Okay, this took more effort than it should have.. This writing thing is hard..

Anyway, here's chapter 3!

Chapter 3: Defence the Old Fashioned Way

Hermione didn't wait for Ginny to catch up as she worked her way back towards the third floor corridor. Her eagerness to be early meant that she was relatively alone on the stairs as she went. Her excitement to be back in classes carried her up the staircases without so much as a thought to the trick steps she had so deftly avoided as a younger student. Being a year out of practice however meant that as she hurried towards the Defence classroom, her left leg suddenly sank right through one of the steps and she had to catch herself on the steps above to avoid landing on her face.

Cursing her lack of thought to jump it, she looked up to see if there was anyone coming down who might be able to pull her out.

"Brains of the Golden Trio, indeed" she muttered to herself as she struggled to push herself upright with her arms and other leg.

"In a bit of a bind, Miss Granger?" came the chuckled question from behind her. In her struggles to right herself, Hermione hadn't heard anyone come up from below her. She craned her neck around and found herself face to face with Andromeda Black, newly appointed professor at Hogwarts and middle sister of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.

"It would seem so" she said, embarrassed to be caught in such a ridiculous position, and by a professor no less.

"Give me your hand then, and let's get you out of there before anyone else witnesses your little mishap" the older witch said with a small smile still dancing around her eyes. She then moved around to get in front of Hermione, reached down to clasp her outstretched hand, and with a surprising amount of strength, lifted her free.

"Thank you Andr- err Professor Black, sorry" Hermione stumbled, forgetting to call the woman by her proper title. Andromeda released Hermione's hand and straightened her robes in an almost nervous fashion.

"You're quite welcome," she replied with another smile that reached her warm brown eyes. "And it's alright. I'm sure the adjustment from 'Tonks's mum whom I saw at Grimmauld Place' to 'my professor at Hogwarts' is a bit strange for you. I'm not used to the title yet either." She turned to continue up the stairs and then paused to turn back and face Hermione. "You have Defence first period with me, don't you? Would you like to walk with me? I must admit to being a touch nervous, and a friendly face is not something I would turn down."

"Of course Professor," Hermione replied adjusting the strap on her bag and moving into step with the dark haired witch. They walked in companionable silence the last few steps to the third floor and along the corridor to the Defence classroom. Just as Andromeda pushed open the door, Hermione gave her a quick "good luck" as she walked past her to her usual desk at the front of the room. Andromeda took a steadying breath and then strode to the platform at the front of the room to start getting her things prepared for her first lesson.

Hermione sat and started pulling her things out of her bag looking quietly interested in what she was doing. Her brain on the other hand, was positively buzzing with questions about her new professor. Andromeda was so different than her sisters. Her eyes always caught her smile, and her voice wasn't cold or sharp like she thought it might be. Hermione knew small snippets about Andromeda's past after spending time with Tonks, but never enough to really know the woman's story. Hermione was also surprised by how warm and open the older witch seemed to be. Hadn't she lost both her daughter and her husband during the war? How was she so calm and collected? Where was Teddy, her grandson?

Hermione's thoughts were interrupted as Ginny unceremoniously plunked herself into the desk beside her.

"You keener" Ginny said to her, also beginning to pull out her materials. "I got so caught up in the commotion you started that it took me twice as long to get up here, and I'm still the second one here."

"I just like to be early" Hermione replied easily. Ginny would have to learn to just let Hermione do her thing. That's what the boys always did.

"Right, earlier than any sane person would need to be. There's still no one else here!"

"You didn't have to jump up and follow me Gin, I can always save you a seat if you want."

Ginny grumbled beside her, torn between feeling glad that Hermione would want to save her a seat, but also peeved that she would get up and leave just to be ridiculously early for class.

Other students began to trickle into the classroom and fill the seats around them. As the chatter of students grew around them while the room slowly filled, Hermione relaxed into the familiar feeling and sighed at knowing that this was where she belonged. She looked towards the teaching platform as she anticipated the beginning of class, Andromeda then cleared her throat and asked for the attention of the room. The chatter slowly died down and she looked at them all with a steady but not overly stern gaze.

"Good morning everyone. I know that the first class of the semester can be a bit of a struggle, but I hope that you'll take today's topic in stride. The usual seventh year curriculum calls for the introduction of Charms or Transfiguration based duelling, but I think the steps up to that have been sorely lacking for you all. Today, we'll be working on the recognition of offensive spells without their spoken component." She moved to the middle of the room as she spoke and turned to face the desk that was sitting to the side of the teaching platform. Without a word, she raised her wand and performed the tell-tale 'swish and flick' that Hermione immediately recognised as Wingardium Leviosa. The desk lifted from the platform and hovered several feet off the ground before it gently settled itself back down.

"Now, I know that particular spell was a touch obvious, but who can tell me which one it was that I used?" Her eyes scanned the room and Hermione's arm rose quickly, beating the others around her by several seconds.

"Miss Granger?"

"That was Wingardium Leviosa, Professor" she answered.

"Correct, five points to Gryffindor. Now, a charm such as Wingardium Leviosa is easily recognizable by its swish and flick wand motion that you learned in first year. Other spells, particularly offensive spells while duelling, can be much harder to recognize if they are cast non-verbally." She moved back to the front of the room and brandished her wand. With a flourish that Hermione had never seen, the room immediately filled with a cool fog. There was a collective gasp throughout the room and students shifted around to gauge how far they could see across the room.

"Does anyone recognize this spell?"she asked with a swish of her wand and a wordless Finite.

Hermione's hand rose again, albeit less surely than last time.

"Miss Granger?"

"I believe that was Nebulus Professor."

"Correct again Miss Granger. However, did you recognize it based on its wand movements, or on the effect of the spell itself?"

"The effect of the spell Professor, I didn't recognize the wand movements at all."

"Thank you for your honest response Miss Granger. Now, a question to all of you. Why would it be disadvantageous for you to only recognize a spell based on what you have seen?" She moved among the desks as she spoke and pensive faces followed her movement.

Hermione's hand rose again, with growing frustration showing across her face, conscious of the ever-fixed moniker of insufferable know-it-all.

"Thank you Miss Granger" Andromeda acknowledged her.

"It is disadvantageous because if you wait until you see what the effect of a spell is, it has already hit you or has tripped you up in some way, which essentially means you lose" she said quickly.

"Exactly. If you are a step behind in a duel, you lose. Which, in a professional duel in a tournament just means you lose. If you are duelling for your life, the consequence may be much worse. I'm sorry to be so blunt about it, but in the case that something horrible like this spring should ever happen again, these lessons will be your best way to defend yourselves and those you love." She looked around at their young faces, feeling slightly guilty for having dropped such a heavy topic on them first thing in the morning as well as so soon after the battle, but there was no time like the present to give them every tool she could.

"Another thing to keep in mind is how to defend against the many types of offensive spells you may encounter. A Protego won't always be enough to keep you safe. Lastly, your ability to also throw wordless spells at your opponent will even the playing field. Today, we will begin with attempting to wordlessly cast Rictusempra or Expelliarmus at our partner, who will either evade or block the spell depending on which is sent their way. Now, if everyone could please stand."

There was a decent amount of shuffling and groaning as the students got to their feet. With a wave of her wand, Andromeda caused all of the desks to lift and then stack themselves neatly on either side of the room.

"Right then, let's get into pairs and get to it, shall we?" She clapped her hands together in excitement before moving to circulate through the room as they worked. Hermione and Ginny grinned at each other, they had not had the opportunity to work on spells together since their D.A. days. Hermione was especially glad to be able to spar with her friend in such a safe space. There were no Death Eaters here to worry about, she could simply enjoy the pursuit of improving her skills. She was thrilled.

Over the rest of the period, Ginny had only managed to successfully cast Rictusempra on Hermione once, while Hermione had had the redhead squirming on the floor in tears from laughter more than a dozen times. Non-verbal spellcasting had been on Hermione's 'List of Skills to Master' since her fourth year, and was much more prepared than Ginny had been. After she successfully blocked another Expelliarmus, Andromeda called for their attention once more.

"Well done everyone! I am more than a little impressed with your skills thus far. Please read chapter 1 of your textbook for next class and be prepared to be attempting more difficult spells non-verbally. Thank you." She turned and headed back to the teaching platform to prepare for her next class while Hermione and Ginny packed their bags. Hermione was more curious than ever about their new professor after such a practical and engaging lesson.

"That was quite good, don't you think?" Ginny asked her as they headed for the door.

"Yes, it was. Did you know she had any masteries for teaching? I'm surprised she wasn't a fully fledged member of the Order if she's able to teach Defence."

Ginny looked at her curiously, pulling out her timetable and checking it over to see where she was headed.

"I didn't know, don't look at me" she replied. "I've got Herbology next, what've you got?"

"I have Ancient Runes, I'll see you at lunch. Meet me back at the Hufflepuff table?" she asked just to make sure Ginny knew she was serious about house unity.

"Yes, yes, we'll be the shining example and all that," she replied with a smirk. "See you later 'Mione" she called as she sped off down the corridor in the direction of the main staircase.

Hermione turned in the opposite direction to head up to the sixth floor. There was a tapestry that held a staircase just down past the new common room that would aid her in getting to class more quickly than using the crowded main staircase. She smiled again to herself at deciding to come back for her delayed last year as she pushed the heavy material aside, then she shook her head at how positively giddy she had been since waking early that morning. Yes, she thought to herself, Hogwarts is home.