Over the three weeks that it took for Dumbledore to secure another DADA professor the classes were turned into breaks, Alexander and Hermione spending that time with whatever potions class was on. They had great fun, and Severus was already talking about getting them to sit their OWLs in the next year, they had the smarts for it and could already do all the necessary 7th Year potions. And he wasn't the only one in that boat; all the other professors would test them on the class subject for the session then let them go forward, each intent on helping them get their Masters in their subject, the professors for the electives sniffing around the edges to know how much they knew about them.
For a week after Lockhart's leaving, nearly the entire female population of the school were in mourning, and it took McGonagall projecting the memory of the duel in the Great Hall during dinner for everyone to get back to normal. Of course, the Daily Prophet received an anonymous copy of the memory, and Lockhart being outed as a fraud was front page news for 2 weeks.
Ron had a bad time those weeks, worse than usual. He had had the misfortune of tripping over a firstie Slytherin witch and then berating her for getting in his way. He'd felt like a big man until Lex and Mia had confronted him in front of the entire house. They had been pulled aside, begrudgingly, by Draco Malfoy, who was acting as a mediator between the two rival houses. He explained what had happened and then strongly suggested that the lions did something about the redhead or else the snakes would take it into their own hands. After the Gryffindors had heard what the wizard had done, his own brothers came down on him like a tonne of bricks. After the lions were done, they sent word to the snakes that they could do what they wished, so long as they didn't permanently injure or kill him, just so that the maternal Weasley didn't come and kill them all. Ron spent a fair amount of his time in the Hospital Wing, where Madam Pomfrey made him sit as she had been informed about what caused the attacks.
The two demigods had continued to try and send their magic out in search of their perfect weapons, with no luck, but they were doing excellently with Firenze in regards to their training. Their aim was great so they were progressing well in the use of bows and arrows, and the duo could go on for hours with the bladed weapons, both equally matched in talent and technique. The one time Severus watched, his eyes damn near fell from their sockets at the intensity that they both went at the fights, he was impressed and proud.
The first day of October came with an announcement to the school that everyone was to attend the dinner that night; a replacement had finally been hired. Lex and Mia weren't too quick to celebrate, they knew that the replacement could be just as bad, or worse, than Lockhart, so would wait to judge him or her during their first lesson.
The Great Hall was brimming with the anxious energy of everyone waiting to see who their new professor would be. Two seats were empty, the headmaster's throne, and the seat that had remained empty since Lockhart's resignation. Suddenly the side door that led to the professors' platform opened, to reveal Dumbledore and a witch with bright pink hair. She looked no older than the 7th years, and many of the older students gasped loudly, whispering that they know who she is.
Dumbledore stood at his dais, hands wide, "Students, it is with great pleasure that I introduce our new DADA professor. Most of you may recognise her as a former student, and she is, a former Hufflepuff who graduated top of her DADA class 2 terms ago, and is currently a trainee Auror or the Ministry of Magic. Nymphadora Tonks."
Over the clapping, the trainee Auror could be heard to say, "Don't call me that sir, it's just Tonks."
The witch was brushed off by her new boss and took his place to speak, "Well, it was certainly a surprise to be offered this position; I only finished it 16 months ago and can even see some of the same faces that I'll now be teaching. It will be a pleasure teaching you all for the rest of term, hopefully get some of you into the mood to become Aurors. Now before I get down and let dinner begin, I must warn you, my favourite colour is lilac."
Every student chuckled at that, and they all dove into the food that soon appeared in front of them. Lex looked over at his friend and said, "I think she's going to be much better than our last two."
"Couldn't be any bloody worse," came the reply.