Walking through the halls with Hecate is relaxing, even if it does make my hair stand on end. The magic and the presence I feel within the castle is like that of Camp, without the feeling of making me want to give the one-finger salute to the gods. Instead, I can hear the portraits whisper to one another, their painted eyes watching me. The original purpose is still there, safety and care for students, a security system put in place long ago – and just like with anything else, their purpose being corrupted or skewed for someone else's benefit. I trail aimlessly through the hallways, Hecate in a light sleep around my neck, waking on briefly whenever I come to a pause on the moving staircases. My mindless wandering eventually leads me to a closed door, and after only a moment of consideration, I push it open and find myself standing on a tower, the sun shining down on me. Closing my eyes and tilting my head back, I stand there sunbathing for what feels like an eternity before I feel a presence behind me. Immediately, my entire body tenses in response and I strain my muscles to prevent myself from pulling my sword. Slowly, I turn around and I see Professor Lupin, standing a couple of feet behind me, his wand in his hand, his eyes looking at me with an array of emotions.

We stare each other down for what feels like eternity before I open my mouth, but instead I'm cut off when he tensely asks, "Who are you?" His grip on his wand tightening.

I understand that he wants more information than what that question really is, but I wouldn't be me if I didn't have a little fun first. Smirking just the tiniest bit, I say, "Analuisa Black, and yourself?" If anything, he tenses worse, his eyes flashing a golden amber for the briefest of moments as he inhales deeply. I only tense in response, my hand moving into my pocket, clutching at my sword handle. Hecate has long sense woken up, hissing at Lupin.

We stay standing there, looking at each other before he finally breaks, "Remus Lupin – prove to me that you're really Analuisa."

Without a second thought, I open my mouth and blurt out the least intimidating thing ever, "No. You prove it." The next moment feels like a scene from a movie, especially when I feel Hecate slowly turn her head towards me, she stares me down as if to say 'Really? That's what you came up with?'. I feel my face turn pink from embarrassment, wondering how stupid I am, and then remembering that my very existence was graced with having to deal with ADHD.

Lupin stares me down, his eyebrows raised at my idiotic response. We keep staring each other down until finally he releases a chuckle, his grip loosening on his wand as his other hand swipes down his face. I don't relax until the next couple of words leave his mouth, "I've only ever had two people tell me to 'prove it' over the most ridiculous of things." He locks eyes with me, flashing gold as he takes a deep breath, "And one of them was four when I last saw her."

My grip doesn't loosen even when I hear those words come out of his mouth, instead my hairs stand on end when I see his eyes flash gold, memories of the past couple of years coming to the forefront of my mind. "Look, I don't know what the fuck you're trying to get at, I don't know you, and if at one point I did, I don't remember," I let out between gritted teeth. "So, who are you?"

His eyes flash with hurt this time, opening his mouth to speak before hesitating. I give him a moment, Hecate tense against my neck getting ready to strike if I don't do it first. "Ana, I'm Remus, I was best friends with your father – I'm practically your uncle." I stare him down, trying to go through my memories from a younger time.

"I'm sorry that's not enough – anyone could claim to be my dad's best friend. Tell me something only someone close to him would know," I take a step back, getting ready to move in case this turns out bad. I was four, and there's only so much information I could know besides what my mother would've told me.

"I don't know how much could even confirm my identity, considering you were four when he was imprisoned," he furrows his brow at me, trying to comprehend how I could even know much of anything.

Shrugging and with a smirk, I simply respond, "Try me."

No more than five long seconds of silence go by before he opens his mouth, and while I expected some modicum of proof, I wasn't expecting this to come pouring out of his mouth.

"I know who your mother is."

Ever the skeptical, I push it further, "Anyone could say that and come up with that – I never knew her, right? So, how can I confirm that tidbit of information?" I see him hesitate, my ire growing more and more, "Who is she?"

His shoulders slump, indicating that he's giving up on withholding that information. Before proceeding, he flicks his wand. Seeing my questioning gaze he says, "It's just a silencing charm, even though we are alone, I want to make sure that this following part of the conversation does not get told."

I simply nod my head, wanting him to do nothing more than get this long-winded conversation over with. We'd only been talking for less than 10 minutes but these were the longest 10 minutes of my life.

He simply says, "Your mother is Athena – goddess of war and wisdom." As if it were the easiest concept in the world. "I do not expect you to believe m-".

"Oh, don't worry, I do," I finally relax, although Hecate remains tense, still smelling something different about him.

"You shouldn't just believe me; how could you just take my word for it?" He asks me incredulously, probably wondering what the hell was wrong with me.

I shrug, leaning back against the rails going along the edge, "I mean, why wouldn't I? I've practically lived with her since I was four."

The look on his face was so worth this whole conversation. His mouth flaps open, gaping like a fish out of water as he tries to comprehend what I just said. I can't help but let out a giggle in response, his reaction was truly what I was starting to aim for.

"What do you mean you've practically been living with her?!" He runs his hand through his hair, his face looking less wary and more confused. "She's a fucking goddess – is that how you left Britain? Is that where you've been these last 12 years? Where EXACTLY have you been? I've been looking for you nonstop, I never stopped thinking about you." His voice becomes more distraught as time passes, and I can only imagine the pain he must've gone through during that Halloween.

Out of nowhere, an owl comes flying through the sky, hooting as it lands next to me on the railing. A female snowy owl, and I can only think of Hedwig, who I had met the day before. "Hedwig, right? Did mother send you to come check on me?" I asked in front of Remus, reaching over and scratching right beneath her beak, her body tilting into me as she lets out a firm hoot as affirmation. I chuckle in response, continuing to scratch Hedwig as her eyes close, seemingly confident that whatever I decide to say will be well warranted, and trusting Remus's character.

Looking back at Remus, I can finally see how the years had settled on his face, the scars that marred his skin. I decide to trust my instincts, despite my fight or flight system being kicked in, "That's gonna be a long conversation – can we move somewhere comfortable?"

He says nothing more, just nodding and with a wave of his wand, takes down the silencing charm and begins to lead me back down the staircase. Next to Hecate, Hedwig moved from the railing onto my shoulder, tagging along for the ride.

A/N: heyo, peeps. another update, i hope you enjoy! the next chapter will probably dive a little more into what happened to Analuisa between the ages of 4 and 16, right before she arrived to Hogwarts.

see ya,

oterol