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chapter nineteen.
Gryffindor won with a staggering 280 points to 30, effectively putting them into the running for the House Cup and spirits were running high throughout October as Hallowe'en neared, the appearance of the floating jack o' lanterns who told the worst jokes and the ghosts even putting in more effort to be more ghost like adding much to the spooky season.
Emilia actually quite liked Hallowe'en; she recalled, once, how her uncle had brought her trick 'r treating around the car before night descended on them, going around the far too posh neighbourhood who only had apples and monkey nuts to put into Emilia's poor collection of sweets. She had been dressed as a witch ironically, but it had been haphazardly thrown together with the only notable trait of her costume being the pointy had that sat skewed on her too small head and the black lipstick she had nicked from her aunt that was messy around her lips.
The lack of success had brought down her mood however much she had tried to hide it but her uncle had been able to discern what had been eating away at her, pulling up to the small shop that was the only one with its lights still on and buying her whatever she wanted. It was one of the few times she had been able to indulge in any sweets but they had to be quick and quiet about it lest they want to be interrogated by her aunt when they returned home.
It had also been one of the few times her uncle had tried connecting with her in any shape or form, though she could tell how awkward he was at it; it was strange to see a man who made so many blunders in his marriage trying to form any bond with her at all.
She had spent long after that wondering if maybe that he had wanted kids of his own, then she was glad for the fact that he didn't because even in the brief, sweet moment, she couldn't imagine him or her aunt being parents to some poor child.
Her uncle spent most of his time away now and Emilia didn't have to think long and hard as to why; her aunt's drinking got worse after she went to Hogwarts, but not so bad she could be labelled as an alcoholic and the woman's paranoia increased the longer he stayed away, which in turn made him less keen to return home.
Marriage was an adults business and Emilia didn't bother trying taking sides on who was wrong and who was right.
Still, she still cherished that memory of being nine and her hands sticky from the sweets, belly full and tired.
This Hallowe'en was vastly different to the ones Emilia had experienced before solely for the fact that she felt different – if anything, she felt excited.
With all her work done and dusted, she had all the free time in the world but was desperately trying to make it appear the opposite because Sirius was suddenly making it his mission to try and rope her into any of his planned shenanigans that he had going with his friends. The last she had heard, the floating pumpkins on the Second Floor were puking up a mixture of candle wax and seeds onto any student who would dare pass underneath.
It had been a good week, should have been even greater were it not for the fact that Marina Teagrass suddenly remembered Emilia existed again and felt annoyed by such a realisation; she was doubling down on her efforts on trying to make Emilia as miserable as could be but was met only with frustration when she was met in indifference by Emilia, who remained entirely unbothered by the other girl's antics.
If Emilia cared at all, she might have wondered why exactly it was that her merely breathing would set Marina off, but the reason didn't matter; all she knew was that Marina didn't like her and nothing would change the other girl's mind about Emilia.
Maybe it was because of how different they were from one another; Marina was a pureblood, as pure as they could come, and mainly kept to her very small, elite group of friends. But Marina liked to talk, and talk she did. She had said that she and Sirius had somewhat dated back in Fourth Year and Emilia wasn't sure if she wanted to ask her friend if it was true since Marina had a habit of spouting nonsense to build herself up.
But Emilia wouldn't blame Sirius if they had dated as the worst thing about Marina was the fact that she was far too beautiful for her own good; rich, auburn hair and bright blue eyes set in a long elegant face above a noble, aquiline nose, there was a lot to envy about Marina besides her wealth and stature. She stood almost as tall as Sirius, reminding Emilia of the models that would grace her aunt's Cosmopolitan magazines that she would get straight from the US since she refused anything that was out of date.
Emilia had once thought that Marina's far too posh attitude was a direct result of the fact that she came from a noble, pureblood family but Sirius wasn't half the prat that Marina could be when she put effort into trying to ruin Emilia's day. If he had dated the red head, it couldn't have lasted long since Marina's personality was enough to curdle milk and no amount of perfume could make that smell nice.
It had begun the week of Hallowe'en and only escalated closer and closer to the day; it was usually the petty stuff at first: rodents in Emilia's trunk, charming her curtains around her bed so that it took Emilia an entire hour and completely missing breakfast before she was able to open them and then hiding her school shoes out in the common room with no hint as to where they were, leaving Emilia to have to search for them in her socks.
She had nearly given up until Remus had entered after coming in from his Prefect patrols and Emilia had felt completely mortified when he wouldn't leave her alone about why she was up so late with no shoes on her, eventually relenting and telling him she had misplaced her shoes but couldn't remember where.
It had taken them twenty minutes before he managed to find the right stuck in the chimney with a Sticking Charm and she had discovered the left shoved into the couch and Emilia barely choked out a nervous laugh, making a self deprecating comment about her bad memory before scurrying away to hide in shame.
It was small, incessant things that Emilia had come to expect of Marina that allowed for her to breeze past them without much thought or having them leave a mark on her.
And then Marina began to amp it up.
She had locked Emilia in the bathroom one morning without her wand and Emilia was stuck banging on the door until Mary McDonald opened it up, tired and confused about the ruckus yet surprised to see Emilia standing there. Emilia had managed to miss Herbology and had to go and tell Sprout that she had girl problems and that's why she wasn't able to make it to class; she would sooner wish to eat broken glass than to have Sprout keep her back for ten minutes talking about the trouble of being a woman and what they had to go through in life ever again.
Another time, she had managed to snip off one side of Emilia's hair up to her shoulders and Emilia had all but ran to Pomfrey, begging for her to fix it, the nurse doing so but not without complaint, stating she was running an infirmary, not a hairdresser's.
The worst came when Emilia couldn't find her copy of The Hobbit and tore her bed and trunk apart until Marina slyly told her she should make a run to the stables unless she wanted a thestral to eat it up and shit it out. Emilia might have commended Marina for the sheer effort and lengths she was going to if it had not sent her all but barrelling out the girls' dorm and past Sirius, leaving him confused and calling after her as she sprinted to the stables; she had found the book, looking a little worse for wear in the trough for the leathery, winged creatures and had saved it just in time before it could be gobbled up by one of the animals.
Sometimes, Emilia forgot just how cruel Marina could be, how unkind other kids were.
She hoped that eventually, whatever Marina was going through, would be over soon because Emilia honestly did not know just how far the other girl would be willing to make Emilia break.
The morning of Hallowe'en had been uneventful, even if the lack of anything happening put Emilia on edge, but she knew nothing would happen to her so long as she was with Sirius, and wherever Sirius went, his friends were there too.
James and Remus sat opposite Emilia and Sirius, talking over their breakfasts and Emilia was trying to play dumb to their not very quiet hushed whispers about what they were planning to do for their prank that evening; if everything went belly up, at least she would be able to plead ignorance to the whole ordeal but it was quite hard for her to do so when they weren't even trying to be conspicuous about what they were discussing.
"Can't you let just a single Hallowe'en go by without trying to make the school explode?" Emilia asked Sirius, knowing the answer already before he could even offer it up. She had paused in finishing her porridge a few minutes ago as she had become somewhat mesmerised by the way James was shovelling food down his throat. He was almost as bad as Sirius sometimes.
Sirius paused in his murmuring with Remus to look at her with indignant shock, as if the mere thought of nothing trying to blow the roof off of Hogwarts was akin to blasphemy. "But it's our last year! We have to do something!"
James gave a choked hum, swallowing the last of his rashers as he nodded enthusiastically, reaching up to wipe his mouth with his sleeve. "Personally, I feel like we achieved perfection in Fifth Year with that bit we managed to get Peeves to agree to."
Ah, the great Fifth Year Prank, Emilia could recall it perfectly; it involved a lot of smoke, a suit of armour, Peeves, and a full breast of chicken. It had been the prank that got everything thinking it would be the boys' last chance at Hogwarts and they would for sure be facing expulsion from the school for such a daring display.
"I still swear that I sat Dumbledore's cat shaped socks from the fright he got," Sirius sniggered at the memory fondly, as if it wasn't tarnished by the rest of the school year's worth of detention. "Thought the geezer would drop dead from the shock."
Remus shook his head, sandy hair following the movement as he tutted. He was looking better than he had the previous week, exhaustion no longer wearing him down as it had done before. Emilia had shyly enquired if he was okay and he had explained that late night Prefect patrols were wearing him down and she was all the more glad that she was never considered a pick for the role.
Remus garnered everyone's attention, looking less enthusiastic about this whole thing compared to his two compatriots. "Emilia is right, we're Seventh Years. We should be acting as adults now."
Sirius and James stared at Remus incredulously as Emilia blinked with surprise that he had even uttered the words Emilia is right.
The silence stretched as Sirius propped an elbow up on the table, cradling his jaw as a wicked sharp grin began to cut across his mouth, not at all believing the look of his taller friend's face. "You've an idea, Moony?"
Whatever hope Emilia had for Remus to be the voice of reason was quickly dashed as the corner of his lip quirked and she shook her head at them all; just her luck the one guy who showed interest in her was a trouble maker who surrounded himself with sheep of the same flock. "You know I do."
Sirius clapped his hands together in enthusiasm, Emilia not liking the curve of his sneer.
Whatever they were planning, Emilia was sure she didn't want to be caught up in it.
She barely managed through one detention with Sirius, she couldn't imagine being stuck with all of them. She might have to cut her ears off to save herself from a migraine.
"Fantastic," Sirius announced, all too pleased the plan was coming together. "We'll have to wait for Peter, wherever the Hell he's been."
Emilia only barely managed to suppress a wince before she looked down, not really caring for her food anymore.
Out of all of Sirius' friends, Peter seemed to be the ever missing link from this chain of close knit friends Sirius had; she didn't want to be so self absorbed so as to think that it was because of her that Peter suddenly took to long hours in the library or whatever dark corner he had taken to, but it seemed that whenever Emilia decided to show up, he would turn tail with a tight look on his face.
She couldn't even remember if she had done something wrong by him, or maybe looked at him weirdly or let something slip that would have offended Peter, so it left her confused as to why he was suddenly finding being anywhere but around Emilia appealing, even if it meant that he would excuse himself from being around his best friends.
And since Sirius insisted on always being around her and on having her around him, it meant that she was always around their group; with Sirius pulling her in, he was unknowingly pushing Peter out for reasons that Emilia couldn't fathom, but it was through no fault of his own.
Emilia only hoped that the notice of his absence would escaped his friends' notice for a bit while longer because she was sure that if they noticed that she was the problem, then they would work to ensure she wouldn't be causing such a disturbance between them; as awkward as she felt, as much as she felt like she was coming up short from not knowing what to say, Emilia liked being around Sirius and his friends.
James never really left her that much room to speak, not that she would have much of an interest in dominating the conversation, and Remus only tended to speak up whenever he felt like it, but it was… nice, being around other people, laughing at their jokes and it seemed the addition of another person made James ecstatic since he was able to tell every single embarrassing story he knew of Sirius before the aforementioned boy would reach across and choke him into silence.
Emilia liked it, liked being around Sirius and his friends and they never made fun of her if she never interjected into their conversation and never laughed at her whenever she did.
Even if they didn't consider her to be a friend, she still enjoyed their company nonetheless; she saw why they were so popular, everything about them was just so hard to not like.
James gave a shake of his head, wild black hair akin to a dark cloud above him, strands untameable. It reminded Emilia of those troll dolls that everyone else but her seemed to have when she was still going to Muggle primary school. "We can fill him in later, c'mon, Remus, do share."
"We'll start planning now," Sirius agreed with a nod, rubbing his palms together like a mischievous cartoon villain. "No time like the present."
With that, Sirius turned to Emilia, who had been consciously keeping quiet so as to not draw attention to herself but it seemed impossible to hide from Sirius as the grin on his face was growing, an expectant expression on his face and Emilia had to force herself not to break under his gaze.
Nearly two months of friendship and he was so effortlessly able to break her once before iron will. Emilia missed the early days where she could just easily say no to him. Her teeth ground themselves as she all but dragged her feet in pre-emptively putting a stop to whatever it was Sirius was planning. "I don't want to hear it. I don't want to be guilty by association."
A whine left Sirius, grin turning into a pout as if he expected anything other than a 'no' to leave Emilia's lips. "Aw, you really don't want to? It'll be fun!"
She stared at him in disbelief. "Getting detention from now until summer doesn't sound fun."
"What if I said you get to be my cute little assistant like at those Muggle magic shows?" he pushed, as if the idea alone would be intriguing enough for Emilia to bend to his pleading.
Emilia couldn't stop herself before she pulled a face at the mere thought. How did Sirius even know about Muggle magic shows, let alone what kind of ones was he going to in order to know that part of the act? "No."
"You didn't even think about it!" he griped, crossing his arms over his chest and Emilia rolled her eyes to the Heavens, not bothering to stifle her smile at his reaction.
"Oh. Sorry," she said, features twisting up as if she was deep in thought and something like hope flittered across Sirius' face. "It's still no."
He could put even the best of puppies to shame with the way he was looking at her as he leaned in close to Emilia, barely any room left between them as he slid up the bench, the modicum of space that she had managed to gain being quashed as he pressed his thigh to hers, shoulder to shoulder and stealing the air and she was able to see even the lightest of freckles dotting his face. "Not even if I say pretty please?"
His voice was soft, trying to lure Emilia in to agreeing; she leant forward, a small smile on her lips. "Not even if there's a cherry on top."
He gave a groan, pulling away from Emilia as he cupped his jaw with his hand, elbow on the table as he gave a vague wave with the other hand. "Okay, fine, I guess Remus can be my assistant."
Emilia blinked, having forgotten almost entirely about the other two sitting across from them, her back straight as she turned away from Sirius to see Remus' mouth pulling into a frown as James was looking at her over the wire frame of his glasses, something in his brown eyes she couldn't discern before he gave her a wink, forcing her to feel flustered and look down.
"Why am I the assistant if it's my idea?" Remus protested, brows drawing low enough under his fringe for her to see.
Sirius rolled his eyes and turned to his last option. "Fine, then James."
Said last option seemed hurt at the fact that that was what he was as he sat up from eating hunched over his breakfast, hand on his heart and giving mock sniffles. "Wow, I'm a last resort to you? Hurts, Padfoot, it really hurts."
Sirius raised a brow, not at all believing his friend's charade. "You don't want to?"
"Not unless you get me a pretty dress to wear."
"I'll buy you matching heels, too."
"It's a deal," James grinned and he half stood from his seat, taking a hand to his mouth and before she knew it, he spat onto his hand and reached out across to Sirius who grabbed it after putting a wad of spit onto his palm, leaving Emilia feeling green and suppressing a gag. Across from her, Remus looked as if he might let up the tea he had been sipping on all morning. "You treat me so well."
"Only the best for you, darling," Sirius winked before he retracted his hand, not even caring to wipe his hand on a napkin, rather half-heartedly rubbing it off his school trousers. Emilia's nose scrunched up in disgust as she made a mental note to not touch that hand in future. Just then, Sirius turned back to her, a last ditch effort. "You sure you don't want to come?"
"I'm positive. I'm quite alright not being skinned alive by McGonagall if she catches on."
"Oh, I'm sure it won't be something big to get us into that much trouble, will it Moony?" Sirius tried insisting, looking back to his friend who held no small comfort of backing up Sirius' words, in turn leaving the latter to let out a bark of laughter before reaching across to slap his friend across the arm. "You sly dog, Remus!"
"To think you would by sullying your perfect Prefect badge," James all but giggled.
"So long as we don't get caught, we'll be alright," Remus said and turned to Sirius with a sharp eye, one that James mimicked, Emilia's gaze bouncing back and forth between the two in confusion as they stared at Sirius with an unusually disapproving look.
The silence was palpable enough that even Sirius picked up on it. "Why are you glaring at me?!"
James scoffed, before pointing at Sirius with a fork that had half a sausage stabbed on the end of the tines. "You were the one who got us all caught by Filch last year before we could bribe the house elves."
"I was not!" Sirius protested in alarm, turning to Emilia as if he was expecting her to back him up. "Emilia, can you believe this?"
She pondered on his question for a moment before curiosity got the better of her as she turned to James, ignoring Sirius entirely, much to his dismay. "How did he manage that?"
"Well," James began in a hushed tone as if Sirius wasn't right beside her, leaning across the table to dish the dirt on whatever it was that Remus and he held against the friend. "We had been waiting for him for nearly twenty minutes and then up swans himself looking all pleased and it turns out the reason he was late was because he was 'round the back of the greenhouse – "
"Whoa, hey!" Sirius laughed nervously and James' story was cut short as she felt something cover her ears, blocking out all noise as the muffled sound of their voices barely managed to pierce through; Emilia was quick to tug at Sirius' hands but not strong enough to tear them away, hopelessly pulling at his wrists and trying to wring her head from his grip but failing spectacularly, watching with narrowed eyes as she angled her face to Sirius, spying his mouth moving fast and even despite his palms clamped over her ears, she could hear James' loud guffaw before eventually Sirius let her go, Emilia tempted to elbow him into the side.
With a huff, Emilia crossed her arms over her chest in displeasure over being so obviously left out on whatever it was they discussed before Sirius gave a laugh that sounded almost awkward. "Hey, where is Peter?"
Still recovering from whatever it was that Sirius had said, James gave a shrug. "Dunno, said he was going to study, or something. Probably caught talking shite to Mary or whoever."
"He told me he needed to talk to Professor Henrik about the essay," Remus said aloud with a frown and Sirius waved him off. Unlike Emilia, none of Peter's friends were looking too much into his disappearance.
"No matter, we're down only one man," Sirius sighed, perking up and turning to Emilia with a sly smile. "Might go up a woman."
She all but scowled at him. "No."
"Or not," he said, relenting to her refusal with reluctance. She didn't get why he would even want her in on whatever it was that they were planning – she would probably ruin it by Transfiguring someone into a pig or cause an explosion or worse: get them caught.
"She already said no," Remus chastised, as if he were the pinnacle of innocence and levelheadedness, and not the very same mastermind behind their not so secret plan. Emilia recalled how he had once told her that he liked to play up his innocent demeanour in order to save himself from getting caught and she hoped he was well in practise that if they should get caught then he would not earn himself several months of detention. "Don't be trying to drag her into this, Sirius."
Emilia nodded enthusiastically, glad to have one person in her corner because if Sirius persisted, Emilia wasn't sure if she would be able to withstand him and would end up bending to his begging. "Yes, Sirius, please don't be trying to drag me into this."
"Alright, fine, I relent. You win," Sirius griped, throwing his hands up in defeat but looking none too pleased about it as he eyed Emilia. "You are coming to the feast, right?"
"Is that when this so called prank is taking place?" she questioned with a look to Remus who lifted his shoulders with an air of nonchalance but Emilia didn't buy it for one second.
"Maybe," Remus brushed off, but the glimmer in his eyes gave him away. "Maybe not."
"You're hardly going to miss the feast!" Sirius exclaimed with shock and Emilia turned back to him, face straight and humourless.
"No, I think I would prefer to stay holed up in the dorm for the rest of the night with no food and cry myself to sleep."
"Sounds like a Tuesday to me," James commented and the corner of Emilia's lips turned up.
It seemed she had honed her skills of using sarcasm well enough that Sirius gave a roll of his eyes, scoffing. "Okay, I get it, I was just checking! Sometimes I don't ever know what you're thinking."
Emilia doubted that anything she could ever say would be considered interesting by any accounts. "And thank God for that. You're too busy with your own to worry about someone else's."
"Dead right you are, Emilia," Sirius grinned and without warning, he reached up to quickly tap Emilia's nose and moved his hand before she could swat it away, the action making her face feel as if it had exploded, ears burning a bright scarlet colour and feeling a bit too tongue tied for her liking. Sirius remained blissfully unaware as he brought his index and middle finger to his temple, tapping the side of his head. "A whole lot of thoughts are being thought up here."
James perked up, looking around the Great Hall with his brows knitted together and looking confused, scratching his head. "I just heard an echo, did anyone else hear that?"
"Oh, har har," Sirius said dryly, voice thick with mocking as he brought a hand to his chest. "Hilarious, you're so funny. Positively comedic. I'm in stitches."
James stared at Sirius with a critical eye. "Now I'm wondering if you're just being sarcastic or not."
"Oh no, who? Me? Oh, James, I would never," Sirius insisted, all but teasing his friend and Emilia fought the need to smile.
James didn't seem too pleased about his friend's teasing as he pulled a face and turned to her, peering at her over the rim of his glasses. James' glasses never seemed to sit right on the bride of his nose, slipping down and trying to escape and leave him blind but he never seemed away of it, a lot of James seemed to consist of appearing like he rolled out of bed and simply threw on his uniform. "Right, Emilia tell me again why you hang around him?"
Emilia had learned to get over the initial awkwardness of realising that Sirius' friends were directly addressing her and she hoped that she didn't seem as socially inept as she used to be; she understand change didn't happen overnight, but last thing she wanted was to put people off entirely because she didn't know how to talk to them.
Emilia put her hand on the side of her mouth, blocking all view of her moving lips from Sirius despite the fact he sat right beside her, body glued to her own and quite capable of hearing everything she said but seemed disgruntled he was being left out of the conversation. "Because he's like an infection."
His hand was around her wrist, pulling it away and startling Emilia, drawing his face near. "Meaning… I grew on you, right?"
Brushing off the initial shock of his closeness, Emilia slipped her hand from Sirius' grip and gave him a playful smile. "Because you're annoying and I can't get rid of you."
Sirius pondered over her words for a moment before his beautiful smile returned to his handsome face once more. "I'll take that as a compliment!"
"You shouldn't," she told him shaking her head and turning away, her hair hiding the smile on her face.
"You really shouldn't," Remus echoed but the sentiment seemed lost on Sirius who sat with his chest puffed, all proud and gleaming as if Emilia had complimented him. Maybe he had taken one too many Bludgers to the back of the head, but Madam Pomfrey insisted there was nothing else wrong with him, though she had said it through gritted teeth as if she doubted the words leaving her own mouth.
It seemed that the boys were dead set on continuing to discuss the plan ahead of them that evening and Emilia felt that if she lingered around any longer, her will would crumple and evaporate to nothing if Sirius kept chipping away at it, thus deciding to push her plate away and standing, drawing all eyes on her at doing so. She still wasn't used to just how in synch they all were, one hive mind that shared a single brain.
"I have a few things to do. I didn't hear anything about anything happening here that might or might not take place at the feast," she declared with a pointed look at Sirius who returned it with a wink, ignoring the way her heart stuttered and tripped in her chest but she was getting better at dealing with his strange displays. She couldn't very well be turning bright red and be reduced to a stammering fool any time that Sirius decided to something along the lines of winking at her or complimenting her or even holding her hand otherwise he might to see her as a blundering fool.
"Ah, a woman who keeps my secrets," Sirius sighed dreamily, hand over his heart and he was looking up at her as if she were dusk, something that so simple and ordinary but so beautiful nonetheless that one could not help but pine for its return the next day. "You're a girl after my own heart."
Getting used to it, yep, she was definitely getting used to his strange antics even despite the fact her tongue felt knotted in her mouth, unable to speak before she regained her composure.
"You can keep it," she told him with no hesitation and tried not to feel proud of herself when her words with met with raucous laughter from James and a snigger from Remus, neither of them quietening down when Sirius shot them a glare from the corner of his eye. She raised her hand awkwardly, offering a small wave to the two other boys before she turned to go. "Bye."
Her farewell was echoed back to her through giggles as Sirius began hissing at them and she spied his foot reaching out to kick James in the knee but failed with the bespectacled boy dodged and stuck his tongue out at Sirius and she gave an amused sound at their antics.
Yes, Emilia had decided that she quite liked Sirius' friends.
The halls were empty as there were no classes for Hallowe'en and most were still taking advantage of the reprieve to sleep in and enjoy their mornings lounging about without having to rush from class to class, a sentiment Emilia shared; though now that her time wasn't occupied by class, it meant that she was at the mercy of Sirius and he seemed to like dragging her around everywhere he went despite all her complaining that she would do.
That morning, Sirius had even taken to shouting at her to wake up from the bottom of the stairs of the girls' dorm and she had tried ignoring it until the other girls, one in particular that did not needed to be named to be known, began to shoot her looks – ones of curiosity, one of hatred.
Emilia hadn't even bothered to change out of her pyjamas before she marched down with a pillow in hand to give him several smacks and an order to keep it down. He had only agreed to stop if she woke up and stop sleeping because he was, in his words, lonely without his friends.
It seemed no one else liked to wake up at the crack of dawn like Sirius had done so she was forced to accompany him to breakfast and he managed to stop her falling into her food by catching her on her forehead with his palm, laughing at her tired grumbling that she wouldn't actually have fallen into her bowl.
It quiet despite the excitement for the feast prepared for that evening and Emilia relished in it; she had forgotten how much she liked her time alone and the peace, taking her time strolling and basking in the cool light of the last October sun. Emilia thought of doing some light reading since she had not indulged in it for some time; she could squeeze in an hour or two and then meet up with Sirius, hopefully by then his planning would be done with and she wouldn't be dragged in as a last minute change.
Emilia climbed the steps, taking her time and as she got to the top, her body froze at the sight before her – there, in a huddle, was Marina Teagrass and her two friends, talking in hushed whispers and laughing to themselves quietly.
Well.
Shit.
This was exactly not what Emilia wanted to happen on such a good day, not when she was in a good mood.
She thought about turning back, making a beeline straight to the Great Hall and tell Sirius and his friends she changed her mind and would gladly be an assistant or look out or whatever, anything to not have a confrontation with the one person who was dead set on reminding Emilia on what a waste of space she was.
She could, she could – but why did she need to?
It was her school too, was it not? Could she not go where she wanted to, especially back to the tower which was her home? No, it was best to try and walk past as quick as possible and hope that they would just see her as an annoying breeze that ruffled up their perfectly made hair.
Steeling herself, Emilia kept her head down, hair slipping in front of her face and all but keeping to a speed walking pace in order to get past them, praying that they would be too engrossed in whatever it was that they were discussing to pay Emilia or her existence any heed.
Just as she thought she succeeded, a voice called out to Emilia.
"Well, look who showed her ugly mug," Marina's snide spoke out from behind Emilia, making her inwardly groan at not having succeeded at her mission in trying to sneak by. Just her luck that Marina would try to a ruin a day that was beginning to appear like a good one.
She could already hear the sharp clicks of Marina's shoes from behind her, making Emilia wonder if she would succeed in running away but decided the embarrassment of running from a confrontation would not be worth the endless teasing that would ensue after.
Emilia paused in her steps, drawing in a breath large enough that it hurt her chest before she let if go, trying to shove her annoyance to the bottom of her feet and into the ground, hoping her apathy would turn the other girl off as she turned around with a straight face. "I go to school here."
Marina took her time closing the space between the two of them, flocked by Tamara Blessing and Yvonne Gill like they were her dark shadows. Tamara was the shortest out of the three while Yvonne towered over her two friends but stood hunched, as if she didn't want to be seen while Marina stood as the balance between all three, if not the leader.
Neither of the two girls seemed to speak much, letting Marina do most of it either out of fear or because they had nothing to offer up. Tamara eyed Emilia with the same coldness as Marina while Yvonne took to looking at her gold chain around her wrist, not wanting to acknowledge Emilia and how Emilia wished she had took to running off because she really was not in the mood to deal with her bully.
"Unfortunately," Marina sighed, her sneer marring her beautiful features. "I wish I didn't have to see that face of yours all the time."
Emilia tried not to fidget under the other girl's piercing gaze, ignoring how it send goosebumps up her skin. Something felt different about Marina, about her stare and her words; not that she wouldn't insult Emilia, but her demeanour felt… off. "Then turn around or close your eyes, there's nothing I can do."
That led Marina to scoff, none too pleased at Emilia's words and crossed her hands over her chest, and, unfortunately for Emilia, Marina stood taller than her and when she stepped closer, Emilia had to tilt her chin up to look up at her to meet her eyes. "You probably feel so great, don't you? Having Sirius Black hanging around you."
That made Emilia raise her eyebrows, trying to absorb what it was exactly that Marina was trying to say and quickly regaining her composure, half cursedly curious about where this was going to go; Marina would bully her before Emilia even began being friends with Sirius, so bringing him into the equation made no sense. "I do, actually. I like his company and he likes mine."
"Oh, I bet," Marina all but spat and the way the rays of the sun landed on her hair reminded Emilia of a house on fire, much like the red head's personality. "So what did you do?"
Emilia couldn't stop the way her eyebrows drew themselves together, not entirely comprehending what was happening. Usually at this point, Marina would Hex Emilia or use a Sticking Charm to have her shoes glued to the ground, not… ask her things. "What?"
"Oh, please, don't act so dense," Marina said with a roll of her emerald eyes, Tamara giggling at her friend's shoulder as if she was in on the joke despite not having said anything to contribute to the conversation. Emilia's lack of response made Marina scoff, looking down at her through her thick lashes, trying to discern if Emilia's ignorance was for real or if she was pretending. "Come on Emilia, we're all girls here. What did you do? Did you let him snog you at the back of the greenhouses? Shag him in the astronomy tower?"
Emilia's red face must have been comical enough if it sent Marina in a fit of shrill laughter, covering her mouth as if she was pretending to save Emilia from some sort of embarrassment but Emilia knew better than that.
The thought alone might have made Emilia laugh too if it hadn't sent her reeling, tongue tied and wondering how on Earth that Marina even thought that she was sleeping with Sirius; the thought alone! Not that she had thought about it, ever. Why would she ever think of him in that way, why would Marina ever even think of something so ludicrous like that?
Yes, she liked spending time with him and yes, she greatly enjoyed his company and sometimes she thought about him when he wasn't there and when he said nice things about her it made her face turn red and she would never tell him but she had grown to want his small shows of affection, when he would hold her hand or put an arm around her, but sex? That was something else entirely and nothing that had ever entered Emilia's mind before, not even as a shadow of a thought.
Her? And Sirius? Sirius, and her?
Who in their right mind would think that that was a thing that could happen?
They were friends and just because Sirius said nice things about her and held her hand didn't mean he wanted to sleep with her! And she certainly didn't want to sleep with him, especially not in the Astronomy tower.
Not that she was thinking about it, in any shape or form, at all, but that surely couldn't be a safe thing to do in a tower. Emilia read enough romance novels (the kind her aunt had in a box in her wardrobe that she didn't know that Emilia knew about that) so she wasn't entirely unknowledgeable about sex, and what happened and everything, but she definitely wasn't some kind of, some seductress that Marina was making her out to be.
Not to mention, she doubted that she could even seduce Sirius successfully as Marina was implying and the thought alone sent her heart into palpitations that nearly winded her entirely.
And why the fuck was she thinking about sex and Sirius in the same line of thought?
No, no, she was quickly putting that out of her head.
"What? No!" Emilia spluttered, hating that Marina managed to throw her off kilter, trying to get herself back together and push down the heat in her face by forcing a scowl on her face that wasn't the least bit convincing. "Just because we're hanging around one another doesn't mean we're having sex. You can be friends with guys without sleeping with them, you know."
"I'm sure that's what you tell yourself to comfort yourself when no one wants to jump in your knickers, virgin," Marina tittered, as if she thought Emilia was amusing.
Then, before Emilia could react, the other girl took a step forward and looped her arm through Emilia's, whirling her around and forcing her to walk; from the outside looking in, anyone might assume they were best friends talking in hushed whispers with one another and giggling about secret things, but Marina's grip on her arm was that bit too tight and Emilia began to worry about where she was being led but could not seem to pull her arm from Marina's grip.
"Wow, truly, I'm hurt Marina. However will I recover?" Emilia hissed, not wanting to put up with this anymore; why did she ever leave Sirius? She was having such a good time and she left and now here she was, being pulled off against her will. No, no more – how did she ever think being a mat for Marina to walk on would placate her? It was one thing to bully her, but now she was bringing Sirius into this and it made Emilia not uncomfortable, but feeling as if enough was enough. There was no reasoning with those who were cruel for fun. "Nice talk."
Emilia tried to leave, twisting her arm out of Marina's grasp but she grabbed onto Emilia's wrist, nails digging into her skin and then her other side was occupied by Tamara, Yvonne trailing behind and still looking at her gold bracelet, not saying anything and not looking up.
Marina bent her head closer to Emilia, the venom dripping from her tongue coating her words and sharping them into pinpricks to dig into Emilia. "I know you probably think you're better, invincible, that he's showing you interest. But you're not. He'll jump onto the next girl once he realises how dry you are."
Emilia couldn't even be bothered to suppress the roll of her eyes that came.
She never thought she would see the day that Marina Teagrass would be so insecure.
"Is that what this is about? A boy? You're being petty over a boy?"
"If that's what you want to think, do so," Marina hummed, not really paying attention as they began to climb steps, moving Emilia further and further away from the Great Hall and to God knows where; every time Emilia tried to slip her arm out from either girl's arm, Marina's nails would dig further and further into her skin to the point Emilia wondered if she was bleeding. "Frankly, people like Sirius Black can have his fun with people like you all he wants, but he'll never actually go for you, you know that?"
The words people like you didn't go amiss on Emilia but she didn't quite care for whatever villain monologue that Marina was indulging in, gritting her teeth and ignoring the anxiety creeping up her throat; her attempts of escape became more pronounced, all the while the so called civil conversation between them continued, wincing as she felt Marina's nails break surface, blood bubbling to the surface with eagerness.
"Is that supposed to hurt my feelings?" Emilia snorted, trying to not let her worry show to the surface because then Marina would know she won and Emilia could not let that happen. "If you're so obsessed, just go and talk to him, otherwise he's never going to notice you."
"I don't need to talk to him for him to notice me," she purred, the implication not lost on Emilia. "We used to do very little talking."
"Yeah, like three years ago. When you were fourteen. Maybe you should move on to someone else."
That made Marina's façade crack, something dark peaking through before she patched it up with that fake sweetness, but her grip on Emilia's arm felt as if it was cutting off blood flow, leaving it dead. "It's cute, how you've managed to grow a spine."
Emilia's jaw locked into placed as she dug her heels in, causing the other two to lurch forward and it felt like they nearly ripped Emilia's arms from their socket and they let go, stopping entirely to look back at her with that same, disgusting look of amusement, as if Emilia were some animal in a zoo to keep them preoccupied. It reminded Emilia of the kids in her old primary school, the same look in their eyes undoubtedly the same; magic or no magic, it seemed kids were the same everywhere and it made Emilia angry.
She couldn't remember the last time she was angry, truly angry, blood boiling and stomach knotting angry that made her hands go into fists at her sides. Marina was wrong, Emilia always had a spine, it's just she finally remembered it was there and she was sick of it, sick of Marina's antics and her teasing and bullying and putting fucking rats in her trunk and bed.
She had always let Marina walk all over her because what was the point in sticking up for herself especially when she was leaving school in less than ten months? What was the point when it was going to make things worse and it had never been anything Emilia couldn't handle.
Some part of her used to think that just because she was used to it, it meant that she could withstand it.
But that didn't mean Emilia deserved it; she knew she never deserved the other girl's antipathy, especially when she acted on it, but Emilia had had enough. Why had she let herself be tortured for so long in the name of peace? None of the teachers cared enough and it wasn't as if she had friends to help her.
Had.
Emilia had friends now, didn't she?
Sort of, but she did.
She didn't have to put up with Marina or her bullshit just because she didn't see a point to causing a fuss, but no one deserved to be treated like this, like she had been treated for so long. Emilia had wasted so much time not standing up to her and she was sick of it.
"I've never cared for anything you used to do, Marina," Emilia said in a cool tone, trying to not let her emotions get the better of her as Marina quirked a perfectly plucked eyebrow. "I just never bothered because it seemed you had nothing else going for you and I thought I could do my part to distract you and amuse you since no one else cared enough to be your friend."
Something soured in Marina's features, turning and twisting them and it seemed to be the last straw that pulled the fuse in Marina, stepping closer and hissing through her perfectly straight teeth. "Who the fuck do you think you are, acting like that? Acting as if you're doing me a favour? I am a Teagrass and you're nothing."
Emilia didn't give a shit about who or what Marina was, she didn't have to care – Marina was to Emilia just as she was to her: nothing. "If you want to mess with me, fine, I don't care. I have work I want to finish."
With that, Emilia tried to shoulder past Marina, hoping to leave a bruise of some kind but a hand snatched forward to take a hold of her elbow; it was not kind or gentle like Sirius' touches, yanking her back and nearly causing her trip before she regained her footing, hating the fact that Marina was taller than her and was like a shadow glooming over her.
"Oh no, this is beyond me just trying to mess with you, Emilia," Marina spat, voice low and eerily steady and Emilia didn't bother to ask her what she meant because Marina already jumped ahead of her. "I don't want you hanging around Sirius Black."
Jesus fucking Christ –
Since when was Marina petty and insecure over boys? She had dated nearly every boy in Slytherin at this point since no one else in Gryffindor seemed to like her, so it wasn't as if she wasn't pretty, but this?
Was she still pining over a boy that she briefly dated when she was still a child?
This had to be a joke, it must be and Emilia nearly laughed but there was no trace of humour in Marina's features.
"Oh for – Marina, what do you want me to say? You're acting as if he isn't capable of choosing whoever he wants to talk to," Emilia shot back, tearing her arm from Marina's claw and putting space between them. "If you really like him, then just go and bloody talk to him."
"You're so fucking dense, it's actually mental. The fact you can't even see the truth."
"Yeah, well, I don't care enough to stay long enough to find out," Emilia said, turning on her heel and hoping that that would be that, that she could slip into the tower where other people were and hope Sirius or any of his friends would be there because she really needed something or someone to lift her out of this bad mood.
She was only a few steps away when there were hands on her, a scuffle as something was tearing at her clothes; she gave an exclaim, twisting and turning to get away from whatever was pawing at her but someone kept her hands behind her back, nearly tearing her the muscled in her shoulders from the angle as she watched Marina frisk her down, before reaching in Emilia's pocket and pulling out her wand, much to Emilia's horror.
She had been right in the beginning after all: something was off about Marina and the smile on her pretty face did not reassure Emilia at all.
She tried getting away from whoever was holding her back, Tamara it seemed since Yvonne was standing to the side lines, finally paying attention and her dull, blue eyes were dating back and forth between what was happening in front of her.
Emilia tried wrestling her way free but each movement was wrought with pain from the way that Tamara was holding her back. "Give me my wand back, Marina."
"No, I think I'll hold onto it for a bit longer," she smiled, holding it up and examining it with an expression that seemed akin to disgust as her eyes flickered to Emilia. Her eyes were green like Remus', but they held none of his kindness and were a lot colder. "In fact, I don't think people like you deserve to have a wand."
There it was again, her saying people like you and it made ice form in the bottom of Emilia's throat, cracking and melting in a puddle at the bottom of her stomach that left a bad taste in her mouth. "What's that even supposed to mean?"
Marina wasn't inclined to explain any further, instead she took out her own wand, giving their surroundings a quick survey before she focused on something behind Emilia; Emilia's eyes wildly tried looking for someone, anyone, even Filch, for help but there was not a soul; everyone wasn't going to bother going around the castle this early in the day, especially with no classes.
For now, she was all alone and she needed to deal with this herself.
Marina gave a flick of her wand and the noise of a creaking door caught Emilia's attention, craning her neck behind her and over Tamara's shoulder to see a rotten slab of wood open, the hinges sounding as if they hadn't been oiled in so long since how out of use it was.
Marina didn't even need to explain for Emilia to explain, turning back to the other girl and briefly catching Yvonne's eyes, the girl looking tight lipped and fiddling with her jewellery, as if she was nervous.
Their gaze connected ever so briefly and Emilia hoped she would pipe up as the voice of reason but then Yvonne looked down at the ground, swallowing whatever words she might have said, and dashing Emilia's hopes to the dirt.
"Maybe you should sit in there and think about it," Marina wondered aloud, gesturing Tamara to follow and, therefore, for Emilia to follow, not even bothering to push down the yelp that escape her as her captor twisted her arm, her back and muscles in extreme pain that she couldn't even move to escape if she wanted to. They stood at the maw of the door, the inside barely lit and smelling damp and dank, the dark shadows making Emilia's stomach turn and a sweat bead on her hairline, heart racing in her chest and leaving her feel there was not enough air in the whole castle let alone this small room. "Maybe you can give me the answer."
"You're mental. You're actually not well in the head," Emilia said but her voice shook and there was no conviction in her words and Marina knew, she had won and broken Emilia down. Desperation clawed at Emilia's throat and she was not above pleading if it meant not having to be thrown into that darkness. Anything but the darkness. "Give me my wand back."
"You really just don't like to listen, must be a common trait for people like you," Marina sighed as if disappointed with Emilia's response.
People like you – three must be the magic number.
"People like me?" Emilia finally asked, but it was no use as Marina jutted her head as an indication and Tamara threw Emilia into the darkness, immediately being swallowed up by it as she tripped, catching herself on the ground and scratching the heels of her palms, trying to scramble to her feet but it was too late.
As she turned, still on her knees, she watched as Marina closed the door, the ever decreasing gap limiting light and leaving only a sliver of light that was blocked by Marina's face and leered down at Emilia before it was shut entirely, leaving Emilia by herself and alone and in the dark.
Her heart felt ready to burst and all she could hear were her clawing breaths scratching against the walls and the wicked laughter that stung her ears from the outside and she threw herself forward, making contact with the door and her fists began to pound on the door, not caring for her pride or dignity; she needed out, she needed to get out, it was too dark and it was consuming her and she was panicking, as if the walls themselves were pressed to each side of her and squeezing all air and reason from her.
"Marina! Marina, open the door!" she begged, out of breath and ignoring the dull pains in her hands, the very same hands that Sirius had held, the ones that would be bruised and bloodied because she would claw herself out if she needed to, would dig straight through stone to escape but it was futile, splinters catching in her skin and being hammered in the more she pounded on the door.
Marina's voice seemed as if it was right beside her, ringing in Emilia's skull and her breathing was turning to gasps, shallow and scratching her throat. "But where's the fun in that?"
"Marina, this is too far, even for you!" Emilia screeched, trying to ignore how her chest felt too small for her heart and were strangling her lungs. "Open the door!"
"Can't you just use your stolen magic?" Marina teased, snickering with her friends, one giggle returning hers. "Oh, that's right, you don't have your wand."
"Marina, please, please just open the fucking door!" And Emilia realised she was crying having been too focused on her breathing that she ignored the wetness on her cheeks that burned, that stung her eyes and she got to her hands and knees, trying to peer out from under the crack at the bottom of the door but there was nothing coming through save for the brief images of the other three girls' shoes. The stone felt rough on her cheek, not at all like how Sirius' hand felt and it hurt, too cold and rough. "Please, just open it, it's too dark in here!"
"No, I don't think I will," Marina said, sounding all too bored with the entire situation. "Your wand is right here on the other side if you can get it."
From her position on the floor, she could just about see them place her wand right up against the crack of the door, further limiting her access to light and it was taunting her, two inches away and she couldn't get at it, nearly tearing at her fingertips in trying to get it in her hold but failing time and time again.
Sobs tore through Emilia as she closed her eyes, the darkness of her own making no better than the one she was thrown into, shakingly getting to her knees, hoping mercy would be shown even though Marina could not see the humiliating position that Emilia was putting herself into. "Marina, please. Please it's too dark in here. Just open the door, please."
"You're actually crying? But this is too much fun to stop!" Marina laughed sourly. "I quite like the sound of you begging. Maybe you can let this be a lesson to you about listening to your superiors."
Emilia calmed herself down enough to still her breathing in order to hear what Marina was saying, the silence palpable and crushing her. "What?"
"Let me break this down into words you can understand," Marina said and there was brief silence save for Emilia's sniffling and when Marina spoke, there was a coldness that left Emilia shivering, the closeness of her voice was as if she was pressing herself right up against the door for Emilia to ear and the words leaving her mouth were rotted, old and decaying that sent Emilia's stomach turning, threatening to turn up the contents that lay at the bottom. "Stay the fuck away from Sirius Black, mudblood. You are tainting him by being around him and I'll be damned if I let a mudblood like you taint us purebloods. You're a disgusting half-breed and I will never let you claw your way to our station in life. Stay where you belong: in the dirt with the rest of the animals, mudblood."
And with that, Marina left, laughing with her friends and Emilia, alone in the crushing darkness.
hello, hello! Before I get into me A/N, I would like to answer a few of your reviews!
Guest: thank you so much! i love writing Sirius and Emilia interactions and i am legit so excited to keep writing more of them. theyre just so cute and make my heart hurt /3 and believe me, i wish i could beat peter up - the things i have planned for him to do makes me want to wring his neck out but im not going to spoil it!
OryxGreen: thank you so much! i love reading each and every review you leave, they honestly make my day! Marlene will definitely be introduced in future as a prominent character bc i love that woman w my entire heart and i want to do her justice. As for Sirius and Emilia, oh boy it's just going to be spilling guts and trauma from here on in i cant wait, angst and emotional pain is what i THRIVE on. and you are spot on with the love potion bit! i wanted it to be sly that it could be missed but also obvious that if someone remembered they would be like "hold on a minute". i just couldn't resist! thank you so much for your continuous support, it means so much to me!
megancl99: i could never get sick of your support! if anything it's all that's keeping me alive atm, its the one thing that keeps me excited to go on my phone and check all the time! and believe me, there's nothing i love more than subtle flirting especially when one is like "oh this is normal between friends haha :)" and the other is like "oh this is just how i show my affection but only to this specific person and no one else haha :)" like you DUMB MF- anywayz, im glad you enjoyed and i hope you like this very belated chapter!
StayStrong26: adjoaeifjai thank you so much! im so glad u enjoy! poor emilia is being left out on the marauders hive mind so she doesn't understand when they cast each other knowing looks, poor girl. and as for peter... he's being peter, which is ANNOYING. there will be peter slander in this house forever and always. anyways glad u enjoyed!
Kaiya's Watergarden: thank you so much! i think im just as excited as you about emilia and sirius opening up to each other!
The Booknerds: love is blooming but these two dumb idiots are just like "haha we're besties :) 4 lifers" like please just kiss already im begging
jueves56789: thank u so much, am glad u enjoyed :)
humbabi: im in love with them too and i wish they would just BE IN LOVE W EACH OTHER! it means so much to me that people are liking emilia, i certainly didnt want her to be entirely likeable in the beginning but it warms my heart that everyone loves her!
jjkrainy: hfuieahfoa thank you so much! the love and inspo means a lot to this author! i write this story not only for myself now but for all of u guys as well!
MMM: jrioajgpqerg thank u! i used to be insecure abt my writing but now i know its about quality and not quantity, so it means the world to me that you enjoy not only my story but my writing as well! and it warms my heart that my characterisation of both emilia and sirius is so well received by everyone!
marrrin: in one day!? you have an attention span i would DIE for! thank you so much and i hope you enjoy this chapter!
first off: so sorry for the late update. im not gonna lie, uni and work is kicking my entire ass. I wrote the majority of this in the library where i should be doing my two essays due in two weeks lol. i needed a mental break and decided to write this over the course of a week and a half and it's definitely helped me mentally and i forgot just how much i love this story and it's really just helped me take a break from everything that's been weighing my down.
bet marina read a "my first hate crime against muggle borns" as a kid, damn, she's got no chill. I cant wait to show you guys more of her character in the future! there are a few ocs ive made in this story that will make small impacts and i cant wait to show you guys what i have in store!
I will probably end up going over this and editing it so this is NOT proofread, it's nearly 11pm and i have to get up at 6:30 am for a bus since i commute to uni, so i might edit it on the bus if i dont end up falling asleep lol
song of choice while writing: just for me by pinkpantheress
Thanks for reading!