CHAPTER 17: MEETINGS

The next morning, Dean was kind enough to wake Neville before going down to breakfast. "How was detention?" he asked carefully.

"Awful," Neville said simply, remembering (amazingly enough) that he was supposed to have had a horrible time. He wasn't exactly sure who Professor Fox was, but she definitely wasn't as bad as everyone believed. And she was loads better than Umbridge!

"Sorry, mate," Dean grimaced. "Did you have to write lines?"

"Yeah," Neville said, rubbing his hand believably. Neville was really starting to warm up to the idea. This time, he was the one with the secret; he was the one that knew something the rest of them didn't. It made him feel superior in a way; not cocky, just more confident. For Neville, the boy that lacked all confidence, this was a major development.

"Well, we don't see her today, so there's no way you'll get it again. Not that you did anything last time. That was so unfair!" Dean said, waiting for Neville to get dressed before they went to breakfast together.

Walking down to the common room, the two spotted Harry, Ron, and Hermione all sprawled on the couch and chairs by the fireplace, asleep.

"Rise and shine boys and girl," Dean called out, brandishing his wand with a smile.

The trio awoke from their deep slumber and Harry, with his fast reflexes, was able to dodge the feather pillows headed his way, while Ron and Hermione got battered.

"Hey!" Ron cried out. "What was that for?"

"I thought cold water might be a little too mean, and I had to get you up somehow," Dean answered.

"I think next time a little shake will suffice," Hermione said, a little snappishly.

"Whoa," Dean said, backing up a step. "Next time I'll let you wake up on your own."

"Sorry," Hermione apologized. "I'm just a little tired. We were up late waiting for... Neville," Hermione finished, realizing that Neville was right beside Dean.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, also seeing Neville.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Neville said, slightly puzzled at everyone's reactions. Maybe they really did care for him more than he thought...

"She made him write lines," Dean said.

Hermione let out a little gasp, while Harry and Ron scowled. Hermione rushed over and took up Neville's hand to inspect it.

"Well, it doesn't look too bad. There's a potion I can make up for you if it still hurts," Hermione offered.

"Er, no thanks," Neville said. He was about to add something else when Ron's stomach growled loudly.

"Sorry," Ron said. "Can we continue this after breakfast? I'm starved." Everyone laughed slightly, the tension broken, and they headed out to the Great Hall, each occupied by their own thoughts of what to do about their lack of Defence lessons. The DA was about to form...

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Sirius sat in yet another room in his old house, surrounded by dusty, and in some cases decrepit, boxes and trunks, whose contents were covering the floor. He couldn't sleep the previous night, and instead had occupied his time by looking for his personal things.

Everything in his old apartment must have been stashed somewhere in the house; they wouldn't have thrown it all away when he was trucked to Azkaban, would they?

Frustrated with yet another useless box filled with his mother's moth-eaten clothes, Sirius tossed the relatively light box across the room, knocking over the tower of brown packing boxes, causing several to bust open upon hitting the floor.

Sirius groaned tiredly as he looked at the new mess he had just made; as if the house didn't have enough he had to clean up already!

He made his way over to the corner of the room, stepping over the boxes as he went. As he bent down to set an overturned trunk upright, a flash of silver caught his eye. He left the trunk and headed over to another pile of mess.

Lifting up the articles covering the silver object, Sirius revealed a knight's helmet. He almost jumped in joy at finally finding something. It was the helmet he and James had once sent to Buffy while they were at Hogwarts and she was stuck at home. He couldn't believe it was here! After Buffy had died, James gave the helmet to Sirius, and Sirius had kept it as a tribute to his lost love.

Sirius was actually surprised it was never returned to Hogwarts; Dumbledore was sure to have known that was where it was from, although he was also sure to have known it was them that had taken it in the first place.

Picking up the helmet, Sirius looked back at the pile of boxes from which that one had fallen. He lifted off the next one, and was surprised by a familiar glimpse of black that showed from behind the tower.

"It can't be," Sirius muttered to himself as he stepped forward to peer over the high wall. This time he did jump for joy, excited at seeing his old motorcycle. He wheeled it out joyfully, running his hand over its dull surface. This would be one thing he would be more than happy to clean up.

Sirius pulled the bike out of the room and set it, and the helmet, out into the hall. He had to find something else first.

With renewed vigour, Sirius dug through boxes, until he finally found the one that he was looking for. Sirius sat down on the dusty floor, a broken picture frame held gently between his hands. A bubbly blonde was wrapped up comfortably in younger Sirius' arms, as they lay on the coach. Lily had taken the picture of them secretly and had presented it to them both as a six-month anniversary gift.

That was before everything had gone to hell and people had disappeared from their lives forever. Sirius closed his eyes as he remembered the good times between the six crazy Gryffindors. Twelve years in Azkaban had changed him, but he found that the more he remembered from happier days, the less haunted he felt by the mere mention of Dementors.

It was ironic that happy memories were the one thing that could overcome the effects of the Dementors, but it was the one thing that it was impossible to come up with around them.

Exhaustion finally overcoming the scraggly man, the last thought he had was that he was going to have to go through the rest of this with Remus.

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Buffy woke up and climbed out of bed. Years of living as a slayer had made it difficult for her to stay asleep for long periods of time, much to her chagrin; she would have loved to stay in bed until two one day.

Getting dressed, she greeted Celsia and was granted a few uplifting notes. Buffy walked down to her classroom feeling good about the night before. Hopefully, Neville would benefit from their 'detention'; the poor boy only needed a little guidance and self-confidence.

Buffy practically bounced through the door, only to have her good mood get shoved down by the anger and rage that arose from the person sitting, yet again, behind her desk. Buffy's eyes flashed golden for a millisecond, before she took a deep breathe to calm down.

"Good morning, Professor," Umbridge greeted with a sour look on her face. "Did detention go well for you yesterday?"

Buffy was about to do something she would probably have regretted, but was interrupted by a group of Slytherins entering the classroom. "It went great," Buffy forced herself to say, carefully controlling her emotions and facial expressions. "Unfortunately, the quill you lent me broke before I could even use it! Flimsy little thing it was," Buffy said, turning away from Umbridge's shocked and outraged look, picking up the role.

The last students had strolled into the classroom while Buffy was talking to Umbridge. Buffy started calling out names on the list, keeping her eyes trained on the parchment in order to keep her temper calm. There was no use getting all worked up in front of the students, Slytherins especially; only bad things could come of losing her temper, and inevitably showing her strength.

"Malfoy, Draco," Buffy called out before quickly realizing this was Lucius' son, the one that Neville had basically said was the school's bully. She lifted her eyes slightly to find the son of the man she had hated at school.

"Here," a voice from the back called out, bored.

Buffy's eyes landed on Malfoy, and she let out a soft, surprised gasp. She didn't know how she had missed the kid earlier; not only did he look an awful lot like his father, but his hair was stood out amazingly well.

"Is there a problem?" Malfoy asked, intrigued at the new professor's behaviour. He had thought that she was a ministry official, and he had to have known his father, and therefore him; there was no need to be surprised.

Buffy's emotions were already running crazy thanks to Umbridge, and she wasn't prepared to see a person that looked like a replica of a dead friend. A friend that had sacrificed his life to save her, her friends, and the world, a friend she thought she'd never see again.

"Professor?" Malfoy drawled with a slight smirk.

Buffy tried to clear her throat and rein back her emotions. He even had the same cocky accent! "I'm sorry," Buffy apologized quickly. "I wasn't prepared for a Billy Idol wannabe in the class, that's all."

In a class full of pureblood Slytherins, no one got the reference, but they were smart enough to know that it was an insult. No one could believe that a professor would insult a Malfoy, let alone a ministry employed official. His family was supposed to have the power and connections to control the ministry, even though it was never said outright, it was just accepted.

"Excuse me," Malfoy interrupted coldly as Buffy continued on down the role.

Buffy looked up slowly, amazed at the boy's nerve. Obviously he had the same attitude problem as Spike as well. "I'm sorry?" Buffy asked.

"What did you say about me?" Malfoy clarified.

"I said you were a Billy Idol wannabe," Buffy repeated. On his confused and outraged look, Buffy continued. "You know, Billy Idol. The famous muggle rock star?"

The class became deathly quiet as they all took in what she had just said. A professor had dared to compare a Slytherin, a Malfoy at that, to a muggle. It was like the worst sin ever committed.

Malfoy was beyond outraged and could barely find the words to respond to her. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Excuse me?" Buffy said, her own outrage coming to the surface. "I am the professor of this class, and I will not tolerate your attitude. Do you understand?"

"I think you're the one that doesn't understand," Draco sneered. "Do you have any idea who my father is?"

"Lucius? Yeah, I know him, and if you think he's going to help you, you're sadly mistaken."

"So who'd you shag to get the job? You obviously don't have the qualifications for it," Draco said, changing the subject and trying to get under her skin in some way. She wouldn't get away with treating him like this.

"Detention. Tonight, 8:00 in my office," Buffy fumed.

"I didn't do anything," Draco snarled.

"You opened your mouth. That's offensive enough as it is, without having to listen to the words that spew from it."

"I'm sure the High Inquisitor won't approve of my detention," Draco said, appealing to the person he thought would get him out of this mess. He was not going to go to detention. Umbridge respected him like he should be respected; some blonde wasn't going to ruin his reign here.

"I don't need the High Inquisitor's permission to give you detention," Buffy said before Umbridge could respond. "Since you've obviously failed to notice, and refuse to listen, I'll tell you one more time. I'm the professor of this class and I will damn well do what I please and there's nothing you can do about it but sit down and shut up. Got it?"

Draco was too enraged, and shocked, that he couldn't say anything for a moment. But he paused for too long, and Buffy took that as a yes.

"Good. Now get the hell out of my class." Buffy walked over to the door and opened it, staring at Draco expectantly. When he didn't move she took out her wand and said, "Do you need some help?"

"Don't think for a second that you're going to get away with this," Draco said unbelievably, still not moving.

"Fine," Buffy said. She muttered a spell, making Draco zoom across the room, through the door, and slam into the wall across from the classroom. Buffy stood in the doorway looking down at Draco. "I don't want you back in my class. Is that understood? Find another course to take, because Defence Against the Dark Arts will no longer be on your schedule. Have a nice day!" she finished with a bright smile and slammed the door in his face. All that rage at Umbridge she had building up was let loose, and it felt good.

Draco stood staring at the closed door in shock. She couldn't kick him out of class; she didn't have the power. He had to admit, she didn't seem to be as much of a pushover as he first thought, but this was ridiculous. First, he was going to write a letter to his father, and then he was going to go directly to Professor Snape.

As he turned around, intent on his new mission, the door opened again, and a smirk came over Draco's face. He was right, Umbridge was going to show the stupid blonde who was boss around here. That line of thought didn't last long, as his books slammed into the back of his head and the door slammed shut again.

Her life was going to be over. Especially with the return of the Dark Lord. She didn't have any idea who she was messing with...

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The entire class was silent. No one said a thing and no one moved a muscle.

That lasted about a minute before the students and High Inquisitor overcame the shock of what Professor Fox just did, and the room exploded in noise.

"Class is dismissed," Buffy said, yelling over the noise. "Obviously no one can concentrate today, so what's the point of even trying?" When no one made a move to leave the room, Buffy yelled again. "Class is over! If you don't leave now, you'll all have detention tonight. Now go!" Finally, people were so outraged that they just left the room in search of someone more understanding, namely Snape, their head of house.

"Do you have any idea what you just did?" Umbridge hissed after everyone was gone. "That was Lucius Malfoy's son. Lucius is a prominent member of the wizarding community and contributes lots of money to the Ministry. The minister is not going to be furious. You've just made a powerful enemy. I suggest you apologize, tell him it was just a joke, and beg for forgiveness. Then maybe, maybe, you'll live to see another sunrise."

"Over dramatic much?" Buffy said flippantly. "He was behaving inappropriately in my class and was questioning my authority. He deserved any punishment he got." Buffy hadn't gone patrolling in so long, and all that pent up energy and repressed anger at Umbridge had just surged out. She didn't realize that she could get that mad at someone, but he had kept saying the wrong things, thinking he was better than everyone else. He had to learn a lesson. "Besides, I don't beg."

"It is Draco Malfoy!" Umbridge practically screamed.

"I know," Buffy said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, I'm going to inform the Minister of your foolish behaviour immediately. Hopefully I can let him know before Lucius finds out. I must say I won't be too disappointed with your removal from the school." With that said, Umbridge left the classroom, leaving Buffy all alone.

Buffy just looked around her happily and sighed. "That felt so good!" she said with a smile. Her good mood wasn't even ruined by the fact that her identity was in trouble. She'd figure some way to smooth the whole thing over. No big deal...

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"You foolish child!" Snape snarled as the cauldron of a fourth year Hufflepuff exploded, covering himself in a blue solution, which began to cause his skin to turn yellow and flaky. He cleaned up the mess with a wave of his wand and quick "Evanesco." "Take him to the hospital wing," he ordered a fourth year Gryffindor, "But don't touch him!"

Ginny watched quietly as two quickly walked out the door and up the stairs. She hoped he would be okay; the potion wasn't very safe.

Just as Snape was about to rant again and take points off of the next person that breathed, the door slammed open and an enraged Draco Malfoy stepped into the dungeon.

Snape took a small breath to calm himself down before talking to the son of his 'fellow' Deatheater. "Aren't you supposed to be in class, Mr. Malfoy?"

"At the moment I don't have a class, sir," Malfoy said, just barely restraining himself.

Ginny was very interested in what was going on. She had never seen Malfoy look this furious, and she had no idea what he meant by his last statement, but it was obviously something very important. She was going to find out what was going on; anything that made Malfoy mad was worth celebrating.

"May I talk to you privately, please? It's important."

Snape bowed his head in assent, and indicated the door behind him. Malfoy walked furiously over to his office and Snape followed behind him, not saying a word to the rest of the class. Obviously, something very important had happened.

Once the door shut, all the whispered quietly, so as not to be heard by Snape, about what had happened. "Quiet!" Ginny whispered. She took out an Extendable Ear out of her bag; one never knew when they would come in handy. The ear her brothers invented extended until it was by the door the two Slytherins were behind, and everyone quietly listened.

"Professor Fox kicked Malfoy out of class!" Ginny informed the class amazed. "He's not allowed to come back!"

The class erupted in whispers again, and Ginny was trying to get them all to quiet down so that she could hear what else was saying, when she heard a loud noise coming from outside the door. She quickly pulled the ear back and hide it in her bag, while the rest of the class went back to work. The loud sound was footsteps pounding down the stairs, and the door flew open, emitting what looked like the entire class of fifth year Slytherins. Professor Fox couldn't have kicked out the entire class, could she?

Snape also heard the loud noise and opened his door to investigate, believing it to be his fourth year students fooling around; he got a big surprise when he saw his dungeon filled with outraged Slytherins. "Class dismissed," he said. All the fourth years hurriedly packed their bags, wanting to be away from an angry Snape; they weren't suicidal.

Ginny tried to take the longest to leave, but she couldn't make out anything from the amount of noise the group was producing. She didn't even know if they were making any intelligent words at all, or if it was just a bunch of outraged noises. She couldn't wait to tell Hermione, Ron, and Harry.

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"Minister, what do you plan on doing?" Umbridge asked. She was currently sitting in the Minister's office after informing him of the new professor's behaviour.

"I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding," Fudge said.

"You're going to remove her, right?" Umbridge asked with a snarl.

"What? Of course not," Fudge said with a small disbelieving laugh.

"Is she even qualified for the position?" Umbridge said desperately. With each passing moment, she was beginning to believe that Sarah Fox had slept her way to the position.

"Are you?" Fudge asked. "That's the whole point. She's not supposed to be. Neither of you have had any experience in the Dark Arts; it's a theoretical course now, or did you forget?"

"How can you be so calm, sir? Do you know what's going to happen? Lucius is not going to be happy."

"It'll be okay," Fudge said calmly. "Sarah's a nice girl."

"Minister," Umbridge almost pleaded.

"Sarah's a nice girl," he repeated. "She might need some help getting out of this mess. I'm sure she didn't mean anything; she's just not used to dealing with students. The guys she used to work with weren't very respectable, if you know what I mean. I trust you'll help her out. Good day," Fudge said dismissively.

Umbridge could only stare at the Minister in disbelief. He wasn't going to do anything?

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It was lunchtime and Ginny raced into the Great Hall to find her older friends. "Ron! Hermione! Harry!" Ginny yelled excitedly as she sat down beside them. "You'll never guess what happened!" she said, and proceeded to retell the events of potions.

"You're joking!" Ron said, spitting out the pumpkin juice he had in his mouth.

"Would I joke about something like this? Everyone's talking about it!"

When the oblivious trio looked around, they noticed that the great hall was filled with students that were more excited than usual, and the noise was much louder than usual. Looking at the Head table, Snape, Umbridge, and Professor Fox were missing, as were several Slytherins from their house table.

All three were staring at Ginny in shock. "Can she do that?"

"I don't know if she can, but she did."

"I bet Malfoy's not happy."

"She's gonna get in so much trouble!"

"I don't know whether I should be happy or not! I mean, I'm happy about Malfoy, but what about Neville?"

"I'm happy!"

"I can't believe she did that!"

"What's going to happen now?"

The doors of the hall opened, emitting a blonde professor that didn't seem fazed by the shocking events at all. In fact, there seemed to be a slight bounce in her step. The hall went silent as they all watched her walk up to the table, sit down and take a roll from the basket in front of her.

"Hungry?" Dumbledore asked pleasantly.

"Starved," Buffy said, biting into her roll. It was delicious. It had been so long since she'd had the delicious food of Hogwarts.

Unfortunately, her meal was cut short as once again the doors of the Great Hall opened and a furious Snape billowed in. "Professor Fox! A word please?"