Chapter 3
*3 weeks ago*
"What do you mean Professor Snape is missing?!"
"Um…I mean he's missing?"
"For how long?"
"He hasn't shown up for his last 4 check-ins."
Professor Dumbledore sighed and then asked, "Didn't you say that there were two people missing? Who's the other one?"
The messenger paused before answering, "Professor Owens…"
"Professor Owens?? As in our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Owens??" he roared.
"Um…yes sir. That would be him."
"Oh…Merlin…what happens when we do find them again?"
"Um…well…if we do find them….Standard procedure calls for a meeting with the person who was missing, they tell us what happened and we decide what to do next according to the situation."
"And how long does that take?"
"Well…it varies, sir…"
"How long?!?!" Dumbledore asked again, getting impatient, a rare sight indeed for anyone who had known the Headmaster for a decent interval of time.
"Well…it can take anywhere from 2 hours to a year."
"So…you're telling me….that even if they are found…it's possible that they won't be able to teach for a year?"
"Um…I guess so, yeah."
"And…how long ago, in weeks or days or whatever, did they first go missing?"
"Two weeks ago, sir."
"TWO WEEKS AGO?!?!" he screamed in disbelief, "So, let me get this straight, you waited until school starts again in three weeks to inform me that not one, but TWO of my teachers were missing AND expect me to be able to find two replacement teachers before then?!"
"Uh…don't kill the messenger?"
Dumbledore sighed in regret, sorrow, and exhaustion, and then said, "All right, that'll be enough. You can go now."
"Thank you, sir, and…um…good luck."
Dumbledore only nodded as the young man left his office.
After the door shut, the weary headmaster brought his hand up to his forehead and exhaled for what seemed like the millionth time today. He thought out loud to himself, "Where the heck am I going to find two teachers on three weeks notice?" He sat for hours, thinking about who might be willing…when an idea struck him, "I wonder…"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
*Present Day*
"Come on, Lav. What's up? What happened this summer? You never told me in the owls…"
"Please don't take this the wrong way, Ron, but I really don't feel like talking about it right now."
"I don't buy that! I think you're scared of something and it's holding you back!"
"Ron…"
Ron shook his head and said, "No, come on, it's the truth and you know it!" Lavender said nothing in reply, so he continued, "You always listen to everyone else's problems, but you refuse to let anyone listen to you….why?"
"My problems aren't anyone else's business."
"And theirs are yours?!" He looked at her, sighed, and continued, "Look, Lav, I'm your friend. I love you and I care about you just like I do with Ginny. Like it or not, you are my business. Seriously, I mean, didn't you read my friendship contract?" he joked, trying to make her smile a little and succeeding.
"I know, Ron, I know. But…the thing is…I'm not ready yet. I want some time to jus think this over, to figure out where I stand on the whole thing…to kinda understand what my feelings are before I share it with someone…before I say something I don't mean."
For once in his life, Ron listened to her; really, really listened. Finally, he answered, "Okay, but when you're ready…I'm willing to be the "someone," okay?"
Lavender smiled, "You got it, mate."
Ron laughed, "Now what do you say we find the food cart and pig out?"
"I'd say…you got yourself a deal!"
They set off to find the cart and Ron thought…Man, Harry's gonna die when he finds out I have his wallet…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ginny sighed, "We're almost there…I guess we better split up, huh?"
"Yeah," Draco replied, "I guess so."
"I'm gonna go find my brother, I'll see you tonight?"
"Yeah, same time, same place," he answered, giving Ginny a good-bye kiss.
"See you later, alligator."
Draco smiled, "In a while, crocodile. And it's dragon! DRA-GON!"
"Yeah, yeah…whatever," she replied with a playful look on her face as she left the room.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hermione sighed, "I can't believe it…we're finally here."
Ron replied, "Yup…about to embark on the terrible journey that is 7th year."
"Isn't it a bit odd to think about how this is our last year at Hogwarts?" Harry asked, gazing off into the distance with a queer look in his eyes.
"Wow," Neville joked, "Way to depress everyone, Harry!"
Lavender added, "No kidding…"
Dean said, "Yeah, he does seem to have a knack at that, doesn't he?"
Harry rolled his eyes.
Everyone stood in the Front entryway as they waited for Professor Dumbledore to come and lead them to the Great Hall to await the first years.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Welcome to yet another year here at Hogwarts. Please note that the Forbidden Forest is off-limits to all students," Dumbledore looked at Harry, Hermione, and Ron as he said that, "Argus Filch has once again asked me to remind you all that Dungbombs are banned on campus as well as 500 some odd other items. For a full list, please see Mr. Filch."
Dumbledore hesitated a moment before continuing, "I'm afraid that Professors Snape and Owens will be unable to teach this year, but we have been fortunate enough to find two replacement teachers. Professor Collins, who will be teaching Potions; however, I'm afraid that due to unavoidable circumstances, she will be unable to be here until later tonight, so you all will have to meet her tomorrow morning when classes start. Our other teacher, Professor Buck will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year. Please stand up, Professor."
Professor Buck stood up and waved.
Harry said, "Hey, Hermione…that kinda looks like-" but Hermione interrupted him.
"Bill??"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A couple of hours later, the feast had ended and most of the students were already in bed. However, Harry and Hermione had a staff meeting to attend with the teachers. They also had a few questions of their own that they wanted answered.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Well," McGonagall said, "I suppose that's it for this evening. Have a good night, everyone!"
The majority of the teachers had left, but Harry, Hermione, Bill and Dumbledore remained.
"So…I guess you guys kinda wanna know why I'm here when I'm supposed to be a muggle…."
"Yeah, that would be nice," Hermione said, a little harsher than she intended to sound.
Bill looked at her; a little ashamed, "Well, I guess we should start at the beginning," he nodded to Dumbledore.
The headmaster left the room and came back with Mr. and Mrs. Granger.
"Mom…Dad? What are you doing here?"
"Well," Mrs. Granger replied, "we had some things we need to explain as well."
Mr. Granger said, "You might want to sit down."
"Okay…" Hermione said warily, reaching for Harry's hand.
"Well, basically, Hermione, your father and I aren't…muggles."
"What?! You mean…you lied to me all this time?"
"Can we finish the story? You can ask questions later, I promise."
"Why should I believe you? Everything you've told me was a lie, I don't see why this time is different."
"Herm…"
"Fine!"
"18 years ago, your father and I were Aurors. We were working alongside the Potters in the fight against Voldemort." She paused, looking at Harry, then continued, "After they were killed, and Voldemort disappeared, Professor Dumbledore thought it would be a good idea to disappear from the wizarding world for a while, especially since you were so young. See, he didn't really believe that Voldemort had died. So we changed our names and moved into the muggle world."
Bill took over the story, "This is where I come in. Dumbledore also thought it would be a good idea to have someone else around…a bodyguard figure. My job was to protect you and your parents by posing as a butler."
"I see," Hermione said, confused, she asked, "And why do you suddenly have hair now?"
He laughed and said, "Well, I was only 18 when they assigned me to your parents. Everyone at the Ministry thought I looked too young to be a butler, so I took a potion every day to make me look 10 years older than I actually am. To you, I'm 45…but I'm actually only 35. I didn't take the potion today so…"
"Oh…but…I saw this morning and you still looked…"
"Yes…but I take the potion with lunch."
"Okay…so let me get this straight. You're not 45, but 35. You're not a butler, but a bodyguard. My parents are not only magical, but were Aurors and went into hiding after Voldemort disappeared."
"Well, at the time, we thought it was a ruse to trick us into coming out and then allowing him to kill us as well. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, months turned into years. After so long, we found that living in the muggle world quite comfortable. It wasn't until you got your letter from Hogwarts that we seriously considering coming back. But then we decided to wait a little longer, at least until you got back from your 1st year," Mr. Granger said. "But then you, Harry, and Ron found out that Voldemort was still alive."
Hermione nodded and then turned to Bill, "So…if your job is to protect us…why are you our DADA teacher now?"
"To be honest, I have no clue. But DADA was my best subject when I was here….and it just seemed like a good time to come back."
"Okay…" Hermione said softly, squeezing Harry's hand, "I think that's all the questions I have right now…"
Mrs. Granger said, "Are you mad at us, sweetie?"
Hermione scoffed, "Mad? What reason could I possibly have to be mad? I've only just found out that everything I've ever known is a lie! Do you know how hard it is to think yourself a muggle-born in a world of magic? Everyday…I had to feel like I was inferior! I had to face Malfoy calling me a `mudblood' and for what? Nothing! You and Dad knew what I was going through…I TOLD YOU! You…knew…and you never did anything about it. You could have saved me a lot of pain if you had just told me. So yeah, I guess I am mad!"
"Hermione, we…"
"NO!" She paused, her eyes watering, "I thought that you loved me…or did you lie about that too?" And with that, Hermione stood up to leave the room.
Harry got up quickly and gently grabbed her arm to try and calm her down, "Herm..."
"Don't, Harry!" Hermione said, pulling her arm out of his grip and storming out of the room.
Harry turned to the Grangers, "I'm sorry…I'll uh, talk to her," he forced a smile, "Try to…err, knock some sense into her."
"Thank you, Harry."
"Don't worry about it…I'm sure she'll be okay…" he set off to follow Hermione.
"Oh, Harry," Mrs. Granger called out. He turned to look at her, and she continued, "Your parents were some of the best people I have ever known…and you are truly their son."
Harry's eyes watered a little bit, but he held back the tears, "Thank you."
"You're welcome, sweetie…" she replied, "Good night."
He nodded in reply and went to find Hermione.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Oh, Bill?"
"Yes, Professor Dumbledore?"
"I wonder if you wouldn't mind doing an aging man a favor?"
"Well, of course not. What do you need?"
"As you know…Professor Collins will be arriving in about an hour….and I'm simply afraid that my old bones need their rest, so would you be willing to greet the new teacher and show her to her quarters?"
"Certainly, sir, I'd be more than happy to."
"Oh, thank you so much, Professor Buck. My bones thank you!"
Bill laughed and said, "Why don't you head on to bed now….get that rest you need?"
"Yes…yes…" Dumbledore muttered as he stifled a yawn and turned to head to his room…at least until he was out of Bill's sight anyways. When he knew for sure that Bill wouldn't hear him, he chuckled, "Just wait until you see the teacher…" And then he smiled deviously.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As promised to Dumbledore, Bill was faithfully fulfilling his duty and waiting in the front hallway for Professor Collins who would be arriving any second.
Suddenly, the door opened and in came a woman…well, at least what seemed to be a woman, Bill couldn't really tell through the cloak. His thoughts were confirmed when the woman spoke, with a decidedly feminine voice.
"Oh, goodness gracious! It's pouring out there!" she exclaimed, setting down her luggage and shutting the door behind her."
"Professor Collins?" Bill asked.
"Oh, wow. That's the first time I've ever actually heard the title `Professor' with my name!" she laughed, "But yes, that's me."
Bill smiled and then offered to take her luggage.
"Oh, would you? That would be great," she said as he reached for her luggage. She then lowered her cloak and looked at Bill. Her breath caught in her throat as he too lifted up his head and for the first time saw her face…well, the first time in a long while anyway.
"Leigh?"
"Bill?"
He dropped her luggage, not because of shock, but rather because Leigh Collins had suddenly fainted. He quickly caught her in his arms before she fell to the ground.