"Emeline! Wait up!"

She turned on her heel to see Harry running up behind her. The evening's feast had passed and she had a nervous knot in her stomach to pull off this meeting without anyone seeing them.

One, Padfoot.

Two, her in another common room.

Three, however the hell they were 'meeting'.

"I didn't see you at supper," she mused. "Care to explain?"

He caught up as they fell in stride together and he glanced around quickly before filling her in just above a whisper.

"I went to see Hagrid. It's dragons."

"That's what he wanted?" She quirked an eyebrow. "To show you some dragons?"

"Yes. Well, no. He showed them to me because they're the first task!" He spit out nervously.

Emeline's jaw dropped.

"You have to fight a dragon! Are they mad!?"

"Lower your voice!"

"Right." She looked around too as they approached the common room.

"Padfoot is going to lose his mind, you know that."

Harry couldn't help but smile slightly which he quickly tried to hide. Emeline chuckled.

"You don't have to act around me. It's nice having that attention, isn't it?"

Harry nodded stiffly. "I suppose. But Remus is your dad."

"Right," she started slowly, hoping she hadn't hit a nerve simply on blood related paternity. "But Sirius is your godfather, Harry. He is your family. And he's worried. Don't pretend it isn't a special feeling." She shrugged, following him into the common room and becoming more and more aware of their surroundings by the moment.

"It is nice. I mean, I've had professors. I've had the Weasleys. But Sirius was appointed family, you're right. It does mean a lot and it is a different feeling. And I know you've only just met Remus. I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry for. You are right; sometimes I still feel like we're figuring eachother out. But it's great. He's all I've got left. And he's enough." She smiled, more in encouragement for Harry than anything else.

As they surveyed the empty room, they both came to face each other, unsure.

"I'm so confused right now." Emeline started, feeling incredibly lost.

"Sirius?" Harry called quietly and the fire crackled as they approached it.

All of a sudden, there their faces were - glistening embers staring back at them.

"What the hell?" Emeline breathed out, dropping to her knees next to Harry on the hearth.

"Em!" Remus responded sternly to her expression.

"Dad, come in. How are you even doing this?"

"We don't have time to explain. Tell us everything that's happened with the tournament." Sirius urged, glancing between the both of them.

Emeline turned to Harry who was silent and coughed to gain his attention.

"Dragons." He spit out. "That's the first task. Hagrid showed me."

"What are you going to do about it?" Sirius asked.

"I-well. I'm not sure."

"Harry, you need a solid plan for this task." Remus offered. "You need to study every dragon being included."

"You must." Sirius agreed. "Neither of you have a clue who could've done this?"

"No." They responded in unison, shaking their heads quickly.

"I have no idea. Sirius, I'm not ready for this."

For the first time ever, Emeline heard the verge of tears in Harry's voice. She instinctively placed a hand on his shoulder like Remus had done for her many times already.

"I know you aren't, Harry, but you don't have a choice."

"I want you two to stay close," Remus added. "Help him study this, Em. He needs his friends near right now and you two have an especially unique… family life."

They smiled slightly at eachother before Sirius continued.

"On that note, Harry, whoever put your name in that goblet is no friend to you. Something is happening at Hogwarts. Keep your guards up."

"Dad," Emeline started quickly, glancing behind her to make sure they were still in the clear. "You asked if he makes me that uncomfortable. He does. I think Sirius is right- something is happening."

"Who is she talking about, Moony?" Sirius asked frantically.

"Alastor." He spoke quietly. "Are you quite sure it's not just a sore spot being in that room this year?" Remus asked gently.

"I'm sure, dad. I'm not down. I'm on edge. There's something about him."

"She's keen like you," Sirius answered fast. "We don't have much time. We'll look into it, Emeline."

They heard footsteps on the stairs behind them and Sirius and Remus nodded.

"Stay close!" They yelled before disappearing into soot.

Harry and Emeline's exchanged a nervous glance before nodding at one another.

"Partners?" She stuck out a hand, laughing.

Harry grinned and shook her hand back comically.

"I'm glad to have you, Emeline."

•

The next day, Emeline found herself immersed in her studying after sliding by the skin of her teeth on a pop quiz in Transfiguration. She really didn't want to let her father down this year. Her OWLs would be fast approaching next year and she did have genuine fear for surmounting to nothing in her educational career.

However, she was a very poor test taker. It had always been that way. She hadn't been able to bring herself to tell her father this tidbit that sounded more like an excuse, so she was truly trying.

And, pun intended, failing.

She supposed it could be because she was always quite easily distracted, which her father found rather amusing (for now), and typically made attempts to bring her back to reality.

"Oh, E!" A singsong voice came up behind her.

And there it was. Her first distraction of the day.

"Yes, George?" She asked, not glancing up from her textbook.

He slid onto the bench beside her, surveying the courtyard. It was beautiful in the afternoon and the breeze was calming.

"I feel..something amiss in the air." He began, half joking.

Emeline chuckled. "Ah, poetic."

"Really, E. What's going on?"

She looked up now as his voice changed.

"I'm just messing with you, don't get your knickers twisted."

"Emeline?"

She couldn't remember the last time he'd used her full name.

"Nothing's wrong, George. We're friends."

"There! Right there. The way you said that. What have I done?"

She could tell he was trying his best to keep an air of joking in his voice. There was a thin layer of fooling around over a much thicker layer: concern.

"You've done that: said yourself, we're friends."

He furrowed his eyebrows in concentration.

"This feels like a trick."

"Your letter," she offered, caving in. "You enjoy being friends with two of the Marauder's family members."

You could tell on his face he was still searching his brain for this information, then she watched it dawn on him.

"Emeline," she still felt odd hearing him say her full name. "I didn't mean anything by that. I was just joking, you know me."

"I don't think liking someone or not is ever a joke." She finished softly. "There are some things that require transparency, you know." She smiled at him and stuffed her book in her bag, standing.

"Wait, E."

"I have class, but we're good. We're friends. And if you're ever sure of… well, you know where to find me."

With that, she left him to his own thoughts in the courtyard.

And he had many.

For Emeline, she was sure it was a bit extreme, but with so much swimming through her mind lately, she couldn't handle any extra uncertainty.

After all, Remus had told her to do whatever she needed to in protection of herself.

She was sure this counted.