A/N So yah, it's a self-insert if you haven't guessed by now. Sorry not sorry :)

"Love?" Stormy grey eyes were gazing at me imploringly. A few strands of shaggy raven hair were falling into his face. I wanted to brush them back, soothe the worry on his beautiful features. He was biting his lip, his jaw hardened. Real, real, real.

I looked down at my hands, trying to clear my head and swallowed.

"I um, I believe you," I mumbled.

He squeezed my hand and hummed, seemingly satisfied. Then the corners of his lips turned up mischievously. "Why you so far away then, gorgeous? I quite liked you in my arms," he quipped.

I squeaked and looked up at Lily who was still knelt before me, my eyes wide. She swatted Sirius on the knee reprovingly. James snickered as he bounced Harry who was busy trying to fit his entire fist in his mouth.

I swallowed, steeling myself. "I don't think I'm supposed to be here," I said. Even as I voiced the thought, it didn't feel true. Lily and Sirius frowned.

There was a soft clatter as Harry cast James's glasses to the floor, cutting the tension. Lily stood to rescue the spectacles and placed them back over James's surprised eyes. She drew her wand and a colorful playmat grew from its tip. She placed Harry on it as James conjured three small butterflies that began to fly in a playful circle around the baby's face, just outside his reach as the infant squealed in delight.

I gaped.

"Magic," I whispered in awe.

But that wasn't the first time I'd witnessed magic I realized with a start. The death eaters from ... how much I earlier I didn't know. That's who those dark figures had to have been. They had been ... casting spells, curses really I supposed.

Lily was approaching again, a small flask with glimmering daisy yellow liquid in her grasp.

"You're unfamiliar?" she asked before sitting on an ottoman to my left and placing the flask on the coffee table.

Sirius was looking at me curiously, his thumb tracing patterns idly on the top of my hand.

"Never seen it before the uh, it was a village right?" I said, looking at Sirius questioningly.

"Helmsley, that was about an hour ago, love. But you, I saw you. With that golden enchantment that knocked them all, the uh death eaters they're called, to the ground. I reckon you saved all the survivors. Saved me." Sirius rushed out.

I blinked. "Golden enchantment?"

"Yes! Right before you --"

"She doesn't remember Sirius," Lily interrupted, attempting to diffuse the chaos of Sirius's rambling a bit. "Do you remember why you were in Helmsley, Emma?"

"I woke up there," I answered plainly. That was true. It had been terrifying especially after the sinister dark place with the pale boy who ... I stiffened. Had that been the cave where Regulus Black had met his demise?

I studied Sirius now who looked utterly baffled. The pale boy had resembled him. But Sirius's jaw was more square, his eyes a bit larger, chest broader and ... lips pinker and fuller I realized with a blush. It was certainly possible the pale boy had been Regulus, considering that madness was quickly becoming commonplace.

"Emma," Lily called again, steering me away from the distraction of Sirius's beauty.

"I um there's something, I remember something just before Helmsley, but that's it. Before that I only remember a normal night, falling asleep in my apartment in um well in America. I take it we're not in the United States?" I continued.

Lily's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "No, we're in West County, England."

"Mmm," I nodded noncommittally.

Sirius's grey eyes were still fixed on me, thoughtful. "An apartment in America? But how did you land in Helmsley?"

My eyes flickered to baby Harry who was squealing and cooing on the floor. I smiled softly at him. His innocent, joyful presence was soothing, infectious.

I sighed, attempting to organize my thoughts. "I don't know," I murmured before hesitating, glancing at Sirius. He had wrapped one of my curls around his finger and was tugging on the strand absently. His boldness in physical affection would have unnerved me if it came from anyone else I'd only known for a few hours. But while I was thoroughly abashed at his ministrations, his touch was truly comforting, affording me strength.

The idea that I could shatter this peace between us chilled me. Should I reveal what I suspected? That I had encountered Regulus, his dead brother, before landing in the small English town? I had no idea how he, how any of them would react, that they would even believe my story.

James, who had been quietly observing, interjected breaking my reverie, "Magic can do many things, but pulling someone from a different continent? That's rare." He was sharing a meaningful glance with Lily.

They were just as confused as I was. And they had been so kind, so trusting, welcoming into their home without hesitation. Harry looked to be eight or nine months old, meaning the Potters were surely already in hiding.

I swallowed and steeled my courage, pressing my legs more firmly into Sirius's side for a bit of strength.

"Before ... Helmsley, I um, it's all so difficult to describe. This is all so surreal. Please, try to," I breathed before looking around at the faces before me. Sirius's expression was soft and he nodded encouragingly.

"Please try to suspend disbelief until I'm finished," I continued. "At first, it felt like ... like I didn't have a body but I was still aware of my surroundings a bit. It wasn't painful or unpleasant, just ... disorienting. Then, I was fully um, materialized I guess? And someone was screaming, as if he was being tortured."

The color had drained from Sirius's face and James made a small horrified noise. I continued.

"We were underground or in a cave somewhere I think. It was so dark and I couldn't see the sky. When I could finally move, I saw I was laying at the foot of a small craggy hill and a pale boy was at the top. He was drinking a potion and I, I just knew that the liquid was evil. I needed to get to him, to help him. I crawled up the hill and when I reached him, touched his ankle, it was like I had been sucked down a whirlpool. When I came to, he and I were in the middle of Helmsley. He was healed and he knew my name but then I ... I lost him in the commotion. I was so confused, probably in shock. Then I saw, I saw you Sirius, and those people, those children. It was like instinct, I had to help."

Lily was staring at me with something knowing behind her eyes. "There's something else, tell us."

I shivered. "I, now I know who you all are, I think I know who the boy is, at least I suspect, and where we were before Helmsley ... because, because the thing is, I know all about you all. Dammit, how can I explain this ... I've never seen magic, never truly believed in it. But I've dreamed of spells and creatures and this, this whole world since I was young. That's how I know that it was Regulus Black who I lost in Helmsley."

There was a palpable silence that followed my revelation. Sirius looked stricken, like someone had knocked the wind out of him. I could feel the weight of his hand pressing down on mine, the way he stared at me was a mixture of shock, disbelief, and raw pain.

The atmosphere in the room was tense, the magic in the air seeming to grow heavier. Harry, sensing the unease, started to cry, the butterflies James conjured earlier dissipating in a wisp of smoke. Lily moved to comfort Harry, murmuring soothing words and shooting me an apologetic look.

James sighed, his hazel gaze distant. "It's a lot to take in. And I don't understand all of it. But you're Bonded to my best mate now. That's a pure magic. I trust you," he stated with conviction.

Sirius, however, was harder to read. He seemed lost in his own thoughts, his stormy eyes clouded with emotion. I shrunk deeper into the rattan sofa at his distant demeanor. Though his fingers were still laced in a mine, a dull ache was blooming in my chest at his new suspicion. He was no longer gazing at me tenderly and I realized with a sinking heart, this was the first time he'd looked away since I met him.

"Sirius, I ..." I began brokenly, but suddenly it was difficult to speak, difficult to stay upright. I felt myself slump into his side as I fought to keep my eyes open. Something was tugging at my core, pulling me deeper, deeper down.

"Lily!" Sirius shouted.

A sparkling golden light was bleeding into my vision.

"Emma! Emma stay awake for me," Lily was commanding urgently. "This shouldn't be happening again so soon. I've never ... I can stop it. I need to stop the full force of it or I'm not sure what will happen. Sirius, you'll need to absorb some of the energy."

Then Lily placed a palm over my sternum where I realized the strange golden energy was leaking from. Lily placed her other palm over Sirius's heart and the gold began to envelop us both. Lily was chanting under her breath determinedly and Sirius's knuckles had gone white with his hold on me.

The haze was creeping further and further away as Sirius pressed his face into my hair. He was whispering soothing words, "You're alright starlight. I'm right here with you. I won't let you go. You're safe, love. I've got you. I've got you."

Then the light concentrated blindingly between Sirius and I before disappearing.

"There. It's alright I've--" but Lily was interrupted by the room filling with a sudden icy breeze, the curtains billowing as if carried by the gusts of a phantom wind. Then, as suddenly as the breeze had started, it stopped. The room settled back into its previous state of quiet unease, except for a new presence that stood by the window.

"Where the bloody fuck am I?" A voice, smoother and more refined than Sirius's, yet eerily familiar, rang out.

Regulus Black was standing in the center of the Potter's living room.