Lupin's POV
Remus sat alone on the steps of Sirius' old house. He had considered returning to his flat but he'd been cooped up there for days. It was nice to get a bit of fresh air. He hadn't wanted to leave, he'd been forced to due to lack of food, but now that he had he didn't want to go back. He watched the children playing on the playground across the street. This only served to remind him of the childhood he'd been robbed of. In a way it was strangely calming.
He used his time to think. Even though that's practically the only thing he'd been doing since the term had ended. After he'd almost killed two of his favorite students, one of them who just happened to be the son of his best friend, he had tried to lock himself away from the rest of the world. He had been convinced that by doing so he was protecting the people around him. In reality he was only making himself very lonely.
He was still alone. He'd gotten used to that. He had been alone for almost thirteen years now. Longer than that if he was really honest with himself. Even the warmth of friendship hadn't been able to completely rid him of the loneliness. It was a curse that he'd have to bear for the rest of his life, that he'd been carrying for so long he couldn't remember a time when he hadn't felt at least a little bit alone.
Rose's POV
"Stay where I can see you okay? Don't cross the street without looking both ways first. In fact don't cross the street at all. I'll be right over there." Rose rolled her eyes. "Mum. I know the playground rules." She insisted. Jackie nodded "alright. Go play then." Rose stood on her tiptoes to give her mum a quick kiss on the cheek before running off to go play.
She started out on the monkey bars. They were her favorite. She swung from bar to bar with ease. She took gymnastics lessons after school every week. Once she'd had her fill of those she headed over to the slide. She quickly grew tired of that too and headed over to the swings.
Rose loved the swings. She would entertain herself by seeing how high she could get. It felt like she was flying. She liked to close her eyes and imagine that she was high above the earth. The feeling that she got in the pit of her stomach as she swung in large arcs was exhilarating. Sometimes if she were feeling particularly brave she would leap off of the swing when it reached its highest point. Sometimes she would go as far as to do a flip in midair before landing.
After she had worn herself out Rose just sat on her swing, letting it swing back and forth on its own. She couldn't help but notice the man sitting across the street. He looked lonely and Rose felt the urge to go talk to him. Her mum was still chatting with a group of mothers near the park entrance with her back facing Rose. Rose guessed that she had at least a good half an hour before she'd be done talking. That was more than enough time to go talk to the man.
Rose paused before crossing the street to look both ways before crossing like her mother always instructed. When she saw no sign of traffic she hurried across the street. She paused to watch two older girls playing hopscotch before heading towards the sad man sitting on the steps in front of number 12.
The man was sitting with his head in his hands. His clothes were threadbare and dull and is hair was a scruffy mess. This didn't bother Rose one bit. She sat down on the steps next to him. "Hello." The man lifted his head to stare at her. He seemed genuinely surprised to se her sitting next to him. "Hello." He said with a weak smile. Rose stared at him for a while before deciding that she liked him. His hair is a dull brown and his face is covered in stubble. His eyes are kind yet sad, there are lines at the corners from smiling.
"Why are you sad?" Rose asked him after a moment of silence. He looked at her for a second before laughing. "I suppose it's because I'm lonely." He said still chuckling. "Why are you laughing?" Rose asked. A moment ago he'd been sad, Now he was laughing. All she had done was ask him a question. "You surprised me." He told her. Rose nodded, that made sense.
There was another pause where neither man nor girl spoke. Finally the man broke the silence "what is your name?" He asked her. "Rose Tyler." She answers "Who are you?" The man looked at her with kind eyes. "Lupin. Remus Lupin." She nodded. She looked over to where the older girls were. They weren't playing hopscotch anymore, instead they were jumping rope. "I'll be right back. Stay there." Rose instructed him. She ran over to where the older girls had left the chalk they had used to draw the hopscotch court. She grabbed four pieces of chalk (One green, one yellow, one red, and one pink.) before hurrying back to where the man, Remus, was sitting.
Rose took the yellow chalk before handing him the rest. "Now you're not lonely." She informed him as she plopped down on the sidewalk near his feet. "You've got me."
Remus's POV
Remus looked down at the chalk in his hand. Rose was lying on her stomach near his feet. She was drawing some sort of animal on the sidewalk with the yellow chalk. Her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth in concentration. She couldn't have been more than seven or eight. She was wearing light pink coveralls and trainers, her dark blonde hair was in two braids that hung on either side of her face. She looked up at him expectantly "Draw with me." It was more of an order than a request. He stood and stepped carefully around Rose and her drawing before sitting down next to her on the sidewalk.
"What are you drawing?" He asked Rose as he began his own sidewalk masterpiece. She moved so he could see her work so far. She was just far enough along for him to recognize the outline of a wolf. His breath caught in his throat. It was a coincidence surely, she couldn't know what he was. He shook his head to clear it and resumed his drawing. He'd decided to draw a Rose. He used the red chalk to draw the outline of the petals and colored them in with pink, then he took the green chalk and drew a stem.
He wasn't sure how long they spent coloring with the chalk. When he looked up from his finished work he discovered that Rose was already done. She had drawn a wolf howling at a crescent moon, under it she had printed two words in neat yellow letters 'Bad Wolf'. "Like the Big Bad Wolf." Rose explained. "It's my favorite story." Remus nodded. "Where are your parents?" He asked her. "I've only got a mum." Rose told him "she's over in the park." Remus frowned "does she know where you are?" He asked her. Rose looked at him sheepishly. "No." Remus sighed. "Let's get you back over there before she finds out you've gone."
"But if I leave you'll be lonely again." Rose insisted. Remus stayed quiet, she was right of course. "Never mind me. Imagine how worked your mother will be if she can't find you." He said, getting to his feet. He picked up his bag of groceries and gestured for Rose to get up. She stood and frowned up at him. "Come on then." He shifted his groceries so that he was carrying them in one arm and held out his other hand for her to take. She did so without protest and they quickly crossed the street and entered the park.
Roses POV
"Okay, where's your mother?" Remus asked her. Rose looked around the park. Jackie Tyler was nowhere to be seen. "She-she's not here." Rose stammered. "It's okay. She's probably just looking for you." Remus assured her. "Where do you live?" He asked "I can take you home if I have to." Rose told him and he nodded. "I know where that is. I can take you there" he offered. Rose shook her head "I want to find my Mum." She insisted.
Remus's POV
They walked along the sidewalk looking for Roses mother. Occasionally they stopped people to ask them if they'd seen Jackie Tyler anywhere. Either they didn't know her, they hadn't seen her, or they didn't care. "Excuse me? Did you say you were looking for Jackie Tyler." Remus turned to see the woman who had spoken. She had shoulder length blonde hair and brown eyes, the man standing next to her had dark brown hair and was wearing a blue pinstripe suit. He nodded "this is her daughter Rose. She's a bit lost." Rose gripped his hand tighter and tried to hide behind his leg "she's a bit shaken up." He explained.
The woman nodded. "I know. Well, I understand." She told him "We know Jackie." She added quickly "We saw her just a minute ago." Remus smiled. "Really? Where?" He asked her. "We really should be going-" the man in the suit began. "Just over there. We can show you." The woman said, cutting him off. Remus nodded great fully. "That would be nice." The woman nodded sympathetically "right this way." She said "follow me."
Rose's POV
Rose followed behind Remus as the strange woman led them through the crowd. She saw her mother before her mother saw her. She was sitting on a bench with her head in her hands, similar to the way Remus had been sitting when she'd approached him. "Mum!" She exclaimed, letting go of Remus's hand and pushing past the two strangers to run towards her. "Rose!" Jackie jumped up and scooped her daughter into a hug. "I was so scared. I thought I'd lost you."
Rose buried her face in her mothers shoulder. "I'm so so sorry." She repeated over and over.
When she finally let go Jackie turned to Remus and the two strangers. "Thank you so much. I don't know if I'd have ever found her without you helping her like you did." She said to the strange woman. "Oh we didn't do much. We were just passing by. It's this man you should be thanking." The woman told her, motioning towards Remus. "We'd better be going now anyway." The man added. "At least tell me your names." Jackie insisted. "We really should be going." The woman told her with a sigh. "Please?" Rose asked quietly. The woman turned to look at her. Her eyes softened and she kneeled down so she was face to face with Rose. "You can call me Bad Wolf." She said.
That was good enough for Jackie. She turned to Remus. "And who are you?" She asked him. "'Remus Lupin." He told her. "Your daughter spotted me from across the street and decided that I needed a friend." He explained. "She's a really good kid. You should be proud." Jackie nodded. "I owe you so much." She told him "thank you for bringing her back to me." He smiled "it was my pleasure."
Remus's POV
As Remus was walking home he spotted the two strangers who had helped him and Rose earlier. He couldn't help but be curious. So he followed them. They made their way across the street and headed into an alley. There in the alley was a blue police box. The two strangers stepped inside the box. A few seconds later the box began to fade away. Soon it was completely gone. Remus turned and walked out of the alleyway. He headed home just a little less lonely than he had been before.
Older Rose's POV (surprise)
"That was a very dangerous thing to do. You could have changed you own time line." The Doctor said. "Remember what happened last time?" Rose sighed. "Last time was different." She said. The Doctor didn't seem to agree with her as he went into a lecture on the dangers of crossing one's timeline. Rose just sat on the jump seat not really listening. Finally he sat down next to her. "Who was that man?" He asked her. "His name was Remus Lupin." Rose told him "and he's very very lonely."
