121An: Good things come for those who wait? I'm so glad that people are still reading this and I want you to know that I haven't given up on it.
Disclaimer: I own Nothing you recognize!
Chapter 8 - Reunited
I was looking out over the hills outside Remus's cottage, so deep in thought that I didn't even notice the werewolf coming up next to me.
"Have you seen her," he asked softly, it was clear that his voice still hadn't got used to talking again, so I almost missed what he said thanks to the rather harsh wind that had picked up.
"Briefly, by mistake. Dumbledore doesn't think its a good idea yet. How long since you've seen them?" He didn't have to explain who he was talking about and neither did I.
"A month ago. But they never saw me." The pain was so obvious in his voice that I winced.
"Why isolate yourself like this Remus? What made you think that it would help," I asked softly, voicing the question that had been on my mind since I learned of his predicament.
"I didn't think it would help Char," He paused, as if carefully choosing his next words.
"I just couldn't stand the thought of hurting the ones I love more than anything. What if it happened again, only James and Sirius wouldn't be there to stop me," he never looked at me when he spoke, just stared straight ahead.
"Remus, I haven't seen Amelia in...well years apparently, but I can not believe that she has changed that much. Did you know, that I was the first person she told when you revealed your furry little problem to her? Do you know what she said, that she knew in her heart that you would never intentionally harm her. To her you could never be dangerous," I spoke slowly, but firmly trying to imprint every word I said into his mind. At first he stared right ahead but slowly his head turned toward me, and finally we locked eyes.
"She really said that," he asked, disbelief evident in his voice.
"Yes. I understand your worry Remus, but when you left them you propably hurt them more than you can imagine," my harsh words made him step back, but I knew that he needed to hear them. He was a grown man and he needed to hear the truth, even if it hurt him.
We stood in silence for a while, just looking out over the countryside.
"I know that you're right, but how can I face them, after all this time?" (*an) the last words came of a whisper, his voice raw with emotion.
"They'll forgive you. It'll take time, but they will," I said softly, carefully placing my hand on his shoulder.
"How can you be certain?" I hesitated before I gave him my answer.
"I don't know, just a feeling I have," I smirked and he let out a small chuckle. It reminded us both of the serious talks we used to share when we were at Hogwarts. They always ended with some witty remark followed by laughter. So if our relationship hadn't changed, how could theirs?
We had spent the whole morning at Remus's cottage and after a quick lunch we all decided to regroup at Grimmauld Place. It still felt foreign to me that the old Black family home was no longer a place of darkness.
When we stepped into the house, James went first telling some crude joke but cut it short and stiffened when he opened the door. I felt Sirius reach for his wand and take a hold of my hand, his Auror training kicking in as soon as his friend stopped.
"James Harold Potter. Do you have any idea how worried I've been! No message, no nothing, you've been gone for 24 hours at least and no one knew where you were, you blubbering fool!" In the middle of her rant, Sirius relaxed and started sniggering as James tried, desperately, to get his two cents in.
"But, darling I..."
"No buts! And you, Sirius Orion Black! I knew that you were involved somehow!" My husband stopped sniggering instantly when she rounded on him, and before my eyes the two men turned into small boys being scolded. I peered around James shoulder carefully and saw a woman with red hair wildly flinging her arms around as her green eyes shot daggers at my two friends.
Lily, certainly hadn't changed one bit. It was somewhere in between cursing the day the Marauders were born and calling them immature children that she noticed that the two weren't alone. She stopped, mid rant and stared at me.
"Well, Lily, I must say that you haven't changed one bit. Noone can give out a lashing quite like yours," I said with a twitch of my lips, eyes glinting. But I couldn't stop the butterflies in my stomach from fluttering around like crazy. I had no idea on how this woman, who used to be my best friend, would react. I had already been surprised by James, who had reacted in a way I never would have imagined and I wasn't really looking forward to finding out how another friend would react. Even if I wanted to meet her desperately. The air in the room suddenly changed, and before I knew what was happening I had a mouth full of red hair and a pair of arms wrapped around me. I spluttered out a laugh because the whole scenario was so familiar, it felt like I had been transported back to Hogwarts in just a second.
" I do not know if you are real, but if you are, I need to hug you. You have no idea how much I've missed you," Lily muttered into my shoulder.
"Oh Lil," I mumbled and without another word, we both started crying. I don't know exactly how long we stood like that but the boys disappeared and left us alone. When we managed to collect ourselves we sat down on a couch and I told her everything. I began with telling her about how the Marauders appeared in my kitchen and how I was transported back with them. I told her everything, not leaving out any detail, about how I knew what was going to happen because of the fictional books about her son. She only interrupted once with the information that Sirius and James had told her about me, back when everything went down, but she still let me tell her my version. I ended with my "so called" death and why it had to happen.
"Someone needed to sacrifice something that night for everything to go as planned, and now here I am again. I do not know why or how but here I am," I sighed. She looked so sad when she spoke again;
"You've missed so much, for what I feel like was just a technicality. It doesn't seem fair, to any of us,". We sat in silence for a while but like with Sirius, it wasn't awkward. It felt right and like home, something I hadn't felt in a long time. Suddenly Lily sucked in a harsh breath and said;
"I just thought of something. Didn't you say that in those books Sirius escaped Azkaban, in the children's third year," I nodded slowly and then my eyes widened when I realized what she was getting at.
"Do you think there's a connection?" I asked.
"Well...this is also the children's third year, it can't be a coincidence, can it?" We both sat silent, deep in thought when the "boys" joined us. We told them about Lily's train of thought.
"It does make sense, in some strange way, for you to come back now then," Remus said thoughtfully.
"With magic it's all about coming back full circle and transferring energy. for you to come back the same year Sirirus does in another universe, well it is rather poetic, is it not?" he continued with a smirk. could this really be the reason I had been sent back now? Could it be that "simple". We all agreed that it was too much of a coincidence not to mean something. I had to take it up with Dumbledore. Suddenly a strange signal sounded making me jump in surprise.
"What was-," I began but was interrupted by a voice calling out from the other room.
"Dad? Da-aad, are you ready?" Sirius flew up from the couch and started towards the door but before he made it there, it opened and a teenage girl stepped through.
"Dad, we do this every year, don't tell me you've forgotten again. Uncle James, Aunt Lily are you joining us?" she quipped happily when she noticed the latter two. I couldn't take my eyes off of her; the way she moved her hands when she talked, the dimple you barely noticed when she smirked, the teasing tone in her voice when she spoke to her father. Everything that should have been familiar about her but wasn't.
"Em, what are you doing," Sirius began but was cut off by a scoff.
"Dad. What day is it today?" she asked, her eyes sparkling but there was something else there, a sadness.
"Thursday, but what has that got to do with anything?"
"Seriously dad, and don't start again, thursday yes, but what date," she now sounded tired, like this had happened many times before. Lily let out a noise in understanding as did James and Remus. The girl looked at Remus in surprise as she just noticed that he too was in the room.
"It's the 31st of Octob-, Oh!" Sirirus began but stopped, mid sentence, and glanced at me. When he did so, the girls' eyes followed his and she noticed me for the first time.
"Hey, it's you. You were at Hogwarts," she stated, confusion clear in her voice. I didn't know what to say so I just stood there mouth open, trying to get words to come out when something dawned on me.
"Wait today's, the 31st? That's when," I trailed off, not willing to say the words.
"Yes. It's the anniversary of my mother's death. We always visit her grave this time of year, that's why I came home by Floo from Hogwarts but what does the date mean to you? And who are you, why are you in our house and Uncle Remus, I've missed you, so glad to see you but what are you doing here?" she was talking very fast and the distress in her voice was poorly hidden.
"Em, love this might seem strange," Sirirus began putting his hand on her shoulder.
"Understatement of the year," she muttered. I could feel tears building up in my eyes, this was not how I wanted this to happen. I didn't want to shock my daughter, I wanted to have some sort of plan.
"Well, I suppose there's no easy way to say this," Sirius began with a small smile, he reached out for my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. I shook my head slightly at him, not wanting him to say it but knowing that every other plan I would have wanted had already flown out the window the second she stepped out of the fireplace. With a deep breath sirius eyes shifted to our confused daughter.
"Emily, this may be hard to understand, but we will try to explain it to you. I would like you to meet the love of my life, Charlotte Black, your mother."
An: YES! That was intentional.
Thank you for reading and reviewing. And favouriting and so on. It means the world to me.