Chapter 21: Happy Memories in the Dark

While Tonks and Baby Remus were lucky to be safe in her room, the same could not be said for Sirius and Cassiopeia. In the horrible Dark Tower, Sirius and Cassiopeia awaited the worst possible fate: the Dementor's Kiss. It was one of the most horrible events for both the victims and the witness. Sirius and Cassiopeia were shaking without the presence of the ghastly Dementors. They had suffered enough torture in the past few hours. Sirius was hurt by Remus as a werewolf. His tattooed body was covered in bites and scratches from the battle. Cassiopeia was in a sorry state as well. She, like Sirius, was painfully frail and still recovering from childbirth. For both of them, having their new son, Remus James, taken from them was the worst pain imaginable.

"I don't know why Fudge thinks the Dementor's Kiss is so horrible," Cassiopeia said sadly. "He already tortured me by making me choose between my cousin and my son."

Cassiopeia sighed. She felt terrible for giving up her son before he would ever know her. "I feel so guilty. I couldn't give up my son, but I couldn't let Nymphie go to Azkaban. She has her whole life ahead of her, and I couldn't ruin that. I didn't want her to suffer like we did. And Remus needs a motherly figure. He needs Nymphie to look after him because I cannot."

"Cassie, you did the right thing," Sirius comforted her. "You saved Tonks from a terrible fate. You did all you could for our son. Tonks will look after him, and so will Remus and Andromeda. They'll tell him what you did for him and how much we loved him. He'll love you for all that."

Cassiopeia was still tortured by leaving her son. The thought of not being a part of her son's life was unbearable.

"I'd rather take the Dementor's Kiss right now," Cassiopeia said ruefully. "It can't be any more painful than having my son taken from me."

Cassiopeia lay in Sirius's lap, still exhausted from her labor. Sirius stroked her hair as she lay in his arms. Sirius had already endured the pain of having his son snatched away. He would not let Cassiopeia suffer any further pain.

"Don't think like that, Cassie," he whispered. "Everything is going to be alright. You'll see."

Cassiopeia shook her head. "Sirius, we just lost our son. There's no escape for us this time. It's not alright."

"I'm trying to give you hope," Sirius said. "I'm certain Dumbledore will sort this out. I wouldn't be surprised if he's found out a way to get us out of here already. Trust me, Cassie; we'll get out of this."

"You seem so convinced of that," Cassiopeia said forlornly. "Why am I not?"

"What? Don't you trust me?" Sirius asked, with a half-smile.

"I trust you with my life," Cassiopeia replied. "It's just…I don't trust Dumbledore on this. Where was he twelve years ago?"

"Cassie, give the man some pardon. No one knew the truth, not even Remus," Sirius said, noticing Cassiopeia cringe at that name.

"Please don't say that name," Cassiopeia said, shuttering. "I can't bear to think of our son right now. Anyway, you heard what Dumbledore said. It's hopeless."

"He did not say it was hopeless," Sirius countered. "He only said, 'time is not on your side,' whatever that means. That old man is so bloody cryptic sometimes."

"I know what he said, Sirius!" Cassiopeia snapped.

Sirius went silent for a moment. The half-smile faded from his face, like the sun going behind the clouds.

Cassiopeia sighed. "I'm sorry, Sirius. I shouldn't be taking any of my feelings out on you."

The half-smile returned to Sirius's face. "There's nothing to forgive, Cassie. I understand. Just trust me when I say that everything will be alright."

"I trust you," Cassiopeia said.

"Try not to think of any of this right now," Sirius told her. "Let's forget all of this for a moment."

"How?" Cassiopeia asked.

"Think of our son. Think about Little Remus," Sirius replied.

"No, I don't want to," Cassiopeia said, shaking her head. "I can't bear thinking of what pain I put him through."

"Cassie, this was not your fault. You made our boy's life better, even if it was for a moment. He'll be proud to have a mother like you," Sirius said. "I don't know about you, but thinking of our son takes my mind off our predicament. He's the perfect baby boy. He's beautiful, like you. And no doubt, he'll be as brilliant as you are."

"He's like you in every way," Cassiopeia said proudly. "He's handsome, like you. He has your beautiful eyes. It was as easy to love him as it was to love you."

"He's certainly given us happiness I thought we'd never have again," Sirius said wistfully.

"It's only terrible that we're in this terrible place instead of with him," Cassiopeia said gloomily.

Sirius was not about to let Cassiopeia get discouraged. He was determined to distract her from the horrible Dementors awaiting them.

"Let's pretend that we're away from here," Sirius said cheerfully. "Let's pretend that we're back on that beach in the Riviera with our boy. The sun is on the horizon, the waves are crashing down. We frolic in the water with Little Remus by our side. And then, we watch as Little Remus plays with the sand. Can you picture it?"

Cassiopeia closed her eyes, capturing Sirius's words in her mind. Sirius's words had worked their magic on Cassiopeia. A smile spread across her face as the picture came into her mind.

"I can see it, Sirius," she whispered. "I can see the beach, the sun, and Remus."

"I thought that would help," Sirius said. "And I promise that picture will be real. You'll see."

"I can hardly wait," Cassiopeia said, a smile spreading across her face.

"Do you remember the day you picked out your wedding dress?" Sirius asked.

"I could never forget," Cassiopeia replied. "Remus had to help us get Tonks to try on a dress. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen."

"Tell me about that day," Sirius told her. "I wasn't there, you know. Tell me, Cassie."

Cassiopeia smiled wistfully. "I think I should thank Nymphie for giving us some cheerful memories. It started at least a week after we announced our engagement."

Tonks sat quietly in the corner of the dress shop in Diagon Alley. Aunt Cassie had asked her to be her flower girl and she had said yes, but Tonks didn't realize that meant wearing a dress. She absolutely detested dresses. Her mother, Andromeda Tonks, was picking out a few for Tonks to try on. Like that would ever happen. The only person who could talk her into wearing a dress was Uncle Remus.

"Nymphadora, come over here. You need to help pick out a dress." Andromeda called over to her daughter.

Tonks shivered at the sound of her first name. She shook her head and her pink hair shook with her head.
"Oh, Andromeda, it's okay. She can sit there for a little while longer," Cassie said while looking over the rack, "Your hair looks cute, Nymphie."

Tonks smiled at that. She loved being able to change her hair color. It was all a game to her.
"Oh Cassie, don't encourage her. She'll only do that more." Andromeda said.

"Oh, I think it's cute."

"Well, Nymphadora needs to try on a dress. You've babysat for me and been over enough. Do you know anyone who can get her to try on a dress?" Andromeda asked.

"I can only think of one: Remus," Cassiopeia replied, still perusing the endless rack of white dresses.

"I'll go get him. They're over at the Leaky Cauldron, right?"

"I believe so."

Andromeda walked out leaving Tonks with Cassie. Cassiopeia had stopped looking through dresses and knelt by Tonks.

"You know, I don't like looking at dresses, either," Cassiopeia said, scrunching her face in disgust.

"You don't?" Tonks asked.

"Oh, no," Cassiopeia replied, shaking her head. "I don't think Uncle Sirius would mind, either. I think you'll look pretty either way. Your hair is your best accessory."

"Thank you, Aunt Cassie," Tonks said, blushing.

About 10 minutes later, Andromeda walked back in with Remus. Cassiopeia went back to searching the dress rack.

"Thank you so much, Remus. She won't leave that chair." Andromeda said to him.

"No problem."

Remus walked over to Tonks, who was coloring on some paper the shop owner had given her.

"Hey, Nymphie, I heard you didn't want to try on your dress," Remus said, getting down on her level.

"I don't like dresses," Tonks muttered low, not looking up.

"Come on. It can't be that bad."

"Then you wear it."

Remus chuckled. "I don't think that would work"

"I don't wanna do it."

"How about I sit here, and you can model them for me and we can decide which is best?"

"...Okay"

Tonks tried on four dresses and hated all of them. The last one was the only good one.

"That one looks cute." Remus said about it.

The dress was purple, silk, and sleeveless. The skirt puffed out a little and it had rhinestones on the bodice.

"I guess it's okay," Tonks sighed.

"I think we found her dress, Andromeda," Remus announced.

"Finally," Andromeda sighed with relief.

"You look so pretty, Nymphie," Cassiopeia complimented her.

"Thank you, Aunt Cassie," Tonks said with a smile. "Now can I take the dress off?"

Andromeda frowned, but Cassiopeia and Remus could not contain their laughter.

"Yes, you can," Cassiopeia said, still laughing at her flower girl.

Tonks scampered away as fast as she could to get the dress off. Meanwhile, Cassiopeia was still searching for the right dress. It did not help that there were so many choices.

"Cassie, I honestly don't think Sirius will care if you show up in jeans and a tee shirt," Remus laughed.

"I am trying to do this properly, Remus," Cassiopeia said, searching for the right dress.

Cassiopeia tried on four dresses. Remus picked out the first dress which had a knee-length skirt, which Cassiopeia detested, but tried anyway. The second was a full skirt with off the shoulder sleeves which Cassiopeia liked. Andromeda made her try on a long dress an abundance of ruffles on the skirt. Cassiopeia tried the dress, no matter how much she despised it.

"I never thought it would be so difficult picking a dress," Remus groaned.

"Would you like to wear one, Remus?" Cassiopeia jested.

"No thank you, Cassie."

Finally, after much searching, Cassiopeia had found her dress. The dress was flowing with a plain, mermaid style skirt. The top half was decorated with pearls and long, lace sleeves. The veil was trimmed with lace and pearls. Cassiopeia twirled as she modeled the dress.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I love this dress," Cassiopeia said, a bright grin across her face.

"You look so pretty, Aunt Cassie," Tonks sighed.

"Thank you, Nymphie," Cassiopeia said appreciatively.

"I love it, Cassie!" Andromeda said happily.

"Remus, what do you think?" Cassiopeia asked.

"You look beautiful, Cassie," Remus sighed. "And I'm certain that when Sirius sees you, he'll say the same and more. He won't be able to take his eyes off you. Well, not like he doesn't anyway."

Cassiopeia hugged Remus, Andromeda, and Tonks tightly and went to change.

Andromeda shuffled over and then talked to the shop owner. As she was leaving the room again, she mouthed a thank you to Remus. After ordering the dresses, they all went to The Leaky Cauldron for lunch, and as they were walking down the street, Tonks never let go of Remus's hand.

"She was holding his hand all day," Cassiopeia recalled. "I thought she accidentally stuck herself to him."

Sirius could not help but laugh at this story. "Remus certainly has an admirer. I told you once, and I'll say it again: I will laugh when he marries her."

"I'm sure you will," Cassiopeia said.

"Thank you for giving me cheer with that story," Sirius said gratefully. "I only wish I could have been there."

"So do I," Cassiopeia said, smiling.

"See, you're smiling," Sirius said brightly. "I told you this would help."

"It doesn't matter. It's only going to be sucked away from me in a moment," Cassiopeia said, the smile fading from her face. "In a matter of minutes, I won't remember that day, you, or our son."

Sirius embraced Cassiopeia. "It's alright, Cassiopeia. I will be right here to the end."

"How's that supposed to be comforting?" Cassiopeia asked.

"Dementors don't know love," Sirius said tenderly. "Our love and the love we have for our son is something they'll never take from us."

"That is a comforting thought," Cassiopeia said, smiling. "Sirius, if there is one thing I am proud of, it is to have one last moment with you."

"I'm glad we were together, all of us, even if it was only a moment. It's the happiest I've ever been," Sirius said quietly.

"I love you, Sirius," Cassiopeia whispered. "I wanted you to hear it one more time before the end."

"And I love you," Sirius said. "You've given me everything and made me so happy."

Suddenly, Sirius and Cassiopeia heard their cell door creak open slowly.

"Just keep your eyes on me," Sirius whispered to Cassiopeia.

"At least we're together," Cassiopeia said, a glimmer of a smile on her face.

Sirius and Cassiopeia gripped each other's hands and never let go. They knew that this would be their last moment together. They took comfort in each other's touch for one last time.

A/N: So, who is at the door? You'll see soon enough. ;) If you're confused, basically, this is a continuation of where you came in at the beginning. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for the lovely reviews. And thank you to my best friend Roza Anne :D