"Grace," the girl groaned as she hid her face in the pillow. "Gracie, wake up."

"No," she muttered, and pulled the blanket over her head. There was a quiet, tired, chuckle and the blanket was pulled from her.

"Gracie, please wake up," she groaned again, and cracked an eye open to see a very tired, and worn Remus giving her a small, warm, yet confused smile. "What are you doing here? You know you shouldn't be here."

"I had a fight with Hermione," she admitted as she scooted over on the bed, pressing her back against the wall.

"Grace, you know you shouldn't be in here-"

"Please," she pleaded, looking up at him with sad, tired eyes. Remus let out a sigh of defeat, he hated it when she usedthoseeyes on him because he could never say no.

"Give me a moment," he sighed and went to change. When he came back in, he smiled at Grace, who was curled up in his bed, pressed against the wall. "You used to do this every morning after the full moon," he said gently as he slipped in beside her. "I'd come back inside to find you waiting for me."

Grace smiled, remembering those days as a child. "I couldn't be with you during the full moon, but I could be with you after," she said quietly as she shimmied closer to Remus, being mindful of him because she knew he was in pain. "Why didn't you tell me..." she whispered, and Remus didn't need to ask her what she meant, he already knew. "I asked you..."

"Your mother didn't want you to know," he answered. "She thought keeping you from the wizarding world where Harry was a household name, and everyone knew what Sirius did, she thought it would be best for you, you'd live a normal life without whispers," he explained. "It doesn't make what she did right, I don't agree with her hiding it from you as long as she did. I told her she needed to talk to you,especiallyafter he escaped. This was something you needed to hear from her."

"All she would've told me was that he was a bad guy, and did really bad things and that's why he left... she would've never given me the truth," Grace grumbled bitterly, and Remus sighed knowing she was right.

"He wasn't always bad," Remus confessed in a quiet, sad, whisper.

"He wasn't?" she asked, looking at him and Remus kept staring up at the ceiling, shaking his head. "Do you really think he betrayed everyone?" she whispered. "Like,deep downdo you really believe that?"

Remus didn't answer right away. He kept quiet, reeling over his thoughts, memories, feelings... reeling over everything. "I don't know," he finally answered. "You have to understand Grace that back then... it was dark times. Everyone was on edge, looking over their shoulders, people didn't know who to trust... at one point they even suspectedmebeing a double agent because of what I am. I don't blame them, I would've thought the same," he started and she kept quiet. "Sometimes people do things they normally would never do when they're desperate and scared."

"Why would he be desperate and scared?"

"For you," Remus admitted, finally turning his head to look at her. "He would've done anything to keep you safe."

Grace frowned at those words. She now knew, with out a single doubt, that the man who told her to go to the castle was her dad, it had to be. "Can you tell me about him?" she asked nervously. "The good things, before..." she started and Remus smiled sadly.

"We had just started our sixth year," Remus started, and she stared at him. "Sirius had finally took his head out of his arse and realized his feelings for your mother. He had been denying them for over a year, doing everything he could tonotthink about them. So instead of us getting our own compartment on the train, he, with James, decided that they were going to go to every single compartment until they could find Helena and Lily. When they did, eventually, find the compartment Sirius thought it would be funny if he got down on one knee in front of Helena with a sugar ring," Grace felt herself grinning. "He acted as if he was proposing, which only made her even more embarrassed, but when he asked her to be his girlfriend, she said no. Of course, he was upset but he kept trying. Once a week he would try something different, and this was something he and James both did, but the answer was always no."

"What did he do to make her finally say yes?"

"He made a paper flower," he answered simply and she frowned. "He asked Lily if she knew how to make a paper flower the muggle way and she showed him, and he made one. Then the Friday night before our first Hogsmeade trip, he sat down next to her in the common room and gave it to her, and asked her to Hogsmeade."

"And she said yes?" she asked with a smile.

"She said yes," Remus nodded, smiling sadly up at the ceiling. "Sirius was a sap, loved romantic gestures, and public displays of affection where as your mother didn't, she preferred small and simple so he compromised. A simple, romantic gesture is all it took for your mother to say yes," Remus finished and Grace couldn't help but smile.

Remus continued, telling her old, happy memories of his Hogwarts years with her father, not caring how tired he was. He was in the middle of one when he turned to look at Grace and noticed she was fast asleep again.

For the rest of Christmas break, Grace avoided Hermione like the plague. Every time she tried to come up to her, whether it was alone, or around Harry and Ron, she always tried to apologize but Grace wanted none of it. She was still angry that Hermione invaded her privacy by being nosey, and for turning Harry's Firebolt in. When everyone started arriving back at school, Grace took this opportunity to cling herself to Neville's side.

"Hi, Gracie," Neville smiled as he hugged her back when he came into the Gyrffindor common room. "How was your holiday?"

"Er... fine," she shrugged. There was so much to tell him but she couldn't tell him when they were surrounded by everyone. "How was yours?"

"It was alright," he shrugged. "I loved the book you gave me though! I've been reading it all break!" He exclaimed happily, his face brightening up.

"I'm glad you like it, Nev. I also liked the book you got me, I've been reading it every morning while I do my tea leaves," she smiled and Neville's cheeks went pink. "Hey, come on," she said, and took Neville's hand.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere private, I've got something to tell you," she told him and she started dragging him out of the common room.

"Grace, where are we going?" He asked as she pushed her way through the sea of students in the halls.

"Somewhere," she answered simply. They reached the tree by the Black Lake and she sat down, and Neville sat beside her.

"Are you going to tell me why you dragged me all the way out there?" he asked after catching his breath.

"It's a bit of a long story..." she started and he gave her a look to continue. She took a deep breath and began telling Nevilleeverything. When she finished, she sat there, staring at him and waiting for him to say something.

"Sirius Black...is your dad?" he asked slowly and she nodded. "Wow... that's a lot," he added and she nodded again. "Is that what was bothering you before break?" he asked and she nodded. "I'm sorry, Gracie..." he muttered and she gave him a small smile.

"It's not your fault, you can't do anything..."

"But I'm sorry that you're upset," he told her and she smiled at him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Thanks, Nev."

"Hey Grace," he spoke up after a while.

"Hm?"

"My parents are in St. Mungos..." He confessed quietly and Grace turned and looked at him.

"Are they okay?" she asked. Neville never really spoke about his parents, she thought they passed away when he was a baby and that was why he lived with his grandmother. Neville shook his head as he stared out to the lake. "Will they be okay?" she asked gently and he shook his head.

"They were tortured," he whispered. "They don't know who they are, or who I am..." Grace looped her arm with his and rested her head on his shoulder. "They used to be aurors, that's how they got tortured."

"Oh, Neville..." Grace whispered. "You don't have to tell me-"

"I want to..." he cut her off, looking at her. "You're my best friend, and I talk about you to them every time I see them even though... even though I know they don't understand. I'm not ashamed of them, I'm proud to be their son... but that doesn't mean that-"

"You want the world to know?" she finished, giving him a small smile, which he returned as he nodded. "It's none of their business anyhow," she continued. "Hey Neville," she spoke up after a few more minutes of silence.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you... for trusting me."

"Thank you for trusting me too."