A Burnt Marshmallow

How the Story Goes…

Hi, all! Unfortunately, this is not a chapter update. More of an apology, really. I began this story, originally, in the summer of 2016, removed it at some point in the interim years, and re-uploaded it in 2022 when numerous people reached out to me expressing their love for the fic and asking me where it had gone/if it would ever be finished. At the time of the re-upload, I had planned on at least attempting to finish the story, but now, with all pre-written chapters posted, I find myself once again stuck and lacking the will and motivation to finish it in a way I find satisfactory. A lot has changed since 2016, including my writing and ideals. Piper, for as much as I love her, reminds me of a period in my life I am quite uncomfortable to look back on. It's a bittersweet feeling, to realize all the changes that have happened to me as a person and the world at large within a near-decade. Bitter because change can be frightening and fraught with uncertainty, but sweet when you remember that change is natural and can provide you with a map that allows you to see your own growth and adaptability over the years.

What I'm getting at with all this rambling and reflection is that I am not continuing or finishing Piper and Remus's story. I know how disappointing that is to hear, especially to those of you who have been here since 2016, and I truly am sorry, from the bottom of my heart. Y'all have been by my side for literal years, and I can never thank you or express my apologies enough for dedicating so much time to this little story. Even if you haven't been here all that long, I'm still sorry but so, so grateful that you took a chance on Piper, and by extension, me.

Below I've attached my notes, detailing open plot points and how the fic was supposed to end. I know it does not make up for the story itself, but hopefully, it answers questions that would have otherwise gone unresolved if I had chosen to leave this fic as incomplete/abandoned with no further explanation.

Thank you again.

drwatsonn xx

-Piper and Remus stay together. Even when Remus graduates and goes off to fight in the Order, and Piper is left at Hogwarts to finish out her seventh year, they remain in communication and often fantasize about their future together over letters and what brief time they get together on holidays/breaks. Of course, Remus still deals with hesitance and self-deprecation due to his lycanthropy, but Piper is always quick reassure him that she loves him no matter what and he could never hurt her. It gets harder to keep in touch when Dumbledore assigns Remus to infiltrate various werewolf groups and sway them toward the Light, or at least remain neutral in the war, but there's never any miscommunication or doubt in the other. They know they're soulmates.

-Picking up shortly after the last published chapter, Piper goes home for the winter holidays, and she and Archie have their long-awaited conversation/confrontation. Archie teamed up with Regulus Black to join the Death Eaters and act as double-agents, though they're not DE yet. Archie admits he blamed Piper for their dad never caring about them, but he's coming to realize that their father's indifference stems from him not accepting his children as wizards. After a family argument, Piper and Archie's father leaves on Christmas and they never hear from him again.

-Archie and Regulus are dating. Regulus lives in this story, and he and Archie remain together. Only Regulus manages to infiltrate the Death Eaters, given Archie's status as a Muggle-born, but Regulus manages to pass information through Archie that helps the Order, including the realization that Voldemort is using Horcruxes. Archie manages to save Regulus from the Inferi in the cave along with Kreacher, and Dumbledore launches a full assault/hunt for the Horcruxes that eventually leads to Voldemort's downfall.

-Back in Piper's sixth year, she remembers Aberforth's offer to teach her how to cast a Patronus Charm, and she begins to sneak out of the castle to train with him. She manages to talk her friends, the Marauders, and the seventh-year girls into joining them, and they become a sort of precursor to Dumbledore's Army, but under Aberforth's tutelage. The network grows in Piper's seventh year to combat the Dark, and she's pretty much Harry in terms of leading the organization. Even Sammy – the evil Fortescue kid! – joins and becomes a more annoying little brother to Piper.

-After leaving Hogwarts, Piper joins the Aurors as a new recruit under Moody, along with Dorcas and Benjy. (Benjy puts his magizoologist aspirations on hold until the war is over.) Emmeline begins her career in journalism. Dom helps out and eventually takes over his father's music shop. Becca stays in pure-blood socialite circles to feed information to the Order. JJ becomes a salesperson in Diagon Alley, and Alfie a Healer at St Mungo's. They all keep in touch. Piper – with the help of Lily – begins an activist organization for Muggle-borns.

-The war does have casualties still. Marlene and Dorcas are both killed in the hunt for the Horcruxes. JJ is killed in an attack in Diagon Alley. Emmeline is targeted for publishing pro-Muggle and -Muggle-born content and has to go into hiding, but lives.

-By 1980, Voldemort only has one Horcrux left, the diary. Becca helps Piper obtain it from the Malfoys, but they are confronted by Voldemort himself before they can destroy it. Regulus arrives with Voldemort as part of the Death Eaters, but it's because of Regulus that the diary is destroyed and Voldemort is killed, thus ending the war.

-The original ending was quite sad and tragic, but thanks to several impassioned friends begging for mercy, this was no longer the ending. However, I'll still include it here. A splinter group of Death Eaters, led by Rabastan Lestrange after the downfall of Voldemort, would have targeted Piper for revenge. Remus would have found Piper dead in the smoldering ruins of her mother's house on Christmas, the Dark Mark above them, and the Death Eaters all dead beside her own body, as well. Then there would've been an epilogue of Remus standing with Tonks at Piper's grave, telling Tonks all about Piper, and he would've left the Polaroid he took of her that one day in the dormitory after Halloween at the grave before he and Tonks left the graveyard.

-However, the altered ending would have been a happy-ever-after where Piper lived, and she and Remus got married and had a daughter. The end.

If there's anything I did not address here that you would like answered, my PMs are always open, or you can find me on my Tumblr nejires-hado. I'm always around, forever shackled to my laptop since I have a million other fics I'm constantly agonizing over, so I'll be able to answer anything.

Again, thank you for all your support over the years. I would not still be here if it wasn't for lovely readers like y'all. Take care of yourselves and each other, and keep in touch. xx