly, just as he looked over at me, and I could see tears gathered in his grey eyes like raindrops that refused to fall, and that did it for me. Tears instantly gathered in my own hazel eyes, spilling up and over as I gasped softly and Sirius, hearing this, looked over at me in shock, before putting his arm across my shoulder and drawing me closer to him, where I stayed for the rest of the funeral. The tears continued to fall, and I was glad I hadn't decided to wear make-up that day. I really wished I'd had sunglasses.
Regulus managed to make it through the rest of his speech without shedding a tear, but he didn't take his eyes off me for a second, even after he sat down.
I knew that Sirius was aware of this, because I could feel how tense he was from my spot by his side.
I didn't feel bad about not crying for Walburga herself, because I knew she would be happy that I was crying for her son, if that makes any sense.
After the funeral, everyone left the room to go into a second room, where there were drinks and tissues.
People were talking. One of Walburga's friends fainted, and everyone gathered around to help her.
Sirius stayed by my side as I drank some tea, and that made me feel better. I ate a tea biscuit that tasted like carpet, and looked around the room. I was looking for Regulus, scanning the crowd for his tall frame, but instead I saw the blonde-haired Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy.
Seeing them made me think of the Death Eaters but, seeing as how we were surrounded by Aurors, I didn't think I was in any immediate danger.
As I watched them talking with Bellatrix and Rodolphus, Narcissa seemed to sense my gaze, and looked up. As soon as she saw me, her face registered that she knew at once who I was, and she traded a significant glance with her husband.
I looked away immediately, feeling embarrassed. Staring into my teacup, I vaguely remembered the Black family tree, and how Narcissa was related to Sirius. It was weird how someone like that could be related to Sirius…and how Tonks and Sirius were second-cousins…come to think of it, hadn't I once wondered, upon finding out about my being a pure-blood, whether I might be related to Sirius…
I glanced up again, staring out the window at the clear but cold day.
What if…Narcissa or Bellatrix or someone had a family book or something that could tell me the information I sought? Asking them might be risky…the Dark Lord would probably use the information against me…
But if I mentioned Walburga…
I took a deep breath, and then handed my tea cup to Sirius.
"Can I have a refill?" I asked as sweetly as possible, leaning against the wall as if I couldn't possibly move.
Sirius nodded. "Sure thing, love." He said, letting go of me and moving off into the crowd of people.
After waiting five seconds for there to be at least ten people between us, I pushed myself off the wall and headed quickly toward the three enemies, knowing that I had little precious time.
They saw me coming, and all three of them looked surprised. Bellatrix's expression quickly became one of contempt, however.
"You're certainly brave, coming over here." She said, soft enough so that the Aurors stationed around the room couldn't hear her.
Pretending to ignore her, I looked directly at Narcissa and said: "Can I please talk to you?"
Narcissa Malfoy looked at me for a full ten seconds, her grey eyes seemingly calculating me and my motives, before she nodded once, and began walking toward the door that led outside, leaving me to follow her.
I could feel about a hundred pairs of eyes on us as we left, and noted that the stern-faced witch was stationed outside, as I faced Lucius' wife.
"What do you want?" Narcissa asked me somewhat coldly, looking down at me from her height that was taller than mine (well, so is nearly everyone's height).
"Information," I said flatly and, for just a fraction of a second, I thought I saw something like fear in her grey eyes. She was scared? "I need family books for the Black family, as far back and branched out as they go."
Narcissa seemed to relax, but her expression was still cold as she said: "Why would I give this information to you?" Her hands rested across her stomach. She looked pale.
I looked at her squarely and, with a lot more bravery than I should've had, replied: "Walburga's dying wish depends on it."
"Which was what?" Narcissa wanted to know.
I grew frustrated. "Look, are you gonna give me the books or am I gonna have to ask Andromeda?" I asked impatiently.
"Andromeda won't have the books," Narcissa said unexpectedly. "Aunt Walburga made sure that the blood traitors didn't get anything…"
I chose to ignore the last part, and asked: "Do you have the books?"
Narcissa sighed. "Yes, I do." She replied.
"Will you let me read them?" I pressed.
"I can't." She whispered. And this time I was sure that I saw fear in her eyes. Her hands still rested across her stomach, which I noticed was slightly rounder than what it should be.
I drew in a breath. "Umm, Narcissa…are you..?"
"What?" She snapped, her face colouring.
I shook my head quickly. "Uh, never mind…maybe you should sit down?" I suggested, bit my mind was reeling. What was she doing being pregnant now! Draco didn't have any older siblings…right?
Narcissa gave me an odd look but, before she could say anything in response to that, there was a yell from inside, and both of us turned around quickly.
Suddenly there was a crash – it sounded like a table being upended – and then another yell.
Without a word, Narcissa, the stern-faced witch and I all raced inside, to where a crowd had gathered.
I pushed my way through, with the sinking feeling that somehow Sirius might be involved, and caught sight of Bellatrix's smirking face as I pushed my way into the centre of the circle.
There, in the centre, stood Albus Dumbledore – I hadn't even known he'd been here at the funeral.
On either side of him was a glaring, very bloody Black brother – Sirius and Regulus both had blood across their faces, possibly from broken noses or split lips, I couldn't tell.
They'd gotten into a fist fight. At the funeral of a female family member.
No wonder Dumbledore looked so angry.
Suddenly, Regulus raised his head and looked at his older brother. I could see anger and resentment burning in his grey eyes. "It isn't like that," He practically spat. Blood trickled down his chin. "I'm stronger than you are with that."
"How the hell can you lie!" Sirius yelled, and drew back his fist.
I don't know what happened exactly, only that I ran forward to stop Sirius from hitting his younger brother again. Something happened, a second and a half of confusion followed, and then I was kneeling on the floor with my face in my hands, and my jaw aching worse than the time I'd fallen off my broom playing Quidditch. Where Sirius' fist had accidentally connected, I could just tell it was going to be red, sore and angrily throbbing until tomorrow.
Tears cascaded down my face, and my shoulders shook.
"E-Emma!" Sirius sounded stunned, and more upset then I've ever heard him sound. "Oh God, what have I…Emma?" I heard him kneel down beside me.
Fighting the urge to scream at him, I forced myself to lower my hands, and open my eyes. I looked at him.
I saw a look of pain and dread cross his face, and was pale beneath the blood, so my face must've looked worse than I thought. Oh, great.
"Sirius Black," I said, my voice shaking like mad. "You…promised." He'd broken a promise to me. Unlike me, who hated to say anything that wasn't true, or to go back on my word, Sirius seemed to do it quite frequently.
"Emma…" Sirius seemed to be fighting the urge to do something drastic. "If…if we'd made an Unbreakable Vow…"
My heart seemed to stop then. He…he would have kept the promise jut so he could keep his life? The tears stopped almost instantly, a fresh wave of anger washing over me.
"If we'd done that," I said, standing up slowly. He was even slower to rise, but I waited until we were eye-to-eye before continuing: "Then you would be dead, Sirius Black."
"Right." He said, his face pale.
"Sometimes I should be so lucky." I snapped, before turning and stalking away though the crowd, intent on getting as far away from Sirius Black as possible.