For every dark night, there is a brighter day -- Fall 1983

I was out doing some shopping for my son who was at my parents' house and I saw a familiar face.  I walked over to her.  "Ember?" I asked, not entirely sure if it was her.  After a handful of years, people could change a lot.  But I was not sure if I could ever forget her pretty little face.  "Is that you?"

Tobi was babysitting for me since I had to do a little bit of shopping.  I felt bad for making her watch my two kids when she had Jada and Jetty to watch at the same time... a handful of toddlers could be a handful.  But that was what we did for each other.  I started slightly when I heard my name and turned around.  I smiled.  "Jeremy!  Hi, how are you?" I asked.  We gave each other an awkward hug as we both were carrying baskets full of kid things in our other arms.

We let go of each other and looked at each other.  "How have you been?" I asked her.  Everyone knew what had happened with Sirius a couple of years ago.  I could only imagine how she was with raising two toddlers on her own.  I was having a hard enough time with just Max, let alone with two kids.

I sighed, shaking my head slightly.  "Oh, well... it's been kind of rough," I admitted.  It was going on two years of Sirius being in Azkaban and dealing with people thinking that he was guilty of killing my own brother and sister.  I knew, of course, that it was all lies.  I looked at Jeremy and smiled.  "How are you?  Did you end up finding that lucky lady?" I asked.  I really did not want to talk about me and Sirius.

I nodded at her.   "Yeah, I did.  Unfortunately there were complications with her pregnancy," I said, not wnating to get into everything.  "Max is perfectly healthy, though, and is my whole world."  I smiled at her.  "It's weird, I have read more about your life with Sirius in the Prophet... how much of it is really true?  Do you have two kids?" When they had arrested him and wrote all those articles, they delved into his life.

I felt horrible for bringing it up.  I put my hand on his arm.  "I am so sorry to hear that, Jeremy," I said with utmost sincerity.  I smiled, though, when he mentioned his son.   I sighed, shaking my head.  "Well, that is a conversation that I don't really enjoy having.  But I could talk about my kids all day long... I do have two of them.  A son and a daughter -- Dean and Elena.  They have made everything so much better," I explained, knowing that if I did not have them... I was not sure what I would have done after losing everybody else.

I nodded, understanding.  "I know what you mean, Ems," I said simply.  "Kids always make things better in the toughest of times..."  I was sure that she knew exactly what I meant by that, too.  We both had issues and my son and her children helped us each through it in their own way.  "How old are they now?  Not much older than Max, I'm guessing?"

I chuckled, not knowing how old his little Max was.  "Well, Dean is three and a half... Lenni is only about ten months younger than him," I said.  I shook my head and sighed.  "they are handfuls... how old is Max?"

I raised my eyebrows.  "Well, Max is close to three -- so sounds about the same age or nearly the same age as your daughter," I said to Ember.  "And I can't imagine having two close that age... Max is bad enough!"

I shrugged.  "I have good and bad days... I've got a lot of help, too, though.  I'm still really close with Remus and CHloe," I explained.  "And Tobi... so we all help each other out the best we can.  It's nice to think that Dean will still have a male figure in his life until Sirius is proven innocent."  I had to keep telling myself that he would get out one day.

I nodded at her, understanding completely.  "Yeah... having that figure is always a good thing for a boy... especially if he is the spitting image of his father," I pointed out, meaning Sirius's school days -- not where he was right now, though it was applicable.

I shook my head, running a hand through my long hair.  "Merlin... I dont' even want to think about having a mini-Sirius to deal with quite yet," I said, alughing.  "Though I have a feeling that will be what he becomes..."  It would nto be a bad thing... but it would be difficult if Sirius was still in Azkaban.

I chuckled.  "That would definitely be a handful," I pointed out to her.  "Especially if he ends up becoming best mates with any of the other Marauder kids... which Im' sure that is exactly what will happen."

I grinned.  "As if we wouldn't have all the kids hang around each other?" I suggested, chuckling.  "I'm going to need help from REmus and Chloe if I have another Sirius on my hands."

I laughed adn nodded.  "That is definitely true," I agreed.  "I don't know how you're going to deal with it.  Because you'll have a mini-me in your daughter, too I'm sure."