One morning in late November, the Astrals rose bright and early to study in the library for their fast approaching exams. Entranced by the warmth of the blazing fires and snow falling past the window, they forgot the time and had to sprint to make it to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom on time.
They arrived completely out of breath and knocked on the door hurriedly.
Professor Dumbledore ushered them in with a bemused smile and handed them buckets of soapy water and cloths.
"Good afternoon, ladies. If you would all take some cleaning supplies and head over to the windows, please. Now I must ask you to refrain from blowing out the glass panes again," he smirked. "They really are quick hard to refit."
Emmy winced. It had been a brilliant prank and they never thought they'd been caught for it. How on earth did he know? Must have been Professor McGonagall, she never had liked that Professor Goshawk.
"As you can see after the incident with some imps and the new ink pots yesterday afternoon, the windows are in need of some cleaning. It shouldn't take you more than an hour."
Indeed, there were many candles lit around the room to make up for the lack of daylight getting through the splattered panes.
"We had this one coming, didn't we?" muttered Lily as she dumped her bucket down next to Emmy's and wrung out a cloth.
She smirked and replied, "Come to think of it, this prank was your idea Lily."
"Touché, it was you that fired the spell," she grinned.
As they were clearing the buckets and cloths away a while later, Dumbledore came out of his office.
"Miss Lupin, a minute please?"
She dried off her hands and walked over as he opened a thick volume on the front desk.
"How can I help, sir?"
"If you take look here, there are some duelling techniques I was planning on teaching the third years on Thursday, and was wondering if you might like to demonstrating a couple with me or perhaps with one of your friends?"
"Marlene, Alice and Lily are best on the offence, but nothing gets past Dory and Mary," she said. "Though it's up to you really, I'm sure they'd love to help."
He looked at her oddly, "And do you all duel often?"
"Oh, they helped me practise for the tournament a lot," she fumbled. And in the forbidden forest every night last week, she smirked secretly.
"Ah I see," he nodded then looked over at the others. "Could I speak to you all for a minute please?"
They looked at Emmy in confusion but set down their buckets and came over.
"I'm going to be teaching my third years some duelling techniques and Emeline here mentioned you all are rather proficient in the field. I was hoping you might agree to a demonstration for them?"
Lily glanced around at her grinning friends, "We'd love to, sir. What would you want us to show them?"
"Well, why don't you have a quick practise now? Show me what you can do."
They decided to go three-against-three with Emmy, Dory and Mary on one team and Alice, Marlene and Lily on the other. On Dumbledore's count they began, Emmy shooting the first flipendo across the room. Alice countered it with a laugh and hit back an expulso until suddenly spells were flying everywhere.
"Petrificus totalus!"
"Everte statum!"
Emmy cast silencio at every opportunity she got. Knowing the others couldn't perform non-verbal magic was a big advantage.
"Impedimenta!"
"Stupefy!"
Dumbledore had to dodge one of Alice's confringos bouncing off a wall inches from his face. Momentarily distracted, Emmy hit her with a petrificus totalus that send her tumbling into a desk.
In the brief silence that followed she heard Dory yell, "Take cover!" before Marlene shot a bombarda maxima straight for Emmy. She skittered away and flicked a reducto jinx under her arm at the only opponent left standing. So went a volley of spells blasting twice a second until the two were left cackling with laughter five minutes later, clutching their sides as Marlene hung upside down from a chandelier.
Dumbledore was staring open mouthed, but after a second cleared his throat and smiled.
"I think that will be more than sufficient for my lesson, thank you but truly I'm very impressed. I've never seen such expertise in anyone your age before," he rambled as they grinned brightly at him and helped move the desks back from where they'd been blasted across the room.
Emmy was struck by the memory of duelling with Bellatrix Black who had been taught to fight before she could even read and the way Sirius knew every dark spell in the syllabus before the teacher taught them about it. They were second nature to him, as much a part of his vocabulary as lumos.
How many lost childhoods would this war take before it was over?
—————
The nights were getting darker and snow dusted the tops of the mountains more and more every day until it lay all around them several foot deep.
On the last weekend before the Christmas holidays Emmy met Hestia in the Three Broomsticks. It was blowing a gale as she hurried inside, breathing on her hands to warm them up.
Hearing Hestia call her name, she squeezed through the crowds to find her friend sitting by the fire and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug.
"How're you doing?" she asked as they pulled away, searching her eyes.
"Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine. What about you, how's school going?"
"Well... you know," Emmy snorted as she unwrapped the scarf from around her neck and tugged off her mittens. "As you good as you can expect."
"I get it," she smiled sympathetically.
They chatted for what seemed like hours fuelled by an endless stream of hot butterbeer.
"And how's Sirius?" Hestia asked.
"I don't speak to him a lot to be honest."
"What?" she exclaimed. "You two were practically inseparable last year, you were perfect together!"
"It's... complicated. We broke up"
"What happened?"
Emmy grimaced, "We just grew up, I guess. His family... well, they made it impossible."
Hestia reached out and squeezed her hand, "I'm sorry."
"He fought it for a while, but I think he understands it's the best for both of us now. It was never going to work."
"And did you not fight it?"
Emmy looked up with tear-stained cheeks. Hestia inhaled sharply and brought her into a tight hug. It was dark outside now and the pub was much quieter. She was glad for the folk band playing next to the bar for drowning out her quivering voice.
"If something happened to him... I don't think I could ever forgive myself."
"I understand," murmured Hestia. "And for all it matters, I think what you did was so strong, and so brave."
"It doesn't feel like that," she sniffled. "It feels like I've betrayed him. I even had to tell him I didn't love him."
She laughed, "Oh Emmy, don't worry about that, there's no way he'll have believed you."
Emmy smiled sheepishly, "He didn't. By some miracle, Lily managed to persuade him to give us some time apart."
"Maybe you'll think differently in a couple of months?"
Emmy began to protest.
"No come on, you've got to give me that at least!"
She sighed heavily and reluctantly replied.
"Okay... okay, fine."
Hestia grinned, "Now what do you think about you and Remus coming to ours for Christmas?"
—————
On the 24th December, the snow lay heavily across the country. Emmy and Remus were out late that night, walking through the streets of Waterfleet on their way back from the shop.
They were in charge of desserts for Hestia and Axel's tomorrow and were taking it very seriously. They'd had Christmas at the Potters' for the past few years but Emmy had always missed cooking with all the wintery ingredients.
"Did we definitely get the icing sugar?"
"Yep."
"And cocoa powder?"
"Yep."
"And the-"
"Emmy, it's fine, we've got it," he laughed.
She sighed and readjusted the paper bag in her arms.
"Sorry, I just want to make this perfect. Hestia said Axel hasn't been feeling good about being in the wheelchair and I want to make this so special for them."
"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll enjoy some friendly faces and we can always leave early if he isn't comfortable."
"Thanks, Rem."
He smiled back before pulling a woolly hat out of his coat pocket and tugging it onto her head.
"Here, you look half frozen."
She protested at first but realised what she'd been missing and bumped his shoulder in appreciation.
When they got back they had to turn the heating all the way up and start the fire. It was often incredibly annoying not being able to use magic outside of school and this was one of those times.
They huddled next to the fireplace until it was warm enough to take their coats off. It was late at night when they finally began preparing the food so Remus put the radio on to try to liven them up a little and soon they were dancing around the kitchen to Jingle Bell Rock as they whisked the cream and mixed cake batter.
As Emmy put the last of the mince pies on the wire rack to cool, Remus packed the Christmas cake in the tin, careful not to dislodge the little reindeers on top.
"You don't think we've made to much do you?"
Remus winced as he took in the pavlova, trifle, Christmas cake and steaming mince pies.
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure they won't mind," he smiled, tucking her into his arms.
She nuzzled into his thick jumper, the smell of home immediately surrounding her. He kissed her forehead softly and smiled. He'd spent so long without her, that even now he still couldn't get used to the feeling of having her close again. It made his heart ache when he thought about all the time they'd missed together, it was never supposed to have been like this.
He flinched as the phone rang, disrupting the bittersweet moment, but went to pick it up anyway.
"Hello?"
"Moony, is that you?"
"Yeah it is. Everything alright?"
Emmy looked over with a frown. It was almost midnight and she knew how much James hated using the telephone unless he was speaking to Lily for hours on end during the holidays.
"It's Sirius. He hasn't come back since he went to pick up his stuff on the 22nd."
Emmy was over in a flash and tugged the phone from her brother's hand.
"What do you mean he hasn't come back?"
"Emmy, look... I just mean to say I haven't heard from him since then. He was going over to Grimmauld Place to get some of his things from Regulus, and he was supposed to come back here for Christmas. I thought he'd maybe stayed overnight somewhere in London because of the snow, but he hasn't turned up all day and I'm just worried something might have happened..." he rambled.
"Okay, we're coming over. We'll get your parents and go find him-"
"No don't, it's Christmas Eve! Look, I'm probably just overreacting but I wanted to let you guys know."
With that Remus took the phone out of Emmy's hands.
"Okay thanks James, let us know when he turns up mate?"
He put the phone down with a clatter.
"If he turns up," started a panicked Emmy as she pacing the floor.
"Please don't take this the wrong way, but you can't get involved."
She spluttered in indignation.
"No hear me out, okay? If you're really serious about breaking ties with him for his safety and you go running in there in a panic, they're going to know straight away."
"But-"
"Emmy, listen to me. I know how you're feeling, I want to floo straight to London and knock down that blasted front door. But there are death-eaters in there, people who will quite literally kill us, and you know Sirius wouldn't want that."
"But... but... oh Rem," she sniffled and launched herself into his arms.
"Hey, it's okay," he comforted her. But panic had gripped him too, he knew there was no way Sirius would miss Christmas at the Potters', especially without telling them why.
The clock stuck twelve, echoing through their little cottage. It was Christmas, but it didn't feel like it anymore.
"Come on, I'll make you some hot chocolate before bed."
—————
In the early hours of Christmas day, Emmy sat on her windowsill and wrapped her hands around the steaming mug, sipping slowly. The snow was still falling in the garden down below, drifting sleepily by.
She knew she must be cold, but she simply couldn't feel it. All she could think of was his face, that beautiful smile and the feeling of his lips on her.
With a sigh, she focused her drowsy eyes and turned away. Snuggling into the covers, she closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep but all she could think about was him.
—————
Christmas morning was bright and shining, the trees were heavy with snow and glistening with icicles. Emmy went down to the kitchen to find Remus leaning against the counter with a cup of tea in hand.
"Merry Christmas Emmy," he laughed as she went straight for the mince pies.
Through a pastry-stuffed mouth she replied, "Merry Christmas!"
He rolled his eyes and passed her a mug as they sat down together by the Christmas tree. The sun began to rise, painting the sky a brilliant red, as they opened their presents.
As the clock stuck eleven o'clock, a knock came at the door. Agnes and Hamish stood outside, wrapped up in thick woollen coats and scarves. The twins ushered them in out the cold and poured them some drinks.
"Oh, thank you dear," said Agnes, patting Emmy's arm as she brought her a large mug of tea. "Anyway, we didn't want to intrude-"
"Don't be silly, it's so lovely to see you!"
"We just thought we'd bring you some little Christmas presents and see how you were doing. Hamish dear, will you bring me that bag?"
He came over and helped her pull out a large flat box wrapped in brown paper and red ribbon.
"This one is for you, and I believe... oh yes there it is, Remus' present."
They both took them and sat down to open them. Remus thanked them both for the stack of muggle history books as Emmy still struggled to untie the ribbon. They laughed as she tugged it free at last and lifted the lid of the box.
Inside was the most beautiful dress of thick red velvet, with green and pink embroidered flowers flowing around the waist.
"I know it's rather old, it was one of mine you see, but I've redone the stitching and taken it in a little bit..."
Emmy hugged the old woman tightly, "It's gorgeous, thank you so much."
The elderly couple left a while later with a tin heavy with mince pies and Emmy practically sprinted upstairs to go and change into the dress as soon as they were gone.
Remus had already finished getting changed when she got back and was taking the trifle out of the fridge as she appeared at the top of the stairs.
He looked up at the sound of the creaking wood and his face lit up.
"You look beautiful, Emmy."
She smiled bashfully, "Thanks, Rem."
He was looking very dapper himself and she fussed with his hair as they were leaving.
"Please stop," he groaned, pouting like a five-year-old. She flicked his nose and left him be to pick up her bag.
They flooed into Oxford and walked through the snowy streets to Axel and Hestia's house. In hindsight the high heels weren't the best idea but she held onto his arm tightly as they navigated the pavement.
They had to dodge a snowball fight but made it to the house exhilarated and refreshed from the cold air. It was a pretty little cottage on a quiet street with fields at the end of the road. A thick leafy wreath hung from the front door and the smell of roasting vegetables filled the air.
Hestia opened the door with a beautiful smile.
"Hello! Come in, come in!"
She wrapped Emmy in a tight hug as soon as she stepped over the doorway.
"I'm so glad you could make it.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Emmy grinned.
She looked over her shoulder to see Remus and Axel laughing and shaking hands as they moved through to the kitchen. She began unloading the things they'd brought as Hestia went back to stirring the bread sauce.
She looked well, practically glowing in a blue silk wrap dress, but Axel was so much quieter than they remembered and whilst still handsome, appeared battle-weary and tired.
Emmy helped Hestia with the food as it came out of the oven and soon they were all sitting down at the table together. It was decorated lavishly with greenery and candles along the middle. She sat next to Axel and they chatted amicably throughout the meal.
Emmy was exceptionally pleased by how much brighter he seemed by the end and she even caught him gazing at Hestia with a little smile on his face as she chatted away to Remus.
She was distracted from her conversation with him when Remus brought over the desert.
"This all looks amazing, Emmy," Axel smiled, offering her a slice of pavlova.
"Ah thank you. Couldn't have done it without Remus though, I had the poor thing whisking cream until he couldn't feel him arms."
He laughed. "Can I get you some pavlova?"
"Oh yes please!"
It was exceptionally good dessert actually and they all tucked in with great enthusiasm.
They were stuffed after dinner and washing up took a while, but Hestia and Emmy turned up the radio and danced around the kitchen to 'Rocking around the Christmas tree.' Axel and Remus were in peals of laughter as they watched from the doorway.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing by the roaring fire in the living room. They tucked into the Christmas cake and played charades for a while before Hestia sat down at the piano and dragged Emmy over to sing for them.
They settled on a duet of 'Merry Christmas Everyone.' Emmy let the song carry her and for a moment all her troubles left her, she smiled giddily at Remus and he wrapped her in a hug as they finished, chuckling softly.
Axel and Remus were persuaded to sing 'It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas' much to the girls' amusement.
Afterwards, Emmy sat down at the piano and skimmed her hands over the keys. It had been a long time since she'd played but she just about remembered the chords. A silence fell as she began to play the first few bars of Joni Mitchell's 'River,' and the song swept the air.
"He tried hard to help me,
You know, he put me at ease,
And he loved me so naughty,
Made me weak in the knees."
She smiled to herself, the only thing on her mind Sirius' laughter and his arms holding her tight.
"Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on..."
Her fingers faltered but she kept going.
"I wish I had a river so long,
I would teach my feet to fly,
Oh, I wish I had a river..."
No one spoke for a second, then the ringing noise of the telephone pierced the air. Hestia picked it up carefully,
"Hello?"
"Hi, it's James Po-"
Emmy was there in a flash, Remus at her heels.
"James, have you heard from Sirius?" she interrogated, taking the phone.
There was a pause before he replied shakily, "I think you'd better come over."
———————
the dress from Agnes and Hamish...