A/N: This story is now longer than Order of the Phoenix. Absolutely wild.
Chapter 37 - A Change in Staff
Summer ended and not once had Hermione received a letter from Dumbledore. She had sent many of her own with every letter she sent becoming more and more irritable. No longer was she willing to mince words. Eventually, when it was time to return to Hogwarts, Hermione had already written Dumbledore at least seven times and heard nothing back.
As they all made their way down Platform 9 ¾, Remus looked exhausted. There had been a full moon three nights ago, where he, James, Sirius, and Peter had gone to transform with him at his house. It seemed like Remus had still yet to fully recover. When Hermione had asked about it, Remus told her that it always took longer outside of Hogwarts without having access to Madam Pomfrey's potions. James had offered to get his dad to make him something, but Remus seemed almost offended by the offer, so James had dropped it.
Remus caught her eye and he smiled at her, and Hermione wondered how he was able to do it. To be able to smile through the pain so easily. It crossed her mind that it was probably because he had so much practice, but that didn't make her feel better about it at all.
"I can't wait for Lily to see this!" said James, holding the Head Boy badge out proudly in front of him as they walked.
"Do you think she'll be pleased to be partnered with you?" asked Hermione, keeping her tone light and playful.
"I don't see why not. We've become friends this last year," said James confidently.
"And you two will get to do rounds together," grinned Peter.
James's face lit up. "Yes, we will!"
"I think Prongs is more excited to see Evans than Moony is to see his own girlfriend," snickered Sirius.
"Why would you say that, Sirius?" sighed Remus, sounding annoyed.
Sirius grinned and shrugged.
"Just keep looking for Lily so Prongs can deflate his head," laughed Peter.
A small smile formed on Remus's lips as he looked ahead of them.
"Ah, there she is," said Remus.
A little farther down the platform, Hermione spotted Claudia talking with Lily, Joana Kelley, and Alexa Wainwright. Hermione wasn't sure if Remus was referring to Lily or Claudia, but her stomach sunk either way. When Claudia spotted Remus and the rest of them, her face broke into a huge smile.
Rushing over, Claudia reached up and kissed Remus affectionately on his cheek before looking around at the rest of their group.
"Hi, everyone," Claudia said, a blush spreading across her freckled face. "Had a good summer?"
Feeling as though she had been punched in the gut, Hermione said nothing, but was saved by everyone else who quickly gave quick and polite answers.
"And yours?" asked James.
"Great," Claudia said with a grin. She looked up at Remus. "Did you want to go find a compartment before they fill up?"
"Oh- sure," Remus said.
"See you all at Hogwarts," Claudia said, taking Remus's arm in her own as they two began walking away.
"Wait, you aren't sitting with us?" called out James.
"Sorry!" Remus called back over his shoulder. "I'll stop by and say hi!"
"Traitor," muttered Sirius when they were out of earshot.
As the two of them walked towards the train, Hermione numbly watched as Claudia pulled herself closer to Remus, leaning into his arm. Seeing Claudia again made Hermione picture her and Remus through that old bookshop window again. Was that how each of their days this summer been spent? Stepping into each other's shops to see each other? Lunch breaks sharing an ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour? Would Claudia lean on the counter at Flourish and Blotts to talk to Remus like she had that last day of Easter holiday?
That memory was almost too vivid. Not just how everything looked in that moment; the grey sky and crowded cobbled road. The way Claudia had twisted her hair nervously while Hermione's bag of supplies lay abandoned on the ground as she watched from afar. But the absolute whirlwind of emotions she had felt in such a small span of time. So much pain, jealously, but more than anything so much confusion. It was sickening.
Hermione watched them until they boarded the train, and then trailed her eyes back to where Lily was still talking with the Hufflepuffs.
"Oi, Evans!" called out James.
Lily turned from her group of friends and rolled her eyes at James, but she wore a faint smile. She said something else to the group of girls before walking over to them.
"Not going to try to ask me out again, Potter?" Lily asked, shaking her head as she stopped in front of them.
"Not this time. Why? Did you want me too?" asked James with a wink.
Lily snorted, and James's grin widened.
"Hello, Lily."
"Hello, James."
"I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other this year," said James, holding out his new Head Boy badge.
Lily's mouth dropped in fake surprise but her eyes lit up at the sight of it.
"Head Boy! You? I thought it was a joke when I heard!" laughed Lily she looked down at the badge. She crossed her arms and smirked at him. "Now who did you nick that from?"
"Hey now… Let's not look too surprised, yeah?" grinned James, shaking his head. His eyes were fixed on the Head Girl badge already pinned to Lily's robes.
The sound of a whistle rang from the Hogwarts Express and all around them students rushed to say their final goodbyes to their families. The five Gryffindors started making their way down the platform towards the train.
"I'm only teasing," said Lily with a laugh. "I'm sure you'll be great."
"Do you really?" asked James, looking at Lily hopefully with a hint of surprise.
"Sure! That is, if you actually take it seriously."
"I plan to."
"Good," grinned Lily. "But you're going to have a busy year balancing all of that with being Quidditch Captain."
"Oh, I'm not captain anymore," James said quickly.
This made Lily frown.
"What happened?"
"Like I said, I'm taking it seriously. After I got the badge, I wrote to McGonagall to tell her I was stepping down. I figured it would be more important to focus on the Head Boy duties," said James with a shrug.
"Ha, you said 'duties'," snickered Sirius.
Hermione sent him a pointed look. "Are you twelve, Sirius?" she chastised, but Sirius only laughed more.
"Wow," said Lily, nodding ever so slightly to herself, ignoring Sirius's remark and focusing on James. "That must have taken a lot…"
"It's no big deal," said James. "I didn't quit the team or anything. I just recommended Gwen take over the captain's—" he paused and side-eyed Sirius. "—responsibilities."
"You're no fun," moaned Sirius and Peter laughed.
The five of them walked through the train until they got to their usual compartment, the last one at the end of the train. Hermione took her seat by the window with Lily sitting beside her. James shamelessly sat next to her while Peter and Sirius took the seat across from them.
The train had barely pulled away from the station when compartment door opened and Mary peeked her head in, looking around curiously.
"Hey guys," she asked, eyeing the empty seat beside Peter. "Where's Remus?"
"He's sitting with Claudia," said Peter.
"Oh, so is there room for one more in here?" asked Mary, opening the door all the way.
"Of course!" beamed Lily.
"Why don't you go sit with your boyfriend?" asked Sirius as Mary walked in shoved her trunk in the overheard luggage rack before taking the seat across from Hermione.
"Because maybe I'd like to sit with my friends," said Mary, sticking her nose in the air and crossing her arms across her chest.
"We're friends?" asked Sirius, raising an eyebrow.
Mary glared at him. "What's it to you?"
Sirius held his hands up in front of him. "Hey, I'm just saying! Everyone gave me hell for not sitting with Cassidy on the way back home on Easter break! Even Remus went to go sit with his girlfriend!"
Hermione scowled at the floor at the term girlfriend and she heard Mary let out a huff.
"Doris," corrected, Mary. "And there's a big difference between sitting with someone when you never spend a lot of time with them versus knowing when to spend time with other people. I've seen Marcus a lot more this summer than any of you."
"We saw each other," said Peter, which got multiple heads to turn.
"Oh right! At the apparition test a few weeks ago!" Mary looked over at Hermione. "We missed you there."
"Yeah, hold on…" said James with a frown. "Why was it you didn't go for that?"
"I was busy," shrugged Hermione.
"Busy? Doing what, exactly?" asked Sirius.
"Well, it's not like I'll be able to do that at Hogwarts anyway. You can't apparate inside Hogwarts grounds," said Hermione, trying to avoid the question. "What's the difference if I wait until after graduation?"
"I guess… Still, you'd think you'd want the license," said Sirius.
"Unless… were you scared because of—" James cut himself off and glanced quickly between Mary and Lily.
Hermione, Sirius, James, and Peter all seemed to tense up at James's almost slipup about the lake, and it was not lost on Mary nor Lily.
"Because of what?" asked Lily curiously.
"Scared because of what happened to Macdonald," answered Sirius, saving them.
Mary scowled at him, but no longer looked suspicious.
"Don't we have to go to the prefect carriage?" asked Hermione, starting to get to her feet before anyone could ask any more questions.
"Oh, right… forgot about that," said James.
"Already forgetting the job requirements?" laughed Lily. "You didn't also forget that we're the ones that are supposed to address the prefects on their responsibilities, right?"
James grinned at her. "Whoops?"
"You're going to leave me with him?" moaned Mary, sending another nasty look towards Sirius.
"Don't worry, Mary. We'll be back," said Lily kindly, reaching for the compartment door.
"And hey, you'll have Peter!" said James.
Peter smiled sheepishly at Mary, and Mary seemed to relax a bit.
"True. Just hurry back unless you want to find a dead body is here," said Mary.
"That can be arranged—"
"—oh, shut it, Black!"
Hermione, James, and Lily quickly made their way into the train corridor and shut the door. Even then, Hermione could hear Sirius and Mary bickering.
"Blimey, if they do kill each other, we're going to be accessories to murder on our first day as Head Students," said James.
"And we haven't even gotten to Scotland yet… must be a record," sighed Lily.
It was a long walk, getting to the front of the train where the prefect compartments were. Hermione stayed quiet on their journey, just listening to James and Lily discuss what they were going to say to the other prefects once they got there.
There were two large compartments designated for the prefects as well at head students. The first one looked almost like a dining carriage, with booths and tables for the prefects to sit at while the other appeared to be almost like a meeting room with chairs set up around the long space.
Inside that one, there was a crowd full of the other prefects, waiting for everyone to arrive before the Head Boy and Head Girl gave them their instructions.
"Hermione! Lily!" called out a voice, and then suddenly Michelle Pickett was there and pulling her for a hug. Hermione was grateful Michelle was the female Hufflepuff prefect in their year rather than someone else.
"Hi, Michelle! How was your holiday?" asked Hermione with a grin.
"It was fine! Yours?" said Michelle, as she greeted Lily with a hug as well.
"Good, thanks!"
"Congratulations on prefect Hermione," grinned Michelle. "And Lily! Head Girl! You must be over the moon!"
"Oh you have no idea!"
The door to the carriage opened and Dirk Cresswell walked in with his fellow sixth year Hufflepuff prefect.
"I think everyone's here now," said Lily, looking around the crowded carriage with budding excitement.
"You do your thing, I'm going to go say hi to Dirk before you start," said Michelle.
She hurried over towards Dirk while Hermione watched Lily go to get James, who was already showing off his badge to a group of students in the corner.
"Long time no see," said a voice, and Hermione turned and looked up at a grinning Remus.
"Hi," Hermione said with a faint smile. "Did you find a compartment alright?"
"Yeah, we're with Sarah Connelly and Jared Muller in the middle of the train."
Ah, the couple's compartment, Hermione thought bitterly, but she bit her tongue from saying it out loud.
Together, they watched Lily and James move to the front of the carriage, with James looking awkwardly down at the sheet of parchment in his hands. Remus was watching on in amusement.
"Can I get everyone's attention, please!" called out Lily, smiling at the group of them. The carriage fell silent and Lily's smile only grew bigger. "You probably all know this, but I'm Lily Evans and this is James Potter–" she gestured to James who waved with a wide grin. "—and we're this year's Head Girl and Head Boy."
There was a small round of applause from the group of prefects.
"Welcome to all of our new and returning prefects!" continued Lily when it died down. "We won't keep you long in case you want to get back to your friends. For the next hour or so, we'll be going over what is expected of all of you, giving you each your common room passwords, patrol schedules, as well as listing all of your other prefect duties."
James snorted into his first.
Lily rolled her eyes.
~o~
The energy in the Great Hall was electric as students found their way to their house tables, anticipating the upcoming sorting and feast. Remus and Claudia had caught up to the group of them, and Hermione watched in annoyance as Remus gently kissed the top of Claudia's head before she walked towards the Hufflepuff table. So much for him not knowing where the two of them stood.
"Where's Dumbledore?" said Mary, her eyes fixated on the head table in front of them.
Hermione followed her gaze. She was right; Dumbledore's chair in the center of the table was empty.
"Odd," said Lily. But by the way she caught Hermione's eye, Hermione had a feeling that Lily did not find it very odd at all.
"Maybe he's running late," mused Mary as she walked ahead towards the Gryffindor table, but Lily stayed a step behind and looked at Hermione.
"Missing days last term is one thing, but missing the Start-of-Term Feast? You don't think something happened to him, do you?" Lily said in a hushed tone.
"No," said Hermione with confidence, but there was an ever-growing panic beginning to form in her chest as she stared at his unoccupied seat.
Lily nodded to herself. "You're right. Alice or Marlene would have mentioned something…"
But there was still a concerned look on her face as they took their seats.
As the sorting began, Hermione paid little attention to the Sorting Hat's song and the sorting of the new students. Her mind was completely focused on Dumbledore's empty chair. The last few weeks had been spent trying to figure out what she was going to say that night to Dumbledore, and yet, he was gone. While Lily was probably thinking he was doing something for the Order, Hermione couldn't help but feel like she was being continuing to be ignored and abandoned. If that was where Lily's mind had been, she was probably right, but that didn't curve Hermione's feeling of betrayal. Dumbledore hadn't bothered to respond to even one of her letters, and then he wasn't at Hogwarts. It was difficult not to feel slighted.
When the sorting was over, Professor McGonagall stepped up in front of the hall and cleared her throat.
"Now I know our returning students may be wondering where Headmaster Dumbledore is," started Professor McGonagall. "As much as he wishes he can be here, he has unfortunately been called away. For the time being, as Deputy Headmistress, anything that usually goes through him, will go through me until he returns."
There were murmurs around the Great Hall. Hermione could hear the whispers around her saying things like "I wonder how long he'll be gone," "I hope he's alright," and "It's strange to not have him here."
"For the time being? Does she mean he'll be away for a while?" Lily whispered to Hermione.
Hermione was sure Lily had guessed correctly, and panic went through her as she wondered just how long Dumbledore would be gone.
Everyone around them was still murmuring and Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, demanding full attention from the Hall.
"With that being said, I am happy to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor: Professor Garridan Ortrun."
Professor McGonagall gestured towards the teacher's table. Behind it, a handsome man with tanned skin who looked to be in his mid to late 40s stood up. His robes appeared fashionably new, and he had his dark brown hair and short beard neatly trimmed that gave off a very tidy, professional look. But there was a kindness on his face when he smiled and waved towards the hall that was politely clapping.
"Wow, get a look at him," said Mary, looking at the new professor with an awestruck look in her eyes. "Now I wish I hadn't dropped that class…"
The corners of her lips dropped as she clapped sadly.
"Blimey, Macdonald… That bloke has to be in his 40s!" said Sirius with an incredulous look. "What would Donner say?"
"Shut up, Sirius," snapped Mary in a tone that was much harsher than usual, even when regarding Sirius.
Sirius looked taken aback by the excessive hostility, and he kept his mouth shut.
"Professor Ortrun has agreed to take over this position pro tem, due to his commitment to the Ministry," continued Professor McGonagall.
This immediately caught Hermione's attention. Commitment to the Ministry? The horrible memory of Umbridge came back to her, and she stared at Professor Ortrun. Their new professor worked for the Ministry of Magic?
"The Ministry?" Lily whispered to her, as if she were concerned for the same reasons.
"He will be teaching here at Hogwarts only for this year while on an extended sabbatical," continued Professor McGonagall. "And he is here at personal request from Headmaster Dumbledore, himself."
Hearing that made Hermione feel slightly better, but not entirely. Besides, if something had happened with the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for that year, Hermione was sure that Sirius or Remus would have mentioned it whenever she, Harry, and Ron had mentioned Umbridge during her own time. That thought helped a little, yet she still had an uneasy feeling that something was not quite right. She hoped she was just paranoid from worrying about so many things at once.
Professor McGonagall then went into the usual speech about Hogwarts rules, quidditch tryouts, and off limit areas around the castle and grounds. When the feast came to an end, the Great Hall slowly became pandemonium as the entire student body began to stand and walk towards the door.
"I'll see you later," said Lily to them as they stood up from the table. "James and I have to report to Professor McGonagall."
Mary had disappeared as soon as they were dismissed, which left Hermione with Remus, Sirius, and Peter. Around them, the fifth and sixth year prefects were already leading the group of first years out of the Great Hall.
"We'll leave that to the other prefects, I think," said Remus.
"Are you sure we shouldn't help?" asked Hermione, looking at the first years nervously.
"Four prefects for about a dozen new students seems like enough," he laughed.
He was right, they seemed to have it covered. So, Hermione followed Remus, Sirius, and Peter through the Grand Staircase and up towards the common room.
Remus still had large bags under his eyes and looked paler than normal from the full moon, and Hermione frowned up at him.
"Did you want to stop by the Hospital Wing for any potions?" Hermione whispered to Remus as they walked.
He shook his head but smiled at her. "I'll survive, Hermione."
"If you say so…"
"Is that the only thing bothering you? Me looking tired?" he asked, and Hermione looked up at him in surprise. "You've had that worried look on your face since the feast," explained Remus.
"What?" blinked Hermione.
"There," Remus said, pointing at her head. "Whenever you're thinking too hard or unsure of something you get those lines between your eyebrows."
He lightly poked her on her forehead with a soft smile. The feeling of it sent tingles through her body.
"Oh, uh- I'm just concerned about the new Defense professor," said Hermione, feeling her cheeks grow warm.
Remus frowned. "Concerned?"
He stopped walking and let Sirius and Peter go on without them, and Hermione stopped too.
"You don't find it odd that we have someone from the Ministry teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts?" she said in a low voice, as small groups of Gryffindors walked past them.
"Not particularly, no. Why? Do you?" asked Remus, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm not sure yet," said Hermione with a frown. "You don't think the Ministry is trying to get involved at Hogwarts, do you?"
Now Remus frowned and looked deep in thought for a moment as the question hung in the air.
"I would hope not. But Dumbledore appointed him himself. That has to count for something, right?"
"But Dumbledore isn't here…" mumbled Hermione, trying to mask the bitterness in her voice.
They continued walking until they reached the Portrait of the Fat Lady. It seemed like most of the students had already made it back to the Common Room, because no one else was around.
"You know, this is where we first met," said Remus. "Exactly a year ago."
Exactly a year ago for him, but for her it had been five years ago. How odd that they both had met and had their very first interaction together on the very same day. Just sixteen years apart and under wildly different circumstances. Once as a sleeping professor on a train, the other as a helpful prefect sharing the password to a common room.
"You're right," blinked Hermione, remembering the night. "I was locked out because the password had changed."
"I believe it was owl feathers," said Remus with a grin.
"And it certainly is not anymore," interrupted the Fat Lady with a huff. "Are you planning on going in or do you wish to keep me waiting all night?"
"Sorry," said Remus, but his grin grew even wider. "Initium Novum."
At the sound of the password, the Fat Lady gave a stiff nod and the portrait swung open.
Remus extended his arm in front of him and raised an eyebrow at her playfully. "Ladies first."
The callback to the previous year made Hermione's stomach flutter that he had remembered their very first, and quick, exchange so well.
He has a girlfriend, he has a girlfriend…
Hastily, Hermione crawled through the portrait hole and into the crowded common room, feeling slightly dazed. It appeared that the usual back to Hogwarts party was already beginning. Someone had music playing and people were passing around snacks and bottles of pumpkin juice and butterbeer, as if they hadn't all just come from the feast.
Hermione and Remus joined Sirius and Peter who were entertaining some of the younger students by the fire. It wasn't until about a half an hour later that James and Lily made their way into the common room, and quickly joined them as well.
"Have you seen Mary?" Lily asked Hermione, seeming to scan the room.
"Not since dinner, no," answered Hermione, also looking around.
"Probably off breaking curfew with her boyfriend," laughed Sirius.
He flipped over an exploding snap card and it burst into flames, causing a group of new first years to laugh and cheer.
Lily pursed her lips in worry and turned towards the stairs to the Girls' Dormitory, not seeming convinced by Sirius's theory.
"I'll see you guys in the morning," Hermione said quickly to the boys before following Lily.
When they arrived, the curtains around Mary's bed were drawn shut and Lily and Hermione exchanged a worried look.
"Mary?" whispered Lily.
There was a moment of silence, and then a small, "What is it?"
Lily walked over to Mary's bed and pulled open the curtain, revealing Mary who was laying under her duvet and hugging a pillow tightly to her chest. Her face was covered in nightly shadows, but Hermione could see fresh tears reflecting the light from the torches around the room.
"Mary! What's wrong?" asked Lily, sitting on the end of the bed. She placed a comforting hand on the outline of Mary's leg. Hermione walked over and leaned against one of the bed's columns, grateful that Lily seemed to be taking the lead.
"I-I don't w-want to talk about i-it," sniffled Mary, turning over in her bed away from Lily and Hermione.
"If you're sure…" said Lily with a sad frown. "Is there anything we can do?"
Mary flipped back over to look at both of them and just started bawling into her pillow.
"Marcus and I broke up," she said tearfully.
Lily's jaw dropped and she looked at Hermione with wide eyes.
"What? When?"
"Two days a-ago," mumbled Mary through her pillow. "I-I don't want to talk a-about it."
She turned back over and Hermione could see the outline of her body trembling under the blanket. Lily let out a small sigh and stood up before leaning over and placing a gentle kiss on top of Mary's dirty-blonde hair.
"Get some rest, Mary. We'll see you in the morning, okay?" Lily said gently.
The outline of Mary looked like it nodded, and Lily slowly closed the curtains around her bed.
Wow, Hermione mouthed to Lily, and Lily nodded back sympathetically.
They were quiet from then on out, with both Hermione and Lily moving around their dormitory silently as to not disturb Mary. When it was time to fall asleep, Hermione laid back in her bed and stared up at her bed's canopy.
It took a while, but when Hermione finally fell asleep, it was with thoughts of Dumbledore, Mary and Marcus, and Claudia and Remus on her mind.
~o~
The next morning, Hermione woke later than she should have, having not slept as well as she hoped the night before. Mary and Lily were already gone when she pulled the curtains of her four-poster bed back, so Hermione had to walk to the Great Hall by herself after she had finished getting ready.
Both of them were sitting at the Gryffindor table, with Remus and Claudia sitting across from them. The sight of Claudia made Hermione pause momentarily. It made her consider joining Sirius and Peter, who were sitting not too far away from the girls and Remus. James was nowhere in sight which made it an even more difficult choice. Did she want to sit with Remus and his girlfriend, or Peter? Which would be more difficult?
Hermione headed towards Remus.
As she approached, she saw Mary was looking better than the night before, but there were still noticeable lavender bags under her eyes. They nearly matched the ones Remus still had, although his looked like they had improved since the day before. Hermione wanted to suggest he get a potion again, but she quickly decided against it. She couldn't say anything in front of the other girls anyway.
"Good morning, Hermione," Claudia greeted with a wide smile as Hermione took a seat beside Lily.
"Good morning, Claudia," said Hermione, trying to return the smile the best she could. She would be nice to Claudia. It wasn't as though any of this were her fault.
Just as Hermione made to grab some food, James came into sight, stomping as he walked towards them.
"I can't believe it!" said James angrily, thrusting himself into the seat across from Hermione. He nearly knocked over Remus's plate of breakfast in the process.
He appeared to be in such a poor and distracted mood that he didn't even seem to notice Sirius and Peter sitting a short distance away.
"What happened?" asked Lily.
"I just spoke to Gwen and she's making the entire team re-tryout!" James glared in the direction of the doors to the Great Hall. His eyes narrowed as Gwen walked in, laughing with a few of the other Gryffindor Quidditch team members. "Me! She wouldn't even be captain if I hadn't resigned!"
"You have nothing to worry about," said Lily, looking at him with a mix of amusement and sympathy. "You're the best chaser on the team. It would be detrimental to not bring you back."
Sirius and Peter walked over to join the group of them.
"What's the matter, Prongs?" said Sirius, sitting down next to James and throwing his arm around his shoulders.
James grabbed and apple and bit into it angrily, but seemed less tense with Sirius beside him.
"Gwen is making him tryout for the team again," explained Hermione as James took another angry bite.
"No!" gasped Sirius with wide eyes. "She wouldn't even be captain if you hadn't stepped down!"
"That's what I said!" exclaimed James.
"I'm sure it's just for show," said Claudia. "It has to look fair. I doubt she wants to show favoritism as her first act of captain if she didn't make you tryout as well."
"I… suppose," muttered James.
"Besides, Lily's right," shrugged Claudia indifferently. "Can you imagine how thrilled Jared would be if you weren't on Gryffindor's team anymore? I can already see him throwing a party in our common room just at the thought." She then paused and turned towards Sirius with furrowed brows. "Don't you still owe him money?"
Remus smirked and Sirius suddenly seemed very preoccupied with his fingernails. He was saved from responding as Professor McGonagall began walking down the table, handing out everyone's class schedules.
"I guess enough people dropped some of their N.E.W.T classes," said Lily as she scanned their schedules after McGonagall had walked away. "We aren't divided by houses anymore. Everyone is together."
Hermione looked down at her list and saw she was right, no more divided classes. She didn't know what would be worse, having certain Slytherins in every class, or a certain Hufflepuff. She eyed Claudia across from her, who seemed delighted by this information.
"Well, that's nice," said Claudia with a smile as she looked at Remus. "We'll all get to spend more time with each other."
"You're welcome," said Mary bitterly, speaking for the first time. She scowled into her goblet of juice as she took a long sip.
Lily sighed at her sympathetically. "You could always ask Professor McGonagall to let you back into Defense Against the Dark Arts. I doubt it's too late."
"No, it's fine," said Mary with a frown. "I'd just embarrass myself in front of a professor who's—"
"—Gorgeous?" said Lily, raising an eyebrow at Mary.
Mary put her head into her hands and groaned.
"Girls are weird," said Sirius, shaking his head.
Lily only laughed at that.
"We have Potions first," groaned Sirius. "I love the smell of rotting ingredients first thing in the morning…"
"But the only class we have after lunch is double Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Remus looking at the schedule with a small smile. "That should be fun."
Professor McGonagall made her way back up the table and stopped beside them all again with a stern look.
"Miss Mahoney, you best be getting to your own house table if you want to get your class schedule from Professor Sprout," said Professor McGonagall, looking down at Claudia.
"Oh, right," said Claudia with an apologetic smile. She gave Remus a quick kiss on the cheek then hurried off across the Great Hall to join her house.
Hermione stared intently down at her schedule, not saying anything until it was time to leave for their first class.
Hermione was the first one to get up from the table and was quickly followed by Mary. She had expected Remus to wait for Claudia, but instead, he fell into step beside the two girls as the rest of their house seemed to straggle behind.
They had made it halfway down the dungeon corridor that led to the Potions classroom when they reached their first sign of trouble. Mulciber and Avery were loitering in the corridor, talking to one another. Why couldn't they have been some of the students who dropped lessons?
"Just ignore them," Remus muttered under his breath as they approached.
Mary gave a small nod, but then looked up at Remus's tired face, seeming to notice his bags for the first time.
"Are you feeling alright?"
"I'm fine. I just haven't slept very well lately. My mum's been sick," Remus said his usual excuse second naturedly.
Choosing to ignore the future Death Eaters hadn't worked, because they turned their attention on the three of them after hearing Remus's remark.
"That's because everyone knows muggles are weak," laughed Mulciber, giving Remus a faux look of sympathy. "You aren't looking so great yourself, Lupin."
Remus paled at his remark but said nothing.
"Dawson here would know that more than anyone," added in Avery with a dark smirk as he and Mulciber pushed through them.
"Hey—" started Remus, but he didn't get to finish.
The small amount of patience Hermione had for those two was slowly wearing off, and she glared at them. Mulciber and Avery ignored Remus and turned their backs to them, but Hermione was sick of it.
"And yet Remus's mum is twice the person either of the two of you will ever be," Hermione snapped.
Mulciber whipped back around and glared at her with an ugly sneer.
"What did you say to us?" demanded Mulciber.
"Clearly pure blood does not equate to class," continued Hermione, narrowing her eyes.
"Don't you have better things to do?" demanded Mary, seeming to gain some courage from Hermione's comments. "What happened? Run out of first years to harass already?"
"Watch your mouth, Macdonald," snapped Mulciber. "You have no idea what you're up against."
"Oh, I'm sooo scared!"
"You should be," said Avery darkly.
There were footsteps coming from behind them and Lily, James, Sirius, and Peter walked up to where the five of them were standing in the corridor.
"You," spat, Mulciber, when he caught sight of Lily and James. He made a move for his wand but then his eyes dropped to look at the badge pinned to Lily's chest. His arm slowly fell back to his side.
"Don't make us put you in detention on the first day of classes…" said Lily evenly. James stood behind her, puffing out his chest in a way that made his Head Boy badge twinkle under the dungeon torchlight.
"Or if you miss having spikes…" James added, his fingers twitching towards his wand. "We can always oblige you."
"James…"
Mulciber glared at all of them but turned on his heel. He grabbed Avery by the sleeve of his robes and marched him down the dungeon corridor. Snape was standing near the door to the Potions classroom, watching them in silence along with a few other of their classmates. When Mulciber got nearer, he angrily shoved Snape into the classroom.
"Gits," said Sirius with a look of disgust.
"Great start to the new school year," mumbled Peter, as they began walking again.
"Are you alright, Remus?" Hermione asked, looking up at him with worry. He was still looking pale, and she wasn't sure if it was from Mulciber's comments or from still recovering.
"Was that wise, Hermione?" whispered Remus as they entered the classroom, not bothering to answer her question.
Hermione blanched and furrowed her brows.
"I don't particularly care."
Remus sighed and shook his head before following Peter to their usual table.
Hermione frowned after him, wondering if maybe he had been right. Remus may have hated conflict, but someone had to stand up to Mulciber and Avery! The evil bastards… Great, now she was sounding like Sirius. With a shake of her head, Hermione took her seat at the table Lily and Mary sat at.
When the bell rang, Professor Slughorn was still not in sight. But Mary seemed relieved that only half of the Ravenclaws were in their class, and none of them happened to be Marcus. It was nice to have people from all the houses in class with them rather than just the Slytherins, although it seemed like the Gryffindors were the only house that was completely intact. Only three of the Hufflepuff girls sat at a table together: Claudia, Michelle, and Sarah. When Michelle saw Hermione, she gave her a friendly smile.
Then the door of the classroom opened.
"Welcome, welcome!" said Professor Slughorn as he hurried into the Potions classroom. He was slightly short of breath, looking as though he had been rushing to make it there on time. Obviously, he hadn't. "Seventh Year N.E.W.T students; how exciting!"
He placed a tray of familiar colorful potion filled phials on the front table then turned around to beam back at all of them.
"We'll start off this year simple with some review and the continuation on our study of poisons. I expect everyone to show me that you've retained something you learned from before the summer holiday! Everyone will create another antidote to one of these poisons—" he gestured behind him "—but this time without the use of your notes or textbook!"
Groans echoed around the room as people began tucking their Advanced Potion's Making textbooks away.
"Oh, no groaning!" chuckled Slughorn cheerfully. "Now come up and… dare I say again… pick your poison!"
The joke hadn't been particularly funny the first time, and was even less so that time, but Slughorn remained laughing to himself as everyone made their way to the front of the room. He was too preoccupied laughing that he failed to notice Mulciber angrily shove his way through everyone to get to the front of the queue.
Michelle and Sarah appeared beside them.
"What's his problem?" whispered Michelle, scrunching up her face as they watched Mulciber stalk back to his table.
Mary shook her head. "Does he need one?"
Michelle gave an uncomfortable laugh.
Hermione, Lily, and Mary each grabbed a small phial and returned to their table, but Michelle continued to stand at the front of the room with Sarah, looking confused.
"Sir," said Michelle, raising her hand. "There isn't enough for all of us."
Slughorn frowned and walked up to the desk to check.
"How odd. I could have sworn—"
He turned and stared around the room, mouthing numbers to himself as he seemed to count how many students were in the class. His frown only deepened as he turned back to the empty tray.
"Hm, I must have miscounted," said Slughorn, looking slightly put out with himself. He put his hands on his hips and sighed. "Right. I'll get the rest from my office. While I'm gone, make sure you all split into tables of twos. Now that you are all in your final year, I would like to see more independence in your work. By next term we shall have you all working individually! After all, you won't have a partner during your N.E. ! Now to get the rest of the phials…"
Slughorn muttered something to himself as he walked towards the door, scratching his bald head.
"No more trios?" said Mary, looking alarmed as she turned to look at Hermione and Lily.
"That's not good," said Lily with a frown.
But Hermione was only half paying attention as she watched Claudia cross the room and tap Remus on the shoulder. Whatever she said to him was so quiet that Hermione couldn't hear, but then she watched Remus pick up his things and smile apologetically at his friends before following Claudia to her table.
There was a look of betrayal on Peter's face, and Hermione hated that she felt similarly. James and Sirius were surely going to work together, which meant one of them would probably have to work with Peter…
Lily was also watching the exchange between Remus and Claudia with a frown, but then she must have thought of something because her entire face lit up.
"I can fix this," she said to both Hermione and Mary. "And you guys are going to owe me…"
"What?" Mary said, but Lily had hopped off her stool and started walking across the room.
"James!"
James's head turned around in confusion, as well as some of their other classmates in the surrounding area.
"Care to work together this term? Head Boy and Head Girl?" Lily asked with a sweet smile.
A look of shock crossed James's face
"Are you serious?"
"No, but I—ow!" Sirius groaned as James elbowed him in the ribs.
"Let's see how well we can work as a team," said Lily as she sat down beside James at his table. James had a look on his face like he couldn't believe his eyes.
"Guess that leaves us to be partners, Wormtail!" said Sirius with a grin, patting a smiling Peter on his back.
In the back of the room, at a table by himself, Snape was watching James and Lily with a look of pure loathing.
"Well, at least we're together," said Mary to Hermione as Slughorn walked back into the room and handed phials to Michelle and Sarah.
Hermione looked away from Snape and smiled softly at her.
"Alright!" said Slughorn cheerfully as he clapped his hands together. "Let's begin!"
~o~
After lunch, there were the familiar murmurs of excitement as the seventh year students headed towards their Defense Against the Dark Arts class. It seemed as though most of them were curious to see what the new professor would be like, with many side conversations full of guesses happening at once:
"—Maybe he was an Auror—"
"—No way, no one goes on sabbatical with such an important job; especially these days—"
"—And he's not old enough to be retired—"
"—Bet he was in the Magical Law Enforcement Squad as like a Hit Wizard or something. Makes sense if he's teaching Defense—"
"—Could have been a Watchwizard!—"
"—Watch him have been something boring—"
"—What, like Muggle Liaison?—"
"—Or like a secretary—"
"—Oi, watch it! My mum is a secretary!—"
The theories kept coming until they reached the Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom. Professor Ortrun was already in the room when they arrived, sitting casually on top of the teacher's desk facing all of them.
"Come on in, don't be shy," Professor Ortrun said with a toothy grin, waving them forward.
The class continued to murmur to one another as they filed into the room. Hermione followed Lily to a table in the middle and sat down next to her. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter found tables around them to sit at.
"I'm sure you're all curious about having another new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. So, I thought that we could spend the first part of our lesson today getting to know one another. A little about me… a little about all of you…" Professor Ortrun said, continuing to grin at them. "You must all be thrilled to make it to your last year of Defense Against the Dark Arts!"
Something seemed slightly unnerving about his enthusiasm, but no one around Hermione seemed to notice. Perhaps it was her bias showing, but having another teacher from the Ministry worried her. Her track record with it hadn't been great, with "Moody" and especially Umbridge.
"Maybe next year I'll even see some of you around the Ministry," Professor Ortrun continued. "Are there any of you considering a profession within the Ministry after graduation?"
A few hands went up around the room, and Hermione tentatively put her hand in the air to join them. She watched Professor Ortrun scan the room at those who raised their hands until his eyes finally landed on Hermione.
"Ah, and would you like to share your dream aspiration, Miss…?"
"Dawson," said Hermione, lowering her hand. "I'd like to work for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."
"Oh?" he said, raising an eyebrow. He crossed one leg over the other and leaned closer to the class. "To better conceal magical creatures, beasts, and other beings from the muggle world?"
"Well… no, not exactly," said Hermione. "I think the department needs to be reformed. There are many beings being too harshly regulated when they should have more rights. I want to ensure better treatment and the expansion of rights for other magical species such as house-elves, centaurs, goblins, and werewolves."
Scattered laughter broke out around the room, and Hermione felt her face grow warm. But Lily put her hand on Hermione's shoulder and gave her a warm nod. The sound of something heavy hitting the floor made Hermione jump, and she turned to see an extremely flushed looking Remus leaning towards the ground to pick up his fallen textbook. Sirius grabbed him by the neck of his robes and hoisted him back into his chair. Hermione quickly turned back to Professor Ortrun, hoping her face was not as red as it felt.
"Now, now," said Professor Ortrun, putting his hands up to address the class, causing the laughter to die down. "We don't laugh at people's ambition," he turned back to face Hermione and speak to her directly. "It's always good to see a student passionate and so sure of what they want out of their future."
Professor Ortrun, smiled at her with approval but something about his statement made Hermione uneasy.
"Now, who else had their hand up and wants to share? Ah, yes, you! Mister…?" Professor Ortrun started, pointing at a Ravenclaw boy.
After he finished going around and asking students their desired career, he opened the floor to questions about himself.
Many of the questions that had been circling about before class were directly asked to Professor Ortrun. He seemed to take all of them in stride; his casual demeanor in the classroom seemed to create a lively energy around the class.
It turns out there were few departments that Professor Ortrun hadn't worked in, except apparently any type of law enforcement. Ironic that that had been the primary guess people had before arriving to class. But he spoke about passing from department to department, trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. It was refreshing to see a professor who spoke honestly about trying to find a place after graduation, rather than knowing exactly what they wanted to do from their fifth year on.
When most of the questions had been satisfied, Professor Ortrun began going over the syllabus before they spent the remainder of the lesson beginning a lecture on concealment charms. The energy in the room had been a steady decline as the class shifted focus into actual work. But even as everyone began taking notes during Professor Ortrun's lecture, Hermione was still not entirely convinced something was not quite out of place.