Emery stopped dead.

"What?" she questioned, looking at him intently, her eyes focused solely on his.

"That's what it says," said Sirius promptly. "From your father."

Once more, Emery's thought she heard wrong. 

Out of the blue, a note turns up from her father. Then she gets a dream that he's dead. It was too far fetched and unbelievable.

"No," whispered Emery lowly. "No," she repeated, shaking her head. 

Her voice was shaky and unstable. 

"No. That- That's not true," she murmured. "It's not true."

Her eyes began to water. "No," she kept on repeating, over and over. "Not true."

Sirius stared at her as she muttered to herself. He noticed that she was on the verge of crying, and he desperately wished he hadn't intervened in her business.

He cleared his throat, getting Emery's attention. 

"Emery," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."

That was all it took for Emery to blow up.

"You foul git!" she shouted, "it's not funny, you know that?"

Sirius stood with his mouth open, words failing him. 

"I- I didn't.." 

She snatched the note off his fingers, and glared at him, hatred pulsing through her veins. "DON'T TALK TO ME!" she yelled, pulling her hair out of frustration.

She let out a sob as a tear trickled down her cheek and dropped to the floor with a splash.

"Look..." Sirius started.

"YOU HEAR ME?" she cried. "YOU CAN'T JUST PLAY A PRANK ON SOMEONE LIKE THAT!"

"Emery..."

"QUIET! I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU!" she shrieked, her voice finally breaking with tears.

Then, ignoring the angry librarian and the other students, who sat there in shock, staring at them, Emery raged out of the library, storming all the way to her dormitory.

Behind her, Sirius was left standing in stupor, wondering exactly what he did wrong.

***

Emery was seen nowhere the rest of the day, and even throughout the evening.

Rumors had passed throughout the school of what happened in the library, each unlikelier than the next.

Some said Sirius played a prank on him, others said he asked her out. Some even said that he was using Emery to make another girl jealous.

None of them were correct, however.

Emery was curled up in the corner of her bed, and the hangings were down, obscuring her from the sight of all. She didn't make a single sound, a trait that was completely opposite to her normal state.

Nobody knew she was there, nobody heard her, nobody saw her. She sobbed silently, hugging her knees and staring into space.

Although she knew she was making a big deal out of what happened, she was still hurt from the fact that her father was gone.

Nobody knew the whole truth about Emery's father, except from Cecilia. Emery had told no one else, and she hoped it would stay that way.

Now that she'd overreacted on Sirius' statement, he was sure to be suspicious of it, and would probably tell his friends. 

That was what Emery didn't want. 

The truth was, she hoped Sirius was right, and at the same time, she was angry at him for figuring it out before her. 

She looked at the note again. 

Could it be true, what Sirius said? 

Or was he just toying with her?

Emery didn't know what to feel or what to do, so she just sat and stared at the deep blue drapes of her bed.

That was how Cecilia Wood found her that night.

"Em," Cecy whispered from the outside. 

Emery didn't reply. 

"Em," Cecilia continued, "I know you're in there."

No answer.

Cecilia sighed, and came closer to the bed, moving the drapes aside and climbing up onto the bed. She inched closer to Emery, and placed a warm hand on her knee.

"Em, look, I know you're upset, but sulking isn't going to solve anything," murmured Cecilia, wrapping an arm around her cousin. "Accept the situation, my love. My dad left me when I was a baby, and I've never even got to meet him at all."

At this, Emery let out a cry.

"You're so lucky you grew up with him, even if it was just for a while," added Cecilia, rubbing her hand on Emery's back. "You've been so brave all this time, don't stop now, make him proud. If he was here, he wouldn't like to see you cry, would he?"

Emery shook her head slowly, tears pouring down her cheeks.

Cecilia's voice was calming, and soothed the beast inside Emery. She was gentle, and sweet, and knew exactly what to say to cheer her cousin up. 

"I- I just miss him so much," Emery choked, then let out a sob. 

"I know, I know," murmured Cecilia, before pulling Emery into a hug. "Come here," she said.

Emery straightened her legs and reciprocated the hug, burying her head into Cecy's shoulder. "Oh, Cecy," she murmured. "What would I do without you?"

Cecilia smiled, and patted Emery. "We'll always be there for each other, okay?"

Emery smiled back, nodding. 

"Okay," she sniffed. "As long as you can tolerate me."

Cecilia giggled. "Of course I can. Half of the time I get upset at you is all pretense," she admitted.

"CECY!" squealed Emery, before lightly hitting her cousin on the shoulder.

Cecilia laughed.

"Oh," said Cecilia, remembering something. "I ran into Black earlier, by the way."

Emery grimaced. "I don't..."

"Just listen," huffed Cecy.

"Oh, alright," said Emery. "But you owe me a box of ice mice next Hogsmeade trip."

Cecilia rolled her eyes, then launched into speech. "Black said he solved the note, and it really said 'from your father.' At first, I didn't believe him, but he said it's in Greek." 

Emery furrowed her brows. "What? How come I didn't think of it?"

Cecilia shrugged, and continued, "When I asked for proof, he said his mother made him learn Greek, and showed me a Greek dictionary. And, I think he's right."

Emery breathed out loud. "Oh, dear, and I made such a fuss."

"Anyway, he just wanted me to apologize to you on his behalf. He said he's really sorry for interfering, and he just wanted to help," finished Cecilia.

Guilt pumped through Emery as she remembered all the foul words she spoke to Sirius, and how she yelled at him, embarrassing him in front of everyone.

"Oh, God," she murmured. "I was so rude to him. I need to apologize, I mean, he was just trying to help, and I went and yelled at him. Oh, Merlin's grandmother, I feel so guilty, imagine how horrible he felt..."

She trailed off, before sitting up abruptly, and climbing off the bed.

"Em, where are you going?" inquired Cecy.

"To apologize."

"Are you crazy? It's way past curfew, and you'll get caught."

"So?"

"So you'll get detention," explained Cecilia.

"Yeah, but I already have a whole month's detention, what harm could another one do?" Emery reasoned.

Cecilia raised an eyebrow. "If you get another detention, then you'll miss the first Hogsmeade visit," she said.

"Oh."