the hat | 𝐬.𝐛

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟱𝟰 || To Serve a Detention and Have a Much Needed Conversation

The next day, Emery was summoned to Professor McGonagall's office for her detention.

Her and Sirius were supposed to arrange an entire section of the library without magic.

It wasn't a hard task, but at the same time, it wasn't easy either. 

She began working, starting from the far end, arranging the books back onto the shelf alphabetically.

Sirius tried to get her to talk, but she was keen on ignoring him, especially since he pulled her into such a blatant lie, making Professor McGonagall think bad of her.

She wasn't really upset at Sirius, knowing he did it for a good reason, but she still didn't talk to him and the fact that she thought he fancied Marlene was taking a toll on her emotions.

So she ignored him.

He tried speaking to her, various times, and even tried making her laugh. But Emery was dead set on ignoring him, refusing to even look at him in fear that she would cave just by looking into his pretty eyes.

Sirius was feeling insanely guilty that he pulled her into a lie. He knew she hated lies, but he had to do what was necessary. He was exceedingly disappointed as per the fact that she wasn't talking to him.

An hour later, after they were dismissed from detention, Sirius pulled Emery to the side as they were walking towards the Great Hall for dinner.

"What?" she snapped, looking at him sharply.

"Nothing," Sirius said lowly. "I just want to apologize."

She said nothing, but raised a brow. 

"For you know," he continued, taking her silence as a positive sign. "Telling a lie. I swear I'm sorry, and if you don't forgive me.."

"That's fine," Emery interjected. "I overreacted a bit much," she said with a soft smile. "I'm sorry, I just wasn't having the best day," she said truthfully.

Then, she patted his arm, and left him alone in the corridor, heading to the Great Hall.

Sirius just stood in silence, half gaping, half shocked. He hadn't expected her to forgive him, and yet she even apologized for her own mistake.

His arm was tingling from her soft palm, and his mouth was just open from what he had just witnessed.

He shook his head, following her into the Great Hall and moving to sit near his friends.

Emery found herself lying in bed awake, unable to sleep.

Every time she closed her eyes, she'd see Sirius' face, giving her the smirk she fell for. She'd see him close to her, their noses almost touching, and then, when he was just about to close the distance, she'd suddenly open her eyes and scold her brain for making up things.

She held Marco closer. He was getting too big to sleep with her, but Emery couldn't part with him. She loved having him close to her.

Tossing and turning, she huffed and sat up.

"Emery?" came a voice, from the neighboring bed.

"Cecy?" she whispered back. "What are you doing awake?"

"I noticed you couldn't sleep," she said softly. "To be honest, neither could I," she admitted.

Emery clambered out of bed. "I need to tell you something," she disclosed abruptly, then cursed inside her head for saying that.

Cecilia nodded. "I know, I can tell. You're very fidgety," she smiled. "Let's go to the common room, alright?"

Emery hummed softly, agreeing, before pulling on her night gown and following Cecilia out of the dorm.

They sat by the fireplace, huddled together, both sharing a furry blanket as they watched the dying flames.

"You wanted to tell me something?" asked Cecilia.

Emery nodded.

"I.." she began. She couldn't find it in herself to continue. 

"Em?"

She said nothing.

"Em, are you alright?"

She shook her head, hugging her knees. 

Cecilia wrapped an arm around her. "Em," she whispered. 

Emery was silent. Finally, unable to hold it in any longer, she blurted it right out.

"I love him."

The grin that spread all over Cecilia's sight was marvelous.

Cecilia squealed to herself, then turned back to Emery. On seeing her saddened expression, she enveloped the taller girl into a hug.

"Em, what's wrong?"

"He loves Marlene," she stated bluntly, looking straight at the fire, avoiding Cecilia's eyes.

"Em," began Cecilia. "Did you..." Cecilia rubbed her eyes. "Did you tell him you love him?"

She shook her head. "I realized too late," she murmured. "Besides, he loves Marlene, how couldn't I have seen it before?"

Cecilia looked at her questioningly. "Did he tell you that?" she inquired.

Emery shook her head. 

"Then how did you know?"

Emery folded her arms, resting her chin on them. "I over heard him tell James," she said in a small voice.

Cecilia's eyes widened. "What gave you that idea?"

"It was obvious, wasn't it?" she sighed.

"What were the exact words that you heard, hmm?" she asked softly, placing her hand on Emery's lower spine.

"Well," she started. "I heard James ask Sirius 'So you fancy her?' and Sirius replied that he did."

"Did they mention a name?"

"No."

"Then how did you come to know it was Marlene?"

"Because I heard the next bit of their conversation," Emery admitted.

"Well, what did you hear?"

"Then.." Emery said slowly, trying to remember. "I heard James ask if Marlene knows."

"And Sirius said yes," Cecilia finished.

"Yeah," replied Emery. "But he also said that Marlene is trying to make it work."

Cecilia shook her head. 

"Em, you don't just jump into conclusions," she said. "What if Sirius was talking about another girl, and Marlene just knew about it?"

"But what does it mean when Sirius said Marlene is trying to make it work, Cecy?" she protested, not listening to Cecilia's theories.

"Em, Marlene fancies Remus Lupin, not Sirius," Cecilia said, smiling. "She's probably helping Sirius get the attention of the girl he fancies."

Emery said nothing, as Cecilia hugged her.

"That doesn't make it any better," Emery said bitterly. "If he loves someone, then I still don't have a chance," she said. "He only thinks of me as a friend."

Cecilia rubbed Emery's back. "Hey, listen, don't think much about it, alright?" She held Emery's hand. "Just be there for Sirius. You still have a chance. Maybe he'll stop fancying the other girl and start to fancy you too. It's not too late, Em."

Emery said nothing, but she was reassured by Cecilia's words.

Giving her a warm smile, she stood up, and the two went back to their dorm.