Friendship Reunited

Chapter Two

Mae walked around the house she had known so well when she was younger. The Lupin house was more like a mansion compared to the house she lived in now. Outside, it had wooods, and a little further back, there was a meadow with a little lake in it. They had spent many enjoyable summer evenings, the six of them.

Remus was in the kitchen making some sandwiches for their lunch.

"I am not quite sure were Sirius is at the moment," he said, calling out into the hallway were Mae stood, looking at a picture on a little table. "He is probably out running around the woods."

I remember this, she thought slowly, looking at the picture. Sirius, Mae, James, and Lily were standing in front of the lake at Hogwarts, with Remus and Peter crouching down in front of the others. It was the day before we left Hogwarts, our seventh year. Gee, I remember it as if it were yesterday... A single tear rolled down her face as she thought about their lives back then. They had no idea that within a few years, their lives would crumble away before their very eyes...

Mae turned away from the picture and continued to walk down the hall, wiping the tear from her face. To her right was the kitchen and dining room, and to her left was the living room. Ahead of her was a large set of stairs.

"Remus, I am going to use your restroom, okay?" she called.

"Sure!" Remus called back.

Mae looked at the stairs. Damn... the stairs even bring back memories. She remembered the time she had tripped down the last few steps and twisted her ankle. Sirius had been there and he picked her up, one strong arm behind her back and the other strong arm beneath her knees. Even though I flat out refused when he asked to pick me up, he did any way... Then, he carried her to the couch and set her down slowly. His eyes, oh his eyes. They held mine for a bit, then, he brought his lips closer to mine, closer, until-

Mae snapped her eyes open, and shook her head as if trying to clear the thought from her mind. Mae had not made much progress up the long flight of stairs; she was still at the bottom. Mae smiled slightly and then proceeded up the stairs. When she got to the first landing, she looked down at the two doors on each side of the hall leading off the landing. The first door on the left was a guest room, same as the second one. The first room on the right was were his parents had always slept, and the second one was were Remus had spent his full moons. It had many charms on it; sound charms, unbreakable charms, and all sorts of charms.

Mae turned and continued up the stairs. The next landing she came to was the final landing. To her right was a hall with three rooms on each side, and to the left was a hall with three rooms on each side, also. Straight ahead of her was the bathroom. Hmm, she thought. I wonder why Remus has the door shut... Without thinking, Mae stepped up to the door and opened it revealing-

"Damn, Remus. Don't you know you should always knock-"

A tall, lean man with black hair was standing in front of Mae, naked, wet as if he had just stepped out of the shower.

"What the hell-" he started, "Who are-" He stopped again, staring at Mae.

"Uh-" Mae began. "Hello-Sirius."

"Mae?" Sirius asked, bewildered.

She nodded her head slightly, then, realizing that Sirius was standing there in front of her with no clothes on, grabbed the hand towel, as it was closest, and handed it to Sirius.

"Uh, here... Sorry, about that," she said, blushing a bright shade of scarlet. Sirius stared at her some more. "Oh! Sorry... I'll leave..." She turned around and practically ran down the stairs. She stopped at the bottom, looked at herself in the mirror in the hallway, and decided that she did not look embarrassed. Well..., she thought.

Mae walked into the kitchen were Remus was just finishing up making some ham and cheese sandwiches. She sat down in a chair at the table.

"So," Remus said, "You found the bathroom alright?"

"Uh... yeah," she said, trying to sound normal.

Remus set down a sandwich in front of her. "I kind of figured that you would. You were here so often when we were all younger." He smiled, pulling a chair out for him to sit in, a sandwich in front of him, too. He looked around. "I am still not quite sure where Sirius is..."

He does have a nice ass, she thought, not paying any attention to what Remus was saying. I had forgotten-

Mae glanced up at Remus, and acknowledged him by giving him a small smile. He smiled back at her as the two heard footsteps coming down the stairs, down the hall and then, footsteps leading into the kitchen and stopping at the doorway.

Remus looked up at Sirius and smiled. "Sirius! Good news! Mae has decided to help build the Order back up..."

Mae turned around to look at him. "Hello, Sirius," she said quietly. He was standing in the doorway, his hair still wet, but not dripping, and wearing some nice Muggle clothing, as they all had during the summer.

"Hello, Mae..." He gave a small grin. "Long time, no see, eh?"

Mae gave a small nod, then said, "Why don't you have a seat and join us?" She pointed to a chair between her and Remus.

"Thankyou," Sirius said, picking up the last sandwich on the counter and sitting down at the table.

Silence haunted the trio's lunch. Remus tried to make conversation, but to no avail. Mae tried not to look at Sirius. Sirius had a few moments were he couldn't take his eyes off her. His eyes drifted from her hair, to her eyes, to her lips, to her neck, to her-

Sirius tore his eyes away from Mae, catching himself. She sure hasn't changed much. She is still the same Mae that she was fourteen years ago, he thought. The same except for her-

"Hair." Remus and Mae looked up at Sirius. "Uh, I mean, Mae, your hair. What happened?" The others still stared at him. "It, it isn't curly. Your hair used to full of brown curls-"

"Oh!" Mae said, realizing what Sirius was talking about. "I straightened it, a while back. I can make the curl come back whenever I want, though. I just, just needed some change. That's all." She gave a small smile. "Does it look alright?"

"Oh," Sirius said. "It looks very nice like it is now. I mean," he said, catching himself, "It looked nice before, but I am just saying that it still looks nice... yeah...." Good one, Smart Ass, he thought to himself.

"Well, thankyou," Mae said, quietly. Sirius nodded.

Sirius had loved loved her curly, dark brown hair. Now it was straight and layered, and with a few light blonde streaks. It was because of Sirius that she had decided to change her hair. He loved it so much, whenever she looked at it, she would think of Sirius, and that thought was too painful for her to remember.... She had decided to even try highlights in her hair, anything that would help minimize the thought of Sirius....

He hasn't changed that much, Mae thought, except for the fact that fifteen years ago,he would have made some sort of joke about my hair, instead of complimenting it.

~*~*~*~*~

Remus was sitting on one end of the couch, while Mae was curled up, fast asleep on the other end. Sirius was plopped on a chair beside the couch, talking with Remus.

"She sure hasn't changed much, has she, Sirius?" Remus said thoughtfully, glancing at Mae.

Sirius smiled. "No, she hasn't. It's almost scary," he said, watching Mae sleep.

Remus watched Sirius carefully. Sirius had hardly taken his eyes off her Mae since lunchtime. I wonder how this is making him feel. I mean, Sirius and Mae were married. They even had a child together. Then Sirius was sent to Azkaban, and Mae left. I wonder if he even remembers he has a daughter...

"Sirius?" Remus asked cautiously.

Sirius looked up at him. "Yeah?"

Remus looked down at the ground, then back up at him. "Uh, well... Did Mae by chance tell you she was filling in the Defense Against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts? It's part of her assignment for Dumbledore," he asked quietly, so as not to wake Mae.

"No." Sirius looked at Remus, sensing there was more to her assignment than that. "Part of her assignment? Is there more than that, Moony?" he asked.

Remus hesitated. "Oh, uh... I don't- think..."

Sirius grinned. "Come on, Moony. What is the rest of her assignment? As long as it doesn't have anything to do her being a stripper for the Death Eater's delight, so she can try to get any information out of them, I really don't mind what her assignment is." He continued to grin.

Remus forced a small smile, then glanced down at the floor again. He wasn't quite sure whether he should be the one to tell Sirius, or just let Mae tell him when she was ready.

"Well, Dumbledore wants her to go get, um... get Hope so that she can go to Hogwarts this year..."

Sirius stared at Remus for a moment, trying to figure out what he meant by 'go get hope'. Then, he realized that 'hope' was really his daughter 'Hope'. His eyes widened. "Hope? What do you mean 'go get Hope'. Where is she?"

Oh dear, Remus thought. "Um... Well, after everything... happened, Mae gave Hope to a nice Muggle family. Apparantly, Hope has been going to Beauxbatons in France. The

family had moved to France only a year or two after everything, happened..."

Sirius sat in shock. She... she did what? She gave my child, my daughter to a Muggle family?

"Are you okay, Sirius?" Remus asked, carefully. I knew I shouldn't have told him myself! I should have left that to Mae! he thought, silently cursing himself for sticking his nose in other people's business.

"Uh, yeah, of course...," Sirius replied.

The two sat were they were for a little while longer, listening to the fire in the fireplace crackle. Then, Sirius stood up from his chair, picked up a blanket from a basket by the fireplace, and walked up to Mae.

"She seems so peaceful..." Sirius muttered, laying the blanket over her. He watched her for a moment, then moved a strand of dark brown hair out of her face.

Remus chuckled. "Yes, she may seem peaceful, until you get her angry!"

Sirius smiled thoughtfully. Mae was known at school for being very strong-minded, opinionated, and having quite a temper, even though she was kind and got along quite well with most people.

Remus watched Sirius. This must be terrible for him...

Sirius looked back at Remus and stretched his arms out over his head. "Well, Moony. I think I am going to go get some sleep. It has been a rather eventful day..."

"Okay, Padfoot. Goodnight," Remus said, smiling.

"Goodnight, Moony." Sirius then turned and went up the stairs to the second landing, and went to 'his' bedroom. He walked over to his bed, and flopped onto the center of it. He laid there thinking about his day. He thought about Mae and his daughter, Hope. Then, he thought about his godson, Harry, wondering how he was getting along. Mae is Harry's godmother, he suddenly thought.

Sirius then sat up on the bed and stared at a little drawer on his bedside table. Sirius pulled open the drawer and rummaged through it until he found what he had been looking for. Sirius pulled out a small leather bag. He opened it up and pulled out the contents. It was one of the few things he had been able to keep when he was in Azkaban.

Sirius looked at everything the bag had had in it, which wasn't a whole lot. A picture of Mae. Just Mae. My Mae, he thought. The picture had been taken in front of the lake at Hogwarts, just as most of their pictures had been. Mae was laying on her stomach, her chin resting in her hands lightly. Her dark brown, curly hair was being blown about lightly by the wind. In the background, the water rippled here and there. She was smiling softly. Sirius looked at the picture a little while longer, then set it down to look at the next item.

A picture of James, Lily, Harry, Remus, Mae, Peter, and Sirius. Peter, he thought viciously. Angry thoughts filled Sirius' mind. I will find you, and when I do, you bloody bastard, you will pay dearly... Sirius shook his head. He didn't want to think about him right then. Even though Peter's face in the picture had been scratched away, you could still tell who it was standing beside James by his skinny, small frame.

Sirius set the picture down as a tiny, round, shiny object caught his eye. A small gold ring lay on the bed. The ring had little celtic knot work carved into it. It was the wedding ring he had given Mae on their wedding day, though, the memory it brought, was not of happiness and laughter, but of sadness and loss...

Mae walked in between the rows of cells were the criminals, Death-Eaters, and other people who had broken a really important Wizarding Law were kept. She followed a tall, muscular man. He was the only wizard who worked their. Mae had flat out refused to be escorted by a Dementor, though she had to be escorted to her destination. If she had to be escorted, then it would be a wizard who escorted her. She had always had her ways of negotiation.

"Here you are, Ma'm," the man growled, facing her.

Mae looked into the cell were a single man sat against the opposite stone wall. His hair was messy, and his clothes were tattered. His face was pale.

Mae stared at the man she thought she had known. The man she thought would rather die for his best friend, James, than turn him and his family over to the Dark Lord, Voldemort.

"Sirius...," Mae said quietly. The man looked up at her.

"Mae?" he croaked. She nodded slightly.

"Mae, I-"

"Don't," Mae said firmly, her voice cold. "I came here to say something and I am going to say it." She paused a moment to stare at Sirius, daring him to interrupt her. He didn't, so she continued. "If I hadn't known that you were their Secret-Keeper and hadn't seen the damage at Godrics Hollow... seen Lily, and James' bodies... dead... just lying there completely lifeless, I would not have believed Dumbledore when he told Remus and I what had happened. I would have thought he was crazy." Mae stared at Sirius, as he stared back. "But I did. I did know that you were their Secret-Keeper. And I did see- see James and Lily's bodies just lying their under the debris..." Mae brushed a tear from her face and continued, "And then you had to go after Peter-"

"Peter-"

"Listen to me," Mae said quietly, but fiercely. "You killed Peter. And you as good as killed Lily and James. Then you left your godson without any parents..."

Then, without taking her eyes away from his, Mae took the golden ring off of her finger, and held it out in front of her.

"Sirius?" Mae paused a moment, the said fiercely, "I hope you go crazy in here. You would deserve it... I can't believe I suspected Remus before I did you. I was foolish..." She then took the ring and threw it inside the cell. The ring hit Sirius in the forehead, yet he hardly flinched. He stared at the ring that was now on the dirty cell floor. He picked it up and stared at it for the longest time....

"I'm sorry James...." he whispered, a tear sliding down his face, and dropping onto the group picture. The tear drop landed on the scratched up face of Peter Pettigrew.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Author's Note: Like it? Kinda sad, I know... Anyway, you will be happy (hopefully) to know that I have included a summary of the upcoming chapter below! As of right now, this is only an outline of what I have set in my mind, not set on paper. In other words, I haven't actually written/typed anything of chapter three yet, but I have gotten pretty far on chapter four! I am having a bit of trouble trying to figure out how I am going to get Hope to Hogwarts and how all that will work out, plus!!!! *dramatic pause!* I have a couple other plot bunnies (darn bunnies!!!) hopping around the little cage I have set up for them in my back yard! :D I am starting to tie a couple of my plots up together in the next upcoming chapters, so look for little hints of any hidden plots! Anyway, I am a little short on 'characters' in my story which is one of the reasons why it is taking me so long to get this chapter up! They kept sending it back to me saying it was too short and that I needed more characters. So, in case you can't tell, I am trying to make this long enough by telling you this! But I guess this will be enough for now! But I do have one more thing to say: THANKYOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED!!!!

Here is the summary for Chapter Three:

In a little house in a small village in France, a nice family lived. There was Mr. McKinson, Mrs. McKinson, and a small child, barely three years old, named Hope. Plus, there was another young one on the way. Mrs. McKinson was due in three months, the following September. The McKinson family seemed like an ordinary family, even though they had just moved to the village a few years ago, and Mr. McKinson was the only one who knew enough French to go do the shopping and everything else that involved going out into the public. Mrs. McKinson, who only knew how to say 'Bonjour!' and 'Bon Apetite!' (even though that probably wouldn't help her much in an emergency), and a few other odds and ends, was a nice, cheerful woman, around twenty-six years old. Mr. McKinson was a young man, nice, but protective of his family. Even though there was no real reason to believe the McKinson family odd, no one in the village knew anything about them, let alone why they came to that particular village.

The truth was, the McKinsons had been married for about three years when a knock on their front door in London early one morning caused Mrs. McKinson to go answer the door. She found a young child, wrapped in many blankets to keep warm, sitting in a basket on their front step, along with a rather shocking explanation to the child's sudden appearance and past....

The family kept the child called Hope, and treated her as if she were their own. They decided to move to a completely different country in order to keep Hope safe. That was why they moved to the small village in France. The letter explained about who Hope's parents were, what they were, and why her mother had given her daughter up. Mrs. McKinson had had a distant family relative who had been accepted to some wizarding school, so she instantly believed the letter that came along with the baby. It took Mr. McKinson a few days to believe it. It was only a day or two after they found Hope on their doorstep, did Mr. McKinson finally believe. Little Hope was very upset about having to eat her baby food plums, when suddenly, out of nowhere, the baby food on the spoon slipped off the spoon, and no matter how hard Mr. McKinson tried, he could not scoop any more food out of the jar. That was when he agreed, after much thinking, that the child found on his doorstep, was not an ordinary child. He had no excuse whatsoever for her odd behavior, except that she was a witch....