Chapter Three – Cara

Home Again

Sitting in the familiar kitchen, memories flooded into my mind. All the happy days we had spent here, the years we had lived happily as a complete family, our wedding days and our friends were now mere memories. I looked out to the garden to the place that Lily, Mary and I had all got married. I watched as a bird flew out of the tree I used to sit under all the time. Everywhere I turned, there was another long forgotten memory, like the day I set the curtains on fire trying to bake a cake, or the time Sirius sat down and the chair collapsed under him. We used to have so much fun, so much life, but since Lily, James and Mary died and we lost Sirius, nothing seemed right anymore. I looked at my sister, who had just finished speaking, to see her grinning the way she used to, once upon a time. She had found herself again and that made it all worth it; tearing myself and my children away from what we knew and loved to give her a final shot at happiness was worth it.

I smiled at her then, looked at the kids, who seemed over the moon about going to Hogwarts. I understood why; Hogwarts was such a fantastic place. It was where I had met Remus and where my life had finally started to make sense. Will, Lizzie, Beth and Lily would all be joining late like Rose and I had, but for Daniel and James it would be their first year. I longed to be them, carefree, innocent and happy. The others had been home schooled by Remus once they reached eleven and until then they had gone to a local muggle school to learn about muggle society. I looked at my family and realised we were finally home. I loved Romania and it was a dream come true to have worked there, but this was where I belonged.

The next few weeks passed in a in a flash. Things had been manic – we had to get used to being back in England, get ready to start teaching, get the kids ready to start Hogwarts and, above all, we had to find Sirius. In the last few weeks we had followed every possible lead, but none of them had got us anywhere. I was beginning to lose faith but for Rose, Will, Lizzie and Lily I keep on trying because, no matter what, I knew they needed him – and I also knew that Remus did. Remus would never admit how much he missed or needed his friend, but I knew; he had lost his brothers just as I had lost my sisters and it was not something you could ever get over. I knew that for certain; sixteen years, two months, one week and three days – that was how long it had been since Julian, Mum and Dad had been killed, and not a day has gone by were I don't miss them nor has a day gone by since Lily, James and Mary died that I haven't missed them. So, all in all, I knew how he felt.

The day before we returned to Hogwarts, we took a trip to Diagon Alley. We had to the kids' school stuff; we had put it off, not wanting to see Mary's shop. We hadn't sold it, so it would still be empty and, sure enough, when we went passed number 93 it was empty, dust caking the shelves and floor. I stopped to look at the sign above the door: 'Mary and Peter's Jewellers and Apothecary'. A tear escaped when I saw their names together; she had loved him with all her heart and he had caused her death, hers and their unborn child's. They were all gone because we had trusted Peter, we had believed he had changed, and because of that, they had all died. An eternity passed in that single moment that I stopped for, a thousand memories passed through my mind, before I turned and carried on trying to keep the past behind me, along with the shop.

A few hours later, we all sat down in a quiet corner of the Leaky Cauldron for dinner, laden with bags ready to put into the trunks the moment we got back. As I looked around the pub, I noticed something – something I doubted Rose would like much. The Weasleys where sat at a large table in the centre of the table, with two more children since I had last seen them. Ginny and Ron, I thought their names were – Charlie mentioned them sometimes. There were two others sat with them. One was Harry, the other a small bushy haired girl. I knew it was Harry instantly, despite not seeing him since he was a baby. He looked just like James, only with Lily's beautiful green eyes. I stared at him from across the room, longing to go speak to him. I didn't; instead I turned away, trying to focus on what Rose was saying. Remus had gone to the bar to get us drinks while we ordered food. The kids were sat, chatting about what Hogwarts would be like.

"Rose! Cara!" a familiar voice shouted at seeing us. Molly Weasley. She came running over, eager to speak to us. "Girls, what are you doing here? I thought you were living in Romania. Come and join us! We would love to see you, how have you been?" she gabbled all in a rush, giving us bone crushing hugs.

"Mrs Weasley," I exclaimed with a smile. "We're going to be teaching at Hogwarts this year. As for Romania, it was fantastic, but we missed home. We've been fine, really, although your son should learn to cook for himself. He was over for dinner almost every night and he's a terrible influence on the kids. How about you – how have you been?" I asked, trying to keep things short.

"Call me Molly, dear. Things have been fantastic, Percy's just been made Head Boy. Why don't you come over? The children could get to know each other and we could catch up. What do you say? Rose?" She turned to my sister when I shook my head.

"Molly, I really think it best if we don't go over there right now. Maybe another day, but right now we just want a quiet meal as a family," Rose replied just as Remus came back.

"Mrs Weasley," he said surprised but her sudden appearance.

"Call me Molly. Now Remus, what do you say about joining us for dinner?"

Remus shot me a nervous look – clearly, he had seen Harry sitting there too. "Mrs Weasley, we really just wanted a family dinner before we started back at Hogwarts."

After we had all said no, she turned to the kids – who were looking longingly at the table full of children their own age. "Fine, fine, we'll join you – but only for a little while." I said, trying not to stress about, well, about sitting with James and Lily's son.

"But Ca, what about….." Rose trailed off, looking at the floor.

"We're going to be teaching him soon enough, so we may as well get this over with sooner rather than later," I said and stood up, much to Molly's delight. We followed them over to where they sat, pulling over more chairs and another table. The kids started talking to the others straight away, making friends instantly. Remus sat down next to Arthur and they began talking animatedly at once; Rose and I, on the other hand, sat tentatively at the edge of the large group until Molly introduced us and all hell broke loose at the mention of Rose's surname.

Shit.