Chapter 17: A Baby, A Song and Detention

It was the middle of September on a Saturday and I'd enjoyed myself a little too much the night before, as Neville had come down to my room all in a state, acting crazy, and I had to calm him down to finally get it out of him. I should have known, because he'd been worrying over everything, but I told him that women have babies all the time and not to worry, as Mel had done it twice, but first time fathers and all that. After making him put on a shirt, since he'd come down wearing an old pair of courderoy trousers and slippers, I pointed him towards the Headmasters' office and walked him there. Titus had been expecting the knock for the last week, so he was his usual self, very calm and reassuring, and once Neville had Flooed away to St. Mungo's the both of chuckled over the normally unflappable Gryffindor acting like his hair was on fire.

Titus and I had a small nightcap, and it was over a good glass of scotch that he told me that he'd been given a few reports that made him a bit worried for Reena. After immediately calming my fears it was just that, well, she was a bit too good at magic for a third year. Several of the students, mostly Ravenclaws, were quite put out by it. I told him that I'd speak to her, but he said not to worry, that he'd had a quiet word with her and she'd agreed to try not to be quite so enthusiastic. Knowing what I did about the link between house elves and faeries I wasn't sure if that was possible; exciteability was obviously knit into their obviously connected DNA.

But the day was turning out to be rather nice, for a change, a good palate-cleanser after all the fucking rain. It'd rained for the past six days and both me and my students weren't happy about it. Especially the Quidditch teams, as tryouts were planned and then rescheduled due to the rain. I decided to take advantage of the situation, and had planned on spending the day at Colony House but the long night with Neville, not to mention the fact that Melody had dropped the kids off at Forthingsgate and had gone to see when the newest Longbottom would arrive made that pointless. Instead I turned on my WUMP, set it to the newest Spoon album and started grading papers. That didn't last long, as there was a knock at my door. I took off my glasses and went to the door, hoping it wasn't someone telling me I had students in trouble or worse, like Teddy Lupin doing his normal shit. It wasn't.

"Greene!" I stood at the open door and beamed at him. "Get in, man, do I have shit to tell you."

He hugged me and nodded, "You too, man. Long time, long time." As he entered and sat in my big, comfy green chair he tilted his head. "New Spoon? Whaddya think?"

"Eh." I shrugged. "Haven't lived with it long enough yet. It's not 'Girls Can Tell' but it's not bad." I flopped into the other chair next to him and shook my head. "So Cho told you about the NEWT class?"

"Yeah, you big shithead. Finally found an excuse to play music in class and get away with it. You gotta tell me, though, what'd you do, to start out? When I first started playing Cho stuff she thought it was really weird."

I told him about it, digging out my WUMP and replaying stuff. I told him about the decades assignment and eventually he shook his head at me. "I can't fucking believe you played the Searchers version of 'Love Potion' instead of the Clovers. I'm taking away your music geek card."

"Fuck off. My mom likes that version."

He rolled his eyes. "Ok, so the thing I was in over in the states? Got cancelled. Shitty ratings. Hey, it was a paycheck. Least it was for one of the premium channels. Boobs and guns everywhere. Anyway, it was enough to make a little purchase. I ran it through your brother because, well, he knows about stuff."

"Stuff? Like that's not vague. And which brother?"

He pulled his long hair out of the ponytail and shook his head. "Goddamn you're dense some times. Nate. What was I going to do? Buy a bunch of medical shit from Ted? I got another Jeep."

I laughed and told him about Cho's worries, specifically the doors. "So where is it?"

"Ah." He sighed. "It's still over there. Nate's connections are working on it, making some improvements. Nothing crazy like making it fly, but just some things to make life easier. Like rain won't stick to the inside of the windshield if the top's down and I get caught in a downpour. Few extra horsepower, small lift, tires and wheels. Stuff like that."

Before I could answer there was another knock on my door. This time I didn't want to get up so I just yelled 'IT'S OPEN.' Instead of a student, though, it was Titus.

"Ah, Michael, good to see you. You and your wife will have to bring Jack by the office for supper some night. Does me good to see him." He looked over to me. "And you as well, Hank. Have Melody bring the children one night. It is a day for children, it seems. Alice Longbottom was born about an hour ago, everyone's doing well." He paused. "While I hate to break up a meeting amongst friends who have been apart for some time I'm afraid I must do exactly that. Hank, if you'll follow me to my office there are someone who wishes to speak with you."

"That's my cue." Mike stood up. "You haven't inflicted your love of The Fall on them yet, I hope?"

I put on my glasses and purposely elbowed him as I headed towards the door. "No, and I haven't inflicted your love of Pink Floyd and the Dead on them either."

He feigned being shocked and then sneered at me. "Dirty punk."

I looked at him like he'd horribly offended me. "Smelly hippie."

Titus shook his head at the two of us. "You two act as if I should expect you in detention tomorrow."

"Sorry." I winced. "See ya later, Mike. I'll send you the playlists and stuff."

"Look forward to it." He waved at me and Titus and headed off, probably to see his wife.

After he was sufficiently far enough away I turned to Titus. "Gavin, is this..."

He held his finger up to his lips and shook his head. Great. That couldn't be good. It wasn't exactly bad, really, but it was surprising. As soon as I entered his office I noticed a woman sitting in one of the guest chairs, a person I hadn't expected on seeing for a while.

She turned, looked at me and rolled her eyes. "Apparently you do teach here after all."

I sat down in the other chair and smiled widely at her. "Daphne, so good to see you again. How's the flatulence problem?"

Dramatically leaning over towards me she sniffed. "You must be on your best behaviour, not a whiff of smoke."

Titus chuckled as he sat down in his chair. "I'm sure there is a great tale to be told, but that must wait for another time. Miss Greengrass has some information for you, Hank."

I glanced to Daphne, wondering if she could tell me what she had to with Titus in the room, but she must have seen my hesitation and plunged forward. "Horatio wanted me to tell Titus, since he's his son-in-law, but he's back. From his previous location."

"Good, I guess." I saw Titus nod and continued. "So, does that mean..."

"The faerie can stay for now, but we're not sure for how long."

"Reena." I sighed. "Her name is Reena." She gave me an expression I interpreted as 'whatever' and plunged ahead on a topic that I knew was of interest to many, especially Harry. "What about Draco?"

For a moment the unflappable facade of the Slytherin faded, but her impassive mask returned almost as quickly. "We've...been in contact. Potter has been informed."

"Ok. Right." I looked at her for a moment and then, after a deep breath, changed my tone. "How's Astoria?"

At that question all pretense dropped away and I saw a sister devastated by the reality of what had happened. "She is...the condition is permanent. She's coping as well as can be expected, better than any of us are, to be honest. I'm heading over there in a couple of days to help her adjust to being home..."

I reached out and put my hand on her arm. "I'm so sorry. She's..."

Daphne nodded. "Resiliant. Staggeringly so." After a breath she looked over and none of the haughtiness was evident, only gratitude. "Thank you for your concern." The office was quiet for quite some time, almost spreading into awkwardness, and Daphne stood. "I'm sure Potter will brief you eventually. Now, I must go. Horatio will probably contact you sometime soon, look for his owl."

Without another word she got up and swept from the room in haste, leaving me with Titus, both of us unsure of what to do. Thankfully, though, Titus did what he always did, just move on to things.

"So, Hank, I understand you are going to personally supervise the Quidditch tryouts. Something of a kerfuffle about the team being set before official tryouts, yes?"

I shook my head; it always got me how he could switch gears like that. One moment we'd been talking about Draco, Astoria's condition and then boom, right into school shit. You would think I'd be used to it but it always kind of shocked me. After a breath I nodded. "Right, but how'd you hear about that?"

He smiled and began moving parchment about on his desk. "Oh, one hears things, of course." After a sly smile he leaned over the desk. "Blundel mentioned it the other day. Concerned about an unfair advantage over his Slytherins."

I rolled my eyes. Slytherins. Figures. "Hey, his house could have done the same, but this time I agree with him. Not fair. And I've asked a former student to help judge the tryouts with me. Just to make sure it's all kosher." I saw his face and quickly added "All above board, fair, that stuff."

"Well done, very Hufflepuff. May I ask which student? Not that I mind, I encourage all former students to visit."

"Flora Falkirk. She's on the Reserves at Puddlemere these days. She said she'd be happy to help if it doesn't conflict with training and shi...stuff."

He nodded. "I hope you don't mind, but I extended an invitation to Pamona Sprout as well. She's a former Head of Hufflepuff, and will be here for the month covering Herbology whilst Neville is out with little Alice and Hannah. She doesn't know the students, so should be able to assist in providing an unbiased opinion."

"Sounds good to me. I'll let her know when tryouts are scheduled."

"Splendid." He clapped his hands. "Now if you'll excuse me, there are some things I need to address. Unfortunately Hogwarts doesn't run itself, you know."

I took that as my cue and exited, still trying to figure out what the holy hell was going on with Draco Malfoy.

-ooo-

It was a week later, on a bright Saturday morning, that I sat out in the Quidditch stands with Pamona on one side and Flora on the other. I rather liked the old witch with the grey, flyaway hair that looked like she might have styled it sometime in the late sixties, with a bit of dirt on her robes from what she called 'a few odds and ends in Greenhouse two that needed taken care of' along with what looked like a few leaves stuck on her shoes. I liked her immediately. She was rather happy with Hufflepuff these days, which made me feel very relieved as I'd heard a lot about her from her former colleagues and students, especially Neville. Flora, on the other hand, I knew pretty well as she'd left Hogwarts only a couple of years prior, and it was nice to catch up with her just as it was with all my former students. She was still hoping to crack the starting lineup at Puddlemere, but said she trusted her manager's opinion. I knew that it was a half-truth at best, as she was one of the more intense Quidditch players that had played for Hufflepuff during my time at Hogwarts, but at least she was being level-headed. Plus, according to the approximately seven hundred times I'd talked about Quidditch with Ron Weasley he said that Seekers take longer to acclimatize to the professional ranks.

"So Flora..." I turned to her. "You know a lot of them out there; I can trust you to be objective, right?"

She looked like I'd slapped her. Her tone was flat. "Professor, this is for the Hufflepuff team. I don't care who's out there, they have to field the best team possible. Ravenclaw will be tough this year."

"Sorry." I reached into my pocket and pulled out my pipe, packed it, and lit it quickly with my wand. Flora knew I smoked the pipe, but I was nervous about what Pamona would say.

After sniffing for a moment, Pamona shook her head. "I daresay that's a rather poor tobacco, Hank. My brother partakes of the pipe, I will have to send you some of the strain he likes. Mellow, less harsh and, I must say, more fragrant."

"Thanks." I felt relieved, but that didn't last long as I saw Autumn Winters stand in front of the assembled students. "Looks like they're starting."

We watched as Autumn worked the prospective Chasers through their paces. Some of the younger students looked promising, but it became readily apparent even to my somewhat uneducated Quidditch eyes that there were three students that stood out from the others, two girls and a boy. As they began working some drills I saw two of them seemed a bit better and turned to Flora for confirmation.

"That's Billy McVie, right? He's not bad, but he's not very confident. See how he hesitates? Maybe next year. He's only a fifth year, isn't he?"

I nodded. "He is. And the other two are sixth years. With Autumn leaving after this year I think he'll have to wait."

Pamona concurred. "The girls do work well as a team. Who are they?"

"Arlene Wagner and Kim McMillan. Arlene's a Prefect. Kim's one of Autumn's best friends so I'm glad y'all are here. Don't want any sour grapes."

It went on, with the Beaters next, then the Keepers and finally the Seeker position. It looked like Hufflepuff's cupboard wouldn't be bare when some of the older students left, but it was obvious that there were some that worked better together. Like they'd been practicing. And that's when I realized that Autumn was probably right, that the team she'd picked before term started would end up as the team, but at least I'd have outside verification.

Flora leaned over. "Is Arlene still dating Kelly McLarty?"

I shook my head and puffed on my pipe. "Don't think so."

Flora rolled her eyes. "Good. He's a bit of a..." She glanced at Pamona. "He's a bit full of himself."

I snorted. "Wouldn't be the first teenage boy to think that." As Pamona laughed I shrugged. "Hey, I was like that once, too. I grew out of it, hopefully he will, too."

By this time Autumn had her first team in the air, and was making motions towards those who hadn't been picked, putting them in position. I realized what she was doing, and Flora picked up on it immediately, calling it a good move. Reserves.

As they began a first scrimmage Flora nudged me. "Can't wait until I get back to Puddlemere and tell them about the Hufflepuff Harpies."

"What?" I turned to her. "What are you talking about?"

"Look." She pointed out to the pitch. "Autumn Winters, Arlene Wagner and Kim McMillan as Chasers. Bellona Lindsay and little Zenta Chen as Beaters. Bellona has a wicked temper and a bat to match, and Zenta's got good aim. See how she put that Bludger right in the advance path of...that'll hurt later." As the boy in question rubbed his arm she turned back to me. "Beth Tennant as Keeper, she's so sweet but is damned good on her broom. I doubt Henrietta Moss will be attracting any scouts but she's a good Seeker for Hogwarts. Your starting lineup is all female, Hank."

That made me happy on several fronts. One, that some of the male-dominated bullshit about Quidditch meant bubkus, which the Holyhead Harpies proved on an annual basis, but secondly that one of my former students felt comfortable enough to call me by my name. It also meant we had experience, as Autumn and Henrietta were seventh years, Arlene, Kim and Beth were sixth years, Bellona was a fifth year and Zenta was a fourth year. Even though I wasn't the most devoted Quidditch fan, or nuts about it like Neville, Cho and apparently Blundel, I could see potential Quidditch cups in Hufflepuff's future.

-ooo-

The next Monday I was at breakfast, sitting next to Cho and Neville's empty seat, when Titus stopped by with a surprising question; would I allow two more students into my NEWT class? That shocked me, as usually my class wasn't that popular; I mean, shit, it's Muggle Studies. It's not Petal's Defense class or Cho's Charms class, that's for sure. Not like there's a ton of practical applications to the wizarding world; ok, actually there are a ton, but it wasn't a common opinion, even after all these years. I told him they'd be a bit behind, but not horribly, so that I would allow it if they came and told me exactly why they wanted to take my class. It was bad enough that Daisy Jenkins just wanted more NEWTS than her sister and that Carys Jones had no freaking clue why she was in there, but I wanted to hear what they came up with. Luckily I'd given the fourth years an assignment to be completed out of class so that meant I had a free period, one which I was going to take advantage of by grading parchment and generally drinking tea and doing not a lot of anything, but I told Titus they could stop by then.

I had my new WUMP on, using the little speakers, and was grading papers when I heard the knock. I turned off the WUMP and looked towards the door. "Enter."

The tall, aristocratic blonde head of Stanwick Miller came in first, followed by the short frame of Peri Brooks-Thompson. I knew both students, of course, as I'd had them in Muggle Studies for earlier years. Miller was one of those completely oblivious, good-looking kids that had no idea that second years drooled over him, and Brooks-Thompson was the cousin of my fifth year Prefect Caius Brooks-Clarkson, one of those coltish girls who you knew would be drop-dead gorgeous when she got older. The kind that boys in her year wouldn't give a second glance, but when they saw her ten years later…

"Professor?" Miller stepped forward and adjusted his Ravenclaw tie. "Headmaster said to speak to you."

I took off my glasses. "Sure thing. Have a seat, you two." I watched as Miller sat down directly in front of my desk while Peri sat a few desks over, putting space between her and Miller. The Slytherin girl didn't like him, that was obvious. No clue why, though. I'd given up trying to understand that shit when I was in school, no sense in trying now. "Ok, Titus said you wanted to join the NEWT class. I will allow it, but you'll be somewhat behind and I'll adjust your assignments accordingly. But first I'd like to know why you want to take my class. Besides the fact that it's awesome. And if you say because we have lunch in class that's an automatic refusal."

Peri rolled her eyes. "Well, there goes my reason."

I chuckled. "Good try, Peri." She was usually very sardonic, cutting...reminded me of Daphne Greengrass, now that I thought of it. Possibly a Slytherin thing. "Now try again." Miller sat upright, reminding me of how someone acts in a job interview, but since Peri had spoken I motioned to her. For a moment I saw something flit across her face, and decided to take pity on her. "Hmmm...ok, Miller?"

He looked me directly in the eye. "My father works with International Relations. He's the Ambassador to the Brazillian Ministry. I'd like to follow in his footsteps." He paused, and then a smile broke out on his face. "It's brilliant, we stay with him in the summers. The beaches..."

I glanced over and saw Peri roll her eyes. I can only imagine what she thought of the scenery in Brazil that made Miller smile like that. Actually, I could imagine it very well. I'd been young and entranced with tiny bikinis once. From a distance, obviously. I was never that lucky. Turning my attention back to Miller I realized he'd continued on.

"...and father said that a large part of his job is being the liaison not only with their Ministry but also the Muggle Departments in their Ministry. When he found out I wasn't taking your class he was...disappointed."

Holy shit. Was Muggle Studies actually becoming a legitimate part of the wizarding world? I nodded. "Very well. Ok, Miller, you can join the class." I turned to Peri. "As for you?"

She seemed very hesitant. I could tell she really wanted to tell me something, but didn't really want Miller to hear it. Taking pity on the girl I told Miller to show up to class and dismissed him. He looked at me and Peri oddly but, unsurprisingly for a Ravenclaw, followed direction and left, leaving me alone with Peri. She sat there for a while in silence, and I tried my trick of just staying silent for a bit until the awkwardness makes people blurt out things, but she held fast. I got up, opened my window and lit my pipe. Standing there and smoking for a bit I watched as Peri studied her desk. Eventually I went over and sat on the front of my desk.

"Ok, Peri, he's gone, so you can talk freely."

Her head shot up and she looked nervous. "You won't say anything to anyone, will you?"

That surprised me. "No. I won't. It can't be that bad."

A decision made she looked over to me. "I...you know Caius is my cousin, right?" Seeing my nod she continued. "That part of the family is rather well-off. Mine isn't." She swallowed hard. "I had to get a job last summer to help, and...I work for Parke-Ivy's family at their place."

Ok, so she worked at the Bed and Breakfast that Joe's family ran. I still didn't get it, but kept silent. As hesitant as she was before now the dam had broken and she rushed forward, and when I heard it all I understood. Her father worked maintenance at the Ministry, her mother was one of the cooks at the Ministry canteen, and it suddenly became apparent why she was sorted into Slytherin; ambition. She wanted more out of her life than her parents. Nothing wrong with that, and it didn't seem like she was embarrassed about them, but then it really came out. She had heard what we were studying in the NEWT class. Music. She loved to sing and loved music.

"So, Peri, it's the music, then?"

She nodded. "Mum says I have a good voice, and it isn't bad, really, but I've always...it just...I mean...I can forget everything in music. My rubbish job, everything. I know the Weird Sisters and the Thestrals and...but there's so much more that I don't know."

I got it. She was a music geek. One of us. To be honest, even with all of Miller's talk, and the others in class who gave me their reasons, hers was the one that hit home. I put on my glasses. "Do you have a WUMP?"

She shook her head. "Can't afford one."

"Hmmm...I'll owl George. They're provided for this class." My heart soared as I saw the excitement on her face. "And we'll be studying all kinds of music. Unfortunately we've already sorted partners for the class so you'll be with Miller." She nodded quickly, not caring that the Ravenclaw boy who obviously wasn't her favorite person would be her partner. "And this is shitty of me, but I can't sing for crap. Would you sing something for me? Please?"

She didn't respond, instead closing her eyes. After a few deep breaths she started singing, one of the slow Weird Sisters songs, to be exact. I sat as her clear, lovely contralto seemingly filled my classroom, reminding me distinctly of Annie Lennox. Ignoring me, as if I didn't exist, she went through the first part of the song, one where the witch loved a Muggle that didn't love her back. She didn't finish the song, ending after the first chorus, and looked at me with a mixture of hope and embarrassment.

"Holy fucking shit, Peri!" I laughed, the wrong thing to do, as her face fell. "No! No, that was...shit. That was amazing! Fuck yes, you can be in class! I can't wait until you hear...Merlin's socks, pants and underwear, there's so much I can't wait for you to listen to, I mean, fuck..." I saw her face break into a beaming smile. "Does anyone else know you can sing like that?"

She shrugged. "Mum and Dad."

I couldn't help it; I was giddy. "I'll owl George today. I'll fill up the WUMP with...nevermind. I'll take care of it. Can't wait to see you in class."

She got up quickly. "Thank you so much. Oh." She paused. "Don't tell anyone, please? Please?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Ok, that's your decision. I won't say a word."

With a thankful look she got up and left, leaving me wondering what the hell I was going to do with knowing something like that and not being able to tell another soul. Damn it. Even if she never sang for me again at least there'd be another music geek in class. I could live with that.

-ooo-

September passed uneventfully. Well, mostly uneventfully, as Teddy Lupin got into trouble, this time for trying to pass as a Hufflepuff to get into the common room to see Autumn Winters. Ellie Paxton figured it out, as she'd helped the Hufflepuff boy in question with his Charms assignment and Lupin, of course, had no clue about any of it. Plus Lupin forgot to change his robe, so the fact that the kid had on a Gryffindor robe with a Hufflepuff tie didn't help him out any. Poor kid, he had it bad for Autumn; it was understandable, she was a pretty girl, Quidditch captain and all that. As Neville was still on leave with Hannah and little Alice I had to write Andromeda, not to mention Harry and Ginny, which didn't go over well to say the least.

That was how late one afternoon I was in my room with Andromeda, Harry and Ginny, all of us waiting on Teddy. Their reactions were surprising, though; Andromeda was definitely not pleased, Harry was disappointed and Ginny was surprisingly amused.

"I believe his broom will be off-limits until Christmas break." Andromeda sat very formally, her hands clasped in her lap. "It appears our little talks have not sunk in as of yet. Harry..."

Harry sighed. "I'll speak to him. I told him that he can't...did Tonks do the same kind of stuff?"

Andromeda raised an eyebrow. "His mother did that and more, I'm afraid." She looked to Ginny. "I take it the children are at the Burrow?"

Ginny nodded. "Mum was thrilled. You know her." She turned to me. "I'm very proud of you, Hank."

"Me?" I looked at her oddly. "For what, owling you about Teddy?"

"No." She looked at me like I was thick. "The Hufflepuff Harpies. First all-female team in Hogwarts history."

"Gin..." Harry looked at her somewhat crossly. "We're here about Ted. Give it a break."

"I've had owls from Gwennog. Come on, you know I'll write about it. People are interested."

"Focus, Gin. We're here for Ted, you're not working now."

I looked over to Andromeda and she simply raised an eyebrow. I'd known Ginny and Harry long enough to know they'd 'discuss' it later that night. Thankfully there was a knock at the door and Petal Farnsworth opened the door, leading a very pale Teddy Lupin in. Petal smiled at me, pointed at Ted, stifled a laugh and left. Poor kid, he looked like he was walking to his doom. Then again, if I had Andromeda Tonks, Harry and Ginny Potter waiting for me in that situation I'd probably look the same. I pointed to the empty chair in front of my desk, next to Andromeda. "Mr. Lupin. Sit."

Teddy sat down as if the weight of the world was on him. He turned to Andromeda. "Gran, I'm sorry, I..."

"Thought that you could get away with it." She glared at him. "I'm very disappointed in you, Theodore."

Teddy visibly sunk in his seat. Harry and Ginny were also giving him disappointed looks. I cleared my throat. "Mr. Lupin, please tell us exactly what you were trying to do. Sneaking into another house's common room is not acceptable. You know that students may visit other houses, but not in disguise." Harry gulp-snorted, and Ginny elbowed him, but I ignored it. "And I've been informed that you have been following Miss Winters around the castle. Could you explain, please?"

At this Teddy turned several shades of red but was silent. Finally, Harry took pity on him. "I think we'll have a private conversation about your reasons later, Teddy. But for now I think you owe Professor Boyd, at minimum, an apology."

Teddy barely looked up at me, and his voice was barely audible. "Sorry."

Andromeda tapped him sharply on the shoulder. "That is not a proper apology. Do it again, and correctly."

He looked up, at me, and in a clear voice said "I'm sorry, Professor Muggle."

I saw Ginny bite her lip slightly and I decided I couldn't look at her and keep a straight face. I knew that she, more than most, understood what having a youthful crush was like. We'd talked about her crush on Harry before, one night when she was over at Colony House with just the kids; Harry was out doing Auror stuff. She and Harry were...well, her and Harry, and it was obvious that the crush of 'Harry Potter' was gone and she knew Harry his own person instead of her ideal. Ron had even embarrassed her about it on one occasion, leading to my witnessing of the Bat Bogey hex.

I looked to Ted. "And you will immediately stop following Miss Winters, correct? If I hear of..."

"I'm sorry!" He blurted. "But she's so..." Once again he turned several shades of red and fell silent.

I looked over his head to Andromeda, getting the barest hint of a smile. "I'll take that as your agreement to stop following Autumn. Now usually Professor Longbottom would handle your detention, but since he's out we've talked it over and you'll be working with Professor Sprout in the greenhouses every weekend for a month."

"A month?" He looked incredulous. "Every weekend?"

Andromeda rapped him on the shoulder. "You should be happy that is all that happens to you. As it is I will be keeping your broom until Christmas. If, and only if I feel you've understood the consequence of your actions you may have it back."

Teddy turned to Harry, hopeful, but that ended quickly. "Better keep your mouth shut, Ted. Only makes it worse."

Ginny nodded. "Good advice, that. Others should take that as well."

I saw Harry give her a side-eyed look and decided I definitely didn't want to get in the middle of that. "Very well. I'll tell Professor Sprout to expect your attendance this weekend. She can tell you the particulars in Herbology. I'm also taking twenty points from Gryffindor. You are dismissed."

Without another word the very pitiful figure of Teddy Lupin left my room. As soon as the door was closed, though, Harry started to laugh but was silenced by Andromeda's rather forceful hand on his arm. With her free hand she held up an extended finger, seemingly waiting for some sign, but then nodded and took her hand from Harry.

"His mother was much worse. She changed into an older boy so she could spy on the Quidditch team in the showers after practise." At that Harry burst out laughing. I couldn't help it, I joined in along with Ginny. Once we'd finished Andromeda shook her head. "Nymphadora was a particularly difficult child, and it appears the apple hasn't fallen that far from the tree. I take it the girl..."

I nodded. "She's a very pretty girl. Quidditch player, red hair, freckles..."

Harry erupted into laughter. "That sounds like you, Gin!"

"Oh Merlin's pants!" Ginny covered her mouth for a moment. "I..oh bloody hell!"

Andromeda sniffed. "It appears your influence has rubbed off on him after all, Harry. I would prefer it to be without the detentions, though."

As everyone got up to leave I watched as Harry whispered something to Ginny, she nodded and kissed him on the cheek. After the two witches left he turned back to me. "In a way I'm glad I had an excuse to come here to see you, Hank. We've got some developments."

"Really?" I pushed my glasses to the top of my head. "What's up?"

He took out his wand and made several motions, which I recognized as privacy spells. It must be big if he was doing those kinds of spells at Hogwarts. It was.

"With information from Malfoy we've confiscated all the printing presses. All of them. They were linked by a spell, so once we found the first it was just follow the trail."

"Holy shit. Really?"

He nodded. "Unless they have some in reserve, and not connected, we've stopped those bloody books. The last one..."

I nodded. Hermione and Draco in some weird S&M thing? Fucking awful. "So what about the Gazer and the authors?"

He shook his head. "Working on it. Malfoy's been busy, though. If things go like I hope they will we might have a few leads that will pan out. Not sure yet, it's early. We have some things that I might need your help on later." He saw what must have been an apprehensive look on my face and quickly followed with "Just reading, some analysis of stuff. No field work."

"Good. I'd probably get stuck with Daphne Greengrass again and if that never happens it'll be too soon. Not to mention all the crazy shit with faeries. Reena's doing well, by the way."

"That's what the reports say." He shrugged. "Nothing bad, trust me, just making sure." At that he began to leave but stopped. "We'll keep you briefed. Sorry, but at this point it's a need to know basis only."

"I get it, I'm a paper Auror."

"Those still count, Hank. More than most people know. Let me know if Ted does anything monumentally stupid again. Knowing that kid, well..." He shrugged. "Hopefully this one sunk in. I don't know how he does it, I've had Andromeda irritated at me before and it's not pleasant."

"He's doing well in class, even if the little shit does take particular delight in collecting the swearing funds."

"I don't know how you do it, Hank. It's good Melody has a job, someone has to support the kids. Can't be much left of your salary after a full year of classes."

I flipped him off as he headed out the door, laughing.

A/N: I have to say, I hadn't planned on Teddy's detention meeting but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I've also enjoyed working up the class roster with backstories, etc. Not sure how much of that will actually figure into the story, but we'll see.

And Alice Longbottom has arrived! James Sirius Potter will be happy about that, but much, much later (Shameless 'A Beater's Life' plug.) I promise we'll get back to Draco, Christine and other plotlines that are dangling out there. Eventually, honestly, I will.

Right now I'm not sure how much of the students' lives and Muggle Studies everyone is interested in, as I could write about that for quite a bit. Don't know if it's one of those plot threads that authors like that readers go 'oh come on and get on with it the real story' or not. We've all read those stories. Hopefully it isn't. Like the Swearing Party, the Muggle Club and the NEWT dinner after the year is done...I always enjoy writing those but I'm not sure if anyone but me likes it as much as I do.

Oh well, another chapter done. As always, thanks for reading and review if you wish.