Lily loved February at Hogwarts. She thought it was romantic. She also thought it was mundane. It was thus: romantically mundane. Constant cozy days in the turrets of Hogwarts Castle, a blanket of snow across the grounds, hearty food in the Great Hall at all meals. The next few weeks held promise; the Gryffindor v Slytherin quidditch match on Valentines Day, preceded by an outing in Hogsmeade. She had a date with a Ravenclaw 7th year to go to the Three Broomsticks, a date she'd accepted very publicly in the Great Hall, right under the nose of James Potter.
Which was a mere coincidence, she told herself.
It was a cold Wednesday in the week of Valentines Day when she, Emma, and Peter walked up from the Potions classroom to the tower where they took Divination. Emma would walk ahead of them for about half of the trip, but slowed down once they made their way to farther upper corridors where no student would be. She wasn't sure why, because by the time they found themselves in the cosy chairs and warmth of the Divination classroom, Emma seemed to come out of her shell. Perhaps it was the small group, or maybe it was the dozing teacher that made the Ravenclaw witch act free. Lily only wished this transformation would occur in other parts of the castle. She'd heard first years in the common room whisper about Emma's beauty, and also of how she terrified them. Lily remembered feeling the same way about Bellatrix Black in her first year.
Professor Delphi was lucid when the students arrived, shedding their thick winter cloaks and scarves.
"Ah, Miss Evans, you and your troop will do group tarot readings today. Hufflepuff girls…" Lily grabbed the pack of cards and settled with Emma and Peter at their usual spot, not listening to the rest of instructions. Tarot day was always fun, because Emma gave the funniest readings, and Peter could shuffle well.
"You first Pete." She said, handing him the deck.
Each person at the table would shuffle, then read three cards which would foretell something between the other two at the table. Peter would read a prediction between Emma and Lily. He shuffled, cut the deck, and did some clever trick with his thumb that took three cards from the center. He slapped them down face down on the table.
"Alrighty, Misses Evans and Harper-Shelley, lettuce see." He said in a voice akin to a carnival barker.
First card was the Merlin card, second was the Deathly Hallows, and third was the Blood of Unicorn.
"Hm." Peter grunted. Lily was excited to see what he would say. "From one of you, a great liberator shall spring. Death will not touch you, but will envelope you in its safety. You are connected by your purity of heart, and nobility of intentions."
"Unusually insightful Peter." Emma said, sounding impressed. Lily was too.
A liberator? No death, but death? Connection? It was interesting. She wished she knew what it fully meant.
Lily took the cards from Peter, save the ones he had already put down, and shuffled the remainder of the deck. She laid her three down, and flipped.
The Phoenix, the Gentle Giant, and the Ghost.
"You both will see greatness forged through fire, unassuming yet powerful. Ultimately, the ability to conceal and slip away will be your greatest asset." She spoke. Reading the wizard's tarot was as much of a surprise to the interpreter as it was to the listener. But they were always so vague, they could be about anything from career, to love, to the absolutely mundane.
"Pete and I are both of a quiet sort." Emma nodded in acknowledgement. Peter shifted in his seat, seeming uneasy.
Finally, Emma's turn. Lily knew they weren't in for a silly reading by the dark look in Emma's eye. That dark cloud became an entire cloud when she flipped her three cards up.
Lily saw The Satyr, Godric Gryffindor's sword, and the faceless orphan. As she did not deal them, she could not divine them. And truly, they could mean anything. But Emma's face was stricken with terror, and Lily knew. She was having a vision of some sort. Finally the dark look passed, and Emma's face contorted into a look of anguish that Lily had never seen before. The usually steeled, composed girl was absolutely terrified.
"I can't read this." Emma whispered.
"Emma, its just tarot. It doesn't mean anything unless you let it." Lily said, not very convincingly.
"Trust me."
The pack was put away and everyone pretended nothing had happened. Lily helped Emma with the knitting she was beginning while Peter read a book for his Muggle Studies class. Eventually the class ended, Lily and Peter went down to lunch, and Emma disappeared somewhere near the entrance to Dumbledore's office.
Professor Dumbledore was pacing about his office when Emma Howard-Shelley burst in.
"Miss Howard-Shelley! I don't believe we had an occlumency lesson scheduled for today." He said pleasantly.
"I want my memory wiped." Emma spit out with no preamble.
"Pardon me?"
"I saw something I shouldn't, something I can't risk keeping in my thoughts, and I need it to be gone." She said.
"Slow down, Emma. Let's talk through this. You've just been in class, yes?"
"Yes, divination."
"Ah. Well, that is your Shelle blood making trouble I think."
"Yes, Mary.." She calmed down, slumped into a chair.
"No, I mean Percy Shelley. A bit of a seer and a poet, apparently. Antithesis to his wife, in a manner of speaking."
"Now, what did you see? Only if you feel you can tell me." Dumbledore sat behind his desk and regarded the flustered girl. She was not at all behaving like the girl he was used to tutoring in occlumency. Her sort reserved, strong mind that sought out occlumency lessons at age 16 was unusual to be sure.
"I saw an awful prophecy, of the death and betrayal of a good friend of mine at the hand of one of our peers. I'm afraid if I have this memory, any attempts I have of being a skilled occlumens will be rendered moot. I must get rid of it."
"Getting rid of memory is a dangerous game, and not one to be taken lightly. Perhaps it is time you told me when you wanted to be an Occlumens in the first place." Dumbledore lightly prodded the unspoken between them. Emma cleared her throat.
"My family, as you know, has certain connections to dark wizardry. Connections I find myself reluctant to associate with, yet cannot escape."
Dumbledore nodded, gesturing for her to continue.
"A certain Dark Wizard has taken a marked interest in me, and knows I doubt his cause. But for the safety of those I love, I must keep my thoughts from him."
"And this seeing you have just had, it is worse than other thoughts?"
"It is more powerful. These are specific names, details of deaths, orphans. If he knew this, he would know the events of the next five years, but beyond that I do not know. I fear he would try to bring them about sooner. Before others can be saved. I can't disavow my friends or the darkness, I am too close to the center of power to defy it completely." She whispered.
"Are you telling me you wish to be a spy for our cause?" Dumbledore asked.
Emma silently nodded.
"Then let us not wipe your memory, but diminish it. I will take it to be stored with my pensieve, not to be looked at by any but you, and all you will be left with is the faintest recollection of the prophecy. No names, no dates, no details. Do you trust me?"
Emma nodded again.
Dumbledore pressed the tip of his wand to her temple, and out came the silvery memory: of Lily Evan's death at the expense of Peter Pettigrew's hand, an orphan babe on a doorstep, of a crumbling house in Godric's Hollow. None of this would haunt Emma again unless she chose it. From now on, Emma would not react in fear, but act for the ones she loved. She would do it in her quiet concealed way, but she was determined. Upon this solid rock she would stand.
Author's Note:
Hello! I decided to split this chapter in two, first this shorter one that gives us some insight into Emma's ancestry and her true motivations, as well as her growing friendship with Lily, and the next will all be about different character's experiences on Valentines Day, which will be longer! Emma's seeing is not meant to be as all encompassing as Professor Trelawney's, but supposed to deal more with the personal betrayal between Peter and the Potters. Hope you enjoyed, I'm excited for all I have next 3