A/N: Welcome to year two, wonderful reader! I can't wait to start diving into Emelyn's second year at Hogwarts. A lot of darker themes are going to be introduced for year two, so please, please, PLEASE heed any warnings that will be written at the start of the chapters.

I appreciated being able to write an almost entirely fluffy story for the first year because I knew that things weren't going to remain as such. There's a lot of new discoveries, a lot of new adventures, and a continuation of the story that's only beginning. But don't worry - there will still be plenty of sweet moments!

Thank you for coming along on Emelyn's journey. It's going to start getting wild.

Story Trigger Warnings: Panic Attacks, Angst, Anxiety, Puberty, Suicide, Suicide Attempt, Self-Harm, Mental Health Issues, Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, Bullying, Character Death, Eating Disorder


Emelyn Theodosia Lupin felt that she had the perfect and most normal life. She had a home, she had amazing friends, went to a wonderful school, and most of all, she was happy.

Emelyn's life was perfectly normal; at least as normal as the life of a young witch could be. She was almost positive that her loving stepfather was a werewolf, she went to school in a castle to learn magic, had a pet owl, and had friends that were scattered all across Great Britain that could be reached by stepping into a fireplace.

Nothing could be more perfect.

A warm gentle breeze rolled in from her open window, pulling the thick, heavy July afternoon air out of her room and bringing in the cool sweetness of the night. Emelyn had been home from Hogwarts for nearly three weeks and was enjoying her downtime. She knew that Remus expected her to get some of her summer classwork done, but the summer was only beginning, and she had a week away at her best friend Persephone's house to look forward to.

Emelyn was lying face down on the floor, head resting lazily on her propped up hand, legs kicked back behind her as she skimmed through the well-worn copy of The Catcher in the Rye that she had pulled from one of the many book-laden shelves in the living room. She found herself deeply engrossed in the book, only half-listening to the music that filled the quaint home with the melodies of The Beatles. Her owl, Aurora, sat in her cage on her dresser near the window, resting quietly and enjoying her nap.

She reached absent-mindedly into the bag of crisps that sat in front of her as she flipped through the pages; she hummed along softly to the music playing, singing quietly to random bits of songs as they passed through her ears.

Young Emelyn was so focused on her book that she didn't register the faint click of the front door unlocking and the grating noise of wood on wood as the door opened. She didn't hear the sound of shoes being removed and left at the front door or the jingle of keys being placed on an entry table. She didn't hear the sound of the wood floor creaking below soft footsteps as they approached her room.

Her nose crinkled as she recognized the familiar tune of "Hey Jude" starting up. Even though it was a song, she didn't want to be reminded of her father that was sitting in St. Mungo's. Emelyn's eyes scanned the page she was on as she slowly began to pick herself up off the floor. She wanted to change the song that was currently playing, but the allure of the pages that sat in front of her made her mission difficult.

Reluctantly peeling her eyes away from the book, Emelyn turned towards her door and let out a scream. She stumbled backward from the doorway, tripping over her feet and falling back onto the floor, covering her face in fear before peering through her fingers in embarrassment. Aurora hooted grumpily, annoyed that her nap was suddenly disturbed.

Remus Lupin stood in Emelyn's doorway, a hand poised to knock on the doorjamb and a look of absolute horror plastered to his face. He remained frozen in place, unblinking with his mouth hanging open as he tried to process the chain of events that led to that exact moment. As Emelyn's eyes glared at him through her fingers he tried in vain to keep his face from splitting into a wide grin. He began to apologize for his unexpected arrival, but instead, a snort of laughter burst forth. He covered his mouth, momentarily embarrassed at his inability to remain serious. He retreated back into the hallway, his shoulders shaking with muffled laughter as he leaned against the wall opposite her door.

A look of distress crossed Emelyn's face as she pulled her hands away from her face and watched Remus's miserable attempts at masking his laughter.

"Hey," Emelyn whined, a disappointed edge in her voice. She reached to her bed, grabbing a pillow and throwing it out into the hallway at Remus.

The moment Emelyn's pillow connected with Remus's chest, he lost what little composure he had, and he began to howl with laughter. With an aggravated shout, Emelyn pulled another pillow off the bed and threw it at Remus's head.

"I'm sorry," Remus said through his laughter as the second pillow nearly smacked into his face. He began to double over with laughter as a third pillow made its way towards him, hitting his legs and he began laughing even harder as her teddy bear connected with his stomach. He slid down against the wall, arms wrapped around his stomach as he settled himself on the floor, tears of laughter in his eyes.

"Truly, I'm sorry," he pleaded, coughing as he tried to stop his laughter. "I really didn't mean to scare you." He wiped his tears away on his sleeve, as he took in Emelyn's aggravated face as she crawled towards him, hell-bent on retrieving her weapons of choice. Spotting her intentions, Remus began to place the pillows out of her reach. His smile grew as he allowed Emelyn a vain attempt at retrieving her final pillow, his hand already poised to snatch it from her.

Emelyn was surprised that Remus was so willing to leave the remaining pillow sitting between them, a very small barrier between two warring forces. She reached out, her fingers grazing the soft fabric of her pillowcase. She froze with an aggravated shout as Remus deftly snagged it from her outstretched fingers. She looked up to glare at him and sat back on her heels, crossing her arms over her chest. She kept herself firmly on her side of the door, not daring to cross the threshold into the hallway.

Remus continued to smile, his face hurting as he made a poor attempt at calming his laughter. He cleared his throat, trying to take in deep breaths as errant chuckles broke through. Forcing himself to calm down, Remus gave Emelyn a lopsided smile. He held his arms open towards her, beckoning her into the hallway.

"Come here," he said, shaking his head at Emelyn's defiant expression.

With a grumble, Emelyn crawled into the hallway and yelped as Remus pulled her onto his lap. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, asking for silent forgiveness for his transgression.

"I truly am sorry," Remus said, kissing the spot near her temple. "I didn't mean to scare you. I thought you knew that I was home, but I was clearly very wrong."

"I was reading," Emelyn muttered, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I can see that," he said, looking past her to the book on the floor. "Catcher in the Rye?"

Emelyn nodded, resting her head on Remus' shoulder, trying to relax and still her thudding heartbeat.

"That one is one of my favorites."

"I'm pretty sure you've told me nearly every book I've read is your favorite," Emelyn said with a snort. "I'm not sure that I believe that."

"It's true," Remus said. "Any book that you've read becomes my favorite because it's another one that I can discuss with you."

"You know I don't like you right now, right?" Emelyn lifted her head to look at Remus, eyebrows raised.

"I know," Remus smiled. He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket, procuring a bar of chocolate. "Does this help?"

"That's not fair," Emelyn said, eying the chocolate bar Remus held.

"I don't play fair," Remus said, his eyes twinkling. "Am I forgiven?"

Emelyn narrowed her eyes at Remus and took the chocolate bar from his hand with a smile. "I guess," she said, kissing his cheek. "Thank you."

Remus smiled at her and gave her another squeeze. "Come on, let's get off this floor. I'm starving, how about you?"

"So am I," Emelyn said with a grin as Remus lifted her up.

"Wonderful. How does takeaway sound tonight?"

"Perfect."

XXXX

One of the things that Emelyn enjoyed most was wandering. She loved to discover new places, find new things, and most of all enjoyed having a change of scenery. She felt herself growing frustrated as she found herself unable to move in the directions that she wished. She wanted to longingly follow the beautiful butterfly that flew overhead or the bird that seemed to float carelessly in the sky. As Emelyn pulled, she became acutely aware that she was being held back, something holding tightly to her left hand.

Or someone.

Emelyn turned to her left, finding a set of legs.

How odd.

Her eyes moved upwards and she nearly gave a start as her eyes met the face of her father, Jude.

"You need to keep up," Jude spoke. His voice was rough but lilted in a way that Emelyn didn't expect. It was almost aristocratic, clear and sure with a sharpness that she wasn't expecting. Jude's voice had a much different cadence then Remus's, lacking the empathetic softness and subtle Welsh lilt that she had grown accustomed to.

Emelyn tried to pull her hand out of Jude's, not liking the way that he spoke to her, but found that she couldn't. Instead of being able to free herself, she felt herself being pulled along faster.

"Keep up, damn it."

A frustrated growl erupted from Jude's throat and Emelyn suddenly found her vantage point change. She was no longer looking at things just feet from the ground, but closer to the height of Jude's eyes. Almost as if she had been picked up.

Emelyn took a moment to inspect Jude. His features were darker than hers and much sharper. His dark auburn hair that was slicked back and coiffed seemed to reflect the light more brilliantly, the red sheen reflecting off his tan skin. His dark eyes shifted frantically at everything other than Emelyn, searching for something that she couldn't see. His facial hair was full and well-manicured, reflecting an air of someone who came from money.

She found herself feeling fortunate that she looked more like her mother than her father, though she couldn't deny the features that they shared. Her hair still featured some of the auburn coloring that Jude had, she had his high cheekbones and leaned towards having his full lips.

From this vantage point, she could take in the way his crooked nose seemed to have come down in a nearly straight line, except for the slight turn. She noticed how his high cheekbones seemed to force his skin to be smooth, the semblance of bags under his eyes nowhere to be seen. Emelyn felt that Jude could be a very handsome man if he exuded a softer air and wasn't as pompous as he was portraying himself to be.

Her eyes scanned lower, taking in the dark maroon suit jacket that he wore. A black dress shirt was held together at the neck by a matching solid black tie. It wasn't the type of outfit that Emelyn would've expected, but then she hadn't expected the way he spoke either. She looked down to see a pair of dark dragonhide dress shoes tied to his feet. A dark cloak was draped over his shoulders, held together by an ornate gold clasp.

Did we have money? Emelyn thought to herself, wondering why Jude was so well dressed. She grew more curious as the cobbled pathway they were on shifted to grass. Where are we going?

Everything seemed bigger to her as if the world had suddenly grown larger around her. They continued walking further into the grass, leaving Emelyn questioning why Jude was so dressed up if they were going on a nature walk. Her eyes found the butterfly once more and she nearly let out a gasp as she looked past the butterfly and found herself in a familiar place.

The meadow.

The meadow was just how she always remembered, lush and green. The red hut with the dark roof, the flowers with the soft petals, and the pond that seemed to be an endless abyss. All of it was there. Including the forest.

The forest, the forest, the forest.

Something was wrong with the forest, but Emelyn didn't know what. The howls.

Trepidation seeped into her being, starting from her toes and tingling through her body as it made its way to the very top of her head. She felt that even her hair felt afraid. She wasn't sure how hair could feel afraid, but the fear was there. She felt the hair on the back of her neck and her arms stand up. Everything was wrong.

Emelyn's attention was focused on the forest, the dark green foliage stark against the beautiful lush grass. The forest was dark and unbidden, the shrubbery rough and unyielding to the massive tree trunks that sprung forth from the ground. If it weren't for the forest the entire meadow would be beautiful, but the forest cast an ugly glow.

But nothing could be uglier than the shadows that seemed to grow from the dark forest ground.

"Just on time," Jude muttered, his eyes fixated on the darkness of the forest. A dark smile crossed his features as he paused just past the pond.

What's on time?

Emelyn's question was quickly answered as one of the hulking shadows grew closer to where they were. She spotted the yellowed eyes first before taking in the rest of the person they were attached to.

Fenrir Greyback. But why is he here?

Greyback's leering eyes grew closer to them, stopping feet away from where Jude stood with Emelyn. He stood motionless, his yellow eyes narrowed at Jude, seemingly suspicious of the man that stood in front of him.

"I bring you a gift, Lord Greyback," Jude said, breaking the silence.

"Lord Greyback," the werewolf said with a barking laugh. "If only there were more of the Dark Lord's followers who spoke like you."

"Are you not a Lord?" Jude asked, putting on an air of surprise.

"I suppose, if you will, that I could be," Greyback said, his voice rough as he extended a clawed hand out towards Jude.

Emelyn felt her whole view shift as everything was suddenly taller than her once more. She tested her left hand, to see if she was able to move it and was pleased to see that it was free. Perhaps she could escape from them, from the meadow, and mostly from Greyback. After all, her father couldn't hurt her, could he? She watched as Jude took Greyback's hand, his handshake firm as he kept his eyes locked on the werewolf's. If she could just convince herself to leave, she sincerely thought that she could escape, but she found herself frozen to the spot.

He said that he has a gift, Emelyn thought to herself, watching the two men as they sized each other up. Greyback was much larger than Jude, with wide shoulders and thick muscles underneath his clothing. The last time Emelyn had seen Greyback, he was wearing cutoff jeans and a flannel, but this time he wore clothing similar to Jude's. This Greyback was also a lot younger than she remembered.

A dark shirt, a heavy cloak, and thick black boots. Everything both men wore was dark except for the gold details on Jude's clothing.

Greyback mentioned the Dark Lord…and his followers…but Jude can't be…

Greyback's yellow gaze turned to Emelyn's, and a smirk crossed his face.

"And who is this?"

"That, Lord Greyback, would be one of your gifts. From the Dark Lord. There will be more if the Dark Lord is pleased."

Emelyn's eyes never left Greyback's, but her thoughts ran wild.

'One of your gifts,' he said. Me. Gift. Dark Lord.

Greyback's yellow eyes returned to Jude's and he cocked his head just as a curious dog would. "A gift from the Dark Lord, you say?"

"Yes," Jude responded. "In return for your services. He would like to reaffirm your alliance."

"My services?"

"Yes, Lord Greyback. The Dark Lord requests further assistance in the war. He feels that our side is winning, and he wants to make sure that you are still devoted to the cause. In return, you will receive personal gifts from the Dark Lord in addition to freedom for your pack to live as you please."

"Is that so?" Greyback asked, intrigued. "And what does the Dark Lord require from me."

"The rest of your pack, Lord Greyback." Jude glanced down at Emelyn briefly before returning his gaze to Greyback. "The Dark Lord asks that you add more members to your pack in order to serve alongside him. Of course, they will be under your rule, but the Dark Lord feels that there will be additional strength in numbers."

Greyback laugh echoed through the meadow and the shadows in the forest stirred. "This war has been going on for years and the Dark Lord asks me to help his cause further? He asks a werewolf to affirm their alliance to a cause that's designed to eradicate half-breeds such as myself? I find that difficult to believe, considering he's made promises before. What's different this time?"

"Were you not of pureblood descent before you were turned, Lord Greyback? Protection and a better life will be offered to yourself and your pack."

"I was," Greyback said. "But my pack is mixed of pure and half-blood alike."

"But there are no Mudblood's amongst your ranks?"

"They're the first to die," Greyback said nonchalantly. "Their blood isn't as strong as the others. They serve to fortify the pack."

"Then your cause is just the same as the Dark Lord's."

Another silence passed between the men as Greyback stared at Jude, his eyes narrowed. "How do I know you're telling the truth? That you're not working for Dumbledore?"

A smirk crossed Jude's face as he undid the button on his left sleeve and pulled back the jacket and shirt up. He presented his arm to Greyback to inspect, inclining his head. "I believe this is all the answer that you need."

Greyback took in Jude's arm for a moment and then nodded, watching as he pulled his sleeves back down. Satisfied, Greyback stood up to his full imposing height.

"So, to be clear, the Dark Lord asks for my services and my pack and will offer rewards in return? The first, of many I presume, standing here with us today."

"That is correct," Jude stated, straightening his clothing out and finding Greyback's gaze.

With a nod, Greyback's eyes turned to Emelyn and he licked his lips as he inspected her. "And what of this one?"

Emelyn felt herself freeze further as she watched Greyback carefully. The way he stared at her made her uncomfortable; as if he was torn between eating her and…something else. She wasn't sure what the something else would be, but she didn't want to find out.

"She's yours to do with what you will."

"She's younger than what I normally take," Greyback noted.

"Yes," Jude agreed. "The Dark Lord knows of your penchant for children, but he has one request."

"Another request? The Dark Lord is demanding, isn't he?" Greyback let out another barking laugh. "And what would that request be?"

"You may have her, but you must wait. The Dark Lord is a benevolent leader and asks that you only take her when she is of age."

"Oh?"

"He asks that you wait, so that she may be trained to assist you. The girl, though a half-blood, is powerful and will serve your army well in the future. Perchance, if you so wish, she would serve as your wife."

"I don't need a wife."

"But you would like to expand your pack. What better way than to take a wife?"

"I would enjoy expanding my pack, but what good would a wife be?"

Jude was quiet, his own eyes narrowing. He gave a shrug and let out a sigh. "Then she'll be yours to do whatever you please, Lord Greyback. What you do with her when it is time is your decision. You could eat her for all any of us care."

"She looks as though she'll be too small when she's older," Greyback said, glancing at Jude before returning to inspecting Emelyn. "Perhaps she would be good for pups…"

"Then you will accept the Dark Lord's offer?

Greyback's gaze snapped back to Jude, his expression contemplative. With a quick glance back at Emelyn, he held his hand out towards Jude. "Tell the Dark Lord that we have a deal. And I expect my next gift sooner rather than later. It's not right to bring me a gift that I have to wait for. How old is she?"

"Very well," Jude said, taking Greyback's hand. "I'm sure the Dark Lord will reward you in kind. She'll be two come September."

Greyback gave an appreciative hum. "I'll be waiting for longer than I would like," Greyback said, a low growl rumbling in his throat. "Will it be you who comes to bring me my next gift?"

"I'm unsure, Lord Greyback," Jude answered, carefully wiping his hand on his pant leg. "It could be any of the Dark Lord's followers."

"Very well," Greyback agreed. "I must ask, though, as I find myself curious. Is this little pup yours?"

Jude was silent for a moment before cleared his throat. "We were hoping for a son."

A dark chuckle left Greyback, "And now she's mine."

"When she comes of age, she is all yours. Not a moment sooner," Jude said, reminding Greyback of the agreement. His expression was unreadable as Greyback's yellow eyes stared into his.

A few minutes passed in silence between the two men when Greyback's lips pulled back to bare his yellow teeth in the semblance of a smile.

"When she comes of age, then," Greyback said, turning his attention back to Emelyn. "I predict that this little pup is going to do great things for our pack." Greyback ran a clawed finger down Emelyn's cheek before curling underneath her chin and pulling her face up towards him.

Terror ripped through her chest, causing her to run hot and cold at the same time, but she couldn't force herself to wake up. Everything felt too real as if she had lived through this dream before.

The closer Greyback's leering face grew to hers, the more Emelyn became gripped by fear.

If I could just…

"Emma, wake up."