Roses and Riots | f. weasley

Chapter 46: The Darkest of Times

Emilia, Harry, and the others were all brought to St Mungo's to get checked by the Healers after their ordeal at the Department of Mysteries, and Remus sat by Emilia's bedside, refusing to let her or Harry out of his sight.

Emilia hadn't spoken a word, gripping Remus' hand tightly and feeling her throat growing tight whenever she couldn't see him or Harry nearby.

Harry slept for the majority of the time they were at St Mungo's, and Emilia told Remus that she wanted to speak to Dumbledore, having seen the old wizard arriving to check on the progress of Harry's healing.

Dumbledore arrived and she sat up on her hospital bed and asked Remus to give her a moment alone with Dumbledore.

She felt angry, furious even, and she couldn't explain it, but she wanted answers, honest answers.

"You have something you wish to know, Emilia," Dumbledore said, sitting on the end of her bed.

Emilia thought about her words carefully, though really she wanted to scream and break something. She took a deep breath and looked straight into the old wizard's grey eyes.

"The night my parents died, you took my memories to protect me, but I want to know if you gave them all back," she said as calmly as she could manage.

If Dumbledore was surprised by her question, he didn't show it.

He studied her for a moment, and then nodded, "yes, Emilia. Every memory I took, I returned to you."

"Then why didn't I know wh-who Sirius was when his name and face was all over the papers two years ago?" she asked, her voice breaking while saying his name.

"You were three years old when you saw him last, before seeing him again two years ago, there was no magic involved I can assure you," Dumbledore told her.

He sounded truthful, so Emilia nodded, accepting his answer.

Dumbledore eyed her sympathetically, "I understand why you wish to know, Emilia, you want to ensure you remember every moment you've ever had with him, to hold onto him."

Emilia's eyes filled with tears, and she nodded, and after a moment she spoke again, "does it ever get any easier? Losing people you love?"

She knew that Dumbledore had lost people close to him, she could recognise the weight of it on his shoulders, just as it was on hers and Harry's.

Dumbledore sighed, "no, it doesn't. But we learn to live with it."

They were quiet for a moment and then Emilia looked up at him, "there was something else. When...when he saw me, he seemed shocked, confused, even. He said...he said that I should be dead."

Dumbledore's brow furrowed, "he said that to you?"

Emilia nodded, "I told him he should've killed me when he'd had the chance, and he said...he said he did."

Dumbledore looked genuinely unsure, surprised even, and he stood up from her bed after a moment of thought, "perhaps he overestimated his abilities that night, believing he'd only left one survivor, albeit by accident. Do not trouble yourself with this, Emilia, it may have been an attempt at unnerving you."

Emilia didn't say anything else, and then Dumbledore bid her goodbye and left, and Remus returned and sat with her once again, not asking any questions since he knew she'd talk to him when she was ready to.

McGonagall came to the hospital the following morning to bring Harry, Hermione, Neville and Luna back to Hogwarts to get their things, and Molly and Arthur Weasley arrived shortly after to bring Emilia, Ron, and Ginny back to the Burrow, where their belongings had already been sent.