Take Me To Church - Regulus Black

III. the utter thought of even kissing Tiberius Nott made the girl feel ill

Emma slumped on her side of her potions desk. The full moon had not been an easy one to say the least. She felt pure exhaustion throughout her body. 

"Rough night, Potter?" The smug voice of someone she knew all too well pierced her ears. 

"What's it to you, Travers?" She said not even bothering to look at him. 

"Well if someone is shagging my best friend I ought to know" Emma's head snapped up. 

"What do you mean?" She asks. 

"You and Nott. Don't be modest. He described everything to us" Emma felt her stomach drop. 

"I didn't" She frantically said. 

"I'm honestly surprised he would touch you, but I guess when your a blood traitor and a slut it makes you easy" 

Tears built up in Emma's eyes. 

"I didn't do shit. Piss off" She said and laid her head back down. She felt hot tears sting her face. She would never do that.

"Morning, Potter" Emma looked at Regulus. She felt a wave of rage. 

"You here to accuse me of being a slut too?" She asks accusingly. Regulus's eyes widened. 

"What are you talking about?" He asked. His confusion made Emma roll her eyes. 

"Nothing. Why don't you just go ask your friends. Apparently they heard all about the wet dream Nott had about me. And while your at it tell Nott that he's altering reality with his fantasies" Emma said before grabbing her stuff and walking out of class. 

Regulus watched her retreating figure. He didn't understand what it was about her. It intrigued him. 

-

-

Emma spent the rest of the day crying in her brother's dorm. He shared it with his friends and no one was supposed to be in there for the rest of the day. Out of everything that Emma had been called and accused of, slut shaming was new. The utter thought of even kissing Tiberius Nott made the girl feel ill. 

Her throat burned from how much she had been crying. She knew she shouldn't let those blokes affect her as much, but it always got to her. She was a definite people pleaser and people not liking her made her stomach hurt. What people thought about her mattered and every time someone said something to her she would obsess over it and wonder how many other people thought the same thing. 

She was so caught up in her thoughts to notice that someone had walked in the door. Remus noticed the girl laying on her stomach in James's bed. It wasn't a rare occurrence. They all had told her that she was always welcome. 

What made him start to worry was whenever he heard a soft sob. 

"Em?" He gently called out. Emma went silent and she debated on acting like she was asleep. Remus walked over to her and crouched down beside the bed. She turned to face him and tried to smile at him. A sob racked her body a few seconds later. Remus frowned at the sight. 

"Oh, Emma" He wrapped her into a hug and Emma started crying even harder at the given comfort. She gripped onto his arm and rested her head on his shoulder. He rubbed her back until her breathing calmed down and she could talk to him. 

She pulled away from him and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her jumper. It was actually one that Remus gave her for Christmas the year prior. Remus just waited patiently for the girl to compose herself. He knew not to look at her in pity because he knew she took it as someone seeing her as weak. Remus also knew that Emma was nothing close to weak. 

"Okay. I'm okay" She says before putting her hair behind her ears. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" Remus asked intently. Emma bit her lip contemplating on how to word what had happened. 

"Um, in potions today Travers made comment about me looking like I had a rough night, which I looked like death because of last night, and I was confused and asked what he meant and he told me that Nott had told them everything about how we shagged. Then he called me a slut and a blood traitor. It was a fun day honestly." She explained. Remus listened to everything and studied her body language. He could tell that it hurt her. 

"That's absolute rubbish. He has the nerve to say that to you when he's a man whore" Remus says rolling his eyes. 

"I know right! I was just tired because the full moon was last ni- Wait! Why aren't you in the infirmary? You still look terrible!" Emma exclaims. 

"Wow, you really know how to make a guy feel special, Em" Remus joked. Emma rolled her eyes. 

"Seriously. You need to lay down" She hopped up and dragged him to his bed. 

"Madam Pomfrey said I could come and rest in my dorm because the injuries weren't bad" Remus explained after Emma covered him up with his blanket. Emma examined his face in search of lies. When she concluded that he was telling the truth and he didn't sneak to his dorm she sighed. 

"Fine." She concluded. Remus smiled at her. 

"By the way, thank you" She said. "I know I'm just James's annoying little sister that doesn't have any friends and tags along so she's not alone all the time, but it means a lot that you listen to me" 

"Your not just James's annoying little sister, Emma. You're just as much my friend as he is. I'm always here for you" He paused and deciphered his next words. "I love you Emma. You are one of my best friends. You understand me in a way that no one else does. You're who I rant about my books too. You scheme ways to not get caught with me whenever we all do pranks. You, Emma Euphemia Potter, are so much more than your brother"

Tears welled up in Emma's eyes. Remus Lupin became one of her favorite people in the world in that split second. She threw her arms around him and gave him a tight hug. 

"I love you too" She whispered.