A/N: Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 5- What Ifs

I had been trying to avoid Remus since our lunch, only talking to him occasionally in class. Sure, I was probably overreacting a little, but oh well. It was kinda low on the list of my concerns. Hermione had been looking at me funny since that night in the common room. I was afraid she knew, but she hadn't said anything so I'm not really sure what's going on there. At least Harry didn't seem to be worrying about whether my dad was gonna come and try to kill him.

I was done with classes for the day and heading back up to the common room when Remus stopped me in the hallway.

"Can we talk?" he asked gently.

"About what?" I replied evenly. He gave that 'don't play dumb' look.

"I'm sorry" he said quietly.

"For what? You're entitled to your own beliefs. We don't have to agree on everything."

"This isn't just anything. This hits close to home for both of us. I really want to believe he's innocent, I just don't know if I can," he admitted quietly.

"I know," I sighed. "You need proof, I get that. But I know he's innocent," I told him firmly. I started to walk away, but turned back around. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't hold it against you." He gave me a small smile.

"Thanks Lexi."

"Anytime...Professor," I added sarcastically. He shook his head.

"Smart ass," he commented. I smirked.

"Just figuring that out?" I joked.

"Oh no. I've known since the day you were born," he said. We both laughed.

"See ya."

I made my way up to the common room and started working on my ancient runes homework. I was glad that little rift between me and Remus had been repaired. I was happy he was here, it meant I had someone who actually knew my dad to talk to. I finished up my homework and was putting it in my bag when Hermione walked over to me.

"Hey chica, what's up? Where are the boys?" I asked lightly.

"Not sure actually, I had to do some research in the library so I haven't seen them since lunch," she answered, sitting down in front of me. I could tell she wanted to say something, she had that 'I'm about to bust if I don't get this out' look.

"Just ask," I told her.

"Ask what?" She was trying to play dumb, but everyone knows she's anything but.

"Whatever it is you came over here to ask me."

"Well, OK, I saw you and Professor Lupin in the hallway," she started, looking a little nervous.

"So?"

"How did you say you knew him?"

"He's an old family friend. Why?"

"Oh, I dunno. It just didn't seem like you were talking about anything related to school."

"We weren't. Anything else?" She looked around nervously.

"He went to school with your dad and Snape didn't he?" she asked quietly.

"And my mom. How did you know they went to school with Snape?" I asked, curious.

"Oh, well because Snape is always saying you're just like your father when he was in school, and everyone knows Snape hates Lupin from when they went to school together," she stated matter-of-factly. I raised my eyebrows.

"Oh-kay. So, was there a point to this?" To be honest, I was getting a little nervous about where this was headed.

"Well, that night in the common room, you said you doubted Sirius Black wants to kill Harry. You seemed pretty confident about it." I kept my face straight, trying not to show any emotion. "How do you know?" I took a deep breath.

"Because I know him," I answered honestly. Hermione nodded slightly.

"He's your dad, isn't he?" she asked quietly. I took another deep breath, looked her in the eyes, and slowly nodded. "And you're sure he won't come after Harry?" she asked apprehensively.

"Listen to me Hermione...He would never hurt Harry," I assured her. She nodded.

-----

Hermione had promised she wouldn't tell anyone, but I was still a little worried. Ron would freak out and have a hissy fit if he found out, he really believes too much gossip. If Harry found out, and he believed what everyone said, especially if he heard everything, then he would feel betrayed or something and be very pissed off at me.

I was sitting out by the lake, just thinking. I heard someone coming up behind me, but I didn't move or say anything. Suddenly, someone's hands were over my eyes.

"Boo!" they whispered in my ear. I didn't jump, or even remove their hands.

"Hey Fred."

"How do you always know who it is?" he pouted as he removed his hands and sat down by me.

"I'm gifted," I stated simply, smiling. He smiled back.

"So...what's up? You only came out here when you have some serious thinking to do."

"Hermione knows," I told him quietly.

"I see," he mumbled. "So, you need some cheering up, huh?" he asked playfully. I smiled.

How does he always do that? He always knows how to make me smile.

"What'd you have in mind?" I asked, intrigued.

He didn't say anything. He just kept smiling. He stood up and held out his hand, which I willingly took. When he pulled me up, he dragged me over to one of the trees that was out of sight from the castle.

"Oh, so this is what you had in mind," I said suggestively as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer.

I backed up against the tree, pulling him with me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss.

I'm not sure how long we'd been there when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. It was a big black shaggy dog. He looked like he wanted to bite Fred, but I just held up my middle finger for him to see. He reluctantly shook his head and left.

I pulled away from Fred and smiled.

"Feel better?" he asked, a little breathily.

"Yeah," I shrugged. "But you know what would make me feel even better?" I asked him, raising my eyebrows and with a playful smile. He grinned widely.

"Why whatever are you thinking?" he drawled in a mischievous tone, but kept grinning.

-----

"Hey, where've you been?" Katie asked me as I stumbled into the dormitory around one in the morning.

"Yeah, did ya get lucky?" Angelina questioned.

"Oh yeah," I sighed, with a huge smile on my face, as I plopped down on my bed.

Katie and Angelina just giggled. Everyone knew my reputation, which wasn't necessarily untrue. I've been with quite a few guys, and most of them meant nothing to me. Fred is different though, I really really like him. Sure our relationship is on and off. He knows how I am, and he knows about most of the other guys too. He also understands that they're just for fun and that I really care about him. It's complicated and very confusing, but despite everything, I think I've fallen for Fred Weasley. I think I've known for a while, but now the question is will I stay with him or continue my promiscuous ways? I don't know. And I spent half the night thinking about it.

-----

Me, Fred, and George spent the next week playing pranks on the teachers in every class due to the upcoming holiday. Some found them amusing while others, such as Snape, found them to be a nuisance, which made it all the more funny. Remus, however, retaliated. In his words 'you should never try to out-prank a prankster.' It was all in good fun though, one of the perks of having a marauder for a teacher I suppose.

It made me curious as to what my life might have been like if James and Lily had lived, and my dad hadn't gone to Azkaban. I guess I'll never know though. It was times like these when I really missed my dad, and uncle James and aunt Lily.

Even though we were having tons of fun, I was still in a gloomy mood. Fred and George noticed, but when Fred couldn't even get me in a better mood they knew it was no use to keep trying. They knew it was one of those moods when I acted like normal and that everything was fine, but on the inside I was hurting and depressed. And apparently they weren't the only ones to notice.

"Hey," a voice said, trying to catch up with me in the hallway.

"Hi." I didn't stop, he'd have to keep up.

"You gonna tell me what's bugging you or am I gonna have to guess?" he asked in an irritated tone.

"Nothing's bugging me," I replied defensively.

"The hell it isn't Izzy, you're giving me a major headache here," he snapped, grabbing my arm.

This was the part that sucked about being a twin. You couldn't really hide anything from the other.

"I'm sorry Jace," I apologized.

"Don't worry about it, just tell me what's going on," he said gently. I smiled at him.

"I like it when you act like my brother," I admitted, even though he already knew it.

"Stop stalling," he commanded, but was smiling.

"I was just..." I didn't really know how to explain it, especially to Jason.

"Thinking about the what ifs?" he guessed somberly. I nodded. Then he pulled me into a hug, which wouldn't normally surprise me except for the fact that now we were standing in the middle of a hallway where the whole school could see us. "You got me, you know that right?" he whispered into my ear.

"Yeah, I know," I replied, hugging him back.

A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Reviews are appreciated! I'll try to update soon.