Chapter Four: First Day of Class

The next day dawned bright and beautiful, but Harry felt crummy. It was his first day of teaching class, and he really was not looking forward to it.

How he arrived in the classroom was a mystery to him. He'd put himself on autopilot that morning.

All too soon for Harry's liking, the bell rang. He leaned back in his chair and put his feet on his desk. It would probably be awhile before the students arrived, anyway.

He was therefore shocked when the door opened right away, and Ginny walked in. Harry immediately took his feet off his desk. Ginny flashed him her private smile, the smile she only gave him, as she made her way to her seat. He started to make his way to her desk so they could talk before class, but was stopped short when four more Gryffindor and one Slytherin seventh years walked through the door. Ginny shrugged apologetically. As the four Gryffindors and Avery took their seat, Harry registered who the Gryffindors were. They were Ginny's friends in her year; Rachel, Verna, Warren and Richard. As far as Harry knew, Verna and Warren were going out, and in his opinion they made a very cute couple.

"Hello, Professor Potter," Rachel said with a large smile on her face.

Harry narrowed his eyes. "What that meant to be sarcastic?"

Rachel's blue eyes widened. "Oh, no professor!"

Harry grinned. "Calm yourself. It's no big deal." Rachel's face flushed.

When Verna and Warren leaned in to whisper to each other, and Warren gave her a peck on the check, Harry's previous knowledge was confirmed: Verna and Warren's relationship had survived the summer.

"So, professor, are you ready to teach a bunch of rowdy seventh years?" Richard said. When Harry raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to speak, Richard said, "Yes, I was being sarcastic. But I was only teasing. It's all in good humor."

"Just, don't be flip in class, Richard," Harry said with a grin on his face.

"No sir. I mean professor. I mean…" The other four Gryffindors began to snicker. "Oh be quiet!" All there faces went slack for about two seconds, before Richard himself burst out laughing, and they all joined in.

The door opened again, and a couple of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs entered, all talking very seriously amongst themselves. A Hufflepuff propped the door open. They all went quiet seeing the Gryffindors in hysterics.

"Did we miss something, professor?" a Ravenclaw named Abigail asked.

Harry shook his head, trying to suppress a grin. "No. I would assume they're laughing at an inside joke." They laughed all the harder. Harry waved he hand to the desks. "Please take a seat."

A lone Slytherin girl entered the room. Her presence alone made everyone stop talking and laughing. This was one Slytherin no one wanted to mess with. Her name was Nicci Lestrange, daughter of the notoriously dangerous Lestranges, who had survived the final battle and were currently locked up in the wizarding prison. Nicci raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow and took her seat.

Harry had always wondered who she had gone to live with after the final battle. He had prayed that it was a relative loyal to the light, and that maybe she had changed her ways. By her haughty manner, though, he doubted it. He had started to notice her after he saw a picture of her parents, mainly because she looked nothing like them. With her blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, she looked more like her Aunt Narcissa.

After several minutes of tense silence and after the time class was to start, a couple of Slytherins and a Gryffindor entered. They completely ignored Harry and went right to their seats in the back, far away from Nicci, who was sitting toward the front.

At first, Harry didn't recognize the Gryffindor. And then he looked at the roster. His name was Jedidiah. In gossip he heard years after the fact, Jedidiah and his Gryffindor friends had gotten into a gigantic argument Jedidiah's second year, and he'd gone off and made friends with the Slytherins, which was why Harry hadn't recognized him; he was never in the common room.

Harry stood up, roster in hand, and walked to the front of the desk. "Thank you for gracing us with your presence," he said to the Slytherins and Jedidiah.

"It's not a problem. Professor," Jedidiah said his voice thick with sarcasm.

Richard turned around and, with a grin on his face, said, "Hey! No being sarcastic to Professor Potter,"

"And who are you? Professor Potter's lap dog?" Jedidiah countered. The Gryffindors and Avery turned around and glared daggers at the smirking Slytherins and Jedidiah.

Richard opened his mouth, but it was Harry who spoke. "I will have none of this in my class!" Harry yelled, banging his fist on his desk, causing the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs who weren't busy glaring at someone, to jump. "You will respect one another, or I will start handing out detentions and deducting points! Do I make myself quite clear!"

The class, except for the Slytherines and Jedidiah, mumbled "Yes Professor."

Harry took a calming breath. "Good." Harry took a quick roll, not that it was necessary because he already knew who everyone was and that everyone was present. It was, however, tradition. "I plan on picking up right where Professor Lupin left off, but we will start with review. So, if you would please pass forward the homework Professor Lupin assigned and turn to page 324, and we will begin."

Harry got half way through class when he realized he'd forgotten to give the N.E.W.T speech. The whole class groaned.

A/N: Thanks to my beta, HarryEstel, who has a great HP story everyone should read! As well as thanks to my roomie Justine.

A/N2: OC WARNING! For those of you who don't like OC's, Nicci and Jedidiah become very important in this story. I have my reasons for this. Just trust me on this one, guys. And they WILL NOT be based on me. I HATE it when authors do this. See disclaimer for more info.

Disclaimer: I know, I know, I shamlessly stole names from the all powerful, all mightly Terry Goodkind. He's the guy who owns the names in this chapter. Standard disclaimer, and let it apply to other chapters. For Terry fans, I don't forsee Richard playing a very big role in this story. But if you've read SoT and FotF, those are foreshadowings for the characters of Nicci and Jedidiah.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed:

HecateDeMort

Replies to reviewers:

Aqua Mage: No problem.