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chapter seven

"THE PARENTAL SITUATION"

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     Little lights twinkled on the Christmas tree in the living room, reflecting against the window it stood in front of. Presents wrapped in shiny paper sat underneath the tree's branches. For a couple minutes, a small grey rabbit had been sitting between two of the wrapped presents, but was quickly scooped up by his owner.

     Emilia Elodie Salvatore, aged ten, sat next to the Christmas tree. Her rabbit Ripper sat on her lap. On the sofa, her sister Mona had her legs spread across the seat-cushions, reading some book to do with Transfiguration. Her brother Chandler and her other sister Paisley were fighting over the space both had on the other sofa, until their godfather Capulet walked into the living room. As soon as he appeared, a mildly pleasant look on his face and a glass of whisky in his hand, both of them scattered and stopped the arguing.

     "There's enough space for four on each sofa," said Capulet. Mona was slowly moving her position so she was no longer spread out across one of them. "Is there a reason why Emilia Elodie's on the floor?"

     "Because that ugly rabbit of hers scratched me—!"

     Capulet looked at Mona, and then at Emilia. Until then, she had been pretty happy on the floor. She didn't mind sitting near the tree, she liked the lights and Ripper could move around if he wanted to. She'd only gotten him the week before, she was excited to have her new friend around. But now that her siblings were back from school, she no longer had the house to herself, and Ripper was being called dirty vermin by the three oldest Salvatore siblings.

     "The rabbit must've been scared," said Capulet. He smiled at Little Emilia Elodie. He turned back to Mona, who was holding her book tighter than before. Her usual smirk had dissolved into a frown. "Mona, move up, there's room for your sister. And three other people."

     Mona moved. Capulet nodded at her. The second his back was turned, she allowed her annoyance to wash over her features. Emilia held onto Ripper. She felt bad, but she still wanted to be on the floor, just in case. She was on the carpet, anyway, and she worried that Mona would scare Ripper and kill him. The nice man at the pet shop told her that. Rabbits can die of fear. It scared her, really.

     As Capulet sat between Paisley and Chandler, Emilia bit the bullet and sat next to Mona. A couple minutes passed, and in that time, the tension in the room had become so thick it could be cut with a knife. Emilia was about to make an excuse to leave, but a piece of paper fell out of Mona's book.

     Mona tried to grab it before anyone question it, but before she could, Capulet looked up. "What's that, Mona?" he said.

     Next to him, both Chandler and Paisley's eyes widened. The envelope was light green, and Emilia figured that was why the two of them looked shocked. Emilia didn't know why. Maybe it was a school teacher, maybe their school sent different coloured envelopes depending on the subject...

     Mona didn't respond.

     Paisley looked like she was about to wet herself with excitement. "Is that from Mum?" she asked. "Oh Godric, Mona, you got a letter from Mum—!"

     "It's nothing," said Mona. She kept on looking at Capulet cautiously. He was frowning at her. Emilia tried to be extra-nice to Ripper so he didn't get worried and then scared and then die. "It's just telling me to stop writing to her."

     "You've been writing to her?" asked Chandler. "And you didn't say you found her?"

     "Of course not!" said Mona. She stood up, clutching the envelope. "And yeah, Malfoy helped me out — but she didn't like any of you, she just liked me, I was her favourite, not any of you—!"

     Chandler snapped, "If you're her favourite, then why's she telling you to clear off?"

     Emilia felt stupid listening in. She had no clue what they were on about. She had been one when they ended up with their godfather and uncle, and his wife. Her siblings were old enough to remember both of their parents. Emilia knew nothing. All she knew were the conversations like this, when it was just a snippet of a wider picture she couldn't even imagine.

     She didn't even know what her parents looked like. She wasn't nine, she knew they would look like her and her siblings, but she didn't know their exact appearances. She didn't know how they dress, or how they talk, or how they acted. She didn't know what their old house looked like. But her siblings did. They were a part of an exclusive club, knowing their parents, and they didn't view her worthy enough of joining.

     "You found your mother's address?" asked Capulet. Mona nodded. She stepped back, ever-so-slightly. "You do remember what she did to you, don't you?"

     "Yes, I do," said Mona. "She was loving and caring until she came along and ruined the whole damned thing!"

     She pointed at Emilia. Emilia's stomach dropped.

     Capulet let out, "Go to your room—!"

     Mona snapped, "Well, she was!"

     "UPSTAIRS!"

     He gestured to the open door. Emilia began checking for Ripper's heartbeat. He was fine. Thankfully. Emilia sighed in relief.

     Mona stormed out. Paisley and Chandler, for once, exchanged a look and walked out together, muttering different excuses. Emilia watched her godfather sit back down, and she frowned.

     How did she cause their mum to leave? Where even was she? Why did she give them up? She didn't get any of this, and every time it was brought up (every time her siblings blamed her, or complained about it) she never got the full story. She just got snippets, sentences from a longer conversation she didn't quite catch.

     A minute passed. Capulet was opening up a folded copy of the Daily Prophet, and had already began to snort at the headline. Emilia frowned. Her heart began to beat a little faster, but she had to ask. She was desperate to know something more than it was her fault their parents gave them up.

     "Um, Uncle Capulet?" said Emilia.

     She tried not to hug or stroke Ripper, in case she was a little too strong and she didn't notice. Just asking about this felt risky, and most likely, she was going to get told off for it. She didn't want to get shouted at and lose her rabbit. Her new best friend. She wasn't allowed to play with the muggle children, her aunt and uncle didn't like the idea of blood mixing.

     "Yes?"

     Emilia counted from three down to one. She'd say it in three, two, one—

     "What actually happened with my parents?"

     Capulet looked at her, like he was thinking things through. Emilia was waiting for an explosion, to get shouted at and told to go to her bedroom.

     But it didn't happen.

     Instead, he smiled.

     "Well, you see..."

***

     "My mum, Marie, had this boyfriend towards the end of her seventh year," said Emilia. She had taken off her robe to use it as a cushion, since the stone floor was cold and uncomfortable. Her jumper's sleeves had been rolled up to her elbows. "And apparently, he was really nice."

     "There's a but coming," said Sirius. Emilia smiled and nodded. She was holding onto one of his hands to steady it, so she wouldn't be as likely to smudge the nail polish. "You'd have to sell your soul for that kind of ending."

     "Oh, yeah, all of the Disney princesses are secretly corrupted like Dorian Gray," said Emilia. She shook her head. "Could you imagine? All of them lined up next to the devil because they wanted to marry the weirdo that kissed the corpse in the forest..."

     "Which one's that?"

     "I think the Snow White one? I've only seen a couple of them, I'd get told off at home, since they're muggle films..." said Emilia. "But, yeah, Marie was given the choice to either wait a while and marry her boyfriend, or marry the rich man her dad had found. She chose her boyfriend, but she quickly went to the rich man, because she wanted expensive things and her first husband couldn't afford it."

     "Charming," said Sirius.

     Emilia nodded. "The rich man's my dad, but I don't know his name. I've resorted to calling him John. It's weird to call him Dad," she said. "But, yeah, so, John wanted children and Marie didn't, but Marie went through with it anyway. And then, when I was one, John left. Marie asked her dad — my grandad, Rupert —"

     "Grindelwald's friend?"

     "Grindelwald's friend, yeah. She asked him to look after us for a night, she never returned, and we ended up with my Uncle Capulet and Aunt Donna," said Emilia. She finished up the first hand. "Don't touch anything. It'll smudge and I've got no nail polish remover on me."

     Sirius rolled his eyes. "I've painted my nails before, Salvatore," he said. She pulled a face, deciding to wait a couple minutes before painting the next hand. "I wish my parents abandoned me."

     "Um, that's nice?"

     "I can say that, right?"

     "Why are you asking me?"

     "Because you were—"

     "Oh! I thought you meant, like, if you could say it about your parents!"

     "Oh, no, they were awful, I was asking in case it would upset you—"

     "Why would it?" she said. "Capulet and Donna are pretty much my parents. I didn't know the other two. My siblings did, and they're still pissed off about it... And, anyway, weren't your parents terrible?"

     "Fuck-awful, they were," said Sirius. "How'd you—?"

     "Hufflepuffs gossip," said Emilia. Sirius' eyes widened, and she laughed. "They do! You should hear my common room at the start of term, it's mad."

     "Hufflepuffs gossip," said Sirius.

     "Hufflepuffs gossip," said Emilia, nodding.

     He moved to put his arms behind his back, but she lunged forwards to stop him. She had grabbed onto his wrists, her face a few centimetres away from his. Very quickly, she moved backwards, and awkwardly said, "You would've smudged the nail polish, um."

     "If you wanted to kiss me—"

     "You wish," she muttered. "The nail polish should probably be dry now, anyway. Give me your other hand, I'll start on that one."

     "I'm surprised you have black," said Sirius.

     "It's one of my house colours, genius."

     Sirius laughed. "That's not very Hufflepuff of you."

     "Yeah, it is," said Emilia. "It's pretty fair to be sarcastic when you forget one of my house colours."

     "All right, you've got a point," said Sirius. Emilia smiled smugly. He shook his head, and he moved his hand. She started to paint his thumbnail. "You know, I probably could do this myself."

     "I realise that now," she said. "You can, if you want."

     "I don't mind you—"

     "You just want me to hold your hand," said Emilia. She shook her head, a small smile on her face. He raised his eyebrows at her. "And here I was, thinking that you were good getting with girls and boys. You're pretty shit, Black."

     He put his hand — the one she wasn't holding — against his heart.

     "That's not very Hufflepuff of you," said Sirius.

     Emilia shrugged. "Well, I didn't think Gryffindors had fragile egos but," she paused to grin at him, "if the shoe fits."

     "Again," said Sirius. "Not very Hufflepuff."

     "Not very Gryffindor."

     Both exchanged a look and laughed. Emilia finished the last nail. She began to screw the top back onto the nail polish bottle.

     "Wait, no, I can do yours," he said. She frowned, but then shrugged and gave him one hand. "I heard about your brother, by the way. It's a good thing he had this happen before they start to chuck people straight into Azkaban—"

     Her eyes widened. "What happened?"

     "They let him go?" said Sirius. "You didn't know?"

     "Well, obviously not—"

     "I don't like you when you're sarcastic."

     "So I see Gryffindor's don't tell the truth, either," said Emilia. Sirius paused painting her nails to give her a look. She smiled. "He's not going to Azkaban?"

     "That's what Moony said earlier," said Sirius. Emilia frowned. "It was in the Prophet, I think. Apparently one of his co-workers was responsible instead. And your uncle was pissed off about it."

     Emilia's eyes narrowed. "Well, that makes sense."

     She had a bad feeling. What her uncle said to her in that letter, what he said to Sprout (well, what he tried to say) ... He had made himself obvious that he'd throw others under the bus to protect his own blood. Maybe—

     No. He couldn't have! Chandler, of all people, was surely not capable of being affiliated with that group they mention in the papers. In what world would Chandler, the one that didn't have a shred of courage or loyalty in his body, manage to become a member of that group?

     Emilia didn't know whether to feel relieved or nervous. Because, for one, her brother wasn't a criminal, but, on the other hand, what if there was more to the story?

     What if there's more to her uncle's story?

***

     Emilia's plan was to hunt down Dinah, since she had a subscription to the Daily Prophet. She hated it, but she had it, and Emilia wished that she had done the same. She should be aware of this. She's going head-first into the world next summer, she should at least know something about the damned place.

     She had checked the dungeons, but she had been told by Carmilla that Dinah had wandered off an hour ago.

     The next place she checked was the hall, and then the kitchen, and now, she was walking in the direction of the library. Sometimes, Dinah ditched the three of them to do homework on her own. And, normally, Emilia would leave her be, but this felt urgent, and Emilia knew her best friend well enough to know that she'd prefer to resume her essay later than to keep another one of their quartet worrying.

     She walked into the library, and tried to find Dinah in the first couple rows of tables. Most of the students were the younger years, which was brilliant. She figured she'd walk down the aisles of bookcases to check that she hasn't sat elsewhere. Or, to be fair, she might have returned to the dungeons by now.

     Emilia spotted one of the tables with two Gryffindors in her year. She sighed with relief. They might have seen Dinah, and they'd know who she was talking about if she asked. The younger years most likely would look at her and ask, "Who?" if she asked them about Dinah's whereabouts.

     She walked up to the table. Lily Evans and Remus Lupin, whom had been laughing about something, looked at her. "Um, hello," said Emilia. "I know we haven't really spoken, but—?"

     "You're friends with Sirius, right?" asked Lily.

     Emilia frowned. "I might be?"

     "Yeah, you are," said Remus.

     Emilia felt even more confused. Lily smiled at her.

     "Um, you know Dinah Monarda, right?"

     "Slytherin? Purple hair?" asked Lily. Emilia nodded. "Yeah, she was here earlier, but she left a while back... Are you looking for her?"

     "Yeah, uh," Emilia paused. A minute passed, and during it, she debated whether to explain herself. To get them involved. She felt weird explaining her parental situation to Sirius. It felt nice to explain it, since the last time she'd spoken about it was to her friends a few years ago. She still didn't like speaking about it, though. She worried that people might side with her siblings and dislike her for it. She felt stupid thinking it, but she couldn't help worrying about it.

     But, what was the harm in mentioning that she was looking for the newspaper to find out about her brother? That wasn't harmful to mention, right?

     She decided to take the chance. "She's got a subscription to the Daily Prophet, and I wanted to read the article on my brother," said Emilia. "It doesn't matter, I'll find her somewhere—"

     "Hold on," said Remus. Emilia frowned. He gestured to the table next to them, where a copy of the newspaper was sitting, a picture of her brother sitting underneath the headline.

     Lily moved to the chair next to hers, motioned for Emilia to sit down (which she hesitantly did), and then leant over to the table. The group on the table — two girls, both with Ravenclaw uniforms, and one boy, also Ravenclaw — stopped their conversation and frowned at Lily.

     "Do you mind if we borrow this?" she said.

     One girl shrugged and nodded. Lily took the newspaper, and passed it to Emilia. Emilia smiled at her. She felt strange sitting here. Both were nice, don't get her wrong, but she felt weird.

     SON OF CAPULET SALVATORE INNOCENT

     Earlier this month, Chandler Salvatore had been accused of helping numerous pureblood elitists. At first it was believed that Salvatore had affiliations with the Death Eaters (turn to page 5 regarding what we know about the group) but at the end of the court case, it was announced that Salvatore had, in fact, been framed by a co-worker. It is believed that the co-worker, a muggleborn, was jealous of his blood status.

     Capulet Salvatore, a retired Ministry official and adoptive father of Chandler Salvatore, had become involved in the case two days ago. Allegedly, the concluding evidence that proved Salvatore's innocence was brought forward by Capulet Salvatore.

     The article went on to flatter her godfather. She rolled her eyes. She really didn't want to read about that.

     "Your brother's free, then," said Remus. "That's good."

     "Well, I suppose so," said Emilia. Because, for all I know, Capulet could've covered for Chandler. "I don't get along well with my siblings."

     "Tell me about it," said Lily. She sighed and moved her head back, before fidgeting in her chair and turning to Emilia. "You're the youngest, right?" Emilia nodded. "Same here. And then, here we have Remus," she paused to snigger, "whose an only child."

     "Or, maybe," said Remus, "a lone wolf."

     Lily looked disappointed. Emilia frowned.

     "Do wizards use the saying, though, about middle children?" asked Lily. She was looking more towards Emilia, who still felt a little odd. Remus frowned at Lily. "As in, the middle child's the forgotten child?"

     "Yes!" said Emilia. "My eldest sister says it to my other sister, and my brother!"

     "It's not true, though," said Remus.

     Lily rolled her eyes. "I'm aware, Remus," she said. Emilia frowned, and Lily smiled at her. "He fancies someone that's the middle child."

     "Lovely," said Emilia.

     Lily nodded. "It is."

     And, to Emilia's personal surprise, she ended up losing track of time, sitting at that table in the library for Godric knows how long. She began to feel a little less strange.

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so hello today we've learnt about emilia's parents and believe me, there's more to her family but i wanted to explain the situation with her parents. also i really like how this chapter turned out??

emilia met/spoke to remus and lily and i stand by what i said with her not being that close with the canon characters but i felt the need for her to at least **speak** to them a little bit?

(also unrelated but do you guys know what the ship name is for em and sirius bc i have no clue lmao)

i hope you enjoyed, and let me know what you thought!!

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