It had been nearly a year since the incident with the wolfsbane potion. There had been no further incidents since. Meredith spent the full
moon with the Tonks' as she had before. Remus had been insistant upon this. Meredith hadn't like the condition he had placed upon her
return, but once she figured that spending one night a month away from home was a small price to pay, she relented. Remus was up early
that morning, as he was often. He'd been doing a lot of thinking in the past few months. Meredith had come to mean so much to him. He
never thought he could love someone the way he loved her. He had spoken to Dumbledore about his feelings, and the old wizard had
agreed whole heartedly with the decision Remus had made. He smiled as she came into the kitchen rubbing her eyes and sniffling. She'd
had a bad cold for the last few days and was finally on the mend.
"Good morning love," he said giving her a hug. "Good borning Daddy," she said. Remus chuckled.
"Still stuffed up?" he said. She nodded. "Maybe some of my not-so-famous banana pancakes will make you feel better." She nodded
eagerly. He waved his wand and the milk and flour poured themselves into a bowl and began to mix. Another wave and a banana peeled
itself and a knife sliced it into small pieces. He placed a plate under the cakes as they flew into the air and sent it over to Meredith at the
table along with a glass of milk. "So," Remus said once he and Meredith were seated across from each other. "Someone has a birthday
coming up in just a few days. Nine years old. Anything special you want to do?" Meredith shrugged.
"Oh come on, there must be something you'd like to do." Meredith twirled her fork in her hands.
"Can we go to Diagon Alley?"
"Of course"
"All of us, Auntie Androbeda, and Uncle Teddy and Tonks?"
"Absolutely"
"Can we have a party at Florean Fortesque's?"
"Sure," Remus said.
"With all the ice creab we can eat?"
"Till we explode," Remus said. Meredith giggled. There was a knock on the door and Remus went to answer it.
"Albus," Remus said as he greeted the headmaster. "Please come in"
"Good day Remus," he said. "I have the documents you requested"
"The Ministry approved"
"They had their doubts of course. However, after a little convincing, and the testimonies of Andromeda and Ted, they have given their
approval. All that is left is to sign the papers. I am here to bear witness." Remus nodded. He was suddenly nervous. He was fairly certain
that this is what Meredith wanted, but what if it wasn't? Maybe he should have asked before taking the steps.
"Go on Remus," Albus said. Remus sighed and nodded. They went into the kitchen where Meredith was finishing off her pancakes.
"Good morning Meredith," Albus said.
"Good morning Dubbledore," Meredith sniffed.
"How's the cold my dear?" Albus asked. Meredith shrugged.
"Well," Albus said. "Shall we?" Remus cleared his throat and sat down.
"Meredith," he said carefully. "There is something I need to speak to you about. Something very serious." Meredith suddenly looked alarmed.
"What?" she said looking at her hands.
"Nothing bad," Remus said quickly. "In fact I'm hoping this is something that will make both of us very happy." He stood up and went
over to her chair. He knelt in front of her and took both of her hands.
"Meredith, I would like to adopt you. I want you to be my daughter, officially." Meredith's eyes widened.
"You bean, you want to be by Dad? For real?"
"For real. If that's what you want." Meredith smiled and threw her arms around him.
"I want that bore than anything in the whole world." Remus felt his heart swell.
"Well, that being settled I believe there is only one thing left to do," Albus said. He reached into his robes and retrieved a roll of parchment.
"It's all there," Albus said waving his wand and producing a bottle of ink and a quill. "All we need is for both of you to sign." Remus took
the quill and signed his name. Meredith signed hers.
"I sign as witness," Albus said. "And that's that. Congratulations both of you." Meredith hugged Remus tight.
"We're a fabily," she said. "Forever"
"Forever," Remus said.