𝒮𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓂'𝓈 𝒜 𝐵𝓇𝑒𝓌𝒾𝓃'

July 4th, 1994

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝓌𝑜

The House Over the Hill belonged to a sweet old lady named Marie; she rented out her home for far under its real value. And when Remus Lupin tried to explain such to her when he first sought out renting... well, she just gave him a smile and lowered the price even more.

And so that is how Remus found himself taking up residence in that small town in the countryside.

A quiet community, far away from any of the hustle and bustle. A secluded community, far from the minds of the rest of the world. A distant community, far unlikely one would have to worry about nosy neighbors.

A perfect community for Remus Lupin to settle into.

When he moved into the little two-bedroom, one-bathroom home just on the other side of the hill, no one so much as blinked an eye his way. No one paid mind to his ratty clothes, his old scars. No one noticed when his appearance grew sickly at a particular time of month.

To the people of that quaint little village, he was just the polite man that lived over the hill, the man who showed into town very rarely but always with a kind smile. The proper man who wore sweaters in July. The quiet man who minded his own business.

And so the town paid him no mind. It was a perfect community when one needed to stay away from the eyes of the world.

And so, a perfect community for Iris Blackwell.

When she moved in with Remus, a few people had turned an eye their way. For one, just in reactionary questions that people tend to have more of when children are involved. But part of the little burst of attention was easy to put to Iris being Iris. Or maybe just Iris being a Blackwell, rather.

Iris and Remus had settled into a pattern within the few weeks of living together. One of which the two seemed like distant roommates rather than two people who had otherwise shown to be close.

Iris up by sunrise, going about her morning routine before taking off unannounced for her morning walk. It nearly gave Remus a heart attack when he saw her missing one morning. But after a few days, he settled into her way of just vanishing off, now aware that she only took walks down to the stream nearby.

Remus would typically be out by nine. Off to continue his endless attempts at job hunting. Still eating away at his already small inheritance, he denied any financial help from Iris.

Iris would stop by the house briefly at about ten to freshen up before taking off into town. Insistent on grocery shopping in small amounts as big purchases all at once would bring complaints from Remus.

From there began the real uncertainties. Remus sometimes would be out until late at night. Iris would come and go as she pleased, sometimes home all day... other times out worryingly late. Sometimes dinner was spent alone for both residents of the house. Other times they ate together and talked like friends.

It was an endless cycle of poor communication... and for Iris, went far beyond that. Being a teen girl... it was reckless to be out on her own; even more so to be out on her own without informing anyone.

But Remus struggled to find his ground. Sure he was her guardian on a technical level... but... officially... how much control did he really have over her?

So his worry and... annoyance continued to grow and build... just waiting for a moment to explode out.

~~~~~~

Clunk

Iris waited a moment, tossing a rock into the air as she allowed a second to pass. Eyes locked onto that second-story window. Catching her rock, she shifted her weight, sending it up to that same window.