REVISED 12/26/2014. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Surprisingly, it did not take long for Kirsten to recover from her injuries and she found herself walking through the hall the next day. She told Harry, Hermione, and Ron that she would meet up with them at Gryffindor Tower when she was released. But she wanted to be alone for a little longer. Her mind was still buzzing with the recent events that took place just the night before. She was in a mix of awe and anger at what happened. Her father was still seen as an escaped convict. She would never be able to live peacefully with him in a normal setting. The way it should have been.

And it was all thrown away when that sad excuse of a rat escaped.

"Kia!"

She didn't realize her nails were digging into her palm in anger as the voice broke her concentration. Whirling around, Kirsten saw a familiar small boy running into her direction with one other beside him.

"Hey, Derek," she greeted, and gave the boy back a small smile as she saw his beaming face.

"Did you hear about Professor Lupin?" he asked excitedly. Kirsten shook her head in response, wondering what the young Hufflepuff was going to say. "He's a werewolf!"

And that was the last thing Kirsten expected to hear.

"How did you find out?"

The excitement on his face vanished when he realized Kirsten was not smiling in the slightest.

"I guess you weren't at breakfast this morning," Derek rambled, " but Professor Snape let slip to the Slytherins at breakfast this morning. Apparently he was loose on the grounds last night."

Kirsten nodded her head in thanks and gave the young boys a small smile before walking swiftly down the halls. Her legs picked up speed as she sprinted down the hallway that led to his office and slid to a stop in front of door.

It was open and the figure of her godfather was standing before her. One hand wrapped around the handle of his old suitcase while the other was holding onto the empty Grindylow tank.

So many emotions ran through her as she stared at the man before her, but it didn't take long for her to find her voice.

"Can I see you out?"

He nodded his head and she realized he was not even looking at her, avoiding her gaze. The former Defense Against the Dark Arts professor stepped away from the doorway.

She didn't know whether to feel more sad or angry at his behavior. And was close to yanking the man back towards her with all her strength to go and have a chat in his office. However, she realized that the empty office was already occupied. The eyes of Professor Dumbledore and Harry were on her, but Kirsten didn't have time to stick around to chat or even bother to question why they were even there. The young witch whirled around to find her godfather waiting for her. Yet his eyes didn't dare to meet hers.

The two began to walk down the corridor in silence.

And it was killing her.

"You weren't even going to say bye, were you?"

It surprised her that it didn't take long for him to reply.

"I gave Professor Dumbledore a letter," he said quietly as they stepped onto the castle's stone steps.

She couldn't conceal her disbelief.

What was his problem?

"A letter?" she exclaimed. She stared at him wondering what this sudden cause of uneasiness was about when it suddenly hit her."Who told you?"

"Professor Dumbledore."

There was another bout of silence until Kirsten chose her words carefully. "It doesn't matter what happened. Who cares that —"

"That I attacked you?" he intervened incredulously. He took a deep breath to calm himself as he continued quietly, "Your mother asked me to be your godfather to a point where I actually agreed. She knew the risks. And last night, I—I could have killed you, Kirsten."

"But you didn't kill me," she told him, shrugging her shoulders. "Besides you never intended to kill me before only wh—"

"But—"

"Listen!" she said sternly. She looked up at him to find an emotion flicker in his eyes as he stared down at her. "You are my godfather, my guardian, and you've been playing that role, alright? One mishap last night and you don't even want to say goodbye to your goddaughter because you attacked her?"

"That's a good enough reason to talk," she finished, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She focused her grey eyes to take in his reaction to see the corners of his mouth curled up into a smile.

"You know...you're so much like your mother," he said, surprising the young witch before him. "Of course you look a lot like Sirius, but so much like her. Your personality is so much like hers as well."

Kirsten looked up at the man before her and gave him a smile. She could not wait to see if he had any pictures of what her mother looked like. She assumed that her mother had the same shade of brown donned upon her skin or darker. It made Kirsten curious, now that she thought of it, that her parents were an interracial couple. She assumed her parents were both black. She wondered if her mother or her maternal grandparents immigrated from Africa. The young witch pushed back the curiosity for a later time, remembering that she had her mother's journal in her possession. There had to be information on that somewhere in there. And there were other matters that she needed to address her godfather about.

"Will I be able to live with you during the holiday, when school is out?"

His eyes widened as he looked at her. "I — you want to live with me?"

Kirsten could not stop herself from laughing at the look on his face. As if he could not believe what he was hearing. Where else will she be living, if not with her godfather?

"Of course I want to live with you! You're my godfather!" she told him with the largest smile on her face.

"But I almost kil —"

He did not dare finish his sentence with the look she was sending him at the moment. The laughter from the fourteen year old witch died and was quickly replaced with stern expression.

"I — I don't think you would like what I have to offer," he said, his face turned a shade of pink. "That's why I have talked with Professor Dumbledore about living arrangements. There's no way you are ever going back to the orphanage. The ministry is still doing an invesitgation —"

"I just want to live with you" she interrupted, shocking him with the finality of her tone.

"Er — okay."

Kirsten was somewhat startled that he did not try and convince her otherwise. And for that she was thankful. The two continued their walk towards the gates of the school grounds in silence. It wasn't long until Remus decided to break the silence as they stood in front of the gates.

"You know, you have a lot of explaining to do when you get home?"

A smile spread onto her face as she realized what he said.

His home was now her home.

Kirsten felt arms wrapping around her body and realized that he was hugging her and she could not help her eyes slowly brimming with tears. She could not believe her luck.

"I can't wait to go home."

Remus pulled away from the hug for Kirsten to see the large smile on his face. The smile made him look so youthful and it amazed Kirsten how happy he appeared to be.

"I'll be picking you up from King's Cross," he told her. She noticed that his eyes were no longer on her. "And I'm sure you can make sure she doesn't run around getting herself in trouble, Cedric?"

Kirsten turned her head to see the sixth year Hufflepuff closing in on the two from the other side of the gate. She looked at her godfather and contemplated on telling him that Cedric was the one who was there for her when she at her worst during the year, and decided that she would tell him that during the summer. Besides, she figured that Remus already knew about their friendship.

It didn't take long for Cedric to reach the two.

"It's a shame you don't plan on continuing to teach. You're the best Defense Against the Dark Arts professor I've ever had" he said. His eyes then landed on Kirsten. "I'll try my best, but she does tend to be a bit difficult."

"You're right about that."

"I'm right here," Kirsten stated blandly, but she could not shake the smile from her face. Remus went in to give her another hug before he crossed over to the other side of the gate. A second did not pass when a loud CRACK! pierced her ears, and her guardian was out of sight.

Kirsten's eyes widened at what she just witnessed. He literally just disappeared from sight. Without a wave of his wand or an incantation leaving his lips. From what she read that had to be Apparation.

"Were you at Hogsmeade?" she asked the brown haired Hufflepuff.

"Yeah, I was with John and a couple of others when I saw you at the gate with Professor Lupin..."

Kirsten nodded her head in where his short story was going. She didn't know why she bothered to ask.

"So what did happen? Why were you in the hospital wing?"

This was going to take a while.

Kirsten's mind was still reeling from her meeting with Dumbledore in the morning before she boarded the train. The blue eyed professor lent her a large leather bound book for her to read over the summer. There was no doubt the book was ancient when she traced her fingers across the cover. And it happened to be about Simurghs. She desperately wanted to read it on the train ride but there was no way she would dare to do that with Harry, Ron, and Hermione around. If they realized what she was, she was afraid they would no longer want to be around her. The fact that Dumbledore warned her about who she disclosed this information to and that her people are naturally bloodthirsty would not settle well with her friends. She knew Dumbledore didn't mean Harry, Hermione, or Ron. And of course she would have to tell them at some point but first she needed to know exactly who she was.

"Kirsten, are you okay?"

The grey eyed witch was brought from her daze as her eyes settled on Harry. She made sure to stretch her lips into a smile.

"I'm fine. Just thinking about, you know," she replied. "It's been an eventful year."

He nodded her head with a smile on his face. Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan, and Dean Thomas were currently in their compartment talking with both Harry and Ron, while Hermione was reading a book and Kirsten's eyes were glued to the window. They already surprisingly heard from her father, when tiny owl appeared with a letter in its talons informing them that he was safe.

Kirsten's thoughts drifted to the orphanage. She didn't know why she would even care to think about the place. Besides the fact that the Ministry is still conducting an investigation on her whereabouts. But a certain blue-eyed boy crossed her mind and she could not help but smile. She missed Aaric. He was the only person at the orphanage who reached out to her and befriended her. Otherwise they bullied her or they were too scared to want to be friends with her in fear of being bullied themselves. She thought multiple times on writing to him but she did not know where he attended school during the academic year, since he would only be at the orphanage during the holidays. And there was no way it would be normal for an owl to show up with a letter from her. But she knew that she would be writing to him over the summer and wondered if she could somehow see him.

But Madame Dupont or her toad of a cousin would more than likely read the letter before they handed it over to Aaric.

Dupont was not much more than a bitter woman, Kirsten trailed on in thought. She didn't mind her as much. Most of her anger was harbored towards the toad. Who happened to be her cousin. Kirsten remembered the green tweed suit she would show up in with her high and girlish voice talking down on her. She never liked the bastard.

A moment didn't pass when Kirsten felt the train slow to a halt. Glancing at the group in the compartment laughing and chatting around her, Kirsten could not help but smile.