𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 ;𝐑.𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲

"She's such a fraud, isn't she?"

"Rachelle, if you don't get down here right now, we will be late."
The girl in question grabbed her wand and a hair tie before heading to the stairs. "Why'd you tell Neville's grandma we'd meet them at ten thirty, when I never get up before ten on holidays?" Rachelle pointed out, dumping some of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion onto her tangled brown hair and brushing it out.

Rachelle went down the steps two at a time, and stood before Remus. "I'm ready."
Remus raised an eyebrow. "You might want to change out of your socks." He said, causing Rachelle to look down. The fuzzy yellow socks she had worn to sleep the previous night seemed to stare back at her innocently with a shit-eating grin.

"Give me a minute." Rachelle sighed, and sprinted up the stairs once more. Quickly pulling off the yellow socks and replacing them with normal white crew socks that had long since turned slightly grey, the girl rooted around her closet for her black converse.

Finding her shoes in the back of the closet, she tried to put them on as fast as humanly possible, until the tongue of the sneaker got shoved into the front of the shoe, forcing the girl to take her foot out to get it out. Finally tying the laces of the converse, she sprinted back down the stairs again.
"Now, I'm ready."

•••

"Hello, Neville, Mrs Longbottom." Rachelle waved as her and Remus arrived at the entrance to St. Mungo's hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

Neville waved back with a thin smile as Augusta began to rush the two through the crowded hospital, only stopping when the arrived at the Janus Thickey ward.

See, the Lupins and Longbottoms had a routine. Every year during the holidays they would arrange to meet to visit Neville's parents and Rachelle's mother together. It just made the whole thing easier to have moral support from each other. Neville and Augusta entered the ward first, heading over to Frank and Alice Longbottom while Rachelle and Remus went in the opposite direction towards Rose.

"Hey Mum." Rachelle said, sitting at the foot of her mother's bed where said women was rocking back and forth on the bed.

Rose looked up, but continued to rock with a steady pace. Glancing at her daughter, she stared at Rachelle for a few seconds before looking down again. Rachelle frowned, recalling Trelawney's prediction in the crystal ball earlier that year. Remus' brows drew closer together, before he left the room in search of a Healer.

Previously, Rose Lupin was able to register and recognize her husband and daughter, giving them a fragile smile when she did. But this time, there was no smile, no flicker of recognition in her eyes.

Rachelle watched as Remus waved over Mariam Stout, the Healer in charge of the Janus Thickey ward. They talked for a bit, and straining her ears Rachelle could hear a few muffled words over the chatter of the hospital thanks to her enhanced hearing.

"I'm very sorry... deteriorating... sometimes doesn't recognize..." Rachelle felt her shoulders sag, letting the distant conversations in the hospital drown out the sound of her father's reply.

She didn't know what she was expecting, but maybe the tiniest fraction of her mind was hoping against hope that maybe, just maybe, her mother's condition would improve. That maybe she would be able to talk to her mother about her life without receiving a blank gaze in reply.

Rachelle suddenly felt like kicking herself for it. She had let her self hope, and instead received disappointment in return.

Remus re-entered the room, and he could tell by Rachelle's hunched figure that she could hear them from outside. A small part of him was relieved that he didn't have to be the one to tell her. He didn't want to face the truth. Not yet. Being the one to break the news to her would make it seem more real.

Neither of them was ready for that yet.

Rachelle sucked in a breath, forcing herself to look at her mother again. The women had lifted her head again to look at the girl, but she still didn't seem to register who she was. Rachelle gave her a smile, and started telling Rose about her school year regardless, leaving out the parts with Sirius in them.

But all the while, Rachelle couldn't stop the sinking feeling in her stomach.

Trelawney had been right.

•••

It took an hour to update Rose on Rachelle's life, and she moved away to stand with Neville while Remus talked to Rose and Augusta spent some time with Frank, Alice watching from her bed.

"So, how's your mum and dad?" Rachelle asked quietly so as not to disturb the others in the room. Neville grinned excitedly. "They're doing well. I think they knew what I was talking about," The boy turned to Rachelle, "How's your mum?"

Rachelle shrugged in response. "Fine, I guess. Didn't recognize me or Dad, though." She told him, giving him a forced smile.

"I'm sorry about that. I'm sure she'll recognize you some day. And I'm sure she'd be proud of you." Neville said earnestly.

Rachelle gave him another smile—a happier one this time. "Thanks, Nev. But I guess this was coming, wasn't it? Remember Trelawney's class?" She said with a humorless chuckle.

"It's probably just a coincidence. She said that Gran wouldn't be well. And look at her; she's fine." Neville said, clearly glad that Trelawney's prediction didn't come true.

Rachelle nodded. "Yeah. It probably is."

The two stood in silence for a few seconds.

"She's such a fraud, isn't she?" Rachelle said.
Neville laughed. "She really is."

•••

Neville's words had certainly made Rachelle feel slightly better, but in the end, she knew Rose might not be able to recognize her anymore. At some point, her mother's condition would get worse. And Rachelle really didn't want that day to come.

But for now, she was content with the 'sometimes' that the Healer had told her dad, because maybe next time Rose would look at her daughter and smile at her.

Maybe.

a/n: omg i left this story alone for 4 days and it's suddenly #10 in ronaldweasley with 900 reads ?!?! how?? what is this??

but seriously, thanks <3

question: who's watched nwh??? bc it's the best movie ever and i stand my case.
also: THE HARRY POTTER REUNION I CANT WAIT
-cheyenne