Previously…

Minerva and Filius continued to watch the lesson, unnoticed by the participants until Neville squeaked out, "Professor McGonagall! What- you- here- eep!" and the dancers stumbled to a halt.

"Oh, please, do not let us interrupt this fine display," Filius gestured. All four boys blushed brightly and Professor Sprout pinked slightly. Brethany and Rolanda exchanged entertained grins.

"Professors McGonagall, Flitwick," Harry greeted politely, regaining his composure with some small effort (a benefit of constant Occlumency). "We were just, er, just…" and his composure failed him as he looked to his friends for assistance.

"We were dancing, obviously," Ron spoke up boldly.

"Obviously," McGonagall repeated dryly. "I believe some practice is in order before it will become readily apparent what you are endeavoring to do." The boys winced slightly, but had to agree. "I'm certain that by the arrival of the Yule Ball your dancing abilities will be up to par," their Head of House deigned to reassure them. "Providing, of course, that you put as much effort into it as you put into Quidditch," she looked pointedly at Ron and Dean, "Or your extra-curricular studies," she looked at Harry with a lifted eyebrow.

And now, our feature presentation…

"Brethany!" A hand banged on the DADA teacher's portal.

Brethany's head jerked up, directly into the lavatory sink. She attempted to blink away stars, groaning all the while, then stumbled through her quarters to the door. Snarling, she yanked it open.

"What- Harry?" a choked laugh escaped her as she surveyed the sad wreckage of a teenage boy.

He was green. Not just any green, mind you; it was a bright, fluorescent, glow-in-the-dark sort of green that rarely occurs outside of comic books or cartoons. Every visible area of skin was colored, and his hair was also green, though so dark as to be almost black.

"Yes, yes, laugh it up," the teenager answered grumpily. "I'm going to murder Fred and George." Brethany stood there for a moment, staring dumbly, until Harry finally asked impatiently, "Can I come in?"

Still speechless, his teacher merely stepped inside and gestured for him to enter. "The twins?" Brethany managed, a grin struggling to make its appearance. Harry glared at her. "They do nice work," she commented, before breaking out into laughter. When she finally got herself back under control, she moved for her wand, still giggling occasionally.

"They certainly picked a fine night to turn people green, didn't they?" she asked rhetorically, mentally reviewing the list of possible counter-curses. "Luna likes green, though, doesn't she?" Harry snarled wordlessly at her twitching lips. "And aren't your dress robes forest green? And Luna's dress robes are…"

"Moss green," the teenager supplied grudgingly. Brethany lost control and began giggling once more. "Oh, shut up," he grumbled petulantly, crossing his arms and sulking.

"Sorry," she hastened back to searching her brain for a solution. "Aha! Got it!" Brethany poked at his hair with her wand, ignoring his yelp of protest. "Reverto coluim!" The green hair slowly shifted to black, then just as slowly shifted back to the glossy green. "Crap," Brethany hummed, tapping her wand against her chin. "This'll be harder than I thought." She ignored Harry's impatient grumbling. "Operos meus mos!" she ordered, waving her wand in an intricate figure-eight over his entire body, concentrating on changing the color. Hair and skin obligingly shifted from the green hue. "There!" Brethany grinned, examining her work with delight. "All fixed! You look much better!"

She tucked her wand behind her ear, an action she'd picked up from Luna, and began pushing the teenager out the door. "All right, Harry, go get ready! Time is a-wasting!" Ignoring his attempts to protest, Brethany shoved the boy out of her rooms, slammed the portal door shut and leaned against it, giggling weakly. Oh, he's going to kill me when he finds out, she thought to herself. Ah, well, time to get back to her own toilette.

An hour later, the DADA teacher made her way into the Great Hall, examining the beautifully decorated walls and ceiling. Evergreens hung everywhere, holly interspersed throughout. Ivory tapers floated around the ceiling, thin forest green ribbons tied at each base. Strings of icicles tinkled musically across the high ceiling and occasionally down to the floor in a crystalline spiral. A huge Christmas tree ruled a twenty foot square space, its decorations of glass stars and snowflakes glittering and sparkling. Crimson velvet ribbons were draped over every door and fireplace and sprigs of mistletoe floated mischievously over every entryway, waiting for prey. Brethany made a note to herself to catch Albus under one. A few students, likely those who had no dates, had arrived in the Hall, and were standing about with bored expressions. Brethany snagged up several of the males and ordered them to stand at the bottom of the staircases and escort any of the dateless girls to seats. Only after they left did she permit herself to snigger slightly at their terror-stricken expressions.

The other teachers arrived, their expressions spanning the gamut from brightly cheerful to impatiently bored to if-someone-tries-to-catch-me-under-the-mistletoe-I-will-use-their-organs-for-potions-ingredients. Severus, Brethany observed to herself, looked quite dashing in robes that were such a dark green as to be almost- almost- black.

When Brethany said as much to him, Snape gave a low growl that was rather similar to the one Harry had given only an hour previously. Speaking of Harry…

Brethany turned her head to the side so that no one could see her laughing. Harry and Luna swept into the Great Hall, both looking quite regal. Luna's soft green robes were trimmed with Gold and silver stitching, and there was a slender band of green silk about her throat that matched the one in her hair beautifully. Tiny green apples dangled from her ears and tiny apple blossoms were pinned throughout her curls. At her side, Harry was looking equally magnificent in his garb. The rich green robes were trimmed with black and gold stitching, and a wide band of black circled each wrist and the collar. The lighter green of his tunic beneath the darker robe brought out his eyes magnificently, and offset his pale blond hair equally as well.

Brethany struggled not to laugh as whispers broke out and fingers began to point at the blond hair of the Boy-Who-Lived, as well as the seven small freckles that now adorned his nose. For his part, Harry looked remarkably composed, likely due to his oblivious girlfriend. Around Brethany, her fellow teachers looked askance at the new coloring of Gryffindor's Golden Boy. "It looks rather good on him, doesn't it," Brethany asked idly, smoothing a curl away from her face. Snape snorted his disgust, but the others were quite curious.

"Harry was the target of a pigment-changing sweet from the Weasley twins." There was a chorus of understanding nods. "He then came to me to see if I could fix it," the young woman continued, "And I replaced the green skin and hair with that," she nodded at the golden-blond hair and freckles.

"Sometimes I wonder, Brethany," Minerva mused, "Just who is the teacher, you or Mr. Potter?" Brethany grinned unrepentantly at the elder woman.

"Aren't we all teachers in some form or another?" she questioned whimsically. "I find that I've learned quite a bit from my students. Surprisingly, I've learned the most from my Slytherin students; they're very good about questioning my ego." There were several amused snorts as all eyes turned to the rather smug Head of the house Slytherin.

"Someone must keep it in check," Severus drawled in a bored tone, "Else it would run amok amongst our lesser, more sensitive fellow human beings." He strode away to reprimand a group of roughhousing students before anyone could react.

"Did he just-" Pomona Sprout trailed off, a hand twitching in the departing Potions Master's direction.

"He did indeed," Dumbledore responded with a twinkling grin. Brethany turned her head to hide a silent laugh, curls bouncing in her effort to control her amusement.

"Oh, dear," she murmured quietly, looking down at her favorite student. "Someone's plotting…" Indeed, Harry was looking up at the head table with quite the look of mischief on his face. Brethany caught his attention with a little wave, and cocked an eyebrow in question. The teenager smirked, and proceeded to ignore her. "The next few days should be interesting…"

The last of the students drifted slowly in, and the Headmaster waved a regal hand for quiet. "Welcome," he beamed down at the gathered teenagers, "To the Hogwarts Yule Ball. I will not spoil your enjoyment of this occasion by speaking overly long. I hope that you will all show the true spirit of this joyous season and make this a happy event for us all. If not, well…I am certain Professors Snape and Lewis can come up with some deterrent from future misbehaviors." Eyes swiveled towards the two teachers. Brethany smiled angelically and tapped her wand against her hand in a deliberately malevolent gesture; Snape merely scowled fiercely. "That being said," Dumbledore twinkled gleefully, "Happy Christmas! And may the festivities begin!"

Music began playing from some unseen source, and the first couple stepped out onto the cleared dance floor. Dumbledore held his arm out to McGonagall, who accepted it with a rather impish grin. Brethany's eyebrows rose in surprise at the ease with which the two whisked across the dance floor. "Maybe I should have asked Minerva to help with the dance lessons, rather than Pomona," she muttered to herself. "Ah, well, what's done, is done."

"What are you muttering about," Snape snapped quietly, scowl cemented firmly on his face.

"Oh, nothing to be concerned about," Brethany replied merrily. "You really do make a wonderful Scrooge, Severus," she tossed over her shoulder as she headed toward the milling students. "Neville! There you are, dear boy!" She beamed at the teenagers surrounding them. "Would you please dance with me? Severus Scrooge over there is trying to drag my mood down…Cheer a lady up, won't you?" Neville looked over to Snape, who was doing a imarvelous/i job of not following Brethany's every move with his dark eyes, and grinned.

"I'd be delighted to dance with you, m' lady," he bowed slightly, managing to shock the other students into silence. Was this shy, awkward Neville Longbottom, who stammered every time a girl looked at him? Ignoring the stares, the young man held am arm out to his teacher and led her gamely through the crowd and onto the dance floor. It was a lovely experience for Brethany: Neville was charming when he felt comfortable, and their haphazard dancing lessons had served to make the victims thereof quite friendly with each other; nothing to start up gossip, of course, but quite comfortable around one another.

"You turned Harry blond," the teenager accused her mildly, moving her gently through a turn. Brethany's eyes brightened.

"I was feeling creative," she shrugged. "Harry doesn't seem to mind it, and Luna hasn't shown any signs of having even noticed the change. I'll turn him back to normal before the end of the night, no harm done." She twirled once and returned to her partner's grasp. "By the way, how is your Grandmum? I've yet to receive permission for you to attend the trip to the vampire colony…"

Neville frowned slightly, his gaze drifting slightly to the right of her face. "She wrote me, once, to ask if my DADA teacher was, er, barmy, you know? I wrote back, explaining how you'd been giving us practical demonstrations of everything you'd teach, and how the trip would be really well supervised, and how educational it might be, and how much I was looking forward to it."

Brethany raised an eyebrow. "You look forward to the trip? You're one of only a few, then." He flushed slightly. "I'll write your Grandmum myself, explaining everything I can. You just see if she doesn't come around!" The teenager grinned brightly at her and swept her into a dizzying spin. Laughing giddily, Brethany allowed herself to enjoy the last few moments of the dance.

Several minutes later, she was headed silently for the punch bowl, ready to counteract any damage done by the Weasley twins. "Hello, boys," she drawled quietly, causing the two redheads to startle and spill a vial of some blue substance into the punch. "Do I want to know what that was?" Fred and George exchanged slightly horrified looks, then turned guileless smiles on her.

"It was a Sobering Potion," one began. "To keep everyone from getting a bit tipsy…" "…We might have, possibly, not necessarily," "…But possibly slipped a little Fire Whiskey into the punch bowl a few minutes ago…" "But our consciences overcame us, and we couldn't leave…" "the poor, ickle students to become drunk!" The twins looked at her with identical scandalized expressions. Brethany raised a doubtful eyebrow.

"I see," she finally said, struggling to keep her expression blank. "So the fact that Sobering Potions are light green, and that the Giddiness Potion is that particular shade of blue would not convince you to change your story at all?" The twins exchanged another brief glance, then fell on their knees in supplication.

"You are too smart for us, oh, great Mistress! Please punish us for our unforgivable sins! We are disgraced! Oh, the shame this moment has brought upon us! Only a just and humane punishment could relieve us of this burden of guilt! Please, oh, great Mistress-" their pleas were cut off by a sharp pat on their bowed heads.

Brethany rolled her eyes. "For Merlin's sake, you two are worse than all my brothers combined. Shut up and look at me, Messrs. Weasley." They obeyed, displaying pathetically teary and remorseful gazes. "Oh, stop with the teary eyes, you horrible wretches. I'm not going to get you in trouble…yet." The two were on their feet in a flash, infectious grins on their faces. "Now, it's rather plain that this isn't a Sobering Potion, which leads me to believe that you did not, in fact, pour any Fire Whiskey in the punch." The twins exchanged looks, then shrugged elegantly. "I swear, you two…" Brethany shook her head. "Give me the rest of that blasted vial." She took the vial, looked briskly around to see if anyone was observing them, and promptly poured the rest of the potion into the punch bowl. "That percentage of Giddiness Potion in the punch won't hurt anyone…and I might have some fun with it." She grinned at the amazed boys. "How much punch do you think I can get Professor McGonagall to drink before she will start giggling?" The DADA teacher walked off, two glasses of the punch in hand; Fred and George watched her leave with something akin to hero worship.

Brethany snagged Harry for the next dance. They were moving swiftly through the throng of couples on the dance floor as they conversed quietly about plans for the next several weeks. It didn't take long for the teacher to bring up the looming topic of family…

"Harry…What do you think of your guardians?" she asked carefully. Harry's steps faltered slightly in rhythm as he looked at her in startled surprise.

"Ah…you mean my aunt?"

"And Headmaster Dumbledore," Brethany nodded in affirmation. The teenager's gaze lingered on a point just to the left of her face.

"I…would rather be on my own, if that's what you mean. But that won't happen for another ten months." He looked at her matter-of-factly. "Dumbledore has entirely too much power over me for my comfort, even if I do trust him in most things other than my home life." They danced in silence for a long minute. "I can't even apply for emancipation," he grumbled slightly. "I tried, you know. I've written to the Ministry and to Gringotts for information on the process. I can't be emancipated unless I have valid reasons for doing so…The Ministry doesn't even believe that the Dark Lord is back, much less that their 'hero' is being shoved about by Dumbledore and some muggles…" Brethany frowned, and he hastened to explain, "Dumbledore just orders me around and manipulates me as though I'm some bloody puppet, with strings! He doesn't do that to any other student…he can't. They've got parents," Harry finished bitterly.

Brethany hummed quietly, eyeing her student curiously. So he had been thinking about it… "I'll see what I can do about it, Harry," she promised firmly, avoiding the gyrations of an overly excited Hufflepuff. "For Merlin's sake, Harry, lead me away from these maniacs before we're killed." They finished the dance in relative comfort, the conversation having been carefully guided to lighter topics. Brethany made a subtle gesture around the teenager as she twirled into the last spin; Harry's hair and freckles changed slowly back to their normal state. She curtsied with a small grin and moved towards the teachers' table, tapping a finger thoughtfully against her chin.

Guardians, the young woman mused silently, I could apply for guardianship. It's what Minerva all but suggested…Hmmm…

Word Count: 2638