Chapter One: New Beginnings
"Alessa!" Someone called through the crowd of students and parents milling about the platform waiting to board the Hogwarts Express. Alessa turned around to look for whoever had called her and spotted pale arms waving frantically over the heads of the student. Alessa made her way over to the small group waiting for her.
"Ginny," Alessa said, embracing the younger girl. "What are you guys doing here?"
"James wanted to say goodbye," Ginny said, handing the squirming infant over to Alessa. James was almost a year old now, and had just begin taking a few steps at a time without falling over. Alessa had helped Ginny go over her house again a few weeks ago, baby proofing everything now that James could get into more trouble.
"Hello James, have you been good for your mommy?" Alessa asked as she settled him over her hip. He just giggled in reply, waving his pudgy arms in the air, making Alessa smile.
"And what's your excuse, George? I said goodbye to you this morning," Alessa said, raising an eyebrow at him. Neither of them had told the others about their engagement or that George planned on moving to Hogsmead before winter came.
They had spent the entire previous evening furiously packing everything they owned into boxes to move to the new house when George got a chance. Alessa planned to help him move things after she got settled in at school and used to the new job.
"I wanted to be here in case she noticed," George said, smirking. Ginny looked at him in confusion, then back at Alessa who smirked back.
"Noticed what?" Ginny asked, moving out of the way of a family passing by them.
"Oh, nothing really," Alessa said airily, using her left hand to brush her hair away from her face with unneeded exaggeration, making sure the ring George had given her the day before was in plain view.
"Oh my god! Is this for real?!" Ginny screeched, making people around them glance over. Ginny ignored them and grabbed Alessa's hand, pulling her closer to examine the ring. "When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me you were going to propose George? I bet you made a complete mess of it," Ginny said, still grasping Alessa's hand, though she was now glaring at George, who held his hands up in front of him.
"I didn't propose," George said, smiling at Ginny's obvious confusion.
"But… What?" Ginny asked, looking back and forth between them.
"She did," George said, laughing.
"Well, sort of," Alessa said, becoming the recipient of Ginny's glare now. "I mean, he already was going to, I just brought it up first."
"Ug!" Ginny said, throwing her hands up in the air and turning away from them. "No one tells me anything."
"If it makes you feel better, we haven't told anyone else yet either," Alessa said, holding tighter to James as he tried to reach for a passing owl hooting in its cage.
"Hm," Ginny muttered, turning back to them. "I guess that does make it a bit better. But promise to fill me in on any other big gossip right away next time," she said, frowning at them. Alessa and George looked at each other for a moment, then back at Ginny.
"Well…" Alessa began, falling silent at Ginny's renewed glare.
"What now?" She asked, then gasped. "Oh my god! Are you pregnant too? This is so exciting!"
"No Ginny, I'm not pregnant," Alessa said, laughing.
"I'm opening a new shop," George said before Ginny could comment. "And I'm going to be moving there in a few months."
"In Hogsmeade?" Ginny guessed. They both nodded. "Well that explains why you have both been happier today than I've seen either of you in the last couple months."
Alessa smiled, then turned her attention to James who had fallen still against her. He was watching the huge train behind Alessa, eyes wide.
"I need to get going," Alessa said. She had already stowed her trunk in a compartment up near the front that the conductor had said another new teacher was going to be riding in. Alessa had received a letter the day before saying that she could floo to Hogsmeade before the students arrived if she wanted, but as none of her belongings were it the castle yet, she would be bringing a trunk, which was hard to take through the floo network by herself, so she had opted for taking the train.
Ginny threw her arms around Alessa and James, hugging them both.
"I'll miss you so much," Ginny said, her eyes beginning to water. "I promise to visit you in Hogsmeade when I get a break from training. The season starts next month though, so I don't know how soon that will be," Ginny said, wiping her eyes.
"I'll try to come watch your first home game," Alessa said, her eyes filling too.
"I'll send you tickets," Ginny said.
"You'd better," Alessa said, handing James back to his mother and standing back. The platform was nearly empty now, only a few stragglers left. She turned to give George another hug.
"I'll see you in a few weeks," he said, hugging her.
"Okay," Alessa said, smiling softly as she pulled away. She boarded the train, waving goodbye to them as she stood in the doorway, then made her way to her compartment as the train began to move.
She walked through the halls, dodging students who were looking for their friends or a place to sit, until she reached the front of the train. None of the students had paid her any attention, they probably didn't realize she wasn't a student. She was 22, but she was short enough to pass for a student, so she wasn't surprised. Most of the current teachers at Hogwarts were well into their fifties or sixties, some older still.
She pulled the door of her compartment open and hurried in, dodging a small first year student who ran in front of her. She slid the door shut behind her with a sigh, and sat on the empty row of seats opposite a man with light hair who was hunched over reading a book. He glanced up at her as she sat.
"Hi, I'm Alessa Sarati, I'm going to be teaching the new Personal Development classes," Alessa said, reaching her hand across the empty space to shake his.
"I'm Draco," he said, shaking her hand briefly. He had a guarded look on his face as he watched her, and she could feel that he was anxious. As she looked at his face again, she recognized him.
"Oh! I know you," she said suddenly, making him jump. "You were a year behind me in school right? And you're Blaise's friend. Draco Malfoy, right," she could feel the confusion coming from him as he tilted his head slightly.
"You know Blaise?" Draco asked, not commenting on their school years.
"I'm his cousin," Alessa said, sitting back against her seat.
"Oh, Blaise has talked about you before. He called you Aly though," Draco said, his anxiousness fading back a little when she didn't freak out at the sight of him.
"Does he?" Alessa asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'll have to have a word with him about that, I hate that nickname." She chuckled. "So what are you teaching?"
"Potions," Draco said, setting his book aside. "Old Slughorn retired again last year, and I've been working at St. Mungo's in their potion department for the last three years. I was a little surprised to receive the letter from the Headmistress. I wasn't exactly the best person in school."
"Oh? Hermione said you were second in your year in grades. She seemed bothered by it actually," Alessa said, smiling slightly at the memory.
"That's not what I meant," Draco said, but he didn't elaborate, instead looking out the window.
"So," Alessa said after a few moments of awkward silence. "It'll be nice to not be the only younger professor here, I don't think anyone else is under sixty."
"Nah, Professor Sprout retired two years ago and one of those Griffindor boys from my year took over for her," Draco said, not turning away from the window.
"Oh really?" Alessa asked. "I didn't hear about that."
"They announced it in May I think, right after school let out. It was in the paper," Draco said, losing interest in the conversation.
"Oh, well that would explain why I didn't hear about it," Alessa said thinking back. "I was in Azkaban in May last year."
"Azkaban?" Draco asked sharply, drawing her out of her thoughts. He had turned back to look at her, an eyebrow raised in interest.
"Yeah," Alessa said, shrugging. "It was a… misunderstanding. On the ministry's part." He raised his eyebrow again, then frowned in thought.
"Wait, I think I heard about that," Draco said. "It was all covered up and secret, but then some ministry people started hunting you down and killing your family." He looked up then. "Sorry," he muttered. "I didn't mean…"
"It's fine," Alessa said, flapping her hand at him. "I didn't realize that the public knew about that."
"Well a lot of people figured it out. After that article was published, some of the people in the ministry went around telling people that the new laws were written because you had some evil power the minister wanted to hide, they were trying to get him overturned I think. No one really believed what they said though," he spoke in a slightly disbelieving tone.
"Hm, I didn't hear about that either," Alessa said, shrugging. Then she turned to watch the scenery pass by in a blur.
"So do you?" Draco asked after another few minutes of silence.
"What?" Alessa asked looking around at him, startled.
"Do you have some evil power that the minister is going to use to get rid of his opponents?" He asked, smirking.
"Nah," Alessa said, laughing easily. "Nothing evil or anything like that. And I've only ever met the minister once."
"So you do have some weird power?" Draco asked, tilting his head slightly.
"Not really," Alessa said, shrugging. "I've just spent a lot of time studying meditation and Psychology, so I have more control over things of the mind than most people do."
"So you can read minds? Like occlumency?" He asked, and she felt his emotions draw back as if he had pulled them behind a wall.
"No," Alessa said. "I just have a strong understanding of how people think, and I'm good at guessing. For example, right now I can tell that you are guarding your thoughts. You are also anxious, I'm assuming because you expect people to judge you badly for being in Slytherin? Or something else. And you are also nervous, probably to be teaching soon. And now you are angry that I know all that," Alessa said, watching his face close up, becoming a mask. He stared at her for a moment, then turned back to the window for a few minutes. She could feel the curiosity building quickly again though, so she waited for him to talk.
"So you can just tell how people are feeling?" He asked at last.
"Yeah," Alessa said, nodding.
"How does that work? Like you just feel it? Or you read it off them somehow?" He asked, finally looking back at her.
"Well, everyone has little tells. It's easier to do the more I know someone, but there are some tells that a lot of people have. When they are nervous, they tap their fingers or become restless, most people do anyway. When they are angry they hide it behind an emotionless face most times. Some people clench their fists, or begin to move in jagged, sharp motions. When someone lies, they usually look away, or blink a lot," Alessa said, explaining the normal ways of reading people, without telling him that she could also feel the emotions. "And if you pay attention, it's not hard to guess the reasons behind those emotions."
"That is… really weird," he said.
"Yep," Alessa said, leaning back against her seat again. "I will try not to analyze you too often since it seems to make you uncomfortable."
"Thanks, I think," he said, his face slowly coming out of its emotionless mask again. He picked up his book again, and the conversation was over.
Alessa pulled down her trunk and hunted through it for the current book she was studying from, one she had picked up from a muggle book story about Anatomy.
The next hour or so passed quietly, both of them reading. The silence was broken as the compartment door slid open, revealing four students who looked to be in about their sixth or seventh year. Alessa and Draco both looked up at the disruption.
"Hi," the boy in front said. "We heard there were some new professors in one of the compartments around here. Do you know where they are?" His voice was snobbish and bossy, making Alessa frown for a moment.
"Why are you looking for them?" She asked, realizing that in their black robes, both Draco and her looked like students.
"We want to give them a… proper welcome," the boy said, smirking. The two behind him laughed. Alessa glance at Draco, who shrugged, returning to his book.
"Who are you," she asked, turning back to the boys, all of whom frowned.
"What, have you been living under a rock? Everyone knows who we are," he said, narrowing his eyes. "What house are you from anyway?"
"Ravenclaw," she responded. "And he's from Slytherin."
"Slytherin, huh?" the boy asked, looking Draco over. He was still ignoring them. Alessa saw the boy attempt to discreetly pull his wand from his pocket, and she let her's fall into her hand from the sleeve she kept it in, using her leg to shield it from view. "We don't care for Slytherin's around here." Draco continued to read, making the boy snarl at being ignored.
"What house are you from then?" Alessa asked, seemingly unconcerned.
"Gryffindor of course," he said, rolling his eyes. "But I wouldn't object to a little… creative studying… with a Ravenclaw," he smirked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at her. She rolled her eyes and went to pick up her book again.
"Go away, I'm bored of you already," she said, not looking at them. She heard a snarl come from the boy and from the corner of her eye she saw him shift, raising his wand at her. She flicked her wand silently at him, and caught the wand that jumped from his hand, then she flicked her wand twice more, collecting the other boy's wands.
"You may collect these from your head of house after the feast," Alessa said, not looking up from her book as she tucked the wands into her robe.
"Who do you think you are?" The boy said angrily as he took a step towards her, fists raising in anger. Within seconds Draco had stood and grabbed his wrist, twisting the boy around to the door and shoving him into his friends, then sat down just as quickly, his book back on his lap. Alessa returned to her book as well as they sputtered in the hall, trying to get back to their feet. She had a tiny smirk on her face and could see from the corner of her eye that Draco wore one as well. When all the boys were standing again, Alessa stood to face them, setting her book aside.
"I am Professor Sarati, this is Professor Malfoy," she said, throughly enjoying the terrified look that appeared on their faces. "I will be informing your head of house of your unsavory behavior, and I will suggest a week's worth of detentions, since you did in fact, attack a Professor." They stared at her in fright, though all of them were at least a foot taller than her. She put her hand on her hip and shifted her weight to one foot as she had seen Mrs. Weasley do when she was angry. "You may leave," she said after a moment of silence. They turned and scurried out of the compartment, letting the door slam shut behind them. She sat with a sigh, then caught Draco's eye and they both chuckled.
"Brats," she said, picking her book up again. "Now I just have to figure out who is in charge of Gryffindor house."
"That would be me," a voice said from the compartment door. Alessa looked up, then smiled.
"Neville! I didn't know you were teaching here!" She said, scooting over on her bench so he could sit next to her. He looked at Draco a moment, then sat.
"I heard you were on board about five minutes ago, I didn't know you were coming to teach this year either," he said, looking away from Draco at last. "What subject are you taking?"
"Personal Development," Alessa said, setting her book aside again. "It's a new addition," she continued, seeing his frown of confusion. "Anyway, how is Luna doing? I haven't seen either of you in so long."
"We are engaged," Neville said, grinning. "She talks about you sometimes. She thinks that you and Ginny were plotting to get us together."
"Well Ginny did all the plotting," Alessa said, chuckling. "I wish I could see her face when she hears the news."
"I saw her on the platform but I didn't get a chance to say hello," Neville said. "Was that her son she was with?"
"Yeah, his name is James. He's the cutest little baby," Alessa said, smiling. "He's almost a year old now."
"Yeah, Luna said Ginny wasn't able to make it to the hospital for the birth," Neville said, sitting back in his seat.
"Where did she hear that?" Alessa asked, leaning back in her seat since it seemed as though the conversation wouldn't be ending any time soon.
"She's been working in the maternity ward at St. Mungo's off and on since she finished school. It gives her something to do between the trips she takes," Neville said, grinning.
"It seems like everyone has been working there," Alessa said, shaking her head. "I was a secretary there for a few years, Draco worked in the potions lab, and now Luna."
"Yeah," Neville said, then glanced at Draco uncomfortably. "Well, it's good the baby is doing well."
"Yeah, that was a really frightening day actually. We were stuck in Ginny's house and the only people there were me and my cousin, and neither of us really knew what to do. But it all worked out. Oh," Alessa said, reaching into her robe. "Here. I confiscated these from some boys who came by a little bit ago. They thought it would be fun to try to rough us up a bit."
"Yeah," Neville said, sighing. "I know who they were. Knowells, Grant, and Samson. Those three have had more detentions than anyone else in the house combined."
"I'll help you whip them into shape if you'd like," Alessa said, smirking. "I'm sure I can find some horrendous task for them to do. I'm good at torturing people."
"I'll think about it," Neville said, laughing. "So are you taking over the potions lessons, Malfoy?"
"What?" Draco said, looking up in surprise at being addressed.
"Are you going to be teaching potions?" Neville asked again, keeping a polite look on his face.
"Yeah," Draco said, frowning. "Aren't you a bit young to be head of house for Gryffindor?"
"I guess," Neville said, obviously making an effort to converse politely. "There aren't any other Gryffindor teachers though, so I get the job by default. McGonagall was heading the house till last year."
"Oh," Draco said, and the cabin fell into a silence again.
"Well, I should get back to my carriage," Nevile said a few moments later, standing.
"See you later, Neville," Alessa said as he left the cabin. Alessa waited a few moments, then turned back to Draco.
"So are you one of those Slytherins who just assumes everyone hates them because they were in Slytherin?" Alessa asked, watching Draco look up.
"I thought you weren't going to analyze me with your weird mind powers," he muttered, looking at his book again.
"I didn't. I was just wondering," Alessa said, smiling. "You seemed surprised that Neville talked to you."
"Yeah, well, we didn't get on in school, so I was a bit surprised," Draco muttered, not looking up.
"Blaise said the same thing when he first started talking to Harry," Alessa said.
"Well Blaise just didn't talk to others at school. I did, and I wasn't nice to them," Draco said, flipping a page in his book.
"Ah," Alessa said. "Well not everyone holds grudges."
"I guess," Draco said, still not looking up. Alessa sighed, then returned to her book for the remainder of the journey, only stopping her reading once to purchase a pumpkin pasty from the witch who stopped by with the trolley of sweets.
When the train finally pulled into Hogsmead, Alessa, Draco, and Neville were some of the first people to get off, leaving their luggage on the train to be brought up to the castle by the house elves. Neville joined them on the carriage ride up to the school, leading them to Professor McGonagall when they reached the castle. She greeted them all warmly, causing Draco to be surprised again, then led them into the Great Hall as the first students began to filter in to find their tables.
Alessa felt odd being back in the Great Hall after so many years away, and she looked around as she followed McGonagall up to the head table. She directed Alessa to sit near the end of the table, Draco on her left at the very end, and Neville on her right.
Finally, the hall fell silent as Professor Flitwick appeared, trailing the first year students behind him.