Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. No characters except Brynn.

Um, to anyone who actually reads my story, I hope the new and improved Chapter Two is up. For some reason it cut off when it said "Oliver had exemplary grades" or something like that...but BELIEVE ME, that's not where it stops!!! It stops when Dumbledore begins talking. So cheerio! My totally horrible English...Onward my friends, onward to Chapter Three...

Chapter Three

Class.
Ack.
She was walking quickly, trying to make it to her classroom before students would begin arriving.
"Yeah, that Professor Flatley, she gets around like a record," she heard a boy say.
"Ho hum, pig's bum," she muttered to herself, clutching her books tighter to her chest.
Back in her classroom, she retrieved a few books from the closet. Her Muggle Studies class had ended a few minutes before, and she'd desperately had to use the lavatory. In her haste, she hadn't had time to look at her new class list. Besides, this was the last class of the day and the light at the end of the tunnel was growing nearer and brighter.
Advanced Muggle Literature covered the not-so-fun aspects of Muggle writing, such as Shakespeare, Austen, and Bronte, just to name a few. Students began arriving: Hannah Abbott, a few with a fourth-year look about them, and Hermione Granger. Claudia Polaski and Jenna Frasier hurriedly chose seats next to each other as they waltzed in.
Knowing that this was probably as big as the class would get, Brynn began distributing books to the students. They were beginning with Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, which Brynn really didn't care for, but it was always fun dressing in togas.
Brynn always made the students bring Muggle clothing into the classroom with them. In Advanced Muggle Literature, the students always dressed according to the time period of the book they were reading. However, because today was the first day of class, many students were sporting jeans and sweaters. A few choice students were wearing golfing knickers and plaid shirts (...those weird fourth-years).
The students were loosely flipping through their books when the heavy wooden classroom door flew open and hit the wall with a resounding crash. Draco Malfoy sauntered in, dressed in black pants, a black turtleneck, and he had even placed a black beret on his head.
Brynn covered her mouth and tried not to laugh, as did most of the other students. Hermione Granger let out a large snort and looked haughtily at him.
"What's everyone laughing at?" he demanded. "I find nothing funny."
The students and, incredibly, their professor, began shrieking with laughter.
"Vacation in the south of France this summer, did you, Draco?" Brynn asked.
"Why yes, Professor, as a matter of fact, I did."
"What's with the beret, Draco?" asked one of the fourth years, who was truly in no position to be poking fun of anyone's dress.
"Berets are a symbol of strength, you..." his face was red, but abruptly changed back to its normal pearly tone. "I'm dressing as a poet."
Hermione threw her head back and laughed uproariously, as did Brynn.
"I didn't take this class to be ridiculed." His voice was calm, but the rosy flush in his cheeks was beginning to creep back.
"Sorry, Draco. Cheers. Cheers for dressing the part. Today we're beginning with Julius Caesar, class, so turn to Act One, Scene One."
As they did as they were told, Brynn reached for her wand beside her.
"Right, then. In the first act we have to assign characters to portray. Who volunteers for Flavius? Right then, Hannah." A strident POP! resounded throughout the room as Hannah's low riders and her small sweatshirt changed into a blistery-white toga.
"Anyone up for Marullus? Good going, Mr. Fourth Year." POP! And so it continued until everyone had been given a part for the complete first act of the play. "Act One, Scene Two," Brynn announced. She was playing the role of Brutus as well, which meant that she and Malfoy, who had volunteered (VOLUNTEERED!!!) for the part of Cassius, were reading together for most of the scene.

"'And so it is. For this time I will leave you. Tomorrow, if you please to speak with me, I will come home to you; or if you will, come home to me, and I will wait for you,'" Brynn finished.

Draco had been staring at her, looking...her eyes widened. What?! She didn't like receiving that look from Malfoy! "Cassius—line!" Brynn whispered.

"Oh, right." Ahem! "'I will do so: till then, think of the world.'" He continued reading his part, and Brynn stared at him. Why had he looked at her that way? A look of almost...almost...admiration. It was so strange to get a look like that from Malfoy, of all people. Even stranger how well- behaved he was being in class today...

Just as they finished Act One, the bell rang, signaling the end of the class period. "Right, class! Read Act Two and note well!" she called after them as they exited.

She turned her back and prayed no one was behind her. After a few minutes of rummaging through her drawers absentmindedly, she turned. No one was there. Brynn brushed her hair, which today was curly and braided in parts. She herself changed out of her toga and into a pair of jeans and a dark grey woolen sweater. Absentmindedly, she thought of Sirius and the way she hadn't thought of him all day...well, until then.
Strangely, she didn't fall to pieces this time. She just picked up the note he had sent her last year, the year that Umbridge had been monitoring every single piece of mail that had been sent from Hogwarts and that arrived to the school. The note said, simply: Always.
The note had been comforting, and she had placed a permanent ink spell on it, so that it would never fade. It still looked exactly the same. And instead of weeping, as she would have done as soon as yesterday, she smiled at the note and placed it in her pocket.
The song Sirius had sung her was repeating itself in her head...
This is for you, Brynn. You've helped me so much...He kissed her, then laughed and yelled, Hit it, boys! At which point an old record player came to life and belched out Elton John's "Your Song."

It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside...
I'm not one of those who can easily hide
I don't have much money, but boy, if I did...
I'd buy a big house where we both could live.
If I was a sculptor, but then again, no...

Or a man who makes potions in a travelling show

I know it's not much but it's the best I can do:

My gift is my song and this one's for you.
And you can tell everybody that this is your song............

But the thing was, she really couldn't tell anybody that that was her song. Not even her own sister, whom she had lived with before becoming a teacher at Hogwarts. They shared everything, but even Niamh wouldn't be able to understand this one.
Brynn could just hear her response: "An escaped convict, Brynna?! Really??? I can't believe this! Dating that old bagpipe man from Scotland was enough! Oh my! What if mother were here?"
Laughing to herself and humming her song, Brynn walked down the changing staircases and into the Great Hall, thinking that though Draco Malfoy was in her class, Voldemort was back, and Sirius had been taken from her, this could be the beginning of a good year indeed.