I

Winona sits at the end of her bed contemplating what to do next. In her garden are friends and "family" of her thirteen-year-old nephew celebrating his birthday while Winona Potter is sick to her stomach over a newspaper headline.

MASS MURDERER SIRIUS BLACK ESCAPES FROM AZKABAN.

It doesn't seem real to Winona. The man who she once considered a brother to her, the man who inadvertently killed her actual brother, has escaped prison. She has to ignore it which is the worst part. She has to go back out into the garden and bring out Harry's cake. People are going to sing and cheer while Winona holds back tears.

She hides the newspaper under her pillow and takes a deep breath. She walks into the kitchen and looks out the window at the party going on outside. The sight of all of Harry's favorite people smiling and laughing with him makes all the fear melt away and a smile appear on her face. Winona grabs the three-tier cake coated in chocolate icing, piped with golden accents. On the top are three golden Quidditch hoops with small enchanted players flying around them.

Of course, Winona didn't enchant them but her co-worker, Cora, did.

The woman pushes the door open with her hip and steps into the garden. The sun is setting beautifully over the countryside as stars softly appear like dots of white paint against a glowing orange canvas.

"Special delivery!" Winona smiles, setting the cake down on the long table in the middle of the grassy garden.

"It looks beautiful, Aunt Winnie. Thank you!" Harry smiles as everyone takes their seats around it.

"We still have thirteen minutes until you're thirteen. How unlucky. Do I have permission to embarrass you in front of everyone here?"

Harry nods with a soft chuckle. "Always, Aunt Winnie."

"I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday. I knew the moment I saw you that I was put on this earth to be your aunt. Raising you has been the best thing I've ever done. I love you and I'm so proud of you, Harry." Winona finishes her speech and plants a kiss on her nephew's head. "Now if Cora would like to light the candles..."

"On it!" Cora grins, getting her wand out and lighting the thirteen candles that were placed around the cake.

Winona watches as all of their loved ones sing for the boy. He's smiling bigger than he probably ever has in his life and it makes Winona want to start weeping. Raising Harry was really no easy task. He was given to her when she was only nineteen and her brother had just been murdered. Still, it was a blessing in diguise. There were sleepless nights and ear infections and scraped knees but there were also candy coated kisses and Christmas mornings and finger paintings that still hung on their refrigerator.

Now Harry is thirteen and although there are no more finger paintings or sticky kisses, there are still Christmas mornings and sleepless nights. At times the boy is more like a friend than a nephew. When Harry was still a child, Winona didn't have many people to rely on. She still has a hard time trusting anyone and she can tell her way of things has accidentally rubbed off on Harry. They talk about this when neither of them can sleep sometimes. They're both plagued by inevitable nightmares and make it each other's mission to help the other when things get bad.

She likes that Harry is older because they have more to talk about. They can read the paper together and he can help her pick out outfits for the occasional date she goes on (which he detests on the surface but Winona knows he secretly loves. Her going on dates means he has the house all to himself).

So although she's sad about the boy becoming a teenager, it comes with many perks that she takes advantage of fully.

Harry blows out his thirteen candles with his eyes shut tight, probably wishing for Professor Snape to get fired.

Winona cuts the cake — getting some icing on her wrist by accident — and passes it out to the guests.

"It's delicious, Miss Potter," Hermione Granger says after swallowing her first bite. The cake's interior was vanilla with strawberry filling, Harry's current favorite.

"Thank you, Hermione. How are you liking it, Neville?" Winona asks the shy boy. "Harry told me you like chocolate icing. I felt it was only appropriate to go with that since your birthday was yesterday. I have a gift for you inside." She adds quietly, knowing he isn't one to fancy attention even more than Harry.

Amidst all the joy and celebration, Winona can't shake the feeling of dread looming over her like a dark storm cloud. She tells Harry she's going to go inside to get more drinks and taps Cora's shoulder on her way across the garden. The woman knows what it means and follows her in.

"You alright?" Cora asks, eyebrows creased with concern.

"Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban," Winona whispers. "And I haven't... I haven't told Harry about him quite yet. It's a lot to take in and the timing was never right but now..."

"Right. Shit," Cora mumbles disjointedly, struggling somewhat to take in the heavy blow of information. "What are you going to do? How are you going to tell him?"

"I've read a shit ton of parenting books and 'telling your nephew that the man who got his parents murdered when he was an infant has escaped from prison is not in any of them."

"Of course. I'm sorry, Winnie." Cora nods as if she understands, although it is evident she is drowning in uncertainty, only wishing she had advice to offer. "Is there someone you could ask for help? Someone who knew them, maybe?" She speaks as though they are historical figures, not remembrances from Winona's actual past.

Winona sits on her words, racking her brain of another human who could at least understand just a little bit of what she's feeling. Cora is a great confidant but without actually knowing Sirius, she can't give the advice Winona needs.

"Shit," Winona whispers under her breath as the memory of someone from her past enters her mind. "There is someone, actually."

"That's great!" Cora pauses, but when there is no response, continues. "Isn't it great?"

"We haven't spoken in over thirteen years. I have no idea where he is or what I should even say to him..."

Remus Lupin, for most of Winona's life, was just her older brother's good friend. However, once they joined the Order after school, the dynamic between them changed. They were seen as outcasts because they were outcasts. Winona was a squib and Remus, a werewolf. They were often sent on more unique missions than the other members. They tended to be alienated a lot which caused them to form a bond. It was a good and honest friendship, one that Winona thought she could count on.

Of course that Halloween night, Winona needed him and he abandoned her. There was no one else she could turn to and instead of being there for a nineteen-year-old girl with her brother's dead baby, he ran off.

They didn't end on the best terms. He is the only one who understands though. So, Winona decides to get out a pen and paper and write "Dear Remus" at the top.

"What do you say to someone who abandoned you when you needed them most and now you need them again but haven't spoken to them in over a decade?" Winona asks, chewing on the end of the pen in her hand anxiously.

"Merlin, I don't know," Cora sighs, raking her fingertips through the thick strands of blonde hair that have fallen over her face. "Hello might be a good start," she says, and takes a seat adjacent to the table where Winona is situated, trying her best to be logical. "An explanation, maybe."

"Okay... good, that's good." She sighs and places the pen back down on the paper. Winona becomes aware that she can't take too long or else Harry will come in to check on her. So, she writes most of it without thinking.

Dear Remus

Hello. It's me, Winona. I'm not sure if you've seen, but Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban. As you know, I've been raising Harry for the past twelve years. However, I haven't told him about Sirius quite yet. I was wondering if we could possibly meet up to talk about it as well as how to protect Harry. I can't just do a spell and feel safe, I need a plan and there's no one I can go to except you. Please, help me.

Best,
Winona Potter

"Read this," Winona sighs, nearly hitting Cora in the face with the thin paper. "How does it sound?"

Cora nods confidently. "I think it sounds just fine."

"Alright then. No offense to Buckle but I think I'd better send Hedwig," the woman sighs, slipping the letter in an envelope and going over to the bird's cage perched in the den. "This is for Remus Lupin. Find him, please."

She ties the letter to the white-feathered creature's foot and releases her out a window in the front of the house. She's hopeful but worried all the same. Worried Remus won't get the letter and worried that he will.

Winona and Cora return to the party, hoping no one noticed their prolonged absence.

Welcome to Savior Complex!! Hope y'all love Winona as much as me she's v precious <3

— Fiona