Disclaimer: I own nothing Harry Potter related. Ever.
Chapter One: Once Upon a Time
Playlist: The Second That You Say - Chase Coy

Once upon a time … The end.

Oh, you wanted a story?

Well, there isn't much to it that the ellipsis doesn't explain. It was brief – once upon a time – and then it ended. I died. The end.

A ghost?

No, I wouldn't be considered a ghost. Not that I know much about them, but from what I've been told, you can see ghosts; you can communicate with them. I am merely a forever eighteen year old girl reflecting on her life from beyond the grave.

What happened once upon a time?

I told you, there really wasn't much to it – my relationship with Remus Lupin, I mean. It started by accident – once upon a time – and went strong for a while, until it was abruptly ended by my murder.

Murder, you ask?

Yes, I was murdered. That lousy Avada Kedavra curse got me. Believe me, I tried to fight it, but there really isn't much you can do when you see that flash of green light.

Would you like to know the series of events that led up to my murder?

I will tell you, but first you must know that when I was alive, I had no magical abilities. I was not a witch, or even a squib. I was merely a Muggle dragged into the middle of a war by my ability to unconditionally love. Maybe it could have been avoided. Maybe I could have lived to be an old lady – to have actually had my children and grandchildren. Maybe I could have lived a life of ignorance without the knowledge of the magical world, but I wouldn't have wanted it that way. You see, I believed – or still believe, I suppose – in 'the one'. If I had lived my life of ignorance, I don't believe that I would have been as complete in the afterlife as I am now. I would not have met my 'one', and even if I had wed and reproduced, it would have been all wrong. There would have been something missing.

My 'one' was a wizard. Even more than that, he was a werewolf, and the kindest, most gentle man I had ever met. He did everything he could to keep us apart, but all that effort just drew us closer together. I like to think that we were meant to be together from the start. We went together like the stars and the moon. Even our names demonstrated that we were meant for each other.

I haven't told you my name! Silly me!

I was once known as Cassiopeia Lyra Bootes, but I preferred to be called Casey. I was named after constellations – the stars in the sky. My Remus was the moon. Many people don't realise this, but there is a small moon out there called Remus. Rather fitting, I think; especially if you go deeper into what the moon was named after. However, I will not take you into that. All you need to know, dear reader, is that we were the stars and the moon.

I do not remember the precise moment we met. He would tell me later on that he had been coming to my café for years. Best coffee in London, he said. I do, however, remember when I first noticed him; when I first noticed the lot of them.

They were huddled in a corner booth. The four of them were the only people in the entire café, seeing as it was dangerously close to closing time. They were quite the peculiar bunch – three boys and one girl, all around my age, seventeen, maybe eighteen – all carrying some sort of cloak. Their strange choice in clothing was not what intrigued me; it was their faces. Each one of them looked just as terrified as the next as if they had just been attacked by a monster. The scratched upon the sandy haired boy's face made me wonder if they had been attacked by a monster.

I tried to remain unfazed by the strange group, and instead took out my order pad and asked, "What can I get for you tonight?"

The girl, who had gorgeous auburn hair that I just wanted to run my fingers through, and these stunning green eyes, jumped at my presence. I almost believed she thought I was going to attack her.

"Coffee, please," the sandy haired boy responded. "Four of them – black. I think Lily could do with a piece of your chocolate cheesecake."

"Remus I don't really thi-" the girl called Lily started as I went to write the order down. I stopped, looking up at them curiously.

"Lily, trust me, it will make you feel better," the sandy haired boy interrupted. He then smiled up at me. "Best chocolate cheesecake in the city. I think we could all do with some. Make that four pieces of chocolate cheesecake."

I did my best not to be distracted by his face. It was beautiful and oddly haunted. His blue eyes dazzled me, as did his crooked smile, but they seemed hollow, as if he had seen horrific things. Then there was the scar that ran from the bridge of his nose across his cheek. I longed to know what happened to him – to all of them – why they looked like they had just been attacked by ghosts.

Instead of giving into my curiosity, I wrote down the order and smiled brightly as if their presence, and the boys face, hadn't distracted me. "Alright. Four pieces of chocolate cheesecake and four coffees – black," I repeated. "Anything else?"

The boy, Remus, shook his head and smiled. He then turned back to his friends, and they huddled closer, talking in low voices.

I went back behind the counter and placed their order before pouring their cups of coffee. I couldn't help but look up and watch them. One of the other boys, with the messiest black hair on the planet and round glasses that fell down his nose, kept an arm tight around the red-haired girl, Lily. The other boy, sitting across the table from Lily and the messy haired boy, ripped napkins apart nervously as he listened intently to what Remus was saying next to him. He, too, sported the same frightened face, but his expression held more than fright – a sense of knowing and regret almost with a bit of anger mixed into his flawless bone structure.

They hushed themselves when I started back with their coffee mugs. I set one down in front of each person, smiling as I was supposed to. Each gave a half-hearted smile and a whispered a thank you except for the sandy haired boy. He smiled and looked at my name tag.

"Thank you," he paused, and I held back a groan. Here it goes… "Kass-e-oh-pie-ah?"

"Kass-ee-oh-pee-ah, actually," I corrected him in a friendly manner. "But I prefer Casey. I'm not too fond of being named after stars."

"I have a great aunt named Cassiopeia," the boy next to Remus grunted as if he had a grudge against my name. Remus elbowed him in the gut. "What! At least it's better than Bellatrix, or Regulus, or Orion, or-"

"Sirius!" hissed the girl from across the table.

"Yes, that too," the boy nodded.

"So I suppose being named after stars and constellations isn't as rare as I thought it was," I still held my friendly smile.

"Oh, it is for your pe-" he tried to go on, but was abruptly kicked under the table. "Er- I mean, my family is just weird. Obsessed with astronomy."

I nodded awkwardly. "Alright," I said. "I'll be back with your cheesecake in a few minutes then."

Remus smiled again while the other boy sulked. "Thank you, Casey," he said.

I couldn't help but smile at the fact he had remembered my name. Frightened as he might've looked, he was still stunning, and I was still a teenage girl with raging hormones.

From behind the counter, as I wiped it down, preparing for closing, I watched the odd group. They were not talking as quietly and I caught some of what the boy next to Remus was saying.

"Look, James, this just isn't the right time for you two to get married," he snapped. "We are in the middle of a war."

"That is exactly why we need to get married now, Sirius," the messy-haired boy responded. "That way if anything ever happens to me, Lily will get everything."

"But you're too young," Remus whispered, barely audible. I realised that I had been leaning over the counter to hear, and I backed up, beginning to wipe a new spot. "Who gets married at eighteen anyway?"

"Remus," Lily was also very quiet. "If I were to die tomorrow, I'd want to go feeling complete. I'd want to have married and lived a full life. We'd be missing out if we don't get married soon."

The boy, Sirius, huffed and folded his arms across his chest. "Fine," he grunted. "But I get to be the best man."

"Of course, Mate," there was a trace of a smile on the boy named James' face.

Just then, the disgruntled cook, Carl, peered through the kitchen window. "Casey," he grunted. "Pick up. I'm heading out; do you need anything before I go?"

I glided over and took the cheesecake plates from the window and shook my head, smiling. Even though Carl was tired and wanted to go home, he had always had a sweet spot for me. I had been working at the family café every summer since I could count change, and now that I'd left school I was on full time, and he tried to make it as easy as he could on me. "No, I'm fine, Carl," I responded. "There are just a few people here. You go on home, and tell Kerry hi for me. I'll close up."

Carl peered through the window at the group and raised a quizzical eyebrow. I looked as well. All the horror was gone from their faces as they laughed at the boy James, trying to balance a spoon on his chin.

"You sure?" Carl asked. "They seem like a bunch of weirdos."

"I'll be fine, Carl," I told him pointedly, stacking the plates on my tray. "Go home."

I started away before he could say anything and made my way to the table. I set down the plates of cheesecake in front of them. Their spirits seemed to have lifted since I brought them their coffee.

I smiled. "Is there anything else I can get you?"

"What did I tell you guys? Best coffee in London," Remus grinned up at me. "Could we get another four black coffees to go?"

"Of course," I replied. "Four black coffees to go."

I went back behind the counter and made the coffee. I also printed up the receipt in the process and set it down with the coffee as I gathered their discarded plates. They were all smiles until Remus looked at the bill.

"Lily, I haven't got any Muggle money on me," he said quickly. "Do you have any?"

Muggle money? What in the name of Carl were they speaking of? The only money I knew of was money, not Muggle money. Whatever that was.

The red-head looked inside of a purse that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and shook her head.

"You know what?" I smiled again. "Don't worry about it. It's on me. You guys looked like you needed it. My grandmother's cheesecake is enough to turn any frown upside down."

"Oh, and it was excellent," Lily grinned. "Remus really wasn't lying. Best chocolate cheesecake that I've ever tasted. Are you sure though? We could wash the dishes or something to pay."

I shook my head. "You're fine," I told her. "You lot just have to promise to come back again sometime. Maybe try the strawberry cheesecake, or the pancakes. Those are my favourite."

"We can do that," Remus laughed. "I love this place. Hope to see you sometime soon."

With that, the four of them slipped out of the booth, the one called Sirius giving me a wink and purposefully brushing my hand with his as he strode by.

I watched them leave the café and waved as they passed the window. I watched them down the streets a ways and then they disappeared. Just like that. I hadn't seen them turn down an alley or anything.

They were just gone.

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