Meanwhile, Konata stood by the phone, staring speechlessly at the ceiling. Even the abrupt arrival of Blaze in the kitchen didn't snap her out of her dreamy trance. "What happened to you?" Blaze inquired. Konata turned to her airily.

"Guess what phone call I just got?"

"What phone call did you just got?"

Konata forgot to laugh. "Shiro is a prefect now! So are Hermione and Ron."

Blaze grinned very convincingly, but even if it had been faked Konata was too distracted to have been able to see through it. "Wow, that's great! Congrats." Her smile faded a bit. "Just, don't let that your boyfriend's a prefect get to your head…"

Konata shook her head quickly. "Oh, don't worry, I won't! Well, I HOPE I don't."

Blaze simply shrugged. "By the way… You got this letter. Not sure who it's from." She held up an envelope which Konata quickly snatched with a "Thank you." She ripped it open and scanned the letter with her eyes. Her grin broadened.

"Oh, wow! Hannah is a prefect too! She says the male prefect is Ernie- Ernie Macmillian. If you ask me, those two would make a lovely couple." Blaze just nodded politely. For a few moments, it was silent between the two girls- awkwardly so for Blaze, but Konata was too joyful to notice. The silence was broken when Mr. and Mrs. Verdent entered the room. From their expressions and the atmosphere around them, it was quite evident they'd been fighting.

"Konata, sweetheart… We have to talk for a moment," Mrs. Verdent said quietly. She glanced at Blaze, who immediately swept back to her room: she knew well enough that she need not get involved with a family situation.

"What's up…?" Konata asked hesitantly, frowning. With a sigh, her mom took her hand and led her to the sofa, Mr. Verdent close behind. The three of them took a seat on the couch, Konata in the middle.

"Honey… After all these years, it's nearly impossible to tell you this…" Mr. Verdent began slowly. Konata's frown deepened, and she slightly shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm… I'm sure you've thought or been told you don't quite resemble us," Mrs. Verdent said quietly, appearing like she was on the verge of tears. Konata nodded. It was true: neither of her parents ever had brown hair, and they both lacked Konata's eye color.

"Well darling… It's because…" Mr. Verdent took a deep breath. "We're not your real parents."

Konata caught her breath. "Come again…?" Mr. Verdent pressed a photograph into the palm of Konata's hand. She stared down at it: it showed a young woman that looked exactly like Konata, but with light blue eyes. Sitting beside her with his arm around her affectionately was a blonde man with emerald green eyes. In the woman's arms, wrapped in a pink blanket, was a small baby who couldn't be more than a couple weeks old. "Konata… This is you as a baby, with your biological parents," Mr. Verdent told her softly. "Both of them… were purebloods."

Konata's jaw dropped. Throughout her terms at Hogwarts, she'd always thought she was a Muggle born, when in truth she was a pureblood witch? "What happened to them…?" she asked in a whisper, though she dreaded the answer.

Tears were now falling gently down Mrs. Verdent's face. "When you were a year old… the Dark Lord murdered them both. They left us in custody of you… We were the only Muggles who knew they were magic. When you were born, your mum was 21 while your father was 24, and they had JUST married… Your da- William, I-I mean- was 23, and I had been 22, and we were just dating at the time…" She sighed between her tears. "We wouldn't have found each other without your parents.

"Anyway… The four of us all lived in the same neighborhood. Your parents were overjoyed when they learned you'd be born, but terrified at the same time. They knew they were threatened, being blood traitors, so they said if anything was to happen to them after they had you…" She shook her head, hugging Konata close to her. Mr. Verdent stroked his daughter's- well, ADOPTED daughter's- back.

"Konata… I never wanted to have children, I'll admit that." Konata felt tears spring into her own eyes as he said this, and wanted to jump up and run away. But, he continued: "Still, I love you unconditionally, and I'll never regret raising you. I'm sorry if I'm rough on you at times…" He lowered his voice. "I just don't want anything to happen to you, like it happened to your parents."

Trying to make her lip stop quivering, Konata pulled away from her parents and shook her head. "No. Stop it."

Mrs. Verdent attempted to dry her tears. "Sweetheart, I-"

"I understand that… that most of my life has been a lie," Konata interrupted. "But… I-I don't blame you guys. I can't explain it, I just… don't. Stop saying 'your parents.' I don't want to know anything else about them- not their names, not what they were like… It may not be by blood, but, YOU two are my parents. You always have been, and always will be."

At a loss for words, Mr. and Mrs. Verdent just glanced at each other, then hugged Konata tightly.

Blaze didn't quite know what to say when Konata told her about her parent situation, so the girls decided to abandon the topic. Instead, they discussed what was to come in their fifth year at Hogwarts. They talked about O.W.L.'S, their predictions about the new DADA teacher, and, of course, who'd been appointed prefects. There was one topic, though, that Konata threw upon Blaze unexpectedly.

"Alright, so those big exams and new professor and which of our friends and enemies are prefects are all important, but what we REALLY must talk about is you and love!"

Blaze's cheeks burned lightly pink. "I… I AM going to ask out Satoshi when we get back- if he's single, that is. I mean, it's his last year: I can't wait much longer."

Konata squealed, clapping briefly. "Precious! You two would be SO cute… And like he could turn you down! You're YOU! Plus, if you two end up being together for years and years to come…"

"…we'll be in-laws!" Blaze finished, mentally groaning at her enthusiasm about being related to Konata. The bitterness in her head was soon replaced by cheerfulness, though, since Konata and Shiro WERE her best friends, and Satoshi could possibly be her first love, so for all of them to be related…

"I don't believe in perfection, but that would come pretty close," she whispered aloud under her breath.