Chapter 4- The Start of Term

Professor Rickman had told Harry so much information his mind began to buzz. Where his quarters were, how staff scheduling worked, and lots about the required curriculum though there was a few personal adjustments Harry thought about making on that. When he asked the professor if adding certain things would be alright the man agreed as long as he got the requirements done.

After hours of going over just the basics in information, dinner was called and Harry made his way back to the Great Hall alone, reading notes on the curriculum Rickman had given him. He certainly didn't remember learning so much about dangerous magical creatures in his first three years and how few relevant defensive spells there seemed to be. He would definitely be moving up the stunning spell and shield charm a few years, those were mandatory for him and the system far underestimated the student's abilities to cast them. He would have to apologize to George for taking away some of his protective charm clothing costumers later.

As he walked he made notes on the papers, spells he wanted to cover and other such things. His feet had just hit the first floor when an all too familiar voice called his name.

"Harry, how'd it go?" Hermione asked him excitedly as she met up with him.

"Great, actually. I was just looking over the subjects...I think I'm going to have to read our old textbooks again; I hardly remember half the details on these creatures."

"Well you don't have to worry; I brought all of our old books. You can just borrow mine," Hermione said cheerfully as they continued walking down to dinner. Harry smiled at her,

"Of course you still have our old books,"

She blushed at his comment her face ducking behind a curtain of her hair, "It is a bit strange isn't it?"

"No not at all. You're always prepared. It's brilliant," He told her truthfully as she smiled tucking her hair back behind her ear.

They continued chatting about the current professors and plans they had for their own lessons as they made it into the Entrance Hall. Upon their arrival one of the large doors swung open and Tim walked in, looking quite tired and covered near head to toe in mud.

"What happened to you?" Harry asked hardly able to suppress his snort of laughter causing Hermione to whack his arm lightly.

"Are you alright Tim?" She asked and he nodded brushing his bangs out of his eyes.

"Yeah I'm fine. Witherwings, Hagrid's hippogriff, was being a bit fidgety when I tried to groom him. He knocked me right back into a pile of mud. At least I really hope it was mud…" He smiled sheepishly at the two of them but then looked confused as they shared knowing glances of Witherwings' true identity as Buckbeak, they smiled briefly at each other before Tim interrupted them, "Um…did I miss something or are you two telepaths?"

"Don't be ridiculous Tim. Now we can't have you dirtying the halls," Hermione said whipping her wand out of her coat before saying, "Scourgify," in a clear voice causing all the mud that caked Tim to vanish.

"Wow! Thanks, Hermione. That's a really useful spell. Where'd you learn it?" Tim asked and Hermione gave a characteristic eye roll.

"Standard Book of Spells, chapter three. Honestly did you two even read our textbooks in school?" She asked, shooting looks at both of them. Harry and Tim just glanced at each other before shaking their heads causing Hermione to groan before proceeding into the Great Hall. Harry just laughed a bit before following with Tim close behind.

Harry couldn't remember the last time he had such an enjoyable dinner; he talked and laughed with Hermione, Neville, and Tim while Tim especially shared some interesting stories about growing up in the States.

The hall was alive and vibrant causing the thoughts of the war to remain at bay. Soon, though, the lights began to dim and the four headed together to the area of the castle where their rooms were. They had quickly learned for themselves that all extra staff rooms were in the east wing of the fourth floor for the junior professors like them.

"Tomorrow during our break we should totally play Exploding Snap," Tim was saying as they approached the rooms.

"As long as we don't disturb Hermione while she's reading. That's never a good idea," Harry said with a smile.

"While that is true, I won't be reading. I'll be playing too, if you don't mind that is," Hermione smiled back at him.

"Really?" Neville asked surprised.

"Yeah, I've been doing plenty of new things recently and I think I should keep that going. It's turned out pretty well so far," She smiled at the lot of them impressing Harry with this new confidence she was showing. He had never seen her when she wasn't stressed beyond all reason due to classes or worry over him. If this confident Hermione was what she was like without that weight he could certainly get used to it.

"Wow, inspiring and smart. You're a great combination," Tim told her with a smile causing her to go slightly pink.

"Flattery will get you nowhere Timothy," She said smiling back at him. Harry's eyes darted between them unsure what to make of the exchange. Whatever the feeling was, it wasn't pleasant.

"You'd be surprised," Tim grinned as they made it to their doors.

"Well, this is goodnight then?" Neville said suppressing a yawn.

"Especially for you. You look like you're about to pass out," Harry told him.

"Long day with the Mandrakes…night," He mumbled before heading down the hall.

"Night, Neville!" Hermione called after him before turning back to them, "Well, it is getting late, and we better turn in. Early day tomorrow and all."

Harry watched curiously as she hesitated to leave, wringing her hands together as if waiting for something to happen before she turned to Tim.

"Hey, Tim, could you give Harry and I have a moment?" She asked and he nodded.

"Yeah of course. Goodnight," Tim said, giving them a two-finger salute before going into a room a few doors down.

"Everything okay Hermione?" Harry asked her concerned. She wasn't usually like this.

"Everything's…amazing. Oh Harry, I just really wanted to thank you for coming back with me. I know it wasn't easy and I just, I really appreciate it," She said smiling sweetly at him causing a genuine smile to appear on his.

"We could go around and around thanking each other for things I'm sure, I'm just glad we're together even after everything we've been through," He said smiling at her and quickly found her lunging at him, wrapping him in a tight hug.

"We did it…Harry, we're actually here. We made it to life after Voldemort," She whispered into his shoulder. He felt as if a massive weight just came off both their shoulders at her words and a heavy sigh of relief released from her. She was right, he may live on in their nightmares but in reality they were free from him, free to live a life without his threating presence hanging over them, and suddenly Harry found his own sigh of relief escaping.

He wasn't really sure how long they stood there like that but eventually Hermione pulled away, her eyes glistening with tears Harry could only assume were happy ones.

"The girl's rooms are the next corridor over so…I'll be going. Goodnight Harry," She beamed at him, the kind of smile that made him feel warm inside.

"Goodnight Hermione," He told her with his own smile.

She got a curious look on her face he'd never seen before but then she just smiled and walked past him back up the hallway. He watched her till she turned the corner but not before she glanced back at him with a grin and a wave.

"Hey Harry," He heard from behind him and whipped around to see Tim sticking his head out of his room.

"We're you listening in on us?" Harry asked surprised, if not a little annoyed.

"No, well sort of. I was just listening for when she left," He said stepping out of his room. Harry raised an eyebrow at him his curiosity trumping his annoyance.

"Why?"

"I just wanted you to know despite some of my remarks I'm not coming onto her, I promise. I'm just a proud flatterer. My mom says I'm very self-aware," He grinned at Harry who just stared at him a bit blankly.

"Why are you telling me this?" He asked and it was Tim's turn to look confused.

"Because you're her boyfriend and I don't want you to think I'm flirting with her?" He said sounding a bit unsure of himself now.

Harry's own confusion broke as he realized the all too familiar situation, "No Hermione and I, weren't not, she's not my girlfriend."

"Really?" Tim said his face full of genuine surprise, "Fooled me for sure."

"Well we're not, so if you want to flirt with her, go ahead," He said but instantly cringed and kicked himself mentally. That was definitely not what he meant to say. Though truthfully he wasn't sure what he meant, but it certainly wasn't that.

"Um…okay…" Tim said raising an eyebrow at him.

"But she is my best friend, so if you do wrong by her I'll have to…you know…teach you a lesson," Harry said botching the speech Ron gave to him about Ginny, "And I…I defeated Lord Voldemort so…there."

"…'Kay, well, I'm probably only going to be here this year so you don't have to worry. I wasn't planning on getting in a relationship," Tim said leaning on his door frame, his arms crossed casually across his chest.

"Alright, er…good talk then. Night," Harry said quickly passing Tim towards his room. He heard the American call a goodnight back to him before Harry darted inside his door.

While he was instantly impressed with the cozily lit chamber that had full living area with a roaring fire, attached bedroom, and a private bath Harry wanted nothing more than to hit his head against something quite hard. He couldn't believe he made even defeating one of the darkest wizards of all time sound so lame.

While he got ready for bed he grumbled to himself about just how ridiculous he must've sounded but as he lay on his back staring up at the ceiling he thought of the curious and unfamiliar look on Hermione's face. The image of her brown eyes boring into his green with unknown thoughts stewing inside being the last thing see saw before he fell into unconsciousness.

The next morning Harry walked into the Great Hall for breakfast to find Tim and Hermione already there chatting pleasantly. He approached, hesitantly at first, but Tim just gave him a wink and he relaxed knowing they'd just pretend that whole thing last night never happened.

"Morning," Harry said sitting down beside Hermione who promptly beamed at him.

"Morning Harry. Tim was just telling me about some interesting magical creatures he wants to encounter one day. One's the Kraken. Can you believe that?" She said smiling at him passing him a plate of food she knew he liked, eggs (scrambled), toast, bacon, etc, which he took gratefully.

"Really? You know we have a giant squid in the lake right?" He asked Tim starting to cut his toast.

"Oh yeah, I'm on pretty good terms with it actually. You two should come along while I feed it sometime, it really is fascinating."

"It sounds fun, what do you say Harry?" She asked turning to him just as he swallowed some eggs.

"Yeah sounds great," He said grabbing another piece of toast then smiled at Hermione's pointed look.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him with a smile before turning back to Timothy, they continued talking about the day's plan. Breakfast, professorship training, lunch, more training, dinner, then finally free time before bed. A basic schedule that lasted them for the next three days of their instruction period. After so much information was packed into their heads they were released to enjoy the rest of summer until September 1st when they were required to report back if not sooner.

Harry spent those next weeks with Hermione in Grimmauld Place, cleaning it up as much as they could before returning to the school, together along with Crookshanks, four days before the start of the new term. They played games like Exploding Snap and Wizards Chess with Tim and Neville, not to mention a few pick-up games of Quidditch but Hermione sat out on those, still choosing to read a book on the bleachers instead despite Harry's pleas to give it a try.

Those days flew by as well and in a blink of an eye Harry found himself standing in the Entrance Hall on the evening of start of term waiting for Hermione. He checked his watch anxiously, Professor McGonagall had said the train would be arriving in Hogsmeade station in twenty minutes so to be ready in the Great Hall by then, and that was ten minutes ago. He found his stomach churning and head spinning, but it wasn't the same type of anxiety he felt stepping back into these halls but rather one mixed with almost…excitement.

His mind flashed back to all the times he caught that first glimpse of Hogwarts on the train as he arrived back for another year. A smile coming to his face as he pictured the first year's gob smacked faces seeing the castle for the first time. This was that feeling, the feeling of coming back to school, seeing all his friends again, playing Quidditch. This was a feeling of coming home.

"Harry, why aren't you in the hall yet?" He turned to see Hermione coming down the steps and a smile escaped him. She was quite professional looking with her black oxfords and grey slacks but she also had a fitted long black coat, crème sweater, and a light pink blouse underneath so she didn't look too strict. Her bushy hair was simple, groomed, with two thick strands from either side pulled back and tied overtop the rest of her hair that cascaded down her back.

"I was waiting for you," He answered simply as he watched her. She looked particularly nervous biting her bottom lip lightly as she glanced at the large Great Hall doors. Her eyes drifted back to him and did a double take before speaking again.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I look horrible don't I? Oh first impressions are so important, what if I look too strict? Or not strict enough? What if-"

"Hermione…" Harry said trying to get her attention but she continued her distressed rambling, "Hermione…Hermione. You look great!" The raise of his voice caught her attention, she looked surprised at first then waved him off.

"Oh Harry, you're just being nice."

"But I'm serious…" He tried to say only for his words to get over run with her own.

"I mean, it is very kind of you but after everything we've been through you can be brutally honest with me," She said giving him a pointed look which he returned with a firm nod.

"Okay I will."

"Great, go ahead then," She said bracing herself for his words.

"You look amazing and they're going to love you," He said sincerely. She looked a bit confused by his words at first, as if struggling to process.

"I…well…you mean that Harry?" She asked her eyes searching his for a trace of a lie, though he knew they wouldn't find one.

"Of course. Like you said, brutally honest," He grinned and she blushed a shade of pink far deeper than her blouse color.

"Oh, um…then, thank you," She looked up at him, then looked him over probably quite unimpressed with the brown shoes, grey pants, t-shirt, jumper, and black jacket combo he was sporting but smiled anyway, "You don't look too bad yourself Mr. Potter."

"Sure I don't, but thanks," He said with a smile causing her to laugh and take his extended hand as they walked into the Great Hall together.

To say Harry wasn't at least slightly giddy would be a lie. As a kid he always wondered what the view was like at the professor's table and as the older students started coming in from the train he couldn't help but lean over to Hermione whispering, "This is so cool," causing her to giggle into her hand in her struggle to remain professional.

Together they watched the first years come in, led by Professor Sprout, the current Deputy Headmistress, and stand in front of the hall looking nervously at the old Sorting Hat. It looked far more worse for wear than all the years Harry remembered. Scrapped and covered with patches and burns the hat was scarred by the war just as much as anyone else. He glanced at Neville as the flash of him pulling out the sword from the hat and slicing the head off Voldemort's great snake played in his mind, when Neville looked at him inquisitively Harry just smiled gesturing with his head towards the hat and making a discreet swinging motion with his hands, the action causing Neville to beam proudly.

Sitting back in his chair, Harry watched as each child took their place on the stool. He tried to remember their names and faces as Professor Sprout spoke them but he learned quickly it was pointless as he could barely keep up. One glance at Hermione though and he was confident she'd already memorized them all.

After the last child Professor McGonagall stood from her chair her mere presence griping the attention of the students and staff alike.

"Welcome students, old and new, to another year at Hogwarts. These last few years have been trying, there is no doubt, but every day we work to restore Hogwarts to it's full glory once more. Restorations have nearly been completed for the entire castle except for a few corridors on the sixth and seventh floor. They will be marked appropriately. Any student caught out of bounds will receive detention," McGonagall spoke in her firm tone. Harry knew only the most foolhardy students would dare cross her. She cleared her throat briefly before continuing,

"I would also like to address our new staff members. Please stand when I call your name. As our older students may be able to tell we have nearly doubled in size due to our new professors who will be teaching years one through three in their designated subjects. Our first new member to my right Mr. Timothy Cohen, assistant to Professor Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class," Timothy stood giving one of his two-finger salutes to the students a few of who muttered curiously, "Next is Professor Neville Longbottom of Herbology," As he stood small whispers and a few gasps could be heard through the halls as a few of the eldest students recognized the name of the boy who ran the rebel Dumbledore's Army while Hogwarts was under Death Eater control.

"Professor Hermione Granger," The muttering and gasps intensified as Hermione stood, Harry was sure they couldn't believe their eyes; a member of the Golden Trio here at Hogwarts. The whispers became a loud buzzing as Harry saw all the students focus move to Hermione's left, to him sitting there trying not to draw attention to himself.

"And Professor Harry Potter," Harry stood as the sound swelled, the room full of gasps and cries of "Is it really him!?", students craned over each other to catch a glimpse. Harry looked over at Hermione who gave him a smile that was an interesting cross between sympathetic and minorly amused.

"Quiet, settle down now," McGonagall's stern voice echoed the hall, the children sitting down at her voice as did the professors, "Now that that's settled I must ask that you keep your gawking quiet and to a minimum. Please enjoy the feast."

Finally it was what Harry had really been waiting for, a Hogwarts feast. The food appeared and the familiar gasp of first year's shock mixed with the groan of the tables from the extra weight caused a smile to break on Harry's face from ear to ear. He filled his plate and began eating, painfully aware of the hundreds of eyes staring at him as he chatted with Hermione.

They even caught one group of children at the front of the Gryffindor table pointing at them and whispering with their heads together. Hermione just met their eyes and gave a small wave, Harry followed in suit, causing the kids to retreat to their dinner red faced and averting their eyes.

Soon enough everyone begin to slow, full of food, just in time for dessert to appear in front of them. A pie shaped treat appeared between Harry and Hermione's plates that Harry quickly recognized as his favorite, chocolate treacle tart. He gave Hermione an inquisitive look and she gave him a sheepish smile in return.

"I may have mentioned to the house elves it was your favorite," She said causing him to smile and her cheeks to flush ever so slightly. He gestured to the tart and upon her nod he cut a piece for her then another for himself.

Before long the tone of the room began to shift again. The second wave of excitement died down into quieter conversations as bursting stomachs and the late hour began to overcome everyone. McGonagall released the students and directed the first years to follow their prefects towards the common room. As they left Harry suppressed a yawn, more than grateful he didn't have to make any round around the castle tonight.

Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Tim left the hall together after the students departed, collectively tired and stuffed with food. Drowsily they all made their way back to their wing of the castle, groggy smiles and mumbled goodnights were shared before going to their room. It was only when Harry's head hit the pillow did he fully realize he would be teaching classes tomorrow, the nerves barely had a chance to awaken before he drifted to sleep.

AN: Hope you all enjoyed! Next time: Class is in session! Super excited to get to Professor Potter, hope to see you there :)