DISCLAIMER: With the exception of Tala Lupin, I do not own these characters.

Hope Lupin was a beautiful woman; a loving mother, a devoted wife, and a wonderful homemaker. She loved many things – like daffodils and the films of Bette Davis, hedgehogs and beaches in the winter... But most of all, she loved her family and she loved her little cottage in the middle of the Yorkshire countryside.

Her favourite room in her little home was, undoubtedly, the kitchen – the kitchen she had built from scratch, before her son was born and before she had adopted her niece. Her kitchen was her haven, a place where she felt safe and in control, a place where she cooked and baked for her loved ones, a place of love and family and comfort.

Hope sighed silently, happily, as she stood over the cooker, her infamous Lupin Sunday Soup cooking in a large pot on the stove. She gave the broth one last stir before she replaced the lid and wiped her hands on a tea towel. She adjusted her apron and turned around, pausing and listening to the faint sounds of conversation coming from behind the kitchen door.

She rested her hands on the kitchen island and leaned forward slightly, frowning as she attempted to better hear her son and daughter's whispered conversation. They were arguing, she realised. But about what, she didn't know. She couldn't quite hear their words, only their tone. They were trying to be quiet but the pair had never been very good at being subtle.

To her left, sat in his seat at the island, was Hope's husband, Lyall Lupin, frowning in concentration as he read the 'Muggle' newspaper and drank from his scalding cup of coffee. Hope looked over at him as he took a large gulp, seemingly unfazed by its hot temperature. She had always wondered how he could drink it that hot. She often put it down to being a Wizard thing.

"Can you hear that?" she asked, quietly amused, looking over at the wooden door which still harboured her bickering children.

Lyall merely grunted in response.

Tutting, she turned her body towards him, leaving one hand on the island as her other hand fell to her side. She stared at her husband intently, tapping her foot impatiently and waiting for him to look at her.

Lyall kept his eyes on his newspaper determinedly, but Hope Lupin was a stubborn woman and she stared her husband down until, finally, he sighed resignedly and hung his head behind his paper. A moment later, he lifted his head and reluctantly glanced at her over the top of his news. She stared back expectantly, and he huffed before he closed his newspaper, folded it over, and lay it down on the table. Finally giving her his full attention, he smiled and calmly asked, "What is it, dear?"

Hope smiled triumphantly and replied, "Your children are arguing. They've been doing this since they got back. Do you think it has anything to do with the school?"

"Our children," he corrected; Hope rolled her eyes at him but Lyall ignored the action as he thought of a reply. "No," he finally replied. "Maybe. I don't know, Hope. If it is about the school, it can't be anything bad. They would have sent a letter if it was serious."

Hope hummed thoughtfully. Before her husband could pick his newspaper up again, she asked, "Well, then, what do you think they're arguing about?"

Lyall sighed and picked up his mug instead of his reading material, taking a quick sip. "I don't know, Hope," he repeated. "They're siblings. They're always arguing. It would be weird if they didn't argue now and again. Just... Leave them to it. If it's important, they'll tell us, I'm sure."

Hope raised an eyebrow before she huffed. "Fine. I suppose you're right," she replied grudgingly.

She turned back to her soup and added the gammon pieces before she washed her hands and rushed over to Lyall. She took the paper from his hands swiftly, before he could read it again, and searched the television section. Lyall threw his head back and closed his eyes in annoyance. He loved his wife immensely, but she could be quite hyperactive.

"Lyall!" she squealed excitedly.

Lyall tipped his head forward and looked at her expectantly.

"Wizard of Oz! Tonight! We have to watch it!" she demanded frantically, beaming brightly.

Just then, before Lyall could reply, their children burst into the room, Remus first with Tala following closely behind him.

Tala glared at her younger brother, separated by only a year, but Remus didn't seem to notice, too busy smiling enigmatically at her. Hope watched her children interact, watching as Tala glared at her brother and as Remus offered his sister an unreadable look – a look that seemed a mix between daring and smugness.

Almost simultaneously, the pair turned to face their parents and smiled innocently.

Hope squinted her eyes, suspicious of her children. Their smiles were too innocent. They were obviously arguing about something important to one of them, and Hope guessed it was important to Tala, judging by the death-glare she was sending her brother and by the smug look Remus wore that suggested he knew something about her that Hope and Lyall didn't.

Hope straightened up, still holding the newspaper, as Remus walked over to the kitchen island and sat down calmly, directly opposite her. Tala rushed over and jerked out the chair next to him. Remus snickered and she glowered at him again. Unknowingly, Hope scrunched up the newspaper, ignoring Lyall's mournful sound.

Remus clasped his hands together and calmly rested them on the table in front of himself. Tala huffed indignantly and all but slammed her elbows on the table. Remus snickered again and tried to hide with a fake cough.

Hope looked between them wildly, her greying brown hair becoming messier by the second. She beamed at them as she scrunched the newspaper. She didn't like it when her children kept secrets, and she was almost certain they were keeping a secret right now.

"Hello, darlings," she greeted sweetly. "How's it going?"

"Quite fine, mum," Remus grinned.

"Yeah, mum. Everything's fine," Tala replied stiffly.

Hope hummed, and before she knew it, she had slammed the newspaper down and was shouting, "What are you hiding from me?!"

Lyall said nothing. He just watched events unfold with amusement and took occasional sips from his cooling coffee.

Remus tried to hide a smile and cocked his head, turning in his chair to look at Tala. Hope's outburst didn't seem to shock them; they were used to her temperament. Tala turned to Remus, a devious look falling over her face and an evil smirk appearing on her lips.

"If you tell them, I'll tell them," she muttered under her breath.

Remus's grin faltered and he stared at her. "You wouldn't dare," he replied, unsure.

"Wouldn't I?" she challenged, quirking an eyebrow. "Do you want to bet?"

They stared at each other for a long time, daring one another to speak. Hope grasped the edge of the table, desperately wanting to know what her children were silently talking about. She would never judge them, they knew that. So why weren't they telling? It must be something bad, she concluded. They had done something bad, and they didn't want her to know...

Hope tapped her finger impatiently on the worktop. When her children merely stared at each other, she turned to her husband, eyes flashing wildly. She jerked her head in the direction of their spawn, signalling for him to help her.

"Kids," Lyall spoke, "You're making your mother feel uneasy."

"Fine," Remus said to Tala before he turned to look his mother in the eye. "Mum, I... I like blokes. In a romantic way," he stated, bluntly, simply, like it was a relief to finally voice this secret.

Hope froze, staring at her son blankly. She wasn't expecting that, to say the least.

Lyall choked on his coffee and spluttered before he looked from his son to his daughter to his wife.

Tala gawped at her brother, looking like she was deciding whether to laugh or cry.

Hope unfroze. She glanced at her husband briefly before she looked at her daughter. Once seeing her daughter's expression, she promptly decided that this secret wasn't what Tala was threatening to reveal. Finally, Hope looked at her son. She opened her mouth to say something – anything! – but all that came out was a strange sounding, "Oh."

"I-I like women too," Remus assured quickly, glancing between his parents, looking panicked, "But I... I-I just..."

Hope stood silent, trying to find the right words – words of support and love. She would accept him, without hesitation. She had nearly lost her boy years ago, after he was bitten. She didn't want to ever lose him, and the night he was turned, she had made a promise to herself to accept him, to accept whatever he wanted to do and whoever he wanted to be.

But she was at a loss for words. Honestly, she couldn't say it hadn't crossed her mind that her son might be... homosexual, but she was caught a bit off-guard with his sudden confession. It was so blunt, so simple, that it had her caught unawares.

"Remus," Tala spoke, breaking the silence and shaking with silent laughter, her mouth still gaping disbelievingly at him, "That's... That is not what I was going to tell them!"

Remus snapped his head her way. "What?" he asked, eyes wide.

Tala laughed, tears threatening to fall from her eyes, and said, "I... I was going to... I was going to tell them about the end-of-term prank!"

Remus frowned, panicking, and groaned before he threw his head into his hands. "Oh, God. Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God..." he muttered under his breath.

Hope looked over to her husband, hoping he would say something.

Lyall just shrugged in response.

Tala was still cackling in her chair, head thrown back.

"Mum, dad..." Remus looked up, frowning worriedly, "I'm so sorry. I-I didn't... I didn't mean... I mean, I did, but I wasn't going to... Oh, God, I'm sorry."

"Remus, darling," Hope spoke, finally finding her voice. She walked around the table and pulled her son into her arms, hugging him tightly, offering him comfort and hopefully showing him that she thought him no different. "It's okay," she said, speaking quietly, soothingly. "You're still my boy. It doesn't matter if you like boys or girls, or both... You're still you." She took his face between her hands and forced him to look at her. "You're still my handsome, brilliant, smart, kind boy. This doesn't change anything," she assured, staring into the hazel-amber eyes which were so like her own.

Remus swallowed, looking so scared and so unsure. "Really?" he asked, and it broke Hope's heart to hear the uncertainty in his voice.

"Yes," Lyall finally spoke.

Remus looked over at his father, worried frown still in place.

"Remus, you are what you are. And we accept you, because we love you."

"Honestly, darling," Hope smiled, "You don't need to apologise. You can't change it. It's a part of you, but it's not who you are, Remus. You are so much more than who you love. You are kind and beautiful and someone will see this – and we honestly don't care if that someone is a man, a woman, or a Banshee. As long as you're happy."

Remus nodded, and said, "I really am sorry. This isn't how I wanted to tell you. I mean, I don't know if I wanted to tell you at all, really..."

Lyall frowned. "Remus, you know that this doesn't change our opinion of you, right? We aren't going to love you any less. You're still our lad. Nothing is going to change that."

Remus swallowed and nodded. "Thanks. I do know that. Now, I mean."

Hope smiled down at her son and gave him another hug.

Lyall looked over to his daughter who was still giggling. "So, Tala, what's your secret then?" he asked. "Remus has told us his secret. I think it's only fair that you tell us yours."

Tala's smile dropped and she stilled in her chair, her blue eyes going impossibly wide. Hope and her son turned to look at her, and Hope stared at her expectantly. She couldn't see her son's face, but from her daughter's glare, Remus must have been looking pretty smug.

"I... It-it's nothing," she stuttered. "There's nothing to, um, tell."

"Come on, Tee, you might as well tell them," Remus chuckled. "They're going to find out anyways."

Tala glared at him once more before she sighed and said, "Fine. I... Look, mum, dad, they were just mocks, okay? Not the real ones," she reassured, looking between her uncle and her aunt, "I failed my Potions and Astronomy mock exams."

"What? How?" Lyall asked, frowning. "Last term, you were getting Outstandings... What changed?"

"I..."

"Go on, Tee," Remus urged.

"I was... preoccupied," Tala stated.

"With what?" Lyall asked.

"What could be more important than your... reptile tests...?" Hope asked, still unsure about the exams her children would be doing soon.

"NEWTs, dear," Lyall informed.

"I... It's..." Tala floundered and looked to Remus for help.

Remus just sighed and said, simply, "She's got a boyfriend. She was too busy snogging him in the library instead of studying."

Tala gasped, "Judas!"

"What? You asked for my help!" Remus replied.

"Not that kind of help!"

"Well, I wasn't going to lie to them."

"Tala Annabeth Lupin!" Hope howled. "You think that boys are more important than your studies – more important than your future?"

"No, mum," Tala replied hurriedly. "Honestly, I—"

"Boys come and go, darling, but these tests decide your future! They're important!"

"I know, mum. They were mock tests! I haven't actually failed anything," Tala assured.

"You'd better not have, young lady!" Hope replied sternly.

"Tala, here's what you're going to do," Lyall said, gaining everyone's attention. "You are going to start studying, every night. Your studies come first, do you understand me?"

"Yes, dad," Tala replied. "I swear, it was just fluke. I'll do better."

"Good, darling," Hope smiled, moving away from her son's side to hug her daughter. "We only want to best for you, darling. For both of you," she added, placing a hand on Remus's shoulder. "Because we love you, and we want you to succeed – circumstances be damned!"

"We know, mum," her children replied, almost simultaneously.

"Good," Hope replied before she extricated herself and walked over to the stove to check on the soup. She peaked in and sniffed then put the lid back on. "It's nearly done," she chirped before she began chopping up some freshly made bread.

"I cannot believe you just told them," Tala giggled quietly, nudging Remus with her elbow. "That was the funniest outing I have ever witnessed."

Remus chuckled as well. "Seen many outings, have you?"

Tala just shrugged. "I wasn't going to tell them, you know? I mean, I'm proud of you, for telling them, but I wasn't threatening to out you."

"I know. I mean, I know that now," he shrugged and breathed easier. "Doesn't matter, though. It's over and done with now."

Hope suddenly whirled around on her family, eyes wild and excited, looking quite threatening whilst holding a large bread-cutting knife in the air. "Guess what's on tonight?! The Wizard of Oz!" she asked, and answered before they could. "We're going to watch it, after dinner," she informed before she twirled back around and continued cutting the bread. "So, Remus," she murmured, all-too-casually, "Any boys you like?"

Tala giggled, and Remus glowered at her.

"No, mum," he lied.

Hope hummed, and then said, "Tala, darling, why don't you tell us about your new beau."

A/N: Thanks for reading!

Written: July, 2016
Rewritten: October, 2018