Hey, everyone! Thanks for all the praise! It's really encouraging to see this many reviews in a twenty-four hour period. I hope you look on this chapter as fondly as you did the first one. I'm glad you're all fond of Sevvy, too. No worries. He'll come around time to time. After all, he is still a spy.

Chapter Two

"This isn't so hard," Harry said to himself from behind his desk, a pile of ungraded paperwork beside him.

It had been two weeks since the start of the semester, and Harry was expecting drastic, horrible things to happen. But, on the whole, his students were well-mannered, polite, intelligent kids. Granted there were a few Slytherins he wanted to Avada, and this one Ravenclaw girl that completely botched the most simple of incantations. Which didn't make much sense, considering her House.

There was a soft tap on his door, and Harry waved a hand at it, not wanting to bother with his wand. The door slid open and he looked up to see a nervous first-year girl slip inside. Her uniform identified her as a Ravenclaw, and Harry sat back, curious.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Woodscraft," Harry said, pleased he'd remembered her name. Evelyn Woodscraft, a timid but intelligent young witch with much promise.

"Good afternoon, Professor Potter," she said shyly.

Harry smiled encouragingly. "How can I help you today?"

The girl swallowed and bravely continued all the way up to his desk. "I…I just wanted to say…I mean, we all did, but…we…we couldn't all come down here, because some of us had classes and others had homework, but I was done and really didn't have a good excuse not to." She looked up from studying the wood of Harry's desk, horrified at how she'd phrased that. "Not that I was looking for an excuse not to come see you, Professor! I just…oh, bugger…" Again she looked shocked at her slip of tongue. "I'm sorry! I…"

Harry held up a hand, chuckling softly. "It's perfectly alright, Ms. Woodscraft. How about we start from the beginning. Why did you come all the way to see me? And who is the 'we' you were referring to?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you." The girl looked relieved that he wasn't upset and took a deep breath to calm herself before beginning again, this time making eye contact. "I'm here on behalf of my House, Professor Potter," she said clearly. "We wanted to thank you for being so patient with Terri. She's really very smart, only she's not used to magic yet, muggle-raised you know, and everything's overwhelming her a little just now. We've been trying to help her adjust, but…" The girl trailed off, looking troubled.

Harry leaned back into his chair and laced his fingers together, propping his chin on them as he regarded his charge. "But Professor Malfoy isn't making it so easy, is he?" Harry guessed.

The girl's eyes flew to his, surprised. "How did you know?" She blurted in surprise.

Harry laughed kindly. "You could say I know exactly where she's coming from right now." He pulled a long face. "Unfortunately, there's not much to be done about Draco's attitude problem, short of challenging him, and I'm not allowed to do that anymore." He grinned rakishly at the Ravenclaw girl. "But, now that I know why Ms. Whitel is so behind, it will be much easier to help her along. Thank you for coming down here to tell me about it, Ms. Woodscraft."

The girl flushed with Harry's praise. "It was no problem, sir!" She squeaked.

Harry smiled kindly at her. "Ms. Whitel is fortunate to have such a caring House. Please continue to look out for each other so fondly."

"Sure thing!" The girl breathed. She shook herself slightly and stepped back. "I… um…I better get back…to my House…"

Harry nodded genially. "Be careful now, Ms. Woodscraft."

She nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow, Professor!"

Harry smiled and nodded again, then she was gone. He chuckled as he bent over his work again, shaking his head. Kids these days…

Ten minutes later, Harry's door banged open, making the young teacher jump a little and look up to see one of his third-year girls race into the room in tears. Panic rose in him as she raced up to his desk and looked at him pleadingly. He was never any good with crying girls!

"Ms. Delcross…?" Harry queried reluctantly. This was Vivian Delcross, a Gryffindor, so he was doubly trapped.

"Professor!" The girl sobbed. "I-It's Aren! He-he dumped me for that skank from Hufflepuff!"

Harry resisted the urge to edge away. It was worse than he thought. How was he supposed to help with relationship problems when his longest one didn't even last three months?

"Ah…um…" Harry looked around desperately for a source of inspiration. "A…Did he…say that…to you…?" He asked, praying he wasn't making it worse.

The young woman shook her head, spraying tears. "B-but I saw him with her! L-leaning o-over her…s-s-so intimately!"

"Really…?" Harry commented. What the bloody hell did he say to that?!

She nodded fiercely, rubbing at her eyes. "They were in t-the L-Library! T-together!"

"Are you…sure they weren't just…sharing a book?" Harry hazard.

"He was smiling at her!" Vivian insisted.

"Ah…" Harry frowned, confused. "He's…not allowed to smile at other people?"

"Professor!" She wailed, dissolving into tears again.

"Of course not!" Harry back-peddled drastically. Anything to stop the wailing. "Silly me, what was I thinking? No smiling. Got it."

"He doesn't l-l-like me any m-m-m-more!" She cried.

"But he never actually broke up with you," Harry stated. He thought for a moment. "Aren… Mr. Marten? Wasn't he the one who brought you flowers yesterday?"

Vivian nodded, the tears slowing down.

"And chocolates most likely illegally brought from Honeydukes in the dead of night?"

Vivian nodded again, smiling a little now.

"Isn't Mr. Marten the one who stood up against Professor Malfoy for you?" Harry pushed. "And ended up with a week of detentions for his efforts."

"Two weeks," she sniffed and smiled brilliantly. "And he was wonderfully dashing for it! And he wrote me this adorable little note that said all kinds of sweet things!"

Harry smiled. "Sounds like a young man head-over-heels in love."

Vivian got a dreamy look on her face. "Do you think so, Professor?"

Harry laughed. "Definitely."

Vivian's face fell. "But…what about that Hufflepuff girl?"

"Maybe you should ask him about it first," Harry suggested mildly, "before abandoning all hope. Especially since he seems to make you so happy."

The young woman blushed prettily. "I…yes, he does. I'll do that, then!"

Harry smiled, relieved that the crisis was past, and nodded to the doorway, where a few of the other Gryffindor third-year girls stood anxiously. "Your friends are here."

Vivian turned and raced up to meet them, only to pause at the door and turn back to him with a beaming smile. "Thanks, Professor Potter! You're the best!"

Harry chuckled sheepishly. "I do try, Ms. Delcross. Take care now."

"I will!"

Harry sighed in relief as they left, and waved his hand at the door to close it. Merlin help him if another girl ran in here in tears. He collapsed over his work briefly, half sighing and half sobbing in relief before gathering himself and focusing on the last half of his work. Dinner was soon and he wanted to finish this before then so he'd have free time afterward to look through some new books he got from the Library and owl Hermione and Ron. They expected almost weekly reports from him about his new job and life at school, just as Harry wanted to know everything that was going on with their life together with a second kid on their way.

With a sigh, Harry immersed himself in his work until chimes sang through the air, announcing dinner. He rose eagerly, just finishing the last essay, and hurried to the Banquet Hall, his stomach growling in anticipation.

By some sick twist of fate, Harry was late enough that the only place left was beside Draco. He sighed, resigning himself, and sat down. He'd ignore the conceited prick as long as he could. Which, if he was lucky, would be the entire meal.

"Well, well," Draco sneered lowly, shooting down Harry's plan. "If it isn't Saint Potter."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Jealous much, Malfoy?"

Harry could feel the heat from Draco's glare, although he kept his eyes on the mass of students eating before him. "You wish, Potter!"

Harry turned slightly to throw his own smirk at Draco. "Just because you're a failure as a teacher, Malfoy, doesn't mean you have to take it out on me. Or the students, for that matter."

Draco arched an eyebrow. "I have no idea of what you speak, Potter. Not that it's a big change. I doubt you know what you talk about half the time."

Harry's jaw clenched. "You know exactly what I mean, Ferret-boy," he hissed lowly. "You're being way too hard on the Whitel girl from Ravenclaw."

"Whitel?" Draco snorted derisively. "That incompetent fool."

Harry seethed, his hand clenching his fork tightly. "She's plenty intelligent, if you just got off her back a little."

"She's an idiot on par with Longbottom," Draco shot back. "She shouldn't even be allowed in this school!"

"She belongs right where she is!" Harry growled, fully glaring at Draco now. "And you'd see that if you actually tried teaching the girl instead of insulting her at every moment!"

Draco's eyes sharpened maliciously. "Careful, Potter," he said slyly. "You remember what happened to the last girl you tried to take under your wing." He leaned closer, lowering his voice to a whisper. "In seventh year…Do you still hear her screams, Harry? Late at night?"

Harry felt himself go pale, the now-slightly-bent fork dropping to his plate with a small clatter. Memories he'd run from before threatened to well up again, and he stood sharply. Not bothering to look at Draco, he strode purposefully from the Hall, trying not to attract attention. Still, he could feel eyes on his back as he left, and fought for control until he could reach the safety of his room.

Harry gasped, his eyes stinging with tears, as he closed, locked, and spelled his door. Then he promptly slid down to the floor and closed his eyes, letting the tears and memories come flooding back.

Seventh year…The only year he wanted to erase completely from his mind…

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