A/N: So, this is for while I come up with the next part for The Potter Children's Tale.
Disclaimer: Let me look in the mirror, yeah, uh no. Darn!
There was a secret that Sirius had kept from his fellow Marauders for years. It tore at him every time he saw Remus Lupin. All of the other Marauders were staring at him, he had zoned out from the conversation. "What?" Sirius burst out. "Pads… Why didn't you do the full moon with us? It was gonna be just like back at Hogwarts." James said, he was reading every move of his best friend's, seeing what he would do, he was the only other Marauder who knew, mainly because he had asked Sirius to keep the secret. Sirius glared down at the kitchen table in 12 Grimmauld Place, generally he had a good excuse, work, or a date. "I couldn't." Sirius's voice was quiet, but it echoed off of the stone walls. Remus Lupin looked at him funnily. "Why not Padfoot?" Sirius felt trapped. "I just couldn't, Moony…" Sirius's eyes flicked to the wall that only he knew was really a door. "I had something to take care of." Remus noticed Sirius's eyes flick to the wall, and he stood up and walked over to it.
Remus stuck his hand out, and on contact the wall slid away to reveal a girl laying on a bed, moaning softly. What Remus saw made him do a double take. A little girl was laying down, she couldn't be more than 5 years of age, she was so small. She had long light brown hair with a reddish tint, her face held many of the same features as Lupin's own. Remus Lupin turned around, James was pacing, and Sirius had his face in his hands. "Is she…?" Lupin asked, unable to form a whole thought. "Yes, she's yours." Sirius said. "Who's her mother?" Lupin asked, trying to wrap his head around this, he had a kid, this girl… "Jessica, of course." James said quietly. "Her name is Reese. Reese Jess Lupin." Sirius said, looking up at his friend. Remus took this in, just as the girl groaned loudly, and her eyes opened. Remus spun around quickly, to see her eyes, which were a emerald green, with amber flecks. She took them in for a second, then promptly dove off of the bed, and started scooting towards the far wall, the amber flecks took over her eyes, and Remus saw a caged animal look on her face. Reese, his daughter, his Cub, was scared of all of them. "Reese, everything's fine, calm down." Sirius tried to calm her, as if she had overreacted before. A growl escaped her lips, as her eyes darted towards all of them. "Padfoot, explain now." three words, three words that looked like it hurt Reese to say. A look crossed Sirius's face that Remus couldn't define, almost… but it couldn't be, it looked like fear. "Well, my little Moony Lupin Jr. you know who I am, and that's Uncle Prongsie over there pacing, and the man that you look remarkably like is your dear werewolf of a dad, Remus Lupin, otherwise known as Moony." Sirius had started out joking, but the murderous look in the girl's eyes had him speed up. Soon, her eyes went back to emerald green with amber flecks. "You- you're my dad? I knew neither of them were, I just knew…" Reese said as she drank up the look of him. Remus did the same, the girl started to move, but winced. That's when he noticed the broken things in the room, and the scratches on her shoulders. "Sirius, please tell me you give her the Wolfs Bane Potion every full moon." Remus said slowly, aching to hug his cub. Telling by the look on her face, she'd never heard of such potion. Sirius rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, you see, how to brew it is not common knowledge, and Reese's existence is supposed to be a secret. So, I've been trying to help her the way we helped you." Remus and Sirius proceeded to have a row.
Reese rubbed her eyes as she got up, the nigh she met her father for the first time, a few play dates with Harry, and Harry's parents funeral were the main highlights of her rather brief childhood. Today was her eleventh birthday. She went into the bathroom, and tamed her bush of hair as much as she could, before throwing it into a ponytail. She went back into her room, throwing on jeans, trainers, and a tee. All of her clothes were well worn in, but Reese liked it that way. Just as she went back into the bathroom, to try to get her eyes open, her dad popped up. "Hey Cub." Remus Lupin said, scanning his little girl. She most certainly didn't look eleven, much younger in fact, but Remus knew she was brighter than most fifteen year olds. They went downstairs and ate breakfast, then Reese grabbed a book, and started to head out the door. Remus glanced at the book in her hand, The Complete Sherlock Holmes. He knew she would most likely be halfway through it by lunchtime. They had been doing their own thing for an hour, when he heard her yelp. Suddenly there were footsteps as she crunched up the gravel, onto the porch, opened and slammed the front door behind her, and skidded to a halt just before him. "What is it Reese?" Remus asked worriedly. She held up a letter in response before crawling into his lap, and starting to open the envelope. Remus' heart pounded, he prayed that she was getting in, she had shown all the signs of magic, but he knew that he was the only werewolf to have every been inside Hogwarts. She pulled out the letter, and Remus read over her shoulder:
'Dear Miss Lupin,
Congratulations on being accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Term begins September 1st, we expect your return owl no later than July 31st-' Reese reached that point and heaved a sigh. "What's wrong Reese? You got into Hogwarts…" Remus Lupin took in the shape his daughter was in, the last full moon hadn't been a week ago. They had run extremely low on Wolfs Bane Potion, and she had insisted that he take it so that he could keep her in check, reasoning that it would be much easier for an adult werewolf to restrain a cub, than for a cub to restrain a adult. It had been easier indeed, especially since Remus knew both her normal and wolfish behaviors, but it had taken a toll on her. He hadn't been able to get her to not scratch herself totally. She winced as she inhaled deeply, "If I remember correctly, the 31st is Harry's birthday. Dad, will they still put Harry in the same year?" Remus felt bad, as he always did when something bothered Reese in a way that reminded her of Harry. It hurt him, because his best friend and his wife were both gone, but he knew it must hurt worse to have your one chance at a slightly normal childhood snatched away, and sent to live with his aunt and uncle. Harry was the only friend Reese had as a child, because most people feared her father, and came to fear her. She left her book on the table, and went up to her room, proclaiming that she was going to take a nap to be prepared to go to Diagon Alley.
They got her things, and the month before going to Hogwarts crawled by, and Reese found herself repeatedly thinking of Harry James Potter. Would he remember her? Would he be nice? Would he laugh at her jokes again? Would they be best friends again? Does he know her secret? All these thoughts ran through her mind, and unnerved her for a little while.
Remus and Reese got to the platform rather early, and loaded her trunk and backpack. Then they sat down and talked for a while. "Don't worry, I should think none of the teachers are prejudice. Well, I know Dumbledore, McGonagall, Sprout, and Flitwick aren't. And Madame Pomfrey is a sweetheart, she truly cares for everyone's well being. Everything will be fine Reese, I promise." Remus had babbled on, while Reese just sat there, thinking. Finally, Remus got up, and told Reese that he had to go, Reese hugged her father goodbye, and promised to write. Then, she pulled out a textbook, and began to read it, again.
She sat there, and figured that the train would get moving anytime now, when a boy with jet black messy hair opened the door, he was cursing at his trunk. "Here, allow me to help." She said leaving her textbook on the seat. She jumped over the part that was blocking the doorway, and lifted up the other end. Once they put away the trunk she went back over to her seat. "Thank you." the boy said quietly. "Oh, no problem, I-" Reese froze as she took in the looks of the boy. "Oh, Merlin! I wasn't sure if they were going to let you in this year, because your birthday was the day they wanted the return owls." Reese started rambling once she realized that it was her only childhood friend sitting across from her. Harry sat there staring at her. "How do you know my birthday? Wait, Reese?" Harry asked, remembering a few times before living with the Dursleys with a girl that looked like her, and he had always called her Reese. Reese just nodded, she didn't know what to say. Harry looked the girl up and down, it had to be the same Reese, his Reese. "Last time I saw you, we had just turned-" "Six." Reese interrupted, "I know, it pains me to remember, you were the only friend I ever had." Harry looked at her, wishing for those times again. "So what have you done since then? You're obviously very fit." Harry asked, trying to be friendly, and remember the girl from back then at the same time. "Oh, you know… Just a lot of exercises." They continued on like this for a little bit. The train started to move, and Harry looked out the window, while Reese read. A little while later, a redheaded boy walked in, his trunk still in the doorway he plopped down on the cushions, followed closely by two other redheads, though they seemed to be older. Harry gave them his name right away, while Reese withheld hers for a while, finally she gave in. She went, picked up the trunk with little effort, and throwing it into holding spot over their heads with even less, she stated her name. "Reese Lupin." She turned back to face the older boys, and the look on their faces stumped her. "What happened to your back?" one of them, Fred she thought, asked her. She self-consciously pulled her shirt down. "Nothing." she quipped quickly. All four boys were staring at her, then finally, the two older ones, twins named Fred and George, left. Harry was still watching her, but he didn't say anything.
A little while later, the snack trolley came up. "You coming Reese?" Harry asked, even Ron was getting a little something. "Nah, I'm not that hungry." Reese said. When they got out into the corridor Harry got a good bit more than what he wanted, and dumped the extras into Reese's lap, ignoring her protests. "Eat." Harry ordered, and she did.
They were a good ways into their snacks, and Harry had discreetly watched Reese eat, and knew that she had been a good bit hungrier than she let on. Just as Reese was about to say something, am girl with bushy brown hair barged in. "Oh, a girl! If you aren't in the mood for these two's company, please join me in my compartment, Hermione Granger by the way." the bushy haired girl said in a rush. Ron looked rather awkward, and Harry felt the urge to say a smart comment to the girl, until he saw Reese's face, she looked upset, the amber flecks in her eyes seemed to expand. Harry quickly got off of his seat, and sat down next to Reese, whom he pulled into a hug. Tears spilled out of her eyes, and Hermione sat down, attempting to make conversation. Harry just ignored her and focused on Reese. Then, he heard a faint whisper. "Harry, do you know… can you remember… do you remember much about our friendship from when we were little?" Harry was about to reply when Hermione stuck her knowledge in their faces. "Ah, yes, Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, you're mentioned a lot in our history. So, you and Reese knew each other before you took down You-Know-Who? Were you there when it happened by any chance, Reese?" Harry felt this was absurd to question a girl you just upset, but Hermione kept on pestering Reese. "Yes, we were bloody friends! Isn't that obvious? Man, you must be only book smart, your observation skills when it comes to people are the dullest I have ever seen! I have this absurd feeling that I am in fact smarter than you, maybe it's because I have experience in books and people. Yes, Miss Hermione Granger, I have been on both sides of the spectrum, I have insulted, and been insulted, more often that not, the latter. Therefore I do not like the tone that you have taken up with me and my mates!" Harry and Ron were holding Reese back, so that she wouldn't have a go at Hermione. Harry noticed that her eyes had gone from her usual emerald with amber flecks, to full on amber. "No Hermione, Reese wasn't there when Voldemort attacked." Harry said. Reese sobered up really quickly, her going back to normal, her shoulders slumped. "The only reason I wasn't there is it was a f- a night I was sick, I get sick very easily." Reese quickly covered her slip up, she had almost said 'it was a full moon night.'