Sequel to "THORNS"
- Of Earth & Stars -
Chapter 27: Joy & Confidence
October - November 1993
"Suri! I need your help!"
"Okay...whoa, slow down, Gemma!" Gemma Farley, cheeks bright pink, had Suri by the arm as she steered them to a window looking into the jewelry shop in Hogsmeade. For a split second Suri wondered if Gemma wanted her to look at engagement rings. She knew Nate and Gemma were still going strong, but if Nate had any inclination of marrying Gemma anytime soon, Suri was willing to bet her inheritance that Nate would have told her first.
"What am I looking at," Suri asked carefully when Gemma stopped in front of a display without engagement rings. "Besides a disgustingly overpriced set of emerald earrings?"
"My two year anniversary with Nate is coming up," Gemma explained. "I want to get him something nice, and I've narrowed it down to three different pairs of cufflinks. I want your opinion."
"Cufflinks." Suri raised her eyebrows. "Very...classy."
"Exactly," Gemma smiled nervously, though she appeared pleased. "So it's between the amber ones there—they remind me of his eyes, the emerald ones back there, and the opal ones here."
"Gemma, these are so expensive…"
"What, you don't think I can afford them? I've been saving!" Gemma's pink face turned pinker.
"That's not what I meant. I just think... how often do you think he'll actually wear them?"
"I don't know." Gemma puffed out a heavy sigh as they left the jeweler's and headed back to Hogwarts. "Nate's told me all about his family and the Sacred Twenty-Eight families. Their wealth is insane! It's not like I'm destitute like Professor Lupin, but I might as well be compared to the Avery family."
"A lot of us might as well be poor compared to his family."
"Not you, Suri, you're one of them." Gemma pointed out. Suri squirmed uncomfortably. She knew she was one of the more well-off students at Hogwarts, thanks to being the sole heiress to both the Black and Rosier families, and her grandmother's Maeve family ancient fortune. But the idea of flaunting her inheritance never seemed important.
"Gemma, Nate doesn't want expensive cufflinks, he wants...I don't know what he wants these days; I hardly see him because he's either with you or training for quidditch or on Prefect duty, but I know whatever you give him, he'll love it because it's from you."
"Thanks, Suri." Gemma smiled, linking arms with her as they walked in the cold autumn air. "What about you? Are there any boys you're keen on this year? I really wish we could go on double dates."
"No, sorry to burst that bubble." Even as Suri dismissed Gemma, her mind conjured up an image of Oliver Wood smiling at her. Immediately, she dispelled that thought. He hardly talked to her this school year, probably because he, like everyone else, was suspicious of her, too. It was a week after her birthday that she realized Oliver hadn't delivered a cauldron cake to her this year. She felt stupid for how much that bothered her.
"Things aren't working with Oliver?" Gemma raised an eyebrow, smiling knowingly. "I thought you still fancied him. He's cute, but I don't understand what you see in him beyond that. He's brilliant on the quidditch field, but I haven't heard him string a sentence together that doesn't involve quidditch. Also, Oliver is a wreck at potions. I know this because Snape made us work on a project together, once."
"He's a good person," Suri defended immediately, thinking of the seventh year Gryffindor. She'd noticed his shoulders had broadened over the summer, and he was taller, too. Still, Suri remembered the kind, smiling Scottish boy who played Quidditch Quest with her all those years ago. And, she kept this to herself, Oliver always made her feel like she was fine just the way she was, like she didn't have to pretend to be more or less than just herself.
"There are plenty other guys," Gemma laughed as they climbed the stairs up to the castle. In the distance, shadowy figures of dementors, permanent guards around Hogwarts, drifted silently. "Suri, you're a catch. You've got a gorgeous body that girls would die to have, you're athletic, you make excellent marks and you make it all look so easy. You should be dating."
Suri laughed at Gemma's compliments. If only Gemma knew it wasn't as easy as she let everyone believe. "Maybe if the right boy asked me out, I might say yes. But the odds don't look good. There's no one worth my time in Slytherin, and Ravenclaw sucks. That leaves Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, so my odds are looking rather slim…"
Suri trailed off as she and Gemma entered the warm castle, noticing a gathering of students in the Main Hall.
"What's going on?" Suri asked a fourth year Ravenclaw. The girl flinched when she realized it was Suri, and Suri refrained from rolling her eyes. People really thought she was going to turn into Sirius Black at the drop of a hat.
"It's the Fat Lady painting that hangs over the Gryffindor Common Room," the girl finally said, stepping away nervously. "It's been slashed to bits."
"By who?!"
"Do you really need to guess," a snide voice interjected a couple people away. It was Veronica. Her lips curled into a sneer even if her brown eyes betrayed her fear. "It was your father, Suri. Sirius Black did this."
X
"You're fine, Draco." This was Suri's third time re-wrapping Draco's arm following his accident in Care of Magical Creatures class. He still had marks from where the hippogriff scratched him, but otherwise, he would make a full recovery in about a week. As far as Suri was concerned, Draco was a waste of perfectly good bandages.
"I do wish we could've played Gryffindor tomorrow, but my arm still hurts," Draco frowned. "You're sure you don't need another layer for my arm? Will it get infected?"
"It's been three days since your attack, and your wounds have closed up, Draco. At this point in treatment, scratches like yours need maybe a light dressing ifyou were playing a sport, orpotentially anti-itch ointment. Otherwise, they need to breathe."
Draco poked at the bandages and sighed dramatically. "If you're sure…"
"Positive, Draco. You'll heal." Suri rose to her feet and walked away.
Madame Pomfrey shook her head after Draco left the infirmary. She was assisting a student whose skin had turned purple in an unfortunate hexing accident. "He didn't need bandages, Miss Rosier-Black."
Suri scoffed in agreement. "You try having him follow you around your Common Room, groaning in fake pain and asking for his wounds to be disinfected and re-dressed. It was the only way to get some peace."
Pomfrey returned her attention to her patient, though her pursed lips seemed to hide a smile. "I need to have a word with you before you leave, Suri. Meet me in my office."
"Sit," Pomfrey instructed briskly when she closed the door behind Suri a few minutes later. Madam Pomfrey was a woman of few frills. Suri expected her to lecture her about her lack of bedside manner with Draco.
"The weather has been dreadful lately. Usually when it gets like this, especially during a quidditch game, I usually attend the games should anything happen to a student due to natural forces," said Madam Pomfrey, folding her hands on her desk. This was an unexpected turn of conversation.
"Okay," Suri said carefully, "do you need me to stay in the infirmary tomorrow while you go to the game? I'm not scheduled to be here tomorrow, but I can make it work."
"Just the opposite, Miss Rosier-Black. I want youto go to the game."
Suri sat up, eyebrows up to her hairline. "You want me to be out there? With you?"
"You'll be there in my place. You see the purple student in bed. When this infirmary has a patient, I can't leave."
"But what if someone gets really hurt? You're going to let me treat them?" Suri had a hard time believing Pomfrey would give her that much autonomy. Just last week Pomfrey had nitpicked Suri's healing charm for a first year with a sprained ankle after flying lessons. Suri knewshe performed flawlessly, but Madam Pomfrey always had something to say.
"You have proven yourself capable over the years to be an adequate first response for students in need of healing. Also, with your quidditch background, should a student need to come to the infirmary, I trust you to know the quickest way from the field to here. I trust you enough notto charm the bones out of a student's arm. Do you think you can handle this responsibility?"
"It's an easy enough request." Suri frowned thoughtfully. The Infirmary had become her haven, one of the few places she was still treated the same. With Madam Pomfrey that meant as long as Suri was quick, clever and never careless, she was respected, even when Pomfrey criticized. That respect almost always carried over through students who came in seeking care. As long as Suri was offering healing, they were willing to begrudgingly set aside their sneers and comments.
"But, Madam, why aren't you treating me like everyone else? You're givingme responsibility when professors and other students suddenly feel like I need to be closely monitored. You've heard the rumors that I supposedly showed my father a way into Hogwarts."
Pomfrey's watchful, perpetually concerned expression, regarded her evenly. "Miss Rosier-Black, is your father my apprentice?"
"No—"
"Does he know how to perform first aid or apply an easy healing charm?"
"I actually don't know…"
"Has he demonstrated care for current Hogwarts students for the past six years either through detention or through his own free will?"
"No, ma'am."
"Can you tell me who has?"
"I have…" Suri shifted in her seat, fiddling with the crystal vial.
"Precisely, you have. I have my own thoughts and memories about Sirius Black, but none of them have anything to do with you and the consistent effort, resourcefulness and trustworthiness you have demonstrated over the years. My first concern is for my students and patients, but I also trust the facts. Any other questions, Miss Rosier-Black?"
"No, Madam."
"Good. Professors McGonagall and Hooch expect you to arrive to the game fifteen minutes before it starts. You'll sit where you can be easily accessed."
X
The weather during the Hufflepuffs vs. Gryffindor game was awful. Even with her waterproof charm over her rain cloak, Suri felt as though she were soaked to her bones. The only good thing about the rain was the way it overpowered the scent of wood polish and broomsticks. Suri gripped the railing of the stadium hard, her knuckles white in her anxiety. There could be a flood, but she doubted it could erase the feelings that that had resurfaced the moment she took her place in the bleachers.
A crack of lightning, followed by the reverberation of thunder, made everyone in the audience gasp as the flash of light brightly illuminated the players above. Beside Suri, McGonagall clicked her tongue with worry over the game.
"I hope Potter spots the snitch soon. It's too dangerous to be out here."
Watching the sky, Suri nodded in agreement as Harry flew somewhere high above the rest of the players, desperately looking around for the snitch. Suri couldn't imagine playing through this rain. She looked at Oliver, desperately guarding the goals for his team, knowing she could have been in the same position of clinging to a slippery broom all while making sure the other team didn't score.
"Come on, Harry," Suri murmured, and before she realized, she found herself sucked into the excitement of quidditch. She knew she should have cheered for Hufflepuff instead of her house's rival, but Suri had to admit the team Oliver had built this year impressed her. She could tell he had definitely put his heart into their training drills and strategies.
Suri passively cheered as Oliver impressively blocked another shot by Hufflepuff. For a few moments she'd forgotten about her apprehension until she began to feel a chill seep into her very being. It was different than the rain that threatened to drown out the game. Suri looked around, paling when she saw the dementors filter onto the field. Exclamations sounded from the students around the stadium, alerting the professors of the unwelcome creatures.
"They shouldn't be here!" McGonagall's concern over the game grew into outrage at the interruption. Behind her, Dumbledore rose to his feet, anger on his face as he stormed from his seat with his hand in his hand and headed for the field.
Suri looked to the sky, and the only thing piquing and interest through the agonizing loss of joy was seeing dementors dementors swarm Harry. One moment Harry was flying, the next he was falling from fifty feet in the air, a blur of scarlet and gold rushing to the earth.
"Harry!" Without hesitation, Suri jumped from her seat and down the stairs toward the field. She reached for her wand and cried "accio broom!"
Suri didn't bother waiting for a broom to find her; she trusted it would happen. Pushing past other students on her way to the railing she pulled herself up and over the stadium bleachers. For a couple split seconds, Suri felt nothing but air as gravity brought her down. A heartbeat later, the familiar weight of a broom grazed her fingertips, and in one fluid motion she mounted the broom and flew upward after Harry and into the throng of dementors circling him.
The dementors whirled around, noticing her, smelling her. And just like on the Express, they advanced. Suri dodged them, her focus only on Harry; she knew that if he kept falling at that speed, hitting the ground would kill him. Biting her lip, she urged the broom faster, even though she knew it was going as fast as possible.
"Arresto momentum!" From the field, Dumbledore pointed his wand at Harry, slowing his fall in time for Suri to catch him. Even though he was skinny, his sudden weight unbalanced her position on the broom. However, at this safe distance, Suri wrapped her arms around Harry and flipped over just as they both hit the ground.
X
Suri and Dumbledore tracked mud into the hospital when they brought Harry in. Pomfrey took one look at Suri's muddy shoes and frowned. "Apprentice or not, I won't have you tracking mud in here. Go wash the mud off at once!" Pomfrey jutted her chin in the direction of the back storage room while she tended to Harry.
"Miss Rosier-Black, that was one of the most spectacular feats of flying I'd seen in a while," Dumbledore kindly called after her, waving his wand as he spoke. The mud they brought in from the field was instantly gone from the stone floors. "Poppy, I leave Harry in yours and your apprentice's capable hands. If you don't mind, there are some dementors I need to address."
Suri removed her rain cloak, charming it dry and folded it into a pile to be cleaned later. She did her best to clean the mud off her trousers and shoes, charming those dry as well; knowing only a shower and the laundry would solve her problem. Though, once certain she wouldn't leave any muddy footprints behind, Suri rejoined Madam Pomfrey in the infirmary.
"It's those dementors," Pomfrey said, by way of greeting when Suri joined her. "He has such a strong reaction to them. If he fell on you on the way down, then I don't anticipate a head injury, so he should come around soon. How about you? Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," Suri answered. "Maybe a bruise from the hard landing, but I don't need treatment. If it's all right, I'm going to stay with Harry. I promise to not make a sound."
"I should hope not. You're still on the clock for another half hour, Miss Rosier-Black." Pomfrey frowned at Harry in concern before walking away. In less than three minutes, the silence was punctuated by rambunctious voices rushing in. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were closely followed by most of Gryffindor's team. Fred Weasley carried something wrapped in a blanket. The Gryffindors all paused when they saw Suri.
Suri raised her hands in surrender. "Don't worry guys, my wand is in my back pocket, I promise to make no sudden movements and I'll keep twenty-five feet away from Harry at all times. I can't actually promise that last one if Harry is still here while I'm working, though."
"...Ugghh..." everyone turned around to look at Harry who was sitting up. Blinking, he reached for his glasses left on the table beside him. "What happened?"
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, relieved, and by his side at once. The others followed suit.
"You fainted again," Ron supplied. "You should've seen how angry Dumbledore was when the dementors were on the field. Because of them, Hufflepuff won and…so your broom blew into the Whomping Willow and..."
Fred deposited the bundle on the empty bed next to Harry and, with a grim expression, revealed what was in the blankets. Shards of shattered broom lay in piles—it was Harry's beloved Nimbus 2000. Harry groaned again, but not from any physical pain.
"We're really sorry, Harry," said Fred, reaching out to clap him encouragingly on the shoulder. "If anything, you're lucky you had such a soft fall. It could've been worse."
"That's because he fell on me," Suri frowned.
"Again, he's a lucky man. Besides, it's been ages since I've seen you pull a crazy flying stunt. You jumped out of the stadium! That has to be at least forty feet!"
"Bugger off!" Suri's displeasure with Fred brought forth chuckles from both Fred and George and ultimately summoned Madame Pomfrey.
"Everyone out," Pomfrey demanded, shooing away the Gryffindor team. "Mr. Potter needs his rest, and you lot need to stop bringing mud into my hospital. It's unsanitary. Miss Rosier-Black I expected you to know better when it came to hospital manners."
"Yeah, Rosie," George murmured on his way out. "You should've known better."
"I am soclose to turning your kneecaps around, George Weasley," Suri hissed back. George simply smiled in return, his eyes flashing with humor. It was almost like old times—before he believed she was capable of working with Sirius Black. He might be willing to forgive and forget, but Suri wasn't sure if she was.
Fred nudged George. "Come on, we probably ought to find Wood to make sure he didn't succeed in drowning himself in the showers." To Suri, Fred shook his head, not looking the least bit concerned. "Oliver doesn't take losses very well."
"You too, Suri, you're off duty," Pomfrey admonished.
"Just five minutes then I'll be out." Suri gave the older woman a charming smile. Pomfrey sighed heavily and turned away; Suri took that as permission to stay.
"Sorry about your broom." Suri pushed aside the bit of wood and perched on the edge of the bed. "You alright?"
"Alright, I guess," Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Pomfrey will probably want to keep me for a bit. I had to miss the Sorting Ceremony this year because of the way I reacted on the Express, too."
"It is odd that you're fainting," Suri mused, her brows creased into a thoughtful frown. "Maybe Professor Lupin will know the answer."
"Good idea," said Harry. He pulled his knees to his chest and regarded Suri carefully. "Thank you, by the way, for er, breaking my fall. You aren't hurt, are you?"
"Nah," Suri waved him off with a smile. "Maybe a bruise from the hard landing, but nothing I've never experienced."
"You jumped from the bleachers?" Harry's emerald eyes were wide behind his glasses.
"My form was mediocre at best." Suri shrugged. Thinking back to that moment, even Suri had to admit that was pretty risky—what if the Accio charm hadn't worked and the broom never found her? Still, a small smile turned her lips up. "Actually, that was my first time on a broom in two years."
"Since you quit quidditch," Harry supplied.
"Yeah, since I quit." Suri looked down at her feet, and pushed her wavy hair away from her face. "So maybe I should thank you for getting me out there again."
"Miss Rosier-Black, your five minutes are up," Pomfrey warned as she walked by with a frown. Pomfrey had claimed Harry as her patient and therefore no one was to disturb him, not even an apprentice.
"Wait!"
"Yes, Harry?" Behind his glasses, his green eyes danced with several different emotions and unsaid words, until finally…
"I know what it's like, you know," Harry finally said. "Having no one believe you when you're telling the truth. But I believe you, Suri. I mean, I know you're not working with Sirius Black, even if he's your dad."
"Thank you, Harry." Suri felt as though the immovable knot in her stomach since the start of the school year unfurled just a little. "That means a lot."
X
"Suri!" Remus greeted with a smile when Suri appeared at his office doorway. After a quick shower and fresh change of clothes, Suri knew she was already late to meeting up with Moons. "You're quite the talk, I hear. First because of your father supposedly running rampant at this school, but now for saving Harry from his fall after a daring feat of flying."
Suri rolled her eyes, sitting in an overstuffed, but old, armchair beneath a dome-shaped window. "I think I'd like to be an anonymous student for a while, Moons."
"I have a feeling that doesn't happen very often for you, does it?" Remus looked as though he wanted to say more, but he held back.
"No it doesn't." Suri drummed her fingers on her legs crossed beneath her. "Everyone expects me to be my dad, well except for Granna. Granna expects me to be my mum. I just want to be me, whoever that is. I thought coming to Hogwarts would answer questions that I had and give me closure, but it hasn't. It's been hell, Moons. Was it like this for you?"
"My time was a bit different than yours," Remus said gently. Suri looked up at him as he perched on the arm of her chair. "I had a hard time at first because of my condition as a…"
"Werewolf," Suri supplied. She smiled apologetically. "Granna told me." She left out that this was the main reason Granna agreed to fight for custody of Suri.
"Yes, that. It was miserable, there wasn't a potion like there is now. But it was my friends James Potter, Lily Evans, Peter Pettigrew, and your parents Sirius Black and Tessa Rosier that made Hogwarts home and made me feel less alone. I don't know where I would have been without them. Even after Hogwarts, any place we were together became home. Do you have friends that make you feel that way?"
"I have Nathaniel Avery, that bugger who thinks he's all that," Suri smiled at the thought of her arrogant friend. "He feels like home. So does Gemma. I guess Willem and Carly feel familiar enough, but I don't know if I'd call them home," Suri frowned. She thought of Oliver who made her feel like she was enough, and the Weasley twins who made her feel like she was as normal as anyone else, but this year was different. Maybe last year or during her fourth year she could have called them home, but not now.
"I've seen you with Nate," Remus speculated. Suri noticed her godfather's expression.
"Nate is just a friend! A cousin, actually. Mum and his dad were cousins. I'd rather swim in the Great Lake with the giant squid than be anything more than friends with him."
"Alright," Remus chuckled softly. Every one of his age lines were apparent that night, and Suri wondered what had happened that had made him age so rapidly. Perhaps it could have been a side effect of lycanthropy, but Suri highly doubted that was all.
"These dementors are all here because they think Sirius is here somewhere. Do youthink he is?" Suri asked softly. "Do you reckon he's still waiting for Harry? I've thought a lot about him. It would be smart if he was hiding somewhere where he wouldn't get caught, but I have a feeling he's nearby."
"That's hard to say," Remus answered vaguely. "Your father is a very smart man, but a loose cannon. I would imagine he would be long gone by now, but you would never know with him."
"The more I hear about him, the more I dislike him," Suri muttered bitterly. "I have a few brief but good memories of him, and Granna only tells the good stories too. Since I got to Hogwarts everyone else tells me how much of a bully he was. They say that he was arrogant and had a nasty temper and even quite possibly a little mad when he was my age. Now he's escaped from Azkaban to kill Harry. I'm starting to believe my dad wasn't a good man after all. He was selfish and immature."
"Your father was…" Remus trailed off, searching for the right words. "He was a lot of those things, but his heart was always in the right place—"
"Up until he landed himself in Azkaban," Suri scoffed. "I hope the dementors find him and kiss him."
"Clearly, you need something else to think about. This year is already taking its toll on you." Remus pushed off from the table. "There's a boggart in that trunk in the corner and it's insistent on taking permanent residence. Would you like to help me get rid of it? You're familiar with the boggart-banishing spell, right?" Remus pushed off the armchair and walked over to the corner of his office and tapped the top of the trunk. He looked back at Suri, smiling gamely. "You should have learned this your third year."
"Sure." Suri unfolded herself from the armchair and joined Remus, wand in hand. Remus and her took steps back from the trunk. Then, using his leg, Remus kicked open the lid. At first, nothing happened. Suri was about to ask if there was even a boggart when the image of a full moon floated out of the trunk.
Remus raised his wand. "Riddikulus!" The full moon turned into an orange ball and fell to the ground, rolling to Suri's feet. Suri and Remus chuckled when Suri kicked at the ball and it rolled away.
The ball then began wiggling on the ground and with a loud crack, it transformed again. What once was a ball was suddenly a small child, burying her face in her hands and sobbing. The small child had ink-black hair falling in soft waves down her back. She wore a cream colored dress and red shoes-the shoes matching the bow in her hair. Instantly, Suri knew the girl was her. That outfit was from her first Christmas without her parents or Moons. The image of Suri as a four-year-old girl was not frightening, but rather, what she represented. Sixteen-year-old Suri knew that child Suri was being eaten alive by grief and loneliness. Loneliness was her greatest fear.
Remus's pale face looked grim. He looked from the image the boggart had turned into to the real Suri. The knuckles of his hand gripping the wand had turned white.
"Riddikulus!" Suri cried and the boggart of loneliness burst into dozens of white and red wildflowers scattering the floor.
"Well done, Suri." Remus beamed. He reached out and gave Suri's shoulder a squeeze and Suri smiled half-heartedly. The boggart had scurried back to the trunk, the lid dropping shut over it. Remus seemed to consider her for a minute. "Suri, have you ever conjured the Patronus Charm?"
"I tried on the Express when that dementor got close to me, but I don't think I did it right. All I got was a bit of bright light, not an animal shape."
"It's a spell that takes a lot of discipline, so it makes sense that you didn't conjure a corporeal Patronus on your first try." said Remus encouragingly. While that might be true, it motivated Suri to get it right sooner rather than later. Charms came easily to her, so the Patronus shouldn't be any different.
"Will you teach me," asked Suri. Having Moons around was a breath of fresh air, like a missing part of her had returned home. She wanted to spend hours with him, learning everything she could.
"The spell starts with a very happy memory and requires confidence and concentration when called upon. Watch," Remus closed his eyes for a second, then, "Expecto Patronum."
From his wand came a shimmering wolf. It stalked coolly around the room before it faded away.
"You try," Remus encouraged. He leaned against the wall and waved to Suri with his wand. "Remember: joy and confidence."
"Joy and confidence," Suri repeated under her breath. She closed her eyes, searching for her happiest memories. Her father tickling her with his stubble. Jokes with Nate. Flying. Flying was among her greatest joys. Flying with Nate, racing after practice as fast as their brooms would go. Suri opened her eyes. "Expecto Patronum!"
White light burst from her wand, but unlike Remus, an animal did not appear. "Let me try again." Suri closed her eyes and thought of more happy things, every time Oliver brought her a cauldron cake for her birthday, Pomfrey allowing her to be an apprentice, gaining control of her Legilimency.
"Expecto Patronum!" The beam of light was brighter, but still, no animal form. When the light disappeared, Suri staggered back, fatigued.
"You definitely have the confidence down," Remus smiled. "The Patronus is incredibly advanced magic; it is the mark of an exceptional wizard to be able to perform a corporeal patronus. It'll take time."
"I'll get it," Suri responded. She raised her wand again, "I just need the right memory…"
"Not tonight you won't." Remus's voice was firm. It was the same tone Granna used when Suri was younger and staying up late. "It will exhaust you for days if you keep it up without a break. You've already had an eventful day, so this is a good stopping point."
"ButI will get it," Suri promised and Remus opened the door to see Suri out.
"I would never bet against you. I always knew you were meant to be great, even as a small child insisting I read the same story over and over."
"Earth and Stars," Suri beamed. "I still have that book and I always bring it with me to Hogwarts. Along with my stuffed wolf named Uncle."
"Uncle!" Remus laughed aloud at that, the rims of his ears turning pink. "You were oddly perceptive as a little girl, that I do remember!"
Suri stayed a while longer as Remus made tea for them. She filled him in about the last five years at Hogwarts, leaving out what had happened during her fourth year. She also left out parts of her childhood, the same way Remus became vague when she asked about the past twelve years for him. Carefully, when Remus focused on making tea, Suri tried Legilimency, only to be hit with a solid wall. She felt guilty for trying to pry, but she was surprised to find Moons had protected his thoughts with Occlumency. But he did know she was a Legimens, so maybe it made sense that his thoughts would be impenetrable.
Perhaps it was a good thing that they didn't talk about the past too much. For now, Remus was here at Hogwarts with her and not some distant memory. She would hold onto this.
Author's Note:
Thanks for reading! I'm so glad you're here! :)
Drop me a review and let me know you're here for Suri (and me! Mostly me, but it's okay if you're here just for Suri and the HP universe too, xD)!
X