It was the first day of school. I was terrified. What if the students didn't like me? What if I couldn't find students for my defense group? What if I did, but I didn't train them well enough and I led them all to their deaths?
Okay, Alexis, I told myself, snap out of it. You can do this. It's not impossible. You'll be fine.
I left instructions for Miza to put Teddy to bed at 8 if I wasn't back yet, put on a set of deep purple formal robes, decided to leave my hair loose and walked down to the Great Hall.
I sat next in between Professors Flitwick and Itara (the Herbology Professor). Professor Flitwick, or Filius as I was now to call him, was the same as I remembered. Professor Clair Itara was a petite witch in her sixties. She was head of Hufflepuff and almost always had some form of dirt on her. Tonight, for example, she had a smear of mud across her left cheek. She had quickly become a sort of mentor to me after finding out this was my first year teaching an organized class. She warned me about every student that could cause trouble and told me who the intelligent students were. I found her advice both helpful and overwhelming.
As the students swarmed in, many of them gave the staff table a scan to see who the new Defense Professor was. I could hear them whisper as they noticed me and pointed me out to their friends:
"She looks so young!"
"She's so hot!"
"I hope she's better than our last teacher."
"I hope she doesn't assign much homework!"
I watched the students come in, scanning the Gryffindor table for my parents and their friends. I spotted a flash of red hair. It was my mother! Then I realised that if I was going to be teaching my parents, I should really start thinking of them as Lily Evans and James Potter, not mum and dad. Especially since I was older than them.
Lily was sitting next to a girl that had the same facial structure as Neville Longbottom's had been. I realised that this could only be his mother, Alice. I couldn't remember what Alice's maiden name had been, but I'd find out eventually. Sitting across from Alice was a boy who had the same hair color and general body structure as Neville and I realised that this was his father Frank.
Over at the Slytherin table, I saw Severus Snape, looking exactly like he had when he'd died, only shorter. Next to him could only be Regulus Black. I quickly scanned the rest of the Slytherin students and decided that those were the ones I wanted for my special group. Severus because he was brilliant with potions and Regulus because he could be my source of information from both Slytherin and the Dark Pureblood families.
Then, I heard a burst of laughter and my focus switched to the doorway. Entering was Sirius, Remus, Peter (he was innocent! He didn't get his Dark Mark until after he graduated), and James. They sat in the four empty spots that were obviously unofficially their spots. I nearly laughed because that was exactly where the 'Golden Trio' had sat during their Hogwarts years.
Then Professor McGonagall led the first years to the front of the Hall. She placed the hat on the stool and it began to sing:
"Oh Hogwarts, Hogwarts,
We come here to learn!
But I have a most important task,
I sort you to the House where your place you'll earn!
There's Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Then Slytherin,
Where cunning will prevail,
Next Ravenclaw,
If you've a keen and ready mind,
Finally Hufflepuff,
For those just, loyal, and true!
But Hogwarts, Hogwarts,
I warn you now:
Don't let your House divide you!
For if you do,
Then all is through
And Dark has won at last."
On that solemn note, the Hat fell silent. After thinking about it, I realised that I could do something about the House lines. I smiled, those who had my classes tomorrow would definitely be surprised!
After the first years were sorted, Professor Dumbledore stood and began the Start-of-Term Announcements.
"Welcome, first years, to Hogwarts! To everyone else, Welcome back! As usual, the Forbidden Forest is just that - forbidden. Anyone not desirous of detention should stay away. The list of banned items, for those who wish to know, can be found in Mr. Filch's office. Also, this year's Head Boy is Ravenclaw's David Corner," David stood up and waved, "and the Head Girl is Hufflepuff's Megan Grasan," Megan also stood up, "see them or a prefect if you need help." The head students sat back down.
"This year we welcome to the Defense against the Dark Arts post on a hopefully more permanent basis than our last professors' have been, Professor Alexis Potter!" I stood and smiled to polite applause. I saw, out of the corner of my eye, the Marauders whispering together and questioning James about his 'relative'. I wondered how long it would be before the Marauders, or at least James, came to interrogate me.
"Yes, welcome Professor Potter," said Dumbledore with a smile. I sat back down. "That's all for announcements, so we shall begin our most excellent feast."
After the feast, I started to walk back to my rooms. On the way back, James caught up to me. "Professor, could we speak for a moment?"
"Of course, we can speak in my office," I said and led the way.
My office was just around the corner from my classroom and wasn't anything really special. I had my desk and chair with a couple of simple chairs in front of my desk. My desk and the chairs in front of it were made of mahogany, as was my chair, but my chair had a burgundy cushion. On my desk. I had a few pictures of Teddy and some cleverly faked pictures of my parents from this timeline. I sat down behind my desk and looked at James.
"Can I get you something to drink? Tea, maybe?" I asked.
"Oh, sure, Professor," said James hesitantly.
"Miza!" Miza popped in. "Could you get some tea from the kitchens for us, please?" Miza nodded and popped away. She returned a moment later with a tea tray and some biscuits.
"Help yourself," I invited. James took a cup of tea and took a small sip. He was nervous, I thought. "So, what can I do for you tonight?"
"Well, my name is James Potter, and… well, when I was growing up, my parents always told me that I didn't have any Potter relatives, so you can imagine my confusion when…" he trailed off.
"When your new Defense professor happens to have the last name 'Potter'," I finished for him. He nodded. "Well, I think I can clear that up for you. My father was a squib and my mother was a Muggleborn Beauxbatons graduate. I was born in France, but moved here when I was about seventeen. Only a few months ago, my parents were killed by Death Eaters."
"Oh," said James looking stricken, "I'm sorry I asked, then."
"Don't worry about it," I said, waving a hand airily. "My father's surname was obviously Potter, but you probably don't know about him because, as I said, he came from a long line of squibs. His line also mostly lived in the Muggle world."
"Thank you for answering my question, Professor," said James hesitantly.
"It wasn't a problem," I said with a smile.
"If you don't mind me asking another question, who is in those pictures on your desk?"
"Well most of these are of my godson, Teddy," I said, pointing at one such picture. "He's a Metamorphagus," I added after the picture changed its hair colour from black to turquoise. "These," I said as I picked up the only picture of my 'parents' "are my parents, Jason and Rose Potter."
I had more or less kept 'Jason's' picture the same, I'd only changed his eyes to be brown instead of hazel and his hair was less messy. Rose's picture had been almost completely changed. Her hair was now curly and blonde and her eyes (like mine had been glamored to be) were a less vivid shade of green. It was closer to jade green then Avada Kedavra green.
"Oh," said James, not really knowing what to say.
"Well, curfew is approaching, and it wouldn't do for you to get detention on your first night!" I said with a smile. "Off to bed with you. Good night!" I said while making a shooing motion with my hands.
Returning to my quarters, it was nearly eight and Miza had Teddy all nearly ready for bed. I read him a story and told him goodnight before retiring to my own bed for the night. I had my parents and the Slytherins first thing tomorrow. It would be interesting, that was for sure.
(A/N: I know it's not long, but it will have to do. Now, this is VERY IMPORTANT, so PLEASE don't skip over this:
This story has two phases. I started writing this in February of 2014 and stopped in March or May. I've recently dusted this off and have discovered that I find my previous writing somewhat lacking. However, since its exams and I'm lazy, you'll just have to deal with what I consider to be slightly substandard writing. You will also have to put up with the fact that Teddy is mentioned about twice in the next twelve or so chapters, which I also apologize for.
Anyway, I also posted a James/Lily one-shot if you want to check it out. Or don't, I don't care either way.
Thank you to all those who favorited/followed/reviewed! To new readers, please feel free to favorite/follow/review. See you next week!)