Veronica and Remus entered the Great Hall with wide smiles on their faces as they spoke quietly. They took their seats and began eating, their joyful mood not dissipating as the students made their way in. Vera looked up just in time to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione walk in together. Harry's eyes met hers and they exchanged bright smiles. He knew that she was nervous, bet he also knew that the would be a perfect professor. She was good at Defense, and she was even better at helping others.
Harry told his friends to take their seats as he made his way up to the professor's table. "Morning, Vera. Professor." He said, nodding at Lupin.
"Good Morning Harry. Are you ready for your first day of classes?" Vera asked.
"Definitely. Are you?" He asked.
"Definitely not. But I'm sure Remus wont let me fall on my face. At least not too badly. But you should go eat. Tell Ron and Hermione I said hello, and I'll see you all at dinner." She said, winking at him.
The day went by with only a few small mishaps, one of the more severe ones being a seventh year Hufflepuff accidentally hitting her in the chest with a stupefying jinx that sent her across the room. She assured them that she was alright and went about teaching, buy she had to admit that it knocked her around enough to leave a few bruises.
By the time dinner time came around, Vera and Lupin were rightly exhausted. She leaned into him as he stood behind her, both of their bodies relaxing slightly at the other's touch. "Do you think we could get by with skipping dinner?" She asked with a small hint of hope in her voice.
Remus' chest rumbled with laughter as he gently ran his hand down her arm. "I'm afraid not, darling. Perhaps we could skip the occasional meal in the great hall as the term progresses. For tonight, we should get goimg. Too much longer and we'll have Severus busting down our door at the headmaster's bequest."
Vera sight, but conceded nonetheless. They made their way to the Great Hall and took their seats, then scanned the rows of students to see how everyone was faring. She saw Draco Malfoy with a sling on his arm and several Slytherin students fawning over him. She was certain she would hear about that situation later. Severus sat beside Vera, causing the woman to look over at him and give a small smile. "Hello, Professor."
Snape hadn't been her favorite professor, and she wasn't overly fond of the attitude he held toward Harry. However, he had never treated her as anything less than the competent witch she was, and theywere, after all, both professors now.
He looked slightly taken aback by her greeting, but returned it nonetheless. "Good evening, Miss Dursley. I trust you had a prosperous first day as a professor? I'm sure there is an adjustment going fron student to professor so quickly."
She nod and fidgrt in her seat. "It was certainly interesting. As for adjusting to my new position, I'm trying my best. I just hope I don't mess up."
"Well, if your time here as a student is anything to go by, I'm certain you will succeed. If you need any help and Lupin is... unavailable, my door will be open to you. We should also find a scheduled time for you to pick up Lupin's potions." Snape said, his usually harsh demeanor melting away for a moment.
Vera gave him a warm smile and nodded. "Perhaps we can sort that out towards the weekend?" She suggested.
"At your convenience." He agreed before turnimg to his meal.
Vera turned to Remus, who simply stared at her in admiration. No matter who she spoke to, she seemed to be able to crack their shell and break any tough exterior they had.
"You will never cease to amaze me, Veronica Dursley." He said, sneaking a hand to rest on her tight.
She blushed before raising an eyebrow. "Honestly, I think you overestimate me, Remus."
After dinner, Vera went to her office, assuring Remus that she would be back to her room in a few hours. She left the door open and browsed the bookshelf that stood against tbe wall. Upon finding a book on becoming an animagus, she took it over to her desk and sat down. It wasn't long before she heard a slight suff of a footstep behind her.
"Hello George. Fred." She said, not looking up from her book.
"How did you bloody know? We didn't even make a noise when we moved the painting." Fred griped as the twins came to stand on either side of her.
"I heard a scuffle. You need to work on your stealth, boys." She teased.
"Well, we'll take that into consideration." George assured her. "For now, it's off to the kitchens for us. Fancy anything?"
"Could you send in two hot chocolates? I'm expecting Harry to be here any minute." She requested as the twins quickly scuffled out of the room. "And dont forget, I'll likely be gone by the time you boys finish up your adventure, so you'll need to head back through the fruit painting."
"Done and done. Thanks a bunch, V!" The boys said in unison before hurrying off.
Tessie appeared only minutes later, holding a tray with two steaming mugs on it. "The boys asked us to bring Miss Vera a drink, so Tessie wanted to bring it to her!"
Vera smiled warmly at the elf and took the mugs from the tray. "Thank you very much, Tessie. This is perfect."
"Of course! If Miss Vera needs me again, just send us a note."
"Thank you, Tessie. Have a lovely night." The woman said before the elf apparated out of tbe room, and Harry walked in. "Ah! Perfect timing. Come sit and tell me about your day! I got us some hot chocolate."
Harry graciously sat down and picked up his mug. "Hagrid had a hippogriff today. I got to ride it! Everything was great until Malfoy was a right prat and messed it up. He disrespected Buckbeak and got himself attacked. "
"I take it his arm is a direct result of his ignorance?" Vera asked, sipping her beverage.
Harry simpy nod.
"Well, that's his own bloody fault then. On a brighter note, tomorrow is your first DADA class! Are you ready?" Vera questioned.
"Absolutely! With you as a professor, there's no way I can fail." He joked.
"Now, Harry, we both know I wont be going easy on you." She playfully scolded.
"I know. But I really am excited. You know I love when you teach stuff. You always explain it in ways that are easy to understand. We always did better when you helped explain our work. I think this year is gonna be a good one." He decided.
"You know what? Me, too, Harry." Veronica agreed.
The talked for another hour, before Vera sent him off to his common room. She was getting sleepy, and she wanted see Remus before he went to bed.
When she made it back to the office, eje spotted Remus sitting in his chair, hunched over a book. She smiled as he read in silence, her presence not yet noticed.
She finally decided to break the silence, speaking quietly as she approached his desk. "Pardon me, Professor, but I do believe it's getting to be a bit late. Perhaps we should get some beauty rest?"
He looked up at her and chuckled. "My dear Vera, if you get any more beautiful, I fear you may realize that you are, in fact, lowering your standards to be with me."
"Nonsense. If anything, it's you, lowering your standards. However, I am tired, and I believe some rest would do us both good before tomorrow." She reasoned.
"You are correct with the latter statement. With that, I'll say goodnight. Blissful dreams my darling, don't hesitate to wake me should you need me." He said, standing up and placing himself in front of her.
"Goodnight, Remus. Sweet dreams." She said, softly kissing his cheek.
He kissed her forehead, and they slowly parted ways, a smile on both of their faces.