A/N this is my first story ever so please review!!! I'm so excited to start writing and get feedback. Anyways, this is a AU-denial fic meaning Remus and Tonks are alive. But, it's not your typical happily ever after denial fic. As seen in the prologue all is not well...

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is not mine, it's J.K. Rowling's. However, the plot, Katie, Andrew, Jim, and Mark are mine.

Prologue: Something Illegal

The Texas Capital of Magic, Austin, Texas

1:30 AM

The two men were the last ones in the building. It was unusual they were in the office at all since it was past midnight, and most of the city had long before fallen asleep. The summer heat pressed up against the walls, taking away any comfort they may have had. One of the men yawned, fanning himself with a newspaper.

"WEREWOLVES ARRESTED IN LONDON!" screamed the headline. And that was the reason the two young men were sitting in their cubicles past midnight when they should have been home with their families. Well, it was part of the reason, in an indirect way of course. But for most of the magical world, particularly England, it was all because of the werewolves.

"Got anymore coffee Jim?" said one of the men, breaking the silence that seemed to stretch between them.

"Nah, it's all gone," replied the other man, no revealed to be named Jim, struggling to keep his eyes open

"Crap," replied the other man. "Where is that damn British guy? I hate British people, all of them."

Jim raised his eyebrows at his partner. "I bet they all hate us, too, Mark. At least they're polite 'bout it."

"I don't care if they're polite or not, I just wanna go to bed."

"Ya know, in England it's 6:30 tomorrow. That might be why the guy's late. He could just not be adjusted to this time zone or just takin' his time, I guess."

Jim and Mark stopped speaking. The sounds of the night rustled through the windows, bringing with them the fears of the two young men. What they were doing was not necessarily legal, but it was not really illegal either. At least, as far as they thought, what they were doing was good. It just would be difficult to explain if they were caught.

And that's why the whole thing was being done at 1:30 in the morning.

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The young wizard hesitated at the corner of the street, his arms wrapped tightly around the little girl curled up against his chest. She had finally fallen asleep after sobbing her way through five floo connections. Her crying had not even ceased when a kind lady at the New York Capital of Magic had given her a cookie.

He stood at the corner, thousand memories running through his brain. He remembered his brother first, a little boy of five years, crying when he watched Andrew (for that was the young man's name) leave for his first year of Hogwarts. He remembered being thirteen and being pulled out of Charms class by McGonagall because his seven year old brother was killed by a werewolf. He remembered being seventeen and Head Boy, on the train to Hogwarts. He remembered intercepting a fight between two first years, one of them with turquoise hair, of all things. He remembered talking to the first year with unusual hair color afterwards, and then not talking to him again after he learned exactly what the fight was about and exactly what the boy's father was.

"I have one little sister. She's almost a year old…" Andrew shook Teddy Lupin's voice out of his head, finally remembering why he was in the United States. Nine months after the incident on the train, he was approached by a Ministry worker at graduation. The man had told Andrew that he had heard what happened to his brother, and that he thought Andrew was just right for a position in a newly formed committee. The man continued, telling him that Kingsley Shacklebolt was planning to retire, and the new committee was planning to have someone run for office. And if they won, the werewolves, the creatures that killed his brother would be sure to pay.

They won. Within two years, many anti-werewolf laws were passed, eliminating any freedoms the werewolves had in the first place. And the most recent law banned werewolves from getting married or having children as well as the demanding of custody of any such children.

That's why Andrew ended up on the street corner in Austin, Texas. Closing his eyes, he stepped forward, walking with a certain determination. As he walked into the Texas Capital of Magic, he was filled with a newfound courage, courage to do what he thought was right.

Andrew was greeted by a man, Jim, who was about ten years older than him. "You're late," accused the wizard, gruffly pointing out the obvious.

"Sorry," muttered Andrew. "We got held back in Tennessee."

"It's 2:30 in the freakin' morning!"

"I said I was sorry."

The two wizards unsteadily faced each other, not quite sure what to say next. "Is that the kid?" asked the Texan, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yes."

"She got a name?"

Then Andrew said the words that would haunt him for the rest of his life. "Her family called her Kate."

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

7:30 AM

Thousands of miles away, across the Atlantic Ocean, a thirteen year old boy talked to his godfather. A tear slowly ran down his cheek as his godfather told him his parents had to go into hiding. And when he asked about his sister, all he got was a shake of the head.

His eyes filled with tears at the thought of three year old Katie alone and scared. His body shook with silent sobs as he remembered the bright blue eyes of a little girl who rarely stopped smiling. And that night, Teddy Lupin mad a promise to himself, a promise he would not break.

No matter what, even if it took him years and years, even if he lost everything in the process, he would find his little sister.

Twelve years later, that's exactly what he did.