Chapter 2, September the First
Ron had been dumbfounded by Harry's news. "Both of you are going to be TEACHERS?" he had asked. Harry had nodded. After a while Ron had brought to Harry's attention the fact that Ginny was still at Hogwarts... not to mention the Creevey brothers, and the rumor that neither Crabbe nor Goyle had graduated. Harry's stomach had started bubbling. He had not actually thought about the teaching bit. He still remembered much of what he had taught to the D.A. and what his many, many DADA teachers had taught him. He had made plans to meet up with Hermione at nine o'clock on September first at Diagon Alley. After that they would apparate to Hogsmeade and walk from there.
The days ticked by slowly and at last Harry grabbed hold of his luggage and apparated to Diagon Alley. He found Hermione sitting at on a bench outside of Flourish and Blotts. She looked different somehow. She had her hair pulled back in a McGonagall-fashion bun and was wearing a pair of midnight- blue robes.
"Hello Harry!" she greeted him, jumping up and giving him a hug. "I've just been reading this book on Hogwarts teachers. Funny subject, actually. I was right you know. I am the youngest. Not by much of course... but my birthday isn't for a couple weeks."
Harry smiled and offered to help her with her luggage. "I almost forgot your birthday's in September," Harry said. "I'll have to pick something up for you."
"Oh," she said, blushing. "Oh, you don't have to do that." They walked down the street and stopped to pick up some supplies. Harry was glad that Hermione had different robes on, or else he might have neglected to get a set without the school crest on them. When he did buy a pair, they too wear black. They wandered into a shop with a sign up front which read, "Nectar Duchesses, An Off Branch of Honeydukes," where Hermione purchased a jar of hard candy to keep on her desk. While she ducked into a lady's clothing store, Harry went across the way to buy a birthday present. He went inside the pet store where she had been distracted by Crookshanks all those years ago and found a black and white speckled owl for her. When he met up with her again she gasped.
"Happy birthday!" Harry said, handing over the bird.
"Thank you so much Harry!" Hermione gave him a second hug.
"You two dating then, Potter?" asked a drawling voice Harry had hoped to never hear again. Hermione backed out of Harry's arms and squinted up at a young man with slick blond hair, wearing a very expensive looking pair of silk robes.
"Malfoy," Harry said, coolly.
"Right," Malfoy said, smirking. "By the way Potter, I hope you know that there aren't any teachers to watch your back anymore." Hermione laughed slightly. "Silly little Draco must not have heard the news," she said, in a sing-song voice.
"What's this?" Malfoy asked, eyebrows knitting.
"We've just become professors," Hermione said, smiling in a would-be innocent way.
"Yeah," said Harry. "So if you ever choose to have children, which I severely hope you don't, I'd teach them some manners before sending them off if I were you."
"See you later," Hermione said cheerfully before grabbing Harry's arm and walking off without a backward glance.
It was four o'clock when they arrived in Hogsmeade, and they were so weighed down by packages that Hermione ended up getting out her wand and magicking them so that they would glide before her. They walked slowly down the road that led to the school. Harry's nerves were starting up again. He did not like the idea of preparing lesson plan after lesson plan and then actually using them. It would be nice to see Dumbledore again, and Harry was also glad that Hermione would be here. He glanced over at her and she smiled. Her teeth were straight and white and he couldn't help but smile back. His stomach did an odd sort of flip-flop and he jerked his eyes back onto the road, trying hard to get Malfoy's comment out of his head. At the same time though, he was thinking about the hug they had shared. Hermione was his friend, but could there ever be more? He scolded himself for thinking about it at all.
They reached the castle about fifteen minutes later and climbed up the stairs, not entirely sure where they should go. Professor Flitwick popped his head through the doors into the Great Hall and greeted them.
"Hello, hello, hello!" he said, gesturing them to come forward. "Excellent charm, Miss Granger," he said, admiring Hermione's handiwork. He led them up to the staff table where a few of the other teachers were huddled around an assortment of papers.
"Ah, good!" Professor McGonagall said, coming to greet them. "I'll give you the teacher's tour. You can leave your things here. An elf named Dobby asked to put your things away personally... by the way Miss Granger, excellent bun." She led them out of the hall and up to the staff room. Harry had been here before, but had not had a very good look. There were tables as well as sofas and an area where they could find tea and coffee. Then she led them down the hall and to the entrance of Dumbledore's office.
"The password is 'Cotton Candy,'" she said. "I don't know what that is. Some sort of muggle sweet, I imagine." The stairs leading to Dumbledore's office opened up, but they kept on walking. "I trust you know where your classrooms will be?" she asked. They both nodded. "Miss Granger, you will be sharing an office with me until I'm made Headmistress. Potter, I'm sure you know where your office will be." Harry almost thought this was funny. He had been into that office under seven different occupants, but he had never dreamed that it would someday be his. "Your apartments are adjoining your offices. If you wish, we can set these up with passwords."
"Professor, are we--?"
"No, no, we aren't sharing apartments Miss Granger. I almost forgot. There's a second room leading from our office." Hermione sighed. "That pretty much wraps things up. Professor Sinistra will be taking over as head of house for Gryffindor. Between classes, it's a good idea to keep a lookout for troublemakers. I'll be giving you your schedules after dinner. You're free to do as you wish. The students will be arriving at 6 o'clock, so be back in the Great Hall by a quarter till." They thanked Professor McGonagall and she walked off.
"Want to take a look at our apartments then?" Harry asked. They walked toward his office first, as it was closer. His office was completely unfurnished, except for the pile of his things on a desk and a chair. "Er," Harry said, looking up and down the walls for a door.
"Here it is," Hermione said, tapping his shoulder. One part of the wall was completely bare except for a minute piece of wood, no bigger than a pea. Hermione tapped it lightly with her wand and a door opened up. They walked in. There was a bed, a wardrobe, an adjoining bathroom, and a nightstand with a lamp. The walls were decorated with polished wood halfway up with light blue paint above. Harry was pleased to find several homely decorations on the mantle of a fireplace in the wall.
"This is excellent," Harry said, examining a beautiful Persian rug on the floor.
"Yeah, it is," Hermione said, nodding. By the time they had gone to see Hermione's room as well, it was time to be getting back down to the feast.
As they entered the Great Hall, Harry was amazed at how weird it felt to be heading toward the staff table, rather than the Gryffindor table he had ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner at for the last seven years in a row. Then he moved uncomfortably as he caught a glance at Snape, who was just sitting down next to Madam Hooch. They sat down alongside the chair they supposed to be Hagrid's. Harry tried to remind himself that this was only a feast and not to be too nervous, but he couldn't help it.
"Don't worry Harry," Hermione said, soothingly, laying a hand on his arm. His stomach flopped again. He smiled up at her and tried to explain his stomach's ailment away to himself as nothing more than hunger. Hermione was his friend after all. Although, as Harry swept his eyes up and down the table, he realized that if he was going to be committed to this job, Hermione was going to be the only non-student available as a future wife, unless he suddenly felt like becoming better acquainted to Professor Trelawney. It was much too early to be worrying about that though.
Students began to flood into the hall rather more suddenly than Harry had expected. With a pang he realized that every single one of them was going to be his student and expect him to act like a professional. Across the hall, Harry spotted a familiar face. A girl with a mop of red hair was waving to him. He waved back. Over at the Slytherin table, Harry was pleased to find that neither Crabbe or Goyle were in sight. The rumbling died down and Professor McGonagall came in leading miniscule looking first- years. Harry watched and clapped as each new student took his or her place at a table. When Dumbledore stood up, Harry knew what was coming.
"Welcome back! Before the feast starts, we have a few announcements. I am sorry to tell you that this is my last year as the Headmaster of Hogwarts." A great murmur of disappointment came over the room, and Harry noticed one girl had even burst into tears. "My replacement will be Professor Minerva McGonagall." Professor McGonagall stood up and everyone clapped. "As she will not be teaching any longer after this year, we have chosen a replacement for her as well. Professor Granger, if you would?" Hermione stood, trying her best not to smile too much and look professional. There was a scatter of applause, loudest at the Gryffindor table. "Lastly, the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor has been filled once more. If you all would welcome Professor Potter?" Harry stood, bumping against the table as he did so. Everyone was clapping, with the exception of some of the elder Slytherins. He beamed nervously and sat, glad that it was over.
The feast was as excellent as usual. Harry noticed a few different items on the staff table, especially an upgrade on the amount of vegetables. Hermione was talking enthusiastically to him about her ideas for lessons. He nodded, not especially looking forward to his first day of teaching. He was looking slightly enviously at the students who didn't have to put on the show every day. Hagrid had sat down.
"All right Harry?" he asked. "I cried when I foun' out you two was goin ter be made teachers. But yeh derserve it. Yeh really do."
Harry looked further down the table where Snape was sitting, and was not surprised to see the look of malice he was giving him. When Lupin had been made Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Snape had stared at him with a look of hatrid so foul a daisy might have wilted under it. This was very similar to the look Harry was receiving now. After dinner McGonagall handed Harry and Hermione their schedules and Harry set off for his new apartments. He looked over the list in his hands. Tomorrow he would be teaching hufflepuff third-years first, then N.E.W.T. students, and would finish off with Gryffindor first years. He put his wand to the door and entered. As he climbed into bed, anticipation swimming through his head, his last thought was of Hermione's smile, and his stomach flopped once more before he fell to sleep.
A.N. Thank you so much for all of you who read the first chapter! I hope this one was good. It may take me a few days between chapters. I don't know. (
Ron had been dumbfounded by Harry's news. "Both of you are going to be TEACHERS?" he had asked. Harry had nodded. After a while Ron had brought to Harry's attention the fact that Ginny was still at Hogwarts... not to mention the Creevey brothers, and the rumor that neither Crabbe nor Goyle had graduated. Harry's stomach had started bubbling. He had not actually thought about the teaching bit. He still remembered much of what he had taught to the D.A. and what his many, many DADA teachers had taught him. He had made plans to meet up with Hermione at nine o'clock on September first at Diagon Alley. After that they would apparate to Hogsmeade and walk from there.
The days ticked by slowly and at last Harry grabbed hold of his luggage and apparated to Diagon Alley. He found Hermione sitting at on a bench outside of Flourish and Blotts. She looked different somehow. She had her hair pulled back in a McGonagall-fashion bun and was wearing a pair of midnight- blue robes.
"Hello Harry!" she greeted him, jumping up and giving him a hug. "I've just been reading this book on Hogwarts teachers. Funny subject, actually. I was right you know. I am the youngest. Not by much of course... but my birthday isn't for a couple weeks."
Harry smiled and offered to help her with her luggage. "I almost forgot your birthday's in September," Harry said. "I'll have to pick something up for you."
"Oh," she said, blushing. "Oh, you don't have to do that." They walked down the street and stopped to pick up some supplies. Harry was glad that Hermione had different robes on, or else he might have neglected to get a set without the school crest on them. When he did buy a pair, they too wear black. They wandered into a shop with a sign up front which read, "Nectar Duchesses, An Off Branch of Honeydukes," where Hermione purchased a jar of hard candy to keep on her desk. While she ducked into a lady's clothing store, Harry went across the way to buy a birthday present. He went inside the pet store where she had been distracted by Crookshanks all those years ago and found a black and white speckled owl for her. When he met up with her again she gasped.
"Happy birthday!" Harry said, handing over the bird.
"Thank you so much Harry!" Hermione gave him a second hug.
"You two dating then, Potter?" asked a drawling voice Harry had hoped to never hear again. Hermione backed out of Harry's arms and squinted up at a young man with slick blond hair, wearing a very expensive looking pair of silk robes.
"Malfoy," Harry said, coolly.
"Right," Malfoy said, smirking. "By the way Potter, I hope you know that there aren't any teachers to watch your back anymore." Hermione laughed slightly. "Silly little Draco must not have heard the news," she said, in a sing-song voice.
"What's this?" Malfoy asked, eyebrows knitting.
"We've just become professors," Hermione said, smiling in a would-be innocent way.
"Yeah," said Harry. "So if you ever choose to have children, which I severely hope you don't, I'd teach them some manners before sending them off if I were you."
"See you later," Hermione said cheerfully before grabbing Harry's arm and walking off without a backward glance.
It was four o'clock when they arrived in Hogsmeade, and they were so weighed down by packages that Hermione ended up getting out her wand and magicking them so that they would glide before her. They walked slowly down the road that led to the school. Harry's nerves were starting up again. He did not like the idea of preparing lesson plan after lesson plan and then actually using them. It would be nice to see Dumbledore again, and Harry was also glad that Hermione would be here. He glanced over at her and she smiled. Her teeth were straight and white and he couldn't help but smile back. His stomach did an odd sort of flip-flop and he jerked his eyes back onto the road, trying hard to get Malfoy's comment out of his head. At the same time though, he was thinking about the hug they had shared. Hermione was his friend, but could there ever be more? He scolded himself for thinking about it at all.
They reached the castle about fifteen minutes later and climbed up the stairs, not entirely sure where they should go. Professor Flitwick popped his head through the doors into the Great Hall and greeted them.
"Hello, hello, hello!" he said, gesturing them to come forward. "Excellent charm, Miss Granger," he said, admiring Hermione's handiwork. He led them up to the staff table where a few of the other teachers were huddled around an assortment of papers.
"Ah, good!" Professor McGonagall said, coming to greet them. "I'll give you the teacher's tour. You can leave your things here. An elf named Dobby asked to put your things away personally... by the way Miss Granger, excellent bun." She led them out of the hall and up to the staff room. Harry had been here before, but had not had a very good look. There were tables as well as sofas and an area where they could find tea and coffee. Then she led them down the hall and to the entrance of Dumbledore's office.
"The password is 'Cotton Candy,'" she said. "I don't know what that is. Some sort of muggle sweet, I imagine." The stairs leading to Dumbledore's office opened up, but they kept on walking. "I trust you know where your classrooms will be?" she asked. They both nodded. "Miss Granger, you will be sharing an office with me until I'm made Headmistress. Potter, I'm sure you know where your office will be." Harry almost thought this was funny. He had been into that office under seven different occupants, but he had never dreamed that it would someday be his. "Your apartments are adjoining your offices. If you wish, we can set these up with passwords."
"Professor, are we--?"
"No, no, we aren't sharing apartments Miss Granger. I almost forgot. There's a second room leading from our office." Hermione sighed. "That pretty much wraps things up. Professor Sinistra will be taking over as head of house for Gryffindor. Between classes, it's a good idea to keep a lookout for troublemakers. I'll be giving you your schedules after dinner. You're free to do as you wish. The students will be arriving at 6 o'clock, so be back in the Great Hall by a quarter till." They thanked Professor McGonagall and she walked off.
"Want to take a look at our apartments then?" Harry asked. They walked toward his office first, as it was closer. His office was completely unfurnished, except for the pile of his things on a desk and a chair. "Er," Harry said, looking up and down the walls for a door.
"Here it is," Hermione said, tapping his shoulder. One part of the wall was completely bare except for a minute piece of wood, no bigger than a pea. Hermione tapped it lightly with her wand and a door opened up. They walked in. There was a bed, a wardrobe, an adjoining bathroom, and a nightstand with a lamp. The walls were decorated with polished wood halfway up with light blue paint above. Harry was pleased to find several homely decorations on the mantle of a fireplace in the wall.
"This is excellent," Harry said, examining a beautiful Persian rug on the floor.
"Yeah, it is," Hermione said, nodding. By the time they had gone to see Hermione's room as well, it was time to be getting back down to the feast.
As they entered the Great Hall, Harry was amazed at how weird it felt to be heading toward the staff table, rather than the Gryffindor table he had ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner at for the last seven years in a row. Then he moved uncomfortably as he caught a glance at Snape, who was just sitting down next to Madam Hooch. They sat down alongside the chair they supposed to be Hagrid's. Harry tried to remind himself that this was only a feast and not to be too nervous, but he couldn't help it.
"Don't worry Harry," Hermione said, soothingly, laying a hand on his arm. His stomach flopped again. He smiled up at her and tried to explain his stomach's ailment away to himself as nothing more than hunger. Hermione was his friend after all. Although, as Harry swept his eyes up and down the table, he realized that if he was going to be committed to this job, Hermione was going to be the only non-student available as a future wife, unless he suddenly felt like becoming better acquainted to Professor Trelawney. It was much too early to be worrying about that though.
Students began to flood into the hall rather more suddenly than Harry had expected. With a pang he realized that every single one of them was going to be his student and expect him to act like a professional. Across the hall, Harry spotted a familiar face. A girl with a mop of red hair was waving to him. He waved back. Over at the Slytherin table, Harry was pleased to find that neither Crabbe or Goyle were in sight. The rumbling died down and Professor McGonagall came in leading miniscule looking first- years. Harry watched and clapped as each new student took his or her place at a table. When Dumbledore stood up, Harry knew what was coming.
"Welcome back! Before the feast starts, we have a few announcements. I am sorry to tell you that this is my last year as the Headmaster of Hogwarts." A great murmur of disappointment came over the room, and Harry noticed one girl had even burst into tears. "My replacement will be Professor Minerva McGonagall." Professor McGonagall stood up and everyone clapped. "As she will not be teaching any longer after this year, we have chosen a replacement for her as well. Professor Granger, if you would?" Hermione stood, trying her best not to smile too much and look professional. There was a scatter of applause, loudest at the Gryffindor table. "Lastly, the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor has been filled once more. If you all would welcome Professor Potter?" Harry stood, bumping against the table as he did so. Everyone was clapping, with the exception of some of the elder Slytherins. He beamed nervously and sat, glad that it was over.
The feast was as excellent as usual. Harry noticed a few different items on the staff table, especially an upgrade on the amount of vegetables. Hermione was talking enthusiastically to him about her ideas for lessons. He nodded, not especially looking forward to his first day of teaching. He was looking slightly enviously at the students who didn't have to put on the show every day. Hagrid had sat down.
"All right Harry?" he asked. "I cried when I foun' out you two was goin ter be made teachers. But yeh derserve it. Yeh really do."
Harry looked further down the table where Snape was sitting, and was not surprised to see the look of malice he was giving him. When Lupin had been made Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Snape had stared at him with a look of hatrid so foul a daisy might have wilted under it. This was very similar to the look Harry was receiving now. After dinner McGonagall handed Harry and Hermione their schedules and Harry set off for his new apartments. He looked over the list in his hands. Tomorrow he would be teaching hufflepuff third-years first, then N.E.W.T. students, and would finish off with Gryffindor first years. He put his wand to the door and entered. As he climbed into bed, anticipation swimming through his head, his last thought was of Hermione's smile, and his stomach flopped once more before he fell to sleep.
A.N. Thank you so much for all of you who read the first chapter! I hope this one was good. It may take me a few days between chapters. I don't know. (