Though Emma's Bond with Sirius is monogamous and heterosexual, in this universe, it is absolutely possible for Knowers to have polyamorous bonds with more than one Match. Love is love!
Lily's green eyes latched onto mine with intensity. She took a deep breath and leaned back on the ottoman. "Knowing is a form of magic very few know of and even fewer have the ability to wield. It is magic in one of its rarest forms and very seldomly, some are born with the ability to harness it: Knowers."
My mind was humming and my heart was creeping up my throat. I couldn't decide whether to be elated or terrified.
"But I don't--I'm not magical. I told you, I'd never even encountered magic before today! This isn't, you must be wrong," I exclaimed.
Regulus merely stared at Lily solemnly, his piercing gaze unwavering. James was pacing once more. His posture was tense but his expression open. He smiled at me kindly.
My knee was bouncing in agitation as I surveyed the man beside me. Sirius had snatched another curl and I noticed I was nearly sat in his lap once more. His face was hardly inches from mine, his storm cloud eyes soft. His grip around my fingers tightened, drawing my hand to his lips briefly, anchoring and flustering me simultaneously.
"Angel, you are most definitely magical. That golden light, it was from you. No one else created it. Godric, I've never seen anything, felt anything like it before. Absolutely magnificent, you are," he stated firmly, his tone near worshipful. I gaped at him.
"But--" I spluttered to Lily helplessly.
"Emma, I am absolutely certain you are a Knower. You couldn't have Bonded to Sirius without being one," Lily informed me calmly.
Regulus jerked, his eyes wide. "You're Bonded to her? But that's … extraordinary," Regulus murmured, looking slightly awed. His eyes landed on me, curiosity evident in his previously reserved features.
"Is it not common? I know you said it's permanent but ... This ... Bond, you agreed so readily. It can't be that um extraordinary," I questioned, looking at Sirius. His expression was serious but tender, something deep behind his silver eyes. He stroked my cheek delicately, his fingers lingering. I shivered, blushing but I couldn't break from his gaze.
"The Bond between a Knower and their Match is singularly extraordinary magic--the connection between souls designed specifically for one another. It is a phenomenon many mystics only hope to witness in a lifetime," Lily explained.
My breath hitched as I studied Sirius. His storm colored eyes grew hooded with intensity, boldly transparent.
"Oh," was all I could manage, transfixed by his tender expression.
Regulus was utterly still, his hands clasped before him almost reverently as he beheld us.
Lily cleared her throat, drawing our attention once more and continued softly. "Emma, a Knower is someone who is in tune with magic in its most unrefined and primal form. Knowing magic is guided by intuition and feelings, like having a direct link to the very essence of magic itself. You can call on earth, wind, water, or fire, can heal with just a touch, or create barriers without saying a word. Emma, you can become the ultimate protector, able to sense dangers and threats long before they manifest, can feel if something or someone is good or evil, magical or mundane."
Sirius was gazing at me reverently, wonder and awe mingling in his stormy eyes. I fidgeted under his assessment and shook my head.
"I've always been able to ... sense things but that's just, it's normal empathy, insightful observation. And I suppose I'm ... a natural mystic I guess. But I'm not--I'm just an ordinary person!" The air was becoming too thick.
Lily smiled gently. "It's true Emma. I know you can sense it."
She was right. A warmth, nearly alive in its own right, was thrumming through my veins. The sensation was grounding yet invigorating, subtler than adrenaline but nearly as enlivening. When Lily spoke, the warmth hummed in agreement, anchoring me to this reality. I rubbed at my pulse point absently, amazed.
I realized Regulus was watching me before he leaned forward, intrigued. "But why does Emma's presence matter now? What does this have to do with my sudden appearance?"
Lily inclined her head, considering her words carefully. "I believe there's a familial Bond at play here. The music we heard earlier? That wasn't just a pleasant side effect. It represented the Bonds between the three of you. Sirius, you're tied to your brother by blood, and now, as far magic is concerned, Emma is too. Bonds exist in many forms, not just those between Knowers and their soulmates. Familial Bonds are nearly just as strong."
Lily's eyes sparkled. James ceased his pacing and sat down heavily next to her, a look of profound contemplation on his face. His glasses were slightly askew as he absently ran a hand through his messy black hair. Lily tugged on an errant strand that was sticking out above his ear like a ruffled feather.
Regulus eyed the domestic exchange, somberness and something like longing in his expression. He wrung out his hands as his sharp eyes passed over each one of us: James and Lily smiling fondly at one another despite the gravity in the room, Sirius with his arms cradling me protectively.
I sighed. With each piece of new information came more questions. Only Regulus and I seemed wary of the answers. I shifted toward him.
"Regulus?" I called gently. His eyes swiveled to mine, focusing. Their color was closer to that of opaque ice, a glimmer of blue over steel. Sirius's irises were penetrable like air, like the storms and mist of their hue. Regulus, however, his stare was guarded, solid like metal. His chin merely jerked slightly in acknowledgment I had addressed him.
"I um, why don't you ... Regulus, I don't understand very much of this at all but I know it was you, earlier today. Why ... you recognized me then, knew my name. Now you don't ... you seem--"
"I've never seen you in my life before a few moments ago," he interrupted brusquely. "And while I, I'm not angry at having met you now, I am now delayed in completing a task of paramount importance." His face was suddenly ashen as he paused, his knuckles white. "Tonight, I was, fucking hell, I was meant to turn the tide in this damned war," he breathed out like a confession.
Sirius's solid figure was shielding me from the rest of the room in a flash. I felt a low, nearly imperceptible rumble vibrating from his chest, reminding me of a growling guard dog. "Still running around on missions for your precious dark lord, then? Fuck Reg, you promised you wouldn't harm any of us. Now you're going scamper right back to that insane bastard!" he growled out, his baritone voice raising higher and higher with each word.
"No! I--" Regulus bellowed. James was on his feet once more, maple wand gripped tightly in his hand.
"Sirius," I pleaded, pressing my palms against his back firmly, but he was immovable. I tried again, nearly shoving him, but he was too solid.
"Not now, angel," he warned in a low voice.
"Back off a bit, you bloody dog," Lily reproved him. Her hand was raised in warning to James, who was seated once more, his jaw ticking. Sirius glowered at Lily before turning to me slowly. I nodded, my eyes wide. He was breathing roughly as he placed me beside him, instead of flush against his back.
I regarded Regulus with a small consoling smile. "This mission, is it, it's because of Kreacher, right, and ... the cave?"
Regulus looked faint, his face stretched with terror. "How the fuck would you know about that?"
Regulus watched me, trembling. I was struck again by how young he was, how quickly his adolescent bravado crumbled.
Lily leaned toward Regulus, her posture placating. "It's her Knowing, honey. You're tied now, remember, essentially her brother? Her magic instinctively wants to protect you."
Lily was right: I had yearned to help Regulus from the moment I first saw him.
"It doesn't matter how I know about ... what Kreacher told you. What matters is we might be able to help," I told Regulus.
Lily beamed at me before addressing Regulus once more. "You're safe with us dear, you can tell us anything. I take it this mission is dangerous?" she questioned soothingly. She placed a hand tentatively on his knee, allowing his his eyes to track the movement. At the moment of contact, he launched into her arms, collapsing into her ready embrace, his fear finally overcoming his carefully constructed defenses.
"I've been so, so alone," he sobbed as Lily stroked his back maternally. Sirius looked devastated, his distrustful rigidity softening instantly. James reflected a sheepish guilt in his expression, clearly regretting his earlier agression.
Sirius buried his nose against my cheek and I felt his hot tears spill onto my skin. We watched in profound grief as Regulus slowly let free his vulnerability in Lily's arms. He was just a boy, barely fifteen. I noticed for the first time, the waifishness of his limbs, the sallowness of his pallor. He had been a breadth away from cracking for quite some time.
"Reggie," murmured Sirius brokenly, helplessly.
But Regulus was deaf to his surroundings as he unloaded his burdens into Lily's motherly embrace. "I've been so ... the things I've seen, the things they made me do! I couldn't ... I couldn't, not anymore," he gasped.
"But the dark lord, he would know! He can ... he can pierce a mind like a dagger. Every--every day I thought he'd finally see it in me, the disdain from the beginning, the weakness mother always saw in me. Every day, Salazar, I thought I was going to ... Then Kreacher, he told me!" he wailed. "The dark lord, he's more ... more horrid than I could have ever imagined. So horrible, such terrible magic." The poor boy's voice was growing hoarse.
Lily rocked him gently, her eyes fixing on me questioningly, as if I somehow had the answers to solve this madness.
Sirius was breathing tremulously against my hair, now leaning into my form as much as for strength as for support. My chest was hardening like stone, constricting my breath. My voice caught in my throat as I began to palm soothing circles into his back.
"It will all be alright. He's here now. I'm here now. You're ok. We're ok, Sirius. Shh, shh," I murmured.
Sirius shifted his chin atop my head and let out a long, grounding breath that ruffled my hair. I felt his chuckle vibrate in his chest as he gathered my rebellious curls and swept them over my shoulder.
"Merlin, you're curls are riotous, little dove," he smiled into my temple, his voice still tinged with a hint of mournfulness. I merely burrowed deeper into his side in reply.
The sound of James clearing his throat as he appraised me in Sirius's arms startled me out of my bashfulness.
"Emma, what do you know about this ... mission?" he asked, direct and slightly impatient.
I glanced at Regulus, who had calmed slightly and was watching me while curled up in his armchair. Lily had drifted into the small kitchen to retrieve a cup of tea for the boy. He nodded at me, granting permission or perhaps testing what I knew.
"Regulus, he's found out about how Voldemort ... about how to make him mortal again," I breathed out.
James blanched, his hand pulling at his messy locks. "He's not bloody mortal now?" he exclaimed.
Regulus, who seemed satisfied with my explanation, scoffed humorously. His eyes were still rimmed with red but his posture was steady. He nodded at Lily in thanks as she placed the tea into his gangly hands and began to speak.
"He's made a Horcrux and nearly killed Kreacher in hiding the cursed thing," he ground out.
Sirius gasped, horrified. James and Lily merely looked confused.
"He's ripped off a piece of his soul and hidden it in an object. It's some of the darkest magic there is, requires murder," I supplied somberly.
"Which begs the question of how the fuck you know of it. Since you've never seen magic before today," Regulus asked, his tone gently curious despite the harshness of his words.
I stiffened, wondering not for the first time why I was answering all their questions so freely.
"Same reason I know about you, Regulus. Same reason I know about all of you," I paused, gazing at the previously fictional people around me. "I told you, I've known the story of this war, of this world, since I was a child, but as just that, a story," I whispered, not daring to meet any of their eyes.
Sirius gazed down at me, his eyes somehow grave and mischievous at the same time. "You talk as if there is more than one world," he said, his breath tickling my neck.
I only shrugged, not denying his assumption. Somehow letting them work some of the truth out for themselves eased my disquiet a bit. When there was more time, perhaps I could gather my thoughts and truly strategize how to save all their lives.
"Nah," James said, breaking the silence. "I reckon you're a seer of some sort, being a Knower and all." His tone was forcibly reasonable. "Right Lils?" he asked weakly, turning to his wife.
But Lily was eying me shrewdly. My eyes fell to my hands, avoiding her gaze. She began weaving invisible patterns around my form, golden runes appearing in the air as she worked. I watched in quiet awe, allowing the steady rhythm of Sirius's heartbeat against my ear to lull my panic away.
"Lily?" I called. Her lips were pursed in concentration, as she tapped the runes, one-by-one, with her pinky. The sweetness of lavender filled the air and Lily raised an auburn eyebrow before her green eyes flashed to mine. Her face was bright with interest.
"What is it?" Regulus questioned. He had been nursing his tea mildly, only observing silently since speaking last.
"She's untethered," Lily stated, illuminating absolutely nothing.