I do not own any characters or places unless stated otherwise.
Don't forget to leave a favourite, follow and review!
chapter seven.
Avoiding Sirius was a lot easier than Emilia had anticipated.
After Arithmancy, she had a free space that she decided to spend her time in the library with before heading to Astronomy. Lunch came soon enough but her appetite had yet to make a reappearance so she had elected instead to skip it, despite knowing that hunger would be gnawing at her long before dinner; she knew, unconsciously, the real reason she was deciding not to go to lunch but pushed it to the back of her mind. Herbology came and went after lunch and then she was finished for the day with nothing to do, nowhere to go and no one to hang out with save for herself.
Not that she minded it all that much – Emilia quite enjoyed her own company.
It was tiring having to feel as if she couldn't even go around her own school without the fear that Sirius Black might pop out from the shadows and sling an arm around her as if they were best buddies; even when she was a child, she really wasn't the best at getting along with the other kids at the primary school her aunt and uncle had sent her to. She could blame it on the fact they were all rich and posh and used to pinch their noses and say she smelled, or refused to play with her because none of them liked the way she was too thin, too short and boney and was rough around the edges; to this day, Emilia was still beyond grateful that she never had to go into secondary school in the area, she felt as if she might have ended up being eaten alive by them all.
Hogwarts was different, though at times it was not all entirely better. Just as soon as she thought she was free from the pits of despair that her childhood was moulded in, suddenly people started hating Emilia because her parents didn't have magic, whereas before it was because they didn't have money.
Same shit, different world.
But keeping to herself meant she didn't have to really put up with any of that and she learned to ignore it and people learned to ignore her as well, and it was a peaceful existence, even if it did not constitute being seen as a happy one. In all her time at Hogwarts, she had exchanged a handful of words with people – replying to them asking the date, asking if she had a pen, asking if she could swap seats with them so they could sit next to their friends.
There had been a few girls in her year and in her dorm who tried talking to her when they all first started school, but Emilia was too shy and nervous when she was younger to hold conversations with them that eventually they decided that perhaps she wasn't worth it and instead had left her be. Emilia couldn't help but despair over the idea that there might be something truly wrong with her for being unable to talk to other people, ruminating on how she was stunted in all ways that she could be.
Maybe if she weren't the way she was, none of this would have happened and she wouldn't feel as if she was suffocating all the time. And maybe the problem was Emilia and if it were, she wanted to tuck it away, to hide it far from all preying eyes that might rip her apart from the inside out and that was best avoidable when she hid herself away. Emilia liked being able to drift through the halls as being alone meant she had a lot more air to breathe around her.
Part of Emilia wondered how on Earth it was that Sirius manages to deal with it all - to be crowded by people, to have all eyes on him at all times and being surrounded by pure, unadulterated adoration at all times. It was all so confusing and all so unattainable to Emilia that she couldn't wrap her mind around it, shuddering at the thought of being centre of attention like he always seemed to be; a whispering thought buried in the back of her mind slunk forward and whispered that maybe the reason Emilia was so quick to condemn him, to dislike him, was because he was all that she wasn't and couldn't be.
Everyone liked Sirius Black, and those that didn't would grumble that he was a fairly good Beater for the Gryffindor team, as if the reluctant words were being pulled straight from their mouth against their will.
Emilia knew that she was not jealous of him, did not envy the life he lived, but she wondered if she was no different than the kids in her old school that would bully her for simply not being like them; her own prejudice towards Sirius arose from what she heard others say and now it was hard to wipe that slate clean when he didn't exactly help himself clear his name after all that he done and continued to do to Emilia.
But all of that didn't matter in the face of the fact that all Emilia wanted was to be left alone, to have her own space and not be annoyed, to not be looked and laughed at and she hardly thought it was an impossible request. He was intruding on her own special little bubble that she had created for herself and was popping it without a care every time she thought herself to be finally free of him.
When dinner came around, Emilia's feet dragged, as if someone has Hexed them to make them weigh more than they should. She slipped in through the great, open doors as a few, lingering stragglers did the same and she knew it was late as so many people were ealready half way digging through the dinners on their plates. Emilia found herself stuck between a rather tall Fifth Year and an almost equally tall Second Year, perfectly hidden between the two as she squeezed herself into a spot between them as she ate her dinner, doing her best not to look around as she ate.
Emilia couldn't deny the ridiculousness she felt at the amount of effort she was putting into this little dance she felt she was a part of; coming in late to dinner and leaving early, waking up early the next morning for breakfast and scarfing down her food lest she might be victim to another one of Sirius' inquisitions and bustling out while shoving her things into her bag all at once, multitasking to save time as she escaped to her one safe haven that had not yet been found.
Madam Pince was none too surprised to see Emilia enter as one of the first students, but neither did she seem too pleased; the woman seemed to hate dawdling children and teenagers despite her profession, not that Emilia could blame her since she had heard of James Potter and his gang setting off a stink bomb one too many times in the library, though had luckily not been victim to any of them.
Yet.
Double Defence Against the Dark Arts were her only classes for Friday and, unfortunately for Emilia, it was one she also shared with Sirius, but the rest of his friends were there too so she wasn't all that worried he might try to make a scene like he had on Wednesday; Emilia sat at the back of class, away from all other eyes and had only spoken up when her name was called by the teacher, who was yet another new replacement after the last teacher that had been a nervous wreck and ended up having a breakdown half way through the year and crying in the middle of class.
Her replacement, who only gave his name as Professor Henrik, was a serious fellow whose handsome face was marred by an ugly scar that caused his face to be misshapen one of his monolid eyes and leaving him somewhat blind, and he spoke always in a calm tone and was quick to assign work to the class even on the first day back, not that Emilia minded; he seemed fair enough and she hoped he might be the one to actually last in the position.
Emilia lingered around before dragging her feet into Defence Against the Dark Arts, her book bag heavy with her stuff and some books she had checked out of the library for help in her work; she peered in through the door, feeling not unlike a spy from those James Bond films that her uncle had a passion for as she tried to see if her dreaded stalker was there and, unluckily for her, he was yet was paying no heed to the door or who was walking through it.
They shared the class with Ravenclaw and attendance for this class was low; apparently the revolving door of teachers the last few years made it impossible to learn anything throughout the year so fewer people were keeping it on as a subject.
Sirius sat with Peter and was avidly talking to Remus who sat with James, the two turned around in their seats to talk with their friends behind them and their attentions were nowhere near Emilia, though she wondered if his friends were in on his plan as well.
Relieved that he would not try to stick himself down in the spot beside her, Emilia quickly ducked her way into class, head down and sly as she moved into her table whose other half was currently unoccupied.
Professor Henrik wasn't too particularly pressed about who sat where which allowed for Emilia to have her own desired space, taking books out without having to worry about it slipping onto someone else's side, taking in the room around her. Marina Teagrass shot her an unimpressed look that Emilia ignored; the other girl had not tried to take her childish anger out on Emilia in a few days and she wondered if everything was alright since Marina wasn't engaging in her favourite pastime as of late.
Loud laughter came from the front and she was drawn to see Sirius trying to grapple with a laughing James Potter over the table, both grabbing each others collars as Peter tried pulling them apart, Remus electing to stand on the side lines with an amused grin on his face that appeared slightly warped due to the scars that were craved into his skin. Emilia wondered how Sirius did it - joking, messing, talking so effortlessly and not caring about the fact people were desperately trying to join in on their discussion, a few boys and girls who were Ravenclaw and Gryffindor alike fluttering eyelashes with eyes full of that puppy love.
That tight feeling in her chest reared its head again, one Emilia wondered if its existence was borne of envy, but no way - she wasn't envious of Sirius Black, she was more than happy to be by herself and enjoy her own company. If she wanted to, she would talk to other people, but she didn't.
She didn't.
Professor Henrik swept into the class without another moment passing, velvet green and grey robes sweeping in around him as he stood at the front of the class and ordered all talking to cease and to open all books to page 167; Emilia was all too glad to comply and was quick to start taking notes and distract her mind.
It was all too short of a time before Henrik called an end to class in his cool tone before leaving the room without electing to linger a moment longer and chatter erupted once more at his exit, save for Emilia's small, quiet corner. She packed her things into her bag, careful not to scrunch her paper as she heaved her borrowed books into it as well, the heaviness of it all sure to leave her with a sore shoulder by the end of the day; just as she went to slot away the last book, her foot attempted to take a step forward, sliding out from the table when Emilia felt herself catch on something, legs entangled in something unknown as the small gap between the table and her seat left her unable to successfully free herself as she was falling.
The heaviness of her bag acted as an anchor that was dead set on having Emilia meet the stone and meet the stone she did – her hands went to protect her face from knocking against the ground but the strap of her bag prevented her from doing so entirely, the heels of her palm being skinned as her chin crashed against the ground, splitting it and leaving her brain rattled and half worried she chipped a tooth on impact.
Emilia's world was woozy and she lay on the ground for the briefest second as she tried to recollect herself, dizzied eyes catching sight of the way her books had spilt out onto the ground, guts and gore and open pages of thrown notes that were no longer in order and cracked spines that were left scuffed; a stinging pain was burning in Emilia's knees that felt sharper in her hands and her jaw exuded a great ache from its brief romance with the floor and she untangled her legs from the table, trying to pry her feet apart when she caught sight of her shoelaces, perfectly knotted and linked with one another.
Well, that's new.
She stared, confused, as students began to file up and walk out, casting glances down at her and her eyes met Marina's, full of mirth and amusement and it didn't take a genius to figure out who was the reason behind her laces being tied together.
Well, at least Marina was back to her old self at least.
Pushing down the growing sigh, Emilia sat up and undid before retying her laces onto their respective shoe before looking to the mess that was her books and notes, splayed out onto the ground in a scene akin to one of a criminal nature. People continued to leave the classroom, watching as Emilia scooped her things up and shoved them unceremoniously into her bag, no one deciding to stop and lend her a hand; not that Emilia blamed them, she would have done the same in their shoes and she supposes she's selfish in that regard, but she thought that at least she was admitting to this flaw.
Her legs were folded under her as she gathered her things and the cuts on her knees stung against the rough surface of the ground, the heels of her palms were skinned, pink and raw with baubles of blood bubbling to the surface but it was her chin most of all that hurt the most; wiping the back of her hand against her jaw left a streak of red and it made Emilia wince. Some vain part of her prayed that it would not leave a scar behind in its place.
As more bodies trickled out the room, Emilia continued to shove her things away as a shadow appeared over her, blocking the weak light of the sun and Emilia paused in her clean up, neck craning up to see Sirius Black all but looming over her before bending down to pick up the few stray pages. Emilia stared, unsure of he was actually helping her and could see his friends behind him linger for a moment before leaving the room and then it was just the two of them.
As Emilia continued to remained stunned, Sirius spoke up. "Have a nice trip?"
She suppressed a scoff and a roll of her eyes before turning her attention back to grabbing all of her stuff spilled out on the ground, turning circles to make sure nothing was left behind before making an unsteady attempt to stand to her feet as a wince cracked over her face like lightening, knees sore and aching; she heaved the bag on her shoulder as Sirius stood as well, Emilia holding the bag open for him as he stuffed the remaining papers into the bag and Emilia couldn't help but feel awkward, a little tongue tied at his help that had been given to her freely.
A mumbled thank you left her mouth but Sirius leaned towards her, hand cupping an ear. "What was that? I think I have something in my ear, did you just say thank you?"
A frown on her face and she moved past him to make her way out the door but he was quick to shadow her, not that she was all too surprised. None of his friends were waiting for them when they exited the classroom, maybe he had told them to go on ahead without him which meant he intended to stick by Emilia's side for the time being. "Yes, I wasn't raised entirely without manners."
"Could have fooled me," he replied and Emilia pursed her lips, a little red in the face at his words as they walked side by side, a slight limp in Emilia's stride as she was forced to slow her speed that he mirrored by keeping at a molasses pace.
They remained like this for a few moments, Emilia desperately trying to keep her eyes straight ahead but could not help but flicker her eyes to him in a bid to sate her curiosity and there was a thoughtful look on his face, his lips pressed together and a pinched look on his brow. He had a expression like he wanted to say something but was unsure of how to go about it, his eyes casting downwards to Emilia where he caught her already doing the same and the two quickly looked away from one another.
He clearly was not used to the silence she gave him and Emilia hoped it made him at least somewhat uncomfortable.
"How'd you manage to total yourself like that?"
His voice still managed to startle her even despite the fact she had been looking at him and her words were lost on her, silence pulling Sirius' attention away to gaze at her and she stared back at him, wondering what to say, what she could say. She wasn't about to tell him the sob story of her entire life; just because he had been nice to her all of one time, even if it was based on an ulterior motive, didn't mean she had to reciprocate the shallow friendliness he was extending to her. Emilia swallowed and gave a lift of her shoulders, tearing her eyes away from him.
"I tripped," was all she said.
Even from the corner of her eyes, she could see him roll his eyes and click his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Yes, I have two eyes that are working quite well enough to have seen you fall like a dead weight in front of everyone."
She gripped the strap of her bag tighter, ignoring how it made her appeared slumped to one side and wondered what it was that he wanted her to say; not for the first time, she didn't understand Sirius, his actions, his motives, why he wanted to know. It made her uneasy, uncomfortable that he wanted to poke and pry and, shit, she just tripped, why did he care so much? The blood on her chin was drying, crusting and the pain in her knees were subsiding and her limp lessened.
Sirius still waited for her to say something, anything, and all she could offer was the half truth. "My laces were loose."
"Did you tie them tight enough?"
"Obviously not."
"Here, let me have a look," he stated and his long legs took him in front of her, stopping Emilia in her tracks and before she knew it, he was kneeling down in front of her and went to make a move to grab her laces when she stumbled back, nearly falling down on her arse to get away from him. He looked up at her, the curls of his hair catching on his long, thick eyelashes and he had such an uncharacteristically innocent look on his face as she stared down at him wildly, hands pushed down to keep the front of her skirt pressed to her legs.
"What are you doing?" she spluttered, face becoming warmer as the sight of Sirius Black kneeling down in front of her nearly made her want to laugh.
She couldn't imagine how the scene might look to an outsider, especially considering he was down on one knee before her, though Emilia doubted that Sirius Black would be proposing to anyone any time soon.
Sirius' face scrunched up as he rested an elbow on his knee, looking up at Emilia as if the reason he was down on the ground before her was the most obvious thing in the world; he pointed to her shoes, making Emilia draw her gaze to them before looking back at him, her question still unanswered. "You might trip again."
He said it as if she was stupid for not knowing that was the reason why and she gave another glance to her shoes, seeing that her laces were in fact looking all too lose, the aglets dragging themselves down on the floor and were threatening to be caught under the bottom of her next step if she wasn't careful enough and would be forced endure the sequel to her most recent public humiliation.
Shaking her head, Emilia quickly walked past Sirius, not even caring to give a look back to see if he was following as she could hear his steps fall in behind hers just as quick. "I won't die if I do."
"Suit yourself, but it could happen you know," he warned her, as if falling face first and having a make out session with the ground was the most terrible thing that could happen to Emilia. Today, at least. Sirius loomed over beside her, arms coming up beside him as if he meant to scare her, all the while Emilia met it all with an unamused face. "One minute you might be fine, the next you'll be best mates with Nearly Headless Nick."
She gave a shake of her head at his antics, though a wave of air left her that might have been something akin to a laugh had she let it be, but kept her mouth closed, once more recalling her plan of how to disentangle herself from Sirius; despite it all, she now fully realised just how serious he was about trying to change her opinion of him, even if he didn't let on the real reason as to why it mattered so much to him.
No matter, she was just as serious about getting him to leave her alone and she was much more willing to play the long game in this since by the end of summer, they would never see each other ever again and she would never have to even see his face or recall his name for the rest of her life after their last year of school.
They made their way through the school, Emilia quite comfortable in the silence though she caught sight of Sirius shifting, casting her looks and appearing as if he wanted to say something else but unsure of how to say it or if he should say whatever was on his mind. It wasn't her problem anyhow, she was more focused on changing her uniform and cleaning herself off of her own blood which meant she would have to suffer through not going to lunch again and she could already see the looks she would get at dinner when she stuffed herself full of the food on her plate.
It seemed Sirius had no problem following Emilia to wherever she lead as she made her way through the corridors to the stairs that would bring her to the Gryffindor tower, going to make her way up the first step without sparing him a second thought when something took a hold of her arm and reeled her back; the touch made Emilia instantly turn to see it was Sirius that had his hand wrapped around her and tugging her back to him, looking up at her confused.
"Where are you going?"
Emilia stared at him, puzzled at his question before looking down at the hand Sirius had wrapped around her arm, giving it a pointed look and he quickly got the hint to let her go, standing straight and giving her a small bit of space as she turned to him completely. "To go change."
Now it was his turn to be the one looking baffled, his eyebrows pulling together. "Aren't you going to see Madam Pomfrey?"
"Why would I go see her?" she asked, head tilting to the side.
Sirius gave a look as if she was entirely missing the obvious and he gestured to her, hand going up and down the entirety of her body. "I don't know if you remember but you fell and you're kind of bleeding. Everywhere."
Emilia looked down at herself, taking in the sight of her banged up knees, unfurling her fingers and looking at her pink stained hand that had streaks of red smeared around the palm and tentatively poked at the cut on her chin, the split already fused with dried blood and the aches in these pains were dull, barely noticeable to Emilia. She gave a shrug, not seeing the big deal about it all.
They were just a few scratches and they weren't even that serious, already dried and no longer throbbing as they once had. "It's just a few scratches."
He gave a look at disbelief and his eyes raked over Emilia's form, leaving her shifting her weight from foot to foot under his critical eye and it made something in her stomach knot; there was something unnerving in having someone take you in, eyes dancing over every spot of your body and that feeling was only worsened by the fact that the one doing it was Sirius Black.
No wonder girls and boys alike would blush and feel shy under his stare, it was sharp, discerning and his eyes were back onto hers, making Emilia feel a lot smaller under him.
"Lots of blood for a few scratches."
"I've had worse," she asserted, trying to brush his concern off but it still stuck to her.
He didn't seem to like that answer either but something in his eyes changed, that disapproving look softening into something else that only made the feeling in Emilia's stomach grow, flooding through her and catching hold of her heart and spilling into it entirely, too much for her to bear and making her feel as if it was going to explode. "You should really go, it could get infected."
"There's no need to bother Madam Pomfrey over nothing," Emilia insisted, his fretting making her uneasy. Not even her aunt used to care if Emilia came home with scratched knees, so why would he? She grew up roughhousing with kids in the council estate, had climbed and fallen out of countless trees in her lifetime so cuts on her hands and knees were normal, but then she realised that her kind of normal wasn't someone else's.
That seemed to make the curve of his lips fall down, as if her words were weighing him down and she didn't get his concern. It really was just a few scratches and she wouldn't die of a small cut, modern medicine had already progressed so much and not to mention they were surrounded by magic; she was sure Madam Pomfrey would have a cure for sepsis if things did take a turn for the worse.
Probably.
She hoped.
Damn him, he's putting worries into my head.
"It's not nothing," he pushed once more.
"Whatever," she shrugged off, turning away from him and he didn't call after her as Emilia trudged up the stairs, ignoring the pain in her legs as she heaved her tired body towards the Gryffindor tower. She was in no mood for lunch after everything and needed to shower and change her clothes, last thing she needed was to look as if she had been in a fight and lost.
Then, something in Emilia stilled and she stopped, one leg on the step above her and she pursed her lips, hesitating before turning around and Sirius was still there, a frown on his face as he looked up at her. She needed to stop trying to understand him, all it gave her was a headache.
She remained like that, lingering and there was something caught in her throat, reaching up from her chest and the longer Emilia stared, the quicker she realised: she had been touched by him helping her, for not ignoring her and stepping over as he was leaving the classroom, that he had taken the time to pick up the scattered few pages and something softened in Emilia, this time her voice loud and clear as she expressed her gratitude. "Thank you. For helping me with my books."
"Oh you know me," he half laughed, his mood flipping like a switch and that uncharacteristic seriousness was gone as brushed off her words but with his chest puffed out as he grinned in glee. "Just such a kind soul helping others in need. You don't need to be carried up to the tower do you?"
"I got a scratch," she told him, not even bothering anymore to stop the way the corners of her lips quirked up, not really a smile but a ghost of one, something that had potential. "I'm not a paraplegic."
"Okay, good. Glad you didn't say yes because I don't know if I have the stamina to make it up so many flights of stairs with you on my back," he sighed with relief as Emilia felt her eyebrows rise and he suddenly caught onto his words, eyes widening and mouth opening and closing, desperately trying to reel back the words he had let loose but it was too late. "Not that I'm implying that you're heavy! No, not at all, I mean - it's just I don't exercise, you know?"
"You're on the Quidditch team," she pointed out.
"Yes but that's endurance," he stressed. "I don't carry anyone on my back the entire time."
Then, unable to help it, a small smile graced her mouth as she shook her head at the ridiculousness of his words. "Bye, Sirius."
She wasn't sure if he returned the goodbye but didn't care to turn and see as she made her way to the tower, wanting nothing more than to rid herself of this bag and to get into fresh, clean clothes.
By the time dinner rolled around, Emilia didn't even care she was one of the first people in the door, sitting down and practically hopping in her seat in anticipation for the food to appear. She quickly piled on as much as she could, not caring that the girl beside her was casting her looks of pure astonishment at how much Emilia was putting on her plate, partly looking grossed out yet also looking at her in respect.
Emilia quickly shovelled her food in, not bothering to stop and savour the flavour of the roast potatoes and glazed ham she was eating, more so concerned about banishing that aching hunger in her stomach that had been annoying her for the past two hours. She was squashed between a Fifth Year girl and a Fourth Year boy, their aimless chatter surrounding her, not that she cared all that much about it to begin with.
She was so caught up in eating that when her newfound, annoying shadow came up from behind her she didn't even see him, his hand coming to take a hold of her shoulder and causing her to jump where she sat and choke on her piece of ham, coughing it up as she tried to wash it down with water.
"Tripping and choking, today is not your day," Sirius whistled, all too amused at Emilia's frightened demeanour as she tried to calm herself.
She turned around, hand on her chest and heaving breaths to see Sirius standing close behind her, their noses almost touching and his hand still holding her shoulder and not showing any sign of letting go. She was breathless, gasping for air and clawing for her voice that was entirely too raspy after the near death ordeal she was just put through.
"What the Hell?" she wheezed, wincing at the pain in her chest from her spluttering.
He wasted no time in getting straight to the point and he made a move to sit between her and the Fifth Year, not even caring that a disgruntled look was on her face as he sat beside Emilia, facing the opposite direction and there was a wolfish grin on his face that Emilia did not trust. "I have a surprise for you."
She narrowed her eyes at him, not liking where this was going. Some beside her were whispering but their words were just wind that went over her head. "I don't want it."
"Hold out your hands," Sirius insisted and she leaned away from him, keeping her hands close to her chest.
"No," Emilia insisted, shaking her head. "I already said I don't want it."
But her words seemed to go in one ear and out the other as Sirius became impatient and wasted no time in taking one of her hands with the one he had on her shoulder, pulling it away from where she had it cocooned against her chest; his hand was bare against hers and the pads of his fingers felt rough, years of flying and playing Quidditch and other indents from scars that left the surface uneven.
For some reason, she would have thought his hands would have been smooth, soft to hold and his long fingers easily pried open her curled fist, exposing her palm to the air before he shoved something into it and then it was spilling everywhere, forcing Emilia to use her other hand to cup whatever it was that he had decided to give to her.
Sirius seemed all too pleased of himself as she stared at what was in her hands, the thin plastic overflowing in her hands and falling into her lap; plasters - too many of them for Emilia to use and too many for her to hold as she gaped at them, scattered mind trying to understand why the entire supply of Hogwarts' plasters were in her possession.
Staring at them briefly for a moment, Emilia dragged her eyes up to once more return her gaze to Sirius, gesturing her hands towards him. "What is this?"
"Plasters, you know of them? They've been around for quite a while. A neat Muggle invention that was adapted – "
"I know what they are," she hissed. "Why are you giving them to me?"
"You didn't go to the infirmary, so I went and nicked you some," he explained nonchalantly, his elbows resting on the table behind him, hair around his face and shoulders falling back and caught on the golden light of the candles, appearing like a glittering circlet gracing the crown of his head. "No need to trip over yourself thanking me. Well, trip over yourself again."
She was left tongue tied for a moment, trying desperately to understand his train of thought, taking a deep breath to clear her mind, the ache in her throat from choking on her food long gone. "I didn't go to Madam Pomfrey for a few scratches so you decided to steal her entire stock supply of plasters?"
He made a show of cupping his ear as he had earlier in Defence Against the Dark Arts, leaning closer to Emilia and his voice rose a few levels, catching the remaining attention of the other immediate people in their circle. "Maybe there's something wrong with my ears, because I didn't hear a 'thank you, Sirius'."
"Because I didn't say it," she responded, tone cold and cut, steel that definitely was not the gratitude that he was expecting in return for his so called, a rather too obvious look of disappointment on his face that Emilia doubted was how he really felt but was using it to shame her for her lack of thanks.
"Well, I suppose this is the curse of being such a kind and thoughtful human being – some people just done appreciate me," he sniffed, feigning hurt and Emilia looked around to see people watching the situation unfold and she pursed her lips at his dramatics. He flipped his collar and gave another over the top sniff and Emilia couldn't help but roll her eyes.
He wasn't just going to leave her there with these? She extended her hands out towards him, clearly wanting nothing to do with his unwanted gift. "I don't want these."
Her words made him stand and suddenly, Sirius had a problem with hearing as he walked away, backwards so as to face Emilia as he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. It definitely seemed that he meant to lump Emilia with far too many band aids that would constitute a life's supply. "Oh, I think Remus is calling."
"Sirius!" Emilia called after him but it was no use and Emilia gawped at his departure, in disbelief that he had actually given her the evidence of him stealing from the infirmary and masked it as a gift that came out of the goodness of his heart.
Emilia hissed his name after him again, trying to get him to come back but he only gave a flash of his straight white teeth and a wave before he turned heel and was out of hearing range. She lost sight of him along the row and her fingers gripped the plastic band aids, a few spilling onto her lap to join the others. A few people around her were watching the way her face warped and how she shoved the plasters into the pocket of her robes, picking up the few stragglers that had fallen free and in a huff because what the Hell was she supposed to do with all of them?
Her unwarranted annoyance had long since disappeared by the time she was ready for bed, wincing as pain spiked ever so often. Marina sneered at Emilia and made an attempt to try and have a jab at Emilia, but the latter girl clambered into bed and closed the curtains around her, effectively shutting off the other's attempts to shove in a snide remark and leaving her pouting that she couldn't engage in childish behaviour.
Emilia lay in bed, staring at the top of the canopy with a mind that was very much not ready for sleep. She held her hands before her, observing the rawness that had calmed slightly with some skin shredded at the edges and Emilia chewed the inside of her cheek before she reached outside of the curtain to pull open her draw, taking a hold of a few of the plasters she had been stuck with and pulling them in with her; shaking off the blanket, she pulled up the legs of her pyjamas and cringed at the sight of the injured skin that was there.
It definitely looked a lot worse than it felt and Emilia could still hear Sirius' worry in her ears, realising that maybe he had been concerned since the scratches did not feel as bad as they looked.
She placed two plasters on each knee, before moving to her palms and doing the same there, before placing one on the curve of her chin, not caring about how ridiculous that she might look. Emilia stared at them for a moment, before watching how they rippled, changing colour to match the shade of her skin and her finger poked and prodded at them, remembering the ones she would wear growing up – all Hello Kitty and ones of zoo animals.
Then, she recalled another memory – her father placing one on her elbow after she fell off the curb and hurt herself, crying and wailing about the pain until he bandaged her up and pressed a kiss to the outside of it, saying it was the magic cure to heal her and it did. She had thought he was a wizard for that, now she wondered if she was somewhat close to the truth about that.
A smile twitched at her lips at the memory, finger gracing the edges of the plaster and that feeling in her chest worsened, softening her up to the point that she realised that she almost felt bad about the fact that she hadn't even thanked Sirius for it. Perhaps she didn't agree with him stealing from the infirmary but he had done it because she was too stubborn to go herself.
Silently, Emilia wondered if her declaration of victory against Sirius in this battle for forgiveness was waning.
early update because i've been at home sick from work for the past two days after my covid vaccine so i thought why not post a new chapter? I will be now moving to weekly updates until I write more chapters (i'm currently at chapter 15). Haven't picked a day yet since I work 4-5 days a week, but I will try!
song of choice while writing: that funny feeling by bo burnham (no i'm not ok)
Thanks for reading!