SECURE | REMUS LUPIN

32; daisy

She knew that Lily, James, and Remus were all watching her carefully but it didn't matter to her at this moment.

James cleared his throat. "You wanna go for a walk? We could just wander around under the Invisibility Cloak," he suggested.

Katie just buried herself in her blanket, turning to face away from them. She exhaled a shaky breath. "No, think I should probably rest up. Dumbledore said he wanted to meet with me tomorrow."

There was a thick tension in the silence that ensued. All Katherine wanted was for them to get the hint - she didn't want company.

Slowly but surely she heard the shuffle of feet, and James mumbled a quiet goodbye, believing her to be asleep. As the door clicked closed, she was about to shuffle around when the sound of quiet footsteps stopped her. They approached closer to her bed, the person's gait tentative and careful. Remus.

She kept her lids half-closed, just barely enough to watch as a hand placed something next to her pillow. It was a picked daisy.

The shuffling of feet sounded again, the door opening and closing after them. Slowly, Katie fully opened her eyes to see one lone daisy, a small thread tied around its stem.

Tentatively she sat up, reaching to pick up the flower delicately. It was fresh, the pleasant smell wafting from its picked stem.

Remus had only met her mother three times. Once during the summer after second year, another during the holidays of fourth year, and the third on an afternoon during the summer holidays before fifth year.

The summer before fifth year, Katherine's mother had been teaching her how to weave flower crowns when Remus had visited the Hart household. Somehow he'd gotten roped into learning as well, though he was only able to create a simple 'bracelet' from a long flower stem. It was only decorated by a small daisy tied to it.

Ever since then, he'd sometimes bring her a small daisy if he stumbled upon one. It was an action he never showed James, Sirius, or Peter - it was their own little secret, just the two of them. He joked once that he couldn't let his mates think he'd gone soft by picking flowers, and even worse, to present them to a girl.

She twirled the flower around in her fingers, one corner of her mouth quirking ever so slightly. Her mother would have liked it. She took one look at her bedside table, at the books she'd gotten for her mother, and placed the flower delicately on top.

In remembrance.

+++

"Good evening, Katherine," Dumbledore said gently, a small smile gracing his lips. "I'd have hoped that we could meet under less unfortunate circumstances, but alas."

Katie stayed standing near the door. "Believe me, Professor, nobody wishes that were true more than I do at this moment." She let out a humorless chuckle, her gaze unfocused.

"Come, sit," he beckoned to her. She walked up slowly, stopping just a few feet from his desk. "I am very sorry for your loss. Your mother was a fine student and a wonderful person."

She nodded. "Yes... she was," she replied weakly. She'd been fighting tears all day. Her mother's death was featured in the Daily Prophet - she was quite well known as an outstanding auror with great work. Plenty of people had approached her, giving their condolences.

She didn't know whether it saddened her or irked her. Maybe it was a little bit of both.

It'd only been two days, the memory still vividly etched into her mind. Her mother and father's screams were all she heard when she closed her eyes. Naturally, the mentions of them would still bring a plummeting in her stomach.

On the other hand, she'd have to face Conner less than a day from today. She couldn't go around accepting being treated as if she'd break any moment if she wanted to ever be able to be the sister he needed.

"Thank you for meeting here today. We have quite a few matters to discuss."

Katie sat stiffly in the chair in front of his desk, waiting for him to continue speaking.

"First matter at hand, I've scheduled to allow for you to leave Hogwarts grounds for a few hours tomorrow afternoon. I'll escort you to St. Mungo's myself, as well as escort you back when the time comes. I'll allow Mr. Potter to come as well if he wishes to do so."

Katie nodded gratefully. "Thank you professor."

Dumbledore nodded carefully back at her. "I'd taken your description of the man that killed your mother to the Ministry. They're working on narrowing down the search. I'll inform you should they find something substantial. And as for the name that you caught - Rosier - he's been wanted for quite some time, and the Ministry already has some of their best aurors on his trail."

She nodded again, her features a little numb. But they don't have the best auror on his trail because she's gone, dead, never to come back, she thought with a bitter taste in her mouth.

Everything about this conversation felt wrong. It felt as if she was disregarding her mother's legacy, handling her death as if it was a business matter rather than a heartbreaking loss to the world.

"Miss Hart?" Dumbledore's soothing voice brought her out of her reverie. Once he'd seen that he'd gotten her attention once more he continued on.

"There's one final matter I wish to discuss with you," he started carefully. She hated how fragile he was treating her, as if she was a newborn baby without a clue of the world. Maybe in a sense she was - a newborn in a world where her mother was no longer - but that didn't mean she liked being treated as such.

"You said that it felt as if you were in your mother's body when she'd died, is that correct?"

"Yes," she answered, though she still couldn't quite wrap her head around the thought. "I don't understand Professor, was I really there? Was it just a vision? If I was there then why wasn't I the one to die?"

"Your questions will be answered in due time. I have done some research in order to find some answers and have narrowed some possibilities, but it's far too early to tell. All I can ask of you is that you inform me if you feel sudden changes or if you undergo something similar to what happened with your mother. Is that alright, Katherine?"

For the third time that night she merely nodded, unsure really of what to say.

"Well, that will be all for tonight Katherine. Please meet me in this office with Mr. Potter early tomorrow morning."

Katie went to stand, her legs feeling as if they would give out any second. Her usually sharp senses had yet to return since the incident, her balance and strength considerably lower.

As she went to exit out the door Dumbledore had called out, "And do get a good night's sleep, tomorrow will be a long day."