𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑺𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐄𝐫𝐚

Chapter 41

People come and go

No days comes quicker than the unwanted await.

Emerson was packed and ready to leave. Regulus waited outside the Ravenclaw common room early in the morning. Their birthday morning to be more precise.

He made sure to keep distance in case. When Emerson stepped out she held a stone cold expression, just like Regulus.
Neither of them spoke, they simply knew what was to come.

***
Victoria woke up to light rain tapping the windows. Normally, Emerson was the one to wake her but this time was different. She stretched a bit while scanning the room to see nobody there. Maybe she went to the bathroom?

Though she was hoping that she could get the cake she asked Mibny to bake for Emerson's birthday. She even got one for Regulus.

Victoria silently got ready for the day and made sure to hide the birthday presents she had for the twins. She'd also made sure Marco would be awake early as well so they could both surprise Emi.

To her surprise, when she knocked on the bathroom door, there was not a single sound. Obviously she began to worry that maybe Emerson had passed out in the bathroom or fell asleep in the shower.

"Emi," she knocked, "sweetie you okay? You didn't fall asleep did you?" she laughed to herself thinking about how silly of a birthday morning that'd be for Emerson.

After a few moments of no response, Victoria's smile dropped. She knocked a few more times though now with more aggression, "Emi."
She even began to mess with the doorknob. At times it tends to get jammed close so Victoria pushed herself against the door in order for it to open up.
When it finally did, her eyes widen. Emerson wasn't there. She assumed Emerson had woken up already and was already off with the day.

"Damn," she mumbled, bummed out she didn't get to do a big surprise.

So Victoria made her way downstairs with both presents in her hands. She didn't even brush her hair or fix up her makeup. All she did was wash up her face and brush her teeth.

Marco was quietly sitting on the sofa with two tiny bags by his side and a study book in his hands. He didn't get much sleep either, since he didn't want to oversleep and miss the surprise. But when he looked up and saw Victoria he set the book down.

"Is she awake?" he asked.

Victoria drew her eyebrows together and placed the gifts down on the coffee table in front of Marco. "Mar she isn't in the dorm; isn't she here?"

Both of them were now giving each other puzzled looks. At this point they figured Emerson was dining in the kitchens whilst eating her birthday cake. So they both took their stuff and made their way over there.

"I sure hope she didn't take a peak at the presents," Victoria jokingly rolled her eyes.

"Knowing her she probably picked it out for you."

When they finally reached the kitchens they were met with two full cakes set aside. Once Mibny caught them in sight she practically jumped over to them, "Miss Potter, Mr Carter, here are the cakes!"

Though they were both really pleased with the cakes they were even more confused then before.

"But Mibny, I thought Emi was here?"

Mibny's smiled faltered and her body language glommed down, "Miss Potter, Mibny hasn't seen Emerson at all."

They all shared a horrid look of worry and annoyance even. If she isn't here or there then she had to be messing with them at this point, right?

***
Back on the train ride to the Black Manor, the twins sat silent. Neither even wishing one another a happy birthday.

Most sixteen year olds are overjoyed with reaching the "ideal" teenage age, but the twins had no excitement within them. Neither of them even wanted to speak to the other because who knows who'd break.

Emerson sat up while playing with the hems of her black skirt. She stared out the window and when they finally reached the station her breathe got caught in her throat.

"Em," Regulus stood up not daring to look at his sister in the eyes as be held both their luggages, "let's go."

***
Victoria and Marco sat in the Great Hall hardly eating their breakfast. They still had their presents with them in case Emerson was off doing something. Even though both of them were a bit irritated with how their mornings were going.

"We should dunk her in a bucket of cold water," Marco shrugged then took a bite of his toast.

"She'd probably like that," Victoria said. Her posture was terrible, she was slouching and rested her head on her left palm. Her eyes kept contact with the doors. She even glanced over at the Slytherin table in case Regulus and Emerson were sitting together over there. Though she didn't find anything, only Pandora with a similar worried look to hers.

Marco tried making conversation with Victoria but her mind was out of it. She knew Emerson wasn't one to skip out on her birthday and she knew very well something was off. So when she looked over at the Slytherin table once more she made eye contact with Pandora.

"I just don't understand why flying brooms is so praised," Marco complained, "you know in the "muggle" world it's basically looked at as a thing for creepy witches."

While he kept going on Victoria couldn't stand the glances Pandora gave so she made a decision.

"Right Mar, give me a minute," Victoria stood up and left Marco talking. She made her way over to the Slytherin table and earned a lot of questioning looks.  She knew Pandora very well and knew she'd sit with Regulus over with the slytherins.

"Prongs look," Peter whispered over to James. Suddenly everyone was looking over at Victoria standing before a lot of unliked peers. James wasn't sure why she was there either but made sure to not take his eyes off the interaction.

Sirius unlike James tried his best not to even glance over to that side. There was no importance to him there.

"Hi," Victoria stood in front of Pandora who sat aside of Barty Crouch Jr. He gave her a neutral look. "Can I talk to you?"

A/N: omg i apologize for such a late update. Tbh i just kinda didn't have much energy to update but here we are. Anyways i wanna clarify i know Regulus isn't born during this time but for the sake of the story let it be 🙌 anyways hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I have set up some exciting stuff!