Seamus got a piece of egg on his fork, looked over at the staff table, and grinned. He commented to Neville, who was beside him, "Hey, Neville, it looks like it'll be a good day for you. Snape'll probably be out sick."

Neville snapped out of his own thoughts and turned to him, "What?"

By now, Ginny, who was on the other side of Neville, and Fred, George, Lee, and Dean, who had been staring at Luna, on Seamus's other side, were listening in.

Seamus pointed out, "Snape hasn't shown up-"

"He could be late." Neville sulked.

"No, he's definitely sick." Seamus decided. "Why else would his brother and niece have let Filch sit in his chair?"

Lee suggested, "Yeah, but, since his brother and niece are here, one of them will probably take over for today or however long he's out."

George added, with grim realization, "Yeah. I mean it was cool, what Mr. Snape did last night, but, for all we know, he's got the same teaching method as his brother."

Fred theorized, "Maybe, even the little one is bad." They all looked towards the head table at her, "Look at her, all in black, just like her uncles."

Dean observed, "Maybe, they're in mourning-"

"No," Seamus shook his head, even though Dean couldn't see him, "Dumbledore would have made an announcement, if Snape had died."

"I didn't mean he had died." Dean explained. "It could be another family member. Maybe, it's there sister, Natalie's mum-"

"So why wouldn't they all be absent?"

"She's an auror. She could have died fighting. Snape could be trying to make sure it's really her body."

Ginny admitted, "Well, I hope she isn't dead. I don't know how'd I live, if my mum-"

"Ginny!" Fred and George warned, not wanting to think about they're mother dying.

"Sorry."

Up at the staff table, Natalie leaned forward to see past Filch and Isaac, to say ask Lupin, cheerily, "Professor Lupin, would you pass the syrup?"

Lupin had his mouth full of pancakes, himself, and gave her an apologetic smile, as he nodded. Isaac took it from him and then passed it on to Natalie, who thanked them both, and then looked, absently, out into the house tables.

She met Neville's eyes, then swept them over the group. Natalie's lip-reading abilities became apparent to Seamus (and the others), who had made a remark about Lupin being "better than those greasy Snapes and Filch" (although only Snape's hair was ever greasy).

While Seamus went a little pale, Fred, George, Lee, and Ginny had to look away. Neville was torn between hatred towards her uncle, the fact that she was a kid, and that her uncles and mother had been friends with his parents.

Somehow, Isaac sensed Natalie's pain and glanced over at her. He, quickly, followed her gaze to all of them and glared at Seamus, defensively. Natalie noticed and looked over at her uncle too.

It wasn't like the way Snape would have looked at him, full of rage, eyes on fire. Seamus could almost hear, Isaac say, You can mess with me, but not with her.

Guilt felt like a lump in his throat and Seamus nodded, before he turned back to his plate.

Natalie locked eyes with Isaac and gave him a small, thankful smile. He smiled back, a little, fondly.

After breakfast, Dean and Neville walked on either side of Seamus, as they headed into the dungeons, with the other Gryffindors and Slytherins.

Seamus jested, uneasily, "No, offense, Neville, but I always thought it would be you who was nervous, our first class with Mr. Snape and Natalie."

Neville explained, confidently, "I'm not going to let them get to me. I'll try the same with Snape too."

Dean and Seamus smiled. Seamus clapped his hand on Neville's back, "Looks like you've grown a back bone."

Neville just looked at him, seriously.

They were at the door and Seamus pulled his hand away. He tried to keep his expression calm, as they headed into the classroom, to one of the back tables. The three of them could see that Harry and Hermione were in front, close to the teacher's desk, which Natalie sat on, hands folded in her lap, chatting with them, as Isaac wrote instructions on the board.

Ron appeared at the back table and said, "I'm sitting here today." as he took a seat beside Dean. The three of them nodded.

A blonde, Slytherin girl, on the other side, whispered to her friends, "Just look at him. It's bad enough what he did last night, but now he's acting like a muggle-"

Isaac turned around and told her, simply, "You don't need to say muggle, like it's something revolting. They're people, like you—" The girl had made a disgusted face, so Isaac announced, a little annoyed, "Fifty points from Slytherin-"

He was interrupted by an angry outburst from the Slytherins. The girl even demanded to know, "Weren't you a Slytherin?"

"No." he replied, which made a few eye brows raise. "I was a Hufflepuff."

Natalie laughed, silently, with Harry and Hermione, while the others, except Ron and Neville, expressed their shock.

Isaac informed the girl, "By the way, because of your attitude, you'll have detention with me, tonight, Miss…?

"Elaine Macgregor."

"Macgregor." he said, with some recognition. "That's a fine last name."

Elaine smiled, hopefully, like the other Slytherins, finally thinking she had found Isaac's inner Slytherin, "Yes, well, my father-"

Isaac shared, "Back in the muggle world, where Natalie and I live, we know a family, with the same last name." He turned back to the board, as the Slytherins looked enraged and disgusted and the Gryffindors either smiled or were uncertain about how to react.

Natalie smiled at Elaine, who glared at her, "They're really nice too."

Then, she went over to help Isaac. After a few moments, they were done writing and rubbed their hands together to get rid of chalk residue.

They turned to the class and Isaac said, "The instructions on the board are for a healing potion, Hilaren's, named after Gregor Hilaren, who made it." Since it was the same he had to use on Lupin, in Gringotts, Isaac couldn't help but be pulled back into that moment, but he masked it well enough, "If it's made right, it looks like gray sludge and smells and tastes horrible. You don't have to taste it. You can partner up and begin. All the ingredients are in the cabinets, labeled."

He retired to the chair behind Snape's desk and started going through papers, until he thought to add, "You may ask me or Natalie for help. Afterwards, I suggest writing these instructions down. You'll be tested on them, tomorrow."

Everyone groaned, except Hermione, as usual, and Harry, for Isaac and Natalie's sake.

Since no one seemed safe from punishment, everyone got their supplies, quietly. It appeared like there was no bad blood between the houses, but you could feel the tension, like hot air.

When everyone was fully in the process of making their potions, Isaac and Natalie started checking on everyone, giving nods of approval or motioning the team in the right direction.

Isaac felt like his throat and chest had something slammed into him, lodged there, as he went over to Neville and Seamus.

Neville was trimming some roots for the potion, so Isaac pointed, unacusingly, at Seamus and asked, "Are you going to crush them?"

"Yes, sir," Seamus nodded and barely made eye contact.

Isaac felt bad for having made him nervous, even if it was in defense of Natalie, and inquired, "Is that you're specialty? It seems that you have one in trimming the roots, Mr. Longbottom."

The name was out and Isaac new he had made a mistake, but Neville was unsuprised to see Isaac knew him. He just said, "Professor Sprout says I'd make a good Herbologist."

Of course, Isaac realized, Professor Sprout had told him all about his parents being friends with him, his siblings, Filch, and maybe even Lily.

Isaac commented, hands wrung together, "Well, she's right. Your potion will turn out perfectly, now."

Seamus was so shocked he had to look up at Isaac to check his expression. Ron and Dean looked over too. Neville could barely believe it himself, which made Isaac look down, like he was looking over their work.

"Thank you." Neville told him.

He looked away, just as Isaac looked back at him and said, "You're welcome."

Isaac pulled away from the situation and started back up the row. Natalie had seen everything and felt a burst of hope in her chest that one day Isaac's arms wouldn't be covered.

Ron caught up with Harry and Hermione, after Potions, as they headed to Defense Against The Dark Arts, and whispered, from behind them, "Mr. Snape said Professor Sprout was right about Neville, that he would make a good Herbologist." He added as he went to stand next to Harry, on the side Hermione wasn't on, "Neville thanked him."

Harry and Hermione shared hopeful looks.

Then, they both attempted to have small talk with Ron, although things were still, undoubtedly, strained, but Ron's news had made it better.

They passed by Ginny and Luna, on her their way to Potions, and she shared a quick smile with them. Ginny gave Neville a sympathetic look, when she found him looking sulky. He flashed her a quick smile.

Dean and Luna locked eyes a moment and shared a smile, as they passed each other.

In the class room, Lupin, having slept better than Isaac, was already prepared and brighter. He told the students, as they came in, "Open your books to page 43. We'll be learning-"

" 'We'll be learning.'?" Elaine exclaimed, mockingly. She tilted her head and jolted her chin, reminiscent to the trio, Neville, and Lupin, of Bellatrix Lestrange, "You haven't learned enough yet?"

Lupin pushed through his triggered trauma from the Department of Mysteries battle and told her, calmly, "Well, you're never too old to learn, Miss Macgregor."

"Yeah," Neville agreed. He reminded Elaine, "Like that it's not smart to be rude to another teacher, after Mr. Snape already gave you a detention and took away fifty house points."

"Mr. Snape's not a teacher!" Elaine snapped. "And mind your own business, Longbottom."

"Stop, stop." Lupin instructed, calmly. They looked to him and he said, "There's no need for confrontation, but, Neville has a good point, Miss Macgregor, it's not wise to act in a way that might get you another detention."

She just gave him a bored look.

Lupin accepted her response, reluctantly, and then turned his back to class and pointed his wand at empty space, "Asperio."

Suddenly, downward, the air seemed to melt, turn into gel, and a wardrobe, with a long mirror on the doors, seemed to grow out of the air.

Lupin turned back to the class and said, "We'll be learning more about boggarts-"

A Gryffindor boy with thick brown hair, in the back, said, "Neville, go! We can see Snape in a dress again!"

Most of the Gryffindors laughed, except Ron, when he saw Harry and Hermione weren't, and Neville who couldn't forget his parents had been friends with him, and Dean.

Lupin frowned, "That shouldn't be amusing to you. What? Does it make Professor Snape look weak, if you see him, well, the boggart, in a dress. That's like saying anything feminine is weak and it's not. Women can do anything as good as men can." He motioned to Hermione, "Take Miss Granger for example.' He smiled, fondly, "She might know as much as I do. Maybe, even more." The class agreed, wordlessly, while Hermione tried not to smile so much or end up giggling.

Lupin concluded, "So seeing the boggart as Professor Snape in a dress shouldn't be funny to you all. Now, let's get started on our lesson. I know you all know how to defeat a boggart, but there are a select few wizards who, when focused, can actually either trick a boggart into turning into what they want or they can block the boggart from seeing all of their fears." He paused a moment to take a breath. Then, he confessed, "I'll be honest with you. I can't do this myself, most people can't, but, in the text book, there are a few instructions from people who could. Take a few moments to read some of them and then line up, if you would like to try. You don't have to, if you don't feel comfortable."

After they were done reading, most people glanced at their desk partners or the other students to see if volunteering or not volunteering would be preferred.

Hermione felt like she was being forced to try and command a broomstick in front of everyone again, but she got up anyway, immediately followed by Harry.

Lupin smiled at them, "Harry, Hermione, very good." He warned them, "I have great faith in you, both, but have your wands ready, just in case."

Hermione nodded at him, as she stepped forward, wand ready. She tried to numb herself, block out the world. She made herself think of sun drenched meadows, loud waterfalls, a huge library for herself, etc.

However, the boggart came out in the form of four students, one from each house in front of Natalie, who looked so small compared to them. They taunted her, said her family were traitors and death eaters.

The way boggart-Natalie cried, trembled, begged them to stop, insisted they were wrong, made Hermione shed a few tears. However, she was able to say, "Riddikulus!" and it turned into a little teddy bear people had to lean over their chairs to see, bang symbols together, while it stood on one leg.

When Hermione turned around she met Harry's eyes. They were teary, like her's. Then, she turned to Lupin, after he gasp-sobbed into his palm.

Ron looked from Hermione to Harry, who had his back to him. Parvati and Lavender Brown exchanged shocked expressions. Seamus felt like spoiled milk was churning inside his stomach. Dean stared at the wardrobe, like it was venomous. Neville looked at his hands. The Slytherins didn't even hide their conceded amusement, although they didn't laugh.

Hermione demanded, "None of you treat her like that!" and then she wiped her eyes, as she walked back to her seat.

Lupin added, as he wiped his own eyes, "She's right. Natalie may be able to tutor all of you, but she's still a child. Don't go after her because of any resentment you feel about Professor Snape or Mr. Snape."

He motioned for Harry to go and Harry stepped forward. He tried to numb himself, like Hermione had. He thought of flying, soaring over the school, but then he thought of his parents, smiling. He was immediately reminded of their fate, of what happened to Neville's parents.

The boggart came out, in the form of corpses of his loved ones, falling out of the wardrobe. However, it just looked like a pile of corpses to most people since it included, not just school friends, (and Hedwig) some of whom were in the room, but The Weasley family, members of the Order, McGonagall, Dumbledore, Hagrid, Lupin, Donovan, Isaac, Snape, Ashley, Gregory, Natalie, Filch, Father McKenzie, the Dursleys, and Malfoy.

Harry just stared at the bodies, like he couldn't hear Lupin tell him to change the boggart. The inclusion of Snape, the Dursleys, and Malfoy was a little of a surprise, but somehow made sense. He had finally learned to trust Snape, something he would have to tell Dumbledore. The Dursleys were his family after all.

Malfoy's inclusion was less simple. Harry reasoned that it was out of respect, since he knew Malfoy was good enough to try and spare his friends from suspension.

Lupin gave up waiting for harry to react and turned the boggart into a little toy monkey that could do flips.

As it went back into the wardrobe, and Harry returned to his seat, Lupin inquired, in a strained voice, "Would anyone else like to try?"

The class looked at him, like he had asked them to eat slugs.

Lupin was about to say something, when Natalie walked in, shyly, "Hi."

Lupin greeted her, "Hello, Natalie. What do you want?"

"Well, er, I came to ask if you had any spare paper, but, er, I see you're busy with your lesson…"

It was sickening for the Gryffindors and Lupin to see her look at the wardrobe, but funny to the Slytherins.

Natalie turned back to Lupin, was about to ask something, but then shut her mouth. She just contemplated something, a moment, and then dashed for the wardrobe, past Harry and Hermione.

Lupin's eyes widened and he felt his heart slam inside his chest, and beat too quickly. He couldn't have her see what he assumed she would.

He took a step forward, "Natalie-"

She turned and assured him, "I'll turn it into a dog. A Labrador, black of course"

Then, she turned back to the wardrobe, which opened, and a fittingly black labrador stepped out, gracefully. Natalie told it, "Stay."

Natalie turned back to the class and Lupin, to see how they would react.

Hermione's eyes were wide, like most, and her mouth was hung open. She just said, impressed, "Natalie..."

Natalie had only looked at her a second, about to speak, before Lupin grabbed her attention, "No wonder Professor Dumbledore hired you. Natalie, that's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. How are you able to do this?"

Natalie felt fluttery in her stomach, which made her smile as she answered, "I just focus. I don't know. I just know I don't want people to see what I fear and somehow I can block the boggart from seeing it. I just have to be desperate enough." She motioned to the text books, "I don't know about the other people who can do it, but I had to stop trying to be confident. I had to give in to being desperate."

Lupin reflected on this, by nodding his head. He inquired, as he walked over to her, "So, how did you manage to give in to desperation, but block the boggart from seeing what you're most afraid of and essentially control it to make it," he gestured to the dog, "become that dog?"

She extended her hand to the dog and it transformed into a blue jay, perched on her index finger. The class and Lupin widened their eyes, more surprised.

Natalie stroked the bird a moment and then looked at Lupin, "I just use all of the desperation I feel and think of something I would rather have the boggart to turn into."

Lupin looked from the bird to Natalie, like he could barely believe she was real. Harry had only seen that kind of look from people, when they found out who he was. Hermione got it, like Natalie, when she demonstrated her intelligence and skill.

Lupin asked Natalie, "How long did it take you to get this," he motioned to the bird, "to control boggarts?"

"My first try." she admitted, humbly. The whole class gasped, exchanged looks, and she added, to Lupin, "It took me my third try to figure out how I did it, but I did get it on my first."

She just looked into his shocked face, her stomach fluttering, as the students asked each other how this was possible and insisted they would get it themselves. Something nawed at her and felt like it left threads out of her.

She confessed, in a low voice, "I was desperate, because I didn't want to see what I was afraid of."

Harry and Hermione saw Lupin about to hug her, but think better of it, a moment after he got the idea. He pulled his hands back and nodded at Natalie, understandingly.