A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys! Keep 'em coming! I don't own anything, it hasn't changed.
"The projects were incredible. I enjoyed grading them, and it seemed like you enjoyed writing them. If you didn't enjoy it, you pretended you did,, so, good move." With that, I handed back the projects with my grades and comments on them.
There was a knock on the classroom door.
"Come in," I called. My back was to the door, so it took me a minute to turn around and see who'd come in. It was Kylee.
"Sabrina," she panted, "She's back. I found her." My eyebrows shot upwards. A grin crossed my face.
"Kylee, why don't you wait in my office? I don't have a class after this." Kylee nodded and ran up the stairs to my office. I continued the class, pretending that everything was normal. At the end, I called for Harry to follow me up to my office.
Kylee and Remus were sitting on my bed, impatiently. Kylee had a cloak wrapped around her. She was never good with the cold.
"Kylee," I said, gesturing to Harry, "This is Lily's son, Harry. Harry, this is Kylee, your Aunt Rose's best friend." Harry and Kylee shook hands, and then Kylee turned to me.
"I found her, Sabs," she said, "I saw her walking down the street. I followed her, so you can come help me get her to come back."
"Of course we'll help," I replied, "Remus, do you want to come? You don't really know Rose that well." Remus shrugged.
"Sure I'll come," he said. I looked at Harry and he nodded.
"Well, let's go. Kylee, set up a Portkey." Within a few seconds, my least favorite shoe had become a Portkey.
"5-4-3-2-1," Kylee counted. On one, the Portkey lifted us in the air and flew us to the outside on an apartment building.
"Alohomora," Kylee whispered, and the lock clicked open. We went up the winding staircases, up to the room which Kylee said was Rose's.
We found ourselves right outside a door. It was big and old and strong. Kylee shrugged at me and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Rose called. I knew it was Rose in an instant. Who else could sound like Lily?
"It's Kylee," Kylee called, "Open up." There was a moment of hesitation before the door opened, and Rose let the four of us in. She led us, silently, to her living room, and motioned for us to sit on the couch.
"What are you doing here?" she half-demanded, half-sighed. "You know why I left. Nothing's changed."
"Yeah it has. Voldemort's gone. The Death Eaters are gone. People have stopped dying." Kylee, as I had expected, had taken the lead role in talking to Rose.
"Lily's still dead isn't she?" Rose demanded, all weakness gone from her voice. "Tell me how that's changed."
"Rose," I said quietly, "Lily's dead if you live as a muggle or not. You leaving doesn't change that. You can't hide from reality forever. Trust me. I've tried."
Rose looked at me, as if trying to read my mind. She then turned to Harry. She looked at him as if he were a complete stranger.
"Who are you?" she said rudely.
"Rose," I told her, "This is your nephew, Harry Potter. He's Lily's son." Rose stared at Harry. It was only then that I realized how much Harry's eyes looked like his mother's, and his aunt's. They had the same piercing stare but there was softness behind them. I'd missed seeing those eyes every day.
"Will you come back?" Kylee asked her.
"Is Voldemort really gone?" Rose sighed. Kylee grinned, and knocked Rose over in a bear hug. Rose fell off her chair and onto the floor, with Kylee on top of her. Kylee got up in an instant, brushed herself off, and pulled Rose to her feet.
When Rose stood up, she extended her hand to Harry. A soft smile that only she had crossed her face. That was the difference between Lily and Rose. Lily was rash and bold. Rose was quiet and reserved. You could see it when they smiled.
"Hello, Harry," she said calmly, "I'm your Aunt Rose. I'm sorry that you haven't met me until now." Harry shook her hand. I looked at Remus, who had hardly said a thing throughout this whole excursion. He gave me a smile, and followed the rest of us out of the apartment and into the street.
Rose and Kylee were best friends once again. It was nice having them back. The thing that I'd missed most from Morgan's was seeing the two of them. Having best friends nearby really made me feel happier. I don't know why.
We returned to Hogwarts, and I went to my next class. I don't know what my students thought of me when I was half-dancing around my room, and glancing periodically at my office door, where, I knew, Remus, Kylee and Rose were.
But Halloween was coming up. Halloween. When I was a kid, it was fun. I'd help the Marauders play pranks. I was a marauder. When I was in auror training, it was a nice break from work. I could have fun on Halloween. When I lived as a muggle, it was something different entirely.
Halloween was the only time when I let myself remember my old life. I'd take out the album from underneath my bed and look through it for hours. I'd smile and laugh, while, all the while, silent tears would be pouring down my cheeks. Sirius was in Azkaban. Peter was dead. James and Lily were dead. I would never see Georgia, Alice, Ophelia, or Remus again because they lived in the world I'd left.
I'd keep my lights off so trick-or-treaters wouldn't come to my door. I'd stare out the windows, looking at all the kids, playing with their friends, dressed up as stereotypes of me and my friends. I wanted to be them again. Innocent children, who thought their friends would be with them forever.
Rose and I knew better. I'd lost everything when I was thirteen. I'd lost more when I was twenty-one. Rose had lost a sister. We knew that life wasn't perfect.
I'd already talked with Professor McGonagall about Halloween. I'd asked her if I could arrange to have Remus teach instead. Remus could work when he was in pain. He was used to it. He could deal with constant reminders of the things he'd lost. He was able to stay. He was stronger than me. I knew that.
A/N: So that ending was just preparation for the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed this one, and I promise, the next one will be a little lighter. Not much, but a little.