Chapter Seventeen – Defense Against the Dark Arts
"I'm not eating breakfast this morning," Tonks grumbled, pulling the covers over her head. "Go without me!"
She felt Severus sit down next to her and gently rub her back. "Are you sure?" he asked.
Tonks groaned and threw the covers off of her. "I'm tired," she whined. "Why are you always perky in the morning?"
Severus gave her a pointed look.
"Okay, well, not perky. But you're at least awake every morning," Tonks said quickly.
"Years and years of practice, my dear," Severus said.
"You don't even need coffee!" Tonks complained.
"Did I mention the years and years, and even more years of practice?" Severus asked again.
Tonks picked up his pillow and hit him with it. "What was that for?" he asked, genuinely confused.
"I'm not sure," Tonks admitted, grinning wickedly. "I do feel more awake though."
Severus stood up, holding out his hand. Tonks reluctantly took it and let herself be pulled out of bed. "It was so warm," she said sadly. "And I was so comfortable."
Severus put his arms around her. "This any better?" he asked huskily.
"Mmm…yes, sir," Tonks replied, bringing her head in for a kiss. They kissed slowly for a few minutes, until Severus finally broke away.
"I have to be at breakfast," he said, stroking Tonks lilac spikes. "Until then, love."
They kissed one more time, and Severus walked purposely towards the door.
"One of these days I'm going to make you late for breakfast!" Tonks cried out, jumping back into bed.
Severus turned around and arched one eyebrow. "Is that a threat?" he asked.
Tonks giggled. "I'd call that a promise, mister."
She settled herself into bed, fully prepared to sleep for another hour, before she had to meet with Professor Dumbledore again.
Suddenly, there was a voice from the flames. "Tonks?" the voice asked.
Tonks sat up quickly, and looked to the flames. Professor McGonagall's head was there. "Professor," Tonks sighed. "How are you?"
"Fine, Tonks," the professor said briskly. "I have a proposition for you."
"Am I Professor Dumbledore today?" Tonks asked brightly.
"Not today, Tonks. Professor Binns-Morgan's mother is ill. Eve would like to go see her. How would you feel about being a substitute teacher today?" Professor McGonagall asked.
Tonks brought herself to her knees. "Me?" she asked excitedly. "Be a substitute?"
Professor McGonagall nodded. "You have just as much Defense Against the Dark Arts experience as our professor."
Tonks didn't have to think twice. "I'll do it!" she said, almost bouncing up and down on the bed. "Does that mean I get to spend time in the teacher's lounge?"
"If you'd like," Professor McGonagall said sternly. "Now, you'll have first years in the morning. Then in the afternoon, it will be seventh years. Eve has a lesson plan all ready. You shouldn't find it to be any trouble."
"Wicked," Tonks said under her breath. She couldn't wait to go see Severus in the teacher's lounge and see the look on his face.
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Tonks stood outside of the DADA classroom and took a deep breath. She had a very easy time with the first years this morning. She showed them some of her metamorph tricks, and they seemed in awe of her.
Tonks smoothed out the blouse she was wearing. It seemed to have taken ages this morning to find so-called teacher clothes. Tonks made a mental note that she should buy some grown-up clothes just in case.
She was slightly worried about teaching the seventh years, especially since it was Gryffindor and Ravenclaw together in the same class.
"You're an Auror," she muttered to herself. Why did facing a classroom of seventeen year-olds suddenly seem scarier than taking on Death Eaters?
She could hear voices in the classroom. "It's now or never," Tonks said out loud.
"Dear, you shouldn't talk to yourself like that," a portrait of a young man said worriedly.
"Thanks for the advice," Tonks said sarcastically. She took a deep breath and let herself into the classroom.
The students immediately became quiet on her entrance. "Hello," Tonks said timidly. "I'm Professor Tonks."
She looked around. She saw Draco mouth "professor?" at her. "Professor Binns-Morgan was unable to come to class today, and Professor McGonagall asked me to be here," Tonks said, feeling very uncomfortable.
"I currently am an Auror for the Ministry of Magic," Tonks said. A few people looked at her interestedly. "I was the youngest Auror to be selected in quite a long time," she added for good measure.
Tonks desperately tried to remember the lesson plan. "Today we will be working on a complicated shield charm." Tonks coughed and cleared her throat. "By now you should have the Protego shield charm mastered.
"This is the Plural shield charm. When used correctly, it can shield up to five people, including the caster. It is very useful when defending a witch or wizard who has been injured in battle, and can no longer defend themselves," Tonks said quickly. She felt like she was babbling. Was she babbling?
"Tutamenia Plura!" Tonks shouted, waving her wand in a circle towards the blackboard. A soft yellow shield formed in front of the blackboard, clearly large enough to protect a group.
"What's more, is that the shield can last for up to five minutes," Tonks added. "It is not a difficult shield to cast, but it is difficult to maintain."
Tonks pointed to the students in the first row. "Let's see if someone can protect you," Tonks said. The students stood up, and huddled together in front of the desk.
Tonks looked at the rest of the students. "Hermione?" Tonks asked. "Would you like to try casting the spell?" Hermione jumped up quickly.
"Who'd like to try to get past her Plural shield?" Tonks asked.
A boy with a round face shot his hand up first. Tonks looked at the seating chart. She knew she had seen him before. "Neville?" Tonks asked. Neville nodded and went up to the front of the classroom.
"Use what ever jinx you'd like," Tonks told him. Neville nodded.
"Go ahead and cast the spell, Hermione," Tonks said.
Hermione stood with the group and waved her wand. "Tutamenia Plura!" she said confidently. A yellow shield formed in front of the group.
Neville held out his wand and cried, "Rictusempra!" The stream of light bounced harmlessly off of the shield.
"Excellent work, Hermione!" Tonks said happily. "Cast another spell, Neville."
"Aerarduus!" Neville yelled. A girl from Ravenclaw suddenly clutched her stomach, and was having difficulty breathing.
"Concentrate," Tonks told Hermione. Hermione screwed up her face in concentration.
Tonks casually walked behind the shield and took the wheezing hex off of the Ravenclaw. She then called to Neville, "Try one more."
She watched Neville think for a moment. Then he cried out, "Expelliarmus!"
Hermione's wand flew effortlessly out of her hand. Tonks could see Hermione muttering to herself.
"Hermione, that was wonderful for the first time you had performed the spell," Tonks told her.
"He got through," Hermione sighed, as Neville handed her back her wand.
"You blocked it the first time," Tonks reminded her. "It's a very difficult spell to maintain. Trust me, you did well."
Hermione smiled brightly and then headed back to her desk.
For the rest of the hour, Tonks had the class split up and practice the casting and penetrating the shield. She couldn't quite believe it when the bell rang.
"Class dismissed," Tonks said cheerfully. Not to her surprise, Harry, Ron and Hermione ran up to her after class.
"Wicked lesson," Ron said. "You should teach us more often."
"Thanks, but one day of you all was enough," Tonks laughed.
Tonks met Harry's eye briefly. She had expected to see the longing that had been there all summer. But there was none of that now. "So how are you, Harry?" she asked gently.
"We're fine," Harry said quickly. "Just fine."
Tonks thought about that for a moment. "I guess fine is better than not fine," she giggled.
The trio walked out of the classroom, and Tonks decided to make her way to the teacher's lounge, hoping to see Severus.
Much to her disappointment, he wasn't there. But that didn't stop Tonks from grabbing herself a cup of tea.
A minute later, Professor McGonagall walked into the room. "So how was it?" she asked seriously.
"Fun!" Tonks said excitedly. "If you ever need another substitute…"
"I'll keep you in mind," the professor said, settling herself in the chair next to Tonks. "So what are you doing for Severus' birthday tomorrow?"
Tonks practically had to force down her tea as she started coughing. "His birthday? It's tomorrow?" Tonks cried.
Professor McGonagall looked confused, and nodded her head. "Tomorrow. You didn't know?" she asked.
Tonks felt awful. She had no idea that his birthday was tomorrow. To be fair, she and Severus didn't celebrate her birthday, which was only a few weeks ago. But that was because Severus was in his manic "must finish the potion phase."
"I'm the worst girlfriend ever," Tonks muttered under her breath.
Professor McGonagall managed a small smile. "I'm sure there have been worse than you, Tonks."
"I didn't even know it was his bloody birthday," Tonks said, still beating herself up.
"Well, stop whining and do something about it," Professor McGonagall said sternly.
Tonks nodded. "Sounds like a plan," she said brightly, jumping out of her chair. "Thanks again for letting me teach!"
Professor McGonagall started to open her mouth to answer. But then realized that Tonks had already left the room.
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Tonks practically sprinted to Hogsmeade. When she finally stood in the middle of the small town she stopped, realizing she had absolutely no idea what store to go into first.
She looked at her options. "Apothecary is too predictable," she muttered. "I don't think he'd like me buying him clothes yet." She hit her forehead. "In order to buy clothes, you need to know sizes."
Tonks racked her brain, trying to figure out what to get him. Severus seemed like the type of person who would prefer practical gifts. She then remembered the ratty looking quill he had in their bedchamber.
"I'm brilliant," Tonks said happily, heading towards Scrievenshaft's Quill Shop. Before she knew it almost an hour had passed, and she had only narrowed her choice down to three.
There was a new version of the replenishing ink quill. She shrugged that choice off; Severus was the type who would want to use ink. Then there was a mood quill. The feather changed color depending on what mood the writer was in. And finally, a simple black feather quill, with no magical properties at all.
Finally she decided on the black quill. She smiled, knowing that Severus wouldn't want her to know what his mood was by his quill. She held up the black quill. The feather was beautiful.
Tonks almost changed her mind when she brought the quill to the counter and was told the price. It was a more than she would ever pay for a quill. Gritting her teeth, she reminded herself that it was for Severus, and handed over the money.
She made it back to Hogwarts just in time for dinner. Quietly she looked into the Great Hall and saw Draco sitting on his own at the end of the table. A book was propped up in front of him.
Tonks glanced at the Head Table and saw Severus watching her. She gave him a small smile, which she hoped he could see from this far away. She slipped in the bench across from Draco.
He glanced up, looking angry. But his features relaxed when he saw that it was Tonks. "Very good lesson," he said, closing his book.
"Thanks," Tonks said brightly. "Though it really was your teacher's lesson, not mine."
Draco rolled his eyes. "Professor Binns-Morgan is almost as exciting as her great-grandfather."
Tonks giggled, thinking about the woman who wanted to "grade papers" with Severus. That's not all she wanted to do with him, Tonks thought to herself.
"Well, it's not good to criticize a teacher," Tonks started.
But Draco cut her off. "I'm in Ravenclaw now, Tonks. Your old house. And believe me, there are still stories floating around about you. I wouldn't act all pious with me," Draco said, grinning.
"Are you calling me a bad example?" Tonks asked, pretending to be offended.
"Maybe," Draco laughed.
Tonks rested her chin on her hand. "Well, you may have a point, old boy."
"Thought so."
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A/N – Tutamenia Plura (Latin) – Tutamen – Defense/Protection; Plura – Several/Many Aerarduus (Latin) - Aer-Air; Arduus-difficult