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CHAPTER THREE
Nine Years Later
October 31st, 1990 – Florence, Oregon, U.S.A.
All she could hear was the music blasting in her ears. She knew if her uncle were around he would be chewing her out, claiming that she would be deaf before the month was over. Of course, she reasoned, if he really thought that, he definitely wouldn't have bought her this portable cassette player for her birthday last year.
Her breathing and legs were beginning to feel heavy. Of course she had been running for the better part of an hour. She was good at long distance, but not on so few hours of sleep. She finally rounded the corner onto her block and picked up the pace. Sprinting past her neighbors houses and to her front door.
She stopped before she reached the steps and walked slowly up them, pausing outside of her front door trying to catch her breath. It was still early, barely past 6:00am and the last thing she wanted to do was wake her uncle on a day like today.
When she had caught her breath enough and no longer sounded like an airplane getting ready to take off, she unlocked her door and stepped inside, setting her keys on the entryway bench. She quietly crept up the stairs, being sure to jump over the fifth step as it was squeaky and made her way into the bathroom to shower.
By the time she had gotten out, refreshed and more awake, she smelled coffee coming from downstairs. It was still a bit too early for her uncle to be up, so she figured he must have heard her.
"You're up early," she said when she entered the kitchen and saw her uncle's back as he was cooking breakfast, bacon and eggs by the smell of it.
He looked back at her and smiled, although his smiled seemed a bit grimmer than normal.
"So are you… couldn't sleep?" he asked, pouring a cup of coffee, adding plenty of vanilla creamer and handing it to her.
She shrugged "I decided to go for a run."
He nodded "I heard you leave, normally I would have stopped you, but I figured it would probably help," he said with a small smile. He knew her well.
She took a lingering sip of her coffee, inhaling the vanilla scent. "what's the plan for today?" She asked, although she knew the answer. No matter how many times they tried to change it, they always did the same thing every Halloween.
"Do you want to go out with your friends tonight?" he asked, although he already knew the answer.
She shook her head "Can we just…" she trailed off, not knowing what she really wanted to do. Wallow? Or distract?
He nodded "I've already called the two of us in for school today for a personal day… What do you say we stop at Letha's Diner for breakfast then drive up to Newport and distract ourselves for a bit, then spend the rest of the night watching movies and eating ice cream?" he suggested, a smile playing at his lips.
She smiled back at him. They did every year. Sometimes they would decide they wanted to take their minds off of the horrors that happened nine years ago, the loss the two of them faced, so they would squeeze everything into this day. But by mid-afternoon they would become overwhelmed and exhausted so they would go back home and mourn.
"Can we go to the aquarium?" she asked
"Of course… what would a trip to Newport be without the aquarium?"
She's always loved animals. She could remember being a little girl and being obsessed with all creatures, magical and non-magical. Since moving to Florence, her love for creatures had only grown. Any chance she got she loved going to the aquarium, or the zoo in Portland, even though it was a bit too far away. She had brought a stray dog home once, after it had gotten hit by a car and her uncle let her keep him. Sometimes she even found that she could connect to animals better than humans. It wasn't that she was bad with people, she just preferred animals. They were always more reliable, less complicated.
"Why don't you go put on something warm before we go," he said staring at his black coffee, running his hand through his light brown hair that had some strands that were graying prematurely.
"Kassie?" He asked as she was leaving the room. Kassie turned and looked at him, noticing the concern in his eyes. "Did you sleep alright?"
She knew it wasn't as simple of a question as it sounded. He knew her better than anyone. He knew the nightmares that plagued her, the nightmares that always got worse at this time of the year. He was there when everything happened. He saw and lived the horrors in her past. He was with her every step of the way.
She smiled sadly "I slept fine Uncle Moony honest… there were no nightmares, it was just a bit restless."
Remus nodded and gave his niece a quick kiss on the forehead before watching her run up the stairs to change.
Remus put on his own jacket and sat down at the kitchen table, finishing his own cup of coffee. He got lost in thought thinking about how much had changed over the years. It was nine years ago tomorrow that he had found word in the Daily Prophet saying that Kassie, James, and Lily had been killed by Voldemort on Halloween and that Harry had survived. He had been broken over everything that happened, as had his wife Natalie. He then realized that it must have been Sirius who betrayed them as he was their secret keeper and a couple of days later Remus made his way to the ministry to try and gain custody of baby Harry. He knew the only family he had left was Lily's sister Petunia, who hated Lily and there was no way he was going to let Harry live with a woman like that. He was even prepared to kidnap his little nephew. When he got home from the ministry it was to find his wife gone, his home destroyed, and Death Eaters waiting for him.
He fought, he really did, but there were too many of them. Of course, now he was grateful that he was taken. When he was thrown into the cold dungeons of Lestrange Manor, he found that Kassie wasn't quite as dead as everyone believed. She was actually fairly healthy, if not banged up and terrified.
They were there for three years. Three long years before there was an explosion and they managed to escape. They had tried going back to England, going back to Harry. Remus caught word that Sirius was in fact, innocent and was raising his godson. Remus and Kassie were still in danger, so knowing that Harry was safe they did the only thing they could at the time, they fled. They landed in Florence in 1986, four years ago, and had found a safe haven there.
Although Remus missed his life, missed his friends, he never regretted being here with Kassie. He had promised James and Lily that he would protect her and so he was. Someday they would go back to England and find Sirius and Harry. Someday they would rejoin the wizarding world and discover what they had missed in the last nine years, but for now, they were recovering. It wasn't a quick process, but the two of them were definitely making progress.
"Uncle Moony? You ready?"
Remus was brought out of his thinking by his niece who had sat in the empty chair beside him, looking at him with concern.
"Yeah, I'm ready," he said with a small, genuine smile.
Kassie smiled back and Remus was taken back by how much she looked like her mother when she smiled. Kassie's hair was darker than her mum's had been. Lily's had been a vibrant red, while Kassie's was more auburn, ranging on the brown side of the spectrum. Her eyes were just as green as her mothers, she was skinnier and shorter than Lily had been, but Remus chalked that up to the poor treatment she received as a little girl. She had the same freckles that danced across her nose and the same straight teeth.
Often whenever Kassie would smile he would be reminded of James, because of the mischievous or smirk in her eyes. But he loved times like this when her smile was entirely her mothers.
The two of them left, jumping into the car and headed towards the small diner, Letha's Diner. They had discovered this place on the day that they moved to Florence and had fallen in love with it instantly. It was actually a large part of the reason that they decided to move here permanently in the first place. Everyone was so friendly, but not to the point of wanting to know everything about you.
They took their usual seats next to the window and casually flipped through the menu, although they both knew what they wanted.
"How are two of my favorite customers?" came the joyful voice of Olly. He was an older man, in his mid-sixties, who had short white hair and a round belly. He was usually the person in town who would dress up like Santa Clause at Christmas time.
"We're good, how's business Olly?" Remus asked politely, his British accent so much more noticeable when talking to an American.
"Business is as good as usual," he said cheerfully. "Are you both getting ready to head to school.
Remus glanced at his watch, realizing that it was only 7:30am, meaning they'd still have time to make it to school if they had wanted.
"No, not today. We're going to head up to Newport for the day," he responded.
Olly just nodded his head, a thoughtful look on his face. "Is it getting to be that time of year again?" he asked, almost hesitant.
Remus looked at him, slightly surprised. Of course, they had never gone to school or work on Halloween, but they had only been here for four years, it didn't seem like enough time for anyone to really notice.
Olly just chuckled sadly, "I'm sure most people haven't noticed, but I know you two well enough to notice that your mood changes around this time of year. Last year I gathered that it always happened on Halloween," He said softly.
Remus just nodded, unsure of what to say.
"My parents died, nine years ago today," Kassie said steadily. She had always liked Olly, and besides, everyone knew that her parents were dead and she was being raised by her uncle. It wouldn't hurt for them to know the day that they died.
"I'm sorry," he said honestly. "It's never easy, no matter how much time passes… It seems that the more sudden it was the harder it gets," he finished, seemingly lost in thought.
Kassie smiled and patted his arm. He had lost a son to cancer when his son was only twelve, he definitely was a person who knew what grief was.
"Never mind me dear, I'll go get you your breakfasts. Do you want the usual?" he asked, his cheerful demeanor returning.
Both Kassie and Remus smiled and nodded.
"So what should we start with at the aquarium?" Remus asked, a small smirk forming on his face. Kassie knew the aquarium forward and backward.
She rolled her eyes but was saved from responding when the door clanged open and three people walked in that she recognized.
She gasped quietly and lifted up the menu so that she was hiding behind it.
Remus looked over his shoulder and made eye contact with three of Kassie's friends. Three people who he knew Kassie wouldn't want to see on a day like today, knowing that they would question her endlessly.
"Mr. Black!" Zach called, bounding over to him, followed closely by Jon and Lucy.
"Hello Zachary," he said with a tense smile, glancing briefly at his niece who was still attempting to hide behind the menu.
Zach noticed and peeked his head behind the menu, looking at it.
"What's so interesting?" He asked quietly.
Kassie put on the most innocent face she could muster and laid down the menu, sitting up a little straighter.
"I was just trying to see how close up I could read," She answered simply.
Zach snorted disbelievingly while Lucy rolled her eyes. Jon just looked at her sadly.
"Why don't we go sit over there?" said Jon, pointing to the other side of the room, much to Kassie's pleasure.
Zach looked at his friend like he was crazy, "or we could just sit with them," he said.
"We were going to call you this morning to see if you wanted to come with us to get breakfast, but Jon here," she said slapping her boyfriend playfully, "Said that we should let you sleep in today… but you're here anyways!"
Kassie just nodded. She loved her friends, she really did. Zach was always fun to be around, he was outgoing and loud and definitely helped her step out of her comfort zone. Lucy was preppy and upbeat, she was always up for gossip and getting them out of trouble. Jon however was different. He was her best friend and had been since the day she met him. He was a fellow wizard and was the only person in this entire town who knew her history. Not because he read about it, but because Kassie trusted him enough to tell him about it. He was the only one who knew her and Remus' real last names. Which was why he was currently trying to let her have this time with her uncle instead of barging in. He knew what this day meant to them.
"Alright," Jon said, throwing his arm around Lucy's shoulders and guiding her away. "We're going to go sit over there and we will see you later," he said quickly, pulling his girlfriend and best friend towards the booth on the other side of the room.
When they were out of hearing distance, Remus said, "they would understand if you told them what this day means to you."
Kassie nodded "Jon knows, obviously… I don't know, I just can't get myself to tell Zach and Lucy, I trust them and all, they just wouldn't understand," she said unsurely.
Remus simply nodded, knowing it was Kassie's decision. It was then that their food arrived and the two of them spent the next half hour talking casually about school and friends. Kassie was in her Sophomore year at Siuslaw High School, the same place that Remus was a history teacher. They always had great discussions about school, mainly because Kassie could give him insight to the students and Remus could give her insight to the teachers.
When they finished their meal, it was to find it paid for already. They thanked Olly and made their way out of the diner, heading towards their car. Before Kassie could get in she was turned around and found herself in a tight embrace. She recognized the scent of Jon and she gripped him tightly back, thankful for the support. No words were necessary for him to show her he cared, and that he was there for her.
When they pulled apart Kassie smiled at him sadly.
"See you tomorrow?" he said with a kind smile.
She nodded "Thanks, let me know what I miss."
"Will do," he said, watching her climb into the car.
Remus and Kassie waved goodbye at him and made their way down the road, heading towards Newport.