Chapter V
Lemon Drop?
Part one because of a lazy (hugely
lazy, massively lazy, lazy beyond desciption *this added by beta, sorry, but it
had to be said*), yet equally busy author.
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I wasn't quite sure what to think when
I first saw the three of them. Charlie aged much since last I'd seen
him. He'd been so wrapped up in his study of dragons, however, that I was
simply surprised to see him at Hogwarts.
Ron,
also, wasn't much different from how I remembered him. He was filled out
a little in six years, and his hair was shorter, but other that that, he looked
the same. Once more, however, I was surprised to see him at
Hogwarts. I would have assumed he would play Quidditch for the Cannons or
working for the Ministry.
None of these surprises compared in any
way to the shock I received from Hermionie. I'd expected her to be at
Hogwarts. Somehow teaching didn't seem to far a leap from having her nose
buried in books for over seven years.
What
shocked me about her was her appearance. She certainly had changed over
the last few years. Much like at the Yule Ball in my fourth year, her
hair was no longer bushy but smooth and cut short so that it nicely framed her
face.
She also wore glasses now, no doubt
from squinting in the dark to read.
The
most remarkable change, however, was her figure. Where years of neglect
towards her appearance during school, and then simply the lack of time during
the last year of the war, had left her seemingly boyish, the past six years had
been extremely kind.
She
too had filled out, though in much more aesthetic ways, and I might have been
inclined to call her striking, had I swung that way. As it was, I could
admit to her beauty, because of her more rounded figure, and clean look, but
I'd be less adverse to admire someone of Severus' appearance…
…And
you didn't hear me just say that. That thought came out of nowhere, and I
was in no way attracted to the older man.
I
swear I felt that damn Himalayan can snickering in my lap.
I stoked his head idly as I waited briefly for Dumbledore to make his
announcements and introductions.
"I'd
first like to introduce to you two new teachers," Dumbledore began.
"Since our former Care of Magical Creatures Professor has decided to return to
the occupation of Games Keeper in order to better tend to the Forbidden Forest,
Charles Weasley has agreed to come from Romania in order to take over the
class.
"Also,
due to Mme. Hooch's retirement, Ronald Weasley will be teaching broom flight as
well as taking over the Quidditch program here.
"I'd
like you to welcome them both."
The
Great Hall burst into applause but I could see a few students shaking their
heads. How were they going to keep two Professor Weasley's straight?
"The
second announcement I would like to make is somewhat connected to the first,"
Dumbledore continued once the applause had quieted down. "I would like to
reintroduce you to your Professor of Muggle Studies, now Mrs. Ronald Weasley,
for they were married over the summer."
Once
more, the Great hall became filled with applause and congratulations, along
with the faint sound of confusion at keeping all three Weasley Professors
straight. Under that, however, I could almost hear Snape muttering
something along the lines of, "Oh no, not another generation. Has I
looked over I would have been able to see him shaking his head slightly in
dismay.
I,
on the other hand, was barely able to contain my shock. All of my control
was concentrated on not letting my jaw drop. I'd know Ron had fancied
Hermionie, because he'd told me during fifth year, but the idea of Hermionie
being wedded to anything other than her books or studies was nearly
inconceivable.
My bafflement was cut short, however,
when Dumbledore made his last announcement. "Finally, I would like to
introduce our new Professor of the Defence Against the Dark Arts, seeing as how
Miss Lazeana is now teaching in Africa, Professor Ethan James."
My
applause wasn't nearly as grand as that for the Weasley family.
Understandable, given that the Weasley family was actually rather well
known. Once Voldemort had sent his Death Eaters on raids, Cornelius Fudge
had been thrown out of office. Even then, he had still defended that it
wasn't Voldemort risen again, but rather a group of nut wizards trying to
instil fear in the general wizarding populace, and they would be dealt with
sooner.
I
personally think it was a mixture of both, but the former was definitely more
important, and Fudge had merely turned a blind eye. It was clear the man
was incompetent, and the people wouldn't stand for it. If his peers
hadn't removed him, I think we would have had a riot on our hands in addition
to the Dark Lord.
There
were times when I began to wonder whether the man was just incompetent or
simply brilliant, because there were more deaths during my fifth year while he
reigned than in the next three combined…
…and
that made for a lot of spilt blood…
I
shuddered to think of how many more meaningless deaths there would have been if
he hadn't been removed; one side fighting amongst each other when they both
desired the exact same thing.
…But
I have a habit of digressing.
After
Fudge was removed Arthur Weasley was installed in the position of the Head of
the Ministry of Magic, and the Weasley family, through being related to Arthur
and knowing me, had played a key roll in ending the war.
After
Albus Dumbledore and Sirius Black, the Weasleys were the most known heroes of
the war. Lupin was also well known, but not as celebrated, for, despite
Albus and Arthur's open acceptance of werewolves, the people were still
uneasy. Severus wasn't a hero at all, merely for a bad choice in his
youth. Inspite of being a spy and providing key information to the Order,
the people couldn't see past him once being a Death Eater.
As
for why I didn't list myself in there. Harry Potter was viewed as a
martyr. He'd either died or been grotesquely injured in the last battle,
which was why no one had seen him.
I'd laughed when I'd heard THAT in the Leaky Cauldron. Neither assumption
was correct, but the latter was closer to the truth. My missing eye was
grotesque. It didn't mean I was ashamed by it. Ashamed by what it
meant, yes, but by it, never.
I
turned by thoughts back to Albus when the applause died down. The older
wizard was still standing, and he spoke once again.
"Now
that introductions are out of the way, I'm sure you're eager to get to
class." There was a collective groan that echoed through the Great
Hall. "Enjoy your first day back to school."
I
had to smile at that. Even if Albus was a manipulative bastard, he had a
way of appearing completely innocent of any type of provocation.
The
cat meowed in my lap… yet again.
'Want
a lemon drop?' I could almost hear it saying in Albus' grandfatherly voice, just
after you'd been summoned to his office for doing something worth expulsion.
It
definitely was amusing.
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AN:
Oh, God, I am one cheap bastard. I'm incredibly sorry it took me this long
to update and I'm terribly sorry that this chapter is pathetically short.
I have excuses if you want to hear them?
March
break started, so before that, I had a s*** load of tests and assignments to do
before. That was entirely not my fault. Also, Thursday was my last
day at school, I went for a test, went home sick part way through the day, went
to bed and didn't wake up until Friday afternoon, where I woke up, tried to
eat, nearly threw up, and then went to sleep again and didn't wake up until
about noon today. It was the evil flu from Hell. Again, not my
fault.
I
have to go on a "family vacation," so I won't be able to type up any more, but
I fully intend to add another 1000 words or so to the chapter, and post another
chapter before I got back to school. I will work on it while I'm away,
completely computer-less. I type faster than I write, so pity me and
forgive me.
If you do forgive me, and feel inclined
to submit a review in favour of my story, press "go." If you despise me
and wish to tell me the extent of your loathing, also press "go."