𝘼𝙧𝙚 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙚? - 𝙁𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙒𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙮

33: Too Late to Turn Back

(Note: another one? Okay another one it is)

Song for this chapter
EMPTY - Chase Atlantic

"Sophia, I'm your mother," Valerie said again, approaching her as though she were a five-year-old.

"Yes, I heard you the first time," Sophia snapped, stepping back to put some distance between them.

"I think I should tell you the truth—"

"—about time, I think—"

"Sophia!"

"I was never dead," Valerie continued. "I just had to leave because I was scared, especially after you were born. You-Know-Who was rising to power, and I wanted nothing to do with London, so I moved away." Valerie paused briefly, looking at Sophia. "Leaving you was a mistake we made as teenagers, but trust me, darling, it was the hardest decision—"

"The hardest decision?" Sirius scoffed, earning a scowl from Valerie.

"Sophie, trust me, it was incredibly hard. What mother would want to leave her child? And your father—" Valerie turned to him with a look of disgust, "—he cheated on me."

"What?" Sophia exclaimed, unable to believe what she was hearing.

"Now, that's a downright lie, Valerie," Remus said hotly. "You're crossing a line. That had nothing to do with you. We weren't even together!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sophia demanded, abandoning all pretence of politeness. The others watched in silence as the drama unfolded between Sophia, Remus, Sirius, and Valerie.

"Really? Then what was going on between you and Sirius?" Valerie said finally, causing gasps to ripple through the room. Sirius and Remus's faces flushed as they stared at the ground. Sophia felt a surge of realisation, piecing together the stolen glances and moments she had seen between her father and his best friend. Though she was okay with it, she wished her father had told her himself. She would have supported him if it made him happy, all she ever wanted was to see him happy.

"Sophia, think about it," Valerie said, moving closer. "We can leave this place. We can go to the United States, just you and Mommy."

Leave London? Leave behind her father, her home, the people she loved, her school, Hogwarts? Her gaze swept around the room, landing on Fred. How could she leave Fred behind? Her heart ached at the thought of leaving her father. He had sacrificed so much for her, worked so hard, and now a stranger was asking her to give it all up?

"Think about it," Valerie said, "I'll come again soon."

Remus looked defeated, unable to bear the thought of being apart from his daughter. His heart had always ached when she was at Hogwarts, and he knew hers did too because she worried if she didn't receive a letter every week. He felt terrible for hiding the truth from her, knowing it would blow up one day. He was afraid of losing her.

Sophia's head spun as the reality of her mother being alive, her father's feelings for Sirius, and the prospect of moving to another continent settled in.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper, breaking the silence. Tears threatened to fall as Remus approached her, unsure how to answer.

"What were you thinking? Do you really not trust me enough to support your happiness?" Sophia said, tears finally streaming down her face. She wiped them away with the back of her hand. Remus's heart broke at the sight of her distress.

"Sophie, sweetheart, I just didn't know how to" Remus said, shaking his head "But if you wish to move—"

"Move? Move?" Sophia said, incredulously, pulling away from her father's grasp. "You think I'd want to—first, you don't tell me anything, and now you expect me to move with a woman I don't even know?"