*Insert standard disclaimer because I'm to tired and lazy to write it all out…*

AN:         Things are steady at the moment if not normal… this current chapter is the product of a lack of drawing paper and a larger lack or attention in math class.  I took someone's advice and wrote it out on paper first.  That didn't take that long, it was the getting around to typing it.  Hope people enjoy.

Thanks to Diagonalist who always manages to return beta-ed chapters much sooner than one would expect and thanks to everyone who gave support.

ame_chan

DragonSoul

Erin

MoiLeGreat

Disturbeddarkangel

IcyEyes202

Risi

Grey Malwell

StarGazer

Corwin

Lord R

Alice

Lulu-Chan

Ntamara

minamino

i_miei_occhi_Verdi

amythest

MostEvilKitten

I would normally add responses, put in a song, and give it a chapter name, but I'm tired, and I want to go to sleep, so you get nothing.  Not even an authors note at the end.  Just pure chapterishness with a cliffhanger that you may or not hate me for later because I don't know when I'm putting the next one up….  Proceed.  *mutters* Both of my feet are asleep.  I've been standing all day…

If one didn't know Severus, or didn't know his history, they might have been able to say it seemed like today was the worst day of his life. There was an air about him that actually seemed to say, "Piss off, I'm having the worst day of my life." To say he was angry would have been the most wonderful understatement.
                And, of course, the students were bearing the brunt of his wrath. Of the four classes I had day that came from Potions that day, three of them were still shaking when they came into my room. The students looked worse than Neville did after he'd exploded his cauldron during a lesson… twice.
                The fourth class, obviously, was Slytherin, and while they didn't look any worse for wear, they were complaining that the "Dirty bastard took House points."
                "He never takes house points!"
                I shook my head. I was beginning to feel tired, the effects of Snape's anger even getting to me. And I was the one who'd had the supreme pleasure of putting Mr. Snape in his foul mood. Damn Newton and his third law.
                "Calm down," I said once they had all taken their seats. "I understand that it's the weekend, but you still have one last class, and I'd like for it to be somewhat productive." I brushed some stray hairs from my face and looked over the class. "Turn to the third chapter in your text and read pages forty-seven through sixty-nine. I want you to be able to tell me all of the symptoms of a werewolf bite by the end of class."
                I sat back at my desk and began massaging my temples. Granted the whole problem was my fault, but I didn't feel I deserved this type of stress.
                I'd mentioned in the Great Hall this morning, without warning Severus before hand, that I would be starting the duelling club that evening. Severus, having been volunteered for the job of supervisor against his own free will, had predictably taken in very badly.
                I very much doubted that the minor detail of tomorrow being the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year, another thing Severus had been unwillingly volunteered for to supervise over, helped his disposition much.
                I heard whisperings in the back of the room.
                "Stupid Defence teacher, giving all of these pages to read. He's just as bad as Snape. Might as well have told to write an essay about stupid werewolves."
                I stood up then, pouncing on my student's suggestion. "What a wonderful idea, Miss Sauders." I clapped my hands together in mock joy. "Class, you can thank your friend for being able to write me an essay on the topic of werewolf bites due at the end of class."
                There was a collective groan in the room, a sound I was quickly getting used to in my classes. I was beginning to see myself as a hybrid between Albus' intrusive cheerfulness in situations where it certainly wasn't warranted, and Snape's ever present sadistic snarkiness. I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.
                The rest of the class was quiet, giving the throbbing in my head a chance to die down. I received several disgruntled looks as the students handed in their sloppily written essays. I strongly doubted I was going to mark them, unless I desired yet another headache.
                The two hours between classes and dinner gave me the perfect opportunity to tune the guitar I'd brought along with me. It was acoustic, and somewhat worse for wear, but I'd gotten it at a yard sale, so you wouldn't hear me complaining.
                I practiced a few of the fingerings our bands guitarist, Lee, had shown me before I'd left. He'd been the original drummer for the band, but he preferred playing the guitar. When it was discovered that I had modest talent with the drums, they let me in the band, and Lee got to play his guitar. After that, the band began to get more shows, and now there it was.
                I had to put the guitar down eventually. While I would have much rather stayed in my room through dinner, Albus had a rule about professors at least making an appearance at the last meal of the day during the week. I wasn't hungry, and even if I had been, I would have much rather fixed something for myself, but it seemed rules are rules, so I had a quick shower before donning my robes and making a mad dash to arrive at the Great Hall on time.
                 Unfortunately for me the only place left at the Head table was next to Severus, who was currently out to get me for something that wasn't entirely in my control. He was bent on exacting the sneaky sort of payback that I wasn't any good at stopping.
                 Whatever appetite I may or may not have had quickly disappeared. I sat pushing my food around my plate, which seemed to amuse the older man to no end.
                I'd said the duelling club was going to start at eight, which was two hours away. That, of course, meant that I would have to spend the next two hours worrying over what my fellow professor had planned for me unless I magically managed to get him out of the job, no pun intended.
                I whispered to him out of the corner of my mouth something that seemed to solve all of my problems. "You don't have to come to the duelling club tonight."
                There was silence beside me, but I could see him turn his head to look at me questioningly out of the corner of my eye.
                "I'm not actually letting them duel. Tonight is all for going over proper duelling etiquette." I didn't have to look at him to tell there was a somewhat shocked expression on his face, or at least as much of an expression as you could expect him to have. "We wouldn't want a repeat of our last duel among the students now would we?"
                Snape snorted disdainfully, and I excused myself from the table. Interestingly enough, it seemed as though I had made a little headway in gaining his acceptance. At least he could bear to be in the same room with me now… somewhat.
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                I reached the Great Hall for the second time that evening slightly after eight, and was more than a little surprised to find that almost half of the school was there… with their wands at ready. I climbed awkwardly onto a table, on account of my cast and crutches so that everyone could see me, Chie following quickly behind.
                The cat honestly confused me. He followed me around half of the time, and the other half he was nowhere to be found. I was getting used to him, however, and always made a point to leave out a saucer of milk and mush that may or may not have resembled cat food.
                The room quickly quieted down when the students saw me standing on the table.
                "You can put your wands away," I called out. "You won't be needing them tonight."
                There were confused looks all around, as well as a few hopeful ones. I managed to alleviate their confusion and crush their dreams in one simple sentence. "Tonight we will only be going over the formal rules of duelling. I understand of course that many of you are already aware of these rules. If this is the case, then you have my permission to leave."
                I paused to watch over three quarters of the students turn to walk out.
                 "However, you will only be given one warning if you break these rules before you'll be prohibited from returning. Understood?"
                Many of the students came back at that announcement, leaving me with half of the original turn out. It was still more than I had expected.
                "Very well," I began. "We are going to start with the basics. Rule number one: Never attack someone from behind."
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                For the most part, the teachers managed to go unnoticed by the students in Hogsmeade. Admittedly they saw a little more of use than they were used to, but that could all be seen as coincidence. We all had superficial reasons for being there.
                Who wouldn't expect a newly wedded couple to be in town searching for furniture.
                Also, Charlie was never seen at school during the weekends, so, for all the students knew, he went into Hogsmeade to relax on the weekends (which was true).
                Now was also probably as good a time as any for Professor Snape to run out of potions ingredients.
                As for myself… well, I was simply viewed as odd, disappearing on weekends and showing up in crutches after missing several days of teaching with the explanation that I had been in a 'car accident.' Frankly, I was pretty sure many of the students believed I was going to see a lover, though why exactly I wasn't sure.
                 Hogsmeade brought back a lot of fond memories from my time as a relatively carefree student. It also brought a few misgivings. I'd overheard Ron telling Hermionie that Fred had taken over Zonko's Joke Shop. He'd decided to branch out off of the twins business, believing that two Weasley Wizarding Weases shops was better than one. I was glad for him, but they'd been masters of disguise. It wouldn't have surprised me if Fred managed to recognize me. Fortunately, I never ran into him.
                I ended up buying sweets while I was there, having emptied the care package my friends had packed for me. This of course gained me several amused looks from my fellow professors. I only smiled back. I wasn't going to try to defend my sweet tooth.
                I also bought several books, including a modern history book, a book on the analysis of Dark Arts, a book on the advanced defence against Dark Arts, one on the uses and applications of Muggle technology in the wizarding world (for my tampering with the CD player), and one book for pleasure reading, a book on advanced potions, much to the bemusement of Snape. It would seem one can still learn something new every day, even at his age.
                My final purchase was a new racing broom. I don't know what happened to my Firebolt, and it didn't really matter now. Flying was simply one of few material things I'd truly missed from the wizarding world. I missed the feeling of the wind blowing through my hair, and of free falling towards the ground, pulling up at the last minute, so I figure, 'Hey, why not buy a broom?' It had been over six years since I'd last flown, but now was as good a time as any to take it up again.
                The Hogsmeade weekend was basically uneventful, in other words. There had been absolutely no need for the extensive amount of chaperones, but I guess it was better safe…
                During dinner that evening I had the opportunity to sit beside Hermionie, seeing as how I'd managed to be there a little early. I don't believe Ron appreciated it overmuch, but I wasn't going to come out and say anything to him until he got a little too jealous. He could be… touchy at times.
                As it was, Hermionie and I got to talk about how to get a Muggle appliance to work off of magical energy. I was fairly certain that it was possible; energy was energy after all. It was just a matter pf converting magical energy into the electrical variety. If it wasn't possible, than it would blow away the theory that energy could neither be created nor destroyed, and I didn't even want to consider that possibility.
                "Are you planning on relying on magical or mechanical energy?" she asked me, and I was pretty sure it was a test.
                 "Magical energy is the only kind that will work in this type of environment… which pretty much screws up my plans…" That last though seemed to worm its way into my speech without fully registering, and I was extremely disappointed, because my little power converter idea was as far as I'd gotten. Trust logic to throw a wrench in the most wonderful of plans.
                "What do they do for power in the Muggle Studies room?" I asked several moments later.
                "The room has been drained of all magical energy, so that it doesn't disrupt the electricity. That way we can have a small generator, giving us enough power for whatever we need. I'm guessing that wouldn't help you, seeing as how you couldn't use your wand in there if your existence depended on it."
                I shook my head in dismay. "No, probably not…"
                I fell silent as dinner came to an end and most of the teachers, including Hermionie began to leave. I too was about to leave but Ron grabbed my arm and pulled me down into the seat beside him, all without really glancing at me.
                "I don't know what you think you're doing, but if you try to take my wife, I swear I'll kill you," he threatened.
                I actually burst into laughter at that. The same thing had happened during our sixth year, even though my reaction had been slightly different and I had felt a lot more offended.
                Ron was glaring steadily at me as hard as he could, and I nearly had tears in my eyes.
                "I don't think you have anything to worry about, Mr Weasley," I assured him. "Your wife is completely in love with you and would never leave you."
                "Then stop flirting with her!" he growled out.
                "I'm hardly flirting with Hermionie, and in addition, if anyone was worried about who I had designs over, it should be her."
                I left the table and a very confused Ron, who was still trying to figure out that I meant. It didn't dawn on him until I was nearly at the door.
              "You're GAY!?"
                I stopped, turned around… and noticed that I had the attention of all of the students sitting at the heads of their House tables. They were all staring at me, expecting me to answer. Whatever I answered, there would still be rumours going around the school.
                The main thing that caused me to answer the way I did was the fact that while the wizarding world didn't encourage homosexuality (the need for the endurance of the wizarding race and all), they were a little more accepting than Muggles.
                I looked directly and Ron, nodded once and said, "Bingo."
                As soon as I disappeared from view of the Great Hall the students burst into conversation, stirring up rumours, I presume.
                I wasn't there, or anywhere near the Great Hall when it quieted down, due to the appearance of two other people.
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                "Have you any word on Harry, Albus?"
                "No, I'm sorry. As I've said before, we lost track of him when he entered the Muggle world."
                "So for all we know Harry could be dead!"
                "I wouldn't worry about that, friend… Who do you have teaching the defence course this year, Albus? I wonder if I could maybe give them some advice."
                "What are you talking…"
                "What an excellent idea. Mr. Ethan James has been teaching here. He's wonderful with the students. I believe you'll be able to find his chambers above the dungeons."
                "Thank you, Albus. I'll let you two catch up, and I'll meet your two back here."
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                I hadn't been back in my room for very long when I heard a knock on the door. I'm not sure who I was expecting to be on the other side, but it certainly wasn't Remus Lupin in a wheel chair.
                "Hello Harry. May I come in?"