DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and all it's characters belong to J K Rowling.

Author's note: Please rate and review! Constructive criticism and thoughts on the story are greatly appreciated!

Seeing as I haven't given you guys a chapter in so long, I'm posting two chapters today. Enjoy!

Chapter Fourteen

Harry walked into Defense Against the Dark Arts that afternoon with no small amount of hope in his chest; he really wanted there to be a proficient professor for them this year. The only years when he had felt like he had learnt anything in this class were his third and his sixth—and what polar opposites the professors who taught that class were. There was also the fact that both were dead, but he was choosing to push that into the back of his mind.

With a smile, he noted that he was having this class with the Slytherins and spent a moment identifying his Slytherin and taking a note of where he sat. To his surprise, though, it looked like they were taking the class with the seventh-years as well. He glanced around and saw that only a few of them were there. Ginny was sitting with a couple of her friends near the front of the class. When he spotted her, Harry bit his lips in slight anxiety and led his friends to the back of the class. A fair distance from her and quite close to the Slytherins as well, so it was two birds with one stone.

"You should talk to her," Hermione whispered as soon as they sat down, gesturing with her head towards Ginny. Harry glanced at the redhead again and nodded,

"I know, but what can I say to her? I mean, we broke up… should I tell her about him or just tell her I've found someone or not tell her anything at all?" He suddenly felt like crap, behaving the way he had been—finding a boyfriend a couple of hours after they broke up. As much as he knew that the two actions had nothing to do with each other, it would not be seen that way to others, and to Ginny.

"I don't know," Hermione replied, "But you should tell her something. At least tell her you found someone that you like and were wondering of she would be okay with if you asked them out."

Harry settled down in his seat and huffed out a breath, "Yeah, but one problem, I've already asked him out."

She glared at him for a second before rolling her eyes and turning to the front, "Then, tell her that" she stated.

Harry sighed and turned his gaze upwards, "I'll try." He thought about it and was surprised that Seamus hadn't asked him about Ginny when they had talked but guessed that he hadn't thought of it then. The boy had been quite surprised with what Harry had let out.

Two minutes later, a young, handsome man entered the room through the teacher's entry. The class quietened down as he settled himself in front of the desk and surveyed the classroom in silence. He was blonde and quite good-looking as evidenced by the sudden increase in sighs from the girls. The man's eyes lingered on Harry for a second longer that it did for others before it moved on to the other side of the classroom. Harry could see that the man—professor, really—had lingered on Draco as well. For some reason, that worried him more than it should have. It did not look like the gaze of a man who was sizing up ex-Death Eaters; it felt different.

Finally, the man took a breath and said, "Hello class, my name is Professor Brennan. I will be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher starting today. I trust that anyone who has joined this class has done so with knowledge that this will not be an easy course. I understand that your schooling in this subject has been negligible so far so I am planning to broaden your horizons and teach you all aspects of Defense. This isn't a Dark Arts class like the one that was taught here last year, this is a Defense class and the curriculum envelops that fact. I will not be teaching you how to curse or hex, but I will be teaching you how to identify curses and protect yourselves against them. Are they any questions for me before we start the class?"

He was answered with silence and, with a nod, he rose up from against the desk and started walking the aisles of the classroom, lecturing as he did so.

"Protego is one of the most common shield charms to be used. I am aware that all of you are quite proficient in its use, but how many of you can give me examples of other shield charms that have the same use as protego but are slightly different in terms of strength and weakness?"

To no ones surprise, Hermione's hand went up and, getting a nod from Brennan, she answered, "Saepio and contego are both charms that perform the same function of protection. Saepio is almost exactly the same as protego but it has a wider reach while its strength is lesser than protego. Contego, however is the opposite—it is both stronger and has a smaller range than protego has."

Brennan smiled and nodded at her, "Precisely, Ms. Granger. Both are spells I will cover in the course of the class. Does anyone else know of other spells to the same effect?"

Harry thought about raising his hand—this was the only subject that he had read up on during the summer and probably the only one where he could say that he had a better grasp on than Hermione. But, before he could do so, he saw Draco raise his hand and thought the better of it. Brennan glanced over at him and said, "Yes, Mr. Malfoy? Do you have something to add?"

The blonde nodded, "Cingo. It's the same as protego but it's for inanimate objects. Small things rather than big; like, jewelry boxes and things like that." The blonde quietened down when he was done talking but Harry could see that he was making an effort and was proud of him. On the other hand, he didn't like the titters that had started in the class.

Before he could say anything, Brennan said, "Quieten down, class. Thank you Mr. Malfoy, that was an excellent example." He smiled at Draco and turned around to face the rest of the class again. Harry didn't know whether to be thankful that the teacher was not prejudiced against Draco or irritated by the smile.

Before he could decide, Brennan said again, "The examples given by Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy show you that many charms can be used to perform the same function. Now, in the same way, there can be protection charms used for different functions as well. These would still be classified as defensive charms but would be different in what they do. Can anyone give me an example?"

This time, Harry raised his hands up with Hermione. Brennan nodded to Hermione and then turned to him, "Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"There are the tego and custodio charms, for example. Tego is more a of concealment charm than anything. It forms a layer of thin mist around you that prevents others from seeing you. Of course, you can still be sensed with magic. Custodio, on the other hand, is a guard charm. It protects what is inside, yes, but it does so by preventing any magic inside the shield. It can also be used to detain people as it removes their ability to do magic. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your situation, custodio isn't that hard to overcome. A really strong finite can dissipate the shield."

Brennan had raised his eyebrows at him in the middle of his monologue and looked very mildly impressed, "Good job, Mr. Potter" he said. "You seem to have quite a good grasp on the material. Can you perform these charms?"

He could, and so he nodded. Brennan smiled again and gestured to the front of the class, "Well then, Mr. Potter. Why not give a demonstration?"

Harry shrugged and got up from his seat and walked to the front of the class. Once there, he turned around and saw the entire class staring at him. He took a deep breath and saw Ginny right in front of him. She gave him a small smile and he returned it weakly before turning to the class and saying out clearly while flicking his wand, "Tego"

A very thin layer of mist formed in the air surrounding him. It was like a one-way glass, he could see outside it but those outside couldn't see inside. When it was fully formed, all they could see was a slight haze in the air.

"Of course," Harry said out aloud when the mist fully covered him, "It doesn't make you invisible. So, obviously, this charm is mostly used at night or in areas where the slight haze will not be seen." With a non-verbal finite, he cancelled the charm and the mist dissipated instantly. With the same stroke of his wand, he said, "Custodio."

He had sent the charm at Ginny and, in a second, there was a slightly visible shield around her. He grinned at the stunned girl and said, "Try doing a simple charm."

Ginny scowled at him and waved her wand, trying to levitate the book in front of her. Nothing happened. She scowled harder and tried again. When nothing happened even then, she looked up and glared at Harry. He shrugged back and said, "I told you, it prevents magic inside the shield."

She continued to glare at him till he gave in and, with a sheepish smile, cancelled the charm. With a small wave to her, he went back to his seat nodded at Brennan as he did. There was a slight smattering of applause in the class and he nodded to the class in general before sitting down. He looked around to see what Draco thought of his performance and was a little surprised to see a slight scowl on the blonde's face.

Before he could ask Hermione what she thought of it, she said, "Great job, Harry. You just flirted with your old girlfriend in front of your new boyfriend." Harry winced at the presence of the disapproving tone in her voice.

"I hadn't realized that. I don't think I was flirting with her."

"You may not think so," Ron said from in front of them, "But it sure looked like that, what with you grinning." He turned around and raised his eyebrows at Harry.

Harry winced again, "I didn't think of that."

Ron rolled his eyes, "Of course you didn't, mate. But you should be careful from now on. From what I can see, and that's seven years worth of experience, Malfoy gets jealous easily."

Harry nodded silently and glanced at Draco again; the scowl still hadn't left his face. With a sigh, he turned back to the front of the class where Brennan was calling for attention. It seemed like they were going to split up in teams and practice the charms with each other. With a nod to Hermione and Ron, Harry slipped away from them and headed towards Draco.

"Hey," he whispered when he reached the blonde, "Team up with me." Draco had just been getting up from his seat and looked slightly surprised at the sudden appearance of Harry and the proposition.

"Okay?" he said unsurely, "Are you sure?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah. Come on, let's go there." With a gesture to his friends showing them where he and Harry were headed, Draco followed him to one corner of the classroom, away from the rest of the class. By the time they reached there, Draco had regained the scowl that had been on his face before.

Harry sighed and asked tentatively, "Is everything okay? You look mad."

Draco glared at him for a second and then sighed as well, "It's fine. I was just… it's nothing."

Harry shook his head at that, "No, tell me."

"I just didn't like you interacting with girl Weasley" the blonde said finally.

"I wasn't really doing anything. She was the only person I knew at the front of the class. And she's like a little sister to me."

"I know that. She was also your girlfriend until two days ago."

"Yes, but that's then and this is now. I'm not confused Draco."

Draco stared at him as if he was trying to figure out whether Harry was lying. Finally, he said, "I know. I believe you."

"Good," Harry grinned, "Shall we get started on the charms then? I want to see how badly I can beat you"

Draco snorted, "Yeah right, you're going down. Just because you know a couple of extra things doesn't make you better."

"I know. I'm better than you even without knowing anything extra."

With a scowl and a glint in his eye, Draco flicked out his wand and they started to duel.