"I hope we have a new DADA teacher by now," worried Hermione as they waited outside the classroom. "All these supply teacher are useless – I haven't learnt anything I couldn't find out from a book faster."
Ron made a face at her, and continued chatting to Harry about Quidditch, but he was only half listening. Every time he stole a glance at Sîan he felt a tingle on his cheek and a fluttering in his chest.
"All right all right, get into the classroom, quickly now," said a deep voice from behind him. He turned to see a middle aged wizard in emerald green robes ushering students into the classroom. He had dark, shoulder length hair and bright green, attentive eyes. Harry stared at him, sure he had seen him somewhere before, but at that moment Ron poked him in the back to make him move, and he pushed the thought from his head.
"Good morning, class. My name is Professor Dangen, and I will be your new Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher. I apologise for not making an earlier appearance - I was…abroad. However, I have heard from your supply teachers what you have been studying this term, and if you don't mind me saying so, it sounds like a load of boring rubbish."
A few of the students murmured approvingly.
"So today, I will be teaching you about a creature I hope you will find a little more interesting. Has anyone ever heard of a Bregalond?"
As usual, Hermione's hand waved madly in the air.
"Miss Granger?"
"A Bregalond is a wormlike creature that can camouflage itself to look exactly like its surroundings. It doesn't have any magical powers, but it can suck your magic out of you, and use it as food."
"Well done, Miss Granger, an excellent description. Ten points to Gryffindor."
Hermione smiled smugly, but Ron just rolled his eyes.
"Be warned class. The Bregalond may just look like a large maggot on legs, but it is surprisingly quick, so watch out. Now watch carefully, because this – is a Bregalond."
He heaved a large, seemingly empty cage onto his desk. The students whispered among themselves, thinking they'd got a crackpot for a professor, but they fell silent when the cage suddenly began to shake and rattle, emitting strange squeaks and growls.
"Of course, the Bregalond can smell all of your magic, and so has camouflaged itself, ready for an attack. Fortunately, there is a way we can force it to take its usual colour." The professor reached into his pocket, pulled out a banana and began peeling it. "Bregalonds are extremely partial to bananas, but they have to resume their original colour to eat. Of course, this isn't always positive, as it's not particularly pleasant to be all alone one moment, then to see a Bregalond sucking on your leg the next."
"He proceeded to break off a chunk of the banana, and poke it through the bars of the cage. There was what sounded like a squeal of annoyance, and then the whole class gasped as a pinkish, lumpy creature about half a metre long on four stumpy legs appeared out of nowhere. It began to devour the banana through a large red sucker on what Harry guessed was it head, though it had no other distinguishing features. There were cries of "Ewww!" and "Gross!" from the students, but as soon as the Bregalond had finished eating, it promptly disappeared again.
"As you can see, once you run out of banana, things become a lot more difficult, which is why you must act quickly while you can still see the creature. Firstly, if it has already attached itself to you, you can remove it using a simple disarming spell such as Expelliarmus. However this will not rid you of it – it is more likely that it will become angry. Secondly, you need to prevent the Bregalond from harming you. To do this, point your wand at its sucker and say clearly, "Hiatus Operi." This will block the sucker, leaving you free to tie up its legs – assuming you didn't take too long and you can still see the thing. Now I would like you to work in twos or threes, and come up in an orderly fashion to collect one Bregalond between you. Then we shall proceed outside to practice Hiatus Operi."
The class tramped outside into the chilly autumn morning, and began releasing their Bregalonds. Serena sidled up to Malfoy who was laughing with Crabbe and Goyle. She tapped him lightly on the shoulder and he whipped round, wand out. When he saw who it was, his eyes narrowed.
"What do you want?" he sneered.
"To talk to you."
He folded his arms. "So talk."
"Away from Crap and Boil, please."
He looked at her searchingly, before nodding slightly and waving away his cronies.
When they had shuffled off, seemingly confused as to why she had called them Crap and Boil, Draco turned to Serena. "Well?"
"Um, I – I wanted to say – well, sorry, I guess. Yeah. I'm sorry for showing you up in the common room last night. I know you have a reputation and stuff, and I didn't mean to damage it. You just came on so fast…I didn't really think…" she trailed off.
To her surprise, he seemed taken aback, and she thought she even caught a glimpse of a blush on his pale cheek.
"Yeah, I guess you did leave me a bit high and dry. But then again, maybe I was coming on too strong. You see, I've never been turned down before…" He stared at the ground, shuffling his feet.
Serena was shocked. Draco Malfoy – embarrassed? Now there's something you don't see every day.
"Truce?" she offered, smiling.
He looked up slowly, and saw the genuine look in her eyes, and allowed a smile to spread over his face.
"Truce," he said, shaking her outstretched hand, but on an impulse she pulled him into a hug.
"Are you sure you don't want something more than just friends?" he laughed as they broke apart.
"Sorry," she grinned back.
"Malfoy! Phillips!" came a deep voice from across the grounds. "Would you please stop canoodling and get on with your work!"
"Yes Professor," answered Serena, before turning back to Draco. "So, you want to go first with this thing?" she asked, kicking the squealing cage at her feet.
"No, please, be my guest," offered Draco, grinning. Neither of them noticed that a few yards away, Harry Potter was watching, his hands clenched into tight fists.
xXx
As the students were leaving the lesson, Professor Dangen called Serena over.
"Miss Phillips, I would like a quick word with you in my office please."
Serena swallowed, and motioned to Draco to go on without her, before following the wizard into the castle.
After walking down seemingly endless corridors, they finally stopped outside a large oak door. Dangen muttered a password, then held the door open for Serena before stepping into the room himself.
He motioned for her to sit in an armchair in front of a massive mahogany desk, then went to sit behind it in his personal favourite – a tattered but comfortable recliner. He eyed her amusedly as she stared fascinated at his collection of defensive weapons and tools. A sudden idea came to him, and he pointed his wand to his throat and whispered "Anaudio," before saying out loud, "I've quite a few little toys, haven't I?"
Serena jumped, and stared at him. "P, Professor – your voice…" she said falteringly.
"Yes, quite a bit higher than usual isn't it?" he smiled kindly. When the girl still looked confused, he added "Not everyone is always who they say they are. You should know that…Serena."
Her mouth dropped open at the mention of her real name, and for a moment she had a wild thought that her father had found her, and that this man was a servant he had sent to come and kidnap her.
The wizard watched the emotions play across her face, pity in his eyes, before slowly raising his wand and muttering "Intransit Personatus". Serena's jaw dropped even lower, and her eyes widened as she saw her tall, dark professor transform into a shorter, slightly older man, with intent eyes, spectacles and a kind expression. He held out his hand.
"I believe we were not properly introduced during the summer. My name is Remus Lupin. It was I who bit you while in my werewolf form that night in France."
"Serena shook his hand numbly. This is the man who gave me that ugly scar on my leg, the man that caused me to change into that…thing every month… She struggled to find words. "You were…how…here…"
He smiled understandingly. "Two years ago I taught Defence Against the Dark Arts here at Hogwarts, but at the end of the school year the students found out about my…condition, and I was forced to resign. However, Professor Dumbledore requested that I continue teaching under a disguise, so that I can offer you support when we transform, among other things."
Serena suddenly remembered her mouth was still open and closed it quickly. There's no pointing saying anything, she reasoned with herself. You'll only come out with a load of gibberish, and Mr. Lupin is perfectly harmless, so what's the problem?
Remus studied her closely, then stood and moved towards the door. "I expect you will need some time for this to sink in. You may go now, but I think it would be best if no one else knew about our little meeting… Sîan."
She moved past him into the corridor, and looked back into his honest face. She managed a small smile, then turned towards the Dining Hall, her stomach telling her it was time to eat.
A/N: In the wonderful words of fea…"Reviews are the food of life… *cough hint cough*