A/N: Yay! Chapter 10! Finally!

Chapter 10

The only way I could describe Apparition is to compare it to being puked up by a Sand Worm, which is not a pleasant experience on the whole. Both squeeze the Farplane out of you, both land you on your ass, and both suck like crazy. At least Apparition doesn't leave you covered in drool with questionable bits of I-don't-want-to-know suspended in it. It was rapidly becoming my least favorite wizarding memory to date. Minerva was to my left, easily straightening her robes and in seconds looking completely unruffled. I didn't want to think about having enough practice with this mode of travel to take it in such stride.

Kings Cross Station housed a huge red Machina called a train. I wasn't entirely comfortable, but it, like wands and wizards and witty banter with Severus, was a part of my life now. Yevon might frown upon it, but I was too far removed from my culture to discriminate. Students were crawling all over the place, kissing relatives goodbye, or ducking, in the case of the boys, shoving trunks onto the train, greeting friends after the holidays. The whole place was warm and buzzing with excitement.

"There she is! Professor Diandar!" I turned to see a couple of familiar faces approaching. I recognized the brown haired girl and the red head from Diagon Alley, and they had quite the little crew in tow. A dark haired boy with glasses was the missing piece to their threesome and an entire flock of red heads trailed in the trio's wake.

The little bushy haired girl positively bubbles up in front of me. I believe Minerva called her Miss Granger. Oh dear, this is going to be bad.

"Mrs. Weasley, this is the new Hogwarts professor everyone's been talking about! The mage!" Miss Granger gushed excitedly, "I have so many questions! What's with the dolls? I haven't been able to do a thing with mine. I came close to casting a few spells on it, but with the trace I couldn't until I got on the train, but do you have any thoughts?"

I could see her taking a breath to continue this inquisition, so I cut her off quickly, "Miss Granger, please refrain from casting spells on your Moogle. I haven't gotten around to testing how the two magic styles react to one another, but I think casting willy-nilly at a magical object is a bad idea on the whole. Now, I'll take further questions on how to work your Moogle in class. Perhaps you could introduce me to the rest of your friends first, however?"

Miss Granger blinked then looked behind her, slightly chagrined, "Well, this is Harry and Ron, and Ron's family, the Weasleys. This is Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, and Ginny."

I hadn't kept the faintest track of that, though I had taken a quick look at the group. The infamous twins I stored instantly into my mental catalogue right between a Bandersnatch and a Funguar.

Mr. Weasley came forward and took my hand, shaking it heartily, "Heard you gave the Wizengamot what for. If you can give them a start and come out the other side, you're fine by me! They're still talking about it around the office. Quite a stir, young lady, quite a stir!"

Uncertainly, I shook his hand, "Well, I'm glad to have left an impression."

"Oh, to be sure, to be sure!" he laughed. I smiled. I like him. He was straightforward and friendly in a way most a Spira couldn't match.

"Now are you quite sure it's safe? Such a violent magic, with all that fire and lightning, I'm just a little concerned," Mrs. Weasley interjected.

Looking around quickly, I saw quite a few parents listening in intently. I caught Minerva's eye. She was looking anxiously at her watch, but I gave her a look, then dragged my eyes across the attentive parents again pointedly. When I looked back at her, her lips were drawn tight.

I flashed a smile at Mrs. Weasley, "I understand your concerns Mrs. Weasley, but I assure you I'll take every precaution. It'll be sometime before my students learn spells of the caliber I showed the Wizengamot, and they'll have to learn how to cast the Null spells for them first for safety," I turned to Miss Granger, "Do you have your Moogle on you, dear?"

Miss Granger rushed to pull her Moogle from her bag and handed it to me, eyes aglow at the chance to see me at work.

"And, Mrs. Weasley, I can promise you my new students won't be working on anything more dangerous than this for some time."

With that I set Miss Granger's Moogle on its feet. Several people watching took an alarmed step back when it stayed upright and looked up at me expectantly. I took a moment to familiarize myself with its magical signature before making a few quick gestures with my hand. The Moogle sprang into action, startling a few more people, doing a couple little flips, a few shuffled dance steps, and finally taking a bow as I stood above it, gesturing constantly.

With this little performance, I garnered a few laughs and some scattered applause from my audience. I scooped up Miss Granger's Moogle, releasing it from my control, feeling it go limp in my arms again. I handed I back to a bright eyed Miss Granger with a smile and my thanks.

"Wow! How did you do that? You can do wandless magic?" Miss Granger clearly had a flurry of questions for me, so I cut her off again.

"Now, now, we have all year for you to ask me all the questions you want, but right now you should hurry along to the train."

She looked startled for a moment, before snatching back the proffered Moogle, stuffing it into her bag, and dragging Ron and Harry by the hand towards the train. The twins shot a couple assessing glances at me and followed, along with an older, skinny Weasley with glasses.

I turned back to Mrs. Weasley with a smile of my own, "Now, I hope that I've laid your fears to rest, and I promise not to sic Bahamut on any of your children, at least not in the first week of classes," I said with a laugh.

Mrs. Weasley laughed as well, "Yes, yes, alright. But tell me, what's bah-hah-moot?"

"Oh! Bahamut is one of my Aeons, a dragon incarnation. I'm sure your husband has told you a bit about Ifrit. He's the Aeon I, um, 'startled' the Wizengamot with. Same idea, different Aeon."

"Dragon incarnation?" the remaining Weasley son asked. He had broad shoulders and such a strong layer of freckles that it was almost a tan. His hair was a little on the shaggy side, but it just added to his overall rugged appeal.

"Yes. Do you like dragons then?" I asked, curious despite myself.

His blue eyes sparkled, "You could say that. I work with them in Romania."

"Well then, the next time you're in town, we'll have to compare notes. I don't think Bahamut fall into the traditional dragon category, but maybe you could have a look and tell me exactly how weird he is. He certainly thinks he's majestic enough, purple and all," I laughed.

He laughed with me and extended a hand, "I'll have to do that. I'm Charlie, by the way. I wasn't sure you caught that in all of Hermione's babble."

I took his hand, a little spark going up my wrist, "I think it's customary to introduce yourself before a full conversation has taken place, but then, I'm new to this country. You can call me Palme."

"Nice to meet you, Palme," he grinned, and I found myself giving him a silly little grin back. I shook my head as soon as I realized what I was doing, but a quick glance around at the amused looks of the Weasley parents and Minerva showed I had been caught.

Minerva appeared to be smothering a laugh in her hand, "Well, we'd better be off if we want to find Remus and get you settled before the train leave. It was nice seeing you again, Arthur, Molly, Charlie."

I managed a smile, embarrassed, but covering it with a quick flick of my braids, "Nice to meet you all," I bowed quickly and scurried after Minerva.

TBC

A/N: Whew! Big one! Sorta… Anyways, so that crack about the twins and the Bandersnatch and the Funguar becomes exponentially funnier if you google it and get the joke, fyi. As always, reviews are appreciated and met with candy! See you next time!

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