After breakfast, Isaac had gone with Dumbledore to his office. Dumbledore had invited Natalie to come along, but she had opted to go out to the lake.

Dumbledore listened to Isaac, seated behind his desk, and Isaac had decided to stand near the door way.

He told Dumbledore, "I'm not trying to be disrespectful-"

"I didn't think you were." Dumbledore assured him.

Isaac felt like Dumbledore's blissful stare was sucking the energy to argue out of him. He looked around at the paintings and remembered how Natalie told him she thought anyone could go crazy around them. All those deceased headmistresses and headmasters conversing with each other. Their voices were like bricks being slammed into his head.

"Alright, but can you please just give me and Natalie new rooms." Isaac begged him.

Dumbledore lost his blissful expression in exchange for a sympathetic one, "Isaac, I know you feel very strongly about this, but I'm not moving you-"

"Why not?" Isaac snapped. "Are you actually trying to make the same mistake twice?"

Dumbledore stood up and replied, "No. And, maybe, it would be best if we ended this conversation and you got some sleep."

Isaac said, in a softer voice, "Headmaster, I'm sorry I got mad. But just move our rooms, please."

Dumbledore regarded him, blankly, for a moment. Then, he pointed out, "It's not like you're sharing a room with Remus."

"Yes, but we're still nearby. Natalie doesn't have any problems with him, but, Headmaster, our history…him, me, and my brother..." Isaac looked destroyed, in his eyes, "You know it's not that good. And, after Severus told everyone that Remus is a werewolf…"

"But don't you think it might be time to put all of that behind you?" Dumbledore asked him.

"Yes, but it's too much." Isaac told him. "And Severus still has so much resentment-"

Dumbledore cut him off, "But what about you, Isaac? Are you as stubborn as Severus? And even he put some of his feelings aside. He made Remus's his potion, three years ago."

"He didn't have to care about Remus to make those potions." Isaac argued, very distraught. "He knows what Remus is capable of, in his werewolf form, without it."

Dumbledore lost a smidge of his confidence. He asked, "Do you really think that your brother doesn't care about Remus at all?"

"I don't know." Isaac confessed. "We don't exactly have many heart-to-heart chats. We do talk, but it's more out of obligation. Natalie loves all of us. We don't want to make her choose sides." He added, "But, with Severus, it is very difficult. And if Natalie and I have to be so close to Remus-"

"I know it's difficult for you, for your family." Dumbledore reminded him, "I was at breakfast with you."

"Ashley really doesn't hide her feelings well, especially if it's about Severus and his involvement with Voldemort." Isaac explained, "She tries too, but, she's exactly like how our mother was."

"But that might be better than bottling it up." Dumbledore told him, wisely.

Isaac frowned and looked down, "I…"

"You could try talking things out." Dumbledore suggested.

Isaac looked up and asked, without thinking, "So you can honestly say that you don't bottle up some of your feelings?" He added, quickly, "Sorry."

Dumbledore shook his head, "Don't be." He came around his desk and shared, "You're right. I don't admit all of my emotions outright, but you are a family and you'll be working together. Why not try to make it less awkward for both of you?" He added, "Remus too."

"Do you honestly think he wants to bother with me, my brother, or our family?"

"He might. Deep down." Dumbledore pointed out, "His parents are dead. Two of his childhood friends were murdered. So was Lily. And Peter Pettigrew now works for Voldemort." He told him, "I think he could use-"

"He's not going to want to be friends with us." Isaac insisted. "Headmaster…" Isaac paused to think about what he should or shouldn't say.

"Isaac?"

"Do our rooms really have to be that close to Remus's?" Isaac asked.

Dumbledore's shoulders sunk a little and he looked disappointed, "You could at least try getting over your differences, even if it would only get better between you and Remus."

"And, then, there would be even more of a rift between me and Severus." Isaac remarked, bitterly.

The headmaster studied his face. There were deeply shaded, dark circles under Isaac's eyes, like he hadn't slept at all the night before. He looked like his head was going to explode.

Dumbledore told him, "I think you should go get some sleep, Isaac."

"I can't go to sleep, right now!" Isaac insisted. "My brother's out there with Voldemort and Death Eaters! And Ashley and Greg are out there technically trying to catch him!"

Dumbledore's stomach felt tight. He said, "You could still try and get some sleep."

"You're not going to move our rooms, are you?" Isaac asked, angrily.

"No." Dumbledore admitted, apologetically.

Isaac stopped looking angry and changed to looking defeated. He said, "I'll go now, then."

Dumbledore nodded, without making eye contact, and Isaac headed out of his office.

Isaac found Natalie, still sitting by the lake. She was on one of the large rocks by the edge of the water. He climbed up and sat beside her.

She turned to him and asked, "No luck with the room thing?"

He locked eyes with her and shook his head. Then, he looked down at the water. It was blue because the day was bright and sunny.

"I'm sorry." she told him. "But, maybe, it'll be ok."

He closed his eyes and a line showed up between his eye brows, "It's not fair. It's not fair to him."

"You don't have to feel guilty." she insisted. Then, she glanced at his arms, covered by his sleeves, without him noticing. She added, quietly, "It's not like you're going to be like Uncle Severus."

"I almost was once." he reminded her.

"But you didn't go through with it and you had a good reason to do it any way." she said.

Isaac turned to her and she noticed how sleep deprived he looked. He told her, "Don't ever start believing that."

"Ok," she nodded.

Before they could keep talking, Hagrid came over to them, with three baby thestrals. He had horses' reigns on them to lead them along.

"Hullo," he said cheerily, but a little awkwardly. "I thought I'd come and say hi." He nodded at Isaac, "It's nice ter see ya again, Isaac." Then, he looked at Natalie, "I'm Hagrid-"

"I know who you are." she told him, with a small smile. "My family's mentioned you." She eyed the thestrals and shared, "They've said you're good with animals."

"Yes, I suppose so." he said, modestly. He gave her a sympathetic look, "You can see 'em too, then?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

Isaac commented, sadly, "It's almost like a family trait, now."

Hagrid nodded. Then, he said, "Well, I better be goin'. I have to get this lot back to their mamas."

Natalie and Isaac nodded. Then, they looked out at the water, as Hagrid headed into the forest.

Natalie knew Isaac desperately needed to get some sleep, even if he wouldn't admit it. But that would have meant going up to third floor, where their rooms were across from Lupin's class room and office/bed room. So, she just sat with him, silently.

"What do you mean, 'Maybe, we can trust them.'?" Ron asked Hermione.

The trio was in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, in the back. Harry was leaning against the wall, deeply in thought. Ron and Hermione were standing across from each other, by the stalls.

"Well, they're Aurors." Hermione pointed out.

"Yeah, and Snape's part of the Order of the Phoenix, Hermione." Ron countered. "It doesn't exactly make him the greatest person in the world."

"But looking pretty does?" Hermione asked, indignantly. "You and so many of the other boys couldn't stop staring at Snape's sister."

Ron looked like he just felt a sickly chill, "Don't remind me."

"And you've yet to say one thing about her."

"Well, she seemed alright, Hermione, you've got to admit." He said, "Maybe, she's like…the white sheep of the family."

"Well, what about her daughter?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know." Ron answered. "I mean I know she's a kid, but who knows how young they start recruiting Death Eaters."

"She does not seem like a killer, Ron." Hermione stated, firmly. "She's just a kid. She looked so nervous, walking past us. Maybe, she knows what Snape is like. Maybe, his whole family does."

Ron leaned against a stall and said, "Well, maybe, but the thing I don't get is how my dad never mentioned them. I mean how many people do you meet who have the last name Snape? He had to know."

"Well, Ashley's last name is Wilds now-"

"Yeah, but Snape was a death eater and Snape's sister had to go by Ashley Snape at one point," Ron argued.

"Well, maybe, they're just private people." Hermione suggested. "Think about it. When Snape was a real Death Eater, that would have been awful for any family, especially a family of Aurors."

"Yeah," Ron agreed, "it'd be even worse than having Percy for a brother."

Harry said, suddenly, "I think I've seen him before."

"Percy?" Ron asked, confused.

"Not him. Snape's brother." Harry explained.

Hermione said, "Maybe, last year-"

Harry shook his head, "No. Well, I'm not sure where I saw him before or if I really have seen him before. I mean he kind of looks like Snape, so, I might be wrong."

"You could have seen him in that memory, last year." Hermione asked, "Was there anyone who looked like Mr. Snape? Maybe, someone who looked like they didn't like what was going on."

"Just my mum and Lupin," Harry added, like it disturbed him a little, "No one else seemed to care about Snape."

Ron frowned, sympathetically. He said, "Well, that proves something, doesn't it? Your dad was liked Harry. So, he must have been right. Snape probably didn't care about anyone but himself."

"I think Snape might have felt bad about calling my mum a…" he eyed Hermione and decided to finish with, "…that name."

"You can say mudblood, Harry." Hermione told him.

"I don't want to." Harry said, immediately.

"Me either." Ron added.

Hermione smiled a little, "Fine." She turned to Harry and asked, "Harry, why do you think Snape might have felt bad about it?"

"Well, he got so angry, when I saw it." Harry replied. "I thought it was just because I got into his head and saw my dad pull off his pants, but, maybe, Snape liked my mum."

"Enough to call her what he did?" Ron remarked, sarcastically.

"Mudblood," Hermione stated. "He called her a mudblood. You don't have to bother sugar coating it for me. We're all still going to know what he did."

"We can talk about it." Ron offered.

Hermione shook her head, "No, I'm fine."

"You're not, Hermione." Harry told her. "Ron and I know that this is bothering you. You could just tell us how your feeling."

Hermione looked appreciative and pained, "It doesn't matter."

"It does matter!" Harry and Ron said together.

"Well, it made sense." Hermione admitted. "I mean, honestly, even before you saw that memory and, Ron, when we heard about it, you both must have suspected Snape was like that. I did."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Harry asked.

Ron pointed out, "You were always saying we should trust Snape because Dumbledore did."

"Well, I…" Hermione closed her eyes, exasperatedly. "I just figured if Dumbledore trusted him, then that was all we needed to know. But now… I don't know. I just didn't think it would hurt so much to know I was right about why Snape hates me."

"It's probably not just because you're muggle born." Ron told her.

Harry said, "Yeah. You're my friend. He was going to hate you any way."

Hermione chuckled, quietly, "Yeah, you're probably right. Thanks."

Ron looked thoughtful and said, "Wait. Snape couldn't have liked your mum, Harry. If he did, wouldn't he be nice to us or at least to you?"

"Well, I look like my dad." Harry told him.

"Still, you're your mum's kid too." Ron said. "That ought to count for something."

Hermione widened her eyes, "That might be why he tried to save you, Harry, back in our first year. I've just been thinking it was because he was obligated as a teacher, but I guess he could have loved your mum."

Harry widened his eyes too, "Yeah. Maybe, my mum liked him back. That could have been why she tried to stand up for him." Harry looked horrified, "They could have been dating."

Ron looked nearly as sickened by the thought as Harry. Hermione was thinking it over in a Hermione way.

Moaning Myrtle popped out of a closed stall door and said, "They weren't."

"You remember them at Hogwarts, Myrtle?" Harry asked her, ignoring the fact that she had been eavesdropping.

"Yes, a little bit." she answered. "They came in here once. I think it was after O.W.L.s had been given. He was apologizing for something."

Harry stepped closer to Myrtle and asked, "Yes, but how do you know that they weren't a couple?"

"Oh, it just didn't seem like they were." Myrtle said.

Then, she disappeared into the stall. Harry went after her, but, when he opened the door, she was gone.

"Forget it, Harry." Ron told him. "She said they only came in here once, anyway."

Harry turned back to his friends and said, "I wonder if she's right, though."

"That memory of Snape's you saw, do you know if it happened after they had taken their O.W.L.s?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, it did." Harry told her.

"Well, then, of course they wouldn't have seemed like a couple. Snape had just called your mother a mudblood." Hermione said. "But he was trying to apologize."

Ron commented, "Maybe, that was to save his own skin, Hermione. So, she wouldn't tell a teacher or Dumbledore."

Hermione was about to argue with him, but then she turned to Harry, "Think. Do you have any ideas about where you could have seen Mr. Snape before?"

Harry told her, "Well, a few wizards used to come and talk to me, when I was in the muggle world and didn't know about magic yet. They would recognize me by my scar, I guess."

"That's a bit strange." Ron remarked. "Most of us didn't know where you were, after you defeated You-Know-Who. It was rumored that you didn't even need to go to Hogwarts."

"I would have come anyway." Harry told them.

Lupin had locked himself in his office. He was sitting at his desk and writing in a dark green notebook he used as his journal. The entry said,

It seemed like Isaac was telling the truth, but I thought the same thing when we were kids. Although, I guess he had a good reason for turning on me or at least threatening to turn on me.

"Professor Lupin!" he heard the trio's voices call out from the other side of the door.

Lupin had jumped and immediately pressed his hands against his forehead. He threw his journal into one of the drawers and got up. "I'm coming, kids." he told them.

When he opened the door, Ron remarked, half-jokingly, "We're hardly kids anymore, Professor Lupin."

Lupin chuckled, softly. He looked over the trio and said, "Well, I do apologize, profoundly, but I'll probably always see you as kids." He asked, "So, what did you three want?"

"We want to talk about Snape's brother, sister, and niece." Harry answered.

Lupin stopped smiling and said, "I thought you would, eventually." He walked into his office and motioned for them to follow, "Come in, then, and close the door."

The trio stepped in and Ron pulled the door closed behind him. Lupin sat on the windowsill and looked apprehensive.

"You want to know why you've never heard of them before, no doubt." Lupin guessed.

"Yes." Harry answered, trying to keep a respectful tone.

Hermione added, cautiously, "Mostly why you and—why you and Sirius didn't mention them, especially Snape's brother and sister, about three years ago, when we were all in the Shrieking Shack."

"Well, the main point of that story wasn't Isaac's involvement…" Lupin closed his eyes, regretfully.

Harry raised his eye brows, "Sirius told him about the passage way too?"

"No." Lupin shook his head, while looking at the floor. "But, somehow, Isaac-Mr. Snape-found out what Sirius did and he went to go and try to save Professor Snape."

"But he just found you?" Hermione asked, knowingly.

Lupin looked up and admitted, hesitantly, "Yes."

"So, those scars on his hand…?" Ron's voice fell away as soon as he saw Lupin's expression. It was like he was begging Ron to stop.

Lupin took a deep breath and nodded, "They're from me, yes."

"But you weren't yourself." Harry and Hermione said. They glanced at each other, curiously.

"I know that." Lupin admitted, in a strained voice. "But, you must understand, I could have done worse. I was probably trying to kill him."

"You don't know that." Harry pointed out.

"Harry, back then-"

"Well, it wouldn't have been your fault." Harry decided.

Lupin regarded them, quietly. It was almost heartbreaking, how they looked so earnest about believing the best in him.

Harry told him, "You don't have so feel bad about what you did or almost did."

Hermione said, "It wasn't your fault. No one would have—no one with half a brain would have blamed you."

Ron added, "Yeah, so, even if Mr. Snape threatened to tell-"

"He didn't." Lupin stepped forward and pressed his hands on his desk. He leaned forwards and shared, "Isaac—Mr. Snape-"

"You can call him Isaac, if it's easier." Ron told him. "I mean there's a lot of the word Snape in all of this."

"Alright. It might make it easier." Lupin continued, "I know you've seen how Professor Snape still holds a grudge against me and that he held one against James and Sirius for Sirius's prank, but Isaac didn't really." The trio looked half way skeptic and fully surprised. So, Lupin said, "I know it sounds hard to believe-"

Hermione cut him off to ask, "Did Snape's sister know about it?"

"Yes, she's known since the morning after it happened."

"How did she react?"

"Like Isaac." Professor Lupin explained, "She found me in the library and said she wouldn't say anything either. Isaac had told her to tell me that he wasn't going to spread it around. He'd say the scars were just from the Whomping Willow—that he'd tried to get close to it."

Harry asked, "But then why has Snape held a grudge for so long, if his siblings-"

"Because he's not them," Lupin answered. "I've thought it over since my years at Hogwarts and it seems, to me, anyway, that Isaac and Ashley were always different from Professor Snape."

The trio gave him a group What do you mean? look.

"Well…" Lupin swallowed, anxiously. "For one thing, they weren't even in the same house as Professor Snape."

Harry and Ron did a double take, while Hermione just stared at him.

"They weren't Slytherins?" Ron asked.

Harry looked horrified and asked, "Were they—were they in Gryffindor?"

Hermione widened her eyes and asked, before Lupin could say anything, "Is that how Mr. Snape found out about the prank? Did he overhear Sirius talking about it in the common room?"

"No." Lupin shook his head. He exhaled deeply, "Neither of them was in Gryffindor."

"Alright," Ron commented, feeling relieved. "I was starting to get worried."

Lupin was going to point something out to Ron, but decided against it. Instead, he told them all, "Ashley was in Ravenclaw and—Well, I know this might be hard for you three to believe, but Isaac was in Hufflepuff."

Harry leaned forward a little, with his mouth open. Hermione looked like a thousand thoughts were racing through her head.

Ron asked, "Him? He was a Hufflepuff? They're supposed to be alright." He admitted to Harry and Hermione, "I mean I didn't want to end up there, it's basically like getting labeled dead weight-"

"Ron." Lupin warned. "There's nothing wrong with being in Hufflepuff. They're beliefs are just as good as the other houses. Loyalty, hardworking-"

"I've got nothing against them." Ron insisted. "It's just that no one really expects much from Hufflepuff." He saw Lupin's disapproving stare and said, "Well, they're better than Slytherin."

Lupin frowned, "Ron, Slytherin-"

"I know." Ron said in a bored voice. "But come on, it's just us. Do you honestly think most of the Slytherins can be trusted?"

Lupin hesitated a moment. Ron gave him a told you so look. Then, Lupin said, "Professor Snape-"

"He hates Hermione!" Ron argued. Then, he froze.

Harry looked over at Hermione and saw her focusing on the floor. Lupin looked at Hermione, then, over at Harry. He eventually locked eyes with him, with It's true written all over his face.

"What happened?" Lupin asked, cautiously.

"We've been talking things over," Hermione said, still looking at the floor, "and it kind of does make sense."

Lupin looked concerned. He said, "Alright, let's be honest. We all know Professor Snape doesn't like the three of you that much, compared with the other non Slytherin students. But, Hermione, why is it that the three of you seem to care, a lot, that he doesn't like you?"

Hermione met his gaze and explained, "Because I'm muggle born."

Lupin rushed over to them. He stood in front of Hermione, who had looked down, and said, gently, "Hermione, please, look at me." Hermione looked up, like it was hard for her. He asked, "Did Professor Snape say something negative about you being muggle born?"

"No," she shook her head. "But he's always…" She looked down again.

Harry told Lupin, "He doesn't like how smart she is. He's always calling her an 'insufferable know-it-all' and he even takes away points because of it."

Lupin told them all, "That's too small. We know he doesn't like you three. So, he would do something like that. What has he been doing that made you all this upset?"

Hermione looked up an admitted, "He made fun of me, but, maybe, you're right-"

"What do you mean he made fun of you?" Lupin asked. "How did he make fun of you?"

"Well, the year after you left Hogwarts," Hermione explained, "Draco Malfoy jinxed me and it made my teeth grow really big-"

Ron commented, "It was like beavers' teeth."

Hermione continued, "Well, yes, they were, actually. Anyway, when Professor Snape saw what had happened, he just said that he saw no difference from how I normally looked."

Lupin said, "I'm sorry he did that, Hermione. But that doesn't surprise me. It's horrible, I agree, but he does dislike you three a great deal. Now, really, what's made you think that Professor Snape might hate you for being muggle born?"

Hermione admitted, "Well, he—We just thought because of…" Hermione looked at the floor, "Well, maybe, he really doesn't…"

Lupin bent down a little to try and make eye contact, "No, Hermione-"

Harry looked away from Hermione and reminded Lupin, "He was a Death Eater."

"Reformed Death Eater, Harry." Lupin pointed out, cautiously glancing at Hermione. "Dumbledore found him-"

"And he might still hate people who don't fit being pure blood." Ron pointed out.

Lupin looked at both Ron and Harry and said, "This is serious. People lose their jobs for this kind of thing."

Harry stated, "Good. Hogwarts would be better off without him."

Hermione pointed out, in a small voice, "Well, he has helped us."

"To save his own skin," Ron argued.

"Stop." Lupin ordered. "I need to know, right now, if Professor Snape has directly said anything negative about anyone being muggle born."

Hermione looked up at him and admitted, "No," She said, "We were just… Well, it's very obvious that he favors Slytherins and they're mostly pure bloods."

"Alright, that's fine." Lupin assured her. He told them all, "Look, I know Professor Snape is hard on you and…well, I can talk to his brother-"

"What's that going to do?" Ron asked. "He's probably just like him."

"Well, no, I don't think so. I mean I don't truly know how Professor Snape feels, but Isaac—I don't think he ever hated the muggle world. And Professor Snape probably wouldn't want to talk to me anyway." Lupin added, "And I think Isaac and Professor Snape were close-"

"Were?" Hermione asked, curiously.

Lupin said, suddenly, "I shouldn't be discussing this with you three."

"Why not?" Harry asked him.

"Because it's inappropriate-"

Ron looked annoyed, "How's it inappropriate? It's not like you're touching us—"

Ron stopped and the trio stared, curiously, at Lupin. He looked heart broken, like when heard someone else had just become a werewolf.

"We can't discuss this." Lupin begged them, "Please, try an understand that. Maybe, when you're older and out of school-"

"It's alright." Ron told him. Harry and Hermione nodded.

"Ok," Lupin said. He admitted, "I know you all must be thinking the worst-"

"You don't have to explain anything to us." Harry told him.

Hermione stared at Lupin, sadly, "No. I want to know. Were you… I'm sorry, but what happened?"

Lupin told them, "I know you're only trying to help me, but, and I don't want you take this badly, I just don't want to discuss it with you three. Not right now, anyway."

The trio nodded.

Lupin straightened up and forced himself to smile, "Well. Would the three of you care for some tea or something?"

Ron glanced at the others. Then, he told Lupin, "We're good."

Lupin nodded. "I'll be seeing you, then?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ron answered for all of them.

Lupin swept his eyes over their uncomfortable expressions and said, "I'm alright. It was a long time ago."

Hermione told him, "You know, we're here for you if you need us. We are young, but-"

Lupin smiled appreciatively, "You're willing to try and help anyone. I know that by now." He added, "Kids, if you need help, if Professor Snape really does make it absolutely clear that he dislikes anyone for their heritage, than you can come to me. And I'll do my best to help you."

"Thanks." Hermione said for the trio.

The trio turned to leave and Lupin watched them walk out. Harry was the last to go. He got to the first step down, when he turned back towards Lupin.

"Professor Lupin," Harry said, "I'm sorry about whatever happened to you."

Lupin looked at him, sentimentally, "Thank you, Harry. But don't worry about it. Really, I'm alright."

Harry stared at him a moment. Then, he nodded and joined Hermione and Ron. As soon as they heard Lupin shut his office door, the trio exchanged worried glances.

When they were out of his class room, Ron said, "I wasn't thinking, when I said that bit about him not touching us. It just came out."

"No one blames you, Ron." Hermione told him. "And, maybe, it's better that you said that."

"How is it better?" Harry snapped. Ron and Hermione looked surprised and so did Harry. He added, "Sorry. I didn't really think about getting angry. I mean I'm not angry."

"It's fine, Harry." Hermione assured him.

Ron added, "Yeah, I mean you've got to be almost as stressed as Neville, with two more Snapes around."

Harry agreed, "Yeah, that must be it. But, Hermione, I'm-"

"It's fine, Harry." she told him again.

Harry told her, "Well, if I start acting like I did last year-"

"You can direct all that anger at Snape and his brother and niece." Ron jested.

"No." Hermione decided. "You can talk it out…"

"You could do the same thing." Ron pointed out.

Harry locked eyes with Hermione and nodded, encouragingly.

When the trio reached the common room, only Ginny and Neville were there. They were sitting, across from each other, at a table by one of the windows. Hermione was the only one of the trio who noticed that Ginny was holding Neville's hand.

Ginny was telling Neville, "Even if it is as bad as you think it'll be, it's not like you'll have to go through it alone."

"She's right." Ron agreed.

Ginny and Neville jumped, looked over at the trio, and Ginny pulled her hand away.

"Thanks." Neville told Ron sulkily.

"Where have you three been?" Ginny asked.

"We went to see Professor Lupin." Harry answered, as the trio went closer to her and Neville.

Ron leaned against one of the couches and Harry and Hermione stood by in front of Neville and Ginny.

"Did he tell you why he didn't say anything to us before about him coming back to Hogwarts?" Ginny explained to Neville, "We saw him a lot in the summer."

Ron told her, "Sorry, forgot. He told us his second day back that he kept it a secret because he wasn't sure he was coming."

Ginny half-smiled and asked, "Ok. So, before you forget anything else that's important, what did you guys talk about today?" Her face fell, immediately afterwards.

Hermione glanced at Neville, who was looking down and said, "School stuff. I wanted to know what we'd start learning about."

Ginny nodded, understandingly, "Oh, that's good."

Harry asked, to Hermione, in a light hearted voice, "Does having Professor Lupin as a teacher again actually make you want go back to being a workaholic."

Hermione smiled at him, "Well, he is the only Dark Arts teacher we had that knew what he was doing?"

Neville finally looked up and asked, "Did he tell you anything about Professor Snape's brother and their niece?"

The trio's faces fell. Hermione answered, "He thinks that Mr. Snape will be different and I guess their niece will be too."

Neville suddenly turned angry and remarked, "He didn't seem that much different from Professor Snape."

"I don't think so either." Ron agreed.

Harry offered, "It's not like he'll be giving out grades though. He's just a tutor."

Hermione added, hesitantly, "And Professor Lupin said Mr. Snape was in Hufflepuff."

Ginny and Neville looked skeptical.

Neville asked, "Really?"

"Was Professor Lupin sure about that?" Ginny added.

"Positive." Hermione nodded.

Neville suggested, "The Sorting Hat could have made a mistake."

Ron met his eyes and said, "That's what I think."

Harry shared an uneasy look with Hermione. Then, he asked the group, "Well, how many times could that really have happened…?"

"Probably not that often," Ginny said. "He was an Auror. I guess he still is one." She told Ron, "I'm just surprised that dad never mentioned Professor Snape's family working for the Ministry."

"Yeah," Ron agreed.

"Well, maybe, he didn't know they were working there." Hermione suggested. "They might just be private people."

"Because they were probably ashamed of Professor Snape, when he was a Death Eater?" Neville asked her, knowingly.

The trio was surprised, but Ginny turned, quickly, to Neville and asked, "He worked for Voldemort?"

"Yeah," Neville told her.

"How do you know that, Neville?" Hermione asked, cautiously.

"When my gram told me what Bellatrix Lestrange did to my parents, I started looking up recorded Death Eaters and I saw his name." Neville explained.

Harry squinted, like he wanted to see something better, "And you've known about this since-"

"Since I was nine years old," Neville admitted. He confessed, "Right before our first Potions class, I was wondering if I should warn everyone."

"It wouldn't have changed anything." Harry said. "He still would have been a git."

"We all could have known, then." Ron commented. "I mean it was right there for all of us to see."

Hermione told him, "Well, it's like Harry said, it wouldn't have changed anything."

"Except we would have been scared out of our minds," Ginny decided. "Why does Dumbledore even let him work here?"

Neville told her, "In the book I found his name in, it said that Dumbledore met up with him and Professor Snape said he didn't want to work for Voldemort anymore. He got him out of going to Azkaban by convincing the Ministry to let Professor Snape be a spy for them."

"Still," she swept her eyes over the group, "he hasn't reformed that much. He favors Slytherin and they're all hung up on blood purity."

"Well," Hermione suggested, "he must have been valuable to the Ministry and Dumbledore is big on second chances."

"At our expense," Neville gave the trio an apologetic look, "I know Dumbledore's been great and you three really look up to him. I did too, once. But as I got older, and the more I've had to deal with Professor Snape, I just been wondering why Dumbledore has allowed Professor Snape to be here and treat us all so badly. I mean someone must have complained, at least one person."

"Maybe, Dumbledore feels obligated." Harry explained, "He would have known him, when he was a student here."

Hermione locked eyes with Harry and asked, knowingly, "So, maybe, Dumbledore blames himself for Snape becoming a Death Eater."

"Couldn't he have just made him a caretaker, then?" Neville asked, bluntly. "I've seen him talking with Mr. Filch. They seem friendly."

"Yeah. He could make him wash bed pans by hand." Ron added.

Ginny scrunched up her face, "Ron."

"He made me do that during detention, once." Ron explained.

Ginny shuddered, "That's just evil."

"That's just Professor Snape." Neville remarked.

Later, when the students were heading to their dormitories for the night, Isaac and Natalie were standing together in an empty first floor corridor. It was tucked away behind another corridor, almost like a secret room. There was a series of blue willow vases across from the window and a sapphire blue tapestry behind them.

Isaac was leaning against the wall, staring out the window, with a sad expression that worried Natalie.

She said, "Uncle Isaac, he's probably in his office. You really need to get some sleep."

He turned to her and said, weakly, "It's not that late."

"You're half asleep." she pointed out.

"Natalie." he said in a pleading voice.

She offered, "I can go up there first. That way you could go do stuff, like going to talk to Mr. Filch-"

Isaac looked anguished and said, "He doesn't want to talk to me."

"You don't know that." she told him, sympathetically.

"He would have talked to me before, if he wanted too." Isaac decided.

Isaac watched Natalie take a moment to think.

She said, awkwardly, "Maybe, he's just shy. It's been awhile-"

"It's been over a decade." Isaac dragged his hand through his hair. "And he said hi to your parents."

"They said hi to him first."

Isaac dropped his hand to his side, "But he did talk to them. He could have talked to me, when he got us our seats." Isaac took a deep breath and shared, "Natalie, he doesn't want to talk to me."

Natalie frowned, "Why not? You used to be best friends."

"That was a long time ago." Isaac explained. "Things were different then."

She reminded him, "Well, he gets along with Uncle Severus and he sends us cards and he even sends me stuff even though we'd never actually met until today."

Isaac stared at her sadly. He said, quietly, "He thought so highly of me, that I could fix anything that went wrong."

Natalie took a giant step over to him and said, desperately, "So, you couldn't fix everything! It's not like you didn't try!"

He looked down at her, sadly and fatigued. Natalie looked so childlike, but still so mature. It felt wrong to Isaac, who wanted her to be back at home, with twinkling eyes that were glued to a television.

He touched her shoulder and said, "Natalie, it doesn't concern you. Don't get so worked up-"

She shook his hand off her shoulder and said, "Just go and talk to him." Then, she started walking out. Natalie added, over her shoulder, "I think you should go and talk to Mr. Lupin too."

Isaac called after her, hesitantly, "Alright! Maybe!"

By the time Isaac left the corridor, students weren't allowed to be out of their dormitories. The halls were dark, except for the faintly lit torches.

He was passing by a window, on the second floor, when he absently stopped to press his hands on the ledge and look out the window. He suddenly thought to look up and saw that it wasn't a full moon.

That's good for Remus. he thought.

When he stepped back from the widow he turned and saw that Filch was staring back at him, at the other end of the hall.

"Hello." Filch said, awkwardly, with a grimace like smile.

Isaac, nervously, laced his fingers together and said, "Hello."

Filch informed him, "Your niece found me hours ago and said you wanted to talk to me. She was lying, wasn't she?"

"Kind of," Isaac admitted. "We were talking before and I said I wasn't sure if you wanted to talk to me?"

"Well, I did. I do." Filch confessed, sadly. "When I got you your chair for you, I thought you'd say something then. But you didn't and I wasn't sure-"

"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." Isaac told him.

Filch shook his head, "No, I wasn't worried about whether or not you thought I was still worth talking too. I just didn't know what to say, after all these years." He shared, reluctantly, "Severus has told me what you do, how you cut yourself."

Isaac took a few steps forward and insisted, desperately, "Argus, listen, I promise you, I'm not trying to kill myself."

Filch asked, sadly, "Then, what are you trying to do?"

Isaac looked uncomfortable, "I-I just... I feel badly about things-"

"So, do I. So does Severus. And I'm sure Ashley does and your father too." Filch told him, "But that doesn't mean you hurt yourself. You go and talk to people, your friends, your family-"

Isaac said, quietly, "Argus-"

"Don't." Filch had tears stuck in his eyes. "Don't try to make me understand why you deserve to hurt yourself. You're a good man, Isaac. You always have been. You just couldn't save everyone."

Isaac's lower lip quivered. His voice was a little broken as he said, "But I promised everyone that I would. And, Argus, you believed-"

"I just wanted to be hopeful." Filch explained. "Everything was falling apart."

"And I didn't fix everything-"

Filch walked over to him, "You still did a lot."

"No, I didn't." Isaac insisted.

Filch waited until he was close to him to whisper, "You got Severus trusted again by our side."

"And he still technically has to work for Voldemort." Isaac whispered back.

Filch studied Isaac's face. The dark circles under his eyes hard darkened since breakfast and the sadness in his eyes had deepened too.

"The way you hurt yourself, does that include depriving yourself of sleep-"

"No." Isaac stated. He averted his eyes and said, truthfully, "I only cut myself."

"It's not only cutting yourself, Isaac. You could kill yourself." Filch pointed out.

"I know how serious it is, Argus." Isaac admitted. "And I know how to hurt myself without ending my life."

Filch gave him a look of horror and disbelief. He lightly tapped Isaac's shoulders and asked, "How can you be like this? You're trying to make logic out of you destroying yourself."

"I'm not trying to destroy myself." Isaac insisted.

"No?" Filch asked, skeptically. "Maybe, you're not. But, Isaac, look at how tired you look. You know why you keep your arms covered." He added, "People are going to think you have the Dark Mark-"

"They would think I was in league with Voldemort, regardless." Isaac argued.

"What about your niece?" Filch asked, softly. "Severus has said that she knows too."

Isaac admitted, confessed, "I don't want her to worry about it, but, Argus, I can't stop."

"You can get help." Filch suggested.

Isaac asked him, hopelessly, "Who would want to help me? What would they say? 'Oh, poor Isaac Snape, his brother joined the Death Eaters'?" He told him, "My family isn't trusted-"

"They let you stay on as Aurors." Filch reminded him.

"Because they couldn't find anything reliable that would allow them to fire us or lock us up-"

"They know Dumbledore trusts your-"

"You don't trust Dumbledore." Isaac pointed out. "I heard about how you fawned over Umbridge-"

"I didn't fawn over her. She was worse than Dumbledore." Filch insisted. "But she gave me power-"

"Over kids," Isaac reminded him, angrily. "You terrorized children, Argus. You still do."

Filch shared, bitterly, "They hate me."

Isaac glared at him, "You give them a reason to hate you."

That did it for Filch. He charged forward and pushed Isaac down. Isaac scrambled out of his grasp, almost immediately, and pinned him to the wall.

"No." Isaac shook his head. "We're not going to be at each other's throats."

"I'm sorry." Filch had tears built up in his eyes, stuck there. He told Isaac, "I didn't really want to hit you. It just happened."

Isaac stared back at him, sympathetically. He touched the side of Filch's head and nodded, "It's alright. I might have hit me too."

Filch trembled a little and looked alarmed, "No, Isaac-"

Isaac hugged him and kissed the top of Filch's head. He promised, as he felt Filch hug him back, "I wouldn't hurt myself over something like that. It's just over everyone I couldn't save."

"You tried your best, Isaac." Filch told him. "Everyone knows that."

"Alright," Isaac said, weakly.

Down the hall, where Filch had first been, Alison, as Mrs. Norris, was standing close by the wall. Filch met her gaze. Tears slipped out of her eyes.

Natalie had stuffed herself between her sheets and her pale pink comforter hours ago and had been drifting in out of sleep. She was awake, staring at her door. A little orb of light, a wizarding nightlight, was on a shelf on the farthest wall from her.

Her room doubled as an office. She had a little bedroom attached and, then, the office in the next room. There was a desk in the middle of it, with two chairs for guests. The carpet was light green, with yellow embroidery. Paintings of sea life above and under the water, that didn't have people in them, hung on the walls. Books, from the school, were neatly placed around the room.

However, most of Natalie's belongings were in a trunk, except for her clothes that she had put in the wardrobe. The comforter and sheets were hers too. Her shoes were tucked under her bed.

Natalie sat up pushed her covers of her. She walked, quietly, into her office. A wizarding nightlight was on the desk.

She slid her sock feet across the floor and got on her knees, in front of the door. The school was so old that her office door had a key hole she could see out of.

Someone, she knew to be Isaac, dressed completely in black, was standing in front of Lupin's class room.

Go in, go in. she thought.

Isaac did and Natalie stayed by the door.

As Isaac made his way up the stairs, to Lupin's office, he could see light creeping out of the bottom of the door.

Right before he was going to knock, Isaac paused, arm in the air. He glanced back down the stairs, but grimaced at the thought of retreating.

Despite his anxiety, he knocked on the door and heard Lupin ask, "Yes? Who is it?"

"Isaac." he answered, uncomfortably.

Inside Lupin, who had been writing in his journal again, felt like something cold was slipping down his insides. It was dread, the worse kind. The kind where you know there's no avoiding what's making you nervous.

"Coming," Lupin told him. "Just give me a moment."

"Alright," Isaac said.

Lupin, shakily, put his journal away and made his way over to the door. When he opened it, Isaac said, "I'm not here to argue with you or anything else that," he motioned to Lupin, who was trembling a little, "should get you nervous."

Lupin stepped back, "You can come in."

Isaac walked in and offered, "You don't have to close the door."

Lupin did it anyway, and turned to meet his gaze, "No. We'll need privacy, I think. Peeves could be lurking around."

Isaac nodded.

Lupin forced a small smile on his lips, "You can sit down."

"Alright," Isaac nodded.

Isaac followed Lupin over to a dark blue arm chair. Lupin said, "You can sit there," he magically dragged a wooden chair over from his desk, "and I'll sit here."

"You can have the arm chair." Isaac told him.

Lupin insisted, "No. You're the guest. You get it."

Isaac sat in the arm chair, while Lupin took the less comfortable wooden one.

"So," Lupin asked him, curiously, "what do you want?"

"I'm not sure, really." Isaac admitted. "My niece, Natalie, wanted me to talk to you. So, I just came."

"Did she give you any suggestions about what we could talk about?" Lupin asked.

"No." Isaac explained, "Remus, she knows I know what we should cover. She knows everything-"

"Even that I," he pointed his chin at Isaac's right hand, "gave you those scars?"

"Yes." Isaac nodded, while he took a deep breath.

Lupin took this in, with a look of disbelief. "Is she like Severus, does she-"

"She sent him a howler, the moment she found out that he had told the other teachers about you being a werewolf." Isaac explained.

Lupin raised his eye brows, "Oh," He frowned, "How did Severus take that?"

"Well," Isaac shared, reflectively, "he wrote a letter back to her that explained why he had done the right thing. But I think that was just because Natalie was angry with him. He knows he was wrong."

"Well, no, I did almost kill-"

"He was wrong, Remus." Isaac decided. "He didn't tell people because he was concerned for Harry Potter and his friends or even his own life. He lost his precious Order of Merlin status and very childishly took his anger out on you."

Remus stared at him a moment. Isaac looked completely certain that he was right.

"Have you told Severus-"

"Yes." Isaac answered, a little sadly. "I don't lie him much. My family doesn't exactly sugar coat things, when it comes to Severus."

"Isaac," Remus looked down, "he's your brother. If you want to act like you side with him-"

"I'm not going to pretend to side with him." Isaac said so firmly that Lupin looked up. "He's wrong. He was always wrong-"

Lupin admitted, "But I don't want to be one more thing that drives you two apart."

"You're not." Isaac told him, like it was obvious. "Back when," he moved his right hand around, "you gave me these scars, I told him that I didn't think that you or your friends meant for it to happen or for him to be killed by you. You know that. It didn't bring about the rift between us. Severus calling Lily a mudblood and joining Voldemort did that."

Lupin looked down at Isaac's arms and asked, hesitantly, "Isaac, maybe, it was for the Ministry or Dumbledore, but did you-"

"No," Isaac answered, sadly, "I just get cold easily. And I like wearing black, like Severus and our father."

Lupin changed the subject, hesitantly, "Speaking of Severus…"

Isaac pressed his hand against his forehead, "It's about Harry, isn't it?"

"Kind of," Lupin explained, "Harry and two of his closest friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger-"

"They're wondering if my brother hates Miss Granger because she's muggle born, aren't they?" Isaac asked, with a bitter smile.

"Yes." Lupin answered, surprised. "How did you-"

"We do talk sometimes, my brother and me." Isaac explained. "He's mentioned them and others."

Lupin braced himself and asked, cautiously, "Well, does he—I know your family's not like that, but he does favor the Slytherins and they're all crazy about blood purity-"

"I've fought some of their parents." Isaac said. "I know how the Slytherins are and that my brother favors them."

"Alright. Well, does he think like them?" Lupin asked.

"No." Isaac replied. "He never did. He really did let it slip, accidentally, when he called Lily a mudblood and even when he told everyone about you." He explained, "Severus is full of anger. He's always bottled up his emotions and it got worse when he came here as a student."

"I noticed, somewhat." Lupin admitted. He added, "And, Isaac, since you're here, I need to apologize for what I did, the things I said the last time I saw you."

"You were a mess that night, Remus." Isaac assured him, "You don't need to apologize. I know how something can destroy you, believe me. I went crazy, after I had heard that Severus had become a Death Eater." He added, reflectively, "And it was honestly a lot worse than how you treated me."

"But you had just been trying to help me." Lupin reminded him. "And I turned on you-"

"Lily and James had just died, Remus. You were denied custody of Harry only because you're a werewolf. You thought Sirius had killed Peter and that it was Sirius's fault that James and Lily were dead in the first place and that Harry was sent to live with those awful relatives of his." Isaac told him.

"You still didn't deserve-"

"It's not a matter if I deserved it." Isaac told him, firmly, "You were hurting. You're whole world had shattered in one night." He admitted, "Believe me, Remus, I know what it feels like."

"It must have been awful for you." Lupin commented, reflectively. "You would have had to fight your own brother."

Isaac told him, "No. That wasn't what I was afraid of. I was worried about him fighting other Aurors and killing people."

Lupin and Isaac shared a grim look for a moment.

Lupin said, "Well, Harry, Ron, and Hermione seem very convinced that Severus hates Hermione based on her background. Will you talk to your brother, without making it harder for the three of them?"

"I'll try." Isaac promised. "But I'll have to find a good moment to do it. I don't know when that will happen. If I do it randomly, he'll figure it out, that you and I talked."

"It might not change anything, anyway." Lupin admitted. "He hates Harry-"

"No," Isaac shook his head, "he doesn't hate Harry. He hates that he's seeing a James Potter look alike, except for those eyes of course."

Lupin commented, "I feel bad for him, for Severus. I don't like admitting it, but my friends were awful to him."

"Yes." Isaac agreed. "But, and I hate admitting this, eventually my brother brought it on himself."

Lupin moved his mouth, but didn't say anything. He reached out and put his hand on top of Isaac's left hand, the one he was closet to, and said, "I'm sorry, anyway, for everything my friends did to your brother and that I didn't try to help-"

"Thank you, Remus," he pulled his hand away, "but you don't have to apologize-"

"Isaac, I let it happen." Lupin pointed out.

"Well…." Isaac searched his bran for a good response. He settled with, "Well, let's be honest, your friends probably wouldn't have stopped-"

"I don't know that for sure." Lupin admitted. "I should have tried."

"Your friends knew your secret, Remus." Isaac argued. "Not to say they would have told everyone, but that must have been somewhere in the back of your head-"

"Yes," Lupin admitted, sadly. "I mean they were nice and understanding, but…."

Isaac asked, gently, "You didn't mean for them to find out you're a werewolf, did you?"

"No," Lupin confessed. "They overheard me talking to Madam Pomfrey about it one day and that was that."

"Remus, I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

"No, if anyone should be sorry, it should be me." He reminded him, "I actually threatened to tell the whole school about you."

"Yes, but you actually had a good reason for it." Lupin told him.

"No." Isaac decided. "There was no way your friends knew what kind of trauma they were putting Severus through-"

"Still, I don't blame you for being angry with me." Lupin confessed. "I mean I lit the candle at both ends. I was nice to you in choir and nice to your siblings and friends and then I let-"

"It doesn't matter, Remus." Isaac insisted. "I was older-"

"By one year."

"Yes, and I should have behaved more like an adult." He added, "And more like how my family raised me to act."

"Well, I still blame myself a little-"

Isaac got up and turned his back to Lupin to look out the window, "Well, don't. Don't blame yourself. I don't know. We were just kids."

"We weren't that young." Lupin said and Isaac looked back at him. "I know James didn't mean to, but he did cross a line when he pulled down Severus's pants and," he added, with difficulty, "his underwear."

Isaac turned around, leaned against the windowsill, and said, "Let's stop talking about it."

"Alright," Lupin agreed. "What do you want to talk about now, then?"

"I don't know." Isaac admitted, "I actually didn't think it would be this easy to talk to you."

"Neither did I." Lupin told him. "I don't know why, considering how you reacted about the night you got your scars, but I didn't think you'd be on my side. I could have killed your brother and Sirius and the kids three years ago. Plus, Severus wants my job. And, after what I had done the last time I saw you…" He asked, like it had just occurred to him, "How can you be on my side?"

"It's easy." Isaac said. "I just think it's the right thing to do." He added, "Actually, I thought you'd be worried about me coming here and my niece. Severus's lackeys, as I'm sure the students will think of us. Actually, because of that, I asked Dumbledore to give me and Natalie rooms farther away from you-"

"You don't have to-"

"He said no, anyway." Isaac informed him. "He thought this would be good for us, that we could finally bury the hatchet, I guess. You, me, and Severus."

"There weren't any rooms by Severus?" Lupin asked, puzzled.

Isaac stared at him, helplessly, "Dumbledore must think that Natalie and I are more likely to get along with you than with Severus."

Lupin frowned, "It's that bad between your family and him?"

"Everyone else is an Auror." Isaac said. "And Natalie wants to be one."

Lupin gave him a serious look and stood up, feeling unsure about what to say.

Isaac broke the silence, awkwardly, "I'm sorry about what happened to Sirius." He added, "I won't pretend that I liked him, but, from what my brother told me, he sounded like a good Auror. I think I would have been lucky to fight a long side him."

Lupin smiled, sadly, "Thanks. I think, if he had seen you again, he would have said the same thing."

Isaac nodded, "Right. Well, goodnight, then."

"Goodnight." Lupin said back.

Lupin watched Isaac head towards the door. He stopped in the door way and said, hesitantly, "Remus…"

"What?" Lupin asked, puzzled by his attitude.

Isaac told him, "Well, I know that being here, with all the students knowing you're a werewolf, probably feels difficult for you." He smiled, awkwardly, "If things do get overwhelming, think of it like this, most of the students will still trust you more than they do me, my niece, and my brother any way."

"Oh," Lupin admitted, "Yes, I suppose so."

Isaac told him, "One more thing. Dumbledore has asked me to make your potion, instead of my brother."

Lupin nodded, "Oh. Alright, then."

Isaac suggested, "That's probably another reason Dumbledore wouldn't move me and my niece." He added, "She can also make the potion."

Lupin commented, "She's very talented."

Isaac agreed, "Yes, she's the pride of the family."

"And what about you?" Lupin pointed out, "You taught her enough to be a tutor here."

Isaac smiled a little, "Well, good night." He backed up and shut the door.

Natalie was still kneeling in front of the key hole, when Isaac came out. She tried to get a look at his face, but no angle worked.

When he was gone, she got up and retreated to her bed. Her head was full of thoughts over lapping each other, but she closed her eyes as soon as her head hit the pillow and forced herself to sleep.

Isaac's office was identical to Natalie's. There was even a wizarding night light in the same place. His bedroom looked a lot like hers too, except that his sheets were white and his comforter was dark blue.

He was sitting at his desk, with parchments and books scattered on it. The parchment had sketches of werewolves, the human brain, herbs, and quickly jotted notes.

He was scanning one of the books, with a magnifying glass. The only light he was using was his night light.

Hermione was sitting at the table Ginny and Neville had been at earlier. As she continued to stare out of it, her chin pressed against her palm, she felt like an insomniac.

"Hermione?"

She turned and saw Ginny standing at the bottom of the stairs. Like Hermione, she was in shorts and a t-shirt. However, Hermione had on magenta shorts and a light pink shirt, while Ginny had on dark green shorts and a light green shirt.

"Hi, Ginny," Hermione yawned.

Ginny went over and asked, concerned, "What are you doing up?"

As Ginny sat down next to her, Hermione explained, "I couldn't sleep."

Ginny blew out a deep breath, "What did you, Ron, and Harry talk to Lupin about?"

Hermione was about to lie, but she just said, "Well, we think that-and, Ginny, you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone about this."

"I promise." Ginny gave her a serious look, "Hermione, you know I would never betray your trust."

"I know." Hermione nodded. "But this is much bigger than anything I've ever asked you to keep secret."

Ginny suddenly looked like she was going to cry, "Hermione…?"

"No, Ginny, it's nothing to get worked up about."

"You're worked up about it."

Hermione told her, "It's just that Ron, Harry, and I had this idea that Snape might hate me more than Harry, and Ron, and most of the other students because I'm muggle-born."

Ginny asked, grimly, "So, what did Lupin say about it?"

"Just that we would need concrete proof to do anything major and that he would help us if we ever got any."

"That's good."

Hermione added, hesitantly, "He's also going to talk to Mr. Snape about it."

Ginny looked nervous, "He really thinks that's a good idea?"

"Well, Lupin said that Snape's siblings were always different." Ginny gave her a confused look and Hermione explained, "They weren't even in Slytherin-"

"What?"

"Their sister was in Ravenclaw and Mr. Snape was in Hufflepuff."

Ginny thought it over and decided, "Well, they do seem nicer than him. So, does their niece."

Hermione nodded.

Ginny pointed out, "It was weird, the way she said she knew that some of us would already hate her. I honestly thought that she was going to say it was because she's Snape's niece."

"I think that's what she meant." Hermione admitted. "She probably said that other stuff to cover it up."

"Yeah," Ginny agreed.

Hermione smiled, shyly, "One more thing, I want you to keep a secret, Lupin was so amazing when we were talking with him before."

Ginny giggled, "Hermione! Well, ok, what did he do exactly?"

"He was just really caring." Hermione explained. "It made me feel all fluttery."

"Like all those times my mum had him go swimming with us," Ginny asked, "and we got to see him shirtless?"

Hermione confessed, "Yes, exactly like that."

Ginny admitted, "Ok, this isn't why I think he seems nicer than Snape, but don't you think Snape's brother is kind of-"

"Good looking?" Hermione asked, sheepishly.

Ginny nodded, "Yeah,"

"I was thinking that, the moment I saw him walk in." Hermione admitted.

The girls laughed.

"He's got that needs to be healed quality, doesn't he?" Ginny reflected.

"I suppose he does." Hermione replied. She said, seriously, "He really does seem nicer than Snape though."

"Yeah," Ginny nodded.

Hermione confessed, "I've told Ron and Harry this. I always wondered if Snape disliked me more because of my background." She confessed, "I think it hurt so much admitting it to you, and to them, and Lupin because…because…"

"I had a slight crush on Snape too, Hermione." Ginny reminded her. "But I guess it does make sense that he-"

Hermione admitted, sadly, "I still can't help thinking Snape's kind of good looking."

Ginny confessed, reluctantly, "Me either." She offered, "Well, maybe, his brother is really nicer. And we can just focus our attention on him." She smiled a little, "And Lupin of course."

Hermione smiled a little too, "Maybe,"

(A/N: Wow, this chapter was long. I had so much that I wanted to cram into it. Well, I'll try to keep the rest of the chapeters shorter from now on.)