A/N: Getting distracted again. was being retarded again so I couldn't see any of my lurvly reviews (thanks guys), and I got distracted by D. Gray Man. (sigh) It's amazing what your favorite pairings can do to you. Hopefully the writer's block is gone (with me I can never really tell), so I can get to work on this story and my Memoirs one, which got two lovely reviews on it. Oh! And to clear up something, Maerin is NOT Sasuke's sister, she's his cousin.

Disclaimer: Only own plot and Maerin, I don't own anything else.

Chapter 8: Professor Maerin Uchiha

Harry took the proffered hand, "Harry Potter, these are my friends Ron Weasly and Hermione Granger."

Maerin smiled, "I do hope that you three enjoy practical defense." She gestured to the shinobi who were already seated, "They aren't causing any trouble, are they?"

"No," Hermione responded. "I mean, Sasuke, Gaara, and Naruto didn't have Potions with us, but they behaved well in Charms."

"Good, I don't want to have to punish them on their first day in a new school," she glanced up to the teacher's table. "Well, I have to be going, Kakashi's waving at me; we have a lesson to plan for this afternoon."

She headed up to the staff table, taking a seat beside Kakashi, who whispered something in her ear, to which her cheeks took on a rosy hue.

Sasuke sighed as the wizard trio sat down, "He's hitting on her again…"

Grinning, Naruto put in, "At least Maerin-sensei is happy Sasuke! You weren't around before Kakashi-sensei actually managed to get her to open up; she wouldn't even talk before."

"She didn't?"

"Isn't she your cousin Sasuke?" Hermione asked. "What happened?"

The three shinobi exchanged looks, Gaara supplied, "Maerin was… kidnapped several years ago, and in that time Sasuke ran off. She managed to escape and return home only to find her only remaining family gone." There, the severely censored version of events.

Hanging his head, Sasuke nearly thwacked his face into his food had Naruto not grabbed his shoulder and jerked him back.

Harry, sensing how this was a sensitive topic, tried to change it, "What do we have after lunch?"

Everyone consulted their time tables, the collective response was Transfiguration.

Neji drifted over from the Ravenclaw table, "Do you guys know where the Transfiguration room is?"

Hermione supplied the response, "We have it next too, so we can all go up together."

Neji nodded then returned to the Ravenclaw table.

Everyone finished up their lunches before getting their books for their last class of the day from their dormitories. Naruto was asking Hermione numerous questions about Transfiguration, Sasuke standing just off to the side, looking like he wasn't listening, but he really was.

The group followed the Hogwarts trio to Transfiguration, collecting the rest of the shinobi as they went. The various sections of their group holding their own conversations, in different languages of course.

"Sasuke and I scouted out the castle. You wouldn't believe how huge this place is! And there are all these secret passages and nooks and crannies…" Naruto was explaining to the only person who would really listen to his ramblings; that person being Hinata, who displayed a prominent blush. Gaara stood just a little behind her, listening to both the conversations, but looking rather disinterested in the entire thing.

Neji was trailing beside him, deep in thought, but listening to Naruto's conversation with Hinata. Just behind them, Sasuke and Shikamaru were discussing what Sasuke and Naruto had discovered in their exploration of the castle and its relativity to their mission, while Temari and Sakura were discussing the professors.

The group filed into Transfiguration classroom and spread out. Thinking that if there was an attack, in all its unlikelihood, that being spread out would enable to handle the threat more effectively.

Professor McGonagall swept into the room, looking as strict as ever, "Welcome class, and newcomers. Today we shall be reviewing vanishing, please come to the front of the class and retrieve a tea cup. Your assignment is to make it vanish."

Everyone collected a tea cup before returning to their seats. Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto up near the front; Temari, Shikamaru, and Hinata towards the middle; while Neji and Gaara were seated in the back. No one made any mention of the seating, but Hermione fidgeted at the unexpected placement of the first group of shinobi.

Ron and Harry experienced trouble with the assignment, and somehow Naruto managed to knock McGonagall's hat off her head when he messed the spell up. McGonagall gave him a firm lecture, and went too far as to show him exactly how to cast the spell.

Meanwhile, Neji had already managed to make his cup vanish, and was watching with interest as Gaara tried to make his disappear as well. He seemed somewhat transparent, but Gaara seemed to be getting quite frustrated at the cup's stubbornness to not vanish.

"You know, it might be easier if you actually put a little more force into your voice when casting," Neji advised, allowing the slightest hint of a smirk to ghost across his face.

Gaara scowled, snapping back at the other shinobi, "Shut up."

"Alright, alright," Neji sighed. "Just try and concentrate on what you want the cup to do; glaring at it isn't going to do anything. You get angry too easily."

"And you aren't?" Gaara shot back.

"Oh, got me there."

Sakura looked to Naruto, the only one at their table who had not yet managed to make his cup vanish. She gave him a sympathetic smile, "Do you need any help Naruto?"

"Yes!" Naruto exclaimed to the pink haired teen. "Please help me!"

Smiling, Sakura started to help, "You need to pronounce the incantation right. It's more of an ay sound, not so much of an ah…"

Transfiguration ended without much more of incidence, and by the end of it, everyone had managed to disappear their cups.

Dinner was a little bit of a solitary affair. In the short time they'd known the shinobi; the Hogwarts trio had never seen them so quiet. In fact, they found it unnerving.

"I can't believe we have homework on the first day…" Ron was complaining, lightning the mood. "Two essays already?"

Hermione glared at the red head, and brandished her fork at him menacingly, "What did you expect? We're sixth years now! We have NEWTs next year, and we have to prepare for them!"

"Aww… you're not being very sympathetic about this Hermione…" Ron groaned.

"Quit complaining Ron," Harry snapped, tired of the constant bickering. "Hermione, quit telling Ron off."

Both starred at Harry with disbelief.

The messy haired teen stood up abruptly, "I'm going to go start my homework." He left the hall, garnering many strange looks as he did so.

Sasuke poked Naruto in the back several times, "Follow him Naruto. We have to protect the students."

"Why don't you go?!"

"Because I asked you and he trusts you more." That was the end of the discussion. Naruto glared at the raven haired shinobi before leaving the Great Hall after Harry.

Alright! Finished another chapter and it's almost 4 in the morning! Woot! I am so an insomniac. I'm going to sleep now… nightie night. I'll start the next chapter tomorrow, when I'm a little more awake. Expect for next chapter a confrontation between Harry and Naruto! Dun dun dun! And some more clues as to what my mysterious yaoi pairing shall be! (evil laugh) Whoever shall guess it correctly will get a dedication in the next chapter! Also, whoever my hundredth reviewer is also gets a dedication when it happens!

God, I wanna hurry this fanfic along and get to the Christmas part! My evil little plot bunnies already have something worked out for it, and they are dying to get it out.

Also, I want to thank everyone who encouraged me to get over my writer's block. I'm trying my best here, so expect maybe a few more short chapters like this one before I get back into the swing of this fanfic.

Signing off!