The disappearance of Professor Lupin following the sighting of Sirius Black had put me even more on edge, for some reason. Despite barely knowing the new teacher, I felt comfortable with him and his lessons always made me feel relaxed, so when Snape showed up to teach I was less than happy. I had been more on edge than I had been when I first got my mum's letter, opting to spend almost all of my free time holed up in my room instead of with my friends. I had finally decided to write my mum back after I received the third letting from her apologizing once more for how she revealed the news to me and told her that it would just take me some time to come to terms with it and that I wasn't angry with her anymore. She repeated her promise of telling me everything come Christmas and I believed that she would, I just wasn't sure if I wanted to know everything anymore or if I was happy to just pretend that none of it was happening.

After Harry's run in with the dementors during a Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, everyone was nervous that they would have their own run in with the vile creatures. Dumbledore had announced during dinner one night that we had nothing to worry about, that the dementors wouldn't get that close to the grounds again and that it had been a rare occurrence that that had happened. The only relief I got from my nerves was when Lupin finally returned from classes. The man looked exhausted but still had a smile on his face and did his best to make the class entertaining for all of us.

"Miss Taylor." Lupin's voice sounded as we were all packing our things and heading out of the classroom to end our day. "A word, if you don't mind."

Daphne gave me a hesitant look and I told her to go on without me, walking towards the front of the room once she left. "Yes, professor?"

"I hope you don't mind me being blunt, but I couldn't help but notice that you don't seem to be yourself. I noticed before I fell ill that you seemed a little on edge, but it seems to have gotten worse in my absence." I was taken back that the professor had even noticed the change in my demeanor. "Is everything alright?"

I opened my mouth to brush him off quickly but found myself shutting my mouth quickly and looking down. "I…"

"I want you to know that anything you say to me will stay between us. I know this school has a bit of a problem with gossip, but you have my word that nothing you tell me will leave this room."

"It's a bit hard to explain." I mumbled. "I received some news from my mother, something about my father, that has scared me a little."

I found that I didn't want to lie to the professor, that I could tell him anything and that he truly wouldn't betray my trust. Perhaps it was the friendly smile he always seemed to have on his face, or that there was something about him that just made me feel safe that allowed me to open up to him, even just a little.

"Your father? Has something bad happened to him?"

"No, not exactly." I took a deep breath before looking up at the man in front of me. "I never knew my father growing up, and suddenly my mum revealed that he is a wizard and that she knows exactly who he is. She refused to speak about him before this year, and she told me about him in a letter."

"I see." The older man gave me a sympathetic look. "And did finding out your father is a wizard scare you? Or was it something else she revealed about him that caused your fear?"

It almost seemed as though Lupin was trying to get a specific answer out of me, like he already had an idea of what I was talking about, but he just needed me to confirm his theory. I knew it was impossible for him to know about who my father really was, and that I was most likely overreacting and causing myself to panic.

"Finding out he was a wizard was a bit of a relief, if I'm honest. My mother is a Muggle, you see, so I wasn't sure why I was sorted into Slytherin if I had two Muggle parents, but at the same time, I almost wish he was a Muggle. It would have been better if he was rather than who he really is." Immediately scolding myself for not being able to hold my tongue, I shifted my bag on my shoulder and looked away from Lupin. "I should go, professor. I'm sure my friends are waiting for me to go to dinner."

"Of course." Lupin nodded, seemingly disappointed that I didn't reveal more to him at that time. "Remember, Liliana, if you ever want to talk to someone, my door is always open."

"Thank you, professor." I was sincere in my thanks and bid the man goodbye before quickly walking out of the classroom. I played over the conversation in my head nearly a million times as I walked to the Common Room.

"Finally!" Daphne jumped out of her seat when she saw me walk in. "Been waiting for ages for you to come back."

My friend followed me up to our dorm and carefully shut the door behind us. I sighed in relief when I didn't see Pansy or Millicent in the room. "Lupin was just making sure I was alright. He noticed that I was being weird after my mum's big father reveal and he was just checking that everything was fine."

"Really? Why would he care?"

"I don't know, Daph. Maybe he's just a good person who actually cares about his students." I snapped at my friend. "Sorry, it's just been a long week."

"I know." Daphne nodded. "Hurry up and put your things away, I'm starving."

Most of our friends didn't even register that Daphne and I had showed up late to the feast, too caught up in their own meals and conversations to care. I slid in next to Draco and quickly piled food onto my plate, eager to finally eat after having skipped lunch to spend some time alone in my room.

"Where have you been?" Draco's voice was low enough that only I could hear him.

"Talking with Lupin." I answered simply.

"About?"

"Nothing to worry yourself over."

Draco huffed but still hadn't turned to look at me. "Fine. Shall we go study in the library tonight?"

"I don't see why not. I'll tell Daph-"

"No, I mean just the two of us." This caused me to turn and look at Draco, who was still looking down at his plate.

"Just the two of us?"

Draco looked over at me then with a raised eyebrow. "Yes. Is that a problem?"

"No." I answered quickly. "Not at all."

"Good."

With that, our conversation was finished, and we didn't speak a word to each other for the rest of the meal. Once dinner was over, all of us made our way back to the Common Room, Draco and I quickly gathering some books before slipping away and walking to the library in silence. We set up at our usual table and started working, not uttering a word to each other for a good hour. After the visit to Hogsmeade, I had wanted to tell Draco everything about my father, but I had been too nervous to. He deserved to know, considering how I viewed him as one of my closest friends, but I just hadn't found the right time to do so.

"Are you ever going to tell me what happened that day you got that letter and rushed out of the Great Hall?" Draco finally broke our silence, his question taking me by surprise.

"I plan to, eventually. I'm still trying to figure it out myself, so once I do, I promise I will tell you everything."

"Daphne knows, doesn't she?"

"Yes, but that's just because she read the letter. If she hadn't followed me out, she probably wouldn't have known either."

Draco was silent for a moment and I thought he was going to drop the subject all together. "I was going to follow you, you know."

"What?" I stopped writing and my head snapped up to look at my friend, who was already staring at me with his intense gaze.

"I was. I was about to stand up when Daphne said that she would see what happened and she took off. I debated still going, but Theo distracted me, and I just left it."

I was completely speechless at Draco's confession. If Draco had been the one to follow me out, would things have been different? Or would everything have stayed the same but with Draco being the one who knew my secret instead of Daphne? I knew it would have been different, that Draco wouldn't have understood because he would have learnt that I wasn't who I claimed I was, that I was raised by a Muggle and that my father was someone who had been related to his mother.

"Oh." Was all I could say in response to him.

"I wish I had, because then I would know why you've been hiding from all of us, but I trust that you'll keep your word and tell me eventually. I'll just have to wait for that day."

That was the last thing Draco said to me for the rest of the night. We stayed in the library until we were kicked out by Madam Pince and forced to return to our Common Room. Draco stayed true to his word and didn't bring up the subject again, and as the days grew shorter and colder, I knew that his patience had to be wearing thin. I planned out exactly how I would tell him, waiting right until we were about to leave for the Christmas holiday so that he would have time to think it all through and I wouldn't have to see his disappointment when he found out that I wasn't who I said I was for a couple of weeks until we all returned.

There were only a few weeks left before Hogwarts would be nearly empty as kids went home to visit their families for the holidays, but there had yet to be any snow that fell. I always thought that it wasn't truly Christmas unless it snowed, even just a little, but there was still time for the white flakes to fall before the day descended. I did my best to learn as much as I could about my father in the time that I had before going home, learning that he had attended school with both Professor Lupin and Professor Snape, and had also been there with Harry's parents. I had worked on building up enough courage to finally ask Lupin about the man that I never knew but who was now prominent in my life and finally found it as November was starting to end.

I waited until the class had ended, taking my time to pack up my things and shooing away my friends until it was just the two of us left. Lupin could tell that I was waiting to speak to him and sat on top of his desk with an amused look.

"What can I do for you, Ana?" He asked once everyone else had finally left.

"You went to school with Sirius Black, didn't you?" Not wanting to waste anytime, I got straight to the point. I had left my books at my table and walked towards the front of the class where the professor was seated.

He was clearly not expecting that to be my opening question and it took him a moment to recover from his shock. "I was at Hogwarts the same time he was, yes." He admitted very slowly.

"What was he like?"

"Is there any particular reason you are asking me these questions?"

"Well, I know you were in the same house as him and you were a student here the same time he was, and I also know Professor Snape was as well, but I don't think he'd give me the time of day to ask him this. I'm just very curious about him, that's all."

Lupin seemed to mull my answer over in his head before speaking. "Sirius Black was a very interesting man. You're correct, he was a Gryffindor like me, and he was someone I was at school with. If you're wondering if he was the lunatic that he is portrayed as now, the answer is no. He was quite the charmer and was very fond of bending the rules to get away with practically everything he wanted, but he wasn't someone who I thought would kill all those innocent people."

"His entire family were all in Slytherin. Wouldn't he have been more suited to be in Slytherin than in Gryffindor? Especially since he clearly wasn't as brave and courageous as most Gryffindors are seeing as he was fine with murdering people."

Lupin let out a sharp laugh. "You have been doing your research about the man. Why are you so interested in Sirius Black?"

It was my turn to take a pause to think of my own response. "After he snuck into the castle, I wanted to learn more about him. Purely out of curiosity more than anything. I think he may have known my father, so I was just curious to find out more about the man I just learned existed."

"Who's your father, Liliana?"

"I don't think you knew him." I answered quickly. "Thank you for speaking with me, professor. I appreciate it."

I quickly made my way back to my desk and gathered my books, not looking back as I left the room. I hoped that my odd questions wouldn't push my very perceptive teacher to look into things more and try to get the truth out of me, but I wouldn't put it past him to try.