Back at the House

[Kris Lupin]

Kris shook her head. "I don't really like owls, small birds are what I like. " She said backing away from the bird, the truth was she had got bit by an owl after she was living with her foster mother.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus nodded. "OK." He released the owl and watched as it flew away, disappearing into the horizon. He turned to her curiously. "I didn't know that you didn't like owls. I guess there's really a lot of things we don't know about each other, huh?"

[Kris Lupin]

"Yeah. Other then what we have in common." Kris said stuffing her hands in her pockets. "The reason why I don't like owls is because my foster mother gave me an owl as a present but when I went to pick it up... it bit me." She took her left hand out of the pocket then pulled up her sleeve where he could see the scar. "Ever since then I've never would touch another owl."

[Remus Lupin]

"Wow," Remus said, staring at the scar. "That must have been scary. I can't blame you for not liking them." He thought for a minute, trying to come up with something about him that she didn't know. "Um, I almost choked to death on a piece of apple when I was 8. I haven't eaten an apple since."

[Kris Lupin]

"I use to try to run away every chance I got, I wanted to be back home... my real home, with you, Mom and Dad." Kris said looking at the ground.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus sighed. "I'm really sorry. I still can't believe Dad didn't let you come back for Mom's funeral." He frowned. "It's my fault she died, you know. She was always worried about me, and she cried a lot... it made her sick. Onee day, she just got so sick that she couldn't get better. She was talking nonsense and thrashing around in her bed... she ordered me out of the room and said she couldn't bear to look at me." His voice broke, and he began to cry. "She.... she d-d-died the n-n-next day..."

[Kris Lupin]

Kris walked to her brother and put her arms around him. "He didn't even bother telling me himself, I heard it from my foster mom, I didn't eat for weeks." She said. "And she probably didn't know what she was saying when she told you that, it isn't your fault she died."

[Remus Lupin]

Remus buried his face in her shoulder and cried heavily for a while. "She... she knew what she was saying," he said at last. "It was what she wanted to say before, but couldn't bring herself to say. She was scared of me and she hated me for ripping our family apart. I... I think she would have been happier if she had left me and Dad and gone off with you." He wiped his eyes and looked at her. "I wish she could have told me the truth. Why she stayed, when she was so unhappy?"

[Kris Lupin]

"I-I don't know... you might have to ask Dad that." Kris told him. "If you want I'll ask him for you."

[Remus Lupin]

Remus wiped his eyes. "I used to ask him before.... before I even knew about you. I knew Mom was unhappy. I asked him why she stayed and he said he didn't know. He said something about being more afraid of leaving than of staying. But he never really said anything else."

[Kris Lupin]

"Maybe my questions tie in with that one, I don't know." Kris said. She didn't know if they would or not but she hoped they might.

[Remus Lupin]

"It might," Remus said. He wiped at his eyes and looked down at the ground. "All I know is, I don't want to talk to him. I can understand why you want to, though. I just hope you get the answers that you need."

[Kris Lupin]

"Yeah, me too." Kris said. "I also hope he writes back.

[Remus Lupin]

"Well, if he doesn't, then we'll have to go see him," Remus said. "You do deserve answers to all of your questions. If he doesn't answer in a couple of days, we'll take the Knight Bus and go talk to him in person. I still don't want to talk to him, but I'll come with you. I'l sure Skye or Karl or someone would be willing to come with us to make sure we're safe."

[Kris Lupin]

Kris smiled. "You know, you're the best brother ever. Even if you are my only brother." She hugged him.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus smiled and hugged her back. "It's a nice feeling... having a sister," he said. "I hate that I went so long without knowing about you, and how it felt to have a sister. I wish you'd been there with me all that time. I might not have been so lonely."

[Kris Lupin]

"Yeah, I hated having to leave, I didn't want to, you know.. I might make Dad feel guilty for ditching me." Kris said looking at the sky out the window.

[Remus Lupin]

"I know you didn't want to leave," Remus said. "And I just can't help but wonder how different things would have been if they hadn't sent you away. You should make him feel guilty. I think he made the wrong choice."

[Kris Lupin]

"Yeah, I wonder if we would still be as close as we were before he sent me away. I had so much trouble thinking of a way to tell you I'm your sister. I really didn't mean for you to find out the way you did, I was trying to find out how you would go about doing it." Kris said still looking out the window.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus shook his head. "I don't know. I guess we'll never really know now," he said. He thought for a minute, trying to remember. "You know, I heard something about werewolves having memory losses about when they were bitten and about what happened to them before they were bitten. It doesn't happen to everyone, just some people. Maybe it happened to me and that's why I don't remember."