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Summary: It has been five years since the First War ended. The Potters, the Longbottoms, the Blacks and Remus decide to take a trip to Salem, Massachusetts. The whole trip was so Lily, Marlene and Alice could find their friend Christina Chambers. Instead they find out disturbing news. The vacation turns into a quest to find out the truth. But it won't be as simple as they would like it to be.
WARNING: Mild swearing, mentions of domestic violence, suggested adult themes
"Final Request,"
Chapter 1 "Little Girl in the Red Cloak,"
The arrival to Salem had been breezy. Not a single mishap or problem had occurred. Sirius, James, Remus and Frank were already at the muggle hotel's bar, intent on enjoying their vacation. Marlene was sitting on the step of the pool watching Harry, Neville, Ulises and Penelope play in the kid area. They all could swim to a point and had floating devices so Marlene wasn't worried. She pounced her six month old baby, Morgana, on her lap to keep the baby from trying to drink the pool water.
"Mummy look at me!" called Roselyn from atop of the tallest slide. Lily gasped in horror. It was Alice that jumped into the pool first. Alice was waiting at the bottom of the slide by the time Roselyn got to the bottom of the slide. Alice return the five-year-old to where the other children were playing.
"No more slides Rosie," told Lily. She had learned scolding Roselyn did nothing but make the five-year-old do it more. She acted just like her father. Lily often wondered how James's mother had raised James without having a heart attack.
"Thank you, Alice," sighed Lily. Lily was six months pregnant, already blown up like a balloon, there was no way she would have been able to get to the bottom of the slide. She was very tired from flying by broom since portkey was too dangerous as was apparition at the stage of pregnancy Lily was at.
"No problem," said Alice. She wouldn't let anything happen to the kids on her watch if she could help it. She was always alert around the kids, especially when there were so many children.
"Any luck finding anything on Christina?" asked Marlene. She missed her rocker friend. The last time Marlene had seen Christina was a week after graduation. She was in muggle London in skinny jeans and a low-cut tank top that showed off most of her tattoos and her curves. It seemed like a lifetime ago, she had been so lonely without Christina.
"Nothing. Are you sure she came to America?" questioned Lily to Alice. Alice rolled her eyes at Lily.
"I know she did. The last conversation I had with Christina she was here in Salem calling me from a muggle phone," said Alice her voice drifting off. She recalled one detail she had forgotten about.
"Try the last name Bishop. She said something about how she had met this guy with the last name Bishop," said Alice. Lily flipped through five years' worth of the local newspaper she had gotten from a local library.
"In 1978 a William Bishop married a Christina Chambers, we got her!" exclaimed Lily.
"So look for more," demanded Marlene.
"Here October 13, 1978 Evan Bishop was born. December 5, 1978 Evan died, unknown cause," said Lily. Alice took some of the newspapers to make this go faster.
"Poor Christina," cooed Marlene. She couldn't imagine having a baby than having the baby die two months later.
"July 6, 1978 Aspen Bishop was born. August 10, 1978 Edward and Lauren Bishop are murdered. They were William's parents," stated Alice.
"January 1, 1979 Edmund and Anthony Bishop were born. June 22, 1979 Edmund Bishop dies, suspicious death," grimaced Lily. The tone this was taking wasn't looking good. She feared the worst news.
"February 14, 1981 Felicity Bishop was born. Oh, um, dear," stumbled Alice.
"Spit it out already pixie!" called Marlene.
"Don't call me that!" snapped Alice.
"Just continue," sighed Lily. Alice and Marlene got along most of the time but sometimes they acted as if they hated each other.
Frank and James came over to see what their wives were up too. Marlene scolded Ulises for pulling Penelope's hair. Alice still was trying to say what she was reading. She couldn't say it.
"Frank, tell me what is on that newspaper with the name Bishop," demanded Lily. She knew if Alice couldn't say it wasn't going to be good.
"March 15, 1982. Domestic dispute between William and Christian Bishop ends up with the death of four-year-old Aspen Bishop. William Bishop bailed out of jail by unknown person. He is ruled not guilty with the murder of Aspen Bishop," told Frank.
"Oh my god," gasped Lily taking the paper from Alice. On the front page was the picture the cutest little girl. She had bright blue eyes and curly brown hair.
"I think that's enough for me," said Alice. She didn't want to read anymore right now. She knew it would only get worse. There were too many deaths in the five years span. What had happened the other four years? Something was very wrong with the whole picture.
"Why does this Bishop family matter?" asked James taking a drink out of his mug of beer.
"Christina married William Bishop," clarified Lily. She was still in shock that William had most likely got away with the murder of his own daughter.
It was later that afternoon when the group decided to go out to eat in wizarding section of Salem. A friendly lady at entrance to Haven Street, the main street of wizarding Salem recommended Everret Dinner. Haven Street was extremely busy. There wasn't a single area that wasn't occupied. There wasn't anything you couldn't find on Haven Street. Legal or illegal.
James had hold of Roselyn whom was extremely hyper since she had snuck in a nap. Lily had Harry in hand. Frank had Neville on his shoulders since whenever they had Neville walk he'd trip. Sirius had Ulises in one hand while carrying Morgana's baby bag. Marlene was carrying Morgana. Remus had Penelope along with the first aid bag.
Everret Dinner was a small dinner that wasn't too busy. It was cozy and had antique toys hanging on the walls and a train that ran all around the dinner. The kids were enjoying the dinner very much. Not a single person looked at the group funny. Everyone in the dinner had children. It was a bit noisy but that was kids.
Penelope had gotten bored and wouldn't sit still for anything so Remus and Alice stood outside the dinner with her. Alice was feeling stuffy in dinner and Remus just adored his goddaughter. Penelope was just glad to be somewhere more interesting. She loved people.
"Hi," greeted Penelope to a little girl no one had noticed until now. The fo-year-old had no problems talking to random people in the street.
The little girl didn't even look up. She sat there in her curled up ball with a tin can sitting in front of her. She had on a tattered oversized red cloak. She had curly blond hair that had not been washed in a few days.
"Penny, I don't think she wants to talk," said Alice. Alice felt horrible for the little girl. She could see the poor girl was begging on the street for money. She probably didn't have a home and maybe even parents. It always made her sad to see anyone begging on the street for money let alone a little girl.
Remus reached into his pocket and found a chocolate bar. He didn't have any money on him so he put the chocolate bar into the tin can. The little girl looked up at him. Her light blue eyes looking at him to what must have been the slightest form of delight. It made Alice choke down tears. Alice took Penelope back inside.
"T-hank y-o-u," stuttered the little girl. Remus smiled at the young girl. "You're welcome," said Remus. James looked out the window at Remus and the little girl. He left the table and came outside.
James knelt down to the girl's eye level. "Do you want to come inside and eat with us?" asked James. The girl looked stunned. She had never been offered to come inside and eat with someone. No one had ever offered her anything but money or scraps.
"I-I-I don't want to be a bother," stuttered the girl.
"You won't be," told James. He couldn't felt but feel like there was something familiar about the girl. He pushed it off as just being that growing up Remus had a bad childhood and he was identifying the little girl to Remus.
"Come on," encouraged James. The girl didn't move. James wasn't sure if she was scared or not.
"It's okay. We won't hurt you," encouraged Remus. The little girl finally got up off the sidewalk. Remus coaxed her into the dinner and to eat with them. She sat next to Remus since she stuck to him like glue now.
The little girl never spoke a word. Lily felt so sad watching her. Everyone felt bad for girl. No child should have to live on the streets.
"Sweetie, where are your parents?" asked Lily. If she didn't ask now the girl would walk away and she'd never know
"Dans le ciel et l'enfer," replied the little girl.
"She speaks French. Didn't she speak English before?" asked Alice.
"All she said was thank you. She might only now a little bit of English," added Marlene.
"Parles-tu Anglais?" asked Remus.
"Je parle très peu anglais," told the girl.
"She speaks little English. I'm guessing she can understand us," claimed Remus.
"Where do you stay?" questioned Lily.
"Où demeurez-vous?" repeated Remus.
"J'habite dans la boutique d'abandonné sur le côté est du marché de rue, près d'orphelinat de Salem," replied the girl.
"She says she lives in the abandoned shop on the east side of Marketplace Street near Salem Orphanage," repeated Remus.
"Ask her if she has any family," requested Alice.
"Vous avez n'importe quelle famille?" asked Remus.
"J'ai un frère, il est âgé de neuf ans. Il va à modus Salem tandis que je reste ici," replied the girl.
"Comment vous appelez-vous?" asked Marlene. Showing her French skills for the first time.
"All pureblood families teach French. For James here it went in one ear and out the other," said Sirius. James glared at Sirius.
"I know French just not like Sirius and Marlene and nowhere near Remus. But Remus's mother was French, that's not a fair comparison," pouted James.
"I didn't learn French. I learned Latin and German," said Frank. Alice cleared her throat.
"They shoved it down your throat," huffed Alice. "I learned Spanish," she added.
"Mon frère m'a dit jamais à quiconque donner mon nom. tout le monde m'appelle la jeune fille à la cape rouge," replied the girl louder than the jabbering adults.
"She won't give us her name. Everyone calls her the girl in the red cloak," translated James.
The girl giggled. The giggle shut everyone up. It was so light and airy but filled with pure raw happiness. Everyone in the dinner was looking at them now. For nearly everyone in the dinner knew who the girl in red cloak was. Some even knew her real name.
When the bill came James and Sirius argued over who should pay the bill. Eventually James won because he had Lily on his side. He always won any argument as long as Lily was on his side. If she was on the opposite side it was a lost cause.
James went up to the cash register. "If you see her around or her brother bring in here and feed them. Just send the bill to Gringotts Wizarding Bank, London Branch," told James to the lady at the register. "I'll tell me boss," she replied taking the piece of paper with Gringotts address and the Potter account number.
"And sir she isn't alone. There is an older boy that works here sometimes that stays with those two kids. He's adopted them as family," told the lady at the register. James smiled at least someone was helping the kid.
Soon as everyone left the dinner the girl was gone. She had snuck through the crowd and had vanished without a trace. Alice looked around standing on her tip toes to see if she could see the girl. Remus knew they wouldn't find her.
As they were getting ready to leave Haven Street for their muggle hotel the girl in the red cloak appeared with tall boy with shaggy brown hair and bright green eyes. She pointed to the group. The boy walked towards them.
"Thank you for feeding her. You didn't have to do that," said the boy. His voice hinted his age. His voice wasn't quite a deep as the guys but clearly he was not that young. The adults supposed he was between fifteen and eighteen.
"You are?" asked Frank.
"One of the other street kids. I adopted her and her brother in a way. They reminded me of my siblings so I took them under my wing. Tried to teach them how to stay alive out here," said the boy.
"We didn't have to but it was the right thing to do," said Remus. "And we had the extra money," added James.
"You guys are tourist. Around here people don't do that. They'd give money or a scraps but no one ever offers to buy meals. So many of us orphaned and abandoned kids around. It's a stopping place on the way to New York, Boston and the capitol. People like to think the kids they see begging for money are just passing through," said the boy.
"If any of you three ever need food just go into the dinner," said James. It was then that everyone realized why James had wanted to pay the bill. Lily smiled at James. He had matured a lot even since they got married.
"You don't need to do that sir. I make enough to feed us most of the time," said the boy.
"The name is James, I'm sure you do but when you can't just go to the dinner," told James.
"Why does she only speak French when she can understand English?" asked Marlene.
"I don't know. We suppose she's from one of the pureblood families in Salem but neither she nor her brother will tell us who they are. I know French because I go to Salem's Wizard Institute. They offer French, Spanish, German and Chinese," said the boy.
The girl sudden clung to the boy's legs. That alerted him to the dangers behind him. He knew those guys too well. She was fine as long as she was with him. They couldn't take her as long as he was breathing.
"We have to go," said the boy picking up the girl so he could move more quickly. He took off into the streets vanishing as the girl had done to them before. Alice and Frank looked over in the direction the boy went and saw to stocky guys wondering around peeking down allies. They knew the rumours of what goes on in Haven Street.
"I guess the American contact was telling the truth," mumbled Alice. Frank shook his head in disgust. No one asked what they were talking about. They choose to ignore it.
Late that night Alice rolled off the bed and stood at the window that looked in on Haven Street. Alice wondered if this hotel was really a muggle hotel or not. It was so close to Haven Street. And some things that went on in the hotel seemed less muggle that what it should.
"Ally, what are you doing?" asked Frank groggily.
"Thinking," said Alice.
"Please come back to bed," pleaded Frank. He knew where this conversation was going to go. He wasn't sure he wanted to talk about it right now.
"How can you sleep when we saw those men and we let them continue their work? Some innocent little girl was just robbed of her freedom and we are sleeping here in a fancy hotel. Or did you not see the fear in that girl's face when she saw them," scolded Alice. She was careful not to raise her voice. She didn't want to wake up Neville.
"I know Alice. We couldn't do anything tonight. We don't have permission to. I can see if I can get permission. We're going to be here the whole summer. We'll catch them again," sighed Frank.
Frank got up and wrapped his arms around Alice from behind. "Love, we can't catch the bad guys all the time. At least we know that little girl is safe for now," whispered Frank. Alice bit her lip.
"Only safe for tonight. She's out there every day trying to get a few coins or a few scraps of food," sighed Alice. She fought back the tears that threatened to fall. She hated the idea of children running around on the streets just trying to stay alive. She'd be horrified if she and Frank died and Neville was running around the streets trying to stay alive and no ever cared to even stop and give him a real meal.
"Ally, the boy will protect her. He has to be in his teens, old enough to work. I could see the fire in his eyes when he saw those guys. She seems like a smart girl. She probably knows how to confuse those bastards," whispered Frank.
"It isn't fair she has to be that way. She's only a child. Children shouldn't have to live like that. It makes me sick that the locals don't do anything for those kids. The orphanage is probably overfilled with children and no one cares to build another one," cried Alice. She couldn't fight the tears anymore. It upset her greatly to see a child like that. It wasn't just the girl, the sick bastards or the boy. It was what she had discovered about Christina.
"Frank," whimpered Alice. She fought back the tears once again.
"Hmm," Frank whispered. He was rubbing circles around Alice's back. He hated seeing his wife like this.
"We aren't going to find Christina alive are we?" asked Alice. "Be honest," she added. Alice knew deep down that they wouldn't find Christina alive. She'd be lucky to find any of Christina's kids alive either.
"Honestly, we aren't going to find Christina alive but you already knew that. I don't know if we'd find the other two kids or not," sighed Frank. He wasn't going to lie to Alice. The odds weren't good. Whoever Christina had married was clearly an abusive man that had severe issues. He had killed his own daughter, that wasn't a good sign of the type of man he was.
Alice let out a sigh. "I know, I was just hoping maybe we'd find her," she said. She knew that hope was long gone. Soon as she read that last article.
"Ally, just come back to bed. I think you've been thinking too much," whispered Frank playing with one of Alice's brown curls.
"Fine," sighed Alice giving Frank a playful shove. Frank knocked into a nightstand that came crashing to the ground. Neville stirred than rolled over to the other side snoring. Alice covered her mouth to keep herself from bursting out laughing. "I'll get you for that later," growled Frank. "Oh really?" questioned Alice with a smirk. "Not now, Neville's here," scolded Frank. "He sleeps like a log like his father," teased Alice. Frank snorted.
"Sirius get away from the wall," sighed Marlene as she tried to get Ulises and Penelope to settle down. They were in their witching hour and were jumping up and down on their bed.
"Stop it now! You'll wake up your sister!" scolded Marlene. She was tired and annoyed. She wasn't in the mood for her older two kids at this time at night.
Sirius pouted as he walked away from the wall and caught his kids, one in each arm. He put the down on the bed and tucked them in so tightly they couldn't get up. Sometimes the only thing he and Marlene could do was to tie them down.
"It sounds like Alice and Frank are having a party," smirked Sirius. Marlene rolled her eyes. She found it hard to believe they would do anything with Neville sleeping in there.
"They have Neville. Someone probably tripped," sighed Marlene. Sirius shook his head.
"Maybe the first time," Sirius said "but not the other five times."
"Who cares Sirius? They're adults," snarled Marlene smacking Sirius's arm.
"Domestic abuse," called Sirius in a joking tone. Marlene's glare told Sirius everything he had to know and shut up.
"That isn't even funny," snapped Marlene.
"What's got you so riled up?" asked Sirius.
"I'm not riled up. I'm just being the mature parent you aren't," snapped Marlene. She knew she had gone too far as soon as it came out of her mouth. She didn't mean it.
Sirius huffed getting out the bed and walked out of their room. Walking towards Remus's room. He wasn't going to listen to Marlene talk to him like that but he wouldn't make a scene in front of his kids.
"Sirius, I didn't mean that," Marlene said put the door was already close. She flopped down on the bed. She let a few silent tears rolled down her cheeks. She felt horrible. She didn't mean to take out her anger out on Sirius.
"Where's daddy going?" asked Ulises.
"Yeah, where did daddy go?" asked Penelope.
"He's going to stay with Uncle Remus," said Marlene. She had forgotten the kids were still awake. She felt even worse now. Good thing they didn't understand what had just happened.
"Why?" asked Ulises. Marlene sighed. Why did Ulises had to be such a smart six-year-old?
"He went to keep Uncle Remus company so he isn't lonely," replied Marlene. She was too tired for this. She just wanted to go to sleep. She had made a big enough mess.
"Why are you upset mummy?" asked Penelope.
"I'm tired. So just go to sleep so mummy can sleep," told Marlene. She didn't hear another word form Penelope or Ulises. For once they did as they were told.
Meanwhile, Lily was fighting with Roselyn to get her into her pyjamas. Harry was already sleeping. He was the good child, very rarely did Lily or James have to scold Harry. Lily finally wrestled Roselyn into her pyjamas and into bed. She sighed as she sat down on her own bed. "Why didn't you help me?" asked Lily.
"Would you have let me?" asked James as he tossed his clothes into his suitcase.
"No," replied Lily as she slipped under the covers.
"Game point," said James. Lily chuckled. James would always be James.
"You didn't have to leave our account number with the dinner for those kids," said Lily.
"I wanted to. I would want someone to do that if those were my kids on the street and I had died," stated James.
"Look, she's already asleep," cooed Lily. James smiled, Lily had her ways of getting out of talking about things.
"They're so cute when they are asleep. Ever wonder what Harry thinks of his scar?" asked James.
"Probably thinks it's wicked. Boys will be boys," said Lily. She adored her kids even when they drove her crazy. She wondered how she was going to do it with more kids on the way.
"So how is my baby?" asked James talking to Lily's stomach. Lily smiled at James. It didn't matter how many kids they had James still acted as if it was their first.
"You mean babies," corrected Lily. James's eyes got big. She had meant to tell James earlier but to be honest she hadn't known until a few days ago.
"Did you say babies?" asked James. He couldn't believe his ears.
"We're having twins. I found out right before we came," whispered Lily. James was speechless for a few minutes. He was prepared for one baby but two.
"I suppose we'll have to double everything. Did you find out the genders?" asked James.
"No, I wanted to do that with you. Salem has a really good hospital here," told Lily.
"Tomorrow," yawned James. Lily yawned right after him. He smirked, she playful smacked his arm. He kissed the top her head. "Eww," said Roselyn. James and Lily couldn't hold their laugh in. "Try to imagine telling her the birds and the bees," laughed James. "Merlin help us," joked Lily. "Did you just crack a joke?" asked James. "Yes I did," said Lily. "The world is coming to the end," gasped James. "What?" asked Roselyn in a panicked voice. "Rosie, your daddy is just being silly," told Lily.
Remus opened his room door to let Sirius in. He pointed Sirius towards the second bed. He didn't ask any questions just acted.
"She drives me nutty Remus! She still acts like she's eight months pregnant!" exclaimed Sirius. Remus hushed him. He didn't want to wake up everyone on the floor.
"Be quit. This is a hotel not my house," reminded Remus.
"Why is she acting like this? She had the nerve to tell me I was being immature parent," elaborated Sirius.
"Sirius maybe she's on her period or something not related to you is bothering her. It is close to the time when her family was killed," reminded Remus.
Sirius didn't say anything for a while. He came to realize he was acting immature by being her. He should have talked with her not run away from it.
"I am an immature parent, aren't I?" sighed Sirius slumping down on the bed.
"You can't change who you are overnight. You are nowhere as immature as you were when Ulises was born," told Remus. He wouldn't sugar-coat things. Sirius needed the full truth right now.
"I feel like such an idiot. The kids were still awake. What was I thinking?" stated Sirius. "I can't turn into my father," he added. Remus shook his head.
"Sirius your father was an abusive bastard, you rarely even yell at your kids. You are not your father," reminded Remus.
"Right," said Sirius getting up ready to head back to his room. But he turned around for a second.
"That boy was a werewolf wasn't he?" asked Sirius. He remembered Remus at that age and there were some similarities but not everything. The boy had been a lot more muscular and seemed to be healthier than Remus had been but it wasn't a fair comparison. The boy been living on the streets.
"Yes. I could sense it soon as I got close to the girl. I think she could tell I was werewolf, the way she clung to me was the same way she clung to the boy. I knew right away he was a werewolf but it was obvious when his eyes changed colours when he saw those two men," clarified Remus.
"You're going to try to find them again, aren't you?" questioned Sirius. He knew that look.
"Yes. I want to confirm something," said Remus.
"Good luck. Be careful, things are a lot more dangerous then they seem. Something was right with those two men," warned Sirius.
"I know, that's why I want to do it," said Remus to himself as Sirius went back towards his room.
Remus closed his door. He looked at a picture he had on the nightstand next to his bed. It was Remus and Christina as young kids playing on a tire swing. Christina was the first person he had ever told about his curse, the first person he ever trusted.
"I know Christina. I'm not going to let it continue," he whispered before laying on his bed and drifting into sleep.
Please review. I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you readers enjoyed reading it. I have a game for you readers to do. The rules are only one guess per person. There is no way to cheat. Get two out of the three questions right I give you a secret surprise.
1) Who will find out more information on Christina first?
2) What happened to Evan and Edward Bishop?
3) How does the girl in the red cloak know French?