The week after the N.E.W.T. practical for Astronomy, the O.W.L. students had a practical to remember, and the whole school knew all about it by breakfast.
Apparently, Toad-Face had gotten a few Aurors or some other sort of muscle to help her remove Hagrid from the school, but Hagrid was prepared. He ran away to Merlin knows where.
That wasn't the bad part.
The bad part was that Professor McGonagall had been there to try to protect Hagrid and got caught in the crossfire: multiple Stunning Spells to the chest.
She was in St. Mungo's in critical condition, and Emma couldn't help but think that things were just looking bleaker all the time.
Emma was sitting with Tien at breakfast when Angelina and Katie came over looking frantic.
"I feel like we're at war," Angelina hissed as discretely as possible, looking up at Professor McGonagall's empty seat.
"We are at war," Tien pointed out. "We're just really feeling the effects of it right now. When we step out of these walls, it's probably going to be worse."
"I think that will depend," Emma said softly, remembering some of the things Sirius had told her when they'd stay up late at night and discuss the state of things.
Katie looked up and said with her mouth full of eggs, "On what?"
"On the state of politics," Emma said slowly. "Right now, You-Know-Who doesn't have a reason to come out openly. Things that are happening are things that can be explained as not related to him, so Fudge can keep on being oblivious and making it easier for the Death Eaters to kill us all. So the war might not be heated yet when we get into the world, but I can't imagine that this can keep on like this for too much longer."
Even as she said it she felt uncomfortable about the whole thing. She didn't want to go out into a war, but she found herself not as afraid as she had been. The war was an inevitable thing, and there was no point of being afraid of the inevitable.
She was afraid, however, of losing Fred, of being separated from him, of dying. Those, she decided, were reasonable things to be afraid of.
And even on top of that, she thought as she buttered her toast, was the fear of something - anything - happening to Sirius Black.
Emma and her friends just sat in solemn silence, eating their breakfast and occasionally glancing up at the newer empty seats on the High Table. The whole castle was a bit gloomier, a bit anxious, and bit solemn that morning, and Emma looked up at a proud-looking Umbridge and for the first time in her life felt the strong urge to strike another human being with intent to actually cause harm.
That wasn't strong enough, Emma decided as they neared the end of breakfast, gathering up their things for their various exams (hers, History of Magic). She wanted to hurt Umbridge... badly.
That evening, Emma was walking to the library to return a few books she'd used for her exams and she had the eerie but persistent feeling that something was terribly wrong, that something awful was about to happen.
Sure enough, she heard a voice, a deep baritone voice, calling her name from down the hall. Emma turned on her heel to find Professor Snape of all people walking toward her urgently.
"Miss Norwick, you are finished with your exams, I presume?" he asked smoothly.
"Yes, sir," she said quickly, sensing that he wasn't just asking to make conversation.
"Follow me, Miss Norwick. I have some things to sort out and you might be able to assist me."
Emma nodded, hurrying on behind Snape's billowing cloak. It had to be something to do with the war, she knew, and she would have felt honored that he was asking her help, but she knew that it was probably because she was the first person he came across who actually knew anything about the Order.
When they reached his office he closed and locked the door behind them, which made Emma feel a bit uncomfortable, but she said nothing of it.
"Potter is under the impression that Black is in the hands of the Dark Lord," Snape explained sharply. "He's ready to take off and save him with little more than a rag-tag band of half-trained teenagers."
The way he looked at her, Emma was sure he knew that she had been on the list of those Harry had been training in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and he probably would have thought less of her for it if he could have thought any less of her than he already did.
"Yes, sir," she said, trying to remind him of whatever it was he'd called her to follow him for.
"I will need you on hand if things happen as I expect they will."
Emma nodded and watched as he sent a Patronus to the Order, to Professor Lupin specifically, enquiring as to whether Sirius was still where he was supposed to be. While they waited for a reply Snape sorted some freshly dried Potions ingredients as Emma sat, watching him, her stomach flopping with nerves.
The reply came: Sirius Black was safely in Grimmauld Place.
Emma breathed a sigh of relief, but Snape did not.
"Norwick," he snapped, "go past Professor Umbridge's office and see if Potter and his friends are still there. Report back to me and be quick about it."
She hurried as quickly as she could up to the corridor that held Umbridge's office, skidded to a stop, making sure no one was watching her, and then took deep, calming breaths before walking as casually as she could muster down the hall to the office in question.
The door was wide open, so she peeked in.
There were several Inquisitorial Squad members strew around the office in various hexed and jinxed and Stunned states, including Draco Malfoy, but not a single DA member, and certainly not Harry Potter.
Not even bothering to look around and see if someone was watching her, Emma turned and ran straight back to Snape's office, heart pounding in her head and throat, her mouth going dry with fear. When she came back she knocked, said she had news, and he let her in, locking the door behind her again as she gasped for breath.
"They weren't there," she said. "The Inquisitorial Squad members were all unconscious and there was nobody else there at all. Harry's gone, but I could guess where."
"Never mind that, I know where," Snape snapped, sending another message to the Order, explaining that Harry had gone to the Ministry, and for Sirius to stay at Headquarters to explain things to Professor Dumbledore when he came.
"He's not-" Emma began.
"You stay at my side and keep your mouth shut," Snape snapped. "You do what I say when I say it and speak to no one without my permission. Is that understood, Norwick?"
Emma clamped her mouth shut and nodded, although she had been about to point out that Sirius wasn't going to stay, that he was going to want to be in on the action, to save Harry.
She followed him up to the staff lounge where he began to pace, and she wondered why he hadn't just done that in his office. Then it occurred to her that he hadn't wanted anyone to come looking for him, and his office would be the first place someone might check.
He seemed to be making a mental list of things he ought to or needed to do. With a sharp nod, he then turned to her, stopping abruptly and saying, "Miss Norwick, we need to tend to the students Potter's cronies attacked."
Again, Emma nodded and followed, although she could hardly think of anything she wanted to do less. She couldn't stand any of them, and what was more they'd been involved in the rounding up of her friends and fellow DA members. Snape knew this, but she couldn't help but admire that he was thinking of the safety and well-being of his students, even though she happened to despise said students, and everyone knew they were most of his favorites.
So maybe it wasn't all that impressive, but it was a more humane gesture than Emma would have thought Snape capable of, so she filed it away in her mind to ponder and pick apart later.
Once they'd cared for and delivered to Madam Pomfrey all of the students requiring any amount of care, Emma was starting to feel anxious for news. Professor Snape could tell she was anxious and ordered her to go to Madam Pomfrey for something for nerves and that he would go to find her in the infirmary if he had further need of her.
Emma did as she was told, mostly because she felt as though it would be good for her to take something for her boiling nerves.
To her surprise, it was not Professor Snape who came to find her later, but the kindly, tired face of Professor Dumbledore hovering over her quite early the following morning, she realized, noting that she must have fallen asleep in the hospital wing cot she'd taken up when Madam Pomfrey medicated her, telling her kindly that there was certainly a cot open if she found she wanted one.
Emma blinked up at him, confused and anxious.
"Professor?" she whispered. "What news is there, professor? Is everyone all right?"
"I'm afraid not," he admitted solemnly, looking surprisingly apologetic.
It was Fred, Emma thought, her heart racing as she sat up, head dizzy as she lifted her head too quickly. Why else would Dumbledore look so apologetic?
"Nymphadora Tonks is in the hospital, although she will make a full recovery," he said slowly. "Harry's very emotionally brittle at the moment. Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, and Neville Longbottom all sustained injuries, although Madam Pomfrey should be able to heal them aptly."
But this wasn't his news, Emma knew it from the way the space between his words seemed to linger and taunt her.
"What else?" she pressed.
He looked down for a moment, then looked back up at her and said, "Sirius Black is dead."
Emma could feel tears filling her eyes, welling up and threatening to roll down her face.
"Professor Snape told him to stay," she said softly, trying to argue, trying to convince herself and anyone, everyone, that he wasn't dead. Sirius couldn't be dead. She'd barely had any time with him, with his friendship. It just wasn't possible, wasn't fair.
"You know well enough to know that Sirius couldn't stand letting other people fight the battles, especially this, which he saw as his responsibility, as they used him to coax Harry to the Ministry."
She shook her head, tears falling onto her cheeks.
"No," she sobbed. "No, he's not allowed to die! He promised to be careful! He promised me."
Dumbledore just watched as she cried out her tears, while she calmed herself when the wave of tears was done, while she wiped her face dry and coughed into her hand, distraught still and feeling a tightness in her chest that didn't go away with the cough.
"I'm very sorry," he said kindly. "I understand how you feel. I think Harry does as well."
Harry, Emma realized. Harry would be devastated. Her own pain, great though it was, would only be a pinch compared with Harry's, who had thought he was going to save Sirius and ended up luring Sirius out to his death with his own impulsivity.
"Yes, sir," she muttered, looking down at the sheets, the clean white sheets that seemed to be mocking her somehow. "Thank you for your sympathy, sir. Am I free to leave the hospital wing now? I'd like to see my friends."
"Yes, you are," Dumbledore answered with a sad smile. "Not very long left here with them, I expect you've got lots of reminiscing to do."
Emma wouldn't be reminiscing. She would be crying.
When Emma made it to breakfast, Tien, Katie, Lee, and Angelina were sitting around a platter of toast, exchanging ominous glances when Emma approached.
They didn't know about Sirius, though, she told herself. At least, they couldn't know her friendship with him, even if his death made it in the papers. So something else had made them solemn and sad. She sat down beside Lee and grabbed some toast.
"What has you all so s-sad?" she stuttered, realized she'd almost said 'serious', but the word choked on her tongue.
Too soon.
"Have you not seen the paper?" Angelina said softly. "Fudge has confirmed it. He was wrong. Voldemort's back."
"Oh, yes," Emma said with a nod. "I already knew that."
"What's more," Tien said eagerly, "Sirius Black was innocent all along; wrongfully accused, they said. But he died last night, when Voldemort broke into the Ministry. And Harry Potter was there to fight him and he won again. At least, that's what they're saying."
"Yeah, Harry does that," Emma muttered, looking down at her plate, wanting to cry at the reminder of Sirius's death, and the granting of his innocence that came too late.
"You're not at all surprised by the Sirius Black news?" Katie said urgently. "Isn't it just horribly tragic?"
"I met him," Emma whispered. "Over Christmas holidays, he and the Weasleys and I were staying in the same place. I... he was my friend."
The table grew silent at this revelation and Emma glanced sideways to the copy of the Daily Prophet that was sitting in front of Katie. She saw the face of Sirius Black looking up at her, not the one they'd been using while he was wanted, but one of him as a young man, probably something Remus had had, of him laughing.
She hadn't realized she was crying until she saw the tear fall from her cheek onto the plate in front of her, beside the toast. Emma hastily wiped her eyes, but her friends had all seen and the silence was still thick between them, watching her as she mourned the man who'd talked with her about the war, the man who'd become her friend because he'd needed one so badly.
Someday, she thought, she was going to find a way to let the world know how wonderful he was.
The five teens ate their breakfast in silence after that, although the rest of the Great Hall was buzzing with the news of Voldemort's confirmed return. It seemed likely that Fudge would be asked to resign any day. Sirius Black's innocence was also big news, and a few of the younger girls, heads full of romantic ideas of war and sacrifice, said that when it was all over he ought to get a war monument to attest to his martyrdom.
Sirius would have liked that, Emma thought, being memorialized for wizards to remember for ages to come.
But it wasn't likely to happen. Not with the war on and needs to focus on the war itself. Then there would be rebuilding, and memorials that had names of people who'd died in various battles. He was the only one who'd died on their side in the Ministry.
There would be no memorial for Sirius Black, she was sure, unless Harry won the war and commissioned it himself.
Maybe he would.
Harry.
Harry wasn't at breakfast, she realized, looking around the Great Hall. Perhaps he was physically too weak. More likely, though, he was too emotionally drained. She felt horribly drained and she'd only lost a relatively new, although dear, friend. Sirius had meant an awful lot to Harry.
Of course, there was also the consideration that Harry didn't much care for all of the people staring at him. They always stared at him when he did something heroic. She couldn't exactly blame them for it, as she had done the same thing on many an occasion. Puzzling out Harry Potter had been the pastime of many a Hogwarts student over the last five years, particularly when he went and did something like he'd just done.
Emma felt angry suddenly, angry that she'd not been along. What if there would have been something she could have done, something to save Sirius's life?
It wasn't her fault he'd died, and she knew it, and anyway she probably would have ended up dead or injured herself, but knowing those things didn't make anything feel better. She wanted to know more, know how he died, think of some way she might have saved him from it, even though she knew it was too late to do anything about it. He wasn't coming back.
Harry would know, she knew, but she couldn't ask him.
And really, it wouldn't make a difference, she knew. She would only feel worse for knowing, and Sirius wouldn't want that. He would want her to take care of herself, like he'd told her to do, and to do some good during the war.
"Did you hear about Toad-Leech?" Tien finally said as they were getting up to go outside and sample the pleasant weather.
"What about her?" Emma asked.
"Apparently Harry and Hermione led her into the forest and she was kidnapped by rampaging centaurs. Dumbledore saved her sometime this morning. She's in the hospital wing, shock they say. I hope it's worse than shock, though."
Emma frowned. The very idea of being left at the mercy of an angry herd of centaurs was less than appealing, but she half-wished that Dumbledore would have left Umbridge there.
"I suppose I'll have to see her when I'm up visiting Hermione and Ron, then," Emma said firmly, giving of the clear indication with her tone that they were not to talk any more on Umbridge.
"Why would you do that?" Lee asked, confused.
"Because," she said, blushing furiously. "Ron's almost like family."
The girls, reading more in than was there, as always, squealed excitedly, and Emma wished she could have told them that she and Fred were getting married, but she couldn't. There was a war on, she reminded them as she finally managed to calm them. Marriage could wait.