Sorry for the late update, but I've been super busy recently! Last week was my first week of college!

This chapter is in two parts, but I'll just let you guys look at them and stop yammering!


~25 Years Ago:

"Remember to always keep Galpalott's Third Law in mind when..."

"Cecily, I need to talk to you." A soft voice interjected from the door of the class room.

Professor Carmichael's eyes shot to the source of the voice, her lecture quickly forgotten. "Greta?" Her young sister was standing in the doorway, her skin pallid. She turned back to her students, "Class dismissed. Read chapter eighteen for our next session." Cecily ushered Greta to her office. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

Greta stared at the photo of their parents on Cecily's desk, "I didn't know I was coming."

Cecily lowered her harsh exterior, "Sweet Greta, what's got you so upset?"

"I don't know what to do." Greta whispered, grasping her older sister around the waist.

"What happened?" Cecily asked, forcing her sister to sit on her chaise.

Her sister's response was soft, "I'm pregnant."

Cecily withdrew herself fully from her sister's grasp, standing back up, "Pregnant?" She said sharply, pacing, "With his child?" Greta nodded. "What are you going to do?"

Greta's blue eyes stared up at her, "I don't know! I came to see you for your advice."

Cecily clenched her teeth, "I gave you my advice when you began this dreadful affair two years ago. You didn't listen to a word I said. I told you to be careful!"

"I'm so sorry Cecily." Greta said, pulling a decorative pillow into her lap.

"Don't apologize to me, you little bint." Cecily snapped.

A sob wrenched from Greta's small body, "Please, Cecily, you're the only one I've got."

Cecily fought to control her frustration, "Why don't you go to your john and see what he has to say? You do realize that his son is here at Hogwarts now, don't you?"

"I do!" Greta sobbed, "But he'd make me get rid of the baby, or kill us both."

Cecily sighed, "Greta, what business do you have raising a child? You're twenty five."

Greta put a hand on her stomach, "I know I've no business raising a child, but I love it so much already." A smile flitted across her splotchy face, "This baby is a part of me."

Suddenly, her sister's distress made sense, "A part of it's father too. You love him."

Greta's eyes shot up, "How did you know?"

Cecily sat next to her again, remembering how she had once been in a very similar situation with him, "The look in your eyes, Greta. Have you told him?"

"Of course not! He'd never leave his wife for me, and I...was always too afraid to lose him." Greta confessed before raising up her own sigh, "I guess it's over now anyway. I was always nothing more than his personal pureblood whore."

"I tried to warn you." Cecily said softly, pulling Greta's tear damp hair from her face, and spelling it into a rope at the back of her neck. "You look too much like his wife for his attentions to have been genuine." It was true, with her light eyes, thin body, and long, pale hair, Greta could pass as his wife years younger. Cecily had too, ten years ago.

"I'm so stupid." Greta bemoaned, pressing her forehead against her sister's shoulder.

Cecily kissed the top of her blond head and wrapped her arms around Greta like she had in the past. Twelve years older than Greta, Cecily had pretty much raised her when their parent's had died when Greta was five. In many ways, she felt more parent than sibling to the wayward young woman, but she definitely felt Greta's pain as a parent would, "You aren't stupid." She whispered, rocking slightly, "You fell in love, Greta. Love makes people do stupid things sometimes, but loving does not make you stupid."

"I feel stupid." Was the feeble and muffled response.

"Well, you aren't. You need to figure out what to do about that baby, though. I don't think you'll keep him in the dark for long. He is a very intelligent man after all." Cecily wanted to kill the man for hurting her sister. If it weren't for the little boy that called the man father, he would already be dead, but she could never orphan a child.

Greta sat up a little, her face solemn, "I won't tell him, not about the baby. He would never do any kind of right by it. I will, however, tell him I'm going to tell his wife about us. He'd pay Galleons for me to disappear before that ever happens."

Cecily narrowed her eyes, her lips drawing into a tight line, "Extortion?"

The corner of Greta's mouth quirked up, "I won't be able to make it on my own without money, and he's got more than any one person could use in ten lifetimes."

Cecily eyed the diamond bracelet hanging from her sister's wrist, the silver watch dangling by a chain from her satchel, and the ruby drop necklace on her neck. No doubt all gifts from him. "Where will you go?" Cecily asked her.

Greta shrugged, wiping her face, "America probably. Somewhere he would never go." She looked at her big sister, the woman who had raised her, "You'll visit, won't you?"

Cecily smiled, embracing her sister again, "Yes, Greta, I'll visit. Any time you'll have me."


At first, Griffin was skeptical about the address Remy had given him. It took him forever to find it, and when he did, he was bombarded by a young blond woman.

"I'm Allison, welcome to The Broom Cupboard. See something you like?" She said, batting thick fake eyelashes at him.

He shifted awkwardly, "I'm looking for a girl named Remy."

The waitress rolled her eyes, "Ugh, isn't everyone always looking for Remy Potter?"

"Is she here?" He asked, looking at the other inhabitants of the bar.

Another eye roll, and she looked down at her poorly painted fingernails. "I really don't get the big deal about her. I mean I know her daddy is impressive, but she's not that pretty. Her hair is brown, that's so boring." Griffin cleared his throat and her dull blue green eyes shot back up to his face, "Sorry. She's in the back. I'll go get her."

"Great." He said, giving her a tight smile.

She disappeared through a door, and Remy came through it, a boy behind her. "Griffin!"

"Hey, I didn't think you'd actually come." She said, smiling brightly.

"I didn't either." He gestured to the lanky boy behind her, "Who's your friend?"

She spun around, "Albus!"

The boy didn't look up at her, but cringed, "Mum said I'm supposed to stay with you."

Remy relaxed, giving a gentle sigh, and tenderly brushing dark hair out of the boy's face, "Al, I didn't mean to startle you. You just startled me, that's all. All good?"

His head bobbed, and he looked up at Griffin. Although his eyes never met Griffin's directly, Griffin could tell that he was looking him over, "Is this your new friend?"

"Albus, this is Griffin. Griffin, this is my little brother Albus." She said with a smile.

Griffin held out a hand, but Albus stared at it before looking up at Remy, "Do I have to?"

She made a face, "Yes, Al, don't be rude." Albus took Griffin's hand, surprising the man with the strength of his grip. Remy touched her brother on the arm, "Why don't you go sit by the bar. Maybe Helena will show you some drinks like Mr. Finnegan was!" As the teenager trotted off, Remy smiled at Griffin, "Sorry about that. He has Aspergers."

Griffin shrugged, "I figured, he seems to be doing really well though."

Remy looked after her little brother proudly before leading Griffin to a booth, "He is."

Griffin couldn't help but smile at the expression on her face, "You're proud of him."

She blushed, "Yeah, I am. He's my baby brother. I've been there his whole life, and knowing that he's got the skills to have his own life is so great. He's even got a crush!"

"Well, he is a good looking kid. I think he takes after his sister." Griffin said, amazed by the way the color of Remy's blush traveled across her skin.

"He and I both got our Mum's eyes, but the other two have our Da's green ones. Albus looks like our Da, though not quite as closely as James does." Remy stopped, "Sorry."

Griffin laughed, scratching at the butterfly bandages still on his cheek. "No, the rambling's cute. But...just how many brothers do you have?"

"I've got my older brother Teddy, my twin James, and then Albus. Lilly's the youngest." Remy said, her mind wandering back to Grimmauld Place and Lilly.

"That's quite the brood." Griffin commented, "I'm my Mom's pride and joy. Gretel Aldrich, my mother, moved to the U.S. from London where she raised me on her own."

Remy smiled softly, "Even from our brief encounters, I think she did a splendid job."

He shrugged, "She wasn't too happy when I joined the Army."

"That's how you got the scars." Remy inferred, her hazel eyes taking in the network of small white scars that peeked out from under the hair line on the left side of his neck. They were sort of beautiful, but knowing that he had gotten them in a war made Remy's skin crawl. She had seen more than her share of war wounds.

When Remy realized she was staring, she looked away, blushing. Griffin chuckled, reaching across the table to gently tilting her chin back to look at him, "Don't be embarrassed, Princess. It's alright to look."

Their eyes locked, and Remy felt like she couldn't breath. One of the waitresses saw the look on Remy's face and came over, "Hullo, Remy-love, what can I get for you?"

Remy blinked at her friend, "Oh, hello, Rosie. I didn't see you around here earlier."

Rosalyn Finnegan giggled, seeing the blush on Remy's cheeks, "It's alright, Rem. I don't think you've seen anyone since you came in here." She smiled at Griffin, "And who might you be? It's not often Remy brings friends by."

Griffin shook her hand, "I'm Griffin. Remy didn't tell me everyone here knew each other."

"Pleasure to meet you, Griffin." Rosalyn arched an eyebrow at Remy, figuring out that he was a muggle, "We're a pretty tight-knit community. My father owns this fine establishment, and he went to school with Remy's father."

"How's your mum?" Remy asked. Rosmerta was still recovering from a frightening illness she had been subjected to over the summer, and the whole situation was obviously taking it's toll on Rosalyn. Her green eyes lacked their familiar sparkle.

Rosalyn made a face, "Da and I keep telling her to slow down, but she's stubborn. I spend most of my time here because she won't let me near the Three Broomsticks for too long. Sometimes I think she's afraid I'll try to take over. It's total barmy, but Da's glad for the help. Business here in London's been picking up."

Remy gave a wistful smile, "That's good, right?

A weak smile flitted across Rosalyn's face, "It is. But Mum worries us, that inn has been her life since she bought it at sixteen. Never mind me though, what can I get you two?"

Remy grinned at Griffin, "Two Butterbeers." Rosalyn nodded and went to get the drinks.

At twenty years old, curly dark haired Rosalyn had been born in the of the war as the result of a somewhat illicit affair between Madame Rosmerta and the much younger Seamus Finnegan. To muggles the relationship was taboo, but with the long wizarding life span, it wasn't much of news...except for the fact that Seamus may or may not have still been in school when Rosalyn was conceived. All that most people took to heart was the fact that her parents had joined the many who had married right after the war ended.

After expressing his delight over the delightful drink Remy had ordered him, Griffin sighed, "I don't figure you can take off and show me around, can you?"

Remy eyed her brother, deep in conversation with Rosalyn, "I think we can slip out."

She slipped five sickles into the bill and held out her hand to Griffin, "Let's go."

He took her hand, feeling a shiver go down his spine. She took him to St. Martin's Church and Trafalgar Square before she had to go back to the pub. Before she disappeared again, he took a pen and wrote his cell phone number on the fair skin of the back of her hand. "Call me, Remy." He said, his voice gruff.

"I will." She laughed, "There's still so many things I need to show you!"

Something about her entranced him. Griffin couldn't tell if it was her nervous babbling or the way her every move seemed effortless. He pulled her close, breathing in the scent of her skin. "I've never had such a good time with someone."

She leaned into him, resting her head against his chest, "I feel the same way."


Clear as mud, right? Hopefully some of you figured out what's going on, but if you don't, just ask!

Remy goes back to school in the next chapter, and things get a little less fluffy. Excited?

Review!

-Jenn