P. S: I apologize for Melissa being a big, whiny baby. She's annoying me. However, I am trying to convince myself that after all she's been through, she has a right to cry. I am still annoyed with her, so if you are too I take no offense.

P.P.S There is language in this chapter, not that anyone cares

Chapter Seven: Wish I Could Un-Remember

Unsay all the things
That used to mean so much.
I wish I could un-remember
Everything my heart's been through
I'm finding out it's impossible to do
Oh, it's no use
I can't un-love you

-Kenny Rogers

A mere hug sent Melissa's familiar world spiraling into chaos. Reality crushed her lungs, and forced tears to spring to her eyes. An unintelligible gush of words spluttered from trembling lips. "I've missed you," she managed to whisper. "Terribly."

Gretchen easily masked her confusion."It's all right, Lissy." Unconsciously, her arms tightened around her youngest sister's body. "Everything is fine now."

As an elder sister, Gretchen felt as if she had failed. Vague words of comfort were all she could provide to Melissa. Melissa, the misfit member of the family, who experienced a year in a separate time frame. The dear sister who often dreamed for magic to grace her, and by some miracle, found it.

"If I could go back, I would. In a heartbeat," was the quivered murmur against Gretchen's shoulder. "Nothing is the same. Everyone is dead." Raw-red rimmed Melissa's swelled eyes. She shoved a hand through the tangled tresses of her weather-tainted hair.

Gretchen offered Melissa a small, melancholic smile. The pad of her thumb erased the path of a lone tear. "Give it some time, Liss. Life will fall back into place."

"It won't," grumbled Melissa, as she pushed past her sister and into the dimly lit house. She crossed her arms, pressing a knuckle to her lips. Melissa continued to shake her head, continually disagreeing with Gretchen's previous attempt at assuagement. "It was only a second. One second changed my entire life." Her attention turned to Gretchen. "Remus is different," she spoke through a ruined smile. "I am aware of the fact that you don't know much about what happened, but, if anything, I wish you could understand how much he meant to me. How much he still does…" Melissa allowed the sentence to drift. "Melodrama certainly does not suit me, huh?"

"Indeed," sighed Gretchen. "Please believe me when I say, whenever you are ready to discuss it, I will be right here. I promise you that." She pulled the filled suitcase from behind the couch, and handed it off to Melissa.

"It's a hell of a long story," chuckled Melissa, without mirth. "Thank you, Gretchen." She gave her older sister one final hug.

"You were the girl, weren't you?" Gretchen asked, as Melissa's hand paused on the open door. "The girl that one Christmas."

"Yours truly."

"I apologize for breaking your little pity party; however time is of the essence, and we really must depart." Draco stood, unscathed, in the open doorway. "Have a nice night. Those Death Eaters shouldn't bother you for quite some time." The Invisibility Cloak quickly shielded the smirk.

"Bye," whispered Melissa, as the cloak vanished her from view.

X

The plastic straw wiggled between pale-pink lips. A fingertip scratched at a dark spot upon the wooden kitchen table, as platinum blonde eyebrows knitted together in deep thought.

"How did it go?" Harry disrupted Draco's silence.

The abrupt enter momentarily startled Draco, however he immediately recovered. "Frankly, Potter," he began, speech slightly obstructed by the straw, "I believe your so-called friend is fucking insane. It is apparent she has numerous issues. I suggest you cease conversation as soon as possible."

Emerald eyes rolled behind glinting spectacles. "You are being an insensitive prick. You don't know half of what she's been through."

"Don't defend her," snarled Draco. "She hasn't been through shit."

"Melissa has been through just as much shit as the rest of us have," Harry hissed, the side of his fist colliding into the table.

Draco watched with a frown as the substance of his drink sloshed around the glass. "Don't you dare," he whispered, "compare me to her. That whiny bitch can't even dream of the shit that I've gone through. None of you can."

The water smacked against Draco's face. He spluttered in the initial shock.

"All right, boys. That's enough," Ariel sighed, gently removing the empty glass from Harry's clenched fingers.

"Let's hug and kiss now, Potter," snorted Draco, roughly crossing his arms in resignation.

"Yeah? Well, you are a—"

"What did I say?" Ariel interrupted. "I said, enough. If both of you would like to stay under the same roof, you need to at least be civil to each other. I have no problem removing you from this house if you continue to be disrespectful." She slammed the empty cup into the sink. "Is that understood?"

"Yes," Harry and Draco muttered in unison, too proud to look Ariel in the eye as they caved to her warnings.

"What is going on here?" Remus entered the kitchen, a confused frown creasing his forehead. His attention moved to a dripping Draco.

"They were being boys," responded Ariel, rolling her eyes. "Like you were, back in the day."

Remus cringed at Ariel's statement. "I'm not that old," he chuckled halfheartedly. "Plus, our fighting wasn't the same. It wasn't out of malice, it was good-natured."

"Your whiny girlfriend is fine, by the way," Draco stated. "Just thought you ought to know, since you didn't feel the need to ask." A ghost of a smirk lifted the corner of his lips.

"She's upstairs sleeping," whispered Ariel.

"That's good. That's great. I'm glad the mission was successful." Remus nodded in affirmation to his hitched reliefs.

"I'll take that as a compliment," said Draco, as he rose from the kitchen table. "If you lovely folks don't mind, I will be taking my leave now." Without a further word or gesture, Draco excused himself from the kitchen.

"Bye," Harry added, sarcastic.

"Are you all right, Remus?" Ariel questioned, leaning her weight against the countertop.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He sat down at the unoccupied table. "Why?" He managed to question through a stifled yawn.

"You're off," she stated, frowning. "Are you bothered by the fact that Melissa is back? If I remember correctly, you weren't upset about the idea."

"Is this a conversation I should leave for?" Harry inquired, awkward.

"No, no. You can stay," Remus sighed, the heel of his right-hand rubbing a circle upon his forehead. "Because there is nothing to discuss. I am fine. Melissa is fine. It's just a small world, is all. After the initial shock wears down everything will go back to normal."

"What normal, Remus? What has been normal to you the past twenty years isn't what is normal to her," Ariel rejoined in a saddened tone. "You can't bury the past, and you can't just hide away from her. It isn't fair."

"Did Melissa tell you about the stomach pains?" Remus abruptly queried.

"No, she didn't," replied Ariel, purposely ignorant of Remus' apparent diversion. "I will look into it tomorrow, though I am sure they are merely effects from a second travel."

"Dumbledore said the same thing," Remus mumbled, off-handed.

"What did you go there for, anyway?" Harry turned his attention from his fingertips to Remus. "You were at Hogwarts for quite a while."

"Business. He and Minerva asked if I would return as a professor."

"Oh, Remus, that's wonderful," Ariel exclaimed. "Did you accept?"

"I told them I would think about it. After all, most of the parents know about my situation, and what happened the last time I taught at Hogwarts."

"Who cares?" Harry added. "You were a great professor, one of the best I've had. I'm sure none of the students would care. In the following years, you were mentioned because of how much we learned from you, not how furry you got every month. Really, Remus. You should take the offer."

Remus shrugged, another yawn escaping his lips. "I'll think about it, I suppose."

"You should go to sleep," advised Ariel. "You look exhausted. You can stay in the extra room upstairs, and I won't hear no for an answer." She turned away and busied herself with the dishes before Remus could properly decline.

"See you tomorrow morning," said Harry with a grin, as he moved to help Ariel with the dishes. "Why don't you just use a wand to do this?"

Remus shook his head as their playful banter ensued, and exited from the kitchen. He decided it was best not to argue with Ariel's request, and had been far too tired to think up a valid excuse. He trudged up the staircase with heavy footsteps, his thoughts wandering to what lay behind the closed door to the right. "Oh, stop it," he demanded in an aggravated whisper. "You are being an idiot. Now you are openly talking with yourself. They really should have locked you up in the crazy-house many years ago, Remus. Really they should have."

X

Melissa rolled over once more, frustrated in her contemplative stupor. Thoughts raced across the platform of her mind. The impact sent her into a temporary night of insomnia. Clearly, all that she had expected out of this new life was incorrect, and all that was promised had become a lie. The thought left a sour sensation in the back of her throat. She wished Remus' brain would shrink back in time, to the place where life was simple and he was not indifferent.

Melissa peeked above to Skyla's bed to find light blue eyes opened with curiosity. "What's wrong, Lissy?" she whispered, small voice bleary with the solidity of sleep.

"I'm just thinking about a lot of things, Skyla. Go back to sleep. I'm sure it's way past your bedtime," sighed Melissa.

"Do you believe in princes?" Skyla inquired through the minor disruption of a yawn. "I do," she murmured, nuzzling into the pink of her sheets.

"I used to," responded Melissa, a sordid tone edged to her voice. "I'm a neglected damsel in distress. That's annoying, though. I never liked being called a damsel in distress."

"What is that?" Skyla raised an eyebrow at the foreign term.

"A damsel in distress is a woman who is constantly needs help from men, basically. Or anyone, I suppose. Usually in fairytales, the prince always saves the damsel in distress. I don't see why the prince just can't help out a warrior princess or something. No one is that creative."

"Everybody has a prince somewhere," Skyla whispered, slowly falling back into the middle of conscious and slumber. "My mommy says so."

"And mommies are always right." Melissa sighed sadly, tucking a stuffed-animal figure beneath Skyla's arm. "Go back to sleep, Sky. We can talk in the morning. I'm not going anywhere."

"'Night," the toddler mumbled, and drifted away a moment after.

"This is what I get," Melissa grumbled under her breath. "I spent my entire life complaining that I was awkward and different. In response, I get a whole packaged deal of issues I never had before. I was just a normal, Muggle girl whose worst problem was what color sweater to wear on the first day of school." She huffily crossed her arms, both angered at the situation and at her flurry of hushed complaints. "Here I go, complaining again. I should be deemed Melissa the Great Complainer. That's all I seem to do." In an instant of mindless aggravation, Melissa pulled the blankets over her head. "If only I could stay under here forever," she groused. "Just live under a blanket, in total darkness. It seems pretty nice at the moment."

X

"I should fix up one of the extra bedrooms for Melissa," Ariel stated, as she handed Harry a dish to place in the cupboard. "After all, she will probably be staying with us for a while. I can't have her sleeping on an old mattress in Skyla's room."

Harry chuckled. "Skyla will be upset she lost her permanent sleepover friend. Supposedly permanent, I should say." He gently stacked the plates, careful to make a small amount of noise. "So, what is going on with the two of them?"

"Remus and Melissa went out during our Seventh Year at Hogwarts as well. We were like one of those obnoxious gangs of couples you see on those television shows," Ariel joked, good-natured. "He was extremely happy with her. None of us had seen him that way. We thought, for sure, that they would get engaged." She released a heavy breath, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Then Melissa left. And just as fast as his happiness came, it disintegrated. She was his world. Melissa is Remus' love story."

"Normally, I'd make a snarky comment about how corny that was, Ariel," responded Harry, unable to maintain a grin. "I suppose there is someone out there for everyone. At least, people would like to believe that."

"I believe it," whispered Ariel. "I've always believed. Love is a beautiful thing, Harry. I can only hope that you will experience a wonderful relationship one day. I give you permission to laugh at that one."

"I like Ginny, remember?" chuckled Harry, a light sheen of blush gracing his cheekbones.

"Like," stressed Ariel. "Like is different than love. However, Mr. Potter, if you've got your father's genes like I think you do, I believe you will be falling in love with Ginny in no time." She playfully ruffled Harry's mussed locks.

"You are so cute," cooed Harry, teasing. "I love you, Ariel." He pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Thanks for being like a mom to me. I know I don't say that as often as I should."

"Harry, go to bed before we explode the house with our repeated comments of cliché nature." Nevertheless, Ariel kissed Harry's forehead. "Goodnight."

A/N Part Two- Haha woo for a lame, lame, lame chapter. I was feeling exceptionally mushy, and decided to share the love with you all. Hopefully, my brain will think up a more exciting situation for the next chapter. This chapter was just kind of nonsensical ramblings of cute conversations mixed with sad musings. Go me? In any case, I hope you all enjoyed this since I am a horrible author-person who doesn't regularly update this story. You can start ignoring my apologies if you want because I will probably always apologize for not being consistent.

Okay, I need to stop talking. Review, please! Reviews make my day better and bring a smile to my face. Do you like the continuation of cliché's? Is it working…?

P.P.P. S- I keep running out of songs to use, if it's even okay that I am using songs. I am just too lazy to think up annoying titles for chapters anymore. Any thoughts or comments on this is welcome : )