Chapter 5

"Well this is going to be a lovely year." Catherine commented as her and Charlie walked into

her classroom. It was the morning of the first day of classes, none had begun yet.

"Hopefully she won't stay long." Charlie replied softly as he placed his hands on his wife's hips.

"Hopefully." Cate smiled weakly, already exhausted from taking care of Isabelle, preparing classes, and now, having to deal with Umbridge.

"It won't be that bad." The young man laughed softly, kissing Catherine's forehead. Cate looked up, kissing her husband gently.

"I love you." She whispered quietly, laying her head down on his chest. The couple stayed in silence for a moment, until a knock came on the door. The young woman pulled herself out of Charlie's arms, hurrying over to open it, Severus stood behind the now open door.

"I've come to warn you to hold your tongue." He began, "Umbridge is inspecting your class first, and she already isn't fond of you."

"So I've heard." She replied dryly, rolling her eyes.

"Be careful what you say when you talk directly to her, she's going to try and get information on both sides from the war out of you. Also, make sure she does NOT see your mark."

"I'll be fine." Catherine called after Snape as he swiftly walked away.

"I've got to get going." Charlie kissed her quickly and left for his class.

Cate sighed heavily, preparing for the long day ahead of her. The twenty-one-year-old walked to her desk, flipping through her binder of lesson plans. First class was a group of second year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, easy to teach. She had split the time up between twenty-minutes of notes, and twenty-five minutes of spell casting. Just as she pulled out her quill and attendance sheet to prepare for when her class arrived, another knock came on the door.

"Come in." She called softly, expecting it to be a student, she was quite surprised when Umbridge entered her room. "Dolores?"

"Mrs Weasley I presume?"

"Please, just call me Catherine."

"All right, Catherine." The toad-like woman sneered as she approached Cate's desk, "You might have been told already that I am inspecting your class today."

"I was."

"Good." She smiled, "Before it begins, I would like to ask you a few questions."

"Go ahead." Cate settled herself on her stool, "Ask away."

"When did you start teaching here?"

"Last year, I did student teaching alongside Minerva until February, then took over completely."

"And how old are you?"

"Twenty-one."

"So you started young?"

"Yes. Directly after I finished school." Catherine could have slapped herself, realizing that if the woman could do math properly, she would figure out that something was wrong. Just as Umbridge opened her mouth to reply, the door opened once again, and a flood of students emptied in.

"We'll talk later." She muttered, retreated to a corner with her clipboard.

"All right class!" Cate called above the noise, "Let's get started!" The sea of students were soon quieted and in their desks. "Welcome back." She greeted, smiling brightly, "I'll say sorry in advance, as we're going straight into work today. On the board," She waved her wand, "Are the notes. You have twenty minutes to complete them. After that..." She was cut off by a small:

"Hem, hem." Cough coming from the back corner of the room.

"Dolores, did you need a cough drop?" Cate pulled a roll out from her desk.

"No thank-you." The woman replied, taking a note on her clip board.

"Anyway, as I was saying, after we take the notes, we're going to be working on the spell..."

"Hem, hem."

"You know Dolores, if you're cough if doing to continue to interrupt my class, I insist on you taking a cough drop.: Catherine stated firmly, levitating the roll over to her, rather quickly. The package floated there, bumping at her slightly until the woman took one.

"If you must insist." She popped it into her mouth.

"Thank-you." Cate turned back to her class, "We'll do the spell in pairs, please hurry with your notes."

About fifteen minutes passed with only the sound of quills scratching on parchment. The occasional cough of soft whisper would interrupt the silence of the room. When the chatter between students increased, signaling they were done, Catherine stopped working on her write-up, still sitting on her stool, she spoke.

"Everyone done?" Most of the class nodded, "Mmkay, get to work in partners, supplies are in the usual cupboard." With a wave of her wand, the cupboard flew open and within a few minutes, everyone was at work, and the room was filled with noise. It was at this point, that Umbridge approached Catherine's desk.

"Professor Weasley," She sneered, "Would I be able to speak with you now?"

"Go ahead." The twenty-one-year-old muttered in reply.

"How did you begin teaching directly after completing your schooling, when you're currently twenty-one?"

"I was in my sixth year when I should have been in seventh, also, my birthday is mid year."

"Why were you a year back?"

'Who's asking?"

"I am."

"I mean, who are you are going to scamper off to when you're done?"

"No one."

"Ah." Cate flipped over the essay she had finished marking, "In that case, I shall tell you this: I was placed a year behind because of my work with a certain group of people.

"With or against the Dark Lord?"

"That, is none of your business, and he was never a lord, only dark."

"Are you sure?"

"Quite sure." Catherine replied strongly.

"All right." Umbridge took the time to scribble something down on her clipboard. Cate rolled her eyes.

"How does this have anything to do with my teaching?"

"Just some background information." The woman let out an evil smile.

"Hookay..." The twenty-one-year-old sighed heavily, turning back to her pile of essays.

"Moving on...I see that your maiden name is Snape, are you related to Severus?" Even though she already knew, she had to hear it from the girl.

"Yes. Severus is my father, and as you know, Elena is my mother."

"You grew up in Canada?"

"With my mother, yes."

"Interesting." She scribbled something else down.

"Can we please move on to things that actually relate to my teaching.

"Well you've only been teaching for about a year. There isn't much to speak about."

"Then how about you retreat back to your little corner and continue to watch." Cate spoke cooly, with sharpness in her voice. A trait very likely to have come from Severus. Almost immediately, Umbridge backed up, sneering as she scribbled away on her clipboard.