A visit from Dad

[Kris Lupin]

Kris woke up before Remus did and after getting ready walked into the kitchen. She yawned as she sat at the table, she wasn't feeling very hungry so she hoped no one would try to make her eat.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus woke up shortly after her, and wandered sleepily into the kitchen to find some breakfast. He was thinking idly about the pack's mission from the night before, and wondered if they had been successful. The house seemed quiet, and he was a little worried that they might not have returned.

As he pushed open the kitchen door, he saw Kris sitting at the table. "What's going on?" he said, sitting across from her. He had forgotten that Kris was supposed to meet their father.

[Kris Lupin]

"Dad comes today, remember?" Kris said her voice muffled as she had her head on her arms on the table. To change the subject she asked, "Did you have a good nights sleep?" She hadn't, she kept waking up from the same nightmare.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus frowned. "Oh, yeah, that's today, isn't it? I forgot." He sighed. He wanted to ask her when Dad was supposed to come, so he could make sure he wasn't around when he did. He just wasn't ready to face him yet.

"I slept OK. How about you?"

[Kris Lupin]

"I didn't... I kept waking up from a nightmare." Kris said sitting up and looking at her brother. "The same one I have every night since Greyback... you know..."

[Remus Lupin]

Remus nodded quietly. "Yeah, I still have those sometimes, too. It gets better after a while. I haven't had one since I've been here with the pack. But I had some pretty bad ones after Sabrina.... died..." It surprised him how hard it still was to say her name. He hardly thought about her, and yet... she was always there in the back of his mind.

Sighing, he stood up and went to get himself a drink. "When's Dad supposed to come?"

[Kris Lupin]

"I'm not sure, but I hope he comes soon." Kris said as she streched her arms over her head. "I kinda wanna get this over with." She added with a sigh.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice and cut a piece of bread from the loaf that Skye had baked the day before. Returning to the table, he gave her a slight smile. "I know what you mean," he said. "And for your sake, I hope he does get here soon. I know you need answers. I just hope he actually gives them to you, instead of lying again."

[Kris Lupin]

"Yeah, I really need to know why he acted like I never existed, it isn't fair for him to kick me out then act like I was never there and make you forget me." Kris said not in a sad way but in an angered way.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus nodded quietly as he nibbled at the slice of bread. "I know," he said, his mouth full of crumbs. "I just don't know if you're going to get the answers you need. I hope you will, but I don't trust him." He took a sip of his pumpkin juice and sighed. He really just wished that all of this was over already. The way he felt, he would have been perfectly content to stay with the pack as his family. They, at least, had never lied to him.

He was still thinking these thoughts when there was a knock on the door. Remus looked up in a panic. "Is that him?" he gasped. "Go check. Please?"

[Kris Lupin]

Kris bit her lower lip just staring at the door, she couldn't get her mind to make her legs move. She asked quietly but loud enough for the person on the other side to hear,"Wh-who's there?"

[Remus Lupin]

Remus sat, poised to run from the room as he listened for a response from the other side of the door. The person cleared his throat, then replied, "Kris? Is that you? It's your father... it's Dad. Is Remus there?"

Remus felt like the bottom had just dropped out of his stomach. "Uh... I gotta go," he said quickly. "Good luck, Kris." Then he bolted from the room as if he were being chased.

[Kris Lupin]

Kris watched Remus leave the room then stood up and walked to the door. She opened it then said, "We'd better talk outside..." She didn't know how Remus would feel with him being in the house so she thought it'd be best to be outside.

[Remus Lupin]

Rupert Lupin nodded as he looked at his daughter. "I take it Remus still refuses to talk to me?" he said sadly.

[Kris Lupin]

"Yeah, but you have to understand... he thought he was alone because you let or made him forget about me." Kris said blinking back tears. She walked outside then looking at the ground she waited for him to respond to what she said.

[Remus Lupin]

Rupert sighed. "I know," he said quietly. He began to cough, turning his head away from her slightly. "I didn't say he didn't have the right to be angry with me," he said, when he'd recovered his voice. "But I just wish... I wish things were different." He glanced around the yard and saw a large tree stump in the far corner of the yard. "Why don't we walk over there so we can talk for a while."

[Kris Lupin]

Kris nodded but kept her eyes on the ground. "Why did you ignore the fact that you had another child? I always hoped you would write or something everytime my birthday came... after a few years I gave up and wouldn't even go to my own party. I even stopped going downstairs at Christmas." Her voice shook a little, she wanted him to feel guilty for what he did.

[Remus Lupin]

Rupert listened to her words with an ache in his heart. "I never forgot you," he said when she had finished speaking. "You were always on my mind.... and on my mother's. I just felt..." he sighed again. "I felt it would be better if we didn't have contact with you. It was a stupid decision that I made... I thought I was protecting you and that you'd be happier where you were. The woman who raised you... she wasn't cruel to you, was she? She did her best to care for you. I wouldn't have sent you to live with her if I didn't think she would. Kris, I don't think you understand just how bad our lives were in all that time."

They reached the stump, and Rupert lowered himself down onto it. "Please, sit with me, and let me explain a few things to you."

[Kris Lupin]

"I'd rather stand." Kris said crossing her arms. She couldn't look at him, she wondered if he was going to make up a story or tell the truth.

[Remus Lupin]

Rupert nodded quietly and stared at the ground for a moment. "Do you remember the night Remus was bitten?" he asked.