The students were all loud and boisterous in the halls that day. Everyone excited to be back with their friends and tell each other what they had done over the summer. At dinner that first evening after classes the dinner group that had formed the night before at Hermione's table was all gathered together again.
"How are the wedding plans going Ginny?" she asked her best girl friend.
"Ugh….Mum is driving me spare! Although, with Head Girl duties, Quidditch plans, and classes she is taking most of the work for the wedding on herself, because there just isn't enough time for me to do everything. The wedding will be the night after graduation, Harry and I won't give on that." She said.
"You know," said Hermione between bites of roast beef, "once you're married, you better take good care of my brother Gin." she smiled at her friend.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Since we're talking about the wedding, that reminded me, when we have the first Hogsmeade visit mum is meeting us and we're going to find your maid of honor dress, along with my dress and the other bridesmaids. Luna, Fleur, Angelina and Susan will all be there as well."
"I'm your maid of honor?" Hermione was beaming as she asked.
Gin replied with a simple and very dignified, "Duh!"
Everyone at the table laughed at that including Draco, when Ginny noticed she winked at him catching him off guard. Blaize and Hermione laughed as his cheeks turned a bit pink.
"Now, we have a much closer event that needs planning, we have two weeks to plan Hermione's birthday party." She announced to the table. Hermione gave her a dirty look that Ginny pointedly ignored. She knew Hermione didn't like the attention, but she also knew she deserved a great party, so she was having one like it or not!
"Ooooh I can go into the room before the party and clear out the Wrackspurts!" promised Luna.
"Thanks Luna, I had planned on asking you to do just that, you were the perfect pick for that messy job." Ginny said, laughing to herself at the look on Malfoy and Zabini's faces. Everyone else at the table was more that used to Luna.
Giving in, Hermione sighed, "Fine, what do you need me to do?"
"You have to go this weekend and pick out a nice new dress. That's all you're going to do for the party, the rest of us will take care of it. After the dress all you have to do is show up!" Ginny said.
An hour later Draco, Hermione and Michael were in their classroom going over the lesson making sure they had it fine-tuned and ready to go, they were all three a bit nervous and trying desperately not to show it. They looked up as first one student entered, then more trickled in, and eventually the circle was complete, and the 3rd years were looking around in interest at the teachers and each other unsure of what to expect.
Hermione began, "Hello everyone. I am just going to tell you a little bit about what we will be doing in these lessons, as I'm sure you all have wondered about what this class is. There will be no difference in what you're taught than any other grade level. You will all have the same lessons as each other, but you take your class with your own year."
"While in this class the most important rule we have set is that you may not in any way insult each other. This will be your only warning. If you don't heed this warning, you will have automatic detention, and the three of us get to set that detention," she said pointing to herself, Draco, and Michael.
Michael picked up from there, "Now, I won't be in every class. Sometimes it will just be Hermione, and Draco. For the purposes of these classes and what we hope to achieve, there will not be any formal titles for you to call us. We're on first name basis in class as well as outside of class. Should you have questions outside of class you are free to approach any one of us. We only ask for you to respect and understand that we are also students who have classes that we have homework for and studying to do. If you find us in the Library, we ask that you don't approach with questions about class as that's our own study time. If you need a question answered at that time, please try locating one of the three of us that isn't studying."
"Now, as you notice there are no books you were asked to buy, no supply list sent to you. That is because you will not need any. You won't take notes in class, there will be one book we ask you to read later in the year, but you will not need to buy it unless you choose to for yourself. We will have copies for all the classes to share, and the reading will be done in class together. Mostly this class will be about sharing our similarities, and differences. Not just that though, we will also bring into discussion Muggle life, art, literature, education etc." he said, then turned to Draco for him to take his turn.
Draco cleared his throat and said, "Now, I'm going to start tonight's lesson by telling you about our summer and what the planning of this class taught me. Once I am finished, Hermione will tell her story, followed again by Michael. Afterwards, we will open the floor for discussion and questions. Again, I will warn you to be respectful when addressing us and each other."
"I should start with getting a letter asking for a meeting with the headmistress, and almost not agreeing to it. I didn't want anything to do with her, or this school anymore, I was encouraged to go by a curious family member. When I walked in and discovered these two, I was furious. I didn't want to have anything to do with either of them, and in my mind was calling them foul names. As most of you know, I was part of the dark side during the war." Draco saw quite a few of the Slytherin's nodding and smiling at him.
"What you don't know though, by the time the Battle of Hogwarts came around I wanted nothing to do with the dark lord or his followers, including my own father. I still believed in the pureblood philosophy, keeping pure blood pure, but that was not what that man was about. All he really cared about was power and finding a way to permanent immortality." He informed them. Now some of those Slytherins were looking at him coldly. He had expected this, had known they would react to his words in this manner. He wasn't a Slytherin for nothing!
"So as I was saying, I wasn't at all happy about her offer to teach this class when it meant spending a good part of my summer in the company of a Muggleborn and a half blood. Now, I am grateful. My life would not have been the same if I had given it all up. Over the summer, I spent even more time than was required of me with both these two. We stumbled at the beginning, each dealing with dislike and hatred of each other based on our past, Hermione and Michael being a founder and a member of the group known as Dumbledore's Army, and me being a Death Eater. As the summer progressed we spent time together socially and we learned about each other better." He continued.
"I'm sure you're all aware of the fact that Hermione and I are a couple. Hogwarts wouldn't be Hogwarts if rumors and gossip weren't shared faster than Harry Potter chasing a Horcrux!" He joked, earning an elbow in the ribs from Hermione and laughs from some of the students.
"Well, without the class planning and the time spent getting to know each other, I wouldn't be lucky enough to have such an amazing woman loving me, or a great pal that I care for as well. These two people have become vital parts of my life, and my hope is that in this class you will learn the same way I did, to let go of outdated and uneducated beliefs and maybe find new friends as well." He finished.
Hermione stepped forward for her turn. "My story is much the same as what Draco has just told you, so it won't take as long to tell. For my part, I was just as angry if not more so when I saw Draco walk through the door and join the meeting. I almost turned it down for just that one reason, and that's saying a lot considering I want to be a teacher. It took a progression through weeks of hard work, and a group drenching in a pool, a few dates," she winked at Draco and some of the class laughed again.
"But in the end, I learned that hating Draco the way I did made no sense. I didn't know him well enough to earn the right to hate him. I will tell you now, and I'm quite sure Michael agrees, Draco is not who he used to be, none of us are. Once we let go of ignorance and embraced our similarities and differences, we let each other in, and became friends." She smiled at the class. "My hope for all of you in the class is that when we're done for the year, is that you have a few more friends, and a few new reasons to leave hate behind." She then sat back in her seat as Michael rose from his.
"Now, I'm going to share my story with you, it's not a nice one in parts but it's the best way I have to show you what you stand to gain by letting go of the past and hate as I did. I will start by saying I don't think there is another person I have ever hated more than I hated Malfoy, unless it was Severus Snape." He started, with a small smile at the mention of Snape. Hermione and Draco however were looking at each other confused; this wasn't what Michael had led them to believe he would be talking about. He wasn't following the plan!
"Not long after we started planning the class and having meetings, I had reasons to go to see a doctor, which is the same as a healer only in the Muggle world, and I got really bad news. What my friends here don't know is that they are the only people I trusted with the diagnosis I was given, over the summer. I will tell all of you now, because it is the reason I won't be in class all the time like Draco, and Hermione here will be. By a show of hands please, how many of you know what cancer is?" When he saw most hands were raised, he went on. "For those of you who don't know, cancer is a disease. It affects Muggles, Muggleborn, and Half-bloods. Purebloods are immune to Muggle diseases and therefore have never had this. Cancer is deadly, and there are many different types depending on which part of the body is affected. My type is easiest explained by saying it is a cancer that affects the white blood cells. I have treatments called chemotherapy, and I'm very sick. The other reason this is pertinent to the class is that the man I hated, I fought against, and cursed too many times to count, was there by my side the whole way. Along with Hermione, Draco was and continues to be part of my support system. The two of them took time from their own lives to research ways to make this process easier for me. Because of the two of them, I can eat again. My point here is that, we HAVE to get rid of the hatred of each other. My life has depended on someone I hated supporting me. If I hadn't let go of it, where would I be now? Think about that when you see someone you despise. Ask yourself why you hate; is it because of well founded, educated reasons? Or is it because you think you're supposed to hate him or her?" he begged.
"I will finish with this simple statement. If we as part of the magical community continue along in ignorance and reject change, we will cease to exist. We are guaranteed to repeat our mistakes and watch as we fall apart again. The people we lost, that died, people you may have known will have died in vain if we don't embrace the change that is vital to our survival." He finished, and with his words there was a profound silence.
Hermione stood and looked around at all the students. "We have a lot of plans this year, and as there is no book work, or notes, homework will be different from other subjects. Your first homework assignment will be simple. Speak with one person from each house this week. I want you to be able to tell all of us personal details of each person you spoke with to demonstrate that time was spent truly trying to get to know that person. That's it, direct and simple. You can take notes if you have to, but we recommend that you don't. It's not an interview for a paper; it's an effort to make friends. Now, does anybody have questions" she asked the class as she also sat back down.
One girl raised her hand rather hesitantly, and shyly asked, "Do we need to talk to the people in our own houses, since we obviously already know all of them?"
Draco chose to answer this question "Yes we even want one from your own house. I know you cannot possibly be close enough to all the people in your houses, in different years that you can't find one person to take the effort to get to know better." Then he said, "However, with the exception being your own house, you must speak to people from your own year in this case meaning it must be another 3rd year student. We're aware you probably know the other 3rd year students in your own houses quite well, which is why there is the allowance of talking to another grade level student."
One of the Slytherin boys started talking, "what happens if we choose not to participate in this ridiculous class? I don't need to get to know details about the life of a stinking Mud…."
At this point Draco flew out of his chair, and it startled the boy into silence. "You were told the rules at the beginning of this class Mr. Flint!" Adam Flint was younger brother to Marcus Flint who was a friend of Draco's. "You have already earned a detention. Insults and disrespect of each other will NOT be tolerated in here! See me after class, your name will also be given to Headmistress McGonagall when we meet with her after class is dismissed so you can expect to be called into her office."
When class was dismissed Adam approached the three teachers, he was given a detention helping Mr. Filch clean toilets throughout the school and the vomit basins in the Hospital, no magic to help him in the job. The detention would last as long as it took to do every job, which meant it could take days.
Once Flint was dismissed with his assigned detention, the three headed off to McGonagall's office to report how the first class had gone. Once they said the password, Phoenix, the gargoyles opened and they climbed the spiral staircase to her office. She had a surprise guest waiting for them. Once again Hermione cried out and threw herself into the arms of another man making Draco clench his teeth in frustration.
"Kingsley!" she cried out. "It's been so long since I saw you last. I missed you my friend."
Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister of Magic hugged her back and gave a deep chuckle, "I've missed you to my girl. How are you, and are you enjoying your opportunity to return to school?"
"I'm really good. And I am so glad to be back." She told him.
He looked over her shoulder at Draco, giving him a meaningful look and said, "I heard you have been lucky enough to catch our girl here. I trust that you will treat her well and see to it she is happy?"
"Yes sir," Draco answered respectfully.
After that greeting scene was finished, the five went over what had happened in class.
Kingsley said, "Draco, I am glad you were the one to stop Flint's insult and hand out the detention. I feel like it will only confirm to the rest that you mean business in the classroom. Coming from the teacher that shares his house will gain respect from other houses. Good job you three. Keep up with the good work."
McGonagall informed them that she would be taking her turn to sit in on one session tomorrow night. While the rest were talking, Draco looked up at the portrait of Dumbledore which also had Snape since the two were visiting each other, and watching what was happening in the meeting. When they saw him watching them Dumbledore winked his twinkling blue eyes, and Snape smiled at him and had a peaceful look in his eyes finally. Draco was very comforted.
Before they left, Hermione spoke. "Professor Snape, will you talk to me for a moment?"
He nodded, so she said, "I really want you to know that I'm very sorry that we doubted your loyalties. I also want to thank you for all your help and protecting us when Harry, Ron and I were on our mission. And I'm so sorry that we weren't able to get you the help you needed when you were attacked."
"Miss Granger, you are welcome. However, do not feel guilty for my demise, it was none of your doing, and I knew when I switched sides and decided where to give my loyalties would lie it could mean my death."
"Thank you Professor" she said, and he nodded.
They were all exhausted after the long day and fell into bed gladly when they reached their rooms. It had been a really good first day of classes.
