Disclaimer: Jess is mine. J. K. Rowling owns the other peoples. I admit.

Chapter 3

The next few Defense Against the Dark Arts classes passed without anybody getting locked outside. People were quiet for the most part except for questions. They found out later that Fred and George got detentions for the week because they enchanted some quills to scribble on their friend Lee Jordan's paper. They claimed that as they were writing lines, they got a look at a paper on her desk that had a list of names with some of them crossed out before she came back into the room.

"Don't be ridiculous you guys. It may be anything."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Come on Hermione. What else could it be?"

"A number of things! It might be a list of people she needs to see-"

"Yeah, and then she kills them."

Hermione ignored this. "It might be a list of…something else. I'm sure she has a reason. She works for the Order. Even if she was, why would she leave it out on her desk?"

"Fred said they were looking through the desk, it wasn't out in the open."

Hermione fell silent still not agreeing with a word Ron said. They left the conversation at that and Harry and Ron were more wary around Jess. More weeks passed and they had their first test. Hermione did perfectly, but Ron and Harry got lower grades. Hermione tried all she could to explain what they did wrong, but she gave up.

"Why don't you just go see Professor Jess about it? I'm sure she'd answer your questions."

Ron was totally against it. Harry and Hermione finally got him to go, because they warned him that if he didn't get it straight now, he may not pass the subject. They entered her classroom but she wasn't there.

"Let's try her office."

"No way! Look, I didn't want to come here in the first place! She'd probably hex us as soon as we came through the door."

"Don't be stupid. We'll knock first." Ron followed Harry reluctantly. They walked up to the office door, and it was slightly open. They heard Jess talking to someone through the fire.

"I told you, no one saw me."

"How do you know for sure? You won't be any use to us dead!"

"I've taken care of it! Don't you think I'm careful? It's what you're paying me to do. If you don't like the way I do it maybe you should find somebody else."

"What spell did you use?"

"I couldn't use a spell. We both lost our wands, so I used an alternative method."

Harry and Ron recognized Sirius' voice. Then the faucet turned on. Harry opened the door a little bit wider. Both Ron and Harry looked inside. Jess was washing something red from her hands.

"Is that-?" Ron started, but Harry clamped his hand over his mouth. Sirius and Jess looked over toward the door. Harry and Ron dashed out of the room and ran as fast as they could toward the commons room.

"Someone's seen you now Jess."

Back in the commons room Ron and Harry collapsed in the armchairs.

"What happened to knocking?" Ron asked frantically. "And was that blood on her hands? What were they talking about?"

"What? What happened? What did you see?"

Harry and Ron told Hermione what they had seen.

"There was definitely blood on her hands! She is an assassin. I told you! She does have a list of people to take care of. The Order hired her!"

Hermione finally agreed. She was a dangerous professor.