Chapter 7: Preparing For the Future
"Why would she do it?" Harry asked quietly.
He and Ron were alone in the Gryffindor common room, sitting on the rug in front of the dying fire. Hermione had gone to her dormitory in a state of deep depression and the rest of the Gryffindors had been too drowsy and full to think of anything but their beds. Not that they had anything else to worry about.
"Her husband's a Death Eater, her son's a runaway, and both of them would probably kill each other if they met anywhere," Ron said, his head resting on his knees, "Doesn't seem like the most pleasant of households."
"Still…to kill yourself. Even with all my years at the Durselys, I never even contemplated it. I mean, there's always tomorrow, and who knows what that'll bring. I'm living proof of that," he stopped a moment, then asked, "How do wizards commit suicide anyhow?"
"How should I know?" Ron said, bristling slightly.
"Well, you were brought up as a wizard."
"Yeah, but I never tried to kill myself!"
"Sorry. I just want to know more about this. She didn't really seem the type to do it, though. Not that I knew her well, but…"
"Does someone have to be a type to commit suicide?"
"Well, no. I guess not."
"Look, whatever Draco's mum did isn't our problem. Draco's our problem."
"He's not a problem, Ron. He just had a rough summer."
"Yeah, and so he's taking it out on us."
"Well, we are the reason for some of the strife. I remember in my second year when Dobby prevented your owls from getting to me. I felt like maybe I didn't have any friends after all. It was a horrible feeling."
"Yeah, I guess that wouldn't feel too great. But he didn't have to be so rough with Hermione. And what was the deal with his arm hurting like that?"
"It was his left forearm," Harry said quietly, "The one that was cut last year. Apparently Basilisk venom leaves a more lasting mark."
"What if it was more than Basilisk venom?" Ron said, sitting up a little straighter, "What if it was some Dark Magic or potion? What if Voldemort put a bit of himself in the knife so Draco will slowly get eviler and eviler until he is nothing but another Dark Lord?!"
Ron turned quickly to Harry, a bit of panic in his eyes. Harry, on the other hand, looked as if Ron had just proclaimed that Voldemort was, in fact, the Easter Bunny.
"Sorry," Ron laughed, grinning sheepishly, "Got a little carried away."
"Apparently," Harry smiled, "I think we should get to bed. The sleep depravation is affecting your mind."
"Ah, quiet, Potter," Ron said, shoving his friend playfully and then heaving himself to his feet.
The two walked up to their dormitory and, despite the weight of the world resting on their minds, fell asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows.
****
"What's first for today?" Ron asked when Harry got his schedule. Being near the end of the alphabet, Ron always looked at Harry's classes to find out what his own schedule would say when he got it a few minutes later. It was no use to point out to Ron that it wouldn't kill him to wait a little while longer.
"Potions," Harry said, voice completely devoid of any enthusiasm.
Ron groaned. "Then what?"
"This Preparing for the Future class. What's that?"
"Oh, Prep class," Ron said casually, "My brothers told me about that. They assess your skills and prepare you for work in the real world. 'Course you can't rely completely on it. The test George took said he'd be an Ministry worker."
"I'm looking forward to that class," Azar put in, pointing a fork at Harry's schedule, "I know near to nothing about what jobs there are available, other than Ministry and teaching positions."
"Who teaches that class, anyways?" Harry asked.
"I never noticed the teacher before," Ron said swallowing a mouth full of bacon, "Do you know him, Hermione?"
"No. And I didn't look up at the table last night. I was too distracted."
"Me, too," Harry shrugged, "Guess we won't know 'til we get to class."
It was then Harry realized Azar was wearing her I-know-something-you-don't smile as she stirred her food around on her plate. She eventually looked up, saw Harry staring questionably at her, and broke into an even bigger smile.
"Okay, Azar, out with it."
"Out with what?" she asked innocently.
"You know who are Prep teacher is."
Ron and Hermione looked at her eagerly.
"Oh, I wouldn't say I know," Azar said slowly, relishing in every word, "But considering I saw someone on the staff table last night who wasn't there before, I can make a pretty good guess."
"Who?" Ron asked, his food temporarily forgotten.
"Well, let's see. I'm not rightly sure if I remember his name…"
"Azar, don't do this to us," Harry moaned, "Just tell."
"Why, Mr. Potter, that sounded like a command. And you know how I hate people telling me what to do."
"Fine then. Please?"
Azar thought it over a moment. "Naw," she finally grinned, "I'll let you find out when you get there."
"Ah, you evil git."
"Flattery will get you everywhere, Harry legs," Azar said, batting her eyelashes, "But I must be off to gather my things. Transfiguration first for me, and I can be sure McGonagall won't go easy on the first day. Ta-ta!"
"We'd better grab our stuff, too," Harry said after she'd left, "I have a feeling Snape will be piling on the homework. Coming, Hermione?"
"No, I have everything I need already. I'll just meet you there."
The two boys headed up to the Gryffindor tower, grabbed their things, and then hurried down to the dungeons. Hermione had saved seats for them on either side of her. Harry sat to her right, alone at a table. Hermione and Ron sat together. The seat next to Ron had been empty, but was quickly filled by Lavender Brown, who had for some reason convinced Paravati Patil that they should move there. Ron glanced that way, and Lavender gave him a wink and a smile. Harry saw it, too. Ron looked over to his friend, mouthing, "What was that all about?" Harry just shrugged, though with a bit of a smile.
"I should hope some of you did your work over the summer holidays, and did not leave it until the last day," Snape said the moment the bell rang, "Pass in your parchments now."
Snape went on with his lesson. Harry tried to pay attention, but his mind kept wandering. He looked lazily around the room, but then did a double take, looking at everyone more carefully. Draco wasn't there.
It was about ten minutes later that suddenly the door burst open and in rushed Draco Malfoy. He looked more than a little disheveled, but was as calm as ever as he walked over to Snape. In low tones, he explained something to him.
"Very well," Snape said, "We're working in partners. Take a seat wherever there's an empty one."
Draco looked around and found that the only person in the room without a partner was Harry. He gave the boy a dark look and muttered something that Harry was sure wasn't very nice, but eventually Draco skulked his way to the stool. Snape continued his lesson.
Harry tried more than once to talk to Draco, but the boy simply ignored him, only speaking to ask Harry for this or that ingredient. It was a very dismal lesson and to top it all off, Snape gave them a three-parchment paper to write on the effects of the Pulsating Potion. When the bell rang, Draco hurried out of his seat and towards the door but much to Harry's, and probably even his own surprise, Ron hurried right after him.
"Hey Draco, why were you late today?"
"None of your business, Weasley," Draco said through clenched teeth as he marched down the corridors, Ron following him and Harry and Hermione coming right after.
"Well, I'd still like to know."
"Good for you."
"You have to tell me some time."
"No, actually, I don't."
"I'll annoy you constantly until you do."
"Heh, go ahead and try."
"Why were you late today, Draco? Why were you late today, Draco? Why were you late today, Draco? Why were you late tod—"
"Fine!" Draco yelled, "Could you get any more childish? If you must know, I had a little trouble getting out of bed."
"Everyone sleeps late on the first day," Ron shrugged, clearly trying to keep civil.
"I wish it were that simple, Weasley," Draco said, a definite ice in his voice, "Though my being a sound sleeper did have something to do with it."
Without so much as another word, he walked away, robes billowing out slightly behind him.
"Now what did he mean by that?" Ron asked, cocking his head to the side.
"I don't know," Harry said with a shrug, "At least he talked to us. C'mon, I want to get to Prep and see who this mystery teacher is."
Getting from the dungeons to the fourth floor gave them quite a bit of exercise, but the three got there on time, even if they were a little out of breath. Whatever breath Harry did have, however, left him instantly when he saw the very familiar face of their new teacher.
"Sirius?!" Harry gasped, rushing up to his godfather.
"Hey, Harry," Sirius said, beaming wide enough to rival Lockhart's grins, "Surprised you, did I?"
"Yeah! Why didn't you tell me?!"
"I thought it'd be a fun surprise," Sirius said, that smile not fading a bit, "Now sit down. The bell's about to ring and I want to start things out right."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione took seats up at the very front of the class. It was interesting to watch people's reactions as they spotted Sirius. Though a majority of them had forgotten all about Sirius Black, a fair number gaped when they walked in. A few looked even terrified, including Neville Longbottom, who walked right back out after he'd come in. Dean Thomas eventually managed to convince him he would live through the lesson. When the bell finally rang, Sirius rubbed his hands together, looking at everyone happily.
"Welcome to Preparing for the Future," he said, "Or as it is more lovingly called, Prep class. I'm Professor Black, but you can call me Sirius. Unless of course your jokes about my name stink, then we're sticking to that Professor stuff."
A few people smiled.
"Now I'd like to go over the rules. Rule number one: There are no rules. This class is open to discussion and as long as you be respectful to others then it's whatever you feel like saying."
Quite a few more smiles blossomed.
"Now, I'd really hate for you to think of me as your teacher. Makes me feel old. I'll just be a friend who happens to stand in front of the class. This is a class of boundless free thinking where you can say whatever pops into your head, and you don't have to worry about detention or all that nonsense."
At this, a few people gave approving whoops.
"But most importantly of all," Sirius said, "I hate paperwork. I hate filling things out or grading things or anything of that sort. So this is a class of no homework."
The whole class cheered loudly, some people whistling and pounding on their desks. Sirius beamed, very pleased with his apparent popularity. Hermione, however, shook her head sadly.
"He just opened the door to total chaos," she sighed to Harry, "That smile won't last a week."
~*~*~
A/N: Short, yes. And not particularly exciting. But this is what happens when you write so late into the night it becomes morning. *big yawn* And just to let you know, Draco did not sleep in to be late for Potions. There's a big reason why his was late, but you people might yell at me, so that'll just come later. ^_^
Thank you to everyone who reviewed!
SuNnY GuRL: *laughs* Whee, I have a shrine! ^_^ Thanks! And book 5 is now supposed to come out at the end of school term in the UK. *cheers* If WB had it's way, it would have come out at Christmas 2002, but JKR put her foot down. Hurray for JK!
Raven of Death: ^_^ Yeah, Ron's having a bit of trouble, (you think it's bad now… ^_^) but he's trying. Thanks!
Lady Aquila: Thanks!
Allison: *shuffles slowly to room* I's sorry. 'Twas a necessary evil. But does this count as being kinda nice? Ron wasn't being a jerk to him. And I was nice to Sirius. *looks pleadingly* Okay, so sticking him in charge of a large group of teenagers might not be called the nicest thing to do, but it's a job. Ah, please get chapter 7 up!
sweets: Thanks! Both speculations are wrong, though. That's to come later, when Draco actually has more than a twenty-second conversation with the rest of 'em.
Sandrine Black: Thanks! I expect on putting in a lot more complications. And not just Draco against the rest of the group. *grins maliciously*
greg: Yah, the Super Bowl! That was so awesome! Go Patriots! ^_^ Thanks.
Moon Warrior: As long as you keep emailing me your new stories and/or chapter, I'm happy. ^_^
Jeanne: Sorry, I never was one for good manners. ^_^ Thanks!
Lady Grizabella: lol. In one of my books, I have someone get transported to a whole different world and what not, and one of her first concerns is where to find a bathroom. ^_^ It's a very important topic! Oh, but I hope you get going on "Seeker of Souls"!!! Crikey, I hate being left hanging like that! Thanks!
abbey: Yeah, Azar is my idealistic self. Idealistic being the key word there. ^_^ Thanks! *laughs* 'BAD RON!!'
Kelly: *bows head in shame* I know. I've been bad about revising my stuff, and so have let far too many grammatical errors slip through. A side effect of writing things very late at night. *sigh* No need to apologize. School: a necessary evil. ^_^ Thanks! *grins* Of course they would have only talked. I can't imagine them doing anything else. ^_^ And Ron's middle name: Well, Molly is the pet name for Mary (go figure), so I decided that his mom's name is Mary. I just figured it'd be a nice thing to have in there if ever Ron needed to be made fun of. ^_^
Mrs. Grim: I know. Bad Hermione! Oh, I'm glad you liked the explanation of Ron being chosen! I was so unsure of that. Thanks!
Lupin's Niece AJ: I used to hate Draco, too, until I started writing fanfics. Strange thing, the mind. *grins* Thanks!
Nallen Riddle: Thanks! Hm…okay, I'll actually say something about it. Yes, Draco's going to fall in love with a special girl. In fact, he already is in love. I won't tell ya who, 'cause that's to come later, but just to ease your mind. ^_^
Thanks all!
Be excellent to each other!
-Ady