a/n: Sorry, sorry! This took too long to get up, I just had some major writer's block, plus I have way too much going on right now... Maybe I'll get a lot done over Christmas break. We can only hope.
* The night of 1 September swept down upon Hogwarts and engulfed it entirely. The first night of the new term was one of the few Scottish nights where the heat was so oppressive that it became almost unbearable. Hermione sat coolly at the staff table between Severus and Remus wearing light summer robes of a pale blue color. She was extremely quiet, almost tense in a way, as she watched Minerva McGonagall slowly leading a train of trembling first years through the door of the great hall. The group reached the top of the hall and the sorting process began, long and tedious as ever. Hermione eventually allowed her eyes to leave the group standing before her and wonder around the hall, gazing at the older students. She found the seventh years truly fascinating – she remembered many of them from her own final year as tiny first year students who idolized their Head Girl. It was an amazing phenomenon, Hermione decided looking down the table at her colleagues, and it probably lost its novelty after a few years in the teaching profession. She allowed herself to drift into a hazy dream world until she heard Dumbledore's voice rise above the throb of murmuring buzzing in the hall. At once, the room became silent, "I know you are all eager to get to the feast, but I have a few words of announcement. Younger students need to be aware that the dark forest is strictly forbidden and several of you older years need to be reminded," Dumbledore chuckled quietly and continued, "Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you that magic is strictly forbidden in the corridors, and that anyone caught with the products of Messrs. Fred and George Weasley will receive a detention. Finally, I must tell you that Professor Flitwick has left us to enjoy a peaceful retirement. He will be sorely missed, but we are glad to welcome Professor Granger to fill his ample shoes. Now then... there was one more thing," Dumbledore trailed off for a moment, "Oh yes, and tuck in!"
Hermione turned away from the sight of the students attacking their meals with a vengeance and looked at Severus, "Has the clause about the Weasley twins been around for long?"
Severus laughed softly, so as not to startle the students with a sound of merriment from their snarky professor, "Oh yes, ever since they became successful. I don't believe Filch has ever forgotten that incident with the firecrackers and Ms. Umbridge."
"I don't think anyone else ever will either. It was certainly a memorable day." Hermione smiled at her newly won friend. Severus had actually come to breakfast that morning and sat beside her, comforting in his silence as she faced an onslaught of questions from the staff. By the end of the meal her entire story had come out, causing the entire Hogwarts teaching staff to spend the rest of the day pondering the peculiar behavior of 1/3 of the Dream Team. Hermione had holed herself up in the dungeons (in a desperate attempt to avoid discussing the topic further) and talked with Severus about anything and everything for hours.
"Are you nervous about tomorrow, Hermione?" Remus looked up from his meal and smiled at the new teacher.
"Sort of. I'm petrified to be teaching the seventh years. I was at school when they were... and I'm really not that much older than they are." Hermione laughed nervously, turning her attention to the vast array of students that sat before her.
Albus Dumbledore laughed, overhearing the conversation, "Nothing to be worried about, my dear. I had the same fear when I first became a teacher a rather long time ago. And I think you'll find that Severus did as well."
Severus sneered, albeit good naturedly, "Yes, I too was the youngest teacher on the staff. Twenty-nine, wasn't I Headmaster?"
"Yes indeed, my boy, yes indeed. I remember the color of your face on the morning of the second vividly. It was..."
"I've got the mental image now, Professor," Hermione grinned cheerfully, "Thanks."
"It won't be too bad, Hermione dear," Professor McGonagall said, glancing down at her protégée.
"I hope you're right," Hermione said, laughing ironically, and returned to her dinner.
* When Hermione awoke the next morning, she found herself entirely too jittery to go to breakfast. Instead, she decided as she pulled her black teacher's robes on, she would go straight to the classroom in order to be somewhat composed when her students arrived. Smiling grimly at her appearance in the mirror, she made her way down to the Charms classroom where she had studied for seven of the best years of her life. She grinned as she recognized the cabinet in the front of the room, which held cushions and things for practicing charm work on. She laughed noticing the two enormous bookshelves on opposite sides of the room that now housed her own books and a selection of books about charms from the Hogwarts library. Finally, Hermione made her way to the front of the room where she sat for several hours, contemplating the day. She was startled out of her reverie by the creaking of the heavy door to the classroom.
In through said door marched 20 fourteen-year-old Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, laughing with one another with back to school energy. Slowly, they all found seats that satisfied them and turned their attention to the head of the class, where sat their young professor. Slowly, Hermione rose to full height and circled around her desk to perch on top of it. "Good morning. I'm Professor Granger, welcome to fourth year Charms. I think you'll find this a rather interesting year... you'll be learning several charms that you will certainly find useful, if not entertaining, to perform. Example," Hermione glanced around the room swiftly and spotted a girl in the back row that had laid her wand on top of her books, "Accio!" The wand zoomed through the air and landed neatly in her outstretched hand. Hermione looked at the girl who was staring in stunned silence at her wand. The professor grinned and muttered the banishing charm, watching in satisfaction as the wand flew back into its owner's hand. "Name please Miss?" Hermione asked,
"Sara. Sara Roberts. That was bloody good Professor!" the mousy-haired girl exclaimed.
Hermione laughed, the girl reminded her somewhat of Ron Weasley. No, bad Granger. Don't think of Ron! "Thank you Miss Roberts. Now I'll call roll..."
* One month later, Hermione found herself sitting at breakfast eating a bit of toast before her first class. She had found that eating breakfast in the morning was definitely an essential to surviving a day filled with Charms-Gone-Wrong, or CGW's as she called them. One would never think, until one had actually taught the subject, that Charms could be so dangerous. But of course, this was Hogwarts. Anything could be considered "dangerous".
"Hermione," Severus called to her, "Hermione you've got an owl hovering over your head."
"What?" Hermione glanced up from the cup of tea she had been pouring, "Oh, thank you Severus." Hermione reached up and untied the note from the owl's outstretched leg. Unrolling the parchment, she quickly scanned the letter.
Beloved Bookworm of ours:
Hermione! How's rainy old England? I'm enjoying basking in the sun of this immensely glorious island... Pity Harry has holed himself up in our hotel room trying to run the entire Auror office by floo. Naturally, it's not working very well. I've been trying to coax him out of there for days, but he doesn't seem to want to listen to me... But what else is new, right?
Anyway, it looks like we'll be coming back to the UK before the Christmas hols. How about coming to us for them? Harry misses you dreadfully (at least I think he does... by now he probably misses me dreadfully) and I'd love seeing you again. I want to hear all about old Hogwarts when we get back. Are you enjoying my beloved Slyths?
Write soon love. I need someone to correspond with while Harry turns himself into a workaholic. Gee, I wonder where he got it from...
Love,
Draco (and Harry too, if I could get him away from the fireplace long enough to sign this)
Hermione laughed, looking up from the note. Good old Draco... Ever since graduation he had very rarely failed to put a smile on her face, even if he hadn't intended to be amusing.
"Good news, Hermione?" Severus glanced at her, seeing that she was looking particularly content upon scrutinizing her post.
"Oh just a letter from Draco," Hermione passed it to him, "He's having fun with Harry." She said sarcastically.
"Ridiculous Gryffindors. Doesn't your house know the meaning of holiday?"
"Of course we do, Harry's just paranoid is all. I'll send Draco a note telling him to give Har a good slap for me. That will bring him around just fine."
Severus grinned, "Why didn't the hat make you a Slytherin? You would have done well, cherie."
"Probably has something to do with the fact that my tainted blood would have inflicted upon the house a great plague," Hermione snorted, somewhat sardonically.
"Ha ha," Severus said sarcastically. The pair had had several discussions about their respective houses, the good parts and the bad. They reached a consensus that neither was perfect but that each was individually suited for his own house. Both parties still enjoyed harassing the other about his or her "home away from home".
Hermione grinned at him and took a swig from his goblet of pumpkin juice, "I've got to go, I have to teach an early class. See you at lunch Sev,"
Hermione took off from the table; hearing a voice from behind her grumbling, "Don't call me Sev."
a/n: Yay! Un autre chaptre est finir. I gave you 100 more words to make up for not updating last week. Please don't hurt me... Now go r/r!