The first person to come across the sleeping Gris was Snape. He had gone looking for her when she didn't show up for class. At first, he wasn't sure it was her until he saw the skylark necklace catch the light. He ran, something he never did, and knelt beside her. She was breathing and her heart was beating, so she couldn't be dead. He gently shook her. She stirred and looked up at him.
"What?" she said, as if it was a huge inconvenience.
"You're sleeping in the hall," he told her. "Did you pass out?"
"I don't think so," she sat up and looked around. Voldemort and Pettigrew were gone. She cursed to herself as Snape helped her up. He saw something glitter on her hand.
"What's this?" he asked.
"A ring," she replied.
"Who gave it to you?" he asked.
"Remus," she said, not seeing where he was going. Snape dropped her hand and stormed down to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room. Gris struggled to keep up with him.
"Snape, what's the matter? What's wrong?" she asked, following him all the way to the second floor. He threw open the door and the whole class turned to look at him.
"Yes, Professor?" Lupin asked.
"May I have a word with you?" Snape asked.
"Can it wait?" he asked.
"No, it cannot," Snape replied.
"In that case, class, start your essays," Lupin walked to back of the room and Snape slammed the door nearly as loudly as he'd opened it. Gris looked back and forth between the two.
"You openly defy me, Remus?" he said.
"What are you talking about?" Lupin asked. Snape took Gris' hand and thrust it under Remus' nose.
"This," he said.
"I would have done it, regardless of what you or Dumbledore said," he replied.
"You've never grown out of that 'Marauder' mentality," Snape snapped.
"Neither have I," Sirius said from behind him. Gris hadn't even seen him come over.
"This doesn't concern you," Snape said.
"Technically, this only concerns Gris and Remus," he replied.
"She is a student and for the next month and a half, I have legal guardianship over her. Do you condone a student-teacher relationship?" Snape questioned. Sirius was silent.
"Yes," he said when he finally spoke. "This one I do."
"Would you just stop it?" Gris said. "I'm not your daughter or your sister. None of you have any right to make my decisions for me. I'm sick of listening to you argue. I know you all love me, but shouldn't that be a unifying factor rather than a dividing one?" They all stared at her, dumbstruck. None of them could think of a proper response.
"Well, then, if that's what you want," Remus said.
"Yes, it is," she replied. Before she could say anything else, Sirius grabbed her elbow.
"Come to your office with me," he said. "I need to tell you something." He practically dragged her down the hall before she could protest.
"Do you mind telling me why you're dragging me like a sack of potatoes?" she asked.
"Your Muggle contraption started making noise while I was napping," he said. "That's why I came to get you."
"My cell phone?" she said.
"That thing only makes noise when something's wrong," he said. They entered her office and Gris took her phone out of her desk drawer. She checked the missed call list.
"It's my mum," she said. "Can't imagine what she wants." She quickly dialed the number and waited for her mother to pick up.
"Hello?" Rachel said.
"You called?" said Gris.
"I received an interesting piece of mail today. An owl showed up on our mailbox," she said. "One that wasn't Rayne."
"Who was it from?' Gris asked, trying to keep herself from shaking to death.
"It was from Professor Snape. He outlined his concerns about a relationship between you and Professor Lupin. He said he felt that things were becoming inappropriate between you two. What does he mean, Gris? Is this true?" she asked. Gris swallowed the lump in her throat. Time for the truth.
"Yes," Gris said softly. Rachel exploded.
"Have you gone mad? He's a teacher! You're a student! How old is this man?" she cried.
"Thirty five," replied Gris, more softly than before.
"Oh my God. Have I taught you nothing? Are you sick? Have you gone out of your gourd? Are you under a spell? Tell me why, for the love of all that is holy, why?" she barked hysterically.
"Because I love him,"
"Love? Is that what you think this is? How many times have you fucked him?" Rachel demanded.
"I have not had sex with him, mother! What do you take me for?" Gris snapped. Her mother was silent.
"Stop whatever you're doing with him. I won't have it, not from you," she said.
"He'll be very upset when I break the engagement," Gris said. With that, she hung up. Rachel would call back after Martin talked some sense into her.
Sirius had her one end of the conversation and that was enough.
"Mum's pretty upset, eh?" he said.
"She's probably going to disown me," she said.
"Are you really going to break the engagement?" he asked.
"No, Dad will sway her. She'll call back and apologize," she answered.
"And what makes you think your dad will support this?" Sirius asked.
"He's always supported my decisions, even if they were bad ones. He likes for me to learn that way. He'll support me in this, no matter what he really thinks," she said.
"You amaze me, little girl," he said.
"What else am I good for?" she grinned.
"Come here," he said. He grabbed her into a bear hug. She felt the air escape from her lungs, but she hugged him back.
"Go talk to Lily," he said.
"Why?"
"She needs to mommy somebody and you need to be mommied," he said.
"Okay," she smiled. She went to go find Lily. As she walked past one of the classrooms, a strange noise came from behind the door. Gris stopped and pushed the door open to peek inside.
Her cousin and the youngest Weasley were half dressed and quickly going beyond that. At first, she didn't believe what she was witnessing. Then, an incredible wave of confusion and anger swept over her.
"Hermione Elizabeth Granger!" she barked. Hermione went rigid and slowly turned to look at Gris.
"Yes?" she said. Gris put her hand on her forehead.
"Redress yourself and let Ron pull himself together," she said slowly, trying to keep her temper in check. Ron quickly pulled his robe on and Hermione dressed herself the fastest she'd ever managed. Without a word, Gris grabbed Hermione's arm and dragged her back to Gryffindor tower.
"Please say something," Hermione begged. Gris stopped and stared at her cousin.
"What were you thinking? What could possess you to do something that reckless? What if that hadn't been me who opened that door? I've never seen you do anything so irresponsible," she bellowed.
"I…I don't know. It felt right," she stuttered.
"Please don't say that," she said. Hermione was confused.
"Why?"
"It's not a real reason," Gris snapped.
"Why not? You use it all the time!" Hermione snapped back.
"And look at me! I nearly died because of what happened with Harry. I wish I had stayed rational for five more minutes," she said.
"Is that going to happen to me?" asked Hermione.
"I don't know. I'm not a seer," Gris replied.
"Are you going to tell?"
"Who'd believe me? But if I catch you again, you can bet I will call, not owl, call your parents," she said.
"Okay," Hermione said slowly.
"I have to go see someone. Go back to Gryffindor," she instructed. Hermione nodded and kept walking. Gris swept up her robes and headed to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room. Lupin was grading papers when she came in.
"Hey," he said. Her face looked like a storm cloud when he looked up. "What's wrong?"
"Just thinking," she said, loosening her facial expression. She leaned over and kissed him. The kiss degenerated into making out. It was risky doing something like that during school hours. The risk didn't seem to matter to either of them. Suddenly, tears began streaming down Gris' face. Lupin stopped and put his hand on her cheek.
"Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" he asked. She shook her head. The whole story of Ron and Hermione came spilling out.
"I just don't know what to do. I don't even know why I'm crying," she sobbed.
"You don't want them to feel the pain you've felt. Don't think I don't know what happened between you and Harry. Sirius told me after it happened. What I didn't realize is how badly it affected you. I can see how her almost having sex would provoke this kind of reaction," he said.
"For a while it was okay, but then it began to eat away at me. I couldn't bear to look at him or be near him because I knew I didn't love him," she said.
"You love him, but not in the way you love me or your parents or Hermione," he said. "You're a kind heart, Gris. You really don't like to hurt people."
"I only hurt the ones who deserve it," she said.
"Like your father," he said. She wiped her eyes and nodded.
"I wish I had a real father that loved me," she said. Lupin smiled.
"You don't just have one. You have two. Martin Granger and Severus Snape would throw themselves in front of a herd of wild hippogriffs for you," he said.
"Snape would do that for me?"
"I've known him for twenty four years. He adored your mum and he loves you more than he'd ever let on. The reason he got so angry with me is simply because he doesn't want to lose you. The girl he's protected and watched over for the past six and a half years. It's been said that he asked Grissa if he could raise you and she said no," he said. Gris felt her jaw drop.
"How come no one has ever told me this?" she asked.
"No one person knows the complete story. Everyone knows bits and pieces. Some of it's true, but most of it isn't," he said.
"I need to go see him," she said. Lupin gave her the go ahead.
Gris ran the entire way down to Snape's classroom. She found him in a less than presentable state. There was an entire empty bourbon bottle on the desk. Snape himself was passed out face down.
"When I really need him, he's piss drunk," she said. The thought for a moment and then grabbed the necklace.
"Mum, you talk to him. I know he'll listen to you," she said.
"If you want me to," Grissa said.
"Please, he needs you this time," she replied. Gris felt herself drift into a numb state as the spirit of her mother took over.