Chapter 37

The headline read 'Death Eaters Captured at Hogwarts'. A photo of the outside of Hogwarts with owls flying about carrying letters was directly below and to the left. To the right was the full story of the event, complete with quotes from Dumbledore, Ron and Harry. They assured everyone that the security breech had been dealt with. As for the Death Eaters, they had been tried and were now imprisoned in a secret location. The reporter, Colin Creevy, stated that when he asked Harry about the speedy trial, the 'boy who lived' had no comment. But he promised that they were safely out of the public's eye.

Heather put down the Daily Prophet and glanced over her cup of coffee.

"Out o' the public's eye, yes. Out o' my cream, no." She glared at the two large tomcats currently taking turns drinking from the pitcher in front of her. They stopped abruptly and gazed up at her. "That cream's fer everyone's coffee and tea. Not for you ta eat. Now get off the table."

Slowly they turned and hopped off the table, landing not so gracefully on the floor. A few disgruntled meows reverberated upwards.

"You'll get used ta the four feet lads. Jus' think o' it this way. Lucius wouldn't ever suspect you'd been turned inta cats."

Narrowing they're eyes at her, Crabbe and Goyle flicked their tails in the air and walked out of the Great Hall.

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A cool breeze blew, catching and dislodging a yellow leaf from its branch. Drifting lazily on the wind, it fluttered past the window. Draco watched it twirl for a moment trying to relax a little before his next class started. It was only the fourth day of classes and already he felt it was going to be a long term. After five years working with Muggles in landscaping, he thought he would relish the chance to do something else. Teaching though, may not have been it. How Snape had put up with years of snippy fifth years, scared wide-eyed first years and the over-eager sixth years he didn't know. He'd looked out over his students for the past week and felt their callous stares on him.

Dumbledore must have a sadistic streak, Draco thought turning away from the window and walking back to his desk. I always wondered why we went through so many DADA teachers; they all went insane after the first week because they weren't allowed to strangle anyone. Perhaps he should've turned down the headmaster's offer.

That wouldn't have been a good idea though and he understood that. He had to think of Cassie and Harry. If they hadn't stayed, he and Harry wouldn't have had this second chance. Harry would've never found out about his daughter and Cassie would've missed out on Harry's bumbling, albeit good intentioned, attempts at being a parent. He'd get used to it. In fact, Harry was getting better, but Draco wouldn't admit that yet.

"Am I interrupting something?" A familiar voice inquired, startling Draco so much that his neck cracked as his head snapped up. Harry stood in the doorway holding two mugs.

"No," Draco replied wondering what was up with the mugs.

"You had a smile on your face and I was curious if I was disrupting some..."

"No, I was just thinking of something amusing, that's all." Draco cut him off.

"Ah, well, I brought you some tea. I thought you might want some if today was anything like yesterday." The Aurour stepped forward, holding the tea out for him. Coming out from behind his desk, Draco met him halfway. Taking the mug from him, he thanked Harry and took a sip.

"So, is it worse than yesterday?"

Pausing, the blond thought a minute.

"I suppose it went better. There weren't many blank stares and I didn't hear anyone mutter anything derogatory about the class."

"Then you caught their attention?" Harry asked touching his lips the rim of the mug. Tipping it slightly, he let the warm liquid trickle down his throat. Draco watched, momentarily letting his mind wander freely with pleasant imagery.

"Perhaps, or maybe I just didn't bore them."

"You always manage to keep Cassie's attention, maybe you should try teaching them like you teach her?"

"Cassie is five, not eleven. It takes a different technique to keep her attention. I have to take breaks every twenty minutes or so otherwise she gets agitated and won't cooperate. As much as my students would like it, I can't let them have a nap time."

Harry chuckled, causing Draco to shake his head.

"You'll get it, I know you will. There has to be some way to get them interested in this. Professor Lillium found a way, remember? Her classes were almost always interesting."

Frowning, Draco took another swallow and thought. Perhaps he'd been going about this wrong. Snape had told him that he needed to make the students know that he was in charge and not them. That Draco needed to assert that the rules in his classroom were absolute and he wouldn't tolerate any deviants. The strategy worked for Snape, but Draco didn't think it was working for him. He'd like his class to work with him, not against him, as they appeared to be now.

Harry had a point; Cassie usually paid attention to his lessons. If he could handle a little girl, he should be able to take on a class of older students. Maybe some of the things he did with her would work for the first years he'd be teaching in another twenty-six minutes.

"I have an idea, would you mind staying for the next class?" He asked, his mind scrapping today's chapter reading for a live demonstration by a famous Aurour.

"Sure," Harry replied. "Although, I need to ask Madame Pince if she'll mind keeping watch on Cassie for a while longer."

"I'll come with you."

"You don't trust me?"

"It's not that, it's just that I want to see one child smiling today." Draco grumbled as they began heading towards the door. He paused long enough to take a large drink of tea while Harry shut the door.

"You'll be a good DADA teacher, you just need to figure out how to reach them. Oh, quit scaring them like Snape does."

"I'm not scaring them, I'm being stern and ..." Draco protested.

"Scary," Harry interrupted. His light demeanor suddenly faded. "We need to remember Madame Pince will be leaving in another week. The new librarian will be back in the country then."

Draco's features tightened.

"Does she know?" He asked in a low voice.

"No," Harry replied looking a bit guilty. "She's been told nothing."

"Not much of a friend, are you?" Draca muttered.

"Some things shouldn't be spread across countries, you should know that."

He nodded.

"I do. Sometimes it's best to be kept in the dark for the sake of others."

They walked on in silence for a bit, each lost in their own thoughts and worries. Draco finished his tea on the way, but Harry nursed his, to busy to pay attention to the cooling liquid.

"I'm hoping she'll understand our situation," Draco said as he opened the doors to the library.

"I think she will," Harry answered. Lifting his foot, he was nearly knocked off balance by a streak of gray fur. A second streak of orange fur shot past him, causing him jump sideways out of the way. Both fathers stared after the fleeing cats. Turning back to the library they roared in unison.

"CASSIE! NO HEXING THE CATS."