Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, and unfortunately I do not make any money off of this story.

Chapter Two:

Harry hadn't gotten much sleep the night before and was now dead tired. He had gotten back to Gryffindor Tower with Hermione and Neville around ten after making a stop by the kitchens for a late night snack. The drama in the make up potions class had spread all around the school over night and now hushed conversations about "the new woman with Snape" or "the hot new potions teacher" could be over heard in every corner of the school. In the common room this morning Harry had heard Neville and Hermione telling Ron about how Leah had taken the blame for Neville's cauldron blowing up, and then sent Professor Snape into some sort of fit because he didn't trust her. "Honestly," Hermione had added, "a woman who sends a man into that sort of fit shouldn't be trusted, and a Lestrange no less. However, I give her props for wiping the smirk off Malfoy's face with the Death Eater comment. I don't know what to think."

Now Harry was sitting in the Great Hall in between Hermione and Ron trying to block out all the conversations going on around him. They were all either questioning Leah's ethics, saying she had to be a Death Eater because of her blood line and her friends ("I mean, come on, she is a Lestrange and friends with Snape, how can she not be evil?" Parvati said) or they were about how hot she was and how she was probably really good in bed and was sleeping with Snape for money or something ("I bet she is being paid to get information out of him, and so she sleeps with him to get what she wants," said Dean). Harry stared down at his plate of waffles which were now all soggy from soaking up the syrup he had absent-mindedly poured on them. A familiar clearing of the throat pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Excuse me," came Dumbledore's booming voice across the Great Hall, "I have an announcement to make this morning. It will take but a few moments of your time." Instantly everyone shut up and turned their attention to the Headmaster wondering what could be so important as to require an announcement in the middle of December. "As most of you have heard, we have a new teacher on campus. Leah Lestrange will be assisting Professor Snape since other duties will be taking up his time. Please welcome her."

Leah entered from a side door by the teacher's table and many people gasped at what they saw. Her black hair still hung in curls around her shoulders and her eyes were the same mesmorizing sapphire blue, however this morning she was dressed in a pair of muggle jeans, a sweat shirt, and worn tennis shoes. Her right arm was in a sling, and the bandage around her shoulder was tinted red from where her wound was bleeding through. Her face was still calm and a smile was plastered onto her face, but her eyes betrayed her; they held signs of pain and exhaustion.

Harry's eyes flicked over to Professor Snape and found him missing from the teacher's table and wondered for a moment why he would not be there. Then Harry remembered what Snape had said the night before down in the dungeon about Leah teaching on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and it was indeed a bright and cheerful Thursday morning. Leah struggled to sit down and smiled at Professor Flitwick as he charmed her chair to scoot back in towards the table. He noticed she didn't even touch her plate, and he was half relieved to not be the only one eating and half worried that she didn't have an apatite. He didn't know what had come over him, but he was suddenly very worried for Leah's well-being.

Harry watched her lean towards her left to catch what Professor McGonagall whispered into her ear and he watched her face become paler than it already was as McGonagall leaned away. Leah sat with her head bent down deep in thought, shaking her head as if she couldn't get her mind around something. She looked up and her eyes locked with Harry's; he could almost feel her pain from the look in her eyes. The day before her eyes had shown life and freedom and now she looked like an animal locked in a cage, and he could clearly see she was worried to death about something, or someone. He hoped to God that it wasn't Professor Snape she was worrying about.

"Harry, are you alright, mate?" asked Ron, waving his hand in front of Harry's face to pull his attention back to their table.

"Ah-h, yeah, I'm great. Why?" said Harry, looking back down at his waffles that were now cold.

"You were staring at that new Professor, but she is hot, so I can't blame you," said Ron punching Harry in the arm before getting up. "Come on, don't wanna be late for double Transfiguration."

Severus sat up slowly in the hospital bed and winced in pain as he realized where he was and why he was there. After Harry had told him about Leah grabbing her wrist he had run out after her in hopes to catch her before she threw herself in front of danger for no good reason. Unfortunately, he was too late, and by the time he got to Dumbledore, had him find Leah, and got to the scene of the attack on a near by muggle community she was face down in the pavement surrounded by blood.

It was a picture he was slowly getting used to as it was the third time he'd seen her like that. The first when she was being interrogated by Death Eaters, the second a few weeks before during another attack against muggles, and now the night before. He didn't understand why she was throwing herself into this danger, or how her wrist was a warning system, but he had figured out that much. Every time he asked her about she got a far off look in her eyes and simply stated it was in her job description. Funny, he never thought a Potions Master needed to risk their lives for people they barely knew.

He surveyed the room around him and was shocked to find he wasn't in the Hogwarts' hospital wing, but in a ward in St. Mungo's. He tried to remember exactly what had happened the night before that would cause him to be in the hospital, and he wondered if Leah was somewhere near him as well.

"Ah, Mr. Snape, I see you are awake," came a voice from his left and Severus turned his head to look up into the face of a middle-aged healer. She had a crooked nose and a very round face.

"Why am I here, and where is Leah," he blurted out before he could stop himself.

"Well, you are here because you are suffering from some internal injuries caused by a duel last night, and I do not know who Leah is," said the woman, who had began to poke and prod at Severus, checking his pulse and blood pressure.

Severus' face went very red. "Are you saying I arrived here alone?"

The woman wrote something down on her chart and looked up at Severus. "Indeed, an older man dropped you off early this morning after finding you in the street."

Severus drank a potion that the healer had pushed into his hands, saying it would help ease the pain and cause any left over internal bleeding to end. He figured he would be going home soon enough, and then he would make sure to ask Leah what had happened in that muggle community.

Harry and Hermione walked arm in arm down to the dungeon chatting away about how their first class with Leah would go. Hermione thought it would be unstructured and boring since she was so young and was still carefree about life. Harry smiled and nodded, but deep down he thought it was going to be the hardest potions class in Hogwarts' history. They entered the classroom and took their usual seats in the middle row on the left side of the room. There were only eleven students so Gryffindors and Slytherins sat on the same side of the classroom.

The room was empty except for the students who had now all arrived and were waiting anxiously for their potions class to start. For the eleven who had made it into 7th year N.E.W.T. level potions it was beginning to become a liked class because it seemed that Professor Snape had a new-found respect for older and wiser students. Voices could barely be made out, and Hermione silenced everyone to have a better listen to a seemingly private conversation.

"It wasn't me, goddamnit, so stop pointing fingers. It won't get you anywhere," came Leah's voice from a behind a closed door that everyone knew led to Professor Snape's private study.

"Then, tell us, how did you two end up at the scene of an attack?" asked another, colder voice.

"I can't tell you that! How many times do I have to repeat that fact, or do you just enjoy not getting anywhere with your interrogations," asked Leah, and judging from the atmosphere behind the door it was a shock her voice was so calm.

"Ms. Lestrange, is it," asked the man with the cold voice, "we don't want to have to take you in, but you are not leaving us much of a choice."

A few students had gathered outside of the door to listen in better, and when the door was slammed open by a fuming Leah a few unsuspecting victims were thrown backwards into a desk. Leah stopped short and looked around her classroom, and smiled before walking towards the desk at the front. Two men emerged behind her and Harry grew wide-eyed as he watched them follow her. Percy Weasley and another man leaned back against a desk, while Leah sat herself atop Snape's desk in her usual spot.

"Look, I don't know who you are," said Percy. Leah snorted in laughter. "But I do know that you were found at the scene of a muggle attack last night, and this is your second offence."

The second man spoke up next. "Yes, Ms. Lestrange, it seems quite odd that you would at the scene of two crimes almost two weeks apart."

"Look, fellas, I am sorry that I am better at your job than you are, and actually know when Death Eaters are going to attack. I am sorry you work for a corruptive ministry, and I am sorry that you have nothing more to accuse me of, so if you don't mind, I have a class to teach," said Leah, jumping off the desk and pushing past Percy and the other man to begin a lecture.

"Leah, come on, give us a bone. You have a habit of showing up at these things and coming out unharmed while others sit and recover for weeks in a hospital," said Percy, sounding desperate, "Can't you help us out a little?"

Leah turned around and instantly Percy seemed to realize his mistake, as did everyone else present for the entire confrontation. He paled and began to back away and Harry suspected Leah was counting to ten in her head before opening her mouth. He marveled at how calm she could remain in tense situations.

"Percy, may I ask you where I was eleven days ago," said Leah, hands on hips and her own voice taking on a colder edge.

Percy cleared his throat and loosened his tie. "In the hospital."

Leah seemed to smile at his discomfort and took another step towards him. "And why, may I ask, was I there?"

Percy stepped back into a desk and looked like an animal caught in the headlights. "Because you were on the verge of death."

This time a smile erupted on Leah's face and Harry wondered why she would smile at something like that. "And how long was I there, in the hospital, on the verge of death?"

Percy looked as if he was about to shatter under all the pressure. "Four months in a coma, and another month being treated while awake."

"Ah-h. That is what I thought, now the next time any one of those people ends up in a hospital like that you guilt trip me. But rest assured, if I had not been there most of those people would have been lucky to get an open casket funeral," and with that, Leah turned grabbed Percy my the arm and dragged him to the door, and just before throwing him out muttered a respectable 'good-day'.

Leah turned back around to face her classroom filled with seventh year students and was met by eleven gazes that contained confusion, hatred, envy, fear, and contempt. She smiled slightly and walked with her head held high and shoulders back to the desk at the front of the classroom and rummaged around for a textbook. Once she found one, she opened to a random page and laughed at what she say.

"Turn to page three-hundred and twenty-four," she said, still chuckling and the class did as they were told. Harry felt confused as his eyes fell on a page that explained how to create the 'Draft of Peace' and its uses in everyday life.

"So, as much as Sev is going to kill me for telling you guys this story, after our little incident it is the least I can do," said Leah, as she took her spot on Snape's desk. "I was in 5th year potions, and we were learning how to make this potion. What it does is gives a person a sense of peace, which, of course, my friends and I thought dear old Severus needed. So we slipped it into his goblet before dinner one night and the next day he was going about his day in a complete state of lax. I have never seen that man so undone, it was classic!"

A few chuckles could be heard through-out the room, but for the most part no one could imagine Professor Snape completely undone and in a state of peace. It just wasn't possible, however the idea seemed kind of funny.

"Hmm, I guess you sort of had to be there," sighed Leah, and she got a distant look in her eyes as she reminisced about the scene more.

Neville cleared his throat and Leah looked at him. "May I ask you something, Ms. Lestrange?"

She smiled. "Of course, and call me Leah. I am only five years your senior."

Neville blushed at her casual air. "What house were you in, and what was school like here in your time?"

"Ah-h, well that is a long story, but if everyone is willing to bear with me I am happy to tell it," she said, looking around to a classroom filled with nodding heads. "Alright, so we can make a deal, one question and one story a week. Deal?"

Again everyone nodded and seemed genuinely interested in this girl's life. "Alright, well I was in Gryffindor, much to my parents misfortune. The sorting hat was barely placed upon my head when it shouted out that name. To tell you the truth I was a little disappointed, my entire family was Slytherin and I didn't want to be different, but at the end of first year I realized I would never be like my family."

She paused for a moment to catch her breath before continuing, "The thing about my family, which is what I guess I will share today, is that they are supporters of an evil worse than most people think. Yes, dear old Voldemort is evil, but it is the ethics behind it that drives people to hate and to kill. Each person has a part in this war and it is your ethics and morals that will decide your fate. For me, prejudice is wrong as is torture of people, so I have yet to do either."

Hermione interrupted, "Have you ever killed anyone, Leah?"

Lia looked slightly shocked by this question, but regained her composure quickly, "That is a bit complicated to explain. Have I personally ever killed someone, pointed a wand at them and said an Unforgivable, no. However, my actions and choices have led to the deaths of people."

The class remained silent as each person thought about what Lia had just told them. Harry figured it all made sense. It was the prejudice and fear and morals and ethics that really did lead people down the paths that create their lives. If they are driven by greed and power then their choices and destiny will reflect that, and the fear of muggle-borns and a superiority complex of most wizards drove them to the war they were all apart of now. It was a pity that people could not get along, and that a hatred for a father could drive one man to want to kill everyone unworthy in his eyes.