the hat | 𝐬.𝐛

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟭 || To Solve a Note

Emery had gotten detention for a month.

Why?

Because she somehow managed to get the giant squid into McGonagall's office, resulting in the temporary closure of the transfiguration department for a week.

She also lured Mrs. Norris into a trap, using an empty can of tuna with a permanent sticking charm placed upon it. 

And she locked Filch up.

Filch was shaken up by Mrs. Norris' fate. Her head was stuck to the can of tuna, and it was impossible to get it off. He tried everything, but being a squib, not much could be done.

Eventually, he just decided to let Mrs. Norris' fur grow, so he could chop it off together with the can in a few weeks.

For now, Mrs. Norris was on hiatus, in special treatment.

Nobody had ever been so happy with Emery's pranks before. Rule breaking had increased to the maximum, since everyone knew that Mrs. Norris would not be able to find them. 

Another reason was because all students of Hogwarts were free from transfiguration for a week. It would take exactly a week until Professor McGonagall sorted out her affairs and got the transfiguration department back into order and up and running.

Majority of the students worshipped the ground Emery walked on, and she enjoyed the attention immensely.

Among these were the Marauders.

The Marauders trailed behind Emery like puppies, demanding how she did the trick with the giant squid, and how she managed to do three things at once without having any help, let alone being seen.

Emery just smirked and wished them a good day.

But they were persistent, for she got all the attention, and their once called 'legendary' pranks were mild compared to hers.

They followed her everywhere.

Eventually, by the second day, Emery got sick of them, and pranked them, causing all their books to show up blank.

They all got detention too, for being 'cheeky' in class, as Professor Flitwick put it.

They knew it was Emery.

No more did they disturb her, or bug her, but Emery knew that they'd start asking her once more, sometime in the future. Then, she'd do something else. 

For now, she would just enjoy the moment she got without their annoying pestering.

Emery was in the library, researching on the how she'd play her next prank without the blame falling on her. 

She had gone through three books so far, looking for interesting, rare spells to use, coming up with none so simple.

A figure sat near her.

"Hi," said Emery, without looking up.

"Erm, hi."

From his voice, Emery could tell it was Sirius Black.

She didn't reply, but let him speak. Obviously he wanted to talk to her if he approached her. She looked at him, silently hinting for him to go on.

He didn't say anything, but rather seemed fidgety and tense when she gave him her attention.

"Umm, Sirius?"

He snapped out of his daze. 

"Wha? Oh, yeah," he said, looking at her. "Umm, can we talk? I need to tell you something."

She furrowed her brows. "Oh. Erm, sure."

Sirius dug his hand into his pocket, taking out an extremely worn out piece of parchment, and placed it on the table.

Emery's eyes widened in recognition.

"But?... How?... That's.."

Sirius nodded slowly. 

"It's yours. At first, I didn't realize why I had it. I don't even remember when it landed in my pocket, and I just wanted to say, that I'm sorry for taking it, I mean, it was wrong to interfere in your business," he rambled nervously, running his hand through his hair.

Emery's eyes were transfixed on him. He was usually so calm and composed, but this state was completely new to Emery. Not knowing what to say, or reply with, she just kept silent.

She swallowed her spit, her throat sort of dry. 

"Y-yeah," she said. "That.. that's okay. I mean, if you didn't know. To be honest, I didn't realize it was missing, I've just had so much on my plate right now, and I didn't even get a chance to figure out what it means, or who it came from..."

"I know," blurted Sirius, interrupting her jabbering.

"What?" said Emery, not hearing what he said, due to her excessive talking.

Sirius gulped, messing his hair one more time, and twisting the rings on his fingers. 

"Erm," he started. "What I wanted to say was, please don't get mad at me," he said quickly. "It's just that... I was curious to find out what it means, and I sort of did some research, you know, and well, erm, I found out what it means."

Emery's eyes widened, her breath quickened. "What?"

She closed her eyes. "Holy mother of Merlin, and Merlin's grandchildren," she whispered to herself."

Then she looked at Sirius, into his vivid grey eyes. 

"You say... you've figured it out?" she managed to get out.

He nodded darkly.

She tilted her head, waiting for his response, or explanation.

"Well, then," murmured Emery. "What does it mean?"

Sirius took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Swallowing nervously, he opened them and let out his breath. 

"From your Father."

a/n: yes, i know, it was expected. well, what can i say?

elsie