Chapter 5 - Conversations
Harry spent a good amount of time on the letter he was writing to his godfather. He wanted nothing more than to ask him outright about Ivy and why everyone had known about her but himself, but he felt he needed to hide it in small talk. Sirius had to have known about her, and it made Harry angry that Sirius had never mentioned Ivy at all. Even in passing, 'oh, by the way, Harry, you also have another aunt.'
Harry shook his head. He seemed to be mad at everyone lately. He was mad at Sirius and Dumbledore for never telling him about Ivy, he was mad at Ivy for obvious reasons, and he was upset with his three best friends. They had all known about her and never said anything. Mrs. Weasley had made certain that she had her children's word to not bring Ivy up in conversation. As much as he wanted to be mad about that, he really couldn't be. The Weasley's were the closest thing he had to a real family and it was obvious that Mrs. Weasley had thought she was acting in Harry's best interest. That didn't stop him from wishing Ron and Ginny hadn't obeyed their mother's request, but he had seen an angry Mrs. Weasley first hand, so he could hardly blame them.
Hermione was a different story. She didn't have anyone telling her not to mention Ivy to him; she had come to that conclusion herself. When Harry had confronted her about it her response had included the same reasons that Mrs. Weasley had. He didn't want to accept that from Hermione and they had got up in a somewhat heated argument with Hermione's last words being, 'if you had bothered to read Hogwarts: A History, you would have known about her.' He knew in the back of his mind that Hermione was right, but that still didn't stop him from being mad at her.
Harry sighed at the bit of parchment in front of him, quill poised above the page. He resigned himself to being as honest as possible. It was the only thing he could think of that wouldn't sound forced.
Dear Sirius,
It's been a while since we last spoke. I hope everything is well with you. There is so much that I want to talk with you about but I can't seem to get it out the way I want to, so I am just going to write it. I want to ask you about something that has been bothering me. Ivy Evans is a professor at Hogwarts now. You know who she is. In fact, I know you must have known her. Why didn't you ever tell me about her? Is there something I should know about her? I mean there are a lot of things I should know about her. Like I should have been told about the fact that she exists, but is there any thing else you might want to tell me about her?
She looks a lot like my mum. It's almost hard to look at her. Which I don't do very often, mind you. I'm very angry with her. Why now? Why not ten, or bloody hell, even five years ago? It just doesn't make any sense to me.
Ginny's convinced me to talk to her. Just to see what she has to say. Ginny thinks I shouldn't base my opinion of her on the one time we spoke to each other. I guess she's right. But I would like to know what you think before I willingly go and talk to her. I want to know more about her. Ron and Hermione have done some research on her for me. If she was as talented as everyone says she was, why did I never hear about her?
Please write back as soon as possible.
Harry
Harry read and reread the letter before putting it in an envelope and sealing the garnet wax over the flap. He wrestled with himself about actually sending it or writing it over again, but eventually decided the letter he had written was as good as it was going to get.
He threw on his cloak and carried the letter up to the Owlery. He spotted Hedwig easily among the brown barn owls and smiled as she flew to him. She was such a regal bird. He softly petted her plumage and held out his hand to her beak. Hedwig nibbled lightly at the scone pieces Harry had brought for her and when she was finished, she stuck out her leg for Harry to tie the letter onto.
"Please wait for Sirius to write back?" Harry requested as he finished securing the letter. Hedwig nodded slightly before affectionately nipping his index finger and flying off into the sky.
Harry sighed deeply and took a seat on one of the benches by a window. He wasn't ready to go back to the castle just yet. He wasn't ready to walk past the snickers from the Slytherins or the interested stares from the rest of his schoolmates. Now that Ivy was no longer a secret, the entire school knew that Harry hadn't known about her. Harry felt like a huge practical joke had been played on him in front of everyone, In short, he felt like a fool. He couldn't help but feel resentful about that as well as everything else Ivy Evans' return had brought into his life. For the first time, Harry didn't want to be around his friends, even Ginny. And it killed him to have those feelings.
Harry stood and narrowed his eyes out the window.
"Damn it Ivy, this is all your fault," Harry unconsciously banged his fist on the windowsill. He really didn't know what to do with these feelings so they just festered in his stomach. He knew he shouldn't be punishing his friends for something they really had no control over, but he was resentful that they had kept something so important from him, even if they did have his best interests at heart. Their intention had never been malicious and he knew that, but the nagging thought that they knew turned his stomach.
Harry hung his head in defeat and resigned himself to the fact that he couldn't hang out in the Owlery all night. He would have to face the world sooner or later; he might as well get it over with now. He took the stairs slowly and trudged his way back towards the Gryffindor common room.
***
"Ivy, please come in," Remus smiled at her as she crossed the threshold to his private quarters. They hugged like the old friends they were and sat down in the chairs around Remus' fireplace.
"Tell me really, how have you been?" Remus asked in a voice filled with concern. She had lost a lot of weight, but that wasn't what concerned him. She had also lost a lot of her spunk and the airy quality about her.
"I know you are concerned for me, Remus, but rest assured, I am doing well. Much better than I was when I fist left," Ivy's eyes shifted downward to look at her perfectly sculpted fingernails. Remus shook his head slightly. He believed her, too a certain extent.
"Harry," he said with understanding. Ivy looked up and gave him a strained smile.
"Harry."
"How is he doing with this?"
"Oh as well as can be expected I am assuming. He's the laughing stock of the school, he's not really talking to anyone, he hates me, he's."
"Ivy, stop," Remus reached over and placed his hand over hers, which had started shaking. "This isn't your fault."
Ivy looked at him like he had lost his mind and gave a short laugh.
"Not my fault? Are you kidding, Remus? I sure as hell hope you are kidding!"
Remus' shoulders sank and he rose from his chair. "You're just as stubborn as he is. If you both don't stop acting like this, nothing will be resolved. Tea?"
"Please, thank you. Remus, I can't even get him to be in the same room with me for longer than ten minutes, and it's never when we are alone. He deserves to know everything, if I could just sit him down and talk with him one on one."
Remus spun around, causing tea to spill over the side of the cup he was holding and gather in the saucer. He handed it to her with a shaking hand.
"Ivy.you're not going to tell him about."
"He has a right to know everything, Remus."
"But Ivy, what about you?"
"I'm a big witch now, Remus. I can defend myself."
Remus' head fell back as he rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. He sighed heavily and resumed his piercing stare at Ivy.
"I hope you talk to Dumbledore first."
"Maybe."
"Ivy." the warning in Remus' voice reminded her of the past. He had always been the overprotective older brother she never wanted.
"You worry too much. So what's new with your life?" Ivy's face broke out into a genuine smile and Remus shook his head softly at her, smiling back.
"You are changing the topic. Ivy, please, just go over it with Dumbledore before you do anything rash?"
"Fine.so who's the new chick?" Ivy said as she noticed a picture of Remus and a pretty platinum blond woman.
"Chick?" Remus asked, confused.
Ivy laughed and gestured toward the frame. Remus suddenly became shy as he smiled and looked at the picture.
"Oh her?" he said nonchalantly.
"Don't give me that 'oh her' business, Remus. You barely have any pictures. She must be special to you."
"That's Laura. She's a friend of mine."
Ivy smirked at Remus' flushed face. "Just a friend?"
Remus smiled brightly at Ivy. "Maybe a little more than a friend, but we're still working on that."
Ivy nodded and smiled back. She was happy for Remus. He deserved someone special.
The hours flew by as the two old friends caught each other up on their lives. Before they knew it, it was time for Ivy to leave.
"Good luck tomorrow, Ivy. You know where to find me if you need me," Remus said as he walked Ivy out and opened the door for her. Ivy turned and gave Remus a hug.
"I do, and thank you. I had fun tonight."
"Me too."
Ivy left for her own room and Remus went back to clean up from their tea party. He noticed Laura grinning at him from the picture. Stopping his retreat, he looked at her and smiled back.
"Don't look at me like that, you have nothing to worry about. Besides, she belongs to someone else."
***
Harry sat at the lunch table, grumbling over his chicken casserole. He still hadn't heard from Sirius and Hedwig was nowhere to be found. This concerned him greatly but like he had always thought where Sirius was concerned, no news was good news.
"Are you all right, Harry?" Hermione asked as she sat down, hefting her bag full of books onto the table next to her. As usual, she was the last to show up for lunch.
"Just waiting for mail," Harry murmured, spearing a piece of carrot with his fork using more force than necessary. Hermione was doubtful that was all that was on his mind, but decided to let the subject drop.
"Are you ready for Muggle Studies, Ginny?" Hermione asked, changing the subject, as her plate filled with food when she was finally situated.
Ginny smiled brightly despite Harry's obvious snort. "Yes! Finally, no more Snape!" Harry looked downcast at their enthusiasm.
"Harry let it go. It's not like we were going to drop the subject," Hermione stated, pursing her lips at such a thought.
"You'll have to let me know what kind of a teacher she is," he grumbled as he stood, grabbed his bag and left.
"Moody little git, isn't he?" Hermione mused as she forced food into her mouth at an alarming rate. She had stopped at the library before lunch to grab a book she had needed and knew if she didn't eat fast, she would be late to class.
Ginny chuckled a little at Hermione's statement, sharing her sentiment, but said nothing. Ron just looked at her. It was very unlike Hermione to say a bad word about any of her friends. She caught his eye.
"What?"
"Nothing," Ron mumbled as he finished his food. "I'll see you both this afternoon," he rose and headed out the same way Harry had gone for their Divination class.
"Men!" Ginny said, shaking her head in amusement.
"You can say that again. Do you think he'll ever get the point?" Hermione asked Ginny as she sighed.
"Of taking Divination, or of you.err." Ginny searched for the right words, "wanting him?" Hermione blushed, and then looked at Ginny, grinning.
"Either!"
***
Ivy stood in front of the dungeon classroom as her students filed in. She felt confident and collected. She knew what she was talking about and had prepared herself with very little help from Snape's notes. The man knew nothing about muggles and it showed. She had a great laugh when she reviewed the materials he had given her. From the essay on fur coats, to the tests he gave out, and even the answers he marked correct, she could tell he was flying by the seat of his robes.
Things such as 'what is the basic form of communication muggles use?' with answers such as 'the telly' marked correct. First of all, how was that question supposed to help these students at all, and secondly, television was most definitely not the correct answer. Ivy had known then that she was going to have to deprogram these students. As her students took their seats, she went over and shut the door.
"Good afternoon, class. My name is Professor Evans and I will be your permanent Muggle Studies professor. The first thing I want you to do is take your notes from the past month," she paused as papers around her rustled, "and tear them all up. You will not need any information that is on those. I want you to clear your minds and we will all begin with a clean slate," she watched as the students grinned and tore the notes they had taken to shreds. She smirked at the rueful looks they were all giving the papers.
"Now," she said as the paper noises began to die down, "in this class we are going to concentrate on muggle interaction, technology, traditions, and history. You will need to be prepared to know what ended World War II, what a DVD player is, and who Freud was if you want to manage in the muggle world. I realize that this class has a diverse group of people from various walks of life and I expect you all to be able to work together, and help each other. For some of you, this may come easily, growing up in a muggle household, for others it will be extremely hard, having never known what the muggle world is like. Working with each other will make this class that much easier."
As her speech ended, Ivy heard the door to the classroom open. When she turned slightly to look, not wanting to embarrass whoever was late to her class, she groaned out loud. Snape walked into her class and stood to her left.
"Can I help you, Professor Snape?" Ivy asked carefully.
"I'm just here to observe, go about your class, Ms. Evans," he stated. Ivy resisted the urge to let her jaw drop.
"Please excuse this interruption, class. Professor, can I see you outside please?" Ivy said, fire flashing in her eyes.
"No need, Ms. Evans. I am perfectly content to stand here and observe," Snape was almost smiling at Ivy, challenging her to lose her temper, and this time in front of her class.
Controlling her emotions, as well as the volume of her voice was going to be hard, but Ivy closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, letting the breath slowly escape, while she collected her thoughts.
"Professor Snape, will you please join me outside," she didn't ask this time, she stated. She walked to the door, opened it, and waved her hand through. Snape stared at her like she had just asked him to walk through fire but went through the door anyway. Ivy walked out after him and closed the door. Everyone in the class looked at each other and became completely silent, straining their ears to see how their newest teacher would handle Snape.
"First of all, I would appreciate your respect as a Hogwarts teacher by addressing me as Professor, not Ms. As I have said to you before, I am not your student and I do not expect to be treated as such," Snape opened his mouth to respond but Ivy held a hand up. "Secondly, I do not appreciate being spied upon. If there were any questions about my capabilities as a teacher, Professor Dumbledore would not have offered me the position. I did not ask for your assistance, nor do I need it. Now, if you will please excuse me, you have wasted enough of my time as well as my class'."
Ivy spun on her heels and walked back into her room, careful not to let the door slam. She didn't want Snape to have any satisfaction of getting under her skin. When she looked at her class, as she reentered the room, she had to laugh. They were all staring at her in disbelief.
"Let's get started, shall we?" she asked as she walked over to her desk and picked up a box that had been on the floor, letting it rest on her hip as she turned to address the class. "I feel that starting with muggle technology will give you great base to work with, and besides, it's fun!" Ivy smiled as she set the box down on the desk and began to take things out of it. She turned to face the class, holding a small item in her hand and held it up for them to see.
"Does anyone know what this is?" Ivy asked, knowing the muggle born and half blood students in her class would most likely know exactly what it was. Hermione raised her hand.
"Hermione?"
"It's a telephone," she answered, sounding confused.
"You don't sound too sure of yourself. Why is that?" Ivy smiled. Hermione's face contorted into a frown.
"There are no cords to plug it in."
"That's right. This is what muggles call a cellular phone. It is an air based telephone line that can be taken and used anywhere," Dean Thomas' hand raised as she was speaking.
"Yes, Dean?"
"What do you mean by air based?"
"I'm glad you caught that. Muggle telephones are, for the most part, landlines. That means that they have to be plugged into an outlet in order for them to work properly. Cell phones are airlines, meaning that the sound waves travel through the air from tower to tower as opposed to through wires. Any questions so far?" Ivy asked, hoping not to have to explain what a telephone was. They should have learned that in their first year of Muggle Studies. Neville Longbottom raised his hand.
"Go ahead, Neville."
"Is.is that yours?"
Ivy couldn't help but give a short chuckle. "Yes, it is," she hit a few buttons on the phone she had previously enchanted and it came alive on it's own accord. It played the show tune "The Entertainer," though Ivy was sure none of her class would know that, and if they did, she would eat her shoe. The class sat dumbfounded, listening to the high-pitched notes shrilly bouncing off the walls of the classroom.
"That sound means that someone is calling me. Well, normally that is what it means. I enchanted this before class in order for it to work. Unfortunately, this phone is pretty much obsolete in the wizarding world. As a matter of fact, everything in this box quits working once you cross the barrier," Ivy gestured to the box that sat on her desk. The students tore their gaze away from the cell phone and struggled to concentrate on Ivy's voice.
"What I want you to do now is get into groups of five. Today, I will let you pick the groups, but if there are any discrepancies, I will have no problems rearranging those groups," Ivy's warning was disregarded as the students clambered over tables and chairs to reach their friends before someone else did.
"Okay, I will give each group an object. You will be allowed to take it with you and work with it together. Right now I will tell you nothing but what the object is called. What you need to figure out is how it works, what it does, and why muggles use them. Your group will give a presentation on the object and hand in three feet of parchment on it a week from today. You may use any means necessary to find out what it does, be it the library, other friends not in the class, or you can even ask me. Please remember that these object are my personal belongings and they are only enchanted to work for a week."
Ivy took the box and began assigning objects to her students. As she approached the last group, she smiled. The last thing in the box was her most prized possession from the muggle world and she would not have entrusted it to anyone but Hermione and Ginny.
"Okay, this is your object," Ivy placed a circular object that had a cord coming out the side of it attached to something that looked an awful lot like a headband in Ginny's opinion. "Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Dean, and Seamus," Ivy muttered as she made a note on a piece of parchment. She reached into the box again and pulled out five small boxes. They were perfectly square and very thin. "You will need these to work with the CD player. These are the CDs."
As Ivy walked away, Hermione began pushing the buttons on the CD player while Neville, Dean, and Seamus tried opening the boxes. Ginny took control of the cord and headband. The class was loud and everyone seemed to be having a good time as Ivy walked around, observing and answering any questions. She glanced at her watch and realized that time had flown fast.
"Okay class! For next lesson, I want you all to read chapter five in your book. It is called Democracies of the World. I understand it may be a bit boring, but I need you all to have a good foundation when we begin to talk about muggle history. If there are no more questions, you are free to go and I will see you all on Thursday."
Everyone left the classroom chattering about their new gadgets.
"Now that is Muggle Studies. Not a word about fur coats!" Dean smiled as they walked through the halls. His eyes lit up as if just remembering something. "Speaking of Snape, did anyone catch what she said to him?"
"I think she asked him to respect her, but I wasn't listening too closely. She has every right to expect that of him though. He was treating her like she was a student. Ms. Evans, honestly!" Hermione's brow furrowed as she spoke. She rather liked her new professor, and found Snape's actions to be unprofessional to say the least. They caught up to the rest of the students who were chatting casually about this new approach to Muggle Studies. It was unanimous that they liked it much better than fur coats.
A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I really appreciate the feedback! This chapter isn't really dedicated to anyone, but I would like to say thanks to Theresa for supporting me and being interested and asking questions!
Harry spent a good amount of time on the letter he was writing to his godfather. He wanted nothing more than to ask him outright about Ivy and why everyone had known about her but himself, but he felt he needed to hide it in small talk. Sirius had to have known about her, and it made Harry angry that Sirius had never mentioned Ivy at all. Even in passing, 'oh, by the way, Harry, you also have another aunt.'
Harry shook his head. He seemed to be mad at everyone lately. He was mad at Sirius and Dumbledore for never telling him about Ivy, he was mad at Ivy for obvious reasons, and he was upset with his three best friends. They had all known about her and never said anything. Mrs. Weasley had made certain that she had her children's word to not bring Ivy up in conversation. As much as he wanted to be mad about that, he really couldn't be. The Weasley's were the closest thing he had to a real family and it was obvious that Mrs. Weasley had thought she was acting in Harry's best interest. That didn't stop him from wishing Ron and Ginny hadn't obeyed their mother's request, but he had seen an angry Mrs. Weasley first hand, so he could hardly blame them.
Hermione was a different story. She didn't have anyone telling her not to mention Ivy to him; she had come to that conclusion herself. When Harry had confronted her about it her response had included the same reasons that Mrs. Weasley had. He didn't want to accept that from Hermione and they had got up in a somewhat heated argument with Hermione's last words being, 'if you had bothered to read Hogwarts: A History, you would have known about her.' He knew in the back of his mind that Hermione was right, but that still didn't stop him from being mad at her.
Harry sighed at the bit of parchment in front of him, quill poised above the page. He resigned himself to being as honest as possible. It was the only thing he could think of that wouldn't sound forced.
Dear Sirius,
It's been a while since we last spoke. I hope everything is well with you. There is so much that I want to talk with you about but I can't seem to get it out the way I want to, so I am just going to write it. I want to ask you about something that has been bothering me. Ivy Evans is a professor at Hogwarts now. You know who she is. In fact, I know you must have known her. Why didn't you ever tell me about her? Is there something I should know about her? I mean there are a lot of things I should know about her. Like I should have been told about the fact that she exists, but is there any thing else you might want to tell me about her?
She looks a lot like my mum. It's almost hard to look at her. Which I don't do very often, mind you. I'm very angry with her. Why now? Why not ten, or bloody hell, even five years ago? It just doesn't make any sense to me.
Ginny's convinced me to talk to her. Just to see what she has to say. Ginny thinks I shouldn't base my opinion of her on the one time we spoke to each other. I guess she's right. But I would like to know what you think before I willingly go and talk to her. I want to know more about her. Ron and Hermione have done some research on her for me. If she was as talented as everyone says she was, why did I never hear about her?
Please write back as soon as possible.
Harry
Harry read and reread the letter before putting it in an envelope and sealing the garnet wax over the flap. He wrestled with himself about actually sending it or writing it over again, but eventually decided the letter he had written was as good as it was going to get.
He threw on his cloak and carried the letter up to the Owlery. He spotted Hedwig easily among the brown barn owls and smiled as she flew to him. She was such a regal bird. He softly petted her plumage and held out his hand to her beak. Hedwig nibbled lightly at the scone pieces Harry had brought for her and when she was finished, she stuck out her leg for Harry to tie the letter onto.
"Please wait for Sirius to write back?" Harry requested as he finished securing the letter. Hedwig nodded slightly before affectionately nipping his index finger and flying off into the sky.
Harry sighed deeply and took a seat on one of the benches by a window. He wasn't ready to go back to the castle just yet. He wasn't ready to walk past the snickers from the Slytherins or the interested stares from the rest of his schoolmates. Now that Ivy was no longer a secret, the entire school knew that Harry hadn't known about her. Harry felt like a huge practical joke had been played on him in front of everyone, In short, he felt like a fool. He couldn't help but feel resentful about that as well as everything else Ivy Evans' return had brought into his life. For the first time, Harry didn't want to be around his friends, even Ginny. And it killed him to have those feelings.
Harry stood and narrowed his eyes out the window.
"Damn it Ivy, this is all your fault," Harry unconsciously banged his fist on the windowsill. He really didn't know what to do with these feelings so they just festered in his stomach. He knew he shouldn't be punishing his friends for something they really had no control over, but he was resentful that they had kept something so important from him, even if they did have his best interests at heart. Their intention had never been malicious and he knew that, but the nagging thought that they knew turned his stomach.
Harry hung his head in defeat and resigned himself to the fact that he couldn't hang out in the Owlery all night. He would have to face the world sooner or later; he might as well get it over with now. He took the stairs slowly and trudged his way back towards the Gryffindor common room.
***
"Ivy, please come in," Remus smiled at her as she crossed the threshold to his private quarters. They hugged like the old friends they were and sat down in the chairs around Remus' fireplace.
"Tell me really, how have you been?" Remus asked in a voice filled with concern. She had lost a lot of weight, but that wasn't what concerned him. She had also lost a lot of her spunk and the airy quality about her.
"I know you are concerned for me, Remus, but rest assured, I am doing well. Much better than I was when I fist left," Ivy's eyes shifted downward to look at her perfectly sculpted fingernails. Remus shook his head slightly. He believed her, too a certain extent.
"Harry," he said with understanding. Ivy looked up and gave him a strained smile.
"Harry."
"How is he doing with this?"
"Oh as well as can be expected I am assuming. He's the laughing stock of the school, he's not really talking to anyone, he hates me, he's."
"Ivy, stop," Remus reached over and placed his hand over hers, which had started shaking. "This isn't your fault."
Ivy looked at him like he had lost his mind and gave a short laugh.
"Not my fault? Are you kidding, Remus? I sure as hell hope you are kidding!"
Remus' shoulders sank and he rose from his chair. "You're just as stubborn as he is. If you both don't stop acting like this, nothing will be resolved. Tea?"
"Please, thank you. Remus, I can't even get him to be in the same room with me for longer than ten minutes, and it's never when we are alone. He deserves to know everything, if I could just sit him down and talk with him one on one."
Remus spun around, causing tea to spill over the side of the cup he was holding and gather in the saucer. He handed it to her with a shaking hand.
"Ivy.you're not going to tell him about."
"He has a right to know everything, Remus."
"But Ivy, what about you?"
"I'm a big witch now, Remus. I can defend myself."
Remus' head fell back as he rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. He sighed heavily and resumed his piercing stare at Ivy.
"I hope you talk to Dumbledore first."
"Maybe."
"Ivy." the warning in Remus' voice reminded her of the past. He had always been the overprotective older brother she never wanted.
"You worry too much. So what's new with your life?" Ivy's face broke out into a genuine smile and Remus shook his head softly at her, smiling back.
"You are changing the topic. Ivy, please, just go over it with Dumbledore before you do anything rash?"
"Fine.so who's the new chick?" Ivy said as she noticed a picture of Remus and a pretty platinum blond woman.
"Chick?" Remus asked, confused.
Ivy laughed and gestured toward the frame. Remus suddenly became shy as he smiled and looked at the picture.
"Oh her?" he said nonchalantly.
"Don't give me that 'oh her' business, Remus. You barely have any pictures. She must be special to you."
"That's Laura. She's a friend of mine."
Ivy smirked at Remus' flushed face. "Just a friend?"
Remus smiled brightly at Ivy. "Maybe a little more than a friend, but we're still working on that."
Ivy nodded and smiled back. She was happy for Remus. He deserved someone special.
The hours flew by as the two old friends caught each other up on their lives. Before they knew it, it was time for Ivy to leave.
"Good luck tomorrow, Ivy. You know where to find me if you need me," Remus said as he walked Ivy out and opened the door for her. Ivy turned and gave Remus a hug.
"I do, and thank you. I had fun tonight."
"Me too."
Ivy left for her own room and Remus went back to clean up from their tea party. He noticed Laura grinning at him from the picture. Stopping his retreat, he looked at her and smiled back.
"Don't look at me like that, you have nothing to worry about. Besides, she belongs to someone else."
***
Harry sat at the lunch table, grumbling over his chicken casserole. He still hadn't heard from Sirius and Hedwig was nowhere to be found. This concerned him greatly but like he had always thought where Sirius was concerned, no news was good news.
"Are you all right, Harry?" Hermione asked as she sat down, hefting her bag full of books onto the table next to her. As usual, she was the last to show up for lunch.
"Just waiting for mail," Harry murmured, spearing a piece of carrot with his fork using more force than necessary. Hermione was doubtful that was all that was on his mind, but decided to let the subject drop.
"Are you ready for Muggle Studies, Ginny?" Hermione asked, changing the subject, as her plate filled with food when she was finally situated.
Ginny smiled brightly despite Harry's obvious snort. "Yes! Finally, no more Snape!" Harry looked downcast at their enthusiasm.
"Harry let it go. It's not like we were going to drop the subject," Hermione stated, pursing her lips at such a thought.
"You'll have to let me know what kind of a teacher she is," he grumbled as he stood, grabbed his bag and left.
"Moody little git, isn't he?" Hermione mused as she forced food into her mouth at an alarming rate. She had stopped at the library before lunch to grab a book she had needed and knew if she didn't eat fast, she would be late to class.
Ginny chuckled a little at Hermione's statement, sharing her sentiment, but said nothing. Ron just looked at her. It was very unlike Hermione to say a bad word about any of her friends. She caught his eye.
"What?"
"Nothing," Ron mumbled as he finished his food. "I'll see you both this afternoon," he rose and headed out the same way Harry had gone for their Divination class.
"Men!" Ginny said, shaking her head in amusement.
"You can say that again. Do you think he'll ever get the point?" Hermione asked Ginny as she sighed.
"Of taking Divination, or of you.err." Ginny searched for the right words, "wanting him?" Hermione blushed, and then looked at Ginny, grinning.
"Either!"
***
Ivy stood in front of the dungeon classroom as her students filed in. She felt confident and collected. She knew what she was talking about and had prepared herself with very little help from Snape's notes. The man knew nothing about muggles and it showed. She had a great laugh when she reviewed the materials he had given her. From the essay on fur coats, to the tests he gave out, and even the answers he marked correct, she could tell he was flying by the seat of his robes.
Things such as 'what is the basic form of communication muggles use?' with answers such as 'the telly' marked correct. First of all, how was that question supposed to help these students at all, and secondly, television was most definitely not the correct answer. Ivy had known then that she was going to have to deprogram these students. As her students took their seats, she went over and shut the door.
"Good afternoon, class. My name is Professor Evans and I will be your permanent Muggle Studies professor. The first thing I want you to do is take your notes from the past month," she paused as papers around her rustled, "and tear them all up. You will not need any information that is on those. I want you to clear your minds and we will all begin with a clean slate," she watched as the students grinned and tore the notes they had taken to shreds. She smirked at the rueful looks they were all giving the papers.
"Now," she said as the paper noises began to die down, "in this class we are going to concentrate on muggle interaction, technology, traditions, and history. You will need to be prepared to know what ended World War II, what a DVD player is, and who Freud was if you want to manage in the muggle world. I realize that this class has a diverse group of people from various walks of life and I expect you all to be able to work together, and help each other. For some of you, this may come easily, growing up in a muggle household, for others it will be extremely hard, having never known what the muggle world is like. Working with each other will make this class that much easier."
As her speech ended, Ivy heard the door to the classroom open. When she turned slightly to look, not wanting to embarrass whoever was late to her class, she groaned out loud. Snape walked into her class and stood to her left.
"Can I help you, Professor Snape?" Ivy asked carefully.
"I'm just here to observe, go about your class, Ms. Evans," he stated. Ivy resisted the urge to let her jaw drop.
"Please excuse this interruption, class. Professor, can I see you outside please?" Ivy said, fire flashing in her eyes.
"No need, Ms. Evans. I am perfectly content to stand here and observe," Snape was almost smiling at Ivy, challenging her to lose her temper, and this time in front of her class.
Controlling her emotions, as well as the volume of her voice was going to be hard, but Ivy closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, letting the breath slowly escape, while she collected her thoughts.
"Professor Snape, will you please join me outside," she didn't ask this time, she stated. She walked to the door, opened it, and waved her hand through. Snape stared at her like she had just asked him to walk through fire but went through the door anyway. Ivy walked out after him and closed the door. Everyone in the class looked at each other and became completely silent, straining their ears to see how their newest teacher would handle Snape.
"First of all, I would appreciate your respect as a Hogwarts teacher by addressing me as Professor, not Ms. As I have said to you before, I am not your student and I do not expect to be treated as such," Snape opened his mouth to respond but Ivy held a hand up. "Secondly, I do not appreciate being spied upon. If there were any questions about my capabilities as a teacher, Professor Dumbledore would not have offered me the position. I did not ask for your assistance, nor do I need it. Now, if you will please excuse me, you have wasted enough of my time as well as my class'."
Ivy spun on her heels and walked back into her room, careful not to let the door slam. She didn't want Snape to have any satisfaction of getting under her skin. When she looked at her class, as she reentered the room, she had to laugh. They were all staring at her in disbelief.
"Let's get started, shall we?" she asked as she walked over to her desk and picked up a box that had been on the floor, letting it rest on her hip as she turned to address the class. "I feel that starting with muggle technology will give you great base to work with, and besides, it's fun!" Ivy smiled as she set the box down on the desk and began to take things out of it. She turned to face the class, holding a small item in her hand and held it up for them to see.
"Does anyone know what this is?" Ivy asked, knowing the muggle born and half blood students in her class would most likely know exactly what it was. Hermione raised her hand.
"Hermione?"
"It's a telephone," she answered, sounding confused.
"You don't sound too sure of yourself. Why is that?" Ivy smiled. Hermione's face contorted into a frown.
"There are no cords to plug it in."
"That's right. This is what muggles call a cellular phone. It is an air based telephone line that can be taken and used anywhere," Dean Thomas' hand raised as she was speaking.
"Yes, Dean?"
"What do you mean by air based?"
"I'm glad you caught that. Muggle telephones are, for the most part, landlines. That means that they have to be plugged into an outlet in order for them to work properly. Cell phones are airlines, meaning that the sound waves travel through the air from tower to tower as opposed to through wires. Any questions so far?" Ivy asked, hoping not to have to explain what a telephone was. They should have learned that in their first year of Muggle Studies. Neville Longbottom raised his hand.
"Go ahead, Neville."
"Is.is that yours?"
Ivy couldn't help but give a short chuckle. "Yes, it is," she hit a few buttons on the phone she had previously enchanted and it came alive on it's own accord. It played the show tune "The Entertainer," though Ivy was sure none of her class would know that, and if they did, she would eat her shoe. The class sat dumbfounded, listening to the high-pitched notes shrilly bouncing off the walls of the classroom.
"That sound means that someone is calling me. Well, normally that is what it means. I enchanted this before class in order for it to work. Unfortunately, this phone is pretty much obsolete in the wizarding world. As a matter of fact, everything in this box quits working once you cross the barrier," Ivy gestured to the box that sat on her desk. The students tore their gaze away from the cell phone and struggled to concentrate on Ivy's voice.
"What I want you to do now is get into groups of five. Today, I will let you pick the groups, but if there are any discrepancies, I will have no problems rearranging those groups," Ivy's warning was disregarded as the students clambered over tables and chairs to reach their friends before someone else did.
"Okay, I will give each group an object. You will be allowed to take it with you and work with it together. Right now I will tell you nothing but what the object is called. What you need to figure out is how it works, what it does, and why muggles use them. Your group will give a presentation on the object and hand in three feet of parchment on it a week from today. You may use any means necessary to find out what it does, be it the library, other friends not in the class, or you can even ask me. Please remember that these object are my personal belongings and they are only enchanted to work for a week."
Ivy took the box and began assigning objects to her students. As she approached the last group, she smiled. The last thing in the box was her most prized possession from the muggle world and she would not have entrusted it to anyone but Hermione and Ginny.
"Okay, this is your object," Ivy placed a circular object that had a cord coming out the side of it attached to something that looked an awful lot like a headband in Ginny's opinion. "Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Dean, and Seamus," Ivy muttered as she made a note on a piece of parchment. She reached into the box again and pulled out five small boxes. They were perfectly square and very thin. "You will need these to work with the CD player. These are the CDs."
As Ivy walked away, Hermione began pushing the buttons on the CD player while Neville, Dean, and Seamus tried opening the boxes. Ginny took control of the cord and headband. The class was loud and everyone seemed to be having a good time as Ivy walked around, observing and answering any questions. She glanced at her watch and realized that time had flown fast.
"Okay class! For next lesson, I want you all to read chapter five in your book. It is called Democracies of the World. I understand it may be a bit boring, but I need you all to have a good foundation when we begin to talk about muggle history. If there are no more questions, you are free to go and I will see you all on Thursday."
Everyone left the classroom chattering about their new gadgets.
"Now that is Muggle Studies. Not a word about fur coats!" Dean smiled as they walked through the halls. His eyes lit up as if just remembering something. "Speaking of Snape, did anyone catch what she said to him?"
"I think she asked him to respect her, but I wasn't listening too closely. She has every right to expect that of him though. He was treating her like she was a student. Ms. Evans, honestly!" Hermione's brow furrowed as she spoke. She rather liked her new professor, and found Snape's actions to be unprofessional to say the least. They caught up to the rest of the students who were chatting casually about this new approach to Muggle Studies. It was unanimous that they liked it much better than fur coats.
A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I really appreciate the feedback! This chapter isn't really dedicated to anyone, but I would like to say thanks to Theresa for supporting me and being interested and asking questions!