"So will you come with me, Hannah?"

"I just don't understand why you want me to be there with you. Don't you like him?" How could he not?

"Of course I do. It's just… Hannah, he knew our parents and I know he wants to teach me how to do a patronus for my benefit but I don't want to disappoint him… I just, I feel like that means I'm disappointing them." I looked at his face and he looked somewhat frightened – a part of me wondered if this was just his way of making me agree to go with him or if he really meant it; He knows exactly how well this face works on me. "Alright, Harry. I'll come. But if he asks why I'm there you have to tell him. I don't want him thinking I'm barging in or something, okay?"

He nodded and grabbed my hand, yanking me out of my seat on the couch in the common room before pulling me out of the portrait and on the way down to Lupin's classroom.

As we got closer my mind wandered and I began to think about whether or not I looked good tonight. I knew it shouldn't be a big deal and that it didn't matter at all, he was my teacher for Merlin's sake, but I couldn't help myself. It didn't matter that he was friends with my parents and therefore, would most likely only ever view me as his friends' kid, but my vanity was taking over. "Hold on a minute, Harry."

I veered to the right and walked into the girls' washroom, stopping in front of the mirror.

"You look fine, Hannah."

I looked behind me and glanced under the stalls. "You do know this is the girls' washroom, don't you, Harry? You're kind of not allowed in here."

"But, Hannah –"

"Harry."

He rolled his eyes at me before backing out of the door to wait for me. I took only a few seconds, deciding that my appearance was more than acceptable before heading back to meet him. "You're such a girl. It's not like you're going on a date or something."

I ignored his comment, not wanting to acknowledge the fact that I realized his was right. I just didn't want to admit it.

I know this might sound kind of strange, but I often find myself loving the moments where Harry and I are able to just be a regular brother and sister. We've been through so much together in our short lives and when we bicker it sometimes make me think that all of those bad times don't matter. We're still brother and sister and we still love one another, just like any other siblings would had none of those things ever happened to us. We'd always be okay.

"Have you gone to see him?"

He lifted his eyes from the floor and turned them towards me. "Once. It's a bit awkward, having to ask someone what your parents were like. Shouldn't we know that stuff?"

"You know that he doesn't mind though, Harry. He cared about them and I'm sure he wants to share that with us."

He shrugged and looked forward. "Maybe."

My breathing picked up as a small wave of anxiety came over me once Harry knocked on the classroom door. Stupid body, just calm down. You're not here for yourself.

The door flung opened, revealing Remus Lupin, who once again looked more disheveled than he had during my lesson earlier in the day. I decided then that once classes were over he must just forego any effort to keep up appearances.

"Ah, Harry. And Hannah, come in."

I stepped inside first and walked to the middle of the classroom before stopping. I was about to sit down on a stool before I changed my mind and hopped up onto the desk. I turned my eyes to Lupin and he gave me a small smirk. "Don't expect me to allow you to sit like that during class, Miss Potter."

I tried to keep my smile at bay while I got more comfortable and leaned back slightly on my hands, looking towards Harry. "Go on, show me what you've got, little brother."

At first I wasn't sure whether or not Harry would be able to do anything. Casting a patronus is often difficult for even the older wizards, and if we're being honest, Harry doesn't exactly have many happy memories to choose from in order to do so. The most that came out of his wand was a bit of a wisp but Lupin assured that it would get better over time, so long as he kept practicing it.

"When you come back next time I have no doubt it will have improved."

Harry frowned and I could tell he had hoped that this lesson would go better. He wasn't used to things being difficult for him when it came to magic.

"What do you think of for your patronus, Hannah? How is yours so good, I don't understand."

That's really not something I want to share with my brother. "Harry, I'm older than you, it's just easier for me."

"But what's your memory?"

I went to speak but I couldn't think of anything to say. I caught Remus' eye and he had a sort of look on his face and I knew that if he had guessed what kind of memory mine was he would've been right.

"Harry, it's – that's… just a time I spent with a friend, Harry."

"What friend?"

I hopped off the desk and stepped towards him, "okay, you're being very nosey. Just work on yours. It'll start to get better, I promise."

A timid knock was heard on the door before it was slowly pushed open. "Is Harry in here?" I saw the less-than-usual bushy hair of Hermione before her face peered through. "There you are. Come on, remember I told you and Ronald I'd help you with your potions essays."

"Now?"

She didn't respond and instead pulled an extremely teacher-like face before retreating back into the hall. I let out a little laugh as Harry quickly gathered his things and thanked Lupin before rushing out the door.

I turned back to Remus and I semi-hoped he'd already forgotten what Harry insinuated but it was easy to tell by the way he was looking at me that he hadn't. I let out a breath, "I'm sorry. That really wasn't supposed to be awkward. He doesn't know that –"

He held his hands up to stop me, "it's alright. If that happens to be the best memory for it, then by all means, use it."

I thought for a moment about the fact that from this point forward if he ever sees me cast a patronus he's going to think I'm getting off. I could feel myself blushing as I tried my best to ignore it and smiled. "I just don't have too many to choose from. Believe me, if I could think of something better than that I would." It crossed my mind that what we were talking about was pretty much stepping over the inappropriate line but a part of me wanted to see how long I could keep this going with him. I couldn't help but wanting him to think of me doing those things.

He took a step closer to me and for the first time I noticed his scent. It was subtle, but it was there and I shut my eyes and shivered. "Oh." I blinked and looked up at him, his eyebrows were now raised as he looked back down at me. "Are you alright?"

The realization that he might think I was reliving my patronus memory came to me and I stepped back. "I'm fine, yes. Sorry."

He shifted in place awkwardly as he shoved his hands into his pockets. He looked as if he was contemplating saying something to me before he licked his lips. "Good. And don't worry, I'm sure you'll experience even better things than what helps you create your patronus."

"What do you think? Was he flirting with me or was he saying that just as a general thing to say?"

Ashley shrugged as she pulled the covers back and climbed into bed. "How should I know? I just met the man. I'm not exactly an expert on his flirting techniques."

I sighed and laid my head against the pillow before pushing my bangs off my face. "I know."

"Besides, even if it was him flirting, do you think he'd ever take it any further than that? Flirting with you is pretty much harmless, it doesn't necessarily mean anything. People often flirt with one another when there's no intention of doing anything beyond that."

I frowned and shifted my body to face her bed. "You're not exactly helping with my fantasies."

She let out a short laugh and rolled over onto her side, resting her head in her hand. "I'm terribly sorry that I can't prolong your sexual imagination when it comes to your parents' ex best-friend, Hannah. I am so terrible. Please, kill me now!"

"You're so mean, you know that?"

"Oh please, give me a break. Do you know how much of a long shot you getting with him is? Here, let me list all of the reasons for you. A) He grew up with your parents, B) because of that, he most likely views you as nothing more than a little kid, C) you're still a student here and D) he's your teacher! … believe me, if you actually manage to land this man then I have seriously underestimated your seduction abilities because this one is going to be tough to land. Besides, your last boyfriend was a 17 year old boy. And how old is Professor Lupin? 35? 36? Why would he want to be with a 17 year old girl when he can be with a woman?"

I wanted to get mad at her, I really did. After all, what's the harm in me liking him anyways? Yes, I understand that my chances are seriously slim to nil but still, I've been through so much, can't I just allow myself to feel something like this again? Something that makes me happy and feel good?

But at the same time she was completely right. I shouldn't entertain the thought of him looking at me that way. That's not fair to myself and in the end it will most likely only upset me once my head fully understands the fact that he doesn't and will not like me that way.

Just keep it as a crush. That's all it is. Just a harmless, simple, I'll-grow-out-of-you kind of crush.

My eyelids kept falling closed despite my best efforts to stop them from doing so. It was my own fault, really. I'd stayed up half the night finishing a potions project that I'd been given over a week to do but I found myself preferring to go see Remus over actually doing what I was supposed to do. As a result, I'd had copious amounts of coffee this morning and my sleepiness was finally starting to catch up with me.

I looked up at the clock and squealed on the inside at the fact that there was less than five minutes left in Snape's class. Ever since Professor Lupin had agreed to speak to my about my parents I found myself resenting a certain man named Severus even more. Couldn't he see how badly I needed some kind of closure on this? From what Lupin had told me I knew that my mom and Snape had been good friends for a long time and even lived near one another. Why wouldn't he want to talk to me about this? Was he really as heartless as everyone made him out to be?

Maybe.

I'll at least see him that way until he gives me a reason not to. Regardless, the fact of him being so stingy with his James and Lily Potter information was making me really not want to be around him.

As soon as we were let out of class I rushed out of my seat and back to my room so that I could change before dinner. It's incredibly girly of me, I know, but I found it very heard to not want to look my best if there was even a chance of seeing him. Once satisfied I made my way down to the great hall and took my usual seat next to my friends, not neglecting to glance at the faculty table and noticing him sitting there. My stomach did a little flip as his eyes caught mine and I had to stop myself from waving at him, instead deciding to give a little smile.

"Who are you smiling at?"

I pursed my lips and looked towards Percy. "No one."

"That's not true, she was smiling at our dear Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher."

I tried to hide my embarrassment as Penelope leaned against the table and whispered, "what? You fancy Professor Lupin?"

"I do not fancy Professor Lupin."

Ashley smirked and took a sip of juice before pushing forward, "oh yes you do. Don't be shy. It's okay to share this kind of important information with our friends."

"You know we haven't even been here a month and you're already making me hate you."

"Oh lighten up. It's all in good fun."

I tried to give her a nasty look but I'm pretty sure that it didn't take. You should really work on that. "Look you guys just, drop it, okay? I don't want to talk about that."

For the rest of dinner I mostly stayed silent, making it obvious that Ashley was getting worried that I was actually mad at her for spilling what I had wanted to be kept a secret. I wasn't though, I knew they would find out sooner or later so in the end it didn't matter that much to me. But still, serves her right.

I ran my fingers through my hair, pausing to pull out a small tangle before resuming my motion. It was late on a Friday night and I felt like being alone so I'd come up to the astronomy tower, as I often did. It was one of the only places in the castle I found I could really relax. Something about the quiet and the only sounds being those of the things hidden outside in the dark. I leaned against the wall and shut my eyes.

"Somehow I thought I might find you here."

I frowned, now I'll need to find somewhere else to hide. As I turned around my heart skipped a beat once I realized it was Remus. Or maybe not. "Professor?"

He stood right at the top of the last step and as our eyes met he smiled. "Hannah. I've been looking for you."

I bit my bottom lip and did my best to appear unphased by his comment. "And you thought to come here?"

He nodded and came towards me, reaching inside of his sweater and pulling something out. "I know your father used to come up here quite often. He liked the silence on occasion." As his finished his comment he handed the object to me. When I reached for it I tried not to connect our fingers. I didn't want to encourage any more physical contact than we needed to have for fear that my hormones might eventually start to get the better of me and I do something stupid like try to hold his hand.

"What is it?" I turned it over and felt my chest tighten as I saw it was a picture of my parents. "Oh my God… when was this taken?" I kept my eyes on the picture as they looked towards one another and held what appeared to be a loving embrace.

"During our seventh year. They had already decided they were going to marry. We were all celebrating that night." He came towards me and placed his right hand in his pocket while the other ran over his face. "I've been holding onto that image for far too long. I thought you might want to have it."

Before I could respond the faces in the photo looked at me and waved. I gasped and placed my hand on my chest and instantly thought of when I was a child and how they would look at me that same way. I hadn't pictured that since I was a child and hadn't realized how having something like this would affect me.

I felt a hand on my arm as it squeezed. "Are you alright?"

I finally removed my eyes from the picture and looked up at him, not neglecting to notice the fact that this was as close as we'd ever been together. "I'm fine, I just… I can't express how much you doing this means to me." I felt water begin to form in my eyes and I blinked hard, trying to make it go away. I didn't want him to see me cry.

My emotions did me a favour, however, as I was pulled into him and he wrapped his arms around me. The sensation of it was one of great comfort and as I took in his scent once more it became a very different feeling altogether. I wanted to hold onto him as tightly as he as me, but I didn't want him to become aware of the feelings I was already beginning to develop for him.

He pulled away first held onto my arms. "You know I didn't come up here to make you cry."

I bit my lip and let out a short laugh before wiping beneath my eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that. Really, I appreciate this so much. Hell, I appreciate you being here altogether if I'm going to be honest with you."

He smiled and took a step back. "Anytime, Hannah."