Dumbledore was pacing behind his desk, and his head snapped up when we entered.

"Good, you're here," he said; his voice sounded stressed. "Please; take a seat."

Harry, Luke, and I took the three seats next to the door. Looking around, I noticed that the two empty chairs had been filled; one by Sirius, who was in his animagus form, and the other by a strange man I had never seen. He had light brown hair flecked with gray, even though he didn't look older than thirty, and sparkling gray-blue eyes. For some reason, he looked really familiar.

"I didn't know Lupin was part of the Order," said Harry.

"Lupin? Remus Lupin?" I asked.

"Yeah," said Harry. "Who else would it be?"

I shook my head as Dumbledore stopped pacing. He looked around the room, and instantly, all noise stopped.

"Thank you all for coming on such a short notice," he said. "Sirius, you may take your original form."

The dog nodded and slowly transformed into a man. Several gasps were issued throughout the room; Snape was glaring at him.

"Before anyone says anything, let me explain," said Dumbledore calmly. "Sirius is innocent. The one who should've been in his place at Azkaban is Peter Petigrew.

"Now, some of you must be wondering why I have called an emergency meeting. The reason is this; Voldemort has managed to perswuade a fair number of vampires to join him."

"Vampires?" I said. Lupin looked up at me, and our eyes met. His eyes traveled down to the Dream Crystal; his mouth dropped a bit, but he caught himself and shut it. I looked away, and Dumbledore continued.

"Yes. Thankfully, not the entire vampire race joined him. Those who didn't, however, remain neutral," he said, starting to pace again. "Now, it is only a matter of time before the Dementors join him."
"What can we do?" asked Sirius, a slight growl in his voice.

"Everything we can do," sighed Dumbledore. "We have the giants on our side, which gives us an advantage over the vampires. Someone will have to convince Fudge to remove the Dementors from Azkaban."

"I'll do that," said the old woman who had been talking to Mundugus before the first Order meeting.

"Thank you, Arabella," said Dumbledore, smiling slightly. Harry did a sort of double-take; the woman caught his eye and winked.

"That's Mrs. Figg," he whispered to me.

"I would never have guessed," I retorted softly. He glared at me, but couldn't say anything because Dumbledore started to speak again.

"Thank you all again for coming last minute," he said. "Now, you may leave. I expect you all want to go home and sleep, seeing how late it is."

Everyone got up and stretched, then slowly filtered out of Dumbledore's office. I was barely out of the gargoyle when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning, I found Lupin behind me.

"Hello," I said, slightly surprised.

"Hi," he said, a little shakily. "I was wondering- could we talk?"

"Sure," I said slowly as we moved towards a less crowded end of the corridor. "What about?"

"Well... um," Lupin stuttered, his eyes avoiding mine. Then I realized something; they looked exactly like my eyes!

"Does this have anything to do with Sirius?" I asked, ignoring that face. Lots of people have eyes like mine, I told myself.

"Sirius? No," said Lupin. "It's just that I, um, I-"

"What?" I asked. "Do I looked familiar or something?"

"Yes," breathed Lupin. "I had a daughter who had eyes just like yours. And... I necklace like the one you're wearing. Well, she didn't have it yet. She was-"

"Going to inherit it from Lily Potter?" I finished for him.

Lupin nodded, far from startled. His eyes met mine, staring at me almost pleadingly.

"You think I'm your daughter, don't you?" I whispered. He nodded again, and I was silent for a moment. Slowly, the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together; Lily and James had both known him; the Sorting Hat had said we both were brave, creative, and had a knack for coming up with pranks, which I knew were some of Lupin's qualities; and then the last clue, the important clue, the one that proved it genetically; our eyes. And our hair. I realized that, though flecked with grey, he had the same shade of hair I did.

The whole time I had been putting the puzzle together in my mind, Lupin watched me. His eyes had become overly bright and moist, and a small smile was glued on his face. I closed my eyes, fighting back tears of my own, and then I nodded. First slowly, then furiously, no longer holding back the tears. Lupin--my dad--my dad! -- swept me up in a firm yet comforting hug, resting his head on mine. Suddenly, I wasn't a 15-year-old anymore; I was a toddler, clinging to her father for dear life.

"Don't cry," he said soothingly. "If anyone should be crying, it should be me. I thought I'd never see you again."

"Will you tell me?" I asked through my tears. "Will you tell me what happened that night?"

Before Lupin could answer, a loud cough shattered the sentimentality of the moment. I looked over Lupin's shoulder and saw Harry and Sirius. Harry was giving me a "What the hell?" look, and Sirius merely stood there, a shocked expression on his face. I wiped my tears away, broke out of Lupin's hold, and walked over to Harry.
"Hi," I said lamely. Harry just kept on staring at me; I shrugged. "What can I say? Family reunions get very emotional."

Harry's jaw dropped even further. "He-- and you? Related?"

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Moony," said Sirius, snapping out of his "trance."

"I suppose I do," sighed Lupin. "But could we go some place quieter, like a classroom or something?"

"There's one somewhere around here," Harry murmured.

"Then let's go find it," I said. Walking over to Lupin, I put an arm around his waist and looked up at him. "C'mon, Dad."

The effect of that simple phrase was more than I expected.

"He's your-- you're his--" Harry kept saying, looking at me, than at Lupin, then back to me.

"You said you were related, but not this closely," said Sirius, trying not to laugh. "Since when--"

"I'll explain when we find that classroom," said Lupin, going a very faint shade of pink.

"In other words, shut up," I translated. "Both of you."

"Yes, ma'am," they said in unison.

"That's better," said Lupin. In complete and utter silence, Lupin, Sirius, Harry, and I made our way down the corridor, entering the first classroom we came to.

As if this triggered an invisible switch, Harry and Sirius started to bombard Lupin with questions.

"How come you never told us?"

"Why was Emerald crying?"

"Where has she been for the past fifteen years?"

"Did I say you could talk?" I snapped, sitting on a desk facing Harry.

"No," said Harry sheepishly.
"I've told you; I'll explain it all," sighed Lupin.

"Then start explaining," said Sirius.

"All right," Lupin said, massaging his temples. "Well... I don't really know how to explain it."

"Start off by telling us when Emerald was born," prompted Sirius. "Because I never even knew you had a daughter."

"We didn't tell anyone except Lily and James," Lupin said quietly. "That was because of the Light."

"The Light?" said Harry. "The thing we said the Order oath on?"

"Yes," I said. "Now, be quiet so he can finish. I'm rather eager to hear about my past."

"Thank you," said Lupin. "Um... well, Lily and James visited us a lot; Lily especially. She loved Emerald as much as we did. Just a few days before Harry was born, Lily came over and told us she would be leaving the necklace she always wore to Emerald. By then, we knew it was the Dream Crystal, and we were puzzled why she had decided to leave it to Emerald instead of her own baby. When I asked her about it, she shrugged and said she had her reasons.

"Then Harry was born, and Lily and James couldn't have been happier. They would bring Harry over for hours at a time, and we would talk while he and Emerald played. We had no clue that everything would be torn apart the next Halloween.

"I was out at Diagon Alley getting some books when it happened. When I got home and saw our house in runes, and the Dark Mark hovering over the rubble, I dropped everything and ran inside. There was absolute chaos in every room; lamps had been shattered, the furniture was upended, and torn pages from book were scattered everywhere... I almost lost my mind. Then I heard crying from Emerald's room, and a flare of energy, of something, rose up inside me, and I ran towards her room.

"It was as bad as the rest of the house; the clothes had been torn from the closet, the nightstand had been smashed into toothpicks, and Emerald's crib was on its side. The crying was coming from it; Emerald was still inside, the blankets piling up on her. I picked her up and cradled her in my arms, thankful that she was still alive. Then I left."
"What about my... my mother?" I asked shakily.

"I found her body laying next to the crib," Lupin said softly. "That's why I left."

"Then what happened?" said Harry.

"Dumbledore showed up," answered Lupin. "It's like he knew Voldemort had attacked."

"So how'd I end up in a different dimension?" I asked.

"It was Dumbledore's idea," replied Lupin. "I told him that Lily had decided to leave the Dream Crystal to you, and he said that once Voldemort found out, he was sure to come after you again. It took a lot of persuasion, but I finally gave in."

"What took a lot of persuasion?" I pressed.

"He told me that the safest way to protect you from Voldemort would be to find you guardians in another dimension until the Dream Crystal found it's way to you," said Lupin, wringing his hands. "Then, your powers would return to you, and you'd be able to come back here."

"Moony," said Sirius suddenly, "exactly what did the Light say about Emerald?"

"It said that a baby girl would be born to a werewolf on the full moon," said Lupin, "and... something about her aiding the heir of Gryffindor in battles against the heir of Slytherin."

"Who's the heir of Gryffindor?" asked Harry. I nearly fell on the floor laughing.

"What's so funny?" asked Sirius.

"It's ironic," I said, giggling, "so hysterically ironic. Harry, you're the heir of Gryffindor."
"No way," he said. "You're joking."

"Do I look like I'm joking?" I said. "Just add up the clues; you were born July 31, which makes you a Leo. The Gryffindor mascot is a lion. When you found your wand, it shot out red and gold sparks; the Gryffindor colors are red and gold. You pulled his sword out of the Sorting Hat when fighting Voldemort's memory in your second year. Your parents lived in Godric's Hollow. Isn't that enough proof for you?"

"Yeah," said Harry. "I guess I never really thought about it before."

"Oh?" I said, raising my eyebrows.

"Three words; don't fall asleep," retorted Harry, poking me in the stomach.

"Likewise," I shot back, grinning.

"Don't they remind you of someone?" asked Sirius.

"Yeah; Lily and James," replied Lupin, smiling. I smiled too, then yawned.

"What time is it?" I asked, stiffling another yawn.

"I think it's about 11," said Sirius. "You two should go to bed."

"Mhm," I said, standing up. "C'mon, Harry."

He stood up, also. "G'night."

"Night, Sirius. Night... Dad," I said. I hesitated, then gave both of them a hug and ran out the door after Harry.

"Night, you two," said Lupin, smiling.
"Well," said Harry when we entered the common room, "tonight was full of surprises."

"Yep," I agreed. "I hope there won't be any more tonight."

"You never know," Harry said, grinning mischievously.

"Don't you dare," I warned.

"Wouldn't I?" asked Harry.

"I guess," I said thoughtfully, "and so would I."

"Looks like neither of us are going to get much sleep tonight," sighed Harry.

"Nope," I agreed. "Sweet dreams."

"You, too," replied Harry, smirking. Yawning, I climbed the stairs to the girls' dormitory and heard Harry slide into the boys'.

My head had barely hit the pillow when the golden mist surrounded me. An no sooner had the golden mist surrounded me than someone slammed into me, squeezing all the air from my lungs in a tight hug.

"Lily," I choked, "why are you trying to suffocate me?"

"Sorry," she said, releasing her grip on me. "I heard the conversation. I guess all your question's have been answered."

"Not all of them," I said. "Is 'Emerald Chalcedona Destiny' my real name? And is May 17th my real birthday?"

"No, and no," answered Lily. "Your real birthday is July 12th, and your real name is Emerald Titania Lupin."

"Emerald Titania Lupin," I echoed. "I like it better than my old name."

"I do, too," agreed Lily, smiling broadly.

"Lily," I said, "do you know why Voldemort only blocked my powers?"

"Honestly? I have no idea at all," she said. "Some force might have held him back from killing you, but that's just a guess."

"One more question," I said. "What was my mother's name?"

"Kati," replied Lily, smiling fondly at the memory.

"My best friend in kindergarten was named Kati," I stated. "I miss her."

"I miss my Kati, too," Lily said softly. We were silent for a moment, lost in our daydreams. Then I remembered that I had to pull a prank on Harry.

"I gotta go," I told Lily. "Harry warned me not to fall asleep, so I have a feeling he's gonna try to pull a prank on me."

Lily smiled mischievously. "Better get to him first."

"That's what I was planning to do," I giggled. "C'ya tomorrow night."

"Bye!" Lily's voice echoed in my mind as I opened my eyes.