Emma's first week at Hogwarts was overwhelming, to say the least. The day after the sorting, Emma was thrilled to wake up with her new friends to the smell of bacon and other delightful scents for breakfast. The group of them couldn't have gotten up and dressed quicker. The girls were stunned to see that the boys were waiting for them in the common room when they finally finished getting ready.

They were amazed that the already bright common room looked even homier in the daylight. Trickles of sunbeams made their way in lines into the common room. Some of the more colorful plants seemed to be dancing in the dazzling sunbeams.

"Oi, what took you so long?" Justin asked.

"We're girls," Susan scoffed. "We had to make sure we looked beautiful." The other girls giggled.

"Right, then," Ernie said, his eyebrows raised. "Should we all introduce ourselves? We didn't get a chance to all meet last night."

The first year Hufflepuffs introduced themselves, starting with Roger then moving to Sally, Megan, Wayne, Hannah, Susan, Justin, Leanne, Ernie, and then finally Emma.

"Shall we all go get breakfast? I'm starving," Leanne suggested to the group. With a collective murmur, they all made their way out the large round door, through the earthen path, and out the barrel into the hallway. They made their way gleefully through the entryway, inhaling deeply as they went, their noses leading them to the Hufflepuff table and to their seats.

"Schedules!" said a short and round woman as she approached the group of first years. "I'm Professor Sprout, and I'll be seeing you all later in Herbology. I'm also your head of house, so feel free to come say hello if you ever need someone to talk to. It's very nice to meet you all, and I'm sure we'll have a wonderful year together!"

"Double Transfiguration! Wicked!" Roger exclaimed as he read his schedule. "It says we have Potions with the Ravenclaws after lunch and then Herbology with the Gryffindors."

"That means we'll be in a class with Harry Potter!" Susan exclaimed.

"I think I'm most interested in Defense Against the Dark Arts," Emma said, reading through her schedule. "Oh, or Charms! Charms sounds fun!" Roger, Sophie, and Wayne murmured in agreement.

Breakfast ended quickly, and they found themselves on their way to their first ever class. The end of the day couldn't have come soon enough. It felt like the longest day ever, and they were all exhausted by the time they made their way back to their beds.

They learned that day that Professor McGonagall was a very strict teacher. Kind, but she always made sure that you followed the rules. Herbology with the Gryffindors and Professor Sprout was enjoyable. Emma found that she enjoyed working in the dirt and plants more than she expected. Potions, on the other hand, was a class Emma wasn't sure she would enjoy.

Emma didn't like the way that Snape looked at her. As he had taken roll for their first class, he paused at her name. "Nickels," he said almost to himself. "That would make you Lupin's charge, correct?"

Emma nodded, concerned. How did he know Remus? "That is correct, Professor Snape."

"Interesting," Snape said slowly. "I find it interesting that a man such as himself would be allowed to take care of a child."

Emma had no idea what he had meant by his words and noticed that whenever he referred to her, she was always "Lupin" and no longer Nickels. She felt it wasn't wise to correct him and just did as she was told, much to Snape's displeasure.

When dinner was over, Emma made sure to write to Remus right away. She wanted to tell him all about how her first day was going and to inform him that she was sorted into Hufflepuff.

I'm sorry, but I think Hufflepuff might be the better house, she wrote with a mischievous grin. Our common room is right next to the kitchens and smells absolutely delightful. Do you know how fantastic it is to smell baked goods nearly all night and then wake up to the delicious smells of breakfast? It's divine.

Today we had double Transfiguration, Herbology with the Gryffindors, and then Potions with the Ravenclaws. I don't know that I enjoy Professor Snape very much. He keeps calling me Lupin. Did you know him? Oh, and we have astronomy at midnight tonight. I'm already so exhausted, and I don't know how I'll stay awake! I'm dreading doing the loads of homework that Professor McGonagall gave us. I feel like I'll never be able to get any of my work done on time!

Anyway, tomorrow we have Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Quirrell seems odd, but I'm excited. Then we have history, Herbology again, and Charms. I'm not excited that we have double Potions on Friday, but at least it'll finally be the weekend.

Emma paused at the end of her letter, unsure of how to end it. She opted to just scrawl her name quickly, stuffed her letter into an envelope, and ran out of the common room to head towards the owlery. She had more she wanted to write to him, but that could wait until later.

After asking a few students and a few of the portraits, she finally made her way to the correct tower. Aurora sat in the rafters, letting out a soft "hoo" as she saw Emma.

"Come here, girl. I've got a letter for you to send off."

Aurora flew down and landed near Emma, giving her a nip on her hand as she handed her the letter. "Well, excuse me," Emma said, annoyed. "Get this off to Uncle Remus right away."

With an equally annoyed and muffled hoot, Aurora flew off.

By the time the weekend arrived, Emma was absolutely exhausted along with the rest of her classmates. In addition to their other classes, they also started flying lessons with everyone. They were meant to attend flying lessons twice a week, but Neville had managed to break his wrist in their first lesson. Rather than continue with their lessons that week, Madam Hooch decided to postpone the lessons until the next week.

Emma couldn't figure out what she thought of the Slytherins. She found Draco Malfoy equally as annoying as Persephone. As the class lingered on the grounds after Neville fell, Draco seized Neville's Rememberall off the ground. Wanting to get someone in trouble, Draco tossed it across the grounds. To her amazement, Harry made an absolutely remarkable save, catching the glass ball before it made its way to the ground.

Professor McGonagall had, unfortunately, witnessed the entire thing. Despite some of the Hufflepuffs explaining that Harry was trying to keep the Rememberall from breaking, she didn't seem pleased. She swiftly pulled him from the slowly disbanding class.

Emma couldn't understand how Persephone was excited to be a Slytherin, but she was glad that she didn't have care. They weren't in the same house, so it didn't matter. If Persephone wound up being anything like Draco, she didn't want to be friends with her.

Remus told her to keep an open mind, but she absolutely refused to be friends with a Slytherin.

Emma felt like she was up to her ears in homework and spent her time after dinner working in a small group with Roger, Wayne, Megan, and Sally. Hannah, Susan, Justin, Leanne, and Ernie seemed to be their own little group. They all talked, but they had already started to separate into their private little groups. Emma didn't mind in the least as they all seemed to work well together.

As the weekend arrived, Emma couldn't help but be disappointed that Remus hadn't written back to her. Emma knew that he was probably busy, but she would have enjoyed hearing back from him.

Suddenly, it was Sunday night, and Emma found herself in the Great Hall after dinner working on her homework. The sky was starting to grow dark outside, and the ceiling began to reflect the outdoors, turning a dark purple with hints of stars. Emma was so transfixed on her work that she didn't even notice Persephone sitting across from her.

"You keep ignoring me," Persephone said haughtily. She threw her long hair back over her shoulder and stared at Emma. Emma jumped, nearly falling off the bench she was sitting on.

"I'm not ignoring you," Emma said, glaring at Persephone, holding a hand over her heart. "We don't have that many classes together."

Persephone gave Emma a pointed look as if she had said something stupid. "That doesn't mean we can't talk outside of classes," she said, grabbing an apple from the basket still on the table.

Emma returned the look to Persephone, an eyebrow quirked. "I've been busy with my schoolwork. You should be too." Emma returned to her work, her quill moving quickly across the page. She hoped that Persephone would get the picture and leave, but she glanced up, and Persephone was still there.

Persephone shrugged again, staring at Emma. There was a pregnant pause before she spoke again, "It's your birthday tomorrow."

As fast as Emma's quill had been moving was as fast as it stopped. She dropped her quill on the table and looked up at Persephone, her face unreadable. "How did you know that?"

"I just know things," Persephone said, taking a bite from the apple she grabbed. She regarded the apple for a moment and met Emma's gaze. "I also might have written to your uncle."

"You wrote to my uncle?"

"Yeah, I did. What are you going to do about it?"

Emma let out a derisive snort and glared at Persephone. "He hasn't even written me back to me."

Persephone looked surprised. "Really? That's odd."

"Why is that odd?" Emma asked, trying not to sound disappointed that Remus wrote to someone else and not her.

"Well," Persephone started to look out the window. She turned her body to the side and pulled her legs up onto the bench with a hum.

"'Well,' what?" Emma practically demanded.

"Well, you two seem to have gotten close," Persephone said, looking over at Emma with a smirk on her face. "Except he hasn't written to you. Maybe he really doesn't like you, after all."

"You take that back," Emma said with a growl. "H-he likes me!" At least she hoped he did.

"I'm kidding," Persephone said with a laugh. "Merlin, you Hufflepuffs are bloody sensitive. Seriously though, you haven't heard back from him?"

Emma picked up her quill and returned to her homework with an aggravated huff. "No, I haven't. I suppose he's been busy with work. Though, perhaps not if he wrote to you."

Persephone stared at Emma again and nodded. There was a flicker of sadness across her face that Emma didn't understand, but perhaps she imagined it. "Well, I guess I'll let you get back to what you're doing," Persephone said. "Quit ignoring me when you see me and don't ignore me tomorrow, or I will make your birthday the absolute worst." Persephone stood up slowly and gave Emma another smirk. "Goodnight, you arse."

Emma glanced up, watching as Persephone left, an amused smile on her face. Their entire interaction was completely unexpected, and she wasn't sure what to make of it. As much as Emma didn't want to admit it, she couldn't deny that Persephone's bluntness could be funny.

Maybe she's not so bad after all, Emma thought to herself. Annoying, but not so bad…

The next morning Emma was jolted awake to the screams of her dormmates. "Happy birthday!" the girls all screamed, surrounding her bed. She almost wished that she had never said a word.

Emma sat up a bright smile on her face. She rubbed her eyes, wiping the sleep away. "Thank you!" she said with a blush.

"Can you believe it? It's your first birthday at Hogwarts!" Sally exclaimed, bouncing on her toes, causing her light brown pigtails to bounce. "I can't wait for mine, but it's not until spring!"

"I can't believe it," Emma answered honestly. "I can already say that I've never had a birthday quite like this. I don't think anyone's ever gotten me up on my birthday before."

"Come on! Get up, and let's head to breakfast!" Susan practically shouted, grabbing Emma and giving her a quick shake before darting off. The other girls followed Susan out of the room, wishing Emma another excited "Happy birthday!" on their way out.

Emma bounced out of bed, still smiling, and got dressed. She was happy to see that everyone was waiting for her in the common room again.

"Just because it's your birthday doesn't mean you should take all day getting ready," Ernie said when she walked out of the girl's dorm.

"I didn't take all day," Emma smiled. "I can't help that beauty doesn't come this easy."

The boys all laughed and wished Emma a hearty "Happy birthday" by convincing whoever was in the common room to sing to her. By the time they finished, Emma's face was bright red.

"Let's go, you gits," Emma said, leading the way out of the common room. "Thank you," she said quietly to the group, slightly embarrassed. She wasn't expecting her birthday to be like this at all.

The first years all sat together at the table when they arrived in the Great Hall. Usually, they would break off into their little groups, but they were excited to celebrate Emma's birthday and stuck together. They chatted excitedly and only grew quiet as the post began to arrive.

Emma was surprised when Aurora landed next to her on the table, a small package and letter attached to her leg. She carefully removed both items from the owl's leg and cut a piece of apple to give her.

"Thank you, Aurora," she said, stroking the owl's feathers. Emma was still enamored with how beautiful the owl was. Seemingly pleased with Emma's response, Aurora took off and out of the Great Hall.

Emma opened the package first, wondering what she was sent. She tore open the brown paper and was met with a dark red box. She opened it, curious and gasped when she saw what was inside. Laying on a soft cushion was a gold charm bracelet. There were four charms already attached. There was a house, a goblet, a flower in a flowerpot, and an owl. It was an odd assortment of charms, but Emma found it charming.

"That's really pretty!" Hannah said from across the table, admiring the shining gold.

Emma nodded excitedly and took it out, gently touching each charm. She placed it back in the box and ripped open the envelope.

Dear Emelyn,

I apologize for not writing to you sooner. Work has been hectic, and I haven't had much time to get things done. I believe things have finally calmed down, and I'll be able to write to you more consistently. I hope that you can forgive me – I assure you that I have missed you every single day.

I'm very proud of you for being sorted into Hufflepuff. It was the very house that I imagined you being sorted into. You are incredibly kind, and your sweet disposition makes you the perfect Hufflepuff. Your other qualities, such as your intelligence and your bravery shine, but your kind and loving heart is what sets you apart from others. Hufflepuff gained an outstanding member to their ranks, although I confess that I hoped you would have been a Gryffindor.

I hope that you enjoy your birthday gift. I'll admit that I found myself at a loss, and I truly wanted to find you the perfect gift. It's been a very long time since I have had to purchase a gift for a young lady such as yourself. I had to ask one of the lovely women I work with for her assistance on what to give you. She told me with absolutely no pause whatsoever that every woman should own at least one charm bracelet. Since I am not a woman, I decided to agree with her rationale. I genuinely hope that she was correct. I do believe that she was appalled at my choice in charms, but I hope that you can understand why I chose what I did.

Everything on your bracelet is meant to be representative of your new life—the house so that you remember that you'll always have a home to return to. The flower is for your new-found love of Herbology, the owl to stand for Aurora, and the goblet is Hufflepuff's signature gift to the school.

I'm glad that you are enjoying your time at Hogwarts. I must admit that it's almost a shame that Persephone was sorted into Slytherin. It appears that the girl has taken a liking to you. I was astonished to receive a letter from her explicitly asking about your birthday. I feel that perhaps the two of you could become friends in the future.

As for Professor Snape, we were classmates. We weren't very fond of him then. I admit that knowing that he's your professor makes me even less fond of him now. He just holds a schoolboy grudge as he was somewhat jealous of us back then. I imagine seeing you stirred up some memories for him. Don't worry about him – his bark is worse than this bite. Besides, you're a Lupin; don't let him get under your skin.

I miss having you around the house. It's rather lonely here by myself. I'm already counting down the days until your Christmas holiday – I promise that I'll make it the best Christmas for you that I can.

I hope that you have a wonderful birthday and be sure to write back soon.

Love,

Remus

Emma smiled at the letter and tucked it into her pocket. She pulled the bracelet out of the box again and turned to Sally, who sat next to her. "Could you help me put this on?"

Sally nodded gleefully. "Of course! It's beautiful. Who is it from?" She took the bracelet from Emma's hand and carefully replaced the clasp to close it on her right wrist.

"My uncle," Emma said with a smile as she touched the dangling charms.

"He did a fantastic job! My dad would never be able to come up with something like this." Sally giggled. "Now, mum on the other hand? She would absolutely come up with something like this."

"I wasn't expecting anything, quite honestly," Emma said, touching the charm of the house.

Sally looked over at the other Hufflepuffs and smiled. "Well, we weren't sure if you were going to get anything, so we all got you some things as well. Is that okay?"

Emma looked at Sally, shocked, then turned to look at the excited faces of her classmates as they now all held small parcels out to her. Some were wrapped very nicely, others were wrapped haphazardly. She could tell which gifts her classmates had wrapped. Tears began to well up in her eyes; this was too much.

"You shouldn't have!" Emma choked out.

"It's your first birthday here, we absolutely should have," Justin replied. He dropped his gift in front of her before getting up to leave. "Happy birthday! See you in Transfiguration."

One by one, each of the Hufflepuffs dropped their gifts off in front of Emma, echoing similar responses as Justin before heading off on their way. Emma just couldn't believe how lucky she was as she began to open her gifts.

From Wayne, Megan, and Sally, she received a selection of sweets. She now had a stockpile of Bertie Botts, Chocolate Frogs, and many others that she had only dreamed of trying while in Diagon Alley. From Justin and Roger, she received muggle stationery sets, something that she was longing to have at Hogwarts. Though she enjoyed using a quill, she couldn't help but miss using a regular pen and pencil. From Hannah, she received an assortment of baked goods. Susan had asked her mother to knit her a jumper in Hufflepuff's colors.

Emma ran her fingers of the soft fibers of the sweater and pressed it to her face as if it was a blanket. She knew she was going to appreciate Susan's gift as soon as it started to get cold. Leanne gave her an enchanted leather change purse with a note attached telling her it could hold an endless amount of small objects and that every witch needed one. Ernie gave her a new leather bag for her school things. She was embarrassed but very appreciative as she was afraid her cloth bag wouldn't hold up for very long. It was one of the things they hadn't gotten around to replacing before Emma left. She began to transfer her things to her new bag, occasionally pausing to admire the embossed design.

"Happy birthday," came a familiar voice from behind her.

Emma turned around to see Hermione standing behind her. "You remembered?" Emma asked, surprised.

"Of course, I remembered," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "It would be hard to miss anyway." Hermione handed Emma a big and bulky package wrapped in bright Muggle wrapping paper. "I remember you said that you were interested in learning more about Defense Against the Dark Arts while we were in Flourish and Blotts. I also picked you up a copy of Hogwarts, a History, and a few other books. Mum told me that I should find 'fun' books for you."

Emma looked at Hermione, completely nonplussed as she placed her gift next to her. "Thank you," she said after a few moments. "You didn't have to."

Hermione just smiled at her. "Yes, I did. You'll have to tell me your thoughts when you finish Hogwarts, a History. There are so many things to learn about the school in that book." Without another word, Hermione turned on her heel and skipped out of the Great Hall.

Emma had to laugh as Hermione left. As annoying as she was, she was extremely generous. Emma had learned that very quickly during their short amount of time in Diagon Alley. Hermione insisted that her parents buy her ice cream at Fortescue's despite her having some money to play with. She recalled Hermione picking up extra books at Flourish and Blotts, and she found it rather funny. Emma had no idea that she was already thinking ahead to her birthday, and the books were for her. Now Emma understood why Hermione had been so persistent in asking her so many questions while they were together.

"Remember what I said," came another voice from behind her. "Don't ignore me, or I will make today hell."

"Hello, Persephone," Emma sighed as Persephone took a seat next to her. Maybe she would listen to Remus and consider giving Persephone a chance.

"Happy birthday," Persephone said, holding a gift out to her. "I haven't got all day," Persephone added impatiently.

Emma gave Persephone a slightly nervous look as she slowly took the gift from her. "Thanks."

"Well, aren't you going to open it?"

"Oh, you want me to open it now?" Emma held the gift at length.

"Yes, you arse. You've opened everything else so far. I heard Hermione tell you everything you got already so that can wait. Open it. Nothing is going to jump out at you."

Emma gave Persephone a skeptical look but began to open her gift, slowly tearing the brown packaging.

"Oh, bloody hell, you are sodding slow." Persephone pulled Emma's gift back out of her hands and tore the rest of the brown packaging and opened the box. Emma was speechless as Persephone pulled out a camera, very similar to a Polaroid camera. She was even more surprised when a bright flash went off in her face. Persephone pulled the photo print out and began laughing as the picture developed and turned it to Emma.

"It moves," Emma exclaimed, watching the picture Persephone held out to her. It was exactly like an ordinary Polaroid camera with its square print, but the photo moved. Emma watched as her face went from surprised to scandalized as the flash went off.

"Of course, it moves," Persephone said matter-of-factly. "It's an enchanted camera. All of the photos move. Surely, you've seen that all of the portraits move here. Photos aren't any different."

"No, I know they move…and talk! Uncle Remus has moving photos, but that camera looks exactly like a Polaroid camera." Emma looked at the camera that Persephone held in her hand. She had seen Polaroid cameras in the Muggle stores she visited with Remus on a few of their shopping trips and thought it would be fantastic to have one.

"What's a Polaroid?" Persephone looked at Emma in confusion. She began to laugh as Emma spluttered and tried to explain what the camera was. "I'm kidding, I know bloody well what a Polaroid is. That's why I thought this one would be perfect for you. You've missed out on a lot, and it wouldn't be fair for you to forget anything while at Hogwarts. You need some way to keep track of your memories."

Persephone stood up and put the camera down in front of Emma. "Happy birthday," she said, a mischievous look in her eyes. Persephone turned to leave before stopping once more. "Oh, before I forget – it's been enchanted to have an endless supply of film. Don't ask how it was done, it's a complicated bit of magic, but you never have to worry about running out. Take all the photos you want."

Emma watched Persephone's retreating form in complete disbelief. She wasn't sure what to do, but she picked the camera up, held it to her eye, and took a photo of Persephone leaving the Great Hall. Emma pulled the picture from the front of the camera and let herself smile as the photo developed. Just like moments before, Persephone was skipping out of the Great Hall in the picture over and over again.

With a small sigh, she looked at her pile of gifts she hadn't finished putting into her bag, and she smiled. For someone who had never really celebrated a birthday before, she was glad that this was her first. She looked at the photo of Persephone again and then back to the one of her surprised look and laughed.

It was truly the happiest of birthdays.

a/n: One of these days I'll finally get myself together to get this posted in a relatively normal scheduled time. I wish that I could just schedule and just not have to think.

Maybe one day bahahaha.

For all of my late night readers - good night.
For all of my readers just starting their day - good morning.
For those who needed a little afternoon break - I hope that you've had a good day and continue to do so.

xoxo,
Moony