Sorry for the horribly cut out chapters, but I didn't really have the choice. It was that, or four horribly cut out chapters, or a 5 000 words chapter – I try to keep mine around 3 000. So, hope you still enjoy the story!

"You were saying?"

"Yeah," he started, "I was saying… that I hate discovering how horrible my father was."

"Don't say that. He's not horrible."

"You're one to talk."

"Harry, we're all horrible in a way," she told him. "I swear."

"I still preferred…" Harry started, unable to explain his thought.

"The bliss of ignorance?" Thalia proposed.

"Yeah. Exactly."

"Alright then. Sorry. I'll stop telling you about his life, and mine."

"Wait, what? No!"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Well, now I do know the worst – wait, that's the worst, right?"

"Yes Harry, it's the worst."

"Alright, well then I want to know the rest. Try to understand the unbelievable."

"You're quite wise for your age, you know."

"Erm, thanks."

"Yeah, you're probably not used to receive compliments from me… I'm sorry I treated you so bad."

"You didn't. Honestly. Snape was a thousand times worst."

"Yeah, I heard he was. But he is so bitter. I'm so bitter. Ugh. Were such a disgusting couple!"

Harry's reflexes urged him to let out a very audible "Yes!", but he understood Thalia was not referring to that kind of "disgusting", and so chose to remain silent.

"How did you two fall in love?" he asked instead.

"You really want to know?"

"Yeah, well no, first, how d'you meet my father? And my mother too."

Thalia smiled. "Why don't I tell you the entire story?"

Harry looked at his watch. He still had about two and a half hours to spend on the train. And he was ready to listen.

"Go on."

"I believe you know more or less all about my parents…" she started.

"Urm, yeah, I think you might have told us…" Harry started, trying to cover for the fact that he had completely forgotten almost everything she had told him recently. Or at least, anything concerning her parents.

"It's fine!" she laughed. "They're not that important anyways. The important is… when I arrived at school, I didn't know a lot of people. I knew Molly and Arthur, of course, but they already had their older friends, and I knew Regulus, also. Sirius' older brother," she added. "Our families were rather close. He was the first one I found on the train that day, so I joined him. And his friends of course. A few I don't remember the names. But there was Lucius. That I remember."

"So your first train ride was an omen of your future somehow," Harry pointed out.

"We often don't realize how tiny little coincidences forge our entire lives. For instance, who did you spend your first train ride with?"

"Ron and Hermione."

The woman smiled. Harry suddenly understood the signification of her words.

"So as I was saying, I spent the first part of the trip with them. And…" she hesitated. "And that's it," she stated, apparently choosing to hide a few details of her life from her interlocutor. "After a while, Sirius arrived in our cabin. He wanted to talk to his brother. I clearly remember thinking, at that very moment, that it would be wise to talk to a few students my age… so I wouldn't end up a total stranger to all my classmates. When Sirius left I followed him – I was as much friends with him as with Regulus, well, almost as much – and ended up in a cabin with your father, Remus and Sirius. And I had a blast. Honestly."

"Its nice to know at some point in your life you and my father got along."

"Yeah. Well, to be honest, I consider it more sickening than nice, but were all entitled to our opinions."

"It was fine until Severus arrived, though," she continued. "With Lily. The guys immediately admitted her, but they were so cruel to him. Lily couldn't stand it. Me neither, actually. He left, and she followed, staying in our cabin just long enough to shout at them. And then I left. I followed Lily, back into Regulus' cabin. Snape was sitting with them, but your mother… just wouldn't join them. I think they scared her. Snape refused to leave the cabin, so she just stomped away, leaving him behind."

"And you?"

"I stayed with the boys. I was happy to be with them again. And I got to know Severus better. It was a nice ride. And then I remembered Lily."

"She was with my father?"

"Oh, hell no!" Thalia exclaimed. "She was, well, alone. I left Regulus and Lucius – again – and went to find her. I spent the rest of the trip with her. She was so brilliant, and so kind. I couldn't believe it. I had found my best friend."

"Wow. Your relations have greatly evolved over the years."

Harry could remember his first train ride had been calmer. He had spent the entire time with the same two people. Three, actually, counting Neville at the end. While Thalia had switched from group to group. He resisted the urge to laugh. Another omen.

"Yes they have," she laughed. "When we arrived to Hogwarts I followed Lily to the castle, but then Sirius found me and apologized for his behavior. Doing so he pulled me away from Lily, who found Severus. And I was with the boys. Then you know what happened with the Sorting Hat."

Harry nodded. That he remembered.

"Well, that's kind of it. I was placed in Gryffondor, happy to be with Sirius, Remus and Lily, a little less happy to be with James… After all, he hadn't apologized. I was in my room with Lily and two other girls we barely spoke to. We were so incredibly close. She spent most of her time with Severus, and sometimes I tagged along. I guess my other best friend was Remus. Most of the time I spent with… everyone in school actually. I loved the people from the other Houses. Ah," she sighed. "It lasted for the first two or three years."

"Then, things changed. James fell in love with Lily. He started following her everywhere. And Severus got sick of being followed everywhere by James. So he turned to other Slytherins. The ones I had mentioned earlier."

"Uck."

"I guess you can say so." She laughed. "Lily hated seeing him with them, but I didn't mind. At first she tried including herself, but you can guess how that didn't work. And then something else changed. I fell in love with Severus."

"Hell," Harry thought. No other word left his brain.

"So I joined him and the other Slytherins. Not so often, but most of the time. When they discussed of regular teenage subjects, I was happy. When they'd switch to more… pure-blood talk, I left."

Harry frowned deeply, but stayed silent. Thalia realized.

"Harry," she pointed out, "I hope you understand you're allowed to comment. After all, I am opening up more than I'm probably even allowed to…"

"Alright then. I find the fact that you denied you were surrounded by potential killers simply sickening."

"Well said."

Harry, not understanding the meaning of those unfathomable words, urged the woman to continue.

"I was spending a big part of my time with the Slytherins, and the rest with Remus, mostly. Lily, on the other hand, had cut off all her relations with Snape. That's when we started dating. About half-way through fourth grade." Her features were hinted with bitterness. Harry chose not to point it out.

"Sirius and James started hating me at that point. Though Remus understood that I did not follow these people's ideas, we all understood he was, say, not happy with my behavior. You know why. Still, we all managed to live in this unhealthy but somewhat balanced situation. And then Lily and James started dating. Sixth grade. Lily hated me for not trying to save Severus from the hands of the Slytherins. James hated to see his girlfriend defend the student he hated the most, and he somehow saw a link with me. Sirius hated that I chose his brother's side instead of him. And all three of them hated that I didn't choose Remus."

Harry could see the downfall coming.

"When we came back from our summer vacation, and began our seventh and final year at Hogwarts, the state of things was unbearable. Mostly for me."

Harry let out a small smile. Of course he knew his teacher would try to place herself as the victim. He nevertheless thought she'd do it in a far more subtle way. Protect your mind. Sirius' words took all their sense now.

"James hated me. Sirius didn't like me much either. The only times I had come to visit him, he had totally ignored me. The worst is," she added, "I actually wanted to see him too. Remus encouraged us to befriend each other, once again. But Sirius didn't really want to. And I had Regulus anyways. So we didn't. Lily was on their side. And that was the good thing to do."

Harry was surprised. He hadn't seen this confession coming.

"During that summer, I discovered that my friends weren't good people. Not good at all actually. And I saw that Snape… well, Snape saw that too. But he had nowhere else to go. No other family. No other House."

"You did."

"Yeah. I did. Well, that's what I thought. But when I arrived in the common House that first day of school… I saw that in reality, I didn't. I told Remus about that. About how I was scared now. I didn't want him to tell Sirius and James, though. I didn't want them to win."

"Wait… You were scared?"

"Terrified. Snape was starting to follow their ideas, instead of simply nodding and staying silent. Regulus was absent most of the time. And Lucius was insanely… insane. You should have seen him talking. He was feverish. So into his speeches. And I could see he liked me. A lot. That, I didn't like."

Harry nodded. The words were digging their place in his brain. The puzzle was almost complete.

"I was exiled against my will in Slytherin's camp. I regretted my past actions, during those few months."

"Why didn't you tell anyone? I'm sure they would have been happy to help you escape from Voldemort's clutches."

"Voldemort wasn't a threat at that time. Not yet. Only a few knew of his existence. I didn't believe he was a powerful as Lucius claimed. In that sense, I was not a menace to anyone really. And, well… you know, Headmasters don't need to take care of their students' mental health. So I just hoped. Hoped it would get better. And then it didn't."

Harry suddenly felt his stomach jolt.

The boy finally understood. How it was "their fault", as he had heard Thalia say countless times. All the little sentences he had gathered here and there finally formed a huge paragraph, simple, well-drawn, clear. The answer was there, delivered on a silver platter. Only, he wasn't Hermione. He didn't care about Thalia's story. He cared about his father's. Though he knew his friend would treasure this conversation he would have to repeat to her, he didn't. He saw that there was one tiny, little thing, missing. And he wanted to know so, so badly, that he was ready to admit something that revolted him. "But why did he rape you?"

Harry's heart was still frantic with the mere idea of pronouncing this horrible sentence when it doubled in speed as he uttered it. Therefore, he was surprised to see it didn't purely stop when Thalia answered: "I could show you if you want."

Harry jumped up and fell off his seat. As he was struggling to get back up, he let all the accumulated energy out. "Are you crazy?! You sick… What's the matter with you!? I don't want to see that happen before my eyes." Suddenly the situation was clear. Thalia wanted to torture him, to make him live exactly what his father had made her live. He finally managed to stand up, his wand in his fidgeting hand. His teacher spoke, in a soothing tone that managed to help Harry calm down. A little.

"Not the… action itself. I wouldn't show you my memory. Just what happened before. The last one to have seen James just before it happened was Remus. And he gave me the memory of that night. You'll see everything through his eyes. And you'll only see what happened in the Gryffondor tower about an hour before."

"Why can't you just tell me."

"Because Harry… I don't know exactly why he did that. I told you all I know. But if you see him, you might find out for yourself. Build your own interpretation."

Here it was. The chance to see for himself what had happened in his father's head that night. The opportunity to get it over with, and stop asking himself why he had done that. What motives did he have to destroy a life that way. What part of Thalia's story was true, and what part was exagerated. Who was right, Sirius or her. Or rather, what percentage of reality did both their stories contain. A few questions he could stroke off his list. He sat down. He put his wand in his pocket. And he made himself a promise. From this point on, no more explanations. No more eavesdropping, no more discoveries, no more innocent chit chat with adults. At least for the next week or so. He was learning too much. A sudden flash hit his mind. Maybe that was what Dumbledore wanted him to do. Learn tons of facts about Thalia, facts the Headmaster could then use to leurre her and Snape back on the good side. Harry's decision was made. He would see the memory. "Alright. I'll take it. But, before… why do you want to show it to me?" The boy could easily see why he had to relive such a memory, but he simply couldn't figure out why Thalia would want him to. The annswer came quickly. "Partly love, partly hate. I won't hide it, I'd love James' son to know all about him, even the worst. And also because I know I'm leaving this world soon enough. Severus too. And someone has to know. You're clever enough to do so." Harry did not understand how he was "clever enough" to know about an event everyone already knew about. But he was insulted by the first part. So insulted that when Thalia placed a small vial filled with a part-liquid, part-vapor substance, he had to resist the urge to knock it down and destroy it. He nevertheless gingerly picked it up between his fingers. The boy oppened the lid and immeditaly pressed his wand against the tip of the bottle, so the memory could stick to it like a long, frail spider web. He was about to place this grey string to his temple when Thalia warned him of something unsuspected. "Oh, by the way, it's… uncensored. You'll see exactly what Remus saw at the moment." Whatever that ment, it was too late for Harry to consider it. He was already hooked. He pressed his wand to his head.