Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Chapter Six

((Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for Alexandra, and Ben I suppose. Ooh, caught you off guard, didn't I? And this chapter is dedicated to Black Gate Keeper for no particular reason. So yeah… Enjoy. Review please =3 Oh and sorry for the wait, I was traveling and didn't get a chance to write.))

I walked down the corridors of Hogwarts slowly and deliberately, for I feared that I would accidentally get lost. As I neared the classroom I was seeking a loud bell rang and students of all ages and houses began to push each other out of their classes. I guessed I was in the main hallway of sorts because it was so congested that I could barely get a chance to look at my directions. I found the room okay though, and the only few people in there were Ravenclaws. The raggedy man from the train was up front shuffling through papers.

"Am I in the right class?" I asked as I peered into the room.

"Alexandra, is it?" asked the man as he looked down at a list. "Yes, this is the right class. You cut your hair?"

"Needed a change," I replied sheepishly as I sat next to one of the Ravenclaw boys up front.

"Change is good," he said airily as more students entered the classroom, and luckily there were more Gryffindors. Right before the bell rang a large group of Gryffindors from the Divination class came in panting, and I felt sympathy for them. It must have been a long walk. The twins and Lee sat behind me, oblivious to whom I was.

"Where's Alex?" whispered one of the twins as he looked around the room.

"Dunno. Still in the Hospital Wing?" replied Lee.

"Maybe…"

"Hello, class. I am Professor Lupin, and this is the OWL level class of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Today we'll be doing some basic review, because I am aware you haven't had a teacher stay for more than a year. I believe that you are grossly behind other schools in this department."

"Oh no," I sighed.

"I will now call role. When your name is called please say 'Present.'," He went down the list, and eventually came to Fred Weasley. He and George both answered with equally stupid words (such as flibbertigibbet) and then he called "Alexandra Whitely?"

"She's not here," answered the twins quickly before I could make my presence known. Professor Lupin looked down at me briefly.

"Nonsense," he began. "She is right in front of you."

"Wha…?" I giggled to myself and turned around. I didn't have much fun messing with them like I had hoped because Lupin blew my cover, but the look of shock on their faces was satisfying enough.

"Hello," I said quietly as Professor Lupin moved on from roll.

"Wait- You're the girl from Divination?" asked the rather cute Ravenclaw boy who I was sitting next to.

"Yeah," I answered with a smile.

"Blimey," he murmered to himself as he ran his fingers through his dark hair. "I like your hair. Did you do it yourself?"

"No," I replied sheepishly. "Madam Pomfrey did it as a gift. I'm going to be helping her out all year."

"You want to be a Healer?" he asked with a flirtatious smile, which was nearly perfect. His good looks made me uncomfortable, and I wondered vaguely to myself why I was still speaking to him.

"I've wanted to be a Healer since I could walk," I said and returned his red carpet smile. He looked all too pleased with himself, so I made it a point not to smile again. But I know I won't succeed, I smile when I'm nervous. I picked it up after Ben died, smiling was my mask. I don't smile to hide my emotions any more, but it stuck. I glanced behind me casually to see the trio looking at me. They were listening to us.

"I'm Damon," he said as he held out his hand to me.

"Alex," I answered as I shook his hand. He had a very firm grasp, and his hand was pleasantly cool. Yup. He was too perfect. At that note, we both turned to listen to Professor Lupin. He was walking towards the very front of the room were there was a rectangular shape covered by a large sheet. He pulled off the cover revealing a low tank with some blood and water in it. Also in the tank was a small red creature with a bowl attached to its head. A liquid substance filled the bowl, and I instantly recognized it. I raised my hand, confusion evident on my face.

"Yes, Miss Whitely?" responded the Professor.

"Why isn't this covered in a Magical Creatures class?"

"Because Hogwarts only has Care of Magical Creatures, and this doesn't fall under those categories. It is also a dark creature so we are dealing with them here. I am assuming you know what this is?" I nodded.

"It's a kappa."

"And do you know what to do when confronting one?" I nodded again. "Could you please demonstrate for me?"

"Sure," I replied. I stood up and made my way to the tank. I stepped into it quickly onto the dry patch in corner. The kappa made a strange hissing noise at me. I raised my hands up slowly to show I didn't have my wand. I cautiously took out my wand and showed it to the creature. It made a violent jump at me, and I stuffed my wand into my pocket. It watched me closely, looking quite puzzled. I made sure it could see my hands as I bowed low to it. The kappa looked pleased with itself and bowed back, the poor bugger. The liquid poured out of the bowl, and the kappa crumpled in the shallow pool. I smiled, happy with my performance.

"Well done, Alex! Well done!" sang Professor Lupin. "I expect big things from you this year! Now that we've seen it done, does anybody want to try it?" I sat back in my seat happily when Fred hissed into my ear,

"What's with the hair cut?" I shivered, I guess it was because of the way his breath hit my ear. But it was a good shiver…

"I'm a lesbian," I joked. "I thought it'd be more 'me.' Don't you agree?"

"Oh yes. I'm sure the girls will go crazy over this. But the lesbian thing explains a lot, I was wondering why you weren't falling head-over-heels in love with me yet." I covered my laugh with a cough as Damon made his way to the front of the room.

"Wow, I guess there are a lot of lesbians here then. Just my luck."

"I bet more girls would date me then they would you," he answered indignantly.

"Wanna bet?" I whispered back with a smirk dancing on my lips.

"Sure. I can get more dates then you."

"Okay, so who ever gets the most dates regardless of gender by the end of the day wins. No friends or relatives, nor anybody who knows about out bet. Loser has to….wear the opposite sexes underwear for a day."

"You're on."

A/N: Sorry it's so short and took so long, I had the entire classroom scene written out on paper and it was so tedious to type up. I was intending on adding more, but the wait was so long I decided to just post it already. No more detailed classroom scenes for me D=