Promised [F.W.]

Chapter 41

Her Truth
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"Can I tell you something?" She hesitated at first but felt like she needed to tell him. Tell anyone.

"What is it?" He was worried, he could hear the distress in her voice.

"How my mom really died." There was a pause, the two young adults looked at each other. She never spoke about her mother's death to anyone, and now she was ready to tell someone.

"Of course you can tell me, Aster."

"Well, it started a few months before I went to Hogwarts." She took a deep breath before telling him everything that happened that afternoon.

The eleven-year-old girl sat next to her mother in the hospital holding her hand. The girl had silent tears running down her face as her mother was asleep. The beeping in the room made her heart beat with it every second it did.

"Aster?" A woman croaked, the girl looked up and saw her mother looking at her.

"Yes, mum?" She stood up and furrowed her eyebrows in question.

"Aster I need you to listen to me," she said hastily, her heartbeat racing. "Dear, whatever you do let people have another chance," she croaked, "Aster, people are going to come into your life, hold onto them."

"Mum, I don't understand," Aster told her, holding her mother's face, "Mum?" The beating stopped and it became a flatline. Aster's heart stopped as well.

"I didn't realize what she meant by it," Aster told him. "I think I know why now."

"So she died from," he paused and looked at her.

"Cancer," she told him, "it's a horrible illness and my mother never told me she had it before I went to Hogwarts." Fred put a hand on her arm and rubbed circles with his thumbs on her wrist, something that always soothed her.

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Aster stayed in her room for what seemed like a month but was only three days. No matter what Lupin and Tonks said, she stayed in the room. After three turned to five, Lupin grew worried. There were days when he heard her crying but also days when he heard her singing softly. Then he finally took his chance and knocked on her door and this time she let him in.

She led him into the room and sat down on the bed with him. She didn't need to tell him anything. He already asked Fred and he told him what happened at times. So he came prepared. Lupin took out a bar of chocolate and handed it to her. They sat in beautiful silence. It was a kind thing to just be with each other.

Aster shared a piece of chocolate and asked him a question. "What was Sirius's favourite food?" It was odd at first but then Lupin saw what she was doing.

"Sandwiches, good roast beef with cheese and just a little sauce," Lupin smiled. Aster took another piece and gave it to him, eating one as well.

"Did him and my father get along?" She hugged the stuffed dog that sat next to her and felt how warm it was from how often she hugged it.

"They seemed inseparable when they first came to school," Lupin told her.

More chocolate. "Did he like being a dog?"

This one made him laugh a bit, she chuckled as well. "Multiple times he told us he could live as a dog, but couldn't live with the fleas."

Aster hesitated before handing him another piece of chocolate. "Do you think," she took a deep breath and ran her hand over the necklace around her neck. She didn't look him in the eye this time as she asked him. "Do you think Sirius is with us now?" Aster asked, "like, when people say that the people we lose are with us, he's with us now?"

"The people we love never leave us, Aster," Lupin told her, handing her the chocolate back. "Do you know what your father told me before he left?" Aster shook her head, sniffling the tears away. "He told me that he regretted leaving you and your mother alone, he said that it was the biggest mistake he made, but he wanted to know if you'd ever forgive him," Lupin said, she looked up at him and nodded her head.

She said she would forgive her father now that she knew what stakes he was at and why he did it. She held onto the black dog tightly and suddenly hugged the man. "I miss them," she wept into his chest.

"I do too," Lupin patted her back soothingly. They stayed like that for a few minutes as she tried to calm down. He felt her sniffle but take a shaky breath every time she did. Lupin held tightly on her and leaned back against the wall behind him. It was heartbreaking for him to watch her. As the crying subsided, she eventually calmed down and ended up in a tired sleep.

Lupin let a few tears fall before looking down at the girl who rested her head on his chest. He took a deep breath remembering the time she comforted him when the full moon was coming. He remembered her father. And Sirius. He remembered his friends turning into animals to help him.

"Morning Tonks," Aster greeted with a tired smile, "how was the final training?" She asked, leaning on the counter.

"Tiring, I passed," she smiled happily as she flipped a pancake, "how are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," Aster shrugged, "just thinking about everything too much." Tonks nodded and slid a plate of pancakes towards her.

"Eat up," she warmly smiled. "We're having a small meeting this afternoon, so Remus and I will be gone for a bit."

"Is everything alright?" Aster asked worriedly. "Everyone's okay, right?"

"Yeah," Tonks answered quickly, "everyone's alright, we're just checking in with everything."

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Dear Lance, I really hope you're having a good summer. How are you doing? When you can, you should visit the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, the joke shop. It'd be great to see you. Have a great summer!

Aster

Of course, I'll visit the shop! I'll go when I come back from travelling with my mum and dad. I'm sad that you won't be in school anymore! I'm doing good, how are you? Oh, I've been talking to  Jacob as well, we're taking our relationship slow, but I'm so happy when he sends me stuff from him. He's such a sweet person.

Lance

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