Almost ten years had passed since Lucy Potter had been handed to Albus Dumbledore and then consequently handed on to Remus Lupin. In a small house in the moors, Lucy Potter woke. Now nine years old, Lucy's hair fell, long and thick a good two inches below her shoulders. It was a rich dark auburn, which framed a pale face, with a delicate nose and bright green eyes. Lucy sat up in bed and looked around the room, with a sigh she shifted quickly to the edge of the bed and placed her bare feet onto the wooden floorboards. She walked quickly to the window and opened the curtains, the bright sun had replaced the full moon of the night before. She smiled in relief another month done and stepped quickly toward the door.
As she walked into the kitchen, Remus looked up at her, with a smile. Though his hair was dishevelled, and he looked exhausted he seemed content. Lucy continued to look at him questioningly until he finally spoke.
"Lucy, I'm fine. Look at me, no problems at all, now stop examining me, and have some breakfast."
She stepped forward with a chuckle and went to sit next to him at the table, she knew he would be fine, he always was. She knew that it was because of the potion sent by Dumbledore every month but she couldn't help but worry.
"Dumbledore wants to come and speak to you today," though Remus was speaking to her he was looking down into his cereal with a disgruntled expression. This surprised Lucy and made her instantly wary, "What about?" she asked quickly.
"He says he's got some explaining to do, he'll be here in about an hour." Remus still wasn't looking at her while he spoke, and to avoid her gaze or questions, she guessed. He got up quickly and with a wave of his wand vanished his bowl and the remaining cereal, and stalked to the door saying something about a shower. Lucy was left in the kitchen alone, wondering what Albus Dumbledore would be 'explaining' to her. She thought quickly, running over what she knew, she had asked many times for an explanation of her parents deaths. The answers had always been the same, Lord Voldemort had gone after them and her brother, he had killed her parents but Harry survived. Her brother's name always felt alien to her though she knew of his existence, who didn't he was the famous Harry Potter, he was as oblivious to her as the rest of the wizarding world, and according to Dumbledore, it was best that it stayed that way.
She hoped that finally she might get some of the answers she wanted, but at the same time wasn't sure she wanted them at all.
An hour later Remus sat opposite Lucy in the kitchen once again, his face firmly hidden behind the Daily Prophet. They sat there in silence and finally though the seconds ticked passed sluggishly, the doorbell rang. Remus leapt up and when Lucy went to follow, he shook his head.
"Wait here, I have a quick question for Dumbledore," and with that he half sprinted into the hallway toward the front door.
Outside the front door stood Albus Dumbledore, his long beard and hair whipping in the wind. The two men stood looking at each other until Dumbledore spoke.
"Do you mind if we step inside, I'm beginning to worry that I'll have to make chase after my beard, once it has been entirely taken by the wind."
As Remus stepped aside Dumbledore walked into the hallway with a small chuckle.
"Thank you. Now no doubt you have some question regarding what I will be divulging to Lucy." The words weren't a question, but Remus heard the invitation in them and started speaking.
"What are you planning on telling her? She is too young for the truth! I thought you were trying to protect her from it not drown her in it..."
"Remus, I know she is young. I merely planning on explaining why she wasn't with her parents and Harry the night they died, and why keeping them separated and her a secret from the wizarding world is so important. I however do not plan on divulging anything concerning the prophecy or for that matter Sirius Black's involvement in her parents deaths. You may listen with her and you can stop me if you think I am overstepping the mark, though you know I will only tell her what I think is best."
Remus nodded curtly, "Very well Dumbledore, but be careful."
"Always, Remus."
The two men then turned and entered one by one into the kitchen, to face the young girl and her questions.
Lucy turned as the door opened, and in came Albus Dumbledore followed quickly by Remus. Dumbledore smiled widely at her and strode quickly to the seat opposite her.
"Lucy, you look more and more like your mother every day, though you hair is much darker than hers was..."
"Yes I know you have told me before," Lucy suddenly felt very rude and added "Sorry."
"That's quite alright, let us skip the niceties and get on with it, shall we? I'm sure you like your godfather here, you have many question for me."
Lucy looked briefly at Remus who was staring at Dumbledore, (though the latter did not seem to notice) before starting.
"I would like to know where I was when my parents died," she asked timidly "and why I wasn't with them." she added.
"You were with me..." he held up a finger as Lucy made to interrupt "If you would do me the honour of letting me tell you the whole story, I will answer your question later, unless I have a very good reason not to, in which case I beg you'll forgive me. I shall not of course, lie."
Dumbledore seemed to be waiting for an answer, and Lucy nodded once.
"Very well. On the night of your birth, I knew that if I allowed you to stay with your parents, I could well be signing your death warrant. You see Lord Voldemort was after them, as you know..."
"But Harry..."
"I am getting there, Lucy. Please do avoid interrupting. One of the curses of old age, you do tend to forget where you were," he looked over the top of his half moon spectacles, and smiled as Lucy nodded once again. "As I was saying, I had told you that Lord Voldemort was after your parents, that I am afraid was a lie," he held one finger up again as Lucy looked about to interrupt "Voldemort was not specifically after your parents, but your brother. You might ask why I didn't choose to move Harry, and leave you under the protection of your parents? However, I feared that if Voldemort found out where your parents were, he would torture and kill them in an attempt to find Harry, and if you were there, I am sure that he would have had no concern in killing you as well. So instead, I took you, only four people knew of your existence. Myself, your parents of course and Remus here. The fewer the better I thought. When it came to your brother, I put my faith in your parents love for him to keep him safe. I knew that if Lord Voldemort found them, they would die in order to protect him. I also knew they would die in order to protect you. I did not know however if, because Voldemort was specifically after Harry, the same protection would stretch to you, and I am sure you understand my reasons for not leaving that to chance?" He paused for a second and looked at Remus, who nodded almost unnoticeably. "Now I will tell you why I have kept you and Harry separated and you a secret from the magical community, Harry is still protected by your mother's sacrifice, in fact the strongest protection I could give him was her blood. By which I mean her sister. I was not sure this would be enough to protect you and in which case advertising your existence and your closeness to Harry, could lead to Lord Voldemort's supporters tracking you down and killing you both as revenge for their masters downfall."
"Can I ask my questions now?" Lucy asked tentatively, when she was certain Dumbledore was finished.
"Of course, I am finished. Though I rather hoped I had covered everything." he said with a small smile.
"It's only, well I wondered, why you are telling me now?"
"Ah, well. I'm sure you have realised, that soon your brother will be re-entering the wizarding world," Lucy nodded though in fact she had not realised anything of the sort, and neither did she see the relevance of this. Dumbledore continued,"Well in any case Harry's appearance will cause quite a stir with the newspapers and the world's press will be speculating his survival and the downfall of Voldemort. Though you are younger than I wanted you to be when I told you this story, I didn't want you to hear lies and speculations on the radio or in the newspaper, and believe them because they were the only answers offered to you." He smiled genially across at her while she thought about his answer.
"Oh, Okay... I have another question," Dumbledore nodded with a smile, and Lucy continued,"You said Voldemort was after Harry, I don't understand why?"
"Ah, unfortunately my dear, you have stumbled upon a question that you are, for now too young to hear the answer," after a pause he said,"Do you have any more?"
"No, I don't think so?"
"Well if you do think of anything, I am only an owl away." He turned with a smile toward Remus,"Are you satisfied Remus." Remus nodded quickly, in Lucy opinion looking considerably more relaxed than he had done previously that day.
"In which case I must take my leave, I have to see a man about dragon. In actual fact it's Hagrid and thankfully not a dragon but a stray letter." With that he stood, bowed slightly to Lucy and shook Remus's hand before heading for the hall and the door.
Lucy sat slightly shell-shocked, Remus had walked to the door after Dumbledore so for now she was alone with her thoughts. She quickly decided to simply accept the information she had been given, rather than dissect it. A few minutes later she heard a faint 'pop' and Remus walked back into the room, wearing a small smile.
"You knew?" she asked quietly, it wasn't really a question she just wanted him to confirm it.
"Yes, I knew." he replied calmly.
"Okay." She said finally, understanding that she had simply been too young to understand, and that she might still be a little too young.
Sorry it's still not that long but I will try harder for the next chapter.
Thankyou Adeline Rosa for the review, I hope you like this chapter and my explanations.
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