AN: I'm so sorry this took so long to get out. It took awhile to get back into the playful dialogue and fluff. But hopefully this would be well worth the wait, a fluffy (kinda) chapter, with a special apperance by Regulus and the Giant Squid! Wo0t.

So anyway...

Chapter Forty-Seven

(January 8th, 1977)

During lunch after being let out of the Hospital Wing, Kit received a rather frantic letter from both Mister and Misses Potter. She must have read it over and over again, completely ignoring those around her, food getting colder and colder on her plate...and yet Kit couldn't move her gaze or her attention away from that letter.

It was delivered by the Potters owl, Nora; a beautiful barn owl that was very happy to pick at the plate Kit had neglected. The letter was wrapped in a dark purple envelope, complete with a silver wax seal with the letter P that had ivy wrapped around it. The parchment looked aged for effect and the dark purple ink was written in elegant handwriting.

Dearest Kit,

James has told us of your illness, and we've also been told that you are on a full recovery. Are you okay though? Would you like one of us to come visit? Please feel well,

Love,

Mum & Dad

Kit had never received a letter that was filled with such care and attention to detail. Mum and Dad echoed over and over again in her mind. Her own mother and father never once sent her a letter, never did anything to show they were worried or simply that they cared.

Kit didn't know what to do.

It would have been funny, really...if the situation wasn't so depressing. She had a letter that expressed concern and Kit had no idea how to respond to that. What was she supposed to do? Write a letter back would be the obvious choice...but what would she put in it? Would she title the letter Mum and Dad, or simply Mister and Misses Potter? They probably didn't even know they signed as Mum and Dad...probably just a reflex from writing James or something like that.

Kit frowned, and read the letter once more. They were willing to visit? Just to make sure she was okay...what did a person write back to that? She chewed on her bottom lip and glanced up, Sirius and James were in deep conversation about Quidditch and the upcoming game against Slytherin, Lily was chatting up Peter who agreed with everything she had to say and had a slight blush in his cheeks, while her Remus simply had a book open in front of him, taking small bites of food, and looking rather haggard with the scratches on his face.

No, she really didn't want to bother any of them. Especially Remus, he looked as if a truck had ran him over and over again. No, she wouldn't bother him with such a dumb question.

But it was important, she couldn't very well send a letter off to the Potters without putting much thought into it. This would be her first letter she would send to them...the most important right? After a moment or two, she stood and started to head off.

"Kitten?" Deep slightly hoarse voice, the one that made her just want to melt into a puddle. Kit glanced behind her, and was met by Hazel eyes.

"I'm just going to go reply to..." She waved the letter around in her hand, and Remus gave a nod before carefully eyeing the Slytherin table.

"Do you want me to come with?" Yes, yes she did as a matter of fact...but he just looked like the moment he got up he would fall over. She didn't like seeing him like that. She didn't like seeing the gashes on his face, which were healing but would still end up leaving scars...she didn't like that he had to be in so much pain during the Full Moon.

Finally Kit shook her head, and gave her own glance to the Slytherin table. It was true, they were too wrapped up in themselves to notice that a mud-blood was going to wander off alone. "No thanks Remmy, I'll be fine."

After a slight hesitation she took a step towards him, and placed a quick kiss on his lips. Unlike the others, Remus and Kit weren't particularly fond of snogging in public; for the simple fact that they didn't want to get detention.

With that, Kit was gone; taking a moment to close her robes around her before heading outside into the cold winter day. As long as she didn't fall in the snow, or got stuck in a sudden downfall of the freezing white flakes, her robe would be heavy enough to keep her warm. The day was grey, puffy clouds hung in the sky, and the only word that came to Kit's mind was: Depressing.

Yes, depressing weather. She didn't mind it though, it was quiet. If she stood still and just gazed off into the distance, things were silent outside of the castle. There were a few random noises coming from the Forbidden Forrest, but those were few and far between. It only took Kit a few minutes of wading in the snow to get to where she was headed. The rocks by the lake, which looked like a glass of ice water due to the fact the Giant Squid would punch his tentacles through the ice whenever it formed a layer over the lake.

The rocks were cold, and even the heavy robe she wore couldn't protect her backside from the slight chill of sitting on the stone. It was rather peaceful, it made her feel calm. Put her thoughts about what to write to rest. In turn she enjoyed the chill in the air as it kissed her face and tossed her orange hair back and forth, the sights of the way smoke billowed out of Hagrids hut on the outskirts of the forest, and the way everything just seemed right.

She had a family, a boyfriend, and friends. What more could she ask? Things were so blissfully perfect when her greatest problem was what to write in a letter. She could almost laugh at that, how stupid of a problem that was...but it was a normal problem...

She was normal. She didn't have parents that hated and hurt her, she didn't cry in the girls bathroom, she had Lily to talk to about boys and fashion, she had a brother that protected her, she had Sirius who constantly tried to make her laugh, she had Peter who was always willing to share a little bit of his candy stash with her, and she had her Remmy. Who, while he was a werewolf, was absolutely perfect.

It brought a smile to her usually placid face. She had found her place in the world. Kit knew that if she wanted to she could walk right back into the castle and have people to talk to...she knew that if something ever happened to her, she had parents that would worry about her...

Kit glanced down to the letter she held tightly in her hands.

It really was bliss.

"Alright class, I will be putting you in pairs to work on this project for the following month."

At those words Kit bit her bottom lip, when the professor made them work in pairs; it was usually between houses. Meaning she, a mud-blood would be paired with a Slytherin. That thought was enough to make her wince and want to melt to the floor.

A month spent with a Slytherin making a potion that was meant to cause the drinker to turn invisible for a few hours or minutes depending on how much a person would take. Kit was bad enough in potions as it was, having a Slytherin breathing down her neck--

"Kit Potter and Regulus Black!"

Her name was shouted out, and it felt like an ice cube was slipped down her back. Regulus Black was her partner? No, it couldn't be...she must have heard wrong. Although when her blue eyes looked up to see the fact that Sirius' younger brother was now standing next to her with a sneer on his face...she knew the awful truth...

They were going to be partners for a month...

"What are you looking at you filthy mud-blood?"

Yep, she definitely wanted to crawl into a corner and die.

Remus was slightly concerned. He hadn't seen Kit since lunch, so he could only assume (hope actually) that she made it to her next class alright without him or someone else walking with her. He was also wondering about her letter, he knew who it was from; he had seen the seal after all...but, he didn't know if the letter was upsetting or not.

Now he sat in Transfiguration, trying hard not to look as if his thoughts were on anything but transforming a bird into a table. He could hear James and Sirius goofing around behind him, Remus could also sense that in a matter of minutes they would be yelled at by McGonagall and given detention. He tapped his quill on his desk, and pushed his thoughts to something other then what the letter for Kit could have been about.

He was now thinking of, their connection. He had already been able to make quick notes of the fact she felt him and he felt her if they were thinking about it. After all, before his transformation he was thinking about how he wished Kit knew, and well...she felt him. He had never heard of anything of the sort before, were they soul-mates or something? Then again, even soul-mates were...

Remus shook his head, he had to stop thinking about it before he accidentally turned his bird into a teapot.

He was late getting to dinner, Remus had stopped by the library for a few minutes to find any book he could possibly find on love (Madam Pince looked at him as if he grown another head) research would help him be more at ease. He wanted to figure out what was going on with him and Kit, while he was sure it wasn't anything horrible...he just didn't want her to have to feel another one of his transformations again.

The Great Hall was already packed when he stepped in, bag weighing him down a considerable amount as he headed towards the Gryffindor table. Hazel eyes widened in shock when he seen something he hadn't seen before. Kit grinning, ear to ear. Yes, he had seen her smile before; but he had yet to see her grin in such a way in the Great Hall, or anywhere else for that matter. Sirius was talking about Regulus when Remus sat down in his usual spot next to his Kitten.

"--Don't let him get you down luv, he's a git will always and forever be a git. I think he is trying to be King of the gits."

James interrupted Sirius, mid chew to comment; "But Snivellus is King of the gits..."

"I wouldn't put it past my little brother to kill Snivellus in order to reign supreme over all the gits..."

"What are you two going on about?" Remus now took his turn to interrupt as he placed a pork chop onto his plate. Kit (who was still smiling) turned her gaze to Remus and he felt himself melt to butter. She really did look better when she smiled.

"I got paired up with Regulus--"

"Soon to be King of Gits." Sirius interrupted with a cheeky grin and a wiggle of his brows.

"--In potions. I was down about it, so Sirius--"

"--And me!" Was so suddenly said by James that the carrot on his fork was flung at Peter "Sorry Mate."

"--and James were cheering me up. Which namely involved calling Regulus names."

"How wonderfully mature." Remus responded as one of his hands found the small hand of his Kitten under the table.

"I thought so."

"Me too."

"Me three."

"I think the House Elf's are putting something in the pumpkin juice." Lily spoke up, eyeing the drinks that sat on the table.

"Now why would you say that my sweet tiger lily?" James asked, turning his head towards his red headed girlfriend.

"Oh, I can come up with many reasons..."

After dinner, while most students went up to their respected common rooms to study or socialize, the Marauders, plus Kit and Lily headed outside while it was still dim light outside. It was chilly but with heavy robes, and hats and mittens (which used to be sticks; thanks to Lily and Sirius' skill at Transfigurations each one of the group had toasty hands and heads).

It was complete chaos, it was the first time in months that the group seemed to be so upbeat, so happy. Snowballs were being thrown, snowmen were being made, and the light grew dimmer yet the group paid no attention.

Kit and Lily were working on a snowman, or rather a snow Dumbledore (seeing as the front of the snowman crumbled slightly making it look like a beard), while the boys were trying to catch James and throw him into a rather large snow bank.

"You seem happy." Lily pointed out to Kit as they worked on making snow robes (it wasn't going so well) for their Snow Dumbledore.

"I am, strange really..."

"Why is that strange? I mean, being happy is a good thing right?"

"Well, yeah it is. But, there is always that nagging feeling that something..."

"That nagging feeling is probably just being paired up with Regulus Black. I swear if he calls someone a Mud-Blood one more time I'll hex him into oblivion."

Kit chuckled at that and nodded, Lily was right as usual...that nagging feeling had to be the fact that she was going to be working with Regulus for the following month. It was hard to imagine that he was Sirius' brother...they were so different.

Kit was musing about this they worked at making a pointy snow cap, it was when she was lost in thought when she was picked up into the air. A yelp was given as she was plopped onto the shoulders of James, who could only smirk in response.

"You look like you've seen a Boggart." Was all James said, cocking his head in an odd angle so he could look up at the girl who was resting on his shoulders.

"Merlin, you could have given me a bit of a warning..." Kit told him, struggling to keep from falling off his shoulders. She could feel James chuckle, sending her a bit off balance but thankfully he kept a good hold on her legs.

"I'm not Merlin...you should really have your eyes checked. Who knows we could get matching glasses..."

With that, it was decided by a wet and cold group that they should head inside. Kit still holding steady on James shoulders, while Lily was picked up in the same manor surprisingly by Remus.

"Oi Moony! What are you doing with my girlfriend?"

"The same thing your doing with mine."

Sirius could be heard chuckling in the background as they headed inside the castle. It truly was a good day.

Later that night, long after most of the other girls were asleep soundly in their beds; Kit and Lily snuck out of their dorms. Hand in hand, they walked silently and very carefully towards the boys dorms. It had been a busy day, and an active afternoon, sleep was calling their names...and there truly was only one way to sleep.

In their boyfriends arms.

Even though the boys dorms were dark, the girls could still find their boyfriends by memory alone. They had done this many upon many nights, and now it would seem as if tonight was no different. Kit easily slipped into Remus' bed, it was so soft and warm that it would be impossible not to fall asleep within minutes. A hazel eye opened slightly and a small grin appeared upon her boyfriends face.

"Hey you."

"Hi Remmy."

His arm slinked over her torso, pulling her close to him she could feel his torso rise and fall with each breath he took. Lips met hers gently for a moments time, only long enough for her to taste the peppermint on his breath.

This was the way life was supposed to be, a loving family, a loving boyfriend, a great group of friends...it's the way life was supposed to be...so utterly perfect. She nuzzled herself into his chest, breathing in deep...sandalwood and peppermint. Eyes closed and she faintly felt one of his hands slip under the back of her shirt, his palm resting on the small of her back, keeping her close as they both fell into slumber.

Yes. It was perfect.

AN: As they would say...this is the Calm before the storm.