Arranging a Trade

[Kris Lupin]

Kris looked down at the ground, she wondered if Remus was mad at her now. "I-I'm glad you came to help me." She said not looking up, it would take a while for her to take on the role of big sister. She bit her lower lip wishing that her brother would say something.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus sighed and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Thanks, Dad," he mumbled. "Go get the others, I guess."

Rupert put his hand on Remus's shoulder. "We're going to talk about all of this soon, son. OK?"

"Yeah, whatever," Remus said, not looking at him.

Rupert shook his head, then looked at Kris, signalling to her that he should talk to her. "OK, I'll be right back," he said. Then he apparated.

[Kris Lupin]

Kris looked at Remus, "How can you still be mad at him? He had to lie to you because he was afraid you would go berserk again! You might not believe him but I do, if you go the rest of your life hating him, then so be it. I am tired of trying to help you with him." She clenched her fists then turned from him and started to walk away to a bench but stopped and added, "You hate him just for lying but I was the one he sent away, I don't hate him but I haven't forgiven him, but he is going in the right direction. Me being sent away doesn't seem to bother you but him lying does, you don't even seem to care that he did it for your own good." She tightened her fists then walked to the bench and sat down annoyed at her brother.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus glared at her. "You don't get it, do you? I'm not just mad because he lied to me or because he sent you away. I'm mad because it's all my fault!" Tears filled his eyes and he turned away from her. "It's all my fault... if I hadn't been bitten, then you would have been there when Mom died, you wouldn't have been stuck with that crazy Norah woman, and you wouldn't have been kidnapped today! You probably wouldn't be a werewolf now.... everything bad that has ever happened to you is all because of me... I ruined your life. Not him, me. And I never even knew I was doing it, because he tried so hard to protect me that he hid everything from me... he just should have tossed me out... you were the one who wasn't broken... but he made the wrong choice and now we're both ruined. That is why I'm mad!" Furious, he buried his face in his hands and cried.

[Kris Lupin]

Kris stood up then ran over to her brother, "It wasn't you fault, Remus, it was that woman, she made a deal with him, that he would bite you so I would have to be sent away. And I probably would have became a werewolf anyway. I was out when I shouldn't have been... I swear to you, Remus, it wasn't your fault, nothing that's happened to me is, or ever was, your fault." She put her arms around him. "Dad didn't know she was crazy or he wouldn't have sent me off. Please don't blame yourself, I use to think you being attacked and not in the house was my fault, I remember now that I was suppose to make sure you were in. I had thought you were behind me but you wasn't, in the back of my mind I had always blamed myself and thought me being sent away was more for punishment then protection. That's why when Greyback told me all that I believed it because I had always thought it in the back of my mind." Kris had tears silently fall from her eyes as she told him something no one else knew.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus sniffled loudly and began wiping at his tears. The others would be back any second and he didn't want them to see him crying. "It wasn't your fault," he said. "You can't blame yourself because I wandered off. I was a kid, there was no way of knowing what was going to happen." He still believed, deep inside, that it was his fault, after all, he as the one who had wandered away. It would have been better for everyone if he'd been cast out completely.

"If... if she made a deal with Greyback just to get you, then... I guess it's really her fault, isn't it?" he said, sniffling.

[Kris Lupin]

"Yeah." Kris lead her brother over to the bench then sat down. "Remus.. I have to tell Sirius what I am.. I wont tell him what you are but... I hate lying to him..." she held the pendent as she looked at the ground and patted the spot beside her. She didn't know if she should mention she thought he was cheating or not.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus nodded. "OK," he said. "I can tell you two are having trouble in your relationship, and the secret is pulling you apart. Who knows... maybe he'll be OK with it. All I ask is that you wait until after this week's full moon, OK? There's a good chance that he'll figure out what I am when I disappear at the same time as you, but it might be easier if he doesn't know ahead of time." He sighed heavily.

((I almost forgot... I have a thought about this, too... will PM))

[Kris Lupin]

"Ok.. I hope he does figure it out.. I feel like I'm leading double lives or something." Kris ran a hand through her hair.

((Sorry it's so short))

[Remus Lupin]

Remus sighed. "That's how it always is," he replied. "I've always been that way. Being something that people think is bad or evil... you're going to have to hide who you are a lot of the time. There's just no way around it." He hugged her. "It's going to be OK."

Just then, Rupert apparated in with James, Sirius, and Peter. "OK," he said. "Boys, you should head back to the school right away. Kris is going to stay with me for the rest of the weekend. Of course, Remus, you are also welcome to stay."

Remus shook his head. "No, it's OK. Unless you want me to stay, Kris?"

[Kris Lupin]

"I think you should be with your friends." Kris said with a slight smile, she also wanted to be able to talk to her dad more. She wanted to tell him what she had remembered, plus she thought it would be better if Remus was with his friends.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus nodded. "Um, OK," he said. He gave Kris a quick hug and gripped his father's hand for a second. "I guess we'll see you later, then, Kris," he said.

He walked back to where Sirius, James, and Peter were waiting for him. "Come on, let's get back to school. I really want to take a nap or something."

(End the thread here and start a new one for Kris and Dad, and another for the Marauders.)