Chapter 2- Making a Decision
Pre-chapter A/N: Many thanks to those of you who have read my first chapter, and a special thanks to my first reviewer!
Sitting in Miss Phanny's office, Remus had to make a decision.
He looked around Miss Phanny's office, as if the answer was hidden on the wall, and all he had to do was find it. If only it was that simple. Miss Phanny had a humble, compact office, with a quaint little mahogany desk, and filing cabinets to the left. There were framed photographs on almost every surface; her desk, the shelves in the right corner, and on the walls, of various children. The walls were a creamy white, and next to the shelves on the right was a desk with a standard computer. Her office was organized precisely, but not in a stifling way that makes you sit rigidly in your seat. Though, at the moment, not even the comfort of the room was keeping Remus from feeling tense.
Do I really want to make the commitment of becoming the caretaker of another person? Of a child? He wasn't sure. At twenty-eight years old, he felt that he was adult and responsible enough for the task. He had always been the more mature of individuals among his peers. He checked out for all the eligibilities, and was found to meet all the requirements and was capable of adoption. Well, he met all of the muggle ones anyway… Then it hit him. What was he thinking? He can't adopt! He's a wizard for merlin's sake! He can't raise a muggle child! Not to mention, he's a werewolf, he's a danger to be around. The answer was obvious and clear to him now. Feeling furious with himself for even considering it, he looked at Miss Phanny apologetically.
"I'm terribly sorry Miss Phanny, but I just can't be a parent. I'm not the right person for the job." Miss Phanny said nothing, but scrutinized his face searchingly. Remus fidgeted in his seat, feeling once again like a young schoolboy sitting in Minerva McGonagall's office, about to be reprimanded by his stern old professor. Then almost as if having read his mind, her eyes shifted into comprehension and then shifted again to look at him knowingly. She resembled someone who had just worked out a particularly difficult puzzle or unearthed a great secret.
"You kn0w Remus, some of the strangest things have happened around Jenna before. Sometimes I catch her talking to that cat of hers, and other times downright unnatural things happen. Like her toys begin to float, or when she was younger I remember a time she was upset about not getting her lolly, and just like that, the lolly flew right towards her. Rather strange, don't you think?" she smiled at him mischievously.
He grinned at her, and thought about Jenna. Of the strange protectiveness he felt over her, and the way she seemingly knew things. Like how she knew he would be adopting her. He suddenly realized, as if a sacred knowledge had been bestowed upon him, that he just couldn't leave without Jenna. She was his cub. He could figure out some way to work around being a werewolf. He could just always remember to take wolfsbane potion, and he would make her aware of the fact that he was a werewolf. That way she would never be in danger of him. And, if what Miss Phanny told him was true, then Jenna actually isn't a muggle after all. There was no harm in introducing her to the wizarding world a little earlier than was originally planned, seeing as she would most likely have gone to Hogwarts as a muggle-born in a few years' time anyway.
He then focused back on Miss Phanny. "One last question, and depending on the answer I will adopt Jenna. " Miss Phanny looked at Remus apprehensively, and even with a tad of what could only be described as hope. "What does Jenna want? Would she like me to adopt her?" he finished. At this point, Remus knew he would like to have Jenna, but also felt that it was only fair that the choice was ultimately Jenna's.
Miss Phanny gave a big smile and hurriedly left to retrieve Jenna.
Miss Phanny Lynn knew she was a humble woman, she had always had a soft spot for children and for the less fortunate. She herself had been an orphan from a young age, and barely survived the early stages of her life. Having been born a squib, or a witch without magic, she knew all about the wizarding world. But she left the wizarding world early on, to live the life of a muggle where she could thrive more efficiently. After founding her orphanage once she received funding from an anonymous donor 10 years ago, she had been caring for children since.
As she walked to Jenna's room, she thought about the man she left sitting in her office. He looked older than he actually was, with tan slightly graying hair, and penetrating amber eyes. He had kind facial features that could make any person feel safe and secure. His gait was that of a person who had a humble confidence, while simultaneously seeming lost and unsure of himself. He reminded her of a model person who always maintained composure, and was not easily mad or flustered.
When he turned down her request that he adopt, she was momentarily baffled. He was as close to the perfect candidate for adopting as most people could get, still fairly young yet maintaining an aspect of maturity that even some beyond his years had yet to obtain. But, while he had such maturity, he knew when and how to have fun. She could tell by the concealed humor he had in his eyes, that only needed to be enticed to be shown in full. He met all of the requirements and specifications in the legal matters, and while he was far from rich, he had enough to sustain the wellbeing of himself and a child, should he adopt. It just didn't make any sense to her.
When she sat in the office attempting to find clarification, becoming desperate for an answer, she had begun crafting far fetched explanations for her dilemma. Then the craziest of all occurred to her. What if he was a wizard? And he felt that it wasn't right, and frankly illegal, to adopt a muggle child? She herself wasn't fully enlightened in the law of the wizarding world, but it certainly seemed to fit. Seeking to confirm her suspicions, she glanced at all of his pockets unobtrusively.
She could just barely see from her position behind the desk the answer to her questions. Sticking precariously out of his right back pocket was a slender, roughly cylindrical rod of wood. From the few times she had seen such an object, she knew what he had was a wand. Right then, she knew exactly what to say to convince the wizard, and convince him she did. She could still recall the triumph she felt at his grin in reply to her descriptions of Jennas childhood.
Reaching her destination, she took a quick deep breath to steady her thoughts. I hope that everything will work out. He certainly seems like the paternal type. I think they would do well for each other.
Jenna thought she might lose her dinner. Which would be a pity, she thought, because of how yummy those pies had been for dessert. She sat, anxiously awaiting for something, anything to happen. After dinner, Mr. Moony and Miss Phanny left for Miss Phanny's office to discuss what Jenna knew would inevitably be her adoption. She had left and went room to wait for the millionth time today. She was extremely impatient now, and was prepared to march down to Miss Phanny's office herself and demand that Remus adopt her already. She began building up her adrenaline when someone knocked on her door carefully.
"Jenna dear, Mr. Lupin has a very important question for you." Jenna opened the door, and Miss Phanny continued, "But first, I have a question for you." Miss Phanny looked hard at Jenna in the face.
"Do you want to be adopted by someone? Are you sure you are ready for such a big change in your life?" she stopped as if to give Jenna time to consider her reply.
"If you are, Mr. Lupin said that he would adopt you based on your answer to his question: Do you want him to adopt you? Because he wants to adopt you, but it's up to you."
Jenna gaped at Miss Phanny with wide eyes, and exclaimed "Yes yes yes YES!" Jenna bolted past Miss Phanny in the direction of the office where she knew Mr. Moony, her new father, to be. Miss Phanny looked at Jenna's retreating form and beamed, then crossed the room to grab the luggage that she had spotted leaning against the bed during their short conversation.
Such a smart girl. She seemed to just know that Remus would be adopting her. She already packed all of her things! She surely deserves it, she's such a bright child, with a future to match. I can tell she will be making a difference in the world.
How Miss Phanny was correct, in ways she could never begin to understand.
Remus sat patiently in Miss Phanny's office, awaiting their arrival. He grew nervous, with tumultuous thoughts whizzing around in his head. What if Jenna doesnt want me to adopt her? As much as he didnt want to admit it, he always imagined having a daughter. A little girl who could be the apple of his eye, a cause for happiness.
He stared at the door, and watched it bang open, to admit a streak of red moving at a rapid pace in his direction. Jenna ran to Remus and only his reflexes allowed him to quickly stand up to catch her mid jump. She looked up to him with sparkling eyes and a grin on her face and exclaimed, "YES!"
Miss Phanny returned with Jenna's luggage in tow to find Jenna in Remus's arms as they both laughed in joy.
"I take it Jenna gave you the good news?" Miss Phanny asked with a smile.
"Yes ma'am, and isn't it just the best news," he said, turning to Miss Phanny. "How about we get those papers signed and go tell my Aunt Julie?" he asked, turning to Jenna. Jenna nodded her head excitedly, and they all sat down around Miss Phanny's desk to finish the papers.
One thought preceded all others in the forefront of Jenna's mind.
Best. Birthday. Ever!
"You ready to go, Jenna?" asked Remus. After finishing filling out the papers, he decided to forgo walking the rest of the way. He thought it impractical to lug Jenna's belongings down the street, and decided on apparating the rest of the way to his Aunt's. In the brief, time-old interaction of a rough illumination of the wizarding world, and a promise that he would explain the rest of the wizarding world later, he informed her that they would be apparating to his Aunt's. He was knocked slightly off kilter at her lack of astoundment at the revelation of the wizarding world, but he set it aside to investigate later.
"Ready as I'll ever be!" she beamed up at him. Jenna was so very happy that everything turned out the way it was supposed to. Now she just had to decide how she was going to explain everything to Mr. Moony… Like how she already knew about the wizarding world, and her dreams, and- well, there was a lot to explain. They waved goodbye to Miss Phanny and Remus turned to Jenna.
"Hold on tight!" he said. Jenna grabbed on tight to Polly, while Remus grabbed her arm and secured his grip on her luggage. She felt herself get squeezed through a tube which was much too small to fit the average human through. She felt the compressing sensation leave her and landed forcefully on her feet. The endeavor had her clutching her stomach, feeling queasy for the second time that evening, and thought she might actually retch this time. She forced the feeling down and looked up at Mr. Moony.
"Are you alright?" Remus asked with concern. She nodded shakily and turned to the house in front of them. Remus pulled her luggage in the direction of the front door, and Jenna followed with Polly tagging along behind her. He reached the front door, unlocked and opened it. There was someone bustling about in the kitchen, and then they heard who apparently was Aunt Julie call out to them.
"Remus, dear, I was beginning to worry about you! I thought you got lost or something on the way home from the grocery store, seeing how you don't visit the states much, I just thought-" she stopped dead, having just arrived at the end of the hallway and caught sight of Jenna. "Well well, who is this? Remus, I thought I told you not to bring home strays," she said jokingly with a kind chuckle.
"This, Aunt Julie, is my new daughter, Genevieve Adelaide Vivianne."
"But you can call me Jenna!" piped in Jenna.
Aunt Julie had a look of immense surprise on her face, which slowly melted into a wide smile, and beckoned her forward. "Well come and give your Aunt Julie a hug, why don't you? Then let's go sit at the table, and you two can tell me all about it. Say, how old are you Jenna? You're quite the pretty little one."
"I just turned 9 today. It's my birthday," replied Jenna shyly.
"Well isn't that just perfect! I just so happen to have a lemon cake cooling, one of my personal favorites, with homemade icing." Jenna grinned happily.
"This day keeps getting better and better!"
They made their way to the dining table, all with smiles on their faces. Aunt Julie left to go ice the cake so that they could eat a slice.
"I didn't know it was your birthday Jenna, I'll have to make it up to you somehow," said Remus.
"It's okay Mr. Moony, you've already given me one of the best gifts I could get just by adopting me."
Remus grinned at Jenna's reply, then said, "That's quite enough 'Mr. Moony' business, if I'm to be your father, I hardly think you should call me that. What would you like to call me? I don't mind anything, as long as it's not something like 'Old Man'," he chortled.
Once again Jenna's rare shy side came out, as she replied , "Well… I always wanted a Dad. Would you mind if I called you that?"
"Of course not," he said kindly. "Dad it is." Jenna beamed at him once more as Aunt Julie came into the room balancing three plates in her hands.
"Who's ready for cake?" she asked. Jenna enjoyed the homemade lemon cake very much, and quickly deduced it was her new favorite.
Post-chapter A/N: I will be posting a new chapter every few days. Once I've posted all of my finished chapters I will start posting as often as I can, but It seems to be my chapters are getting longer and longer and taking longer to write. I suppose that's a good thing, though :)