scars || sirius black

42 - the aftermath

They had to get to the portkey and fast. The old quill pen that could take them straight to the gates of Hogwarts was in the backpack behind the rocks they'd just run from, but there was no time to explain. She pulled Marlene to her feet and swung her arm over her shoulder, she screamed for them to run and so they did, flicking spells behind them to fend off Emmy as she pounced after them. They could hear the sound of exploding rock and flung earth, and whilst they deliberately tried to miss Emmy it wasn't so easy.

The first flickers of sunlight flooded the sky as they reached the rocks and Lily pulled the portkey out of the bag. She turned sharply at the sound of a piercing scream, Emmy was contorting on the ground barely a meter away, half human-half wolf.

Swearing, Dory grabbed the spare clothes and ran to her. She hurried helped Emmy into them and reached out a hand for Alice to grab just before the portkey pulled them in.

After torturously long seconds in that whirling tunnel, they were spat out just inside the school grounds. Emmy tumbled away, scuffling into the wall as the transformation was complete.

The Astrals looked up to see the Marauders sprinting towards them, yelling in fear. They looked like they'd had a rough night, but nowhere near as bad as them.

Marlene was dipping in and out of consciousness as they rushed over.

"Help us! We need to get her to Madam Pomfrey!" cried Lily.

"What on earth happened?" James replied, panicked as he checking her over.

Remus and Sirius swore as they skidded down next to them. Marlene's ankle was bent in completely the wrong direction and her toes had already started to turn blue.

Peter was rummaging through their bags and pulling out various potions and bandages which they rifled through. Remus spotted the right bottle and popped the top off before lifting Marlene's head to gently tip the liquid into her mouth.

She coughed for a second as it drizzled down her throat but almost immediately the colour started to return to her face and her breathing evened out. After a few minutes she was able to shakily sit up and they started to get ready to move her.

"Emmy... is Emmy okay?" Marlene murmured groggily but was swiftly drowned out by a screaming match erupting.

"What were you thinking?" James bellowed, "You could've all been killed!"

"We were thinking about Emmy," Lily yelled back, "She needed someone with her!"

"But you're not animagi," reasoned Remus, "The risk you all put yourselves in tonight was too high."

"It was our decision," Alice shot back, "Not yours."

"And you're bloody lucky nothing worse happened, imagine if you hadn't got back here soon enough or god-forbid one of you had been bitten!"

"But we weren't! Anyway, Marlene slipped on some ice. It wasn't even Emmy's fault! She barely noticed us the entire time."

"She was actually pretty cute in werewolf form. You know when she's sleeping..." Lily trailed off, a small smile on her face.

Despite the situation, Sirius couldn't help but agree. The way she brought her paws up to her chin and twitched her little nose was goddamn adorable.

"I knew we'd had a fight about the last full moon, but I didn't think she'd be stupid enough to let you lot go with her," Remus growled.

"She didn't want us to, but she didn't exactly have much of a choice," replied Mary.

"Of course she had a choice, she should have just come with us," said James. Sirius stayed silent, this was his fault really. He gripped his forearm shakily, refusing to look at the Dark Mark writhing beneath his sleeve.

"We agree with Emmy," said Lily quietly after a pause. "It's too risky to be associated with Sirius, regardless if it's his fault or not that he's a death-eater. Them being seen in a relationship would only put a target on both of their backs."

It pained everyone to admit it was true, but it was.

"Sirius..." spoke a small voice from behind them. They reeled around and a shock of horror ran through them. Emmy was kneeling on the ground, one hand against the school gates for support and her entire body trembling.

Remus took an uncertain step towards her before she let out a weak groan and collapsed, pitching forward. Sirius was there within seconds, pulling her in his arms, putting pressure on the large gouge that had torn through her chest.

There was chaos as they realised what had happened, cursing themselves for not having noticed sooner, but the blood just kept on flowing. She was gasping for breath as she met Lily's eyes and blinked slowly, filling up with tears, before they moved to Sirius. She gazed up at him as he smoothed her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead gently, his tears mixed with hers as he murmured reassurances in choked sobs.

Almost everyone else was crying too, Remus was a mess, hands trembling as he tried to stem the bleeding.

Then Lily remembered a spell an old friend had once taught her. The Half-Blood Prince, she almost scoffed at the name, had been a piece of shit, but also nothing short of brilliant.

"Vulnera sanentur," she murmured, and then louder. "Vulnera sanentur!"

She lifted her wand up and traced it over the gaping wounds as she repeated the words over and over. Slowly but steadily the blood stopped flowing and gradually the skin began to knit together. But they didn't have much time. They were losing her all too quickly.

Then Mary started casting the spell too, and Alice and Dory, until they were all saying it together. Their words blended into each other and soon enough the blood had stopped seeping through, leaving a puckered red scar tracing from her ribs to her neck.

But Emmy was lifeless. Sirius still held her in his arms, rocking her back and forward as his tears kept falling.

"We need to get her Madam Pomfrey right now!" Alice ordered. With surprisingly little force, James was able to lift Emmy straight out of Sirius' arms and then began running towards the castle, Remus in tow.

In the shocked silence that followed, they all heard Mary's haunted voice say, "How did we not notice?"

Dorcas pulled her close as they cried. Ever so slowly, they began walking back to the castle with Marlene, the brilliant rays of the sunrise radiating off the Black Loch.

Lily knelt down next to Sirius. He was still staring at his hands, coated in blood, with a dazed look on his face. He looked broken.

He flinched sharply as she closed his hands and set them down.

"She was right, she was right all along..." he said hoarsely.

She furrowed her brows, "What do you mean?"

"She almost died. I can't- I can't be responsible for that happening again."

"It wasn't your fault, Sirius..."

He looked at her ruefully, "Don't lie to me, Lily."

She sighed and sat down next to him. "I think it's for the best if you give her some space right now."

"I still love her, you know."

"And you're mad if for one second you doubt how much she loves you too. She will always love you no matter what she tries to tell you. We can all see it plain as day."

He laughed quietly. "We know her too well, don't we?"

"You can say that again," she smiled and pulled him into a hug with a deep sigh.