A/N: Thanks for the reviews and subscribes (:(I altered a few things on chapters 1, 2 and 3, make sure you read it)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter!

Chapter 4-

Mary slowly opened her eyes and waited to get used to the sunlight. It was finally morning, last night was over. She remembered everything that happened from the time she fell asleep until she fell asleep with Remus by her side.

She felt someone stroking her hair and looked up for a confirmation of her thoughts. Amber eyes were staring at her like they could read her.

'Good Morning, cub.'

'Good Morning, Uncle Remus.' She answered automatically as she rubbed her eyes. Then she noticed what she said and tried to back away. 'S-Sorry, i-it slipped. I-it won't happen again.'

Remus frowned. 'Hey, you have nothing to be sorry for.'

'B-but -'

'I like it, I really do. You don't know what it means to me when you call me that.'

'R-Really?' She sat crossed leg in front of him and winced when she tried to get up fast. Her whole body was aching.

He nodded. 'It remembers me of how things should have been.' He smiled sadly.

'Oh' she looked down as he studied her. After a few minutes she said. 'Y-you r-really stayed.' It wasn't a question.

'Of course I did. I said I would, didn't I?'

She nodded apprehensive 'B-but y-you didn't need t-to. I-I'm sorry f-for asking you t-to s-stay, I-I wasn't thinking. I-It w-was v-very u-ungrateful of m-my part, I d-don't w-want to be a trouble.'

He sighed. 'You really need to stop worrying and apologizing Mary Mae. I would have stayed even if you hadn't asked me to; I would never live you alone like that.'

'T-thank you.'

'Not for it.' He smiled. 'How are you feeling? After everything that happened last night, I mean.'

'I-I'm good, t-thank you. I-It wasn't t-that b-bad last night, n-not c-compared of w-when I-I was in the o-o-orphanage.' She looked down and flushed. 'I-I f-felt safe when y-you w-were here.'

'I'm glad that I helped. I'll be here as long as you need me to.' He tried to get those horrible thoughts out of his head 'If last night wasn't bad, what was bad for her?' 'And physically how are you feeling? Does anywhere hurt?'

'I-I'm fine.' She bit her lip and looked down avoiding his eyes.

'Hey-' He raised her chin. 'You can tell me. Where does it hurt?'

'M-my whole b-body is aching, e-especially my ribs. T-The cuts a-are stinging and b-burning. And I-I have an h-headache.' She bit her lip again, waiting for the shouting begin. They used to do that in the orphanage, pretend to worry about her well being only to scream at her when she answered.

'I'm sorry, cub. What about we eat breakfast, I'll give you a potion for pain and then you can go with me to St. Mungo's to schedule an appointment for you?'

'W-what is S-St. Mungo's?'

'Is a hospital for witches and wizards. You need to go for a check up. Madam Pomfrey couldn't heal you completely yesterday because you were too weak and your body couldn't bear much magic.'

'M-Madam Pomfrey?' She asked trying to remember anyone coming here yesterday.

'She came here after you passed out; she said she couldn't heal you by magic without damaging you magical core because you were exhausted and overwhelmed. She cleaned your injuries but it was all. She advised me to schedule an appointment for you.'

'I've n-never g-gone to an h-hospital.' She said under her breath.

'WHAT?' Remus wasn't supposed to hear but thanks to his werewolf hearing he was able to. She looked at him frightened. 'Y-you've never g-gone to a hospital? When you got sick, what they did?' He tried to control his temper but it was hard even for him that was known as 'the responsible and controlled marauder'.

'N-no. T-they l-let me l-locked i-in the bedroom d-doing some chore t-that I c-could d-do even sick. And i-if I-I didn't f-finished...' She shook her head and tried to ignore the pain she felt. 'T-they d-didn't w-want anyone t-to find out w-what they did.' She said quietly. This innocent kid in front of him that looked like a five or six-year-old not a soon-to-be ten had gone through many things that most of adults couldn't even imagine. How someone could do that to a child was beyond his knowledge.

'Oh, Mary.' He hugged her and kissed her head. 'I'm so sorry. I wish I could change the past.' He said sadly.

'T-that's o-okay. I-I got used to i-it.' He tried to ignore the pain on his chest when he heard that words coming from her sounding like the obvious thing. He shook his head. No one should be exposed to situation like those she'd been through and even less get used to something like that.

'I'll make things right for you. Starting with a huge breakfast and then we can go to St. Mungo's.' He saw the fearful glance she gave him. 'It's not that bad, I'll be there with you the whole time and besides, today we're just going to schedule an appointment, I bet not much has changed on your well being from yesterday.' She nodded. 'Let's go downstairs.' They got on their feet; Remus put an arm around her shoulder and led her to the kitchen. 'What do you want to eat, cub?'

She shrugged.

'Choose something and I will cook it for us okay?'

'A-anything you w-want is fine f-for me, U-Uncle Remus.' She looked down.

'I won't fall for it. You choose, I cook.' She gave him an unsure glance. He said as he was reading her mind. 'There isn't right or wrong answer, you won't get in trouble for choosing, I promise.'

'O-okay. C-could we have p-pancakes?' She asked shyly

'Sure.'

'D-do you want a-any help? I-I can cook i-if you want.'

'No, I'll cook.' He left no room for argue.

She said and watched as he summoned the ingredients and started to make pancakes. The smell was mouth-watering. With a flick of his wand two plates of pancakes were on the table.

'Wow' Mary said as her god father chuckled at her reaction.

'Practical isn't it?' She nodded. 'Let's eat!' Mary waited until he had taken a bite to start eating; she still had a feeling that what she was doing was wrong.

After breakfast they both went to get ready to go to St. Mungo's.

'Okay, cub. We are going by Floo.' Seeing that she didn't understand he explained. 'Floo is a way of transportation used by witches and wizards, it's basically travelling by the fireplace but you won't get burned. All you need to do is say clearly the name of your destination and throw a pinch of Floo Powder on the fire.' He thought it was better not to tell her that if you said the destination wrong you could get lost. 'Ready?' He looked at her and noticed she was scared. He kneeled in front of her so their eyes were on the same level. 'Hey, There is no need to be scared. You want to go with me?' He soothed her.

She seemed afraid to answer but with a reassuringly smile she nodded.

'I'll pick you up okay?' He didn't want to cause unwanted surprises; he knew she was still scared of sudden movements of acts of affection. She nodded again and he scooped her up into his arms, she put her arms around his neck and they went to the fireplace, he threw a pinch of Floo Powder on it and screamed. 'St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries!'

They were turning round and round passing through the fireplaces and Mary was almost suffocating Remus when they arrived at their destination. They went towards the reception.

'Hello, I'd like to schedule an appointment for my god daughter.' He said to the old witch on the reception.

'Children's Ward - Third Floor, dear.' She smiled at them. Remus nodded thanks and they went to the lift.

The third floor was colourful and had a lot of toys, the walls had portraits of animals and broomsticks that move and a lot of kids were there. Mary was fascinated by the moving portraits.

'They move!' She exclaimed to Remus who only nodded amused.

Remus put her down and went to the reception with his god daughter by his side.

'Hi, I'd like to schedule an appointment for my god daughter.' He repeated.

'Is her first time here or is a return, dear?' She asked kindly.

'First time.'

'Okay, then fill this form for me and then we can schedule.' She gave him the form and a kill and he went to sit on the couch with Mary.

'Do you want to play, cub?' He looked at her who shook her head. He sighed. 'She is scared even of people her own age.'

He started to fill the form.

Full name of the patient: Mary Mae Black

Birthday: August 1st, 1982

Mother: Olivia Amy James Father: Sirius Orion Black

The list went on and on with basic questions. When he reached the topic 'others' he wrote.

Legal Guardian: Remus John Lupin

Suffered from child abuse on a muggle orphanage.

When he finished he noticed Mary was absorbed in thoughts and went to give the form to the receptionist. Mary saw him leaving and jumped on her feet and run to him panicked.

'D-Don't l-leave me.' She said with tears in her eyes.

'Oh baby!-' He kneeled to her level. 'I wasn't leaving you; I was just going to the reception to give this form to the receptionist.' He showed the form to her.

'Oh.' She said embarrassed and wiped her tears.

'Come with me.' He held her hand and they went together to the reception.

He gave the form to the witch who was not much older than he.

'Thank you.' She said and took a look at the paper. Her eyes went wide when she read what was in the end. 'Oh Merlin! Poor kid.' She said and Remus smiled uncomfortably, Mary looked down. 'Do you have any preference of date, Mr. Lupin?'

'Next week would be best, if it's possible. Any day.'

She nodded. 'Okay, so I'll schedule her on Wednesday 11 am for Healer Catherine Adams.'

'Okay, thank you.'

The witch smiled. 'No problem, dear.'

'Let's go home, cub.' Remus said to his god daughter, picking her up one more time and flooing home.

'Hello Professor Dumbledore, thank you for coming.'

'Not at all Remus, and please call me Albus, you're not my student anymore. Albus Dumbledore said with the familiar twinkle in his eyes.

Remus nodded. 'I suppose Poppy already told you what she witnessed yesterday.'

The twinkle faded and the elder's eyes darkened. 'She did. I couldn't have imagined Remus and I apologize. If maybe I searched harder we would've been able to find her sooner and not much damaged would've been caused.'

'It's not your fault headmaster, you didn't know. And it didn't make anything easier the fact that I am a werewolf.' Remus sighed. 'It doesn't do any good thinking of what if's and feeling guilty about it, it won't change the past.'

Albus nodded. 'You're right, my boy. And when do you pretend to tell her about your condition?'

Remus sighed. 'I don't know, Albus. She's gone through so much and I want her to be able to trust me. She's still too scared, even of me and telling her now that once a month I transform into a dangerous beast won't help her.'

'You have to tell her, Remus. If she is anything like her parents she'll surprise you with her reaction. You have to tell her soon, before the full moon so she'll know not to come downstairs.'

The younger nodded again. 'The full moon takes place in two weeks, one day after her birthday, I'll tell her then.'

With the mention of his friends his thoughts drifted not for the first time to the talk he had with his god daughter the day before.

'Is there anything bothering you, my boy?'

Remus shifted uncomfortably on the chair as he felt the headmaster's gaze on him. 'Yes Albus. I had a talk with her yesterday, I told her about the war... and about her parents. Not technically the truth, not about Sirius anyway. I told her he-' Remus looked down in shame. 'He died.'

For a moment Albus Dumbledore stood there speechless and it didn't happen very often.

'I thought I was doing a good thing. I don't want to destroy the image that she has of a good man of a father on her mind. She's been through enough. Imagine how she would feel if she knew her father betrayed his best friends for the Dark Lord and killed 12 muggles and one of his best friends.' Remus held back the tears that always came when she talked about it. 'But now I'm not so sure.'

'You did what you thought the best for her, Remus, don't feel bad about it. As you said she's been through enough but someday you'll have to tell her the truth, the truth always comes for those who seek for information and it doesn't always come as we would like.'

'Believe me, I know. Do you want some tea, headmaster?'

'This would be great Remus, thank you.'

Remus nodded and went to the kitchen to make tea, minutes later he was back.

'Here.' He gave the tea to Albus and sat.

'So, do you plan on putting her on a muggle school?'

Remus shook his head. 'No. Even though it would be good for her to make contact with kids of her age, she is scared of them. I noticed it today when we went to schedule an appointment on St. Mungus. I'll teach her the basics.'

Dumbledore nodded and took a sip of his tea. 'And about that muggles, Remus, do you plan to press charges, I presume?'

'I'll talk to Mary about it but at least now my answer is yes, I'll not let them get away with what they've done.'

'They harmed a magical child so the trial is responsibility of the magical world. I'll take care of things once you inform me of your final decision. Magical and muggle world have a contact, but probably they'll receive their punishment on muggle jail.'

'People who did this to a child deserve Azkaban.' Remus thought. He was about to argument when they heard a noise of footsteps coming from the stairs and a sleepy Mary entered the drawing room. The latter subject forgotten.

'Hey cub, had a good nap?'

Mary nodded and stopped abruptly when she saw a man with a big, white beard looking at her with penetrating blue eyes. Remus followed her gaze and put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her.

'This is Albus Dumbledore, Mary. He's the Headmaster of Hogwarts and a good friend of mine and your parents.'

'Hello, Mary.' He smiled. 'You look just like your father.'

Inside Mary jumped with joy.

'H-hi, s-sir.' She said shyly and stepped closer to Remus who put an arm around her shoulder.

'That's okay, Mary. He won't hurt you, nobody will.'

'Your god father's right, Mary. You're safe now.' His eyes still without the familiar twinkle. 'How would you like to hear about Hogwarts?'

Mary looked at Remus unsure and he nodded.

'I-I'd love t-to. T-thank y-you, s-sir.'

Dumbledore smiled and nodded. He told her all about the school, houses and mentioned four pranksters but he said he'd left that part for Remus. In the end, Mary was very excited to go to school but couldn't help but feel afraid of not receiving her letter, what if she was... what was it? A squib.

'Well, I better go. I have to prepare the school for a new year. I'm glad that I met you, Mary. See you soon, Mary, Remus.' He nodded and went to the fireplace, and then he stopped. 'I'll wait for your owl.' Remus nodded. The headmaster then went flooing to Hogwarts.

'We need to talk, Mary.' Remus said seriously.

'I-I'm s-sorry. P-Please d-don't.' She backed away with tears in her eyes. Every time someone said that means that a beaten was on its way. Flashbacks of the moments she heard those words flooded her mind.

Remus cursed himself for starting like that; it clearly got her scared of him.

'You've done nothing, cub. I just need to tell you something.' He tried to put a soothing hand on her shoulder but she jumped away. 'Please calm down, Mary. I won't hurt you. Take deep breaths, came on.'

She stopped when she reached the wall and sat down with her head on her knees. Remus bent down and put two fingers under her chin, raising it. She tried to get away of his grip.

'Look at me. It's me Mary, Uncle Remus. I would never hurt you. Yeah, that's it, deep breaths.' After a while she was much calmer and he started to talk.

'Mary, you know that what those muggles did to you was wrong don't you?'

She shrugged.

'What they did was very wrong, cub. No one have the right to treat any live being like that, especially a special one like you.' He sat down in front of her. 'They deserve to be punished for what they did, cub. That's why I'm going to press charges against them, so they pay for what they did to you.'

'NO!' She screamed and trembled. 'N-no, no, n-no! P-Please, d-don't do t-that!'

'Mary, calm down! If you're not calm we can't discuss this rationally.'

'N-NO! You don't u-understand!' She said and everything around them started to shake, paints fell from the wall, glasses have been broken, the table turned and everything started to fly around the room. Mary seemed even paler and scared. 'N-no! I'm s-sorry, I-I d-didn't mean to. P-Please d-do not b-beat me, d-don't l-lock me in the b-basement.' She started to gasp for breath and it won't take much more to the spasms to start.

Remus did the only thing that came to his mind: he held her still in his arms as she trembled.

'Mary, breath! Come on, cub. Look at me in the eyes. That's it, in and out. You did nothing wrong, Mary. I won't hurt or lock you, you're okay, and you're safe. I won't let anything bad happen to you.' He unconsciously started to rock her back and forth mumbling soothing words. After a while she put her head on the curve of his neck and cried. He just held her tight until she was calm enough to talk.

'W-why do they h-hate me Uncle Remus?' She asked quietly. It was not what Remus expected to hear.

'You know, your dad once told me that people don't hate you, they hate what they think you are but they can't hate you if they don't even bothered to get to know who you truly are. You're a good person, Mary and you didn't do anything wrong, they we're just mean because you are different and they tried to get you to be like them by hurting you so you couldn't do what makes you even more special. They can't hate you if they don't know you, and if one truly knows you they won't hate you because you're a great girl. I love you and so do your mother and your father. Never forget that here are people that want you and need you and those who love you never truly leave you. You don't need to be afraid of showing who you truly are, magic isn't a bad thing, it's just misunderstood by some people and it's not good for you to repress it so much because when it comes out it will be much worse for yourself and you will feel even more drained. You don't need to hide anymore, baby, understood?'

She nodded. 'T-thanks Uncle Remus' she said quietly. 'F-for g-giving me a-all I ever w-wanted. I-I l-love you.'

'Oh, cub! I love you too, more than anything. Thank you for accepting me.' He hugged her and kissed the top of her head. You could say that they found comfort in each other's arms.

A/N: Hello there! I really hope you liked it. I'll start to skip some time, you'll see on the next chapters. Please subscribe/review if you like my story (:

xx MP