First day of spring term came quicker than Draco would have wanted it to. He had studied the curriculums carefully and had once again re-read all the course literature, yet he still felt like he didn't have a clue what he was doing as he stood in front of his first class Monday morning. His first class of the day was first years, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. The class had taken their seats in a quiet and organised manner and were now staring at their professor, waiting for him to speak. Draco sensed some sort of tension in the air, something quite resembling fear. He guessed his reputation preceded him.
"Good morning, class." Draco addressed the students with a sort of stern look on his face. "I'm Professor Malfoy and I'll be your substitute teacher for the rest of the term." he continued, although he knew the students already were aware of this fact since Professor McGonagall had told everyone last night. The students looked terrified, probably due to the fact that his words sounded a lot more threatening than he intended. Looking out on the horrified faces of his first class Draco decided then and there that fear would not be the way he would relate to his class. He decided to address the elephant in the room.
"I assume many of you have heard the name Malfoy before, and probably not associated with a positive experience. I trust you all know there was a war going on in the Wizarding World that ended here, at the Battle of Hogwarts May 2nd two years ago. I also figure most of you know what part the Malfoy family played in that war. For those of you who don't know; the Malfoy's supported Voldemort." There was a collective quiver spreading through the class as Draco mentioned the Dark Lord's name.
"I come from a family of Death Eaters, my father and aunt were, to mention a few. I myself was one. I've met Voldemort and I did his bidding." The class looked more horrified at this point of his speech then when he started.
"Why, you might ask. Why is he here? Why is he telling us this? Well, I'll tell you. I'm here because I've seen it all. I've seen the dark arts and I've seen war and I know what it does. Practising the dark arts does not lead to power and success. It leads to isolation, fear and grief. I'm telling you this so you know where I'm coming from. Never have I ever felt so scared and alone as I did when I was forced to carry out Voldemort's commands. I'm really not here to tell you my story, of how I cocked up; I'm here to teach you how to defended yourselves from the dark arts. Any questions?" he ended his improvised speech.
A fragile-looking boy with brown hair and glasses raised a trembling hand.
"Yes?" Draco said looking at the boy.
"Do you have the Dark Mark on your forearm?" the boy asked with a shaky voice.
Draco sighed in annoyance. He rolled up his left sleeve and showed the class the faded, yet very visible, Dark Mark. Many of the students drew a shaky breath.
"Now that that's out of the way; I would like you all to turn to page 394 in Dark Arts Defence: Basics for Beginners." Draco said unyielding and the class hurriedly started turning pages in their textbooks.
"Now then, what can you tell me of curing werewolf bites?" Draco asked looking out over the class.
Draco's first day of teaching went, well, better than expected. All the classes pretty much followed the same pattern; Draco introduced himself, told the class a bit about his background, was asked to show the Dark Mark and then without any room for negotiation Draco turned his attention to the course curriculum. It was now the fifth period and his last class for the day; seventh year Gryffindor and Slytherin. Draco started this class the same way he'd started every other and when he rolled his sleeve down for the fifth time that day he said,
"Well, now that that's sorted; I would like you to…" he cut his sentence short as he saw Weaslett raise her hand.
"Yes, Ms Weasley?" he said, raising a curious eyebrow.
"I was just wondering, professor, was being a home-wrecker something you enjoyed during your time as a Death Eater or is that habit you've just recently picked up?" Weaslett sneered whilst giving Draco a dark look.
To put it mildly, Draco was shocked by Weaslett's question. Apparently so were the rest of her classmates as they all turned to look at Draco with big eyes. Draco took a deep breath to remain calm.
"Seeing as your question, Ms Weasley, isn't relevant to dark arts or nonverbal spells, which are todays topics for discussion; I will choose not to comment on your question." Draco answered coolly. "Now, I would like the class to pair up so you can practice…"
"So I take it my brother's girlfriend wasn't the first one you've nicked." Weaslett snorted, interrupting Draco.
Draco's already pale face turned a whiter shade and his eyes grew darker and he looked at Weaslett and felt his temper rising.
"Detention, Ms Weasley. My office; tonight at eight o' clock. For disrupting the class. You will do wise to remember to raise your hand in my class before speaking." Draco said calmly, yet his words were icy and he could see Weaslett started regretting pushing Draco.
"Now, class. If there are no more interruptions; split into pairs and start practising nonverbal spells." Draco addressed the class who hurried to oblige their professor.
One hour later Draco was sitting in the sofa in the common room, slowly massaging his temples to block the headache he felt coming on, when the portrait swung open and Hermione climbed through.
"I just had the best day! I spent the whole day in the library and Madam Pince gave me full access to the Restricted Section." Hermione informed Draco excitedly as she sat down beside him on the sofa. "How was your first day, Professor Malfoy?" she smiled.
"Well, I got asked to show my Dark Mark about five times and got called a home-wrecker, but that was only once. And then I gave a student my first detention. So over all I'd say it went pretty well." Draco said sarcastically and continued massaging his temples.
"What do you mean called a home-wrecker? Whom by? And why?" Hermione asked confused.
"Apparently Weaslett is under the impression I 'nicked you from her brother', a theory she shared with me and the entire class." Draco said rolling his eyes.
"Has she gone completely mental?" Hermione almost shouted and quickly shot up from the sofa. "I'm going to have a little chat with her and sort this whole thing out. Like you had anything to do with me breaking up with Ron. What an inappropriate and disrespectful thing to say! And to your professor, and in front of the whole class non the less!" Hermione continued as she paced around the common room.
"No, Hermione. You are not going to have a chat with Weaslett." Draco said tired.
"But she can't say things like that!" Hermione protested.
"I'm fully aware of that. That's why I gave her detention tonight. I'm seeing her in my office eight o'clock." Draco continued calmly.
"What are you going to have her do? You'll not have her polish ornament candelabras, will you?" Hermione wondered.
"No, I'm going to have a chat with her." Draco answered but Hermione looked a bit anxious.
"I'm not going to threaten her." Draco scowled at Hermione's anxious facial expression.
"I didn't say I though you were." Hermione said in defence.
"But you thought it." Draco simply said.
"No, I didn't." Hermione said.
"Whatever. My plan for her detention is simply to have her explain where she got that idea and then get her to stop spreading rumours about her professors personal life." Draco muttered.
"That actually sounds like an appropriate punishment for her wrongdoing." Hermione said. "Let's go down and get some dinner before your first detention." she smiled.
"Yes, let's. I can't wait to find out if rumour still travels as fast as when we were in school." Draco sighed and followed Hermione out the portrait hole and down to dinner.