Violet awoke in the hospital wing all cleaned up and bandaged, her arm in a sling at that too. Her whole body ached, but the moment Madame Pomfrey caught wind of the fact she was awake, she came over with a potion that at least eased the ache and was happy to send the girl on her way.

She glanced around the Hospital Wing to find the other beds empty.

A fresh pair of clothes were folded up on the chair next to her bed, so Violet got dressed.

She decided to take a slow walk down to the Great Hall for lunch, only to hear strange whispers about the previous night.

"Did you hear? Professor Lupin's a werewolf…"

"Isn't that Merryworth girl his niece?"

"I heard a werewolf attacked four students and Professor Snape…"

"Merryworth knew him, you think she knew about this too?"

Looking at her feet as she moved around the castle, Violet changed course and decided to head to Lupin's office. Her face was burning red and tears stang her eyes as she powerwalked to the third floor, so lost in her own world that she didn't realise someone was calling after her.

"Violet - hey!" Harry grabbed her uninjured arm, pulling her out of her thoughts. He frowned when seeing her face. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head and sniffed. "The whole school knows about last night! And - and about me… and him." Her shoulders slumped and Harry let go of her arm so that he could give her hand a gentle squeeze instead.

"I'm sorry, Violet," he said sincerely. "I don't think any of them would make fun of you for it though - he was the coolest teacher we've had."

There was the ghost of a half smile on his face which widened into a true one when she appeared to cheer up.

"Yeah. Even I have to admit he was…"

"But…" Harry turned somber. "He's already left - well, he's on his way out - if we run we might be able to catch him in the Entrance Hall?"

Violet's eyes widened and she pulled Harry into a run back down the staircase. Her heart had leapt into her throat and tears were falling down her face. She ignored them and didn't stop running until they caught sight of Lupin making his way out of the Entrance Hall and into the main courtyard. He had his cane with him, something that Violet had rarely ever seen him with; she realised that the pattern of use was after full moons.

Whatever possessed her to yell what she did to him, she would never know.

Quite frankly, she didn't care that other students heard.

"Uncle Remus!" she shouted across the courtyard, letting go of Harry and running over to him. Lupin turned around curiously to see her, only for his jaw to drop when he saw that she was injured.

Violet skidded to a halt in front of him, not entirely sure what to do next.

Then she hugged him. Awkwardly, with one functioning arm.

The first hug they had, and it took them both by surprise.

"You were going to leave without saying a word to me," she said, her face squished against him.

Lupin was tentative in putting an arm around Violet, but he did so all the same and sighed.

"After last night… it seemed best."

"It wasn't you. It wasn't your fault."

"That doesn't matter - I was afraid of you hating me even more."

She pulled back from him and wiped her eyes. "I never hated you."

He raised an questioning eyebrow, and Violet stared at her feet as she spoke.

"It was more… resentment. I knew we weren't related at all so I didn't understand why I had to call you uncle. But then I found out about how mum's pure blood side of the family really hated Muggle borns and basically thought I was the worst possible thing to exist." Violet paused. "You can't choose your family most of the time - sometimes you can - and I didn't get to choose you either. It always felt like a vain attempt at giving me a relative."

Lupin was quiet as he digested her words, wanting to be thoughtful about what he said; he didn't need to think too hard for that.

"I understand where you're coming from. I think if I were part of a family where half of it had a myriad of issues surrounding blood purity, I would quite possibly be the same," he said to her. "I will say one thing, and that is you used to be quite taken with me before you could talk."

She looked up at him and frowned. "Was I?"

"For some time, yes…" He chewed on his lip for a moment. "You asked your mother questions the first moment you could."

"Yes… that was how I learned we weren't actually related. That you were just a friend of theirs. I'm sorry - that must have… when I rejected you that must have hurt."

"It did. But your parents still tried their best to get you to like me. And look where we are now." He awkwardly patted her on the cheek.

"I'll admit, you have definitely grown on me this past year…" she said sheepishly.

He gave her a tired smile. "I know. For that, I'm grateful."

"You were the best," Violet told him. "And I'm not just saying that. Promise."

"Thank you."

"Also… um, I'll tell mum and dad about this." She gestured at her arm. "I don't want them to be angry with you."

"We'll tell them together. Now. Off you go. I'm sure you have much better things to be doing. I'll see you over the summer."

With that, he turned and carried on walking, Violet watching him with a forlorn expression for a few moments. A few extra tears dripped down her cheeks and she wiped them away as she walked back over to Harry, who was sitting on a bench. He jumped immediately.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah. It'll be fine," she assured him.

"He gave me back the Map," he then told her as they started to make their way back inside the castle.

Violet's face lit up at that, oddly enough. "Really?"

"Something about not feeling guilty doing it because he's not my teacher anymore." Harry shrugged. "You look way too pleased about that."

"It's fun," Violet admitted. "Besides, out of the seven secret passageways out of Hogwarts, you've used two so far. There's still five more to use!"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I didn't realise you liked trouble."

"It wasn't so bad," she said. "I stepped out of my comfort zone a little bit, I suppose. Is this what it's like with you three every year?"

"Apparently. Is that a problem?"

"As long as I don't get attacked by a werewolf again, I can't see it being a problem. Besides, an extra pair of eyes is always good."

Harry considered that for a moment. "Yeah, you notice everything. Kind of weird sometimes though."

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Harry." After that she playfully shoved him on the shoulder and he laughed, going to ruffle her already messy hair. Violet scowled at him as she patted it back into place, mentally telling herself to get Hermione to help her plait it later on.

As they reached the Great Hall, a bunch of Gryffindors came running up to them, surrounding the pair and pretty much herded them to where Ron and Hermione were sitting at the table.

Oddly enough, they were there not for Harry, but for Violet.

"Merryworth!" Seamus Finnigan was practically boiling over with excitement. "Is it true?"

"That Professor Lupin is your uncle?" Dean Thomas elaborated.

Violet was stunned. She wasn't expecting them to be so… happy.

"Um - well, that's just what I have to call him. He's a friend of my parents'..."

"Did you know he was a Werewolf?" Parvati Patil piped up once Harry and Violet had settled down at the table with everyone.

Violet shook her head. "No, I didn't. Not until the cover lesson with Snape, I sort of figured it out…" She looked around all her peers. "Why do you want to know so badly?"

"He must be the best person to have as an uncle - blood or not," Dean commented. Violet winced at that, knowing he was right. Lupin had definitely been the best, not that she'd seen it until this year due to her own stubbornness.

"We don't really care that he's a Werewolf," Seamus said. "He didn't exactly hurt any of us this year, why would we care?"

"It's hardly his fault," Lavender Brown said.

"Gotta say though, Merryworth, he was the coolest Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had," Seamus then added.

She had no idea what to say. She'd never received this much attention from her classmates before, and she didn't quite know what to say about the stream of compliments of having someone like Lupin in her life. She felt a great rush of pride towards the man. Violet glanced at Harry briefly to see he was giving her an encouraging smile.

She then smiled at Seamus; a smile which slowly turned into a grin.

"Yeah. I guess he was."

A week after the "Shrieking Shack incident" as Violet had dubbed it, the four friends found themselves in a compartment of their own, on a train back to London so they could start their summer holidays. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been engaging in cheerful chatter about goodness knows what for the start of their journey home, whereas Violet was resting her head against the window staring at the landscapes that rushed by.

Truth be told, she was incredibly nervous about seeing her parents. Her arm was still in the sling and would be for the next couple of weeks, and for once she was genuinely worried about getting into trouble. She was worried about what they might say about Lupin when they found out what he'd done. She'd had one or two nightmares about the accidental attack, but it hadn't been anything too worrisome, thankfully, and she expected it might last a month or so before her mind settled down properly about the incident.

At least she had passed her exams with flying colours and that was a good bonus.

As if he were reading her mind, Harry poked her in the thigh with his foot from the opposite end of the seat. She straightened up and looked at him, forcing a brief smile onto her face.

"Worrying about it won't help," he said.

"I know," she muttered glumly. "But… I don't know…"

"The fact you and Lupin actually get on now will definitely distract your parents from what happened last week," Hermione told her. "They'll know it was an accident!"

"There's that, I guess, but I've never broken a school rule in my life!" Violet's voice raised in pitch and it made the boys laugh while Hermione looked at him sympathetically. Harry sat up properly and scooted over to sit closer to her.

"You liked it though," he said teasingly. "Don't pretend you didn't just because you're worried about what your parents are gonna say!"

"I know, I know…" she sighed.

"Hey Vi, your dad played Quidditch didn't he?" Ron changed the subject, and she nodded. "Are you going to the Quidditch World Cup this summer? If you are - we'll see you there! Dad usually gets tickets… Harry, Hermione - you should come too!"

Violet groaned. "I forgot about that - he got tickets ages ago…"

"Quidditch World Cup sounds excellent," Harry said. "It'll get me out of Little Whinging and the Dursleys'll love that…"

"Sure, sounds fun!" Hermione beamed.

The idea of having summer plans with her friends lifted Violet's spirits considerably.

"Oh, Harry, still got an open offer for you to escape to Guildford for a bit if you can?"

"Escape to Guildford?" Ron frowned.

"That's where I live - it's not too far from Little Whinging, so it's easy for Harry to get on a Muggle train there - inexpensive too. Enough about that… Harry, you never said about the Patronus? How did you manage to conjure one that powerful?"

"Oh yeah!" He was quite excited to finally talk about that. "The first time I saw it happen, I thought it was my dad. I thought somehow he had come back… but that moment I was watching myself die, I realised it had been me all along! So I knew I could do it. Does that make sense?"

"Sort of," Violet replied. "The only way to describe that is a Bootstrap Paradox. Or a self-fulfilling prophecy, if you prefer."

That partially helped Ron and Hermione understand.

"Also, why were you so calm when you saw me in the bushes?" Harry asked Violet in turn.

"I knew about the Time Turner from the start."

"And you didn't say anything?!" Ron was affronted.

"Alright, let me rephrase: I found out about the Time Turner by accident. It was never my secret to tell, was it? I've known since the first Care of Magical Creatures lesson of the year."

"Bloody hell…" Ron was shaking his head. "You girls and your secrets…"

"It helps that I'm less of a talker, more of a listener too," Violet reminded him. "You'll all keep in touch over the summer, won't you?"

"What sort of question is that?" Hermione rolled her eyes. "Of course we will, Violet."

"Good."

After that they played a few rounds of Exploding Snap and Violet disappeared behind a book for some time. Eventually their afternoon was interrupted by a tiny brown owl flying frantically alongside their window: upon letting it in, Harry found he had a letter from Sirius explaining that he was in hiding, that he had bought the Firebolt for Harry, that Ron could keep the tiny owl, and he'd attached a permission slip for Hogsmeade.

The rest of the train journey flew by in better spirits for the rest of them after that.

When they arrived back at platform nine and three quarters, Harry assisted Violet with her things considering she only had one working arm. They ended up heading through the barrier back to King's Cross together.

Lo and behold, her parents were there with Lupin.

"You know those people next to your parents and Lupin?" Harry whispered to her as they approached.

"Yeah?"

"That's my aunt and uncle."

So it was. The Dursleys really didn't seem happy when they realised they were standing next to Violet's family either.

"Oh darling, what happened to you?" Thomas Merryworth fussed over his daughter when she finally reached them. He took hold of her trolley immediately after giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"I think that's a conversation for when we're home…" she admitted.

"See you at the World Cup, yeah?!" Ron called over to them as he walked past with his family.

"Definitely!" Violet replied. "Thanks for the jumper as well, Mrs Weasley!"

Mrs Weasley waved it off, and Violet turned back to her parents and Lupin.

"My friends are a group of troublemakers, I suppose," she said, loudly enough for Harry to hear. She looked over at him to see he was smirking, and that his aunt and uncle weren't entirely pleased about that. "But they're great. Promise."

"I taught the four of them for a year. She's not wrong, you know," Lupin said. He seemed to be a lot healthier than he was last week.

"Well, we best be off then, and you can tell us all about how you hurt your arm…" Genevive said.

Violet nodded, quickly stepping over to Harry and giving him a one armed hug.

"See you for uhh... The Great Escape?" she asked him with a knowing look.

He glanced between her and his now suspicious relatives. "Sure thing. I'll let you know when. If not… World Cup?"

"World Cup it is. Have an… well, have an alright summer, Harry?"

He laughed. "You too. And don't worry about telling them what happened, yeah?"

"I'll try not to."

With that, she turned on her heel and headed back over to her parents and they walked towards the exit of King's Cross Station. She had a light frown on her face, which did not go unnoticed by Genevive.

"What's wrong, Violet?" she asked her daughter.

"Not that I don't mind, but… why is Remus here?"

Thomas and Genevive both faltered for a moment.

"I think that's a conversation for when we're home…" Genevive repeated Violet's earlier statement, only serving to make the girl more curious. "Or perhaps on the way. Someone may have let something slip about a Banishing Charm being used on a professor…"

Violet looked at Lupin who immediately shoved his hands in his pockets, pretending not to know what Genevive was talking about.

"It was the most Gryffindor thing I've ever done!" She tried to defend herself proudly.

"Maybe it was, but perhaps it was also rather stupid."

End of PoA! Woo! Very excited for the summer chapters/start of GoF. This is where some more obvious changes come into play, along with some of my own headcanons about the characters so yay!

Comment?

-OL.