Sweet Creature || Sirius Black

ꕤ act one ꕤ

𝕰𝖒𝖆𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖊 𝕻𝖊𝖙𝖙𝖎𝖌𝖗𝖊𝖜 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖘 behind her mother, partially hidden from view as her younger brother knocks rapidly on a mahogany door. She could die from embarassment when he beats at the entrance to the expansive manor with more force, but her mother only laughs, pulling his hand away to ring the doorbell.

The front door immediately swings open, revealing no one until they glance down to see a kindly house elf gesturing for them to come inside. Before Emaline can even blink, Peter is gone, running down a long hallway towards the raucous laughter of three other boys as though he's been here a thousand times before.

The twelve year old girl is far less comfortable stepping into a stranger's home, allowing her mother to lead her along as they follow the house elf down the same path Peter had so eagerly taken.

She couldn't blame him for leaving the Pettigrew ladies in the dust; the poor kid had done nothing but talk about his new friends and how badly he couldn't wait to return to Hogwarts all summer. When the Potters extended invitations to have all of the boys over, Peter would have simply died if his mother hadn't accepted on the condition that she meet these boys that have such an influence on her son.

"Mistress," the elf calls out, ushering the duo into a beautifully tiled kitchen with porcelain backsplashes. "The last of the guests have arrived."

"Thank you, Misty," Euphemia says, smiling brightly as she puts her wand away, allowing the frosting pipe to fall from where it had been magically decorating a cake. "Oh, Philomena! It's lovely to see you again."

The two women embrace and Emaline is suddenly unsure of what to do with herself, having no one to talk to now that her mother is distracted.

"Why don't you join the boys?" She suggests, startling when her daughter clears her throat unceremoniously to obtain her attention.

"They're about to play quidditch," Euphemia adds just as five boys run into the kitchen - though one is clearly younger than the rest and Emaline can't quite figure out if he's related to James or Sirius. "James is always thrilled to have more players."

"No way!" Peter whines, not liking the idea of his annoying older sister being a part of the limited time he has with his cooler friends in the slightest.

"Would you like to play with us?" James offers kindly despite the protest. "There's plenty of brooms, and Remus and Atlas don't wanna play."

Her shyness is forgotten and Emaline finds herself nodding excitedly, having never been one to turn down a game of quidditch, no matter who it's with.

"Brilliant! You and Sirius can be a team and-"

"Noo!" Sirius pouts dramatically in agreement with Peter, receiving a glare from James that could rival that of his mother's. "What? Girls have cooties!"

༻✧༺

Now fifteen, Emaline no longer needs her mother by her side in order to feel comfortable in the Potter's home. She sits in their parlor, chatting happily with Euphemia and Atlas about her vacation to America she went on with one of her friends and their family for three weeks.

She hadn't even been home for an hour before she convinced Philomena to let her out of her eyesight once again to fetch Peter from his friend's house, eager to see him as well after nearly a month apart.

The Pettigrews and Potters have always lived close to one another. Both families own homes on the outskirts of a quaint muggle town in the West of England, albeit on opposite ends. Once James and Peter became the best of friends, the children wasted no time in mapping out several paths leading to each house; Emaline took the quickest one today, the one that cuts directly through the small town, and ended up at her neighbor's doorstep in a matter of minutes.

Her laugh carries up the stairs as she struggles to get through her funny story and reaches the ears of four boys. Two of them are far more excited to hear the melodical sound and practically shove the other half of their group out of the way in their sudden race to reach her.

Sirius beats Peter by a landslide, completely skipping the last three stairs as he nearly barrels into Emaline, who was simply trying to follow Euphemia into the kitchen.

"Oh, my darling!" He greets her happily, hugging her as though they've been apart for ages. "I've missed you!"

It was no secret that Sirius Black, the boy who once claimed all girls have cooties, has developed a large crush on Emaline since their first encounter. Much like James and his everlasting desperate pursuit of Lily Evans, he's constantly attempted to woo the older girl for the past two years.

Unfortunately, Emaline wouldn't have any of it. Everyone knows dating someone younger than you, especially your little brother's best friend, is practically social suicide.

"Bugger off."

She rolls her eyes and shoves the boy away before greeting Peter with a much warmer welcoming.

His friends forgotten, it doesn't take much convincing before Peter is putting on his shoes to head home to hear all about his sister's travels. They bid Euphemia goodbye and are out the door just as James and Remus join Sirius at the bottom of the staircase.

"You've really got a knack for scaring women away, don't you, Padfoot?" James snickers, earning a rough elbow to the gut.

"Mark my words, Prongsy boy, she's going to fall in love with me."

"Yeah," Remus snorts. "And James is going to marry Lily."