The third-year Gryffindors and Slytherins piled through the door for their first class of the week. Harry watched them carefully. He could tell that trouble was brewing between the two factions. Matt Fernwell's eyes were narrowed like a snake's and Teddy Lupin's face was beat red. The rest of the student's held expressions of either anger or fear. It was obvious that today was not going to be a quiet Monday.

"Everyone pass your weekend assignments to the front, please." Harry limped around his desk. The wet weather seemed to be having a negative affect on his bad leg. "Does anyone have any questions on the assignment?"

A young Slytherin girl, Greengrass if Harry remembered correctly, slowly raised her arm. He gave a nod in her direction.

"Yes, Miss Greengrass?"

The Gryffindors all glared in her direction, while the Slytherin's watched her expectantly. Obviously she had been pressured by her peers to ask a certain question, a question that very well might get her in trouble.

"Well, sir…I was wondering," she stammered. "It's just…when are we going to study werewolves?" The question came racing from her lips and her face turned positively green as she waited for Harry's reply.

Harry understood now why Teddy looked so furious. "I am wondering, Miss Greengrass, why you'd ask about werewolves when the assignment was regarding vampires?"

"Because they're both dark creatures, sir," Matt Fernwell sneered from his seat at the back of the room, causing the Slytherin's to snicker. Teddy made a move to rise but Fred McLaggen held him down.

Harry scratched his chin. "That's odd, I don't remember ever saying that vampires were dark creatures and I surely have never said that werewolves are dark creatures. That will be ten points from Slytherin and five points for Gryffindor."

A few of the Gryffindors grinned behind their hands, but Teddy still appeared fit to be tied.

"Well my father says that werewolves are dark creatures and they should all be put down," Fernwell continued.

Felice Cauldwell, one of the Gryffindors, slammed her hand on her desk. "The Ministry says that werewolves and vampires should be afforded the same rights that witches and wizards have and I believe they should too."

"That's because your aunt's a vampire," stated Marie Rosier.

"And your uncle was a Death Eater," Cauldwell shot back.

Rosier stuck her nose in the air. "That's nothing to be ashamed of, not like being a bloodsucker."

Cauldwell drew her wand and that's when Harry decided he needed to take hold of the situation.

"Expelliarmus!"

Every wand in the room flew through the air and landed on Harry's feet. Even wands that had been sitting in students' pockets, ripped right through stitches and fabric, and into Harry's possession.

"That's enough," He commanded darkly. "The assignment was on vampires, which ARE NOT dark creatures. Werewolves are also NOT dark creatures. One of the bravest men I've ever known was a werewolf."

Harry noticed that Teddy sat a little straighter at that.

"You children sit here, not a care in the world, knowing magic will take care of everything. Well imagine if you had a disease that magic couldn't cure and you had to live with it for the rest of your life." He tapped his cane on the floor as an audible reminder to them all. "We cannot belittle people due to things that happen that are beyond their control."

He hissed a word in Parseltongue and chuckled when the whole class started in surprise. "Parseltongue, long thought to be a prime indication of a dark wizard, but I can speak it. Does that mean that I'm a dark wizard? When I was in my second-year many people thought so. Some even thought that I was the heir of Slytherin, but no, that honor was reserved for Voldemort."

"It's our actions that define us, not our abilities. Before Voldemort was a Dark Lord, he was merely Tom Riddle, a student at Hogwarts with a charming smile and above average intelligence. Many were fooled because they couldn't see the darkness that lurked within, instead they were obsessed with the 'supposed' darkness that could be seen."

The room was filled with silence, until Teddy raised one hand tentatively into the air. "Sir, how can you tell if someone has darkness in them? I mean, if someone seems really nice, but they're bad on the inside, then how can you know?"

"There is no way to know. We can only make our best judgments based on someone's actions."

Harold Creevey's hand shot up. "But sir, you did great things and people still turned against you. My Dad has a bunch of old copies of the Prophet and they said all sorts of bad stuff."

Harry's posture stiffened and his grip on his cane tightened considerably. "Everyone makes mistakes, especially when we're afraid or angry, or even jealous." His thoughts drew him back to fourth-year when Ron had turned his back. "But as long as a person strives to do the right thing, good will win out."

"But how did you know for sure that everything would come out alright in the end?" Questioned Harold.

Harry shook his head. "I didn't, but I had to believe it would." He shrugged. "Or else what was the point."

DSz

The door to Harry's quarters flew open and he stumbled inside. His morning classes had come to an end and none too soon. The box of potion phials flew open with merely a thought, causing all of the little glass bottles to clink against one another.

"Harry?" Dumbledore questioned worriedly.

"Not now," Harry grumbled as he downed a calming draught. "I had a hard morning."

"I can see that. It might help to talk about it with someone."

Harry gave him an incredulous look. "With who, you?"

"Of course not," Dumbledore stated calmly, "We both know that you harbor too much resentment to speak to me of your emotions. Perhaps Draco…"

"Draco," Harry scoffed. "So I can send him running? Or maybe he'll decide to use me just like Miller did? Yeah, that's a great idea." He rubbed at the scar underneath his eyepatch. "No one is going to forgive me this, they'd string me up if they knew."

"Now Harry, you know that's not true."

He ignored the old wizard and grabbed up his cane, glad to find the hallways empty. All of the children must be at lunch, he surmised. Not all though, one young man waited at the end of the corridor. Waited for him apparently.

"Hello Teddy," he greeted, watching curiously as the boy's hair turned from a dark brown, to deep black, matching the color of his own.

Teddy looked up at him sheepishly. "I just wanted to thank you for what you said. Everyone knows my real Dad was a werewolf. Usually I don't let it bother me, but…"

Harry clapped him on the shoulder. "I meant every word of it. Remus really was one of the bravest men I'd ever met. He loved your mother so much." The words caught in his throat and he stopped himself there, worried about making a scene so publicly.

"I still don't think I'm ready for everyone to know that you're my Godfather," Teddy admitted, "But you're not as much of a git as I once thought."

"Well thanks for that," Harry laughed, "and I won't take points for calling your Professor a git since he very much deserves it. Now run along to dinner."

The boy opened his mouth once more, but then shook his head, obviously not ready to say whatever was on his mind. He turned the corner quickly and made his way to the Great Hall.

"Hey Teddy, where've you been?" James bellowed loudly.

Teddy rolled his eyes. "I needed to talk to Professor Potter about something. Why, you haven't eaten everything on the table already, have you?"

The group of Gryffindor's surrounding them laughed heartily as James did his best to try and look hurt, but ruined it by cracking a large smile. Teddy grabbed a couple sandwiches and began to eat.

"So, what did you need to talk to Professor Potter about?" Felice questioned, a faint blush to her cheeks.

"Merlin's beard Cauldwell," Mary Gettinger exclaimed, "Can't you even say his name without blushing?"

"She's got it bad," Marie chimed in.

"Shut it," Felice said angrily.

Teddy shrugged. "I just wanted to thank him for what he said about werewolves. You know, my real Dad was one." Everyone nodded.

"But you're not one," Harold Creevey chimed in nervously, "Are you?"

Teddy grinned, making sure to bare his teeth. "Maybe I am," he growled, "and every full moon I turn into a beast. Ha, ha, ha!" Everyone laughed. "If I really was a werewolf, then Fernwell would be the first one I'd go after."

"I could always send my aunt to suck his blood!" Felice chuckled loudly.

"Really, could you?" The Gettinger's asked at the same time.

Felice frowned. "Probably not. She only drinks animal blood now."

"Too bad," Teddy grumbled into his sandwich, "It'd be fun to see him knocked down a peg or two."

DSz

"Harry, you're finally here," Draco complained, "Thank Merlin! Wood is driving me crazy with Quidditch stories."

Wood shrugged. "I thought Draco might enjoy a trip down memory lane."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Yes, I just love hearing the highlights of Harry's career as a Seeker. As if I wasn't there for every excruciating moment of it."

Harry pulled out his chair and sat down with a thud. Draco noticed that the man's eyes were somewhat glassy and out of focus. He decided not to comment on it and instead began to observe the dark-haired man.

"You two," Harry chuckled, "Can't you ever get along?"

"Are you feeling okay Harry?" Wood questioned and Draco swore under his breath.

It was obvious that Wood didn't understand Harry enough to know that the man would never admit to anything being wrong. Wild hippogriffs couldn't drag anything out of the Boy-Who-Lived. Not surprising with him being a Gryffindor and all.

"I'm fine," Harry stated quickly. "Just had a busy morning. How are you?"

"Fine," Wood replied cheerfully, not even noticing how strained Harry's voice sounded. "No major accidents today. I did get a letter from the Cannons asking if I would be interested in taking over as coach."

"Wow!" Harry exclaimed, "Wood, that's excellent! Are you going to take it?"

Wood rubbed his chin. "Not sure yet. The team needs a lot of work. I sure wish you still played Harry, that group could really use a good Seeker."

Draco watched as Harry's face fell and he damned the idiot Wood for bringing up such a subject. Was the man completely ignorant to Harry's feelings?

"Yeah, it's too bad," Harry mumbled as he picked at the food on his plate. "Playing professionally would have been excellent."

"Harry," Draco interrupted, "I was wondering if you'd like to go and visit a friend of mine at St. Mungo's on Saturday? I think I mentioned him before, Augustus Pye?"

"I remember," Harry stated, coming out a little from the fog surrounding his head. "I remember that name now! That's the Healer that gave Mr. Weasley stitches!"

Draco's brow furrowed. "Stitchers? I don't think I've heard the term."

"No, stitches. It's a muggle procedure. When a muggle gets a really bad cut, then a doctor will sew it back together."

Draco and Wood both paled. "That's barbaric," Draco responded, turning a little green as he looked down at his sandwich. "So, will you go with me? He may have some ideas of what to do about your leg."

"Mr. Potter has a duel on Sunday," Severus interrupted, "He may want to go over his strategy on Saturday."

"Strategy," scoffed Harry, "As if I'm afraid of a seventh-year, even if he is a Slytherin."

"You misunderstand," Severus replied, "What I meant was, you may want to come up with a strategy that will incapacitate your opponent without doing any permanent damage. You are still a professor at this institution and I doubt the students' parents will be very happy if they hear that Harry Potter has put a student in the hospital wing."

"Da' it," Wood shouted suddenly, his voice sounding odd. Draco looked over and was surprised to see that Wood now sported a gigantic tongue.

"Ton-tongue toffee," Harry commented idly, "That's odd. The Weasley's haven't sold that since I was in school. I wonder where the pranksters got it."

"I will stop by and discuss it with Miss Weasley," Severus stated in a pinched tone. "This whole thing is getting out of hand. I think it's time we find the students responsible."

Wood nodded. "I thi' yo' ri'."

Draco swallowed a large gulp of pumpkin juice as he attempted to keep calm. The toffee had been a mistake. He should have pulled it from the box. Severus already suspected him and he knew it wouldn't take the man long to connect the dots.