Disclaimer: See Part 1.
Part 5
Harry's second day as D.A.D.A. teacher went much better then the first. Apparently his fifth years from the day before had blabbed to their houses, and those houses had blabbed to Gryffindor and Slytherin. Anyway, everyone was now sitting quietly at their desks, reading through the assignment, he had given them, after informing them of their coming quiz as he had with previous classes he dismissed them with the end of day bell. Classes were finished on his second day of teaching. He sighed relishing the silence of his empty classroom before packing up his things and heading toward his office located in the back of the classroom. It was the first time he had had a chance to really look at the small cozy space. He sat at the desk, where several spare textbooks and a box sat waiting for him. He looked at it curiously before realization made him frown. The wizard cards Minerva had promised to have delivered to his office. Of course, they'd probably been there since the day before. He took the small package into his hands and stared at it a moment. Opening the top he pulled out the neatly ordered stack and sat back in his chair, absentmindedly upping the candlelight in the room, for a better view.
The first card was #501 and had a picture of Minerva McGonagall, standing poised and stern on it's front. He smiled. #502 showed one Remus Lupin, smiling kindly. #503 held Arabella Figg, he noticed the lack of cats immediately, she had been a kind old witch. He kind of missed her at times. #504 was Hagrid. Harry smiled at it widely. Rubeus Hagrid on a Wizard Card, of all things. #505 was once again Sirius. Harry sighed; bending closer he looked at the card more closely. It was red and gold instead of the usual blue and gold and held the symbol of the phoenix in the upper right hand corner; the Order of the Phoenix had their own card set. He read the back to himself, noting that Sirius' innocence had been clearly set right again. That lightened his heart. He remembered how many in the Wizarding world had rejoiced as news of his death had come into public knowledge. That had been a very hard time. At least something good had come out of the card set. He'd been carrying the other card around in his robes pocket since yesterday. He watched his Godfather smile at him reassuringly. Harry smiled back and moved on. Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, and Mundungus Fletcher were cards #'s 506, 507, & 508 respectively.
Harry gasped in shock at the redheaded figure staring back at him from #509. A freckled face and warm familiar eyes greeted him, smiling. Ronald Weasley had his own wizard card? 'I bet he about died!' Harry thought smiling at the picture of one of his best friends. Hermione Weasley-Granger had #510 and smiled her slightly embarrassed smile as he laughed aloud.
Harry looked sadly at Draco Malfoy, #511. He had become an important member of the Order and had died as a spy for their cause. Harry smiled a little at the mean little twerp. He'd been a jerk until the end, but his heart had belonged to the side of the light in the end. Voldemort hadn't seen him coming.
#512 made Harry's eyes tear up with suppressed emotion. His parents, arms wrapped around each other looked up at him from the next card. He smiled. He turned out looking a lot like them both, the childhood likeness to his father fading into a balance of equal parts Mother, Father, and his own unique features. He had gotten his mothers face and his fathers smile so he was happy. He scanned the back; apparently James and Lily Potter had been founding members of the Order when it had first formed, before Harry had been born. He moved on again, somewhat reluctantly.
Card #513 held the twinkling eyes of Albus Dumbledore on it. The old Wizard had gotten a second card for his leadership during the war.
But it was # 514 that made him give a double take. There glaring up at him was his old Potions Professor, Severus Snape. Harry smiled. The sarcastic git's spying duties were clearly stated on the back of the card for all to see. The man had been essential in their Victory in the end. He wouldn't have survived to the final battle with out the older man's protection. They had worked well together, sarcasm had run rampant, but Harry couldn't have asked for a better partner in the end.
Harry knew what to expect when he turned to the last small wizard card in the stack. His own round face greeted him from #515. He sighed, looking into hollow, empty, green eyes. It was one of the last pictures he could remember standing still for. He remembered Colin asking for him to just stop for one more picture. Harry winced at the shadow he could see in his own face.
He packed the cards back into the box they had spent 8 years waiting for him in and deposited the whole thing into his satchel. He would keep them, his old friends, family, and comrades, safely stored away. Only then, did Harry drop his head to the desktop and cry.
Tbc…
