Chapter 4
Alicia walked to the front of the classroom and sat down behind her desk, waiting for her first class to file in. Ironically, it was the fifth year Slytherins and Gryffindors. A double session. She'd found out from Snape that normally the two houses had Double Potion together; for some reason Dumbledore had decided to give them Double Defense Against the Dark Arts as well.
The students arrived somewhat sporadically. A short bushy-haired girl was one of the first, and she sat at the front of the class, her hands clasped in front of her. Draco arrived soon after, sitting on the other side near the back of the room. After a few minutes, most of the class had arrived, and Alicia stood as the clock struck 9:00.
"I expect all of you to be here every week on time. I will accept no exceptions from any of you." A few stragglers walked in, and Alicia raised a brow. "And you are?" she asked.
"N-Neville L-Lon-Longbottom, professor," one of the boys stuttered. He had messy brown hair and was slightly pudgy.
The other had black hair and dark skin, and he smirked, answering confidently, "Blaise Zabini."
"I see. Well, Messrs. Zabini and Longbottom, please see me after class for a discussion on arriving to class ON TIME!" she ended abruptly, turning to the blackboard. She wrote her name on it. "My name," she turned back to the students, raising a brow at the two boys still standing. Longbottom walked to the only seat left open, next to the bushy-haired girl in the front row. Zabini sat next to Draco. "My name," she continued softly, "is Alicia Malfoy, Professor Malfoy to you. As I said earlier, I will not tolerate anyone being late. After today, a round ten points will be deducted from the house of each person who is so." Two small brown-haired girls on the left side of the room shared a whispered conversation.
"I also," Alicia said, enunciating each word clearly, "do not tolerate any conversations taking place while I am speaking." She kept her gaze on the two girls as they blushed and looked down at their books. "Today we will not study an animal, as you have no doubt done in the past," she said, and began to walk from one side of the room to the other, slowly, studying each student in turn. "Today, we will learn more of Voldemort." Most of the students gasped. "What do you know of him?"
Immediately the girl in the front row raised her hand.
"When I call on you," Alicia said, "I will expect you to stand and state your name and house before answering my question." She pointed at the girl. "Yes?"
"Hermione Granger, Gryffindor. You-Know-Who—"
"Say the name, Miss Granger," Alicia interrupted softly, sitting back down in her chair.
"Yes, ma'am," Granger nodded. "Voldemort's real name was Tom Marvolo Riddle. He went to school here fifty years ago. He was a Slytherin, prefect and later Head Boy, and won an award for special services to the school after he turned in the supposed heir to Slytherin after the Chamber of Secrets was opened." The girl took a deep breath. "After his graduation he disappeared, and when he reappeared, he did so as Voldemort, not as Tom Riddle." She glanced at Alicia, seeking permission to continue.
"Very good, Miss Granger. Two points to Gryffindor; you may sit down." Alicia stood up again, and walked down the aisle, eyeing each of the students, appraising what they would be able to contribute. "You," she said, pointing at the dark-haired boy who had walked in late, "what happened to Voldemort fourteen years ago?"
"Blaise Zabini, Slytherin," he said, standing up. "He was defeated by Harry Potter when the Avada Kedavra curse back-fired upon him, draining him of his powers."
"Wonderful; two points to Slytherin. Now then," Alicia said, walking back up to the front of the room and sitting on the edge of her desk. She grabbed the class roster, glancing down at it while continuing to speak. "While talking with Professor Dumbledore," she glanced at her nephew, purposefully leaving out the fact that she had gained most of the information while speaking with him, "I learned that last year Professor Moody showed you the Killing Curse. While with him, you learned practical application. With me, you will learn the history of it, as well as the history of other curses you no doubt learned under his tutelage.
"Knowing the practical application of something can only go so far. If you know its history, you will know how the curse was made, who made it—and perhaps you can discover how to create a counter-curse to the same effect. I do not expect many of you to be able to do this, as it requires a very versatile and open mind, not to mention a broom-load of creativity.
"So, I will pair you up—randomly—with someone, and you shall work together to research the curse I assign you." She looked down at the roster, running her finger along the names. "Miss Parkinson, Mister Potter; Mister Longbottom, Miss Bulstrode; Miss Granger, Mister Zabini; Mister Malfoy…" she paused in her perusal of the list and looked up at the students. "Mister Malfoy, Mister Weasley," she allowed herself a small smile at this, knowing Draco's hatred of the Weasleys, "Miss Patil, Mister Goyle; Mister Crabbe, Miss Brown…"
When she had finished pairing them up, she stood. "Well?" she asked, raising a brow. "Sit with your partner!" There was a shuffle of feet, papers, and chairs as half the students stood and made their way over to their partner, nearly everyone groaning at the injustice of it all. When they were all situated… No, wait. "Mister Zabini?" Alicia asked. He was still sitting where he had, and Miss Granger had not moved. However, there were no empty spots by Zabini; only Miss Granger.
"Yes, professor?" the boy asked, smirking.
"Sit by Miss Granger." When he still did not move, she stood straighter, allowing her eyes to grow cold. "Now," she whispered menacingly. The boy lost a bit of his smirk and walked over to Miss Granger, scowling at the Gryffindor before sitting. "Now then," Alicia slipped back into her smile easily. She checked her watch. Still nearly a half hour of class left. "Pop quiz," she grinned. The class groaned, although she could have sworn Miss Granger was grinning back at her. She passed out the quiz she had made up that morning, basically a run-through of what Moody had taught the year before.
When she was done she walked back to her chair, sitting down and opening up the class roster again. She got out a sheet of parchment and dipped her quill in the ink before proceeding to write the partners' names down and pairing them with a curse. When she finished with that she looked up. It was rather eerily quiet. She allowed a small smile—that would be termed evil by some—to overtake her face and stood. "Pass your quizzes up; make sure your name is on it." There was some shuffling of papers as they were passed up. Alicia collected them from the front row before walking back to her desk and grabbing the list of partners and curses.
"Now, when I call your names, you will come up and get your curse from me.
"Potter, Parkinson!"
"Granger, Zabini!"
"Malfoy, Weasley!"
When she'd run through everyone, and they had all received their curse, she stood. "I expect six inches of preliminary work on the curse by our next meeting. I expect you to work together; I will know if you don't." She looked at each student in turn. "Class dismissed! Zabini, Longbottom—we need to speak."
Alicia watched as the students filed out…all but four. Zabini, Longbottom, Granger, and… Draco. She ignored the last two and said to Zabini and Longbottom, "I expect you to be on time from now on. Why were you late?"
"I was working with Professor Sprout on a project for Herbology," Longbottom said, looking at his feet. "I rather lost track of time."
"Zabini?" Alicia asked, her brow raised as she stared down at the Slytherin.
"I don't see why it matters," he said.
Alicia's eyes darkened. "Detention at nine. We need to work on your manners, Mr. Zabini. You two," she said, indicating Zabini and Longbottom, "can go. Granger, Malfoy; what are you two doing here?"
Zabini spoke up, not having left. "We can't work together," he said, nodding at Granger. The girl looked slightly miffed, but said nothing, only crossed her arms.
Alicia raised a brow imperiously as Draco unsuccessfully attempted to cover a snort. He knew, at least, that no one crossed Alicia. "And why not?" she asked quietly.
"Because we… don't get along," Zabini said, shifting uncomfortably.
Alicia smiled slightly. "Well you had better get along then, because you two will be paired for the rest of the year. And judging from Miss Granger's excellent record, I expect marvelous work from the two of you."
Zabini scowled at her and left the room, Granger running after him mumbling about setting up a time to work together.
"Aunt, are you sure that was wise?" Draco asked wryly.
"Draco," Alicia said condescendingly, "since when have I ever given you leave to question me?"
He seriously looked as though he were considering it.
She grinned at him and laughed. "Just go on; don't you have a class to get to? Or are you going to try and talk me into switching you with someone else?" she asked, an evil glint in her eye.
"Oh, right," Draco snorted, "like I'm going to fall for that one."
"See you later, kid," she said, reaching out to mess his hair. He pulled away before she could get to it, raising a brow.
"Don't you think I'm a bit old for that?"
"You'll never be too old for it, Draco," Alicia said, smiling. "I'll see you later, okay?"
Draco shook his head, grinning—not smirking. "Alright, Alicia." He then grabbed his books and left the room.
Alicia sat down, putting her chin in her hand and sighing. Draco was a wonderful kid, and she loved him like a son. Her free hand wandered down to her abdomen and she smiled sorrowfully. She was getting old. Oh, she was still only 34, but how many women—even witches—had children that late in life? And she didn't have any romantic prospects anyway…
Not that she hadn't. At one point she'd been the belle of the ball…
"Alicia, may I have this dance?" her brother purred, a twinkle in his eye.
She smiled at him, rolling her eyes. "Of course," she murmured.
Halfway through the dance, someone tapped her brother on the shoulder. "May I cut in?" Edward Lestrange asked.
Lucius bowed his head gracefully and Alicia accepted the change in partners with nary a change in her facial expression.
She couldn't remember a time when she had danced a dance with only one person. Someone had always cut in. It had usually been Edward. They had dated for most of her sixth and seventh years, as well as most of the year after that…
Until he surprised her—as well as everyone else—by eloping with Bellatrix Black. They were apparently extremely close. She had learned afterwards that the Dark Lord had endorsed their marriage. She had been forced to work with them quite a lot, much to her dismay. After all, she had been a servant of the Dark Lord as well. Luckily, she had joined before either of them…
But had it really been luck? She had joined mostly because of the thought of all that power… Not to mention the pressure she had received from both her brother and father. And neither of those reasons were good ones. Oh, it hadn't lasted too long… About six months or so, really.
That was when she had become a spy. She didn't regret the decision, although she abhorred the circumstances that had led to it.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" a petite red head—who had just walked in the door, her books in her hands—said, looking ashamed.
Alicia looked up. "Don't be," she said reassuringly. "Are you here for the—" she checked her chart—"fourth year Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson?"
"Yes. Our last class got out early," the girl said quietly, twirling a piece of hair with her finger nervously. "Everyone else is either outside or in the common room… I didn't have anything to do so I decided to come here—" She stopped talking, realizing she was rambling, and blushed. "I'm sorry. I tend to do that when I'm nervous," she admitted, smiling wryly.
Alicia smiled back. She could get to like this girl. "What's your name?" she asked.
"Ginny Weasley."
"It's good to meet you, Miss Weasley," Alicia murmured. She knew what most of her family thought of the Weasleys, although she didn't really agree with them. "I'm Professor Alicia Malfoy."
"A pleasure, I'm sure," Ginny smiled.
Alicia grinned. Well, she seemed to be off to a good start with this class at least.
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Disclaimer: Did you think I owned these characters? *laughs maniacally* Wow. Hehe. *giggles*