Thank you for all the lovely reviews on my last few chapters ! Please follow and review if this story strikes your fancy. I'm in the midst of re-reading the OG books right now, and have been getting so much inspo!

TW: Sexual Assault Attempt and Suicidal Ideation

It was a Thursday evening in late April, and Sirius was feeling downright romantic. Damn Peter for giving him all those Jane Austen novels from his Muggle Studies class, all he could think of was that he was a single man of good fortune who must be in want of a wife.

He was walking down corridors, downright wandering and daydreaming when he came across Lily Evans.

"Evans darling, how are you?" He ran up behind her and kissed her on the cheek.

"Oh, Sirius. Good grief." Lily laughed.

"Beautiful day, isn't it? I just went on a walk around the lake." Sirius replied.

"My, you're awfully chipper. Yes, it is beautiful but I'm afraid it will be dark within the hour."

"Hm. Yes, a pity." Sirius wanted to ask her if she knew where Emma Howard-Shelley might be, but thought he was obvious enough as it was.

"But I do happen to know of a certain witch who adores this time of day, at the blue hour just after sunset she usually goes up to the astronomy tower alone." Lily not so subtly hinted.

"Oh. OH." Realization was dawning on Sirius.

"You are very easy to read Mr. Black." Lily laughed again.

"Well, I also know of a certain wizard who has spent all day practicing shots on the quidditch pitch, who surely has some sore muscles in need of ahem, relaxing tonight." Sirius said with a wolfish grin.

Lily lightly punched his arm. She didn't argue with him though, and they both split up to find their respective person of interest.

Regulus Black, was by nearly everyone's standards, a child. Though he was only two years younger than Sirius, he was his mother's son, and did everything he was told. To the letter. It made him a perfect target for two young, conniving Ministry employees visiting Hogwarts, that April day. Their official business was coordinating a special, international Wizarding event to occur at Hogwarts the following school year. The names of these two wizards were Lucius Malfoy and Barty Crouch Jr., two purebloods with illustrious careers ahead of them.

The unofficial business was split between the two of them. Barty Jr's job was to convince Regulus that he was their friend, to make him feel like he wasn't a child to the Dark Lord. The rest would come as time went on, with some help from the official business.

Lucius's job was to confront the meddling woman who had sent him an owl a few weeks ago, claiming to speak on behalf of Narcissa, wanting to end their engagement. When he'd first received it, he couldn't believe its author. Emma Howard-Shelley? She never spoke, let alone to him. Lucius had always assumed it was his good looks and stature that intimidated her, as his mother often told him. Mother said that lots of girls were afraid they wouldn't measure up to Malfoy standards, but that's besides the point. Lucius couldn't fathom the way this girl presumed to dictate his impending nuptials. After cornering a few house elves, he gathered that she was up on the Astronomy tower. But he was distracted on his way down the corridors. A random door flung open and sent him knocking backwards.

"Narcissa?!" He exclaimed.

"Lucius!"

"What are you doing? Is that a broom cupboard?"

Narcissa's face became whiter, if that was possible.

She swung the door open and saw it was the Head Boy & Girl's office. Nobody was inside.

"What are you doing alone in the Head's office?" Lucius asked another question.

"I was looking for the Longbottom boy, he's been such a prat about docking Slytherin points. I know you say I should stand up for myself more to the blood traitor sorts." She said in a forced tone. Lucius wasn't convinced, but he hadn't come to Hogwarts to see the third choice Black girl he was marrying.

"All right. Well, good bye." He gave her a stiff kiss on the cheek and continued to the astronomy tower.

He finally made his way up the many stairs and passages and found Emma Howard Shelley, sitting on a ledge in the tower, watching the sunset, a ball of yarn and knitting needles beside her.

"Knitting? Like a house elf or common muggle gran?" A low voice came from behind her that nearly caused her to jump off the ledge.

"Merlin's beard." Emma exhaled, turning around. It was Lucius Malfoy.

"I was quite intrigued to receive your correspondence a few weeks ago, Miss Howard-Shelley."

"Why, Mr. Malfoy?"

"I thought it rather peculiar that you would seek to end an engagement that was not your own."

"I thought interference was the status quo for our sort." Emma scoffed, thinking of her own impending betrothal.

"Not when it comes to ruining a match such as ours."

"Honestly, Lucius. Everyone knows, even if Cissa won't acknowledge it, that you wanted Bella and 'Drom before the baby of the family. You're settling." Emma taunted, knowing it would infuriate him to suggest he had received not his first, or second choice.

"How dare you insinuate I would ever consider that blood traitor as a bride." Lucius spat, taking a step towards Emma.

Emma regarded him for a moment. She didn't know why on earth he was here at Hogwarts, surely not to simply confront her about the owl she'd sent a few weeks before. It had explained in the simplest of terms that he should break his engagement to Narcissa, for their own good. No details, no threats. Just Emma's cool way of saying only what was necessary.

He had more than enough opportunity to get her alone at any social function when the holidays began. And visitors to Hogwarts generally came on official, ministry sanctioned business. It reminded her of another letter she had received that morning…

"Consider it an act of brotherly love, Lucius. One cousin to another, suggesting that perhaps another match would suit you both better. Narcissa had nothing to do with my letter, do not take any anger out on her. It's just my Shelley intuition"

"That still doesn't explain why you found it necessary to send in the first place, and I set no store by legends of special seeings of your muggle-pretending ancestors, descendants of Salazar Slytherin or not," He sneered. Now he was hovering over her menacingly, "Perhaps you want me for yourself." He said in a self satisfied tone, with the most disgusting look on his face.

Emma scoffed, and spit off the edge of the tower. She'd never made such a rude gesture in her life, but for the life of her, she could not reveal Narcissa's love for Lewis to this awful man. It was the kind of course behavior her ever so proper mother abhorred. And it simply sent Lucius into a rage.

"You bitch." He tugged her arm so that she was pulled off the ledge and onto the stone floor of the tower, and he dragged them both to the ground, knocking her knitting down with them in the process. Emma landed on one of the needles with a jab into her thigh.

Emma clawed and kicked at him, and reached for her wand that had been scattered across the floor, but Lucius only roughly turned her onto her front, pressing her face against the rough stones. She felt skin break and begin to trickle blood as her cheek caught a particularly jagged edge. It was only when he began to tug at her denim skirt that she understood what he was going to do to her.

"NO!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, thrashing as best she could while she listened to Lucius' sickenly sweet breath grow rapidly, like a hound that has caught its first fox. He struggled with his robes and trousers while he pinned her down with his knees, and she felt something flop against the back of her thigh, something limp.

Emma had never seen a man, touched a man beyond a few chaste kisses. But she was a girl with two older, married sisters, who had their share of exploits. He let out a frustrating grunt and his breaths of excitement turned to frustrated grunts as he tried to arouse himself. Emma had heard her sisters and other girls talk about this: Lucius couldn't get hard.

"You'll regret this." Lucius growled, not very convincingly.

Emma's hands had been at her sides, and her right hand was very close to the knitting needle that had poked her in the leg. Not giving herself time to even think. Emma seized upon Lucius' distraction with his lack of erection, grasped the needle, and thrust her arm swifty upward, with the force and strength of a chaser's arm. She didn't practice so much quidditch with Lewis for nothing.

"Agh!" Lucius let out a cry as the blunt needle sunk into his belly. He fell back, off of her and clutched the wound, allowing her to break free and crawl to her wand.

As she stood up with her wand pointed at him, she watched him pull the needle out of his side and cast it onto the ground with an eerie clank.

"You're even fighting like a muggle." He responded with ragged breaths. Emma could see he was clutching his side where the needle had been.

"Get. Out." Emma seethed. Her skirt was still bunched up high on her thighs, her face streaked and smeared with her blood.

"This is not the end of this conversation." He replied.

"Really? My mother is a confidant of the Dark Lord, I am one of his favorite apostles. You wouldn't dare harm me lest he expel you from his circle." Emma threatened. It was true, her mother did have that much influence with Lord Voldemort. Lucius was a pompous fool, but not that stupid.

"You overestimate your worth to the Dark Lord."

"Oh? How would Narcissa and the whole House of Black react to this, then?"

Lucius winced in pain, and Emma supposed in acknowledgement of the truth. Honor, loyalty was everything to their families. If any of them knew of Lucius' attempt to dishonor Emma, he would be an outcast.

A gross paradox, Emma thought. Rape was a capital offense to her kin, but murder of innocents was not.

"You will keep your damn mouth shut."

Lucius hobbled away, and Emma kept her wand pointed at his face until she could no longer hear his steps echoing up the tower.

When he was gone, she slumped against the stone walls of the tower and sat in silence, almost without thought, for nearly 10 minutes. No tears, no rage. Her wand remained grasped in her hand.

Then all at once, a rush of possibilities broke over her.

Do I tell Narcissa?

Do I tell Mother?

Sirius?

Lewis?

How do I face any of them again?

Will they believe me?

Can I even save her from this match?

Will my own worth be ruined?

Is there any way out of this?

Help me.

While these thoughts and more raged through her head, Emma had moved to stand upon the ledge where she had sat before Lucius came. She didn't even realize her movement until she was hit by the rush of cool wind off of the lake, and saw the ground hundreds of feet below her. She looked at her wand still clutched tightly in her hand.

"If I can't defend myself like a witch, then at least I'll die like one." She whispered to herself.

Emma raised her wand to her temple, and shut her eyes. She knew the spell.

"Av, Ava, Avak.." she struggled to get out. Her courage was building with each attempt.

But just as she was on the verge of intoning the entire, deadly spell, strong arms grasped her waist from behind, pulling her down to the floor not unlike Lucius had done, but this time, the person who grabbed her loved her, and wanted to protect her.