Just as everyone, except Father McKenzie of course, had to head back (because Harry and Hermione had to, since they were not allowed to be out longer than when all the churches ended and Isaac mentioned, privately, to Father McKenzie that he would probably have to talk about Harry and Hermione's attendance with Lupin) Harry promised Father McKenzie, "I'm definitely coming back here, next Sunday."

Father McKenzie smiled, sentimentally, and nodded.

Hermione added, "I'll be coming back here too."

Harry shared a smile with her and Natalie grinned, excitedly, as she grabbed Hermione's arm and said, "Yes! We can walk together again!"

Hermione smiled, a little surprised, but flattered, by Natalie's excitement, "Yeah,"

Isaac studied the way Natalie's face was lit up, while she and Hermione planned a meeting time for next Sunday. Filch and Father McKenzie noticed and shared a quick smile.

Then, Father McKenzie said, reluctantly, "Well, you should probably start heading back."

They all did, just as reluctantly. Father McKenzie watched them go. Harry listened to Hermione and Natalie's gush about movies they had seen, while he occasionally put his two cense in. Filch looked straight ahead and Isaac looked over his shoulder, shared a somber smile with Father McKenzie, and waved.

There were clumps of students, scattered at the front of the school, who turned to look at them, in disbelief, when they got back. Lee Thomas, Fred, and George had been playing a game of exploding snap with a few girls and boys from their year and were the first to see them.

Then, they passed by the fountain, where Dean and Luna were standing. Luna regarded them blissfully as ever and said, "We were all wondering where you two were." Hermione smiled, quickly, at her.

Ginny and Neville were on the other side of the fountain. Harry and Hermione couldn't look into Neville's face, without remembering what Isaac and his siblings had done for his family and how he didn't know.

The hardest thing was when they reached Ron and Lupin. Ron was sitting on the stares, glaring at them, while Lupin stood near him and shared a quick, anxious smile with Isaac.

Everyone watched them, without even thinking to hide it.

Lupin addressed Harry and Hermione, "So you both got to meet Father McKenzie? He's a good man-"

"Yeah," Harry told him and struggled not to cry.

Lupin barely breathed as he studied Harry and Hermione's faces and put together some idea of what had happened. Then, he looked to Isaac, who wordlessly and apologetically confirmed it. When he looked back to Harry and Hermione, they nodded.

Ron, who was completely out of the loop, swept his eyes, suspiciously, over Isaac, Filch, and Natalie. He tried to sound civil and asked Harry and Hermione, "Are you going back there next Sunday?"

"Yeah," Harry and Hermione answered.

Ron nodded, then shouted at everyone watching, "Oi! You can all stop staring over here, like you've never seen people talking before!"

Most people, except Ron's siblings and Neville, turned away, either trying to look innocent or to discuss what was going on.

Ron told Harry and Hermione, "I'll be in the common room."

After Ron was inside, Lupin offered, "We can talk in my office."

No one had bothered sitting, in Lupin's office, when they got in and closed the door. Lupin listened as Harry and Hermione both jumped at the chance to explain and comment on what they had seen.

When they were done, Lupin's eyes were glistening and he was breathing deeply, like he always did when he was trying to hold back on crying. He asked, "No doubt, you'll both tell Ron about this?"

Harry and Hermione glanced at each other, before Hermione said, "Well, he's not dense, even if he is acting like it. He'll know we know something and," she glanced at Natalie, "if he says something bad about Natalie, and" she turned to Isaac, "Mr. Snape," she turned to Filch, "and Mr. Filch," she looked back at Lupin, "well, Harry and I would probably just mention something then."

Lupin nodded. After a moment, he confessed to Harry, "I wanted to tell you about that night. I did, really-"

"It's ok." Harry assured him.

Lupin insisted, "Thank you for being so understanding, Harry, but I need to explain myself." Harry gave him an accepting look and Lupin continued, "When I found out that you had been placed with your aunt and uncle, Fudge told me that I was…" He swallowed back a sob, before he admitted, "That I wasn't allowed to be anywhere near you, until you came back into the wizarding world." He took a step away from the window he had been standing near and, desperately, insisted, "And, Harry, I kept track of the time, I did. I knew when you were back, but there was nothing for my transformation at that time and so I wasn't sure what I would do with you—I was barely employed. I was in an out of homeless shelters, when Professor Dumbledore found me…"

Harry, Hermione, and Natalie gave him horrified looks. Filch looked away and Isaac looked sympathetic and guilty for not having known.

"You could have used my family's fortune." Harry told him.

Lupin shook his head, "No, Harry. You were a child-"

"And I would have been happy to share it with you." Harry confessed, "The Dursleys, they were awful." Then, he asked Isaac, "Were you all told not to contact me-"

"Yes," Isaac admitted, with a pained expression, "and we would have adopted you, if…"

Harry told him, eyes down cast, "It's ok. Living at the Dursleys wasn't so bad."

"Yes, it was." Isaac insisted. He added, "If it wasn't, you wouldn't have said so."

Harry decided, "Well, it wasn't like anything you went through."

"That doesn't mean-"

"It's fine. Maybe… Maybe, it did me some good. It made me not turn out like Voldemort, hating muggles and muggleborns."

Isaac and Lupin stared at him, impressed, but guiltily.

Harry pointed out, "I turned out ok. And having a hard life, I think it helps me when I have to fight. I learned how to survive."

Isaac and Lupin smiled a little.

Lupin also said, "I also think you inherited some of it from your parents."

"And Ben," Isaac added.

Harry smiled, thankfully.

Filch said, suddenly, "Well, I have a few things I need to get done."

As Filch headed to the door, Isaac told him, "I'll come help you-"

"Take your time." Filch insisted, before he slipped out of the room.

Natalie told Hermione and Harry, "Well, I could help you make a study plan for your N.E.W.T.s, but, I know you probably want to go tell your friend, Ron, about everything."

"He'll be expecting it." Harry said, apologetically.

Hermione asked, "Could we do it another time, maybe later?"

Natalie told her, "Sure, if you don't think going to see me again would start an argument."

Hermione insisted, "Well, if Ron does start one, that'll be his own fault, not yours."

Natalie smiled, sweetly.

Harry added, "Maybe, after we tell him what your family did, he'll come around."

Natalie nodded, hopefully.

Then, Harry and Hermione left. When they were gone, Natalie told her uncle and Lupin, "I can go read or-"

Isaac asked her, "Are you sure you'll be alright?" which surprised Lupin, who wasn't sure if Natalie should stick around for their conversation.

"I'll be fine." Then, she informed Lupin, "I get panic attacks sometimes."

"Oh." Lupin said, a little shocked. He offered, "You can stay-"

"No." she shook her head. "I'm sure you guys want to talk about a lot and well, I'll tell you one thing, no one ever showed me those memories on purpose. I found them and… Well, I saw them." She added, "And that's not why I have panic attacks." She turned to Isaac, who gave her an apologetic look. Then, she told Lupin, "I'll just leave, so you can talk."

Lupin teased her, lightly, "You never stay here very long, do you?" He turned to Isaac, "Did I mention it, that when you and she arrived, Natalie came to my classroom, while I was looking through some lesson plans, and when I looked up, she ran away."

Isaac smiled a little, "No, you didn't, but Natalie told me she saw you."

Natalie watched them, pleased that she could be used as an ice breaker. She said, "Ok, well, I stuck around longer, today, didn't I?"

Lupin nodded. Then, Natalie left.

Lupin locked eyes with Isaac and confessed, in concern, "Part of me wants to thank you and the other part wants to ask you how you could do something so reckless?"

Isaac told him, "Father McKenzie and I thought he had a right to know and it would make him understand why you, as well as the rest of us, didn't adopt him."

Lupin shrugged and admitted, "I don't think Harry ever considered me adopting him. I know he did, when Sirius offered-"

"Well, did he ask Sirius too or did Sirius have to offer to first?"

Lupin searched his brain, then said, "I think he offered to first."

Isaac said, "There you go. Harry must have never assumed either of you would adopt him, until, maybe, today, when I showed him why no one could."

"You didn't have too. I don't know how you even managed reliving it. That night, all I could do was think about how James, and Lily, and Ben were dead and that it was partially my fault Harry couldn't be adopted by any of us." Lupin insisted, eyes down cast.

"It's not your fault you're a werewolf." Isaac told him. "Besides Fudge, with what my brother did-"

Lupin looked up again and pointed out, "You could have shown Harry and Hermione what you did for me that night and," he looked away, regretfully, "how I repaid you…"

"I didn't want to make you look bad." Isaac assured him. "You don't deserve it and it wouldn't really help things, since I do actually want us to be friends again."

Lupin admitted, with a small smile, "I'd like that too."

Isaac chuckled, softly, "I was terrified to come and see you."

"So was I." Lupin told him.

Isaac shared, "I kept changing my mind about coming to talk to you personally. I promised my niece I would, but, in the end, she had to be the one to get me to do it…"

"She's very mature. Sometimes, when I was talking to her, it was like she wasn't even a child… Well, and then she does seem like one, but not exactly-"

Isaac reflected, "It's like she can't be either." He added, "But she acts like a normal kid around Hermione. I've never actually seen anyone be able to make her feel like that before."

Lupin asked, cautiously, "Why is your niece… the way she is?"

Isaac took a deep breath, looked down, and shook his head, "Don't ask me that." He flicked his eyes over to Lupin and confessed, "I know why, but— It's not that I don't trust you-"

Lupin looked down, like he wanted to take back his question, "No, it's alright." He locked eyes with him and said, "If Natalie wants me to know, then she'll tell me."

Isaac nodded, appreciatively.

Lupin asked, apologetically, "I didn't think you did, but did you tell them about Alison Knott—What happened to her?"

"No," Isaac shook his head.

"Then, I won't tell them either." Lupin promised.

Isaac looked away, regretfully, "Thanks. I don't want to make you lie, but…" He turned to Lupin and confessed, "You know none of us thought she was guilty. We still don't."

Lupin admitted, a little weakly, "Neither do I." He added, after Isaac gave him a skeptical look, "She did stand up for me a few times. She must have been a good friend to all of you."

Isaac chuckled, sadly, "We've had this conversation before."

Lupin chuckled too, "That's right. We have."

Isaac told him, "Well, we're consistent. We did this the last time we reconnected too."

Lupin nodded, "So we did." Then, he asked, more seriously, "We won't have to do this again, will we? We'll stay friends this time, right?"

Isaac studied the way Lupin looked at him, with the heart wrenching realization that Lupin still thought of him as the person to lean on.

"Well, I think that's up to you." Isaac jested, "Don't start throwing things at me this time."

Lupin grinned with him, although a little surprised at his joke, and promised, "Don't worry, I won't."

Filch's office was small, like the size of four closets. There was room for a bed, writing desk, and a dresser. There was also a fire place that rarely got used.

Alison sat on Filch's bed, hands folded in her lap, while she listened to him, as he leaned against the wall near the door, explain what had happened.

After he had finished, Alison reflected, eyes on the fire place, "It was crazy, but, maybe, it's all for the best."

Filch followed her path of vision and then they turned to each other, listlessly. He shook his head, "I can't tell my dad like that."

She gave him a sympathetic look and reminded him, "You'll have to see him, eventually."

Filch thought this over and asked, "Well, how would I tell him, anyway? Dad, probably tomorrow, you're going to have to explain yourself to Mr. Snape-"

"You could probably start calling him Donovan." Alison pointed out. "Me too, I guess."

Filch took a few deep breaths, as his eyes started to glisten. Alison clenched her lips together, like she always did when she tried not to cry, and watched him stare at the fireplace.

"Argus?" He turned to her, about ready to cry. She confessed, "I know I wouldn't exactly be a part of it, but I would be happy, if you could all just became a family again."

Filch sniffled, but stopped himself from sobbing, took a step closer to her, and asked, "What if it's not that easy?"

Alison got up and went over to him, "You were like the same family. So, maybe— Well, you were fine with Severus, and Ashley, and Isaac. Even Natalie likes you."

"But we weren't the ones who decided my dad and I should leave."

She moved her mouth around, but said nothing. Then, she said, nervously, "I don't know. Both of your dads want to see each other and all of you. You all could have—should have done this before, it just sounds like you're scared about how it will affect everyone." She waited for him to respond, but he only looked away. Then, she added, "Maybe, it's time you all stopped… caring. I mean… I don't know what I mean." She started to look away, but then looked at him and promised, "We'll figure out a way to keep me away from them-"

He locked eyes with her and said, "They'll start noticing. Severus might. You didn't use to run away from him."

"Yes, but, if I only avoided Isaac, then he would definitely figure it out." she reasoned. Then, she admitted, "I constantly worry about something happening to you because of me. I don't want anything to happen to them either, but, I don't know, maybe, it's because I saw them and it really sunk in that I haven't for a while-"

"Alison…? Filch held one of her hands and slid his other hand up the opposite arm.

She gave him a defeated look, "I just think it would be nice if at least some form of our old group could … exist."

Filch nodded. Then, he added, "It would just be better if we could both be a part of it."

Alison smiled, weakly, but gratefully.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had found a frequently unused corridor; the one Natalie and Isaac had stood in their first night, to talk things out. Ron, however, wasn't the best listener, as expected. He snapped at them, after almost every sentence.

When they finally got to the end, Ron pounded the side of his left hand against his right palm and demanded to know, "Yeah, ok, but how do you know you can really trust them?"

Harry and Hermione listed the major points of the memories, but Ron waved his arms around and said, "I heard it all already! All I'm saying is: we don't know that they didn't leave things out!"

Harry argued, "So what if they did?"

Hermione added, "It would have been something private. Something we didn't know!"

"Or something that made them look bad," Ron countered.

"Shut up!" Harry and Hermione said, eyes glistening.

Hermione reminded Ron, "They saved Neville!" She started trembling and tears dripped out of her eyes, as she reasoned, "He was a little baby and Bellatrix was still going to hurt him, Ron. I know… I know Professor Snape can be downright awful to us and everyone, but he saved Neville. And Ashley wanted too. So did Mr. Snape. They are… Ron, don't you realize that if they hadn't been there, Neville wouldn't be at school with us? He would either be dead or at St. Mungo's, like his parents. And he would have experienced so much pain!"

Ron stared at Hermione, in shock, while Harry, who was just hit by what she said, went over and hugged her. He could feel her trembling in his arms and she could feel him shaking in hers. She also heard him start to sob by her ear.

Ron looked down and reflected, "Well, that is good." He locked eyes with his friends and added, "That they saved Neville, I mean."

"It's more than just good." Harry told him, a little contemptuously. He, slowly, pulled away from Hermione and went over to Ron, "Neville's here and not like his parents. I almost got to live with people who would have loved me-"

Ron blurted, nervously, "But how do you know Snape would have loved you?"

Harry froze and started to look away, then decided not to. He opened his mouth, but closed it. Then, he explained, "I don't think he would have been the one raising me. And, even if he treated me like he does now, it still would have been better than living with the Dursleys."

As Harry started to turn away, like Hermione, Ron confessed, "I'm not trying to be a git." Harry and Hermione had turned back, tired and annoyed. Ron struggled to tell them, "You weren't here, when your defeat of Voldemort was so new."

He swallowed, then explained, eyes downcast, "All the deaths, they were so recent and kids like me, we could tell that we had just missed living in something awful."

He looked up and admitted, "We thought we were lucky. I did, anyway. I mean Ginny, Fred and George, and I… We didn't think Voldemort was ever coming back. Everything we heard, it was just stories, sort of. We didn't think it would happen to us, but my parents, Bill, and Charlie, even Percy, they were just always afraid, I guess. I don't think they believed he would come back, but they… We saw that they and anyone else who could remember Voldemort in power were never really ok."

Harry and Hermione were suddenly very aware of all the years they had not spent in the wizarding world, how remnants of Voldemort's legacy must have still been there, like graves and abandoned buildings that had had the dark mark over them.

Ron continued, bitterly, "It's not fair. Voldemort wasn't supposed to come back. No one else was supposed to die." Ron took a few deep breaths, before he stated, "Snape was a death eater. He was trained to kill. I know it was only for five days, but… How does Dumbledore tell us to trust him? He doesn't trust him. If he did, Snape would get to teach Defense Against The Dark Arts. Obviously, Dumbledore, even after saving Neville and, yeah, trying to save Harry, must know something about Snape that… I don't know." He looked down and said, "I can't trust him and I can't trust his family. I'm…"

As much as Ron wanted to apologize, Harry and Hermione wanted to say he didn't have to, but they couldn't do it after what they had seen.

Hermione suggested, "Why don't we go and see Hagrid." The boys turned to her and she added, "Obviously, we can't tell him everything, but, I mean, he'll probably have heard Harry and I went to church with them. We could at least tell him about that."

Harry and Ron looked at each other and agreed, wordlessly, that she was right.

Hagrid had listened to the trio, wordlessly. Then he told Harry and Hermione, "I think you're right, trustin' 'em." He admitted, reluctantly, "I don't know if I should tell you this, but—I'm sure you've guessed Isaac, Mr. Snape I mean, can."

Ron felt a throbbing in his throat, while Harry and Hermione felt like gray sludge had slid down to their stomachs.

"What is it?" Hermione asked him.

Hagrid confessed, "They can both see thestrals."

Ron looked out the window, while Harry and Hermione couldn't stop thinking about how Natalie was only eleven.

Hermione asked him, in a thin voice, "Did they tell you why?" She dragged her hands over her face, then said, "Natalie's so young… I guess…" She turned to leave and decided, "I have to go find her."

"I'm coming with you." Harry added, as he got up.

Ron stayed at Hagrid's table and Hagrid remained in his red arm chair. They locked eyes, as Harry and Hermione left.

Harry had wanted to check the school first, but Hermione pulled him away and suggested, "No. We should try the green houses first. Most people don't go in there, on weekends."

"Except, maybe, Neville," Harry pointed out.

Hermione looked at him and said, "I'm sure she knows that."

They sprinted, when they could see the green houses, and nearly fell, as they slid in. They grabbed a table with plants on it just in time though.

As expected, Neville was there. He was standing at the end of the table Harry and Hermione had grabbed on to, with Justin Finch-Fletchley, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott, and Ernie Macmillan. They had all had to grab on to the table, when Harry and Hermione slammed into it.

Neville and Ernie looked suprisingly good in their aprons, because of their new, soft, lean muscled bodies. Hannah looked more womanly herself, with a swan like neck that was very noticeable with her blond hair pulled back in a low ponytail. Susan, who also looked more womanly, didn't wear her hair in a long plait anymore, but back in a ponytail that suited her as if she had started ponytails. Justin was more toned and dreamy looking in a boy-next-door way, with his kind brown eyes and brown curls across his forehead.

"Sorry," Harry and Hermione told them.

The others assured them that it was alright. Then, Harry and Hermione turned and locked eyes with Natalie, who was by the plants near the wall. She was all geared up, like the others, and holding a pair of clippers.

"Are you alright?" she asked them.

"Yeah," Harry nodded.

"Never better," Hermione added.

Natalie glanced at the others, who were watching, and went over to Harry and Hermione to ask, in a low voice, "How did it go with Ron?"

"Not like how we expected," Harry admitted.

Then, Hermione added, "But he knows we trust you and your family and I think he will too, eventually. I think he kind of already does."

A hint of a hopeful smile started to form on Natalie's face, but then she remembered the others were watching and insisted, with a smile, so they would hear, "I know how to handle the plants, you guys."

Hermione played along by adding, "We know you can. We just thought you could help us."

Harry got that he was supposed to say something and told Natalie, like he was obviously lying, "We really want to get ahead in Herbology."

Natalie gave them a skeptical look, but gave in, "Fine." As she headed back to where she had been working at, she said over her shoulder, "Oh, and don't worry I'll make sure to let my Uncle Isaac know you were both very convincing."

Harry chuckled, like Hermione, and told her, "He just wants to protect you. Hey, you should see Ron's mom. She wants to mother the world."

When the three of them were together, Hermione whispered, "Hagrid told us you can see thestrals."

Natalie turned to her, nervously, obviously holding back a sob, and nodded.

As Natalie turned away, Harry told her, "I started seeing them, in my fifth year, because I saw Cedric Diggory die."

"I know." she said, as she cut her plant. "My family tried to come and see you."

"It's alright." Harry offered. "I had loads of support here, from Hermione, and my other friends, and teachers."

Natalie looked at him and confessed, "That wasn't the first time we wanted to see you, but Fudge forbid us. Apparently, he was going to fire my uncle Severus, when you were finally coming here, but Professor Dumbledore told Fudge it would look conspicuous and that no one else wanted to teach potions. So Fudge let him stay, as long as he didn't tell you about us."

Harry and Hermione's jaws dropped a little. Harry asked, "Do you know why Fudge was so hard your family?"

Natalie gave him a pained expression and nodded, "Yeah, but I can't tell you. Fudge would arrest my uncle."

Harry and Hermione eyed the door, as if the Ministry would come in at any moment and they would both have to shield her.

Then, they both asked, "Which uncle?"

"My uncle Isaac." she said.

"Should we tell him we know?" Hermione asked.

Natalie replied, "Yeah, we can go see him after we're done, I guess. He and Professor Lupin wanted to talk." Harry and Hermione nodded. Then, she suggested, "Well, if you're going to stay in here, you should probably get your aprons and gloves, goggles too, maybe some earmuffs."

Harry and Hermione agreed and then walked out. A few moments afterward, Natalie realized she hadn't mentioned a few things and ran after them, "Wait!"

When she was gone, Ernie remarked, "I wish we could just lock the door."

Hannah warned him, "Shhhh. She might here you and she does actually have some control over us."

"Plus, she's Snape's niece." Neville added, bitterly.

Outside, Natalie ran up the sloping hills and eventually came across Harry and Hermione, talking with Ginny, who was holding her Herbology gear. They all turned and stopped talking, as Natalie ran over to join them.

She told Ginny, awkwardly, "Hi, again."

Hermione informed Natalie, "Ginny was telling us that she met you and that you told her you've met Percy."

"I was going to tell Ron too," Natalie shared, "but, er…"

"I really hope my brother, Ron, wasn't too rude to you." Ginny said.

Natalie nodded, "I know. And really he wasn't."

Ginny looked unconvinced, but dropped the subject and told Harry and Hermione, "I'll go back, with Natalie, and you guys can go an get your gear."

Harry and Hermione nodded and ran to the school, after they gave Natalie, quick, supportive smiles.