Emery Fowl had majority of the train ride with the Marauders. 

First she had a seed-eating contest with Sirius, and by the time they were done with the third packet, Remus had gotten so sick of the noise and threatened to chase them out. They stopped midway, but Emery was confident that if anyone would win, it would be her.

Sirius disagreed. He said he would win.

Sadly, they never found out.

The Marauders and Emery then moved on to a discussion about whether or not Madam Pince and Filch were having a secret romance affair, but they were laughing too hard to continue their conversation, and the topic switched to the Quidditch cup.

Eventually, they got bored, and moved to playing exploding snap. They played game after game, and Emery, thoroughly exhausted, leaned back to sit in between James and Sirius. 

They were casually watching an intense game of Wizarding chess between Remus and Peter, when Sirius made Emery a chocolate frog- chocolate frog sandwich, oblivious to Remus and James smirking to each other.

At some point, Sirius, who had been too tired to carry on talking, leaned his head on the window and fell asleep, while the rest continued their debate on whether Remus or Peter would win.

When James Potter went outside to bug Lily Evans, the compartment was eerily silent, especially due to the lack of input from both James and Sirius.

Emery, suddenly feeling very sleepy, randomly blurted weird comments as she watched the stagnant chess game, which was in the same position as it was half an hour ago.

Remus moved his knight forward.

About ten minutes later, she yawned and fell asleep.

On Sirius' shoulder.

When James entered the compartment, he saw Emery sleeping on Sirius, and his face displayed a happy grin.

"Aww," he purred. "She looks so cute when she's sleeping, doesn't she?"

Remus, who hadn't noticed that both Sirius and Emery were asleep, nearly choked on his chocolate when he saw how Sirius had unknowingly moved his arm and rested it on her shoulders.

James was about to touch Emery's face when Remus slapped his fingers away.

"Shh," he snapped. "You'll wake them, you idiot."

James sheepishly pulled back his hand and stood up.

That was when he caught sight of their position.

"HOLY SHI-ARGHMMFFF!"

Remus quickly covered James' mouth. The two exchanged a look, and began sniggering silently. 

Unfortunately, James' outburst had been enough to wake Sirius up.

Sirius groggily opened his eyes, and on seeing James and Remus, he raised an eyebrow.

"Wuzzgoinon?" he muttered.

The pair looked at him guiltily. 

"Nothing much. The chess game is still going on," Remus said quickly, glancing at a sleeping figure of Peter.

Sirius, feeling numb all over, was about to get up and stand, when Remus and James pushed him back to the seat.

"No no no no no," James whispered. 

"Don't get up," added Remus.

Sirius looked at them quizzically. "Why?"

Remus pointed to his shoulder. 

"Emery's sleeping," said James. "She must be tired, seeing as she was with you last night," he teased.

"Will you shut up about that?" Sirius hissed. 

Ignoring James, Sirius looked down at the sleeping Ravenclaw girl.

His heart melted at the sight.

Emery, fast asleep on his shoulder was the epitome of adorableness. She emitted some sort of comforting warmth, and Sirius found himself smiling at the sight. He didn't know why, but his heartbeat seemed to increase as he felt her head on his upper arm.

Her short, wavy blonde hair was splayed messily on his arm, and her bangs covered her face. Her eyes were shut almost angelically, and her mouth was slightly open, her cheeks tinted pink from the cold. With one hand, she was gripping Sirius' arm, while the other rested in her lap.

Sirius bent down to get a better look at her. Noticing she was shivering, he took his leather jacket and draped it over her, then moved his hand to brush away the bangs from her face.

Then, he wrapped his arm around her, securing her in place, in order to make her more comfortable.

James and Remus made eyes at each other, careful not to make Sirius suspect a thing.

Sirius buried his face into Emery's hair, smelling her blonde locks. His nose was hit by a wave of sweet jasmine shampoo, and she smelled of cookies and chocolate. There was a hint of some sort of perfume, but Sirius didn't recognize it.

He lifted his legs, placing them on the opposite chair then crossing them, his ankles showing slightly.

James retched.

Sirius' head snapped up at him. "What?" he asked sharply.

"Nothing," chortled James. Then he caught Remus eye and the two began guffawing with laughter.

"Shhhhh," hushed Sirius, gesturing to Emery. "Can't you see she's sleeping?"

At this, the two boys calmed down and continued their wrecked game of chess, Sirius watching them as he stole frequent glances at Emery, occasionally reaching out to tuck her hair behind her ear or cover her with his jacket properly.

When the train blew the final whistle, indicating that they had reached the station, Sirius gently woke Emery up.

When she didn't stir, he lifted her up, over his shoulder, and placed his hands on her back, holding her in place so she wouldn't fall, and carefully made his way out of the compartment.

Before leaving the train, he saw a glimpse of platinum blonde hair ahead of him. 

"Oi!" he called. "Cecilia!"

Cecilia turned her head to face Sirius. Pulling him into an empty compartment, she looked at him questioningly.

Sirius gestured to Emery, placing her on the seat in the compartment.

"She's fallen asleep," he told her. "I have no idea what to do. Should I wake her up, or hand her to her mother?"

Cecilia shook her head. She bent down to look at Emery's face. Then, she smirked at Sirius' obliviousness.

"Just leave her here," said Cecilia loudly. "She has her stuffed duck, so she'll be fine."

Sirius's eyes widened. "But-"

Cecilia leaned over and pulled him down. "She's pretending," she whispered into his ear.

"But she was asleep only moments ago," Sirius whispered back.

"She must have woken up while you were carrying her," Cecilia said.

"But why would she-"

"Pretend?" Cecilia whispered. "She likes being carried. Her dad used to do it all the time when she was asleep."

"Oh," said Sirius. "Well in that case, so be it," he murmured cheerfully.

He leant over Emery, moving his mouth to her ear. She shivered slightly, sensing him close by.

"I know you're awake," he breathed, moving her hair away from her face, his finger grazing across her cheek. 

Emery's cheek felt as if it were on fire.

 Slowly, color began to fill her face. 

"You're blushing," he murmured into her ear. "I can see it."

The tips of her lips inched upward slightly, and she fought her smile off, trying to keep her face void of any emotion.

Sirius saw her almost-smile.

Then he stood up, nodding at Cecilia for confirmation. "She's awake," he mouthed. Then, he brought his fingers to her waist and began tickling her.

Emery couldn't keep still any longer. Her lungs felt as if they would burst, and she was shaking with pent up laughter.

Sirius tickled her once more, very slightly.

That was the breaking point. 

Emery let out a gurgle of laughter, and her eyes fluttered open as she gazed into Sirius' stormy grey eyes, enticed with mischief. 

"I knew it," Sirius muttered. "You've been awake, haven't you?"

Emery nodded slightly, blushing once more.

Sirius nodded thoughtfully. "So you like to be carried, hmm?"

"Well..." she began, blushing furiously.

"Speak no more," said Sirius, and he hoisted her over his shoulder and out of the train.

"Sirius," she squealed. "Put me down, what are you doing?"

She tried escaping, but Sirius had a very firm grip on her.

"Sirius," she said, laughing as she hung upside down. "Let me go."

Sirius smirked.

Once they were out of the train, Sirius put Emery down, who immediately scanned the platform looking for her mother.

On seeing the elegantly dressed woman, she beamed. 

"MAMAAAAA!" she hollered, running to her mother at top speed, nearly knocking her mother over as she jumped over her and wrapped her arms around her.

Her mother pursed her lips and tried ignoring the strange looks she got from others.

"Emery," she sighed happily. "How was Hogwarts?"

"It was great! The first week I pranked everyone, and then I lost my hat, and then I found it, and then I went to the ball, and then I got attacked by death eaters, and Sirius and I fed the ants sunflower seeds and I.."

She broke off her rambling.

"Oh my God!" she said loudly. "I forgot to introduce you to Sirius," Emery whined. 

She shoved her bag near her mother, and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Wait, right here," she said. "I'll be right back."

She saw Sirius with the Potters and dragged him off to meet her mother, ignoring his protests of refusal. 

"Sirius," she said. "This is Mama."

Emery beamed at her mother. "Mama," she began. "This is my friend Sirius. He's the one who found my hat."

Sirius leant forwards and kissed the older woman's hand. 

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Fowl," he said.

Emery's mother smiled at Sirius warmly. "Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you dear, Emery's told me so much about you."

"Er, she did?" he said awkwardly.

Mrs. Fowl laughed lightly. "She writes to me about all your adventures," she said cheerfully. 

Sirius smiled at Emery, who grinned back.

Emery's mother looked at her watch. "Oh, Emery, I must say, it's getting late," she said worriedly. "I left home in such a rush."

Emery pouted. "Okay," she sighed. "I guess that means goodbye," she said sadly, looking at Sirius. 

"Goodbye, Tornado," Sirius chuckled. "Write to me. I'll be at the Potters' place."

Emery nodded. "You too. Write to me, I mean," she said.

"Safe travels, Mrs. Fowl," Sirius said, saluting Emery's mother. 

"Thank you dear," she said. "Do join us for dinner one of the days," she added. "It would be wonderful to have you over."

Emery nearly cried with pleasure as she beamed at her mother's words.

"I'm waiting in the car, Em, darling," said her mother, before taking Emery's trunk and disappearing around the corner. 

Emery knotted her hands tightly around Sirius' neck.

"See you," she murmured into his neck, inhaling his homely scent of seeds, whiskey and cologne. "I'll miss you," she said solemnly.

Sirius awkwardly placed his arms around her back, tugging her closer. "Yeah," he said hoarsely, the smell of jasmine engulfing him. "Bye. I'll miss you too. Take care."

Emery hugged him warmly once more then tiptoed slightly to stand on her toes. Still embracing him, she gently lifted her head up and on instinct, placed her lips on Sirius' face, pecking a small kiss on his cheek.

Then, ignoring the dizzy feeling in her head, she held her hat in place, and turned in the direction of the car, her lips buzzing with electricity.

Behind her, Sirius stood open mouthed, as he watched Emery's retreating figure getting smaller and smaller.

A single spot on his cheek tingled, and his fingers reached up to touch it, as he stood frozen.

Holy crap.

a/n: THIS CHAPTER WAS SO FREAKING CUTE!!! OMFG THESE TWO WILL KILL ME. THEY'RE SO ADORABLE!! 

ALSO: WE HAVE OFFICIALLY REACHED CHAPTER 30!! Thank you all who have stuck with me until now. I love you all so, so much.

We have officially reached halfway through the story. Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading. 

elsie