Thanks Paxloria for your encouraging review, other readers (and I've seen the traffic stats so I know you exist) please review even criticism is welcomed. In this chapter I have tried to make two characters who are deeply opposed both seem sympathetic and relatively likeable, I hope I succeeded.
After having only taken the shortest of naps Luka was more than a little edgy as she ate her breakfast. Fortunately she was spared having to deal with Professor Lupin, by sheer luck she had run into Charity Burbage and the woman had immediately begun a one sided conversation. Feigning interest Luka followed her to the breakfast table and sat down next to her. Some staff members looked up in surprise at the change in seating arrangements but the nephilim ignored them. It was none of their business.
From the other side of the table Professor Lupin looked on sadly. After Luka had left he had retired with resignation but as soon as he had awoken and dressed he had gone to her room with the hope of amends. His hopes had quickly turned sour. From the air her pets had attacked him, Elise had dug her talons into his hair and Mel had, somehow, fallen from the sky to latch onto his nose and wrap his scaly body around his neck. For what felt like minutes he had groped blindly for his wand but by the time he found it the attack had ceased, the assailants now on the bed glowering at him. In pain and somewhat humiliated at the assault the werewolf withdrew. It took ages to get the snake bite to stop bleeding and Luka had told him Mel wasn't poisonous.
Next to the hapless werewolf the potions master could only smile grimly. He had no idea what had happened to the cur but his nose was swollen and looked as if it had been pricked by hundreds of needles. That and since Luka was now sitting on the other end of the table it could be deduced that the pair had yet to make up. Hopefully after the information he had imparted the damage would be permanent. Ahh, today was going to be a good day. Later as he moved back towards his classroom he remembered his first class was first year Gryffindors. Damn.
For Luka the day was the usual mix of classes as she tried to keep up the masquerade of being a student teacher. During lunch she printed out the fliers for the self defence club that would be taking place on Sunday at three o'clock before stapling them onto the notice boards in each of the house common rooms. In the afternoon it was her turn to take the Muggle studies class and the subject was basic politics. As expected democracy was something of a new concept to the non-Muggle borns, they had some difficulty with people being elected rather than being a promoted bureaucrat. After explaining the difference between the House of Commons and House of Lords, regional and general elections they finally understood it. Or at least some of it. The rest of the evening was spent avoiding Professor Lupin.
XXX
Finally the time had come for the first session of the self defence club. It was in the Great Hall, Luka had moved the tables to the edge of the hall, with the aid of the house elves the tables were now laden with drinks for the forthcoming exercise. Thanks to a lot of help from Professor McGonagall she had transfigured numerous bits of parchment into boxing gloves, Thai pads, foils and the associated protective equipment. The warming and cushioning charms on the floor though were all Luka's work. On the posters she had specified comfortable clothing that they didn't mind getting all sweaty and as the brats filed in Luka was happy to see that all of them had read the instructions. She herself was in an old navy t-shirt and jogging bottoms. Once it was clear that everyone that was going to turn up had done so Luka got on with the introductory announcements.
"Right everyone, welcome to the Hogwarts Duelling Club. This club will act as supplementary practice for your Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons and as lessons in Muggle combat," at that comment Luka heard mutinous mutterings from her right, "What was that Malfoy?"
The blonde boy blushed angrily but kept quiet.
"If you do not wish to learn leave, this is not a compulsory class," snapped Luka before returning her attention back to the group as a whole, "The first ten minutes will be spent warming up and stretching, the next forty eight will be spent on magical combat. We will then have a five minute break, although you are free to take a break when you need one at other times, before commencing forty seven minutes of Muggle combat and then cooling down and stretching for the remainder. As the Muggle combat is split into armed and unarmed I will need you to sign the register as it goes around," instructed the nephilim as she passed a piece of charmed parchment and a pen to the nearest child. The parchment was enchanted so there would be an even house and age mix in both groups.
Once that was complete Luka flicked her eyes over the list; just under one hundred and twenty students. Quite a turn out for a weekend and quite a good house mix too, on that note she had better make things clear before someone did something stupid.
"Before we get started I would like to make a few things clear. Firstly this club is not an excuse to try and beat people up. If I catch anyone actively trying to harm their peers they will be banned from the club though not before I run them ragged," smiled Luka bearing as much fang as she could and still appear human, it was fun to see the brats step back in fear.
After savouring the atmosphere she had created Luka continued, "As stated before the warm up and stretch will be the first thing on the agenda. I think a game or tag will suffice, you six. You're it,"
Several minutes of unbearably high pitch screaming later they had finished their physical warm up and were now onto the magical one of casting basic charms. Once that was completed to Luka's satisfaction she separated the class into their year groups. The time had come to reveal the big surprise. Smiling ear to ear Luka made a beckoning motion with her right arm whilst simultaneously dropping the cloaking charms on the duel mannequins she had stationed in the room, the headmaster had 'graciously' allowed her to make six more for the club. The students gasped in surprise and the younger ones huddled together like penguins. Even Madam Hooch, who had been sent by Professor Dumbledore to oversee the first session, looked surprised.
"Now in your year groups I want you to overcome one of these dummies. First years I will show you basic repelling and shield charms in a moment and you can of cause levitate the mannequin. Second years, use your more heavy duty spells, I will teach you to freeze your opponent with petrificus totalus. Third years since Professor Snape thought to introduce you to werewolves you will be facing a simulation of one. I hope you all did your homework. I expect to see fully operational protego charms, as you go I will be pulling you aside to teach you the Freezing charm which is similar to petrification. Fourth years... For everyone except sixth and seventh years your mannequins will shut down every five minutes so you can have a break. Sixth and seventh years your mannequins will shut down every seven to ten minutes. Let combat commence," explained Luka as she manoeuvred the dummies to their respective groups.
Once they had begun Luka quickly surveyed the groups for trouble before making her way to the first years. As she taught them the basics she made sure to keep flicking glances at the others. They seemed to be having difficulty but that was to be expected and none of them were in danger so Luka continued with the instruction. Once the first years had reached a decent proficiency she set them on their target and moved onto their elders. Moving at random she shut down each group's training mannequin and taught them the day's set spell before watching them practice at first on the air and then on the mannequin before moving on again. The allotted time was soon over and it was time for the break. Luka smiled as the small horde scuttled as one to the drinks. As she surveyed the Madam Hooch drifted over.
"Good work so far Reginold, they seem to be enjoying it as well as learning,"
"Thank you, although I think the group is a little big for me to handle. I might need to do a session on Saturdays to split the class," replied Luka as she cast glance over the children.
"That might encourage more to attend, especially when word spreads of them actually being allowed to fight against an assortment of magical beasts," said the flying instructor as she gestured to the werewolf and small dragon, courtesy of enlarging charm, that Luka had given to the seventh years, "perhaps if the numbers got too large for you you could ask Remus to help. I'm sure he'd be happy to,"
Luka struggled to refrain from narrowing her eyes at the mention of the werewolf. She'd spent every day dodging his company and finally he seemed to have gotten the message, or he was patronising trying to give her time to cool down. It was hard to tell with him. Seeing that Madam Hooch was still waiting for a response Luka decided to speak before she was deemed rude.
"Or I could ask Severus, Remus seems quite weak after his transformation and Severus was in the duelling cub last year,"
"Yes and I remember what happened, if you try to bring him on board he will try to steal this club from you," chuckled the yellow eyed teacher.
"True he is quite a pedant and perfectionist,"
"Something we've all noticed when the pair of you start arguing over potions. It's been a while since I've seen someone challenge Severus so,"
"I thought Lockhart managed it last year. He went the entire year grating on everyone's nerves yet Severus never laid a hand on him except for the duelling club,"
Madam Hooch nodded and Luka decided to change the subject to how the first year flyers were doing. Apparently there had been no falls so far and the course was near its end.
A few minutes later signalled that the next session was to commence. With a sense of intrigue and slight trepidation the class regrouped in the centre of the hall. After quickly asking if anyone had some martial arts or fencing before Luka went through the basic guard stances, punches and fencing foot work and lunges before separating the class into two groups. For this she used the enchanted register; half the group glowed green whilst the others did not. Seeing as the fencers would take longer to get set up she directed them to their gear first with the strict warning against mock sword fights whilst her attention was diverted. Whilst they were getting dressed Luka directed the other group to remove their shoes and socks, hence the cushioning charms, and to get into pairs. One went to put on a pair of large Thai pads whilst the other put on a pair of boxing gloves. Pulling a modified CD player set it on a good beat and set them to work on their first round of basic punching technique. Noticing that the fencers were ready to go Luka scuttled back over to them, perhaps next time she would have the entire class doing the one activity it would still equal out as the same amount of time if she swapped from fencing to hand to hand each week...
Once both groups were underway the time moved quickly as Luka shuttled between them picking up on those making errors and changing the specific drill so that the children wouldn't get bored. After the allotted time had elapsed Luka took them through the cool down and stretches, it was with some satisfaction that she watch them leave with not one third of the speed which with they had entered the hall. Just as she was about to turn away to talk to Madam Hooch and begin the clean up a small squawk caught her attention.
"Hi hi! Would it be possible to have a picture and interview for the 'Hogwarts Express'?" chirped Colin as his camera flash seared Luka's retinas.
Blinking away the capacitor induced glare Luka struggled for a moment enunciate a properly articulated response, "Err, yes of course Creevey,"
"Thank you, what made you first think of starting this club?" he asked as Lucy stood next to him scribbling down notes.
"I heard that last year there had been a Duelling Club but it had been shut down after its first session so I thought I'd revive the idea,"
"Why have you decided to use Muggle methods?"
"Magic is not always available as most wizards are powerless without their wands and it never hurts to know other means of defence,"
"How did you think this first session has gone?"
"I think we've gotten off to a good start although I may have to split the class into Saturday and Sunday sessions as I can teacher smaller numbers more effectively,"
"How do you think your methods will go down with the students?"
"I think they will appreciate the hands on approach, it has apparently worked in Professor Lupin's lessons,"
"Will you be trying teach magic that is not taught by Professor Lupin?"
"On the whole no but for the older students I will try to push non-verbal spells and get them to minimise their wand movements though I believe the professor does cover that to an extent in his lessons as well,"
The blonde paused for a moment before continuing his questioning, "What advantages do non-verbal spells and small wand movements have?"
"They give split second advantages that in battle may prove decisive if one catches one's opponent off guard. This effect is enhanced if wandless magic is used but few mages can utilise it,"
"Can you?"
"Yes," replied Luka as she summoned her patronus.
"What is that?" asked Lucy as she reached out to pet the bird.
"A patronus charm,"
"What does it do?" asked Colin.
"It can be used as a shield against Dementors,"
At the mention of the sentries the children's eyes widened.
"Will you teach us to do it?"
Luka sighed, she should have picked something else, "Not to second years. This charm is extremely advanced, some adults are incapable of it so I will only be teaching it to the older years to begin with,"
That seemed to wrap up the interview and after expressing gratitude once more the children bounced off leaving Luka in peace at last.
"I think you'll be making the front page," chuckled Madam Hooch as Luka turned around to begin the clear up.
"I hope not, I don't think they got my best side," replied Luka as the first house elves appeared to put the room to rights.
XXX
"How did it go?" asked Charity as Luka sat down for tea.
"Well but I will probably have to do two sessions and revise how I switch between fencing and hand to hand practice," replied the nephilim.
"She did quite well, those mannequins were quite impressive," chirped Hooch from the end of the table.
"I knew you'd do well, after all you teach the Muggle studies classes to a good standard," beamed the Muggle studies professor as Luka smiled awkwardly.
Thankfully after that the conversation turned back to the usual topic of unruly or high-scoring students and patrols. Fortunately it had been long accepted that Luka had decided to move places so she no longer got any questioning looks or was asked whether the 'boys' had been giving her trouble. Presently Luka snuck a glance at the two younger members of staff, with her presence as a buffer zone now removed they were forced to sit shoulder to shoulder whilst pretending to ignore each other's existence. Or at least Professor Snape did his level best at ignoring Professor Lupin.
Once the evening meal was over Luka moved swiftly to her chamber before anyone could catch her, she would have time for a short sleep before she needed to go on patrol. Until now she had tried to get either the late evening or really early morning shifts so she could have a night of uninterrupted sleep but her scam had been swiftly found out by the other teachers. Hearing Professor Lupin enter the sitting room Luka cursed, it was bad enough trying to avoid a member of staff let alone one that she lived with. Ah well, she'd just have to use the shadow gates to get to the loo.
Later that evening Luka stalked the halls of Hogwarts whilst secretly wondering whether it would be possible to just stand there and read one of her newly acquired manga volumes. Alas, she had yet to work up the nerve to try. As she rounded the corner she nearly bumped into the person she wanted to see the least. Turning to move away she was stopped by her name being called.
"Luka!" called Professor Lupin as Luka walked away, seeing her momentary hesitation he caught her up and placed his hand on her shoulder to pull her around to face him, "Luka stop, we have to talk at some point,"
Damn. He had been trying to wait her out.
"And what do we have to talk about Lupin?" sneered Luka as she batted his hand away, despite the height difference she did her best to stare down at her long nose at him with as much irritation and haughty arrogance as she could muster without giving into the urge to strike him for touching her.
At the harsh use of his surname Professor Lupin dropped his hand and took a small step back, she could not have wounded him more if she had used a whip.
"I wanted to talk about what happened last week," he said quietly.
"Oh? And what happened last week? My wolf had control then so the details escape me," replied Luka coolly.
Professor Lupin flushed with both embarrassment and irritation. She didn't have to make it this difficult.
"I am sorry for coming onto you without warning, and in front of Severus, but I would like to see where this goes," he said with gritted teeth.
"Where 'what' goes? We have nothing," replied Luka tersely.
"Our relationship dammit!"
Narrowing her now yellow eyes Luka stepped forward as her true form shifted into place wings and all.
"We have no relationship Lupin,"
Hurt taking precedence once more the professor's eyes widened at her cruel words.
"But... you kissed me..."
"Nothing but the product of an unusually high concentration of adrenaline in my blood from battle. Not to mention the influence of my inner beast. Really Lupin, you severely overestimate the feelings you are capable of arousing in me," replied Luka as coldly as possible before turning away, melting into the shadows of the unlit corridor leaving a very upset werewolf in her wake.
Making her way around the unnaturally quiet castle Luka mentally reviewed the conversation. It went quite well, provided of course that she ignored the niggling hole of guilt. Not to mention the feeling of suppressed want and loneliness. She had never been good at making friends and it would be nice to have someone close by apart from Elise and Mel, their conversation could hardly be called scintillating. Not to mention she was curious as to what a relationship on a romantic level would be like. Never the less, not one of the above factors could ever outweigh her pride. As Sebastian's servant and a reforming prisoner of the ministry she had little else to her name. Therefore she would cling to what she had left like furry, feathered limpet. Descending a set of stairs Luka decided to stay in her true form for the night. She wanted to stretch her wings and if any of the students were foolish enough to be trotting around in the small hours they deserved to come face to face with a fully grown nephilim.
Moving towards his designated patrol area Professor Lupin kicked at the stone beneath his feet in irritation. Did she have to be so unreasonable? He knew she was proud but this vengeful attitude was ridiculous. Not to mention her harsh words had cut deep, no one had rejected him in such a manner before. And then there was Moony, not only had he been furious that his human half had sent away a potential bedmate but now the bedmate was rejecting him. It was going to be a rough full moon...
XXX
The next two weeks passed quickly. Ravenclaw bested Hufflepuff in Quidditch and Professor Lupin was keeping his distance although Luka noted that he watching her somewhat intently every now and again. On the upside Luka was keeping in touch with the other werewolves via maginet email and it seemed they were making great progress with their magic, and also in the RPG quests they had press ganged Luka into. Once it was the evening of the full moon once more she set off not for the Funtom bar but the weres' flat. As she knocked on his door Jim opened it promptly. It wasn't a band performance tonight but the wolves had been eager to show Luka their magic. As she closed the behind her Luka put up wards to make sure that what they were about to do could not be monitored.
"We've been working hard, we've come quite far," boasted Jim as he and his brother got out their wands.
"Really? Do show me," smiled Luka as she took a seat on their beaten up settee.
One by one they went through the basic charms that most first years learn. Levitation, lumos and nox and then some of the basic defence and offence spells Luka had highlighted. Their shielding charms left a little to be desired but it was nothing a little practice wouldn't rectify and they were skilled in disarming their opponent and knocking them through the air with stupefy. To Luka's amusement the brothers had also set an Intruder charm on their flat that was tied to a few school boy jinxes.
"Why haven't you included Achala and Polly in your real life mage games?" asked Luka, the lads didn't usually try to keep advantages to themselves.
"We asked Achala but she wasn't interested and we thought Polly had enough on her hands with those kids," replied Mike calmly, for the full moon he looked very relaxed. In fact the pair of them looked far more in control than usual. Perhaps it was learning to control magic, so Luka asked.
"Yeah, I've noticed it's easier to control my instincts after magic practice," said Jim and after a moment of thinking Mike nodded in agreement.
Luka mulled over the new information as they all prepared to leave. Unlike the time she had brought the professors there they would be heading to the bar by bus rather than van as the full moon did make it difficult to operate machinery the day after.
XXX
The last fortnight had been trying. Luka was still in a huff and Moony was throwing his weight around at every opportunity. The wolf did not like being denied. It was enough of an affront that his human side sought to oppress him but the fact that one he intended to be his was showing him the cold shoulder had his hackles up. They, he and his human half, had made their intention clear. She had reciprocated. Regardless of what had been said between his human half and her she should be by his side not that of a demon. Professor Lupin groaned as he sat on his bed waiting for the change, Moony had been trying to surface on a daily basis and what was worse was that he was actually succeeding. He was watching Luka daily and it was difficult to restrain him when he saw her talking to another male member of staff, usually Professor Snape. Whilst it was true that the two weren't exactly best friends their relationship was cordial enough for Moony to become possessive at the sight of them together. And that wasn't the worst of it. To his eternal shame the persistent cravings for Luka's presence was too much for Professor Lupin and if she wouldn't be near him in person he would just have to settle for her scent. Egged on by Moony's constant insistence and whining he had gone to the castle's laundry room. It was surprisingly easy, the older house elves remembered him from his school days and as he was a member of staff they let him in with a smile. Moving swiftly he had quickly found Luka's clothes and after much internal debate picked an article. He was determined not to act like a complete pervert so he picked a lone sock. Socks went missing all the time so hopefully his theft would go unnoticed. From that disgraceful day the sock had resided under his pillow. Merlin he needed to talk to her again but how was he to deal with both her ire and Moony? The wolf would probably break his bonds if he went near her.
XXX
"So, are they still thinking of a referendum?" asked Luka as the three werewolves lounged in the bus.
"Yeah. It's a pain to organise as it's global but it should happy next year. How come you know less than we do?" asked Jim in return.
"Probably because I only get involved in pack activities when someone is in danger or has to die. Apart from that I'm pretty much out of the loop,"
"So we're your narks?" smiled Mike.
"Pretty much, consider information my fee for protecting you guys," replied Luka with a wink.
"Typical nerd," muttered Jim as he fiddled with his phone.
"Knowledge is power," smirked Luka before turning to Mike, "you got any exams in January?"
"Yeah," replied the blonde wearily.
"Started revising?" chirped the nephilim.
The younger werewolf looked scandalised, "Of course not, term started less than a month ago!"
"Ah, it's never too early to start consolidating one's knowledge,"
"You can talk, you were the master of the last minute cram so don't try to act like Yoda and be all philosophical," squawked Mike.
Luka eyed Mike with mock disdain, "And who, pray tell, now has MSci after their name?"
"You do," replied Mike with an eye roll.
"Damn straight," replied a smiling Luka.
"Before you two start squaring off against one another I think we should get off at our stop," interrupted Jim as he presses the 'stop' button.
Hopping off the omnibus they made their through the café into the bar. Luka scuttled to staff room whilst the lads went to toilets to change. Once she had re-emerged to take her place behind the bar she was beckoned over to one side by Sebastian.
"I noticed you came accompanied tonight," he said silkily.
"I wanted to check up on how they were coming with their extracurricular activities," replied Luka.
Sebastian cocked an eyebrow, "And how are they progressing?" He had been initially unimpressed when Luka had mentioned the brothers' interest but now he seemed quite grim.
"They are progressing quite well, it also seems to help with their instinct control,"
Sebastian was a silent for a moment, "Keep a close eye on them, werewolves of some classes tend to be very good at spreading magical plagues,"
"I thought you of all people would be in favour of pestilence," replied Luka unsure of where this was heading.
"Not when it's indiscriminate," replied the demon mysteriously and before Luka could question him further he was tending to a customer.
Disconcerted Luka returned to her duties, the bar area seemed to be teeming with customers. Looking around for fellow barmaids she only found Sarah and the zombie was waiting on Undertaker, his leer even more perverted than usual. Muttering about people conducting their affairs during business hours Luka picked up the pace. She intended to pick up some tips before she had to change form for the night.
The rest of the night passed reasonably uneventfully. No attackers but still, the toilets didn't clean themselves. After trotting home Luka happily flopped on her bed into a restful slumber.
XXX
The next day was the second weekend instalment of the Duelling Club. To Luka's surprise the week after the first session yet more students had turned up so now they numbered one hundred and ninety. Thankfully the separate groups on Saturday and Sunday cut down the workload, if only slightly. Making her way in to the Great Hall Luka swiftly made the preparations with the help of the duelling mannequins and a particularly huffy Professor Snape. Once the students had filed in Luka made the usual announcements plus one extra.
"As you may have heard from the students that came yesterday there will be a Christmas competition. In each of your houses for each of your years there will competitions in magical and hand to hand combat and fencing. Once there is a victor for the house those in the same category and year will compete for the prize of twenty house points and bragging rights. To sign up sign the register as it comes around," said Luka and she handed the register to the nearest student as an excited babble broke out. It was nice to see that yesterday's students had held their silence when asked.
"Now before we get started in earnest Professor Snape and I will demonstrate formal duelling etiquette. First of all," began Luka as the piste was revealed with a wave of her hand, "the opponents ascend to the opposite ends of the piste. We come to the centre and salute before turning around, counting to ten and attacking," finished the nephilim as she and the professor took their attacking positions, "Any questions?"
"Do we get to see you and Professor Snape fight?" asked a Gryffindor from the back row.
Professor Snape inclined his head as he eyed Luka with mild interest, he had been annoyed ever since she had delivered him a cache of potions to mark.
"Well. How about it Reginold?" he hissed.
Never one to back away from a fight Luka narrowed her eyes and nodded in assent. Since they had already dispensed with the formalities the mages got straight to the fight. The students watched transfixed as the magic flew, all manner of curses and countercharms. In her mind Luka grumbled at having to use a wand and the lack of as she flicked another of the professor's curses aside before retaliating with an incendio. As Professor Snape moved to parry Luka sent her patroni. As expected the professor immediately made to destroy them. As he did so issued forth a lighting strike from the enchanted ceiling. Unfortunately for him the bolt struck on target and Professor Snape was knocked unconscious. On the up side if he had not had such powerful shield spells he would have been dispatched rather than knocked. Moving cautiously towards the slightly smoking heap that was the potions master Luka addresses the silent crowd.
"Unlike what you have seen here no knock outs will be permitted in the tournaments. The referee will stop in before that point is reached. Upon the conclusion of the duel both combatants will shake hands as the closing formality," Luka stated as she cast a rennervate over the fallen professor, as he got to his feet with a glare the nephilim sent the class about their usual business.
Once the piste was removed and the pupils had received their instruction Professor Snape strode towards Luka.
"What exactly were you playing at? You could have killed me," he hissed livid at both the near attempt on his life and the fact that he had been defeated.
"I got bored using such humdrum methods of combat so I decided to end the duel," replied Luka with a sly smile.
Black eyes narrowed, "Why did you not disarm me then?"
"Too pedestrian, besides the majority of disarming spells are stripping spells and I doubt you would have liked the students to witness that," smirked the nephilim.
In reply the professor huffed and strode over to stand imposingly next to a wall. Watching with a slight smirk Luka shrugged off the professor's sulk. She was going out tonight and she wasn't about to let anyone to ruin her good mood.
*SPOILER* A note to anyone reading this later than mid February 2014, this was written just as the werewolf plague plot arc was taking off in Black Butler. If it turn out the werewolves don't spread the plague I'm sorry it will just have to remain as a plot hole.