YAY! Chapter two! I can't believe it's going so smoothly, my muse is gentle, enjoy!
Take a Breath……And relax.
Chapter two:
They caught up with Hermione at Hagrid's hut, as class was just about to start. Harry suddenly realized they had this class with the Hufflepuffs.
"I can't believe you did that! You're in trouble right?" Hermione said as they approached.
"Yeah, a lot I suspect." Ron mumbled looking at his feet. Harry nodded his agreement.
"You guys are always going at each other's throats, at least no real harm was done," Hermione stated, trying to make light of the situation.
"That's not exactly how I feel," Ron groaned, clutching his stomach.
Class started and Hagrid was showed them to a large crate, "gather round," he said eagerly to the class, "I got somethin' inerestin 'ere ter show ya," Harry couldn't surpass a slight twinge of fear. Things that Hagrid found interesting were likely to take your head off.
"They're a relative o' Quetzalcotal," he lifted the lid off the crate, "they're called Occamies," The class peered into the crate. There were five 4-foot long creatures. They looked like brown, feather-winged snakes and they were all asleep. Hagrid continued, "Occamy eggs are pure silver, and theses 'ere are jus' babies."
Hermione smiled. It seems Hagrid finally listened to her. They had sometimes had long talks about how he should try to show them harmless and yet still interesting creatures. And Hermione couldn't remember mentioning the Occamy.
After a bit of explanation Hagrid went into the history of the Occamy and other creatures like them. It was a good lesson besides the fact the creatures were snoozing. And sooner than they would all think the bell rang over the grounds and they made their way back to the castle.
Their next class was Defense against the Dark Arts. When Ron, Harry and Hermione entered, they noticed immediately they had the class with the Slytherins. Harry looked around, the teacher wasn't here yet but everyone took his or her seats anyway. But before Harry had anytime to talk to Ron about something someone walked in. Harry did a double take. He could have sworn on the fact that the person, who was making their way behind the teacher's desk to sit down, was Lucius Malfoy. Maybe he had a twin brother? Ron and Hermione next to him seemed to think the same thing, they looked at each other and then glanced at Draco. The look on his face was one of the most surprised and disbelieving they had ever seen, he was totally and utterly shocked. Whoever this person was, they were probably related.
"Hello class," his voice was very similar to Lucius, but a little more feminine. He rested his chin on his intertwined fingers, "I am the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher," he said the words slowly, clearly and calmly, his manner reminding Harry slightly of Snape. "And my name is…" Harry sat up straight in his chair, he was anxious to see if it was really Lucius, "Zekie Malfoy." He could now see that this person was much younger looking than Lucius, by at least 20 years. His hair was longer, still slicked back, but a lot messier. And Harry realized he had a long, black stone hanging on a golden chain around his exposed neck.
Harry glanced at Draco, who now looked a little annoyed. "Today," the new teacher said, interrupting Harry's train of thought. "We'll be taking notes on next class's practical lesson," everyone was listening intently.
He gave them a chapter to work on and waited untill they were working before taking out a book of his own to read. They read things about big creatures like Dragons and Manticores and how to handle them in dangerous situations.
Ron leaned over close to Harry and said in a whisper so hard to hear that Harry almost missed it, "I think he works for the Ministry in the Control of Dangerous Creatures Department."
The room was so silent Harry was afraid to ask about it so he would wait till later to ask him. He just nodded
That class seemed to go by rather quick, along with the rest of their classes that day, and the whole time Harry and Ron were both worrying about their impending detention.
Soon then later evening came, and Ron and Harry were waiting in the entrance hall for Hermione to come back from her class. Harry was going to ask about the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, when suddenly Ron and Harry spotted Remus Lupin standing next to the great oak doors talking to Dumbledore. They started to approach the two of them but then Dumbledore left to go outside, Remus watched him go, unaware of the approaching boys.
"Hello professor," they said in unison.
He turned to greet them with an unreadable smile on his face. "Hullo there."
"What are you doing here Professor Lupin?" Harry asked.
His smile got a bit wider, "I'm just asking the Headmaster to help me… and you know you, can just call me Remus. I don't work here any more…"
"Oh," they said together, almost excitedly.
Before Harry could ask what he'd been up to, he heard Professor McGonagall's voice behind him and Ron, "Are you boys ready for your detention?"
Both Harry and Ron turned around to see Professor McGonagall and Draco standing next to each her, Draco was looking rather disgruntled. "Oh yeah," they said. Seeing Remus drove the whole detention thing right out of their heads.
She made her way out of the front doors and they followed behind Draco. Harry turned to look at Remus one more time. He wore a smile of sympathy, he had a hunch that he Remus had been in this kind of position before.
She led them down toward Hagrid's cabin. The sun set was strangely beautiful, it was lighting up the whole sky like it was on fire. When they got there Draco asked, "We don't have to go in there again, do we?" He was tried to be angry but it sounded more like he was scared. He was probably thinking back on the first year when he was scared at the fact that there could be werewolves in the forest.
"No Malfoy. You're going to be planting trees." She looked at them all sternly. "Of course, you will be doing it all without magic." They all groaned. "Now wait here while I go retrieve Hagrid." And she left them there.
'What is she thinking leaving us alone with Malfoy?' Harry thought angrily as he glared at Draco, but he was looking toward the castle.
"This is so stupid…" Draco said to himself, "and what is HE doing here?" he hissed quietly turning to Harry and Ron. He continued with a smile, "I'll bet he came here to ask Dumbledore for financial support. The repo-goblins must have told him he defaulted on his payments. Sound familiar Weasley?"
"Malfoy, I swear--" Harry started.
"Do you? I always knew you weren't the saint you claimed to be," he said very airily.
"You seem rather calm Malfoy. Maybe we'll make you do all the work," Ron threatened.
Draco grinned. "I'm only calm because Professor McGonagall is behind you."
Ron and Harry whipped around, only to see Professor McGonagall had just emerged from Hagrid's hut a few yards away, Hagrid behind her. Ron turned back around to glare at Draco.
With a short laugh Draco sneered, "Didn't say how far, did I?" Ron didn't want to get into more trouble so he refrained from punching Draco again.
Luckily, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid came rather quickly. "Okay," Hagrid said, "Yer to be diggin' over there." He pointed somewhere behind the lot towards the edge of the forest. They turned to see the place they'd be spending for the next few hours. "Here you go," Hagrid handed them each a shovel, while they looked inquisitively at him. "Well," he said, "get ter work, I'll go get the saplin's."
Harry, Ron and Draco slowly walked over to the place they were supposed to be digging. Harry caught Draco saying, "I can't believe this…" Harry was going to say something but Professor McGonagall was still standing there,
"Well?" she said abruptly, so they started digging.
It seemed like an hour had passed. The sun could still barley be seen, the last dabs of it's golden paint shone on the black and blue sky. Professor McGonagall had left them, and Hagrid was sitting in a large makeshift chair somewhere behind the three. As for the saplings, they were rather large. Which meant they had to make rather large holes, so it was taking a take a while. Harry had thought of asking Draco about the new teacher, but he knew Draco would be angry that he was being far too familiar with him. So he let it alone.
As for Draco, he wasn't happy at all. He kept complaining, saying things like, "I'm dirty," or, "this is so tedious." Both Ron and Harry wanted desperately for him to shut up. After a while of this, Draco had stuck his shovel into the ground and leaned against it. He wiped his forehead and made yet another complaint. "How long do they expect us to keep at it? I'd be amazed if this situation could get any worse…"
Harry was about to tell him to shut up, seeing as how Draco's hole was by far the smallest, when a sudden noise behind them made them all jump and turn around. Hagrid was asleep and snoring in his chair.
"Jeeze… isn't he supposed to be watching us?" Draco spat, looking at him with slight disgust. "Lazy slob."
"It's not like he's the one being punished," Ron said angrily, but quietly so as not to wake Hagrid.
"Yeah, and it's his fault were even here, is it?" Draco had directed his comment to Ron, and he didn't seem to care about the volume of his voice. "I'm leaving," he muttered. But as he turned toward the castle to leave he almost ran into Remus who had been standing behind them all.
Draco backed away and sneered. "Watch where I'm going."
"You're not going any where Malfoy," Harry said, glaring at him. He seemed to be doing quite a lot of glaring today.
Draco stood there with his arms crossed looking rather disgruntled. With an adult around, there wasn't much he could do to argue.
He wanted to leave, but there was nothing he could do. He wasn't sure how Remus would react if he tried. He had been a teacher. And then there was that oaf Hagrid, he was well, rather large… so he settled on working again. He focused his energy a bit more this time because no one else was working, and he didn't exactly want to be included in the others conversation.
He watched everything that they did and listened to them. Watching the werewolf move to wake up Hagrid, the half-giant woke with a start. Remus and Hagrid talked for a minute or two, and half-giant retreated to his hut. Draco was stuck with the werewolf now, who just wanted to talk to Harry.
He started talking about financial problems. "HA! I was right," he thought. Then he started to talk about someone named 'snuffles.' Who ever the hell that was, 'what kind of name is snuffles,' Draco thought.
"He told me to talk to professor Dumbledore," Remus stated. He was talking about jobs and being depressed. It was rather pathetic for Draco to listen to. "I had no where to turn, but he said he has some ideas on some well paying jobs, and no one there would care who or what you are."
Draco looked at his magical analog wristwatch and lit his wand, it had gotten rather dark over the few hours they had been here. The magical watch also told the days of the week, it showed the month and the year, and it had little lunar pictures rotating around, which came in handy for astronomy. It could also magically record short messages, when Daco ordered it to. His mother bought it for him when he first started school.
He started thinking back on that day, when he had realized something on the lunar chart. He whipped around horrified. Maybe the watch was malfunctioning, because wouldn't he know? Couldn't he tell?
Draco was going to say something but it was too late. It had already started, and they soon realized it too.
End of chapter two