"Dad?"
"Remus! Remus, have you taken your potion tonight?" Sirius grabbed Remus by the arms and spun him around, pushing him back away from the small group. Emeline ran after him and Sirius shoved her back forcefully.
"Go!"
"No! It's my dad!" Emeline cried to him, desperation in her eyes.
Sirius held one hand on Remus' chest transforming under his palm, and one hand held Emeline at arms length from her father.
"Dad! Dad, please."
"Emeline he's not! Not right now. Go!"
"He is." She cried pitifully, new arms grabbing her now that she realized were Professor Snape's.
"Lupin, now!"
Peter was gone when she turned around and the other three were already struggling to get running due to Ron's injured leg.
Remus was fully transformed now and he flung Sirius away from him, howling. Severus let go of Emeline to try and loop Ron's arm around his neck, and she leapt forward again given the chance.
"Dad, it's me." Emeline had never been so scared in her life as she stared up at him. The wolf cocked its head to the side slightly. She could picture her father doing the same in human form. "Dad?"
Just as quickly as the flash of him came through, it was gone and he lunged forward, howling.
Emeline screamed as they heard another howl in the distance which broke Remus' concentration on maiming her and sent him running in the opposite direction, with Sirius in animagi form chasing after him.
"Have you seen enough?" Professor Snape seethed, grabbing her by the arm. "No potion tonight, I presume? I slave over those cauldrons for him and he still shifts to monster ready to kill his only child. To the castle, the lot of you, now!"
Emeline wept quiet, bitter tears as she followed behind the group attempting to hold Ron up. She couldn't tell you what happened the rest of that walk. Her stomach was twisted over her father and his bestfriend battling in the depths of the forest.
But she dare not follow them.
•
She spent the middle of the night wide eyed, staring off at the moon from her father's windowsill in his office. Sobs wracked her body everytime she heard a howl and she finally had to shut the window.
There was nothing like this feeling.
"Pardon, Ms. Lupin. May I join you?"
Emeline turned at the sound of the Headmaster's voice and hiccuped softly.
"P-Professor Dumbledore. I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to be o-out of my dorm sti-"
"-Ahh, no matter. I'm aware of what has just transpired. I have no worry of you roaming the castle; certainly not situated in your father's classroom."
A lump formed in her throat when he said father.
"So you know then?"
"That Sirius Black is innocent? Yes; much to Severus' dismay." He chuckled but Emeline remained stony faced.
"This is not your father's first moon, Ms. Lupin. But it is yours, isn't it?"
"No. There was a moon over holiday a-"
"-Ah, ah, dear. You've never seen him like this, have you?"
The dam broke open again, fresh tears flowing.
"No. No I haven't. I'm an awful daughter, Professor Dumbledore."
"Oh, how could you ever say that?" His starry eyes were stunned and curious. He reached a bony hand to clasp over her own. His rings were cold and uncomfortable, but she felt his care.
"I've never been so terrified in my life." She choked out. "I'm scared of him! I'm a miserable excuse for a daughter."
"You are a far cry from a poor example of a daughter, Ms. Lupin. You are right to hold trepidation under the light of the moon. Your father does not know who he is whilst transformed, dear. You mustn't fault him for that."
"I dont. I would never. But everyone in the world is afraid of werewolves. When he told me he was my father, that was one thing I could assure him - that I wasn't scared. That I don't hate them. But I could've died at his hand tonight! I was wrong."
"Wrong in hating them?"
"No! I don't hate my dad in any form. But there's a side of him I never want to see again. How do you unconditionally love someone like that? How do I help him?" Her look at him was sullen and pitiful. Dumbledore pulled her close and shushed her crying.
"Remus could not ask for a better daughter; an intelligent one, at that. He would spend his life terrified if he thought you'd ever want to remain in his presence during the moon and break his confidence. He trusts you to be reasonable, Ms. Lupin. He trusts your fear to keep you at bay. You'd be doing him a disservice if you did not revere werewolves for what they are capable of. But he is and always will be your father; a special piece of you lives in him and such a piece, somewhere in the depths…even for a split second, the moon can not take away."
Emeline recalled the flash across her father's eyes when she called out for him as his transformation completed.
He did try to hold out for her.
"Thank you." She offered weakly.
"Anytime. Lemon drop?" He asked.
"No, sir. Chocolate for me." He patted her leg with a chuckle and stood to leave.
"Goodnight, Ms. Lupin."
"Goodnight, Professor."
•
Emeline fell asleep on that windowsill and didn't bother waking for classes the next morning. She knew her father would be disappointed in her, and that almost got her moving, but her body felt heavy. Her mind was exhausted. Her soul was hurting. She just wanted to see him.
Despite the strides between them, she knew better than to go to the Hospital Wing, her ego still slightly bruised from the first time. She knew Professor Snape would likely be coming in anytime to host her father's class once more, so she did need to leave, but she did so slowly.
Whilst gathering up her chocolate wrappers and father's cloak, she yelped from nerves as she heard a soft knock on the door. She spun to face the intruder and her panic mounted to an all time high.
"Madam Pomfrey?" She rushed toward her. "What are you doing here? My dad - is he alright?"
"He's in the Hospital Wing, Emeline. We've located him. He's alright. As well as he normally is after a particularly difficult moon. I must warn you, he looks worse for the wear, but he's asking for you."
Emeline stumbled over her words and physically backwards slightly. "M-me? He's asked for me?"
If Emeline wasn't so enraptured by this news, she would've seen Poppy's smile bearing her soul - a look that was positively swelling with love.
"Yes, Ms. Lupin. As soon as he woke. Shall you come?"
"Surely." She replied breathlessly, following Poppy back to the wing.
•
When Madame Pomfrey drew the curtain back, Emeline didn't even take time to observe her father's state. She flung her arms around him and collapsed into the hug, her weight conjuring a painful groan that quickly turned into a chuckle.
"My darling girl, you're alright."
It was not a question, but Emeline still nodded against him. She held on for quite some time while he gently stroked her back and she squinted her tears away. When they pulled apart, Poppy was already gone and Remus was beaming at her despite numerous fresh scars and a heavily bandaged torso.
Emeline was at a loss for words of where to begin their conversation as she took in his haggard and sickly appearance. He watched her mind spinning, knowing desperately that she desired to help, but unsure how.
"Can I get you anything?" She settled to ask, sitting on his bed at his side and grabbing his hand between hers.
"I'm quite alright, Em."
"What can I do?" She asked just above a whisper.
"You've done enough, sweetheart. You were very brave. And I couldn't be more sorry."
"You have no reason to be sorry. I'm the one who should be sorry." She hung her head shamefully, unable to look at him for this admission.
His brows furrowed and he squeezed her hand.
"Darling, look at me. What in Merlin's name would you have to be sorry for?"
She raised her eyes to meet his slowly and Remus wracked his brain for what could have her so distraught.
She was safe. He was safe. And she was here in the Hospital Wing. The evening was a far cry from anything he would ever want his daughter to bear witness to, but she did nothing wrong in it.
"Dad, I was afr-" tears threatened to spill over. Her hands began to shake and he steadied the one he was holding with another squeeze.
"-afraid?" He finished for her, any bravery she had shattered as she dissolved and hung her head again.
"I was so afraid. I didn't want to die; I thought for sure you'd know me." Her cries were growing and Remus tried to push himself up further into a sitting position. Wincing in pain, he bit down on his cheek to ignore it and drew her closer to him.
"Don't ever be sorry for that. Please. You're my daughter, Emeline. I could've gone my entire life without you witnessing what you did last night. I can't imagine how terrified you were. I'm terrified that you'd try." He finished, still gentle, but mustering some sternness in his voice. "The best thing you could have done is what you did: leave. If your fear is what secured that decision, I need you to be afraid of the moon. Please trust me. I couldn't live with myself if I hurt you in anyway."
She watched him closely, no longer breaking his gaze, tears slowing and her tangled curls falling in front of her face. Remus lifted his hand and stroked her cheek with the back.
"You're beautiful just like your mother, you know that?" He murmured, knowing the subject was fit to be changed.
She smiled shyly and turned her head away. She was still unsure how Remus could feel so familiar and so foreign at the same time and she did not quite know how to respond sometimes.
"Thank you." A whisper he could only hear.
It was silent a moment before she noticed the blood seeping through his dressings.
"I'll go get-"
"-me?" Poppy grinned. "I'm used to this by now, dearie. Your father uses every one of my clean linens every moon and has for quite some time." Her chiding was a lighthearted joke and Emeline nodded.
"I can leave you-"
"-desperate to go already miss? And you were at my door begging me to be let in not even two months ago." Another smirk from Poppy as she began wringing out fresh bandages in a mixture that smelled reminiscent of antiseptic, but with lavender and dittany.
Emeline chanced a glance at Remus, seeking approval.
"Somewhere to be?" He asked, purposefully ignorant.
"No. Nowhere more important." She responded to his clever pretend, moving over to give Poppy more room.
"Well you might as well get your hands dirty, Miss Lupin. I'll be sending him off with you, after all this."
Emeline offered him a questioning glance as she grabbed a cloth from poppy and set to work on the bandage on her father's wrist, whilst Poppy pulled away the old one around his torso. She tried with difficulty to ignore his face twisted in pain at certain movements, and listened intently when he breathed in to steady himself and speak.
"I can't teach after this, Em. Word has already gotten out about last night's events. I don't blame any parents who will inevitably decline having their children taught by someone like me."
"That's not fair! You're the best Defense Against the Dark Arts professor we've ever had!"
"That's kind of you, darling. But I have more important matters at hand no less; being the best father I can be to you. I'll be leaving when I'm strong enough. You will be finishing term, and once we're home together we will sort out what happens from here as a proper family."
Madame Pomfrey continued about her work cleansing Remus' wounds as gingerly as possible and listened to their banter back and forth.
All she could find herself thinking of was tending to him in this very same way, though the age of his daughter instead. How desperately she always wanted to protect and console him as a boy. She could feel that same love pouring over from him into Emeline now and she couldn't be more proud.
With a wink to Remus and a tender pat on his shoulder, she turned to leave them to themselves, where Emeline began aggressively explaining why the last evening's events were the perfect excuse to fail her Potions final, despite knowing from day one that she would never pass Severus' class, in effort to keep her father smiling just a bit longer.
It worked.
Author's Note:
There we have the POA portion of this story! I really hope you all enjoyed it. I am updating this same story, but we will be moving into summer break which is completely author's universe, and then heading into Goblet of Fire! Thank you for reading and reviewing, please don't be shy about that! It encourages me to keep going and makes me feel less alone on this forum - especially in such a niche storyline ha! I truly love it so much, and will add the next parts shortly. As you can tell, I've gone fairly nuts with updating! To come is more George x Emeline, Sirius Black being incredibly involved, and all the fun GOF / growing up stuff (yes, I will be following canon with Tonks as we arrive there). Enjoy!