Chapter 1: Prologue
She was gone. Dorcas was gone. His Dorcas was dead. Remus Lupin sat and played with his wedding ring, how would he go on? Especially knowing the last time he'd spoken to her was to say he regretted everything.
"Go home Remus, you know she needs you," that's what James said as he put his arm round him.
Remus slammed the door, trying his hardest not to cry, he couldn't he'd stay strong for her, he was meant to comfort her, his angel, their angel.
As she heard the door slam she came running down the stairs, "DADDY!" she screamed as she jumped into his open arms and flung her legs round her.
"Emily Lillian Lupin! I told you its bedtime!" Emmeline Vance said as she came out to her god-daughter.
"Bur Auntie Emmie! Daddy's home, can't I stay up for just a little longer? Daddy needs to read me a story." Emily said looking pleadingly at her aunt.
"Ok Emily, I'll make you a deal, ok?" Emily nodded at her father, "you go up stairs, pick a book for daddy to read to you and get into bed, me and Auntie Emmie are going to have a little grown-up talk, up you go." And with that she was off.
It was when they heard the door close that Emmeline turned to look at Remus, "She didn't make it, did she?" she said, tears in her eyes.
"N-n-n-o-o" Remus said finally letting the tears come through as Emmeline hugged him closely and cried into his shoulder, after what felt like hours she pulled away, "oh no look at your shirt my mascara's stained it, Doe will kill me she loves that on you!" And suddenly it came to them never again would Doe be able to slap her playfully or joke about anything, never again would that little girl upstairs get tucked in by her mother and never again would he put his arm round her when they went to sleep.
"I'm going to go, you should tell her, she's smart your Emily, she knows something's wrong," Emmeline said grabbing her stuff. Emus lead her to the door and thanked her.
He had a sip of water to calm himself, then he went to Emily's room fully expecting her to be asleep. But there she was all curled up in her pink princess bed with fairy lights surrounding her (it had been Dorcas' idea considering neither of them really got a childhood they wanted their daughter to have the best, not that that was possible now), but wide awake none the less. She insisted he read her Beauty and the Beast and it broke his heart when she referred to her mummy as Beauty. He finished kissed her head and tucked her in, as he was about to step into the hallway he heard a tiny voice say, "Daddy, when's Mummy coming home?"
He looked over at his young daughter, her brown curls where out of the place her mother had put them in this morning but her eyes where filled with the same curiosity they always were.
"You see the thing is Emily, Mummy can't come home..." Remus said trying to figure out a way to tell his little girl her mother was dead.
"Why?"
"Because she's up with the angels," he hoped she'd understand.
"And Auntie Marlene?" she said referring to Marlene McKinnon, a friend of the Lupins, who had been killed some weeks earlier.
"Yes with Auntie Marlene, so you understand why she can't come down?" he said hoping she would.
"Yep, because the angels need her, and she's looking down on me...night daddy, love you."
"Love you too," he called as he stepped into the hall.
As soon as he got to the bedroom, he collapsed on the bed, knowing he wouldn't wake up to that gorgeous smile.
