Trapped In Time: Love's Secrets

Chapter Twenty Six

The work week came all too soon and when Remus left Monday morning to work and then to take his Moon break, the despair hit Shannon full force. She curled into her bed, hugging the pillows that smelled of his body. Five short weeks were all that remained and with the stress of the coming exams, that time would be gone in the blink of an eye.

With her usual perfect timing, Alissa had sent Matilda out that morning with a short note for Shannon. The old lady owl landed softly on Moss’s cage and hooted for attention.

Not a happy letter but we knew it was coming. Irma passed away over the weekend. It was quiet and easy, she seemed to know it was coming and took her time to say goodbye to all of us.

The kids are devastated, we’ve had to pack up and move back to our own home quickly so her “family” can come and see to her remains and her will. My heart breaks because she made it so long and if she had just held out one more month, she would have had a chance to say goodbye to her grandson.

We can’t even go to her funeral because no one can know about us so we’re going to spend a bit of a quiet day here instead, just spend some time remembering her.

I just need Sirius home; I can’t wait for this to be all over. I want to tell him all about Irma and I need help with the kids. We all miss him so much and if he were here it would just ease things for all of us.

PS- I’m sorry about you and Lupin. You knew this wasn’t going to be easy but I wish it could have been, you both deserve it.

 Alissa

Not entirely shocked that Alissa had tripped up and used Sirius’s name, Shannon tossed the letter in the fire and watched it burn to ash. Losing Irma was definitely going to be hard for that family especially with Alissa’s lack of magical ability and it was terribly sad she had never been able to meet Sirius as a grown, free man but Irma had died happy and not everyone was afforded that luxury.

“I have nothing to send back Matilda but I’m sorry you lost your mom” she stroked the back of the sad looking owl, gave her a treat and watched as she flew off. She wondered what happened to owls once their masters died, did they stay with a family member or gain freedom or did it just depend on the owl and the family? She hoped Matilda would be happy and safe but her fate may be in the hands of the Malfoys which Shannon would not wish on any creature.

“What did you want to do this weekend love?” Remus asked as he placed his bag on a chair and unpacked some school work to grade. There were only three weeks left of the school year which meant a handful of students were asking for extra credit work. Extra credit work for students meant more grading work for Remus and the strain was showing. He was always a bit frazzled and distracted; hair a little more disheveled, clothing a bit more loose and unkempt.

“Nothing” Shannon answered tonelessly from the bed where she was reading up on telepathic experiments done by muggle scientists. The magical community was unsure how to handle the situation with some considering it an advancement for muggles to accept there might be some unexplained powers and some considering it a danger to their way of life if the studies delved deeper.

Remus turned and frowned at her back. He wasn’t sure what was going on but the past couple of weeks he had definitely felt a difference with her. Their last weekend together, she had dressed in baggy clothing and slept pressed against the wall, shifting away every time he tried to be near. He knew it wasn’t her cycle because he could smell the change but she gave no other reason for it. The end of the year was always stressful and he had hoped that saying nothing and giving her some space would help but it only seemed to be getting worse.