Summary: AU It's the seventh year at Hogwarts, and things just aren't the same without Dumbledore. McGonagall has taken over as Headmistress with Flitwick as Deputy Headmaster. As usual, a new DADA teacher is needed, and there's only one person up for the job. But Harry is suspicious of this new teacher being a spy almost instantly, though no one else seems concerned. Could she be a Death Eater, or something else entirely, and is she a friend or foe?
Pairings: Ron x Hermione (finally) and hints at Harry x Ginny
I'm going to try and speed through this chapter, with Diagon Alley and whatnot, as things don't get really good 'til they get to Hogwarts.
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Chapter One: A Wedding and a Bat
"Bill Weasley, do you take Ms. Fleur Delacour as your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do!" Bill said, a large grin spreading across his scarred face.
"And do you, Fleur Delacour, take this man as your lawfully wedded husband?"
"Of course I do!" Fleur replied.
"Then by the powers vested in me I do hereby pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Everyone rose from their seats and clapped their hands wildly as the two kissed and Bill swept Fleur into his arms, carrying her bridal-style away from the alter and toward the picnic tables that were set up not far away.
Harry smiled. Despite everything that had happened, despite everything that would happen, that was happening at that moment, here was just a moment of peace. Such moments were rare and becoming rarer by the week as Voldemort's clutches spread.
Harry sat down at a table with Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Charlie. Everyone was talking and laughing and having a good time. The Weasleys didn't have the money for a big wedding, so the lunch consisted of simple sandwiches, fruit, a few pastries, and punch, but it was a good lunch nonetheless.
"Oh, look, they're about to cut the cake!" Hermione said, grabbing Ron's arm and pointing. "I love this part."
"Been to many weddings?" Charlie asked.
"Tons. I have lots of cousins," Hermione nodded vigorously. "I love everything about weddings, especially the cake cutting. Don't you think so, Ron?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah," Ron's ears turned bright pink as he realized that he'd been staring at Hermione, and he looked back at the table where the newlyweds were cutting the cake. Ginny giggled and Harry's smile widened.
Soon, after everyone had a slice of cake, more punch, and after the couple's first dance, everyone deserted the hill where the wedding had taken place and headed back to the Burrow.
"Shame none of Fleur's relatives could make it," George sighed.
"Terribly tragic, that," Fred agreed.
It was a shame that none of Fleur's relatives had come to her own wedding, but they all had to take care of their own matters, what with Death Eaters running amok since Dumbledore's death. There was no safe haven, but the majority still felt safer in large cities, and Harry was still attached to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The Burrow was as cramped as ever, especially with the entire Weasley clan, Harry, and Hermione crammed inside. Yet despite the lack of space, the Burrow was still what Harry had and would always considered his home, if not Hogwarts.
Hogwarts would be starting again soon, he realized. He'd be going back to the wondrous castle for one last year, and then he'd search for Voldemort, Snape, the Horcruxes, and Malfoy. He knew what he'd do when he found Voldemort and Snape; he'd kill them straight away. He'd destroy the Horcruxes, too.
But Malfoy was a slightly different story. As much as Harry hated him, he didn't think he'd be able to bring himself to end Malfoy's life. Azkaban, maybe, would be good enough, or the wizard version of Juvenile Hall. Malfoy certainly didn't deserve to walk around free, but death might be too much.
"Harry? Are you alright?" Ginny asked with concern. "You're being awfully quiet."
"Oh," Harry replied, snapping out of his thoughts. "Sorry, I was-"
"Thinking about Voldemort?" Ginny finished. She was still careful around Voldemort's name, but she was starting to get better at saying it more and more casually.
"Yeah," Harry nodded. Ginny didn't need to know about his indecisiveness about Malfoy, he decided. She was all too passionate about the subject, and had made it clear earlier in the summer that if she came across a Death Eater- any Death Eater- she would kill it, or at the very least immobilize it and let someone else kill it.
"You worry too much," Ginny said, though he knew she didn't mean the words.
Everyone was practically worried out of their minds, especially him and the Weasleys. The Dursleys no longer cared about him; he was out of their house for good- he'd gone back to retrieve his things earlier that summer, so they would most likely never see each other again.
That night, Harry lied awake. For the strangest reason, he found himself thinking about the Hogwarts staff. Professor McGonagall had, as he'd read in the Daily Prophet, been chosen to become the Headmistress of Hogwarts.
Harry couldn't say that he disliked the choice at all. He, just as everyone else, knew that no one could ever come close to Dumbledore. But McGonagall was quite possibly the closest to Dumbledore, and Harry felt reassured knowing that someone he knew was in charge of the school.
But there were staff complications, mostly being the lack thereof. No one wanted to take a job at the school, not after the siege, not without Dumbledore. So McGonagall would still be teaching Transfiguration, but Hagrid would be taking the position of Head of Gryffindor.
No one, not even Rita Skeeter, knew who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was going to be, or if anyone had even applied for the job. If it hadn't been repellent enough before, now it was doubly so. Snape had permanently scarred the post, made it the most unpopular subject, and there was still the 'curse' to consider.
Sighing, tired with all of these complex thoughts, Harry mumbled, "G'night," to Ron and Charlie and tried to fall asleep, finally managing to do so at around one o'clock in the morning.
The next morning, Harry awoke to find that Hedwig and Pig had come with letters from Hogwarts. They were supply lists, of course:
A Standard Book of Spells, Grade Seven by Miranda Goshawk
Perfecting your Potions, by Sureves Epans
A Guide to the Stars: Advanced Astronomy, by Nori Fooh
Battling Brutes: How to Fight Without Magic, by Fezzick Eldorado
Standard supplies include:
One Wand
A set of Robes
One Cauldron
One set of Scales
Ink and Quills
Students may choose to bring one of the following:
Cat
Rat
Owl
Bat
Students are expected to dress in school robes every day. All students will be taking advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts this year, and may wish to bring dragon-hide gloves or gloves of hard material.
Looking forward to your arrival,
Professor Minerva McGonagall,
Headmistress
"Bats? That's new," Ron said, looking. "Wonder who's going to bring one of those. Maybe Luna, she's always been a bit batty herself."
"Be nice! Luna fought beside us at the Ministry, don't forget," Hermione scolded.
"What do you think we need extra-strength gloves for, though?" Harry asked. "You'd think something like that would be for Care of Magical Creatures, not Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Well, all else aside, at least we know there will be a Defense Against the Dark Arts class," Ginny pointed out.
Everyone was discussing the classes over breakfast… or at least, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were. Fred and George were stuffing their faces full of toast, whilst Mrs. Weasley was busy cleaning and cooking in the kitchen at the same time. Charlie was deep into the sports section of the Daily Prophet while Mr. Weasley scanned the rest of the newspaper for news of any information about Voldemort's whereabouts. Bill and Fleur had already left on their honeymoon.
"We'll be going to Diagon Alley today, right, Mum?" Ron asked.
"What's that? Oh, yes, yes… got to get your things for school," Mrs. Weasley nodded. "The Ministry is loaning us a company car."
Harry remembered the times in the past when they had been loaned company cars, and he knew that they were always roomier than they appeared. He almost wondered if they would need to be, though: Charlie, Fred, George, and Mr. Weasley were all going to be staying at the Burrow, so only Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Mrs. Weasley would be going.
It seemed that only the extra trunk space would actually be needed, as a regular car could fit five people easily.
"I think I might get a bat," Ginny said suddenly.
"Huh?" Fred gaped at her.
"I said that I think I might get a bat," Ginny replied. "They're cute, and furry; I like bats. They're useful, too- bats can carry mail and eat all of the bugs around the school. And I mean, Harry's got Hedwig, Hermione has Crookshanks, Ron has Pig… so I was thinking maybe I could get a bat."
Everyone turned their gaze to Mrs. Weasley.
"I don't see why not," she finally responded. "But we don't really have the money-"
"That's okay, I've been saving," Ginny replied. "I think I have enough money for an owl, so I should have no problem getting a bat."
And so, hours later, Ginny walked triumphantly out of the store with a small, black bat with silver wings in a cage. It was cute, too- it looked like a hamster with a shorter nose, bigger, slightly pointier ears, a tail, and wings. It seemed pretty happy with Ginny, too, and squeaked proudly whenever she said its name, 'Shadow'.
Soon, everyone had their school things and were safely back at the Burrow. Everyone watched with some worry as Ginny let Shadow out of his cage. He flew out, circled the room a few times, exploring it with his echo vision before latching onto the crotchet work of Ginny's sweater with his claws and swinging upside down.
For the rest of the day, Ginny strolled around the house with Shadow hanging on her arm, or resting on her shoulder, or sometimes she even carried him around in her hands.
"Isn't he cute?" she'd ask anyone who walked by, "Isn't he so smart?"
And no one could help but answer, "Yes, Ginny, he's cute. Yes, Ginny, he's smart. Yes Ginny, we were wrong to accuse bats of being creepy and ugly and wild."
Finally Harry just had to silence her with a kiss, at which point Shadow hovered near his face and gave him a lick on the cheek to express the fact that if Harry made Ginny happy, he would make Harry happy, mostly by not bothering him.
Another week or so went on this way, and soon it was time to leave for Hogwarts. It was definitely going to be an odd year, they all knew, with at least half the students gone and Death Eaters milling about. But they had no idea what was in store for them at the castle.
"Well, here's a good thing about this year," Ron said as they took their regular empty car on the train, "Malfoy and Snape are going to be gone." The sweets trolley found its way to their cart and Ron added, "Reason to celebrate?"
"Definitely," Harry nodded, catching his drift. He, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna were swamped with Pumpkin Pastries, Chocolate Frogs, and Burty Blott's Every Flavor Bean. Neville, unfortunately, wasn't going to be attending Hogwarts that year.
Most of the ride passed in silence, with the exception of satisfied chewing and the occasional squeak of Shade, hoot of Hedwig and Pig, and mew of Crookshanks.
The compartment door slid open suddenly, and four people stepped through. One was a woman with long, black hair and red eyes, who looked to be in her mid or late twenties. Ron's jaw dropped when he saw her- she was drop-dead gorgeous, even more than a veela. The other three were boys; one was tall and slim, with long, greenish hair and violet eyes who looked to be in his later teens. The other two were twins, maybe eight or nine, with big, denim-blue eyes and long, black hair. Their left eyes were covered by their bangs. Hermione, Ginny, and Luna resisted the urge to 'aww' at the sight of them, because they were simply adorable.
None of them wore school robes, though everyone else had changed.
The teen wore a black, sleeveless, slightly turtle-necked half-shirt with a pair of black, fingerless gloves, a black skort, and black, toe-less, ankle-height leggings, along with a headband. He had a tattoo on his upper-left thigh of a serpent eating its tail.
The twins wore shorts and half-shirts, along with finger-less gloves and toe-less, angle-height leggings. One of them, like the teen, wore all black, but the other wore all white.
The woman wore a black half-shirt that looked like it was made of leather, or something thicker. She also wore elbow-length, black gloves and knee-high, black boots. She wore a skort that was short in the front but long in the back as well, and the front portion of it had a pouch. On her ears were a few piercings, most of them occupied by silver rings or red posts, but she had on a pair of red, triangular earrings.
"Excuse me," the woman said, "But would any of you know when we will be arriving at Hogwarts?"
"Soon," Ginny answered. "Who are you guys?"
"I am Murder, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," the woman replied. "These are my sons, Envy, Wrath, and Hope."
"It's… nice to meet you," Hermione said awkwardly. "I'm Hermione Granger, that's Ginny Weasley, there's Luna Lovegood, and these two are Ron Weasley and Harry Potter."
"Harry Potter, you said?" Envy asked. His voice was very feminine for a guy. "We've heard of a Harry Potter. We were warned that you can be trouble."
"Warned by who?" Harry asked.
"That's for us to know and for you to get yourself into trouble trying to find out," Envy replied smartly.
"Be nice, Envy," Murder scolded. "We'd better go change. Come on."
Murder walked toward the last compartment, which was empty. Hope and Wrath followed her, but Envy lingered for just a moment to smirk at the group before leaving too.
"He's as bad as Malfoy," Luna said.
"What do you think he's doing here, though?" Harry asked. "He looks like he might be a seventh year, but… the twins look a little bit too young to go to school, don't they? They don't even look old enough to be first years."
"Bet Envy gets Slytherin," Ron said, "But did you see Murder? I mean, does she look good for having three kids or what?"
"I don't know," Hermione said, "Did those four seem not quite… human, to you?"
"You know, I'd like to have one year of school where we don't discover some evil plot to bring back You-Know-Who or something," Ron sighed.
"Sorry, Ron," Ginny giggled. "Never going to happen."
"I know I've seen that mark before, the one on Envy's leg," Hermione sighed, "If only I could remember where. Probably in a book."
"Oh, that narrows it down," Ron rolled his eyes, "How many books do you read a day, Hermione, really? Can you even count that high?"
"Oh, Ron!" Hermione huffed, "This could be serious! You're just protecting her because you think that she's pretty!"
"Did you see her, Hermione?" Ron asked.
"Did you see that she has children, Ron?" Hermione countered. "Probably a husband, too. And she's too old for you, anyway."
"Oh, yeah, like Lupin's too old for Tonks?" Ron returned.
"Tonks is a full-grown woman. You're still just a teenager," Hermione said defensively.
"Erm… nice weather, huh?" Harry said loudly, disrupting their fight. As usual, it was raining hard, signaling that they were nearing Hogwarts.
"We aren't even there yet and you two are already fighting," Ginny sighed.
Luna didn't say anything; she was deep into the most recent copy of The Quibbler. However, she did look up when the door to the compartment opened again.
Murder stepped through first, followed by her sons. One of the twins seemed a bit uncomfortable, and he kept staring at the black robe as though it was going to bite him- it was probably the one that had been wearing all white earlier.
Murder turned back to look at him, squatting down so she was eye-level with him.
"I know you don't like black, Hope, but it's standard," she said, "Now, quit fidgeting with your robe."
The twin, Hope, smiled appreciatively at her and grabbed her hand. The other one, Wrath, grabbed her other hand.
"I'm nervous," Wrath said, "What if they don't like us?"
"Why wouldn't they?" Murder asked.
"Because we're-" he saw Harry and the others, and quickly closed his mouth.
"It'll be fine," Envy said reassuringly, "Just wait and see."
"Okay!" Wrath replied cheerfully.
"I'd better get to the teacher's compartment," Murder said, "Will you three be okay on your own?"
"I'll watch them," Envy nodded.
"Alright, then," Murder smiled, leaving the car. Envy, Wrath, and Hope sat down in a row of seats, across from Harry and co. Envy sat near the window, looking outside, while Hope and Wrath amused themselves by playing rock-paper-scissors, at which Hope won every time because Wrath insisted on only using rock.
"So," Envy said suddenly, "You guys must be pretty famous around school, right?"
"You bet!" Luna replied.
"And you're always going around after hours, finding things that no one else can, right?"
"Yeah," Ron nodded.
"Then you'll know all of the secret passageways… you know, little hidden rooms and what not?"
"What are you getting at?" Harry asked before anyone could answer.
"Oh… nothing," Envy replied with a smirk. "Or maybe something. I forget."
"I swear, he's a loony one," Ron whispered to the others.
"Not 'loony', as you so intelligently put it," Envy snapped, "'Mischievous' is more like it… or 'trouble-making'… but not 'loony'."
"Except for when you have mood swings," Wrath said.
"Except for when I have mood swings," Envy nodded, "Then you never really can tell."
Hope quickly tapped on his brothers' shoulders to get their attention and pointed out of the window excitedly.
"Is that it?" Wrath asked, gaping at the gigantic castle atop the cliff.
"Yup," Luna nodded, "Welcome to Hogwarts."
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