Woohoo! I return once again. And I apologize for the delay…again. My Nazi-English Teacher is crazy about these essays! Had to write another. But I did receive the second highest grade in the class. Haha, I sound like Hermione.

I know that there was no Harry or Draco in the last chapter, so I've included them both in this one.

I don't own Harry Potter.

ENJOY!

Arra left the Hospital Wing with thoughts buzzing around in her head madly. Could Lupin have been telling the truth? Her memories proved it, but for some reason she was still doubting them a bit. Her memories couldn't have been tampered with, so she was sure that they were most definitely real, but was their content true? There was only one way she could find out.

"Professor Lupin!" She shouted as she barged into the classroom. "Professor, I need to talk to you now!" She said still yelling loudly.

"What?" He answered as he bustled out of his office.

"I think I believe you." She said finally lowering her voice.

He blinked in surprise. "Well why the sudden change of heart?"

"The minister was just here, and they asked me to participate in an experiment to see if they could extract anything from my past about my father. The spell they did made me remember everything from the first year of my life, when I was with him. And, what I saw…" She trailed off as she fondly remembered the memories from a happier time. "They just seemed so real, and true. And my dad told me himself what you told me, so I think I believe you." She said honestly with a shrug.

He stared at her for a while, as if trying to take everything into account. And then his face split into the biggest grin she had ever seen on his face as he started laughing heartily. Arra couldn't help but join him in the giggles, this was the happiest she had felt in a long time.

They got to talking about everything, her father, her past, his friendship with Lupin, and his wrongful arrest. Everything was making so much sense, and all of her questions she used to have were being answered in mere minutes.

"Does my aunt Bellatrix know any of this?" She asked suddenly.

"I think she knows some things. She knows that you're father was never a supporter of Voldemort, but I don't know if she knows he didn't commit murder. But I'm not surprised that she tried to turn you against him from the beginning. Bellatrix hates your father, and I'm sure she wanted you to feel the same." He replied.

Arra nodded. It did make sense for her Aunt to do something like that. Ever since Arra was a child, she only had ever heard negative things about her dad. "I take it you knew my mother too then?"

His eyes widened, he obviously wasn't expecting that question. "Yes, yes I did. She was a wonderful woman Arra. I'm sure you would have loved her. She loved you, very much." He said with a kind smile. "She was especially kind-hearted, but also fierce. Much like you are. When it came to her friends, she would do anything. Especially for Sirius." He added in a laughing tone. "From the moment your parents met, everyone could tell that they were made for each other, but the two of them constantly denied it."

Arra sniffed as she felt tears sting her eyes when she heard how similar she was to her mother. She wiped her nose with her sleeve and took another drink of tea as they continued to talk about her mom. She had never had anyone to tell her anything about her mum, as Bellatrix forbade the subject of her mother.

"Oh! One more question," she suddenly said when she noticed the time and decided that she should be getting back to the tower. "What about that dog I used to have?"

For some reason Lupin started laughing extremely hard at this point. But Arra laughed too after she learned the answer.

***

Arra entered the Gryffindor common room through the portrait hole and found it packed with students. All of them gave her their full attention when they saw her. She stared back at their wide eyes, some of them contained fear, while others, curiosity. But one pair in particular stood out to her above the rest. Almond shaped, green eyes behind round glasses looked at her with relief at her appearance. Arra smiled as she slowly walked towards her best friend, who was with Ron and Hermione in the far back corner of the room. Harry got up as well and enveloped her in his arms when she reached him. His strong hold around her made Arra's head spin with pure happiness. This was her favorite place in the world. She let out a blissful sigh, which Harry mistook for sorrow and pulled away from her. She reluctantly loosened her hold until just her hands were around his neck and his hands were on her sides with their arms just slightly bent.

"It's good to see you." He said and Arra knew that what he meant was that he was glad she wasn't dead. "I was so worried about you."

She smiled at his concern and the fact that he cared for her, even if it wasn't equal with the care she felt for him. "I'm fine." She smiled as she wrinkled her nose a bit. She patted him on the cheek, in a Mrs. Weasley like fashion and they shared a small chuckle. They let go of each other and moved over to the table with Ron and Hermione, who were in a heated discussion.

"Ronald! There is no way that he could have broken into the castle! I'm telling you, none of those theories could possibly work!" She spat at him.

"How do you know he didn't apparate in?" He refuted.

"Goodness, I really am the only person in school to read Hogwarts, A History!" She said exasperated.

"Hermione, I think you're the only person in the world to read that book." Arra joked.

"Arra!" Ron and Hermione said together when they noticed her presence. "How are you?" Hermione asked with concern.

"I'm fine. I think I just needed some time to think." And find out that my entire life is a lie, she thought to herself.

"Well, they didn't catch him, but they're pretty sure that he has left the castle. So I don't think we have anything to worry about anymore." Hermione answered comfortingly.

"Hermione, he broke in once, I'm sure he can do it again!" Ron said.

"Oh, I'm not worried." Arra said truthfully.

"Why not?"

"Even if he does break in, what's he going to do? Try to kill us all with a hundred teachers and dementors sweeping the grounds every six seconds? Ha! Good luck with that!" She said laughing.

"Ooookay." Ron said slowly as he looked at Arra with confusion.

"Honestly guys, don't worry about it. And anyways, if he does break in and tries to kill you," she said as she got up from her chair, "I'll protect you." She balled her hands into fists and jumped into a fighting stance. She laughed, "Well, I haven't eaten since last night's feast, and I'm SOOOO hungry! I'm going to the kitchens."

"Ok, bye." They said as she left.

She entered the kitchens and was immediately greeted by the many house elves who were impatiently awaiting her orders. She politely asked for whatever was leftover from the feast last night, and they promptly served it to her. She thanked them and dug into her mashed potatoes. She finished off her miniature smorgasbord with a large piece of banana cream pie with whipped cream and coconut. She left the kitchen with a very full stomach and was walking down the hall when she heard a voice behind her.

"Arra." Draco called.

She froze and slowly turned around to meet him. There was no way she could get out of it now. "Hey." She said casually.

He pulled her into a hug and she couldn't help but throw her arms around his neck. One of his arms was wrapped around her waist as the other slowly traveled up to the back of her neck. She could feel his fingers playing with her hair a little bit and she let out a shaky breath. "When we were all called to the Great Hall, I didn't see you. I thought that maybe you were…" He trailed off as he tightened his hold around her.

"I'm fine." She said with a muffled voice. Her face was buried into his shoulder, and much to her disappointment, she was enjoying this moment quite a bit.

He pulled away from her and the two set off for a nearby empty classroom, so they could sit down and talk in a comfortable setting. Arra jumped onto a desk as Draco started walking around looking at the many items around the room. "So where did you go? Last night while everyone else was hiding out from the killer?"

He's not a killer! She wanted to scream at him. But she knew that doing that would only cause more problems. People would mistake her for an accomplice, and then she wouldn't be able to help her father.

"The idea of sitting in the Great Hall and listening to whispers about me and my involvement didn't seem appealing at the time. I was with Dumbledore and the Minister."

"The Minister?" He asked with a confused look. "What was he doing here?"

She grimaced, "He wanted information from me about dear old dad."

"Did you give him anything?" He asked with interest.

"No. I have nothing to give. I haven't seen my father since I was a baby. And besides, if I did know anything, Cornelius Fudge would be the last person I would ever tell."

"Honestly Arra, I don't know why you hate him so much. He's not that bad."

"That's because you're Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy. Nobody--not even the minister--would deny you anything your little heart desired!" She explained.

"Hey! That's no excuse. You gave up your title and power within the ministry when you went to Gryffindor! If you would have stayed where you belonged, then I'm sure your life would be a lot better." He argued back.

"Better?" She asked incredulously as she got up from the desk and walked towards him a bit threateningly. "What do you mean better?"

"You'd still have somewhere to live because Bellatrix wouldn't have disowned you. You would still have power and people who could get things done for you. Your father would probably be back in Azkaban by now because someone would actually care whether or not you survived!" He yelled as he counted off the reasons on his fingers.

SMACK. Arra's hand came flying up and slapped Malfoy across the face harder than a freight train. He cringed in pain and held his cheek in pain. She pointed an accusing finger at him and said in a harsh voice, "Don't you dare say nobody cares about me. And don't you ever say that I made the wrong decision. Gryffindor is the BEST thing that ever happened to me!" And she stormed out of the classroom.

She took off down a corridor and soon ended up outside of the castle. She took a seat under a large shady tree near the black lake and gazed out at the landscape. Soon after she saw someone sit down next to her.

"Stop scowling. You'll get wrinkles." Harry laughed as he gently shoved her.

"No I won't. Natural ageless beauty runs in my family." She said with fake conceitedness. "And so does scowling, for your information, Potter."

"So does Slytherin, but I see you've overcome that aspect of your past, Black."

She smiled and looked out at the lake again. They were both silent for a few minutes before Arra randomly said, "Do you think I should change my name?"

Harry frowned in puzzlement. "What?"

"My name." She explained. "I think I want to change it."

"Why? Arra Black is fine."

"It's the Black part I'm not liking so much. People form preconceived notions of me before they even know me. And it's not fair."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Harry agreed. "Isn't it really hard to change your name though?"

"I don't know." She said after she thought about it.

"You should change your name to Potter!" He said suddenly with excitement like a child.

She laughed. "Why Potter?"

"One, Potter is a really cool name. Two, everyone knows the name Potter, but my name doesn't come along with murderer baggage." They both laughed at Arra's expense. "And three, it would be easy to change your name to Potter."

"No it wouldn't! I would still have to do all the other official stuff just for any other name."

"I meant that we could just get married." He suggested with a smirk.

Her stomach did a flip as she quickly imagined herself married to Harry. "You wish."

"What? Most people would kill to marry me!" He said pompously.

"Maybe someday." She smiled, going along with his joke.

"Ok, well how about this, if neither of us are married by the time we're…30, then we'll marry each other." He said a bit more seriously.

She looked at him. "Fine." She held out her hand to shake and seal the deal.

"Arra Potter does sound better than Arra Black anyways." Harry said.

She laughed. "Well, seeing as how our wedding won't be for another few years, let's come up with a name for me for now."

"Weasley?"

"No. That's Ron's name."

"Granger?"

"I'm not marrying Hermione!"

"Well last names are boring!" He complained like a bored ten year old.

"Then change my whole name."

"Bertha McGrady."

"Eww!" She said as she turned to face Harry.

"Mildred."

"Next!" She shouted as the name inventing turned into a fun game to pass the time. After many different names they were still having a fun time and laughing together.

"Emily." Arra said.

"No, you're too weird for a name so common. You'd be more like a Willow."

"I don't want to be named after a tree!" She fought back. "I know I'm weird, but not weird enough for 'Willow'."

"Well, then I think I might be out of suggestions."

"I really like the name Kylie." She said when she thought about it.

Harry stroked his chin in mock deep thought. "Nice. But it doesn't really go with Potter." She shrugged.

"Keep in mind my name is only going to be Potter if I'm not married by the time I'm 30." She reminded him.

"You won't be." He grinned.

She smacked him on the arm. "What makes you think that?"

"You would be a horrible wife Arra. You can't cook, you can't clean, you're spoiled rotten, and nobody but me would be able to put up with you for their whole life." He said.

"You make it sound like marrying me is torture!"

"I've always been one for a challenge." He grinned as he waggled his eyebrows at her.

She giggled. "I think you secretly want to marry me, and you're just trying to claim me before someone else does." She joked.

"Maybe I do," he said as he gave her a seductive glare, "maybe I don't."

She felt blood rush up to her face and she had to turn back to the lake in order to hide her grin. "You know, now that I think about it, Arra Black isn't that bad after all."

He looked at her with a sincere smile. "Yeah. Arra Black is just perfect."

FLUFF! I thought that since I didn't add any Harry in the previous chapter, he should get a significant amount of time in this one.

Hope you all like it. I am quite fond of this chapter to be honest.

By the way, I made Arra like the name Kylie because that's my real name. And I do like my name quite a bit. :-)

Today, after reviewing, I have cupcakes with sprinkles!