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CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Lupin's returN
"Fleur's late," Harry muttered, looking at his watch. "It's the first day of classes." All of the Gryffindors were sitting in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom after their eventful double potions class.
Ron grinned. "I forgive her. After all, the first day is always hectic. Remember how unorganized she was last year at the beginning of the term?"
Harry smiled faintly as he recalled the first disastrous day of Defense Against the Dark Arts class at the beginning of their fifth year. Fleur had been a mess, and with her accent, nobody could interpret what she was saying. It had taken a good week before Professor Delacour had her nervousness under control.
But the fond memory did not change his sour mood. Neville had received a detention from Snape on the first day of school. It wasn't because his antidote didn't work – no, Seamus had nothing to worry about. It was because he had somehow messed up Kana's potion when he had tripped. Some of the clover roots had fallen into her cauldron by mistake, and the results were disastrous. Although, Malfoy did turn an entirely new shade of pale as he started to freeze to death. The image of icicles hanging from his nose would bring a smile to Harry's face in the darkest of times. Not to mention that, in a measure of sweet revenge, Malfoy ended up taking a sip of the antidote from Neville's cauldron because the other antidote had obviously not worked.
Snape was not pleased, needless to say. He turned on Neville without question and gave him a detention. Neville, however, wasn't fazed, and just chalked it up to the first of many with Professor Snape.
Harry began tapping his foot. He wanted to get this class over with. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the subject (especially because it was vital to his studies of the Dark Arts) but just that he wanted desperately to be able to talk about Kana's sudden appearance in the wizarding world with Ron and Hermione. He was still in shock.
"You're having a rotten day," Hermione muttered, putting her hand on Harry's knee to stop him from tapping his foot.
He scowled. "Three guesses why." He didn't know if he was more irritated at the fact that Kana had absolutely no idea who he was or the fact that she was sitting so close to Malfoy.
"Well, I know something that's going to turn your entire day around," Ron announced.
Harry turned to him. "What?"
Suddenly, the door from Fleur's office opened, and instead of Fleur stepping out of her office, a familiar dark face emerged.
"Remus!" Harry cried. He restrained himself from running over and hugging his god-father's best friend. Professor Lupin had been such a great friend to him during his third year at Hogwarts – and Harry hadn't seen him since.
"Fleur took off with Bill to Africa somewhere," Ron whispered. "She resigned from Hogwarts last week. Surprise!"
Harry's smile stretched from ear to ear. "I… I can't believe it." Ron was right. It was so great to see Lupin. He was the next best thing to having Sirius himself at Hogwarts. He looked much better than he did when he'd left Hogwarts. He was a little heavier, and his skin wasn't so incredibly pale. His hair was shorter. He looked healthy.
"Good morning, Gryffindors!" Lupin called, winking at Harry. "It's a pleasure to see all of you again."
Cheers erupted from the room. All of the sixth years had a great time in Defense Against the Dark Arts when Lupin taught the class during their third year. It was the most they had ever learned in that subject.
Hermione was still skeptical. "But Professor, how did they ever let you back into Hogwarts again?"
Harry and Ron both glared at her for asking such a rude question, but Lupin was more than willing to answer. "That's a very fair question, Hermione, and I'll be honest with you. It was a very controversial decision to let me teach again, but Professor Dumbledore corresponded with all of your parents, as well as with the school governors, and by nothing short of a miracle, here I am." He shrugged. "There will be new security measures, of course, but I am determined to give you the best education possible."
"So will we be fighting bogarts again?" Neville questioned.
"No, I'm afraid not." Lupin paused. "I don't need to tell all of you that these are dark times ahead of us. I must prepare you for the worst. This class will be dealing with the darker side of Dark Arts, so to speak. For those of you studying the Dark Arts as your major concentration, this class will be corresponding with the new Dark Arts class. We will be going in-depth on certain spells and issues. But today is the first day of class, so we can definitely have some fun."
Fun. Harry had almost forgotten what that was.
Ginny sat in utter disbelief at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.
No way. No WAY!
She glared at the Slytherin table – at one particular girl – sitting at the Slytherin table. So many questions entered her mind. What was she doing here? How did she get here all the way from Hawaii?
Why the hell did she show up?!
Ginny slammed her head on the table. This could not be happening. Just when she thought that she had gotten every other girl out of the way, Makana Nane, the mysterious island girl, had to show up on her turf. It was bad enough that Ginny had Cho Chang to deal with. Now she had to face two girls who were also competing for Harry's affection.
Why me?
"What's up, Ginny?" Ron questioned, carrying a plate of sandwiches for both himself and Hermione to the table.
"What's she doing here?"
"Who?"
Ginny lifted her head. "Kana! You know, the girl Harry left behind in Hawaii? With no memory?"
"That's what I'd like to know," Hermione said, sitting down next to Ron, shouldering a bag of books. "It's all very suspicious."
"It's all very bad," Ginny muttered.
"Want a sandwich?" Ron asked, pushing the plate towards his little sister.
Ginny shook her head. "I suddenly lost my appetite. Where's Harry?"
"Lupin wanted to talk to him after class."
"Why?"
"How should I know?" Ron said. "I'm not his keeper."
She scoffed. Ron wasn't any help. She wished that Harry were in the Great Hall so that he could see how Draco Malfoy was all over Kana. He'd carried her lunch for her, carried her books, pulled out the bench and pushed her in after she sat down.
What was so special about this girl?
Ginny frowned. Well, any girl who wanted anything to do with Malfoy got what she deserved. If Malfoy was going to make a play for Kana, then Ginny had no problem with it. Why was she even worried about how it would affect Harry? It's not like the two of them were a couple in a Hawaii. It's not like they'd dated or kissed. She was just some girl. And she didn't even remember Harry in the first place. And if Harry talked to her about Hawaii he'd be breaking about half-a-dozen ministry rules. Ginny had nothing to worry about. Especially if Kana was in Slytherin.
But there was still a nagging in the pit of her stomach as Harry approached their table.
"So what's next?" Ron asked between mouthfuls.
Harry pulled his crumpled schedule out of his pocket and peered at the piece of parchment. "Advanced Divination."
Hermione grunted. "Advanced. We'll just see how advanced it is."
"Maybe Professor Trelawney has brushed up a little," Ron said hopefully. "Maybe she took a summer correspondence course or something."
"I don't think so."
"Oh, come on Hermione, at least we'll all have a good laugh," Harry replied. "And it's only an hour. With our new schedules, the time will fly by."
"Speaking of our schedule," Ron said. "I really hate how we only have History of Magic once a week."
"Why?" Harry questioned. "It's so boring."
"I happen to think it's fascinating," Hermione said. "And what do you care? All you do is sleep!"
"I know." Ron grinned. "I'm going to miss my naptime."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, look!" She pointed to the entrance doors. "It's McGonagall. She's got the list of the new quidditch teams. Let's go see if you made it."
Ron dropped his sandwich. "I don't want to go see. I'm perfectly fine not knowing."
"You're such a wimp," Ginny muttered.
"Oh, relax Ron. I'm sure you made it," Harry said, more as a friend than captain. "You had some good moves out there."
"Really?"
Harry nodded.
Ron picked up the last of his sandwich, shoved it in his mouth, and took a swig of his water. "I'm ready."