Everything Is Eclipsed by the Shape of Destiny

The night of heavy drinking had no punishment for Emerson when she woke early the next morning. There was no throbbing headache, no nausea, not even the typical sluggish behavior that accompanied a night such as the one she had endured. All in all, Emerson was in perfectly great health. The flesh grew over her wound, leaving no mark that would serve as a reminder of her stupidity. Her body was as it had been the morning before and as it would be the following day.

There was only one thing that troubled Emerson, the pain emanating from her heart.

As overwhelming as it was, she refused to fully succumb to it. That pain had been entirely her doing. She was to blame for it, to blame for the entire mess that her life had become. And although the bottle called to her, although the marijuana implored her to inhale its precious smoke, she remained sober, opting to prepare an elaborate breakfast and lunch than to have a repeat of last night.

She lost herself in the kitchen, creating the most complex dishes she knew and by the time she finished washing the dishes, Tonks walked in with a genuinely amused smile on her face. She had heard the clanking of pots, that was the sound that woke her, and after getting dressed, Tonks went down to investigate.

For a moment, Tonks allowed her imagination to go wild. She toyed with the thought that Remus was be in there, cooking her favorite dish to take to her in bed. For a moment she thought that everything had miraculously fixed itself, but that moment passed as quickly as it arrived and she returned to reality.

“Smells delicious in here,” Tonks spoke as she walked in.

Emerson looked up from the plates she was setting. “Glad you think so. Take a seat and I’ll bring the food right over.”

“Let me help.”

“Sit down,” Emerson ordered playfully.

“But I’ll feel like a bloody beached whale if I do nothing but stuff my face while you’re running around bringing food to me. It’s not funny. Alright, maybe it is, but at this rate, everyone’s going to know I'm pregnant in a week or two.”

“Can’t you just change your appearance so you look the same?”

“Well, yeah, but I’d rather not change this natural beauty unless it’s an emergency . . . or I'm bored.” Tonks smiled sheepishly. “Alright, alright, I’ll stuff my face to please you, oh great one.”

“That’s all I ask.” Emerson placed the fresh pile of strawberry croissants in the center of the table.

Tonks was reaching out for some egg when she noticed the third place setting. “Who’s that for?”

“Bill, if he’s still around.”

“Bill Weasley? What’s he doing here?” Tonks was at a loss as to why Bill would be in her home instead of Shell Cottage with his young wife. “And when’d he get here?”

“Well, you see, I sort of went out drinking last night –”

“You scoundrel!” interjected Tonks. “It was late when I went to my room, at least a quarter after midnight so what the devils were you doing out? Oh. Oh my. I get it now, out for a drink aye.” Tonks winked overdramatically. “Are you sure it’s not the twins in there instead of Bill?”

“Very funny, Tonks,” Emerson shook her head in disbelief.

“I am known to be very fucking delightful.” She proclaimed quite proudly. “So anyways, what’d you go out drinking for? And how’d Bill end up here?”

Emerson leant back on her chair. “Does a woman really need a reason to go out drinking?”

“Reasons aren’t necessary but they do make things more interesting.”

“They do, but I didn’t have a reason, just wanted to get drunk.”

“And you did.”

“I did indeed, even ended up getting splinched because I was apparating under the influence. Then I tried coming here but ended up at Bills and he brought me home.” Emerson explained. “Spent the night cuz I was a pretty hot mess.”

“Wait, wait, wait, you got splinched? Do you want to go to St Mungo’s? I'm sure there’s a healer that can see you.” Tonks set down her fork. “Let me get my coat and we’ll head over.”

“No need to get so worked up over it, I'm fine, honest.”

Tonks cocked her brow. “You got splinched! You’re not fine. You shouldn’t even be cooking breakfast. I should be fixing you something to eat.”

“If I was normal, you’d have a point, but I'm a shifter, remember? And I'm alright.” Emerson lifted her shirt, revealing the smooth skin underneath. “I got splinched right here,” she traced the area with her index finger. “And by the time I woke up, it was healed.”

“Am I interrupting a, you show me yours, I’ll show you mine moment?” Bill leant against the doorframe, his fiery red hair falling into his face.

“Exactly what you’re interrupting, so be, a doll and get lost.” Tonks joked. “Come on Emery, take off those pants now.”

“These are harder to take off.” Emerson went along with it. “What are you still doing here?” she asked Bill. “Can’t you see we’re about to get it on?” her hands were on her pant zipper.

“Y-you’re joking right?” Bill stuttered.

Tonks and Emerson shared a serious look.

“No,” answered Tonks.

“But you’re married!” he nearly shouted. “That’d be cheating.”

“Only cheating if the other person has a penis,” Tonks looked up at Emerson. “You got a penis?”

“Not that I know of.” She fought her urge to laugh.

Tonks redirected her attention to Bill. “It’s not cheating then.”

Slowly, he began to retreat from the kitchen.

“Sometimes you are such an idiot.” Emerson slipped her shirt back on. “After all this time with me, did you really think I was gonna get it on with some girl? No offense Tonks.”

“None taken,” Tonks reassured.

“Dunno. You two seemed really comfortable with it.” He muttered.

“I don’t think anyone can be uncomfortable around Tonks.” Emerson stated. “Now are you gonna have breakfast or just stand there?”

Bill walked in. “I’ll have some breakfast.”

“Sit down,” she ordered. “I’ll have the rest of the food on the table soon.”

“Don’t you need some help?” his hands touched the back of the chair.

“You’re more of a bother than a help in the kitchen.”

Bill sighed in agreement as he took a seat. “Where’s Remus?” he asked Tonks.

“He had to sort a few things out.” Tonks answered, her face remained perfectly chipper and composed. “Should be home in an hour or two,” she added. “How’s Fleur?”

“She’s alright. Her brother came to visit yesterday, says he’s gonna stay a few weeks.”

“That the one from the wedding? The one that showed up all late?” she asked as she poured herself some orange juice.

Bill nodded. “That’s the one.”

“What was his name? I feel like it was Marcel or Maurice or . . . ah, it was Marceau! That right?”

“Yeah,” Bill rubbed the back of his neck, the skin tensing as his calloused hand made contact. “Fleur and he are really close and they’re running around all chummy. It’s good for her, makes her forget about the war.”

“Is that why you brought Emery here? So you could get away from the chumminess of it all, because Merlin knows that there’s only so much a person can take.” Tonks teased.

“Not at all,” he reassured. “Brought Marie home because she could hardly stand yesterday, she was a complete mess, thought she’d apparated to your home.”

“It was an honest mistake.” Emerson commented as she placed the last of the bowls on the table. “I just closed my eyes and thought of this place but I guess my mind went to Shell Cottage and so did my body.” She chuckled to herself. “But I'm alright, not even a scratch.”

“That’s just because you heal quickly!” Bill exclaimed. “If you were normal you’d be in a bleeding hospital right about now!”

“Normality is stifling.” Emerson responded.

Tonks raised her orange juice. “I’ll drink to that.”

And they did, they each raised their glass and clinked their glasses together before taking long sips from their respective drinks. Bill sat back, shaking his head as he watched the exchange happen before him. In all the time he’d been around Tonks, he’d always been reminded of Emerson. The way she carried herself was very similar to that of his dear friends and now that the pair was sitting side by side, he contemplated whether or not a person could handle being around two people that behaved in the peculiar way they did. An absurd thought, but a thought nonetheless.

Breakfast ended a little while later and Tonks left to work with her lunch in tow. Emerson was true to her promise. She fussed over Tonks as if the woman was her own flesh and blood and made sure that only the right things were going into her body. To a stranger that may have seemed odd but that was how Emerson treated her friends.

“So what do you do now?” Bill inquired when Tonks left.

“Whatever I feel like.” She replied.

“And what do you usually feel like doing?”

“Most of the time reading, but I always sneak in some exercise. Have to be in top shape.”

“How healthy of you,” he joked.

Emerson acted as if she hadn’t heard his comment and proceeded to ask a question. “What time you heading home?”

“In a hurry to get rid of me?” he placed a hand over his heart. “That hurts Marie.”

“A person can only take so much of you before they need a break.”

“And fortunately for you, you’ve yet to reach that level.” Bill settled into a nearby couch, a foolish grin gaining control of his face.

“Won’t your wife get all pissed off?”

Bill shook his head. “Won’t even notice I'm gone, her brother’s there to keep her company.”

“Family’s the best distraction.”

“They are.” He agreed. “And speaking of that distraction, how’d he know you?”

“How’d who know me?” Emerson was going to play dumb.

“You mean you don’t remember him? You don’t remember him calling you Emma Figueroa and acting like he’d seen a long lost mate?”

“Can’t say I do,” she replied.

“But you know him.”

“I don’t know if I know the guy. I don’t even remember what he looks like.”

“Very French,” Bill stated. “Like Fleur.”

“Ah.”

“That jogged your memory?”

Emerson nodded. “Is he blonde, blue eyed and generally easy on the eyes?”

The question made Bill visibly uncomfortable. “Some would say so, yes.”

“Name Marc?” she asked.

“Marceau, actually.” He corrected.

“I know him.”

“How do you know him?” Bill sat up.

“From school.” she told him. “He was a foreign exchange student that ended up at my school for the last two years before we graduated.”

“You were friends?”

“You could say that.”

“And what would you say?” he was trying his best to sound as if her relationship with Marceau wasn’t of any real importance to him, but he was failing miserably.

Bill wanted to know just how Marceau was acquainted with Emerson and he wanted to know why the blond haired Frenchman stared at her with so much intensity.

“I’d say we dated.” Emerson knew that Marceau was bound to tell Fleur sooner or later and that Fleur would tell her husband so she decided to beat them to it. “Nothing serious though. You know how it is at that age.”

That response severely altered Bill’s emotions. He wasn’t fond of the fact that his brother in law had been in a relationship with his best mate when they were younger. It upset him and made him think if perhaps, Emerson had shagged Marceau. That thought made his stomach churn and for a moment, he honestly believed he was going to throw up in the middle of the living room, but he controlled himself. He made it seem as if nothing was the matter.

“Thought you weren’t into blondes,” he casually commented.

“But I'm into accents.” She gave a low laugh. “And Marc was the most exotic thing at school. Plus he was friends with Everett so he was always around the house and he was always spouting poetry and passages from Austen novels. I couldn’t help myself.”

“Thought you didn’t care for those romance novels,” there had been an occasion where he found those books and asked her if they were hers. Emerson, not wanting to seem like a hopeless romantic, told him that they were her mothers. “Remember that time I found some and you said they were your mum’s?”

“I lied.” Emerson muttered. “Didn’t want you to tease me about how lame they were so I said they were hers.”

“Wait, wait, wait, you actually enjoy those things?”

“They’re not as bad as you’d think.”

Bill howled with laughter. “They’re probably loads worse!” he said in between his laughter. “I can’t get over the fact that you’d be reading that rubbish. You’re not one for that romance and –”

“I am,” Emerson interjected, her voice louder than she would’ve preferred.

“But you’ve never seemed the sort.”

“That’s because no ones ever taken the time to woo me,” she said quietly, staring him directly in the eyes as she spoke. “It’d be a different story if they did.”

For Emerson, that was the only move she was going to make regarding his confession. It addressed his belief that she wasn’t one for relationships and made it clear that if someone took the time to romance her, that if he took the time to make her feel like an actual woman instead of just a best mate, things would be different.

As Bill sat across from her, he felt that those words held a hidden meaning. He felt that maybe some higher magical force had placed those precious words in her lips to offer him hope that she loved him as he did her. And that the only reason no romantic relationship blossomed between them was because of his lack of initiative, not her lack of want.

“Mum wants you to come over for dinner today.” Bill informed her. “Asked me what your favorites were so she could make it.”

“Seriously?” she couldn’t believe that a woman she was so little in company with had made such an inquiry.

“Yeah,” Bill chuckled. “She likes you, you know, thinks your lovely. Keeps telling everyone she thinks you’re lovely. She’s even been nagging at Charlie to ask you out.”

“No!”

Bill nodded. “I put it on my life that she has.”

“What’d Charlie say?”

“Said he’s more interested in dragons than women, no offense to you, he said to say. But Charlie’s not one for romance. That man only has room in his heart for dragons.”

“That’s the vibe I got from him.” Emerson nodded before adding. “The twins are the ones that are going crazy. It’s like they’ve never been around a woman before! They’re already fighting over who’s going to marry me and each is hell bent that it’s going to be him.”

“That sounds like something they’d do, but if they get to be to much, just tell me and I’ll tell them to stop.”

“They’re harmless.”

“Not as harmless as you think. Horny teenage boys are a danger.”

“So they’re lusting after me?” Emerson began to laugh. “Here I thought they just wanted to marry me.”

“People that are married have sex.”

“And people that aren’t have even more.”

“How much are you having?”

“Lots of it.” She replied.

“With whom?” he did an alright job of dissimulating his true feelings.

She was tempted to lie to him and say that she’d been sleeping around with a foreigner she’d met at a bar. That would rile him up. He would be pissed over it and there was a good chance that he could repeat the same words he’d expressed the night before, but she didn’t want to upset him like that so she said the first thing that came to her mind.

“My vibrator, his names Darcy, real charmer he is.”

“A vibrator?” he was relieved.

“A vibrator.” She repeated. “Want to meet him?”

“Think, I already have.” he moved over so he sat next to Emerson. “Wasn’t Darcy the one we bought when we visited New York?”

“That’s the one.” Emerson rested her head on his shoulder. “You were the one that picked it out, said it looked respectable. Like something the queen would use.”

Bill wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “That’s how they should market that vibrator. People would flock to it.”

“Maybe you should go into advertising so that vibrator can get to the masses.”

“I should.”

“Women everywhere would love you.”

“I’d be the bringer of the orgasm.”

“Such a silly ginger you are.”

“Only with you.” he stared at the top of her head with a tender expression, thankful that her gaze was fixed on the wall ahead. “So are you going to come to dinner tonight?”

Emerson nodded.

“Then go shower so we can leave.”

“It’s not even –”

The door was thrown open before Emerson could finish her statement and Tonks burst into the living room. Her eyes were wild with rage, flickering violently as she stalked towards them, but her face, her face remained calm, it was strange to see such anger in a, persons eyes without seeing an accompanying scowl.

“Greyback’s been spotted in Tulloch, near a muggle boarding school.” Tonks informed them. “There’s a full moon coming up in two days and if he gets in that school, those children will either be infected or killed. So get your bloody wands, because that bastard will die. If not by my hand then one of yours,” she growled.

“Bill, wait for us outside.” Emerson nudged him.

“What for?” he stood up.

“I need to have a quick word with Tonks.”

“Why can’t you say it in front of me? We’re all in the Order here.”

“Quit fucking talking and go wait on the damn porch!” she snapped.

“Fine.” He huffed and walked out the door, slamming it behind him.

Emerson left her place on the couch. “Stay here or at the Ministry, but don’t go with us.”

“He’s the one that infected Remus.”

“I know that, but you can’t go fighting, not with things the way they are so just stay here and I swear to you that I’ll have some part of him to bring home to you.”

“Emery –” Tonks began to protest.

“There’s a baby that needs to grow safely. Don’t risk your child on this.”

Tonks was torn. She wanted to go out and fight, but knew that in order for her child to live, she would have to take it easy and so with a heavy heart she wished Emerson luck.

Without any further exchange, Emerson left the living room with her wand in hand. On the porch stood Bill, his nostrils flared and lips in a menacing snarl. He was going to have his revenge on that damn werewolf and the moment he felt Emerson take his hand in hers, he apparated them to the location Tonks specified. It was time to fight.