Chapter 5

Grace had been at school for three days by the time I received her first letter. I had wondered what she was up to, but assumed it would be best if I left her alone for a little while. This was her first time on her own and she might be enjoying it. I, however, was not.

I found myself longing for any word from the school, including letters from Remus or the Headmaster. Nothing came.

Finally, on that third day, an owl flew up to my window and lightly pecked the glass. 'Oh,' I exclaimed, looking up from my typewriter. 'Hello!'

I jumped up from the sofa and quickly made my way to the window. I managed to trip over both the coffee table and rug before I reached the sill. Sliding up the window, I smiled down at the beautiful tawny owl. 'You must have a letter!'

The owl looked up at me like I was mental before hopping onto the sill and then inside the house. I carefully untied the bit of parchment and sat on the sofa. 'Oh! I'm so sorry! You must be thirsty. Let me get you some water.'

I left the letter on the sofa and headed quickly to the kitchen. The owl followed me and landed softly on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. I filled a small bowl with water and placed it on the counter. 'There you go. I'm sure you're thirsty from the long journey.'

Leaving the owl in the kitchen, I returned to the living room and my letter. I unrolled the parchment and smiled at the familiar script of my daughter. Her writing hadn't improved with the use of three new quills. In fact, it was more slanted and curvy than ever, though her spelling had improved a bit.

Dear Mum,

School is wonderful! I was sorted into Gryffindor, which apparently Professor Dumbledore himself was in! Professor Lupin was in Gryffindor as well, he told me after class yesterday.

There are four houses: Gryffindor (which I'm in), Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. The Sorting Hat told us. Yes, there's a talking hat that picks which house we go into. We have to wear it and it reads our thoughts and talks to us. Weird!

Did you know there were these things called Dementors roaming the castle grounds? They guard the Wizard Prison. Sirius Black was a wizard! That bloke from the news? He killed twelve innocent muggles as well as Harry's parents and that Peter fellow. The Dementors are outside the castle grounds to protect us in case Sirius Black tries to get into the school. They stopped the train and searched for him as we were coming here. They are positively awful! I felt like I'd never be happy again and all these bad things started running through my head when they fluttered past. Kaitlyn, a girl I met on the train, said that they suck the happiness from you. Kaitlyn is one of my suitemates. She's from a wizard family, and she's even invited me to her house for summer holidays! Do you think I could go?

The classes are exciting to so far! We learned a few wand movements in Charms class and Professor McGonagall transformed into a cat! I know! She can change into a cat! She said she's an Animagus (at least, I think that's how you spell it). You have to be registered after you do it, so the Ministry can keep track of you.

Professor Lupin's class is the best so far. According to some of the older students, he's the best Defence Professor they've ever had. The last one was a bit mental, and the one before that lost his mind. I don't know if they were taking the mickey or not.

I despise my Potions class. The Professor seems to have this innate hatred of all students. I'm not even sure why he ever became a Professor. He's rude, condescending and hates everyone, especially Professor Lupin. He picks on Gryffindors and always favours his house (Slytherin). He picks on me especially and I don't know why. It's like he disliked me from the moment he saw me.

I wish you could see the castle! That's right; the school is a real, live castle. The staircases move and doors lead to nowhere. Kaitlyn and I got lost the first two days of classes and ended up late to Professor Lupin's class. He didn't mind though, just told us to leave a bit earlier next time.

I don't have too many interesting stories this week, seeing as classes have just begun. I'll try to have some interesting stories soon. I assume that everything should start getting more exciting once we're allowed to do actual magic. Right now we're just learning theory and all that nonsense.

Love you. And I miss you loads.

Your daughter,

Gracie

I reread the letter before rolling it back up with a sigh. She was having a wonderful time, just like I hoped she would. Though, at the same time, I almost wished she sounded homesick. It would be nice to know she missed me as much as I missed her.

The owl flew silently back into the living room and perched on the arm of the desk chair. 'Can you wait a moment for me to send a letter back with you?' The owl hooted softly and I took it as a yes.

I quickly walked back to the spare bedroom, also known as my study, and retrieved a sheet of paper and pen. When I returned, the owl was preening her (or his) feathers and I couldn't hold back a smile at how strange my life had become. I sat at the desk and began writing.

Dear Gracie,

That's wonderful you're enjoying school already. The house is certainly quiet without you here, and I miss the noise you brought. Along with your abandoned tennis shoes and sweatshirts.

I wish I could share your enthusiasm for your house placement, but seeing as I really don't know much about it, I'll just agree with you and try to be as excited as you are.

I'm glad Professor Lupin's class is exciting. What does Defence against the Dark Arts entail exactly? I meant to ask him, but it slipped my mind.

Potions class sounds odd. What sort of potions are you making? I'm sure that your Professor doesn't dislike you; he might just be a mean man, though I'm not certain why someone like that would become a teacher.

A cat? Really? I wish I could change into a cat. It certainly would break up the day a bit. And you could beg people for attention and food. Yes, I think a cat would be terrific.

Well, my darling, I wish you the best of luck with the remainder of your week. Again, I miss you and cannot wait until the Winter Holidays so you can come back home. Lots of love and kisses.

~Your mum

After rereading it, I laid the pen on the desk and rolled the paper into a small roll. 'Can I fix this to your leg now?' I asked the owl, turning on my seat. She (or he) stuck out a leg and I quickly tied the small roll of paper. 'Thank you. Now bring that back to Hogwarts. I'm sure Grace will have some treats or something for you.'

The owl hooted softly before flying out the still open window. She flew off into the fading sun.

As soon as the owl had gone, I felt the loneliness set in once again. Was I going to be able to survive seven years of this? And then, after she left school, she'd be on her own. What was I going to do then?

I left the darkening window and curled up on the couch to watch the telly. It was almost news time and I wanted to see if they had any new info on Sirius. Maybe they had caught him! Finally, the newswoman came on screen and I leaned forward to catch the top stories.

There was a robbery in Kent, an auto crash in downtown London and then, there he was. 'Sirius Black, convicted murder, is still on the loose. Detectives ask for your help in locating Black.' His picture flashed across the screen and I cringed. He looked so awful, so worn down that I barely recognized him. 'Black stands 1.8 metres. He has curly black hair and grey eyes. If you see him, please call the number on your screen immediately. Black is known to be armed and dangerous.'

I shivered and wrapped my arms around my waist. They don't know where he is. He could be anywhere, even here, in Finchley. Quickly, I stood to look out the window into the darkened sky. Could he be out there? 'Krista, you're mental. Why would he be here, of all places? How could he even know where I live?'

With a sigh, I turned away from the window and walked toward the kitchen. Maybe a hot cup of tea would brighten my mood.

Just as I reached the kitchen, another *tap tap* came on the window. 'Now who is it?' I asked aloud, turning on my heel and walking back to the window. This time, a light brown owl was tapping on my window.

I opened the window and shivered as a burst of cool air hit my bare arms. 'Come in; come in,' I said to the owl, watching as it flew past me to land on the desk chair. 'I suppose you have a letter for me as well?'

The owl hooted softly as I untied the roll of parchment from its leg. 'There is some water in the kitchen if you're thirsty. Help yourself.' Why was I talking to a bird?

I sat on the couch as the owl flew off toward the kitchen. An unfamiliar script met my eyes as I unrolled the letter. I scanned to the bottom and smiled as I read the signature.

Dear Krista,

I hope this letter finds you well and that I am not being too forward by writing to you. As I'm sure Grace has told you, we made it safely to the school with only a minor issue on the way.

I'm not sure if Grace mentioned this to you, but the school is playing host to the guards from the wizard prison, Azkaban. They are searching for Sirius and searched the train before we arrived at school. Grace was fine. She was in a compartment with a few of the older boys (good students, don't worry). I'm certain they won't find him here. He wouldn't dare come to Hogwarts.

My real reason for writing, aside from the quick update on Grace, was to ask you a question. I was wondering if you'd like to accompany to Diagon Alley one weekend. We didn't get to see much with Grace, aside from the necessary shops, and there is a lot more to see.

Please send a response back with Lily, my owl. I look forward to hearing your reply.

Sincerely,

Remus Lupin

I reread the letter again, making sure I understood his question. Was I being asked on a date? It had been so long since I'd been on a date, I wasn't sure. For all I knew, it was an outing between old friends.

'Lily, what do you think?' I asked, turning toward the bird. 'Should I go out with Remus?' Lily hooted a response, but I wasn't sure if it was a yes, no or a get-a-life hoot. I sighed as my mind tried to make a decision.

It would be awkward, seeing as how I dated his former best friend, had a child with the best friend and hadn't seen either in twelve years. 'Fine,' I said, shaking my head. 'I'll go. What can it hurt?'

I retrieved another sheet of paper from the spare room and quickly wrote out a response.

Remus,

I would love to accompany you on a tour of the village. It would be nice to see a bit more of the Alley.

Let me know what the date is and where I can meet you.

Sincerely,

Krista T.

I rolled the letter, and tied it to Lily's leg with the remainder of string from Remus' letter. 'There you go,' I said, opening the window once again. 'Fly safe.' Lily flew out my window, leaving me alone once again to my thoughts.

What an interesting evening this had turned out to be; two letters from the magical world in one evening. One of them being a date invitation, or so I was thinking it was. An interesting evening indeed.

AN: Hello! I hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter! It was more of a filler chapter than much else, and hopefully I'll have the next one up by the end of the weekend. Thanks to: ., fRaNkiEGirL61, Tugarulls, sirius's sis, ObiNemogbr, Devoted2You, PhoenixRage92, fruityloops156, the_werewolf_gal, LadyStrider17, Sxburns, Allen Pitt, ktmt1120, and Dreamsb223 for reviewing the previous chapter!