Forget Me Not

Maggie gasped as she came back to her body. Remus was next to her, forcing himself to stand as Sirius helped him up and draped a blanket over his shoulder. It was still chilly this early in the morning, even in late May.
There was a blanket over her, she realized. Sirius no doubt placed it there as soon as she settled back into herself. Once Remus was standing, Sirius helped Maggie up. She clutched his arm for support and the three of them walked back to their house.

It has become a routine of some sort. Sirius acted as a crutch for her and Remus as they walked back to the house, they would all sleep in the same bed (Sirius still got paranoid), and she would sleep in the middle laying against Remus, pact instinct he would call it.

Maggie was the last one to wake up around one in the afternoon. She felt great today, some soreness but not any brutal pain. Nothing like the ruthless transformation. The stretching and snapping of her bones, or the tight crushing feeling when she came back.

She took a deep breath and tried to listen for her fathers, she’s gotten quite good at using her advanced hearing, even between the moons.

“But Reggie wants to come here”, Sirius said. He was definitely complaining about something.

“It’ll be alright, love, he is your brother. When’s the last time you talked to him?”

“Wrote a letter last week, haven’t seen him since my birthday”

Regulus…Maggie scanned her memory, someone definitely mentioned him before. Sirius did, when he first came to visit her at the hospital. She asked if he had siblings and he told her about Regulus. Said they didn’t get along for a while but were making up. He was doing something for the ministry, he was Lord Black.

Maggie’s stomach growled and she realized how hungry she was. Begrudgingly she crawled out of bed and walked to the kitchen. Remus was sitting at the table nursing some tea, Sirius was pacing around the kitchen but stopped once he saw Maggie. He forced a smile on his face, but Maggie’s head was too cloudy to deal with his puzzles.

“Don’t stop for me, I wanna hear about Regulus”, she said casually, grabbing some toast while doing so.

Remus laughed so hard he spit out his drink and Sirius just grumbled, “bloody wolf hearing”. Sirius put his hands in his face and Remus rubbed circles on his back. “It’ll be alright pads, when does he want to come by”
“Today”
“Then write him back and tell him to come over”
Sirius began to protest but Remus cut him off, “come on he’s probably hurt you haven’t invited him over sooner. I thought you were trying to communicate more. Write him and tell he can come over”
Sirius threw his hands up in defeat. “Alright alright fine”

Maggie was ecstatic, she loved meeting her parents friends. And she was curious about Sirius’s family, he never seemed to talk about them much. As nosey as Maggie is, she wouldn’t invade someone’s privacy like that. Especially with family, she knew how complicated it can be.

Once she finished eating she excused herself to her room to get ready for the day. It was one thirty and she was feeling much better than she did during the walk back to the house. Maggie put on a purple sweater and some tan trousers, pulled her wavy hair into a bun and put on her gold moon ring. She had purple bags under her eyes and she still looked a little sickly, but that couldn’t be helped. She always looked sick after, but her da did too. They were twins in their shared pain.

Maggie spent the day writing in her journal listening to music with the window open. While she never felt too terrible the morning after, Sirius would have a fit if she did anything but rest.

Around three Maggie heard the front door open and Sirius called her into the living room. She was greeted by a man in all black robes, black curls, high cheekbones, and blue eyes. He looked just like her father, just more cold. He didn’t have the foolish grin or easygoing posture. He didn’t have any tattoos, but he had many rings cluttering his fingers. Maggie looked at him curiously and stood by Remus’s side.

Regulus stared between Maggie and Remus, taking in their similar sickly state. Then he softened, his eyes lost their soulless nature and his shoulders relaxed. He gave Maggie a thin smile.

Sirius cleared his throat, “well Reg this is our daughter Maggie, and uhm you know Remus”. Maggie could tell he was anxious.

Regulus walked over to Maggie and knelt to her level, “hello petite”. He stuck out his hand but Maggie eyed it warily. He had silver rings on. Regulus saw her concern and laughed, “don’t worry it’s not real silver, not trying to poison your father.”
“It’ll poison me too”, Maggie said before she even realized what she said. Well that secret is out.
“Than good thing it's not real”

Maggie took his hand and shook it, it didn’t burn. Sirius clapped his hands, “right well how about some tea, or something stronger”.

He led everyone to the table and the four sat in awkward silence. Once drinks were passed around Sirius turned to Regulus. “Why’d you want to come”
Regulus looked taken aback, “do I need an excuse to see my brother”
“You do when it’s been seven months”
“I wanted to meet my niece, make sure you didn’t mess her up yet”
“Why now?” Sirius demanded, “shes been here for ages and it took you this long to stop by”
“Well you never invited me over”
“You don’t need an invitation, you're my brother”.
“Then why are you making a big deal outta this?”
Sirius stood up and ran his fingers through his hair.

You could feel a pin drop. Maggie took a sip of her tea and tried to avoid eye contact, it’s a little awkward being in the middle of a family spat.

“J'espérais que ça n'en arriverait pas là” Regulas said after a moment of silence
“J'aurais dû t'inviter” Sirius replied. Since when does Sirius speak French? “j'avais peur que tu ne viennes pas”

“I’ll always come”, Regulus said. Sirius sighed and sat back down. He didn’t say anything but Remus took his hand and placed an arm around his shoulder. Regulus looked to Maggie now, his eyes staring right through hers. It was a tad unnerving.

“Petite” he said, “if you’d like, I want to come around more”
“That’s fine”, Maggie said. She was feeling a little like she was in the middle of something you shouldn't be.
Sirius smiled, “I think that’ll be alright”
“Wonderful, I’ll go with you to Diagon Alley when she gets her letter”. Sirius was about to say something but Maggie stopped him.

“I want to go to Diagon Alley” she told her fathers. Regulus scoffed, “brother you didn’t take her to Diagon Alley yet!”. “That much magic can be overwhelming” Remus said.

Oh yeah, the magic thing. She is super sensitive to large amounts of magic, it’s why they slowly took her to larger magic crowds. The reason everything was buzzing when she first woke up in St Mungos. She was good with touch now, but large wizarding crowds literally made her buzz.

“Was she never supposed to go?”
“No, we were planning on going this summer for her school supplies. Should be alright then”, Remus said. Regulus seemed alright with this and nodded.

He stayed for another hour. Maggie took him for a walk around the house and talked about odd topics like books and music. By the time he left she had a new uncle, Uncle Reg.
——
12th July, 1986

“Any owls yet?”
“Not yet love” Remus said without looking up from the paper. Maggie threw her hands over her hair and stomped to her room, “agghhhgh”.

Sirius laughed but she didn’t care. She didn’t care how dramatic she was, she just wanted her letter. It’s been a year since she was introduced to the wizarding world and she’s heard enough about Hogwarts. She wanted to be at Hogwarts.

“There are quite a lot of owls they need to send and it’s still early”, Remus called out. He was clearly immune to all dramatic acts by his family members. Which was completely unfair because he is known to be dramatic from time to time. Well not as much as Sirius or Maggie but it happens still.

Maggie shut her door and body slammed onto her bed. She sighed and rolled over, looking at her picture collection. She had pictures with all her aunts and uncles, her dads, Harry, and even of padfoot. But there was no one her age. She was homeschooled by Remus and Sirius once they took her in, and only interacted with a few people. She met some people hanging out at the bookstore, but those were small talk before they left.

Hogwarts will be different. At Hogwarts she will make friends.

Maggie was getting over her little fit when she heard a CRACK followed by a knock on the door. “Ohhhhh Mags” Sirius called. Was it here? Her letter!

She ran out of her bedroom as fast as her feet could carry her. This was it! All the worrying was over!

But in the living room was not an owl, instead, there was a stern looking woman with half glasses and her hair pulled up in a tight bun sitting on the couch speaking with her fathers. She smelled like magic.

Maggie started to panic. What if they were here to tell her she wasn’t actually magic? What if they told her they didn’t want her? What if they told her they no longer let people like her go to school?

“Breath love” Remus told her as he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, he must have heard how fast her heart was beating. He always knows when to calm her down. “This is Professor McGonogall, she’s here to speak with you”. The woman gave a thin smile and motioned for her to come forward. Remus gave her a quick squeeze and nudged her on.

“Miss Brenton, your fathers informed me on your condition-”
“Am I still allowed to go?”Maggie was frantic, she needed answers.
“Of course you’re allowed to attend Hogwarts”. Maggie relaxed a little bit.
“As I was saying, we need to discuss your condition. I understand you have been transforming with your father.” Maggie nodded, unsure of where this was heading. “Unfortunately in order to ensure your anuminoty, the headmaster has decided you are to remain on Hogwarts grounds”. Maggie knew where, she was told of the shrieking shack, but she’d hoped that she wouldn’t have to go there too. It was just another cell, but maybe it won’t be so bad with other people.
“ da will be there right?” She asked and no one answered, “right?!”.
Professor McGonagall only shook her head.

No, no no no. The world was spinning, the air was too thin. She couldn’t breathe, she felt like someone punched her. She would be alone again. Forced into another cell like St Mungos. No one there to look after her in the mornings, to carry her into a safe bed, who knew exactly what she was going through.

Her da took her hands and looked in her eyes. Maggie looked into his silver striped face. He had tears and Maggie realized she did too. “I-I can’t do it alone, I need you” she said so quietly that one would need super hearing to hear. Except her da does have super hearing.

“It’s not so bad love, there will be plenty of people there to look after you. And I’ll write every day, I’ll send you so much chocolate you won’t be able to eat it all the morning after..”

Maggie was frozen. This was her chance to go to Hogwarts and meet friends, but she'd be in pain. Remus didn’t get his scars from nothing. Maggie knew what it was like to be locked up during a transformation, it’s terrible.

“Margaret look at me, you will have a wonderful time at Hogwarts, you’ll be a brilliant witch”, Maggie just looked down at her feet, “don’t let the moon stop you”

Feeling braver Maggie looked up at her dad again. He was crying, the tears ran across the largest scar spanning from just under his eye across the nose. Her dad was brave, he did it alone for many years and he’s alright, she can do it too.

“Alright, alright”. Sirius pulled her into a hug, “you’ll have the best time, make so many friends everyone will love you.”

“Geroff”, Maggie pulled herself out of her dads arm and sat back down. She’s going to Hogwarts, that’s official. She’s going to be alone for full moons, that’s unfortunate. She’ll make friends, hopefully. Maybe she’ll have a better chance if she leaves out the werewolf part, after all she’s going to rip herself apart to hide that fact.

It’s Maggie’s biggest secret, only her family knows, and they don’t count. They already accepted her father so it was no big deal to accept her too. But other people? They just look at her like a monster or something to be pitied. She learned that much at St Mungos.

“Who else knows, at the school? About me”.
“Just Headmaster Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey the nurse, and myself. Although we will have to notify the head of house you are sorted into”. McGonogal replied. Three people knew, maybe four, she could live with that.

“Well Miss Brenton I do believe you will be needing this”,the professor flicked her wand and a small envelope with a red seal appeared in her hand.

This is it, Maggie’s going to Hogwarts.