Yeah, I'm really cranking them out now! That's the advantage of time combined with not having to do anything on Friday nights. BTW, that big thing that I said would be revealed...it's in this chapter.

Enjoy!

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Christmas break was finally upon us, and I was back in my house snuggling between my parents on the couch next to the fireplace. I told them all about my friends, Hogsmeade, and about Neville's gift, which was hanging around my neck. Finally, the time came to tell them about my detention.

"You said what?" asked Dad. Mum had to hold back obvious laughter.

"You really shouldn't talk back to a teacher, Lacey."

"I know, but...you should've seen the look on Neville's face." Dad nodded.

"I understand. But you could've gotten in really big trouble."

"I did."

"What'd he do?" Mum asked. I took a breath.

"He gave me detention for a month." Mum looked outraged. "I had to remove the spleens from al least a hundred rats, along with their tongues as a reminder to 'hold mine.'"

"How dare he!"

"Abby," Dad said, putting a hand on Mum's shoulder. She nodded. I took a breath. Now comes the hard part.

"He also...said a few things. About you two." Dad sat up.

"What things?"

"Well, he said that Mum got in trouble a lot, and that it 'rubbed off' on you." I heard Mum exhale slightly, as if to keep herself calm. "He also said something else. It was rather weird." My parents looked at me and beckoned me with their eyes. "He said that he wasn't surprised when you two...'got each other into trouble.'" Dad suddenly looked grim, almost scared. "I asked him what he was talking about, and he said that he was referring to Arabella." Mum closed her eyes. I was instantly worried. "What is it? Did I..."

"No, love," Dad said. "You didn't do anything. It's just that, um..." He looked at Mum, who cleared her throat.

"Lacey," she said, grasping my hand. "When we told you about Arabella, we didn't tell you the complete truth about when she was born." I was very confused now.

"What do you mean?" Mum took a deep breath.

"Okay. The truth is...when we had Arabella, your father and I were still students at Hogwarts." My eyes went wide. What?

"So, you hadn't been married?"

"No," Dad said. "This is what happened, sweetheart. Your mum and I had started our seventh year at Hogwarts. One night, around the middle of October, we were celebrating our upcoming graduation in June, and things got a little..." He shifted uncomfortably on the sofa. "Well, we weren't careful. About a month later, we found out that your mother was pregnant." I felt shell-shocked. "Your sister was born on June 11th. Abigail and I married the day after we graduated." I leaned against the couch.

"Lacey," Mum said gently, "we're so so sorry we didn't tell you." I suddenly had a terrible thought.

"Wait...does this mean that you only got married because of Arabella?" Dad shook his head.

"No," he said soothingly. "No, no, no, Lacey. We'd been together for a long time. We were already in love when we found out. If anything, it made us fall even deeper in love." I looked at my parents.

"So, you're not upset that you..."

"Not at all," Mum said. "We were both overjoyed. Granted, it was hard to work while supporting her, but I didn't regret having your sister, not for a second. Neither did your father." After thinking about it for a very long time, I nodded. But then, I thought of something.

"Wait. How did Snape even find out about it?" Dad looked at Mum, then back at me.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure, but we think he overheard Abigail tell me about her being pregnant. The only thing we do know is that..."

"He told the headmaster about it," Mum said, not even trying to hide her contempt. "He ruined your father's position as Head Boy." I gasped.

"What?" Dad nodded.

"Yes, I was Head Boy at the beginning of the year. But after the headmaster found out, he had to give the spot to someone else. The other teachers wouldn't even think about letting me remain in the position." He paused and looked at Mum." But that doesn't even matter. It never did. If it meant not seeing Abby every minute of every day, I'd never want to be Head Boy." Mum looked at Dad, and finally smiled. I sat back again.

"So Snape told on you two?" Mum nodded, her frown returning.

"Yes. After he did, he told his friends, and it got around the school. People tormented your father and I, called us names you wouldn't believe." I looked down, feeling something as close to hatred for Snape that I had ever felt. Dad laid his hand on my knee.

"Lacey, it was bad, but we weren't on our own." I looked up at him. "We had friends that were always on our side."

"Who?"

"Well, for one thing, a man called Remus Lupin." My eyes lit up.

"He's one of my professors!"

"Yes," Mum said, smiling again. "He wrote and told us. But yes, him, as well as James Potter and Lily Evans." Harry's parents! "They were very mature for their ages." Dad then frowned. "Then, there was Peter Pettigrew and... Sirius Black." My heart skipped a beat. "Yes," Dad continued. "We knew him. He seemed like such a nice boy at the time." I looked down. Why does his name keep popping up? Is this supposed to mean something?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"What?" On the train headed back to school, I had just told Neville what my parents said. "Why would he even want to do that to them?" I shrugged.

"Neither of them really knows. My mum admitted to being a little less than polite to Snape at the time. But she couldn't have done anything to make him pull something like that."

"So you think it was revenge or something?"

"I don't know. I don't know what to think right now." And that was true. My brain was just so screwed up about everything. And it was about to get worse.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

"No! They're going to kill Buckbeak?"

"Yeah," said Harry, nodding glumly. I pushed away my bowl of cereal and turned to him.

"But...they can't! That's cruelty!"

"It is," said Hermione, "but the Ministry won't change the verdict."

"Malfoy's father got everyone's approval after telling them how 'dangerous' Buckbeak is." I suppressed a growl. Mr. Malfoy would do something like that.

"How can they...Why is this..." I couldn't take it anymore. Without a word, I got up from the table and ran to the door.

"Let her go, Neville," I heard Ron say. I was secretly grateful; I needed to be alone. Not even paying attention, I ran down the hallway. I had gone through about two hallways before I crashed into someone who was the absolute last person I wanted to see.

"Watch where you going, you clumsy girl." Snape sneered down at me. "Where are you running in such a hurry?" At that moment, I felt myself snap.

"Why her?" He said nothing. "Why my mother, Snape? Why did you want to ruin her life? And my father's life? Like you try to ruin all our lives?"

"How dare you speak to me in that tone," he snapped at me. "Don't blame me because your parents chose to paint you a pretty picture of innocence instead of being honest with you." That was it. I drew my wand and pointed it at him.

"Take that back!" His wand was just out of his pocket when I heard something.

"Stop! Both of you!" Lupin stepped in between me and Snape. "Lacey, put your wand away." I hesitated, glaring at Snape. "Now." I slowly put my wand back in my pocket. He patted my shoulder gently. "You'd better come with me to my office." This was not what Snape wanted to hear.

"She drew her wand against a teacher! Surely you agree that she should be punished." I had never heard him sound so dangerous.

"I don't think so, professor. She's probably just stressed, that's all. I'll see to her." With that, he took me by the shoulder and led me away from the furious professor. When we reached his office, I was still trying to calm myself down. "Easy. Breathe." I sat down on top of a desk, and he sat on the one next to me. After a few minutes, I was breathing normally again. "Now, what was that all about?" I hesitated.

"I don't know...well, I do know, but I...I don't know why I got so mad." I looked at him.

"Your parents told you about seventh year, didn't they?" My eyes widened. "I heard what you said to Snape, and it sounded all too familiar." I looked down and nodded. He got off the desk and started pacing.

"They told me you were one of the people that stuck up for them," I said. He stopped pacing.

"Yes. Your parents were very kind to me, Lacey, and to the rest of the Gryffindors. They still are." He smiled, as if he were thinking of a fond memory. He turned to me and smiled. "You should've seen Abby back then. She was quite aggressive when it came to Slytherins. The moment they said or did something wrong..." He chuckled softly and shook his head. I smiled, too. Then, he looked back at me. "It's something I think you inherited from her." I lowered my head, ashamed of myself.

"I'm sorry, professor. I have trouble controlling myself sometimes."

"Well, it's been a rough year for you, Lacey. For everyone." He paused. "Besides, it shows that you care fiercely about your loved ones." I nodded.

"I really do. I can't stand the thought of anybody hurting them."

"I don't blame you." Suddenly, I had a thought.

"Is that why my boggart is a mosquito?" He smiled and nodded.

"Yes." I smiled and looked down again. There was a long silence before Lupin spoke. "Feel better?"

"Yes, sir," I said, smiling.

"Okay. You can go. But listen to me, Lacey." He was suddenly very serious. "You could have been expelled today. Don't ever turn your wand against a teacher again." I nodded in all sincerity.

"Yes, sir."

"Alright. Have a good day."

"You too, professor." With that, I got up and left the classroom. I'll never forget how caring Remus Lupin was. Sure, he was very serious, but completely compassionate all the same.

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I hoe you enjoyed this chapter. I'll have the next one up ASAP =)