Disclaimer: I don't own nobody of the characters, they are property of JK Rowling.
A/N: Thank you to all that had have reviewed my story, I am happy you liked it.
Hermione Potter: I take that you liked this chapter…I hope you'll like the new one as well, then…
AlexDurrani: I think there will be another chapter, then this one will be done.
Coolone007: Kids, you say. Well, read this chapter…for the sequel, I don't plan it now, as I have many other fics that I want to post, and they need to be checked to clear up mistakes, so I've a lot to do. Plus, for the next two or three months I'll have some hectic time at the university, with some exams to do. Maybe after the summer…never say never…
KypDurron: Yeah, I think Hawaii are fabulous. I've never stayed there, I went to Bahamas and Seychelles, but I want to go there first or later.
JayaMioneDurron: Well, the story is near to the end, but it is not finished yet. I don't plan a sequel now, but as I said a little before, never say never…maybe after the summer.
Fire Gazer: Yes, this one is quite finished. Another chapter and then it will be ended.
Antone: Sorry about that! I hate A/N chapter too, but I really needed it, as many reviewers pointed out the mistakes.
Marvybelle: Thanks, Ill try to do it.
Chapter Twenty-Three
"Hogwarts Professors"
Few days later, Harry and Hermione had packed to leave Potter's Manor and return to Hogwarts. It was by now the 29th of August, and they were to start their new adventure in the castle: being Professors.
They were the youngest in all the school's story, so it was by now another thing for what they were famous.
That morning, Harry woke up and felt the spot near him empty, for the first time from their wedding. He wasn't worried, though. He knew Hermione would be hectic that morning, till they would be in the castle again. She had been for all the day before, so why not the morning of the departure?
He rubbed his eyes and headed for the bathroom, to have a shower. When he tried to open the door, though, he found it locked.
"Wait a minute, Harry. I'm quite done" Hermione's voice came from the room. Harry smiled.
"So she had not be so hectic as I thought she would be" he thought.
Few minutes later, Hermione exited the bathroom with only a towel on her, and Harry wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her.
"Good Morning, love" he whispered, then.
Hermione smiled at him. "Good morning, Harry" she replied, going to pick up some fresh clothes. Harry went to have his shower.
When he arrived downstairs to have breakfast, as usual he found that Dobby had cooked for a little army. He shook his head smiling, and sat, starting to fill his plate with bacon, eggs, pancakes and muffins.
The "Daily Prophet" arrived in that moment, so Hermione paid the owl and started reading it.
"Well, Rita is loosing her efficiency. She had published only today the new about the two of us being Professors" she commented.
In the first page there was an article about them:
Hogwarts goes for the young line
By Rita Skeeters
Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry had chosen to hire the young Potters as Professors. Harry Potter will be the new Defense against the Dark Arts Professors, while his wife, the beautiful former Hermione Granger, will be the new Transfiguration Professor, as the former teacher, Minerva McGonagall, is now the new Headmistress after the loss of Albus Dumbledore last year in the final battle with You-Know-Who.
We are very grateful for that choice, as Mrs. Potter had been the best student in the school from the times of Tom Riddle and Mr. Potter is the one who had killed You-Know-Who. Who better than him to teach our children to defend themselves?
I personally hope that the two of them would do a great job, but I'm quite sure of that, seen their records. I want to pick this occasion to give the recently wed couple my congratulations. After all, I knew they would end together since their fourth year in the school during the Triwizard Tournament.
Harry read the article. "Well, it could have been worse" he said, while standing up from the table.
Hermione nodded and followed him upstairs to check their trunks.
After a while, they were ready to go, so they said hello to Dobby and then Disapparated to Hogsmeade. There they enchanted their trunks to lighten them, and then started walking toward the castle.
When they were on the grounds, they saw Hagrid coming out of the Forest.
"Hey, Hagrid. How are you?" Harry asked.
The half giant turned, and saw them.
"Hiya, Harry. I'm fine, I'm happy to have you back here at the castle. You too, Hermione" he said, walking toward them.
They chatted a little, so Harry and Hermione learned that Grawp was still there, and was making progress learning the language and civilizing.
"He never attempts to hit me, now. And he can speak very well, considering he's a giant" Hagrid beamed.
Then Harry and Hermione reached the castle, and went to the Headmistress' office.
"Sugar Quills" Harry tried but the gargoyle didn't move.
"Lemon Drops" Hermione said, and it functioned. She smirked at him.
"You had been only lucky" Harry retorted.
When they entered, the Headmistress greeted them.
"Harry, Hermione, I'm so happy to see you had had a good travel. Please, sit" she said, gesturing for them to take the two chairs before her desk.
They talked a little, then Minerva accompanied them to the staff quarters. They took a passage behind a statue that Harry never knew existed, as it wasn't on the Marauder's Map, too.
They walked through a long corridor, seeing the various Professors' names on the doors, till they reached one with written "Professors Potter".
"We enchanted my old quarter and the DADA Professor's one, melting them together. This way, you'll have more space, as you have to live there in two and not in one" Minerva explained.
Harry and Hermione nodded, then they started walking in their place, looking appreciatively to all what was there.
"Well, I think this is perfect" Harry said
"Yeah, I think so, too" Hermione confirmed.
"Well, then, I'll give you some time to unpack. We have a meeting in the Great Hall in two hours to plan this year's activity" McGonagall said, exiting their place.
"I still can't believe this. It is my dream come true" Hermione said, seating on the couch near Harry.
"I know how you feel, as it is the same for me" he replied, pulling her closer to him.
Two hours later, they were in the Great Hall, seated on a table with Minerva, when the other Professors started arriving.
Flitwick greeted them happily, as Sprout did, too. Vector and Trewlaney acknowledged them briefly, while Hagrid was the happier in greeting them. Then, Snape arrived.
He and Harry exchanged hatred full looks, but they shook hands coldly the same. Snape then nodded to Hermione, as greeting her.
"Well, now that we are all here" Minerva started, " I guess you know that Mrs. Potter will be our new Transfiguration teacher, as Mr. Potter will be the DADA one"
At this Snape snorted.
"Oh, please, Severus, go over your Potter hate for good. He's not James, when you'll understand that?" the Headmistress said.
Snape didn't reply.
"Well, now, we need to elect a new Gryffindor House Head. I think it's only fair that Mr. and Mrs. Potter would have this role" McGonagall proposed. Nobody was against that, so it was decided. They would be Gryffindor Heads.
After a long talking about the year's programs, all the Professors had lunch, then Harry and Hermione retreated in their quarters to start planning lessons. They worked hard all the afternoon, then went to have dinner.
That night, they thought a little celebration was needed, so they were intimate again.
The few days till the start of the year had been full of work for the two of them, who needed to catch up with the lessons planning.
Finally, the 1st of September was there.
The students started entering the Great Hall, and they noticed Ginny. Smiles were exchanged with her.
Hermione left to go and attend to the Sorting, so she led the first years in the Great Hall, explained what they had to do, then started calling names. When the Sorting was over, McGonagall started speaking.
"I need to remember you that the Forest is forbidden to all the students. Plus, Mr. Filch has a list of the forbidden items in his office, everyone can check it. I'm sure, though, that all what comes from "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes" is not allowed in the school. I'm also happy to announce that Mr. Potter" Harry stood up "Will be our new DADA teacher while Mrs. Potter" now it was Hermione's turn to stand up, "will be the Transfiguration one, as I have to dedicate myself to the Headmistress' chores. They will also be Head of the Gryffindor house. Now, dig in!" and the food appeared on the plates.
After the feast, Harry and Hermione reached Ginny, and invited her in their quarters to chat a little. It was not so strange, as she was Head Girl, so sometimes she could go to the Professor's quarters.
"So, how was the travel?" they asked
"A little more boring than usual, without the two of you and my brother" Ginny replied, a little sad. The question had brought up again the pain for Ron's loss.
Harry and Hermione comforted her, then they resumed their chat.
"Well, we wanted to tell you that we can't show any kind of favouritism for you or the others in your year we knew, I'm sure you understand that" Hermione said.
"Of course, I understand. I'm really happy for you, though. I knew it was your dream to teach here, Hermione. I'm not sure about you, Harry, but I bet it was your dream too."
Harry smiled broadly at her, confirming her guess.
"Yeah, and we're proud of you. Our little "sister" is Head Girl!" Harry said then, ruffling her hair.
"Hey! I'm not little anymore!" Ginny pouted, faking to be offended. They all erupted in laughter.
"Well, give our congratulations to Colin, too. I'm happy that he's Head Boy, he is a good guy" Harry said when Ginny left. She nodded, blushing a little.
Finally, Harry and Hermione went to prepare themselves to go to bed, after a long and tiring day.
When they had changed, they entered in bed, snuggling close to each other, Hermione's head on Harry's chest, and one of his arms around her back. They kissed softly, saying Good Night, then they fell asleep that way, contented smiles on their faces.
Next morning, they had breakfast in the Great Hall. Harry was a nervous wreck, and Hermione started reassuring him.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine. I'm sure of that" Hermione whispered to him when he was ready to go, squeezing his hand.
Harry entered the classroom waiting for his first class, a group of first years.
When they arrived, they took their places, then looked at him expectantly. Harry felt his hands sweating, but tried to ignore that.
"I'm sure all of you know me, however I'm Harry Potter and I'll be your Defense against the Dark Arts Professor" he started.
"First thing, as I'm sure many of you still doesn't say Voldemort's name, we need to learn to say it." The class exchanged looks.
"Please, don't be afraid. He's dead. Plus, I said his name, and nothing had happened to me. Do you see some changes on my body?" he said
The students shook their heads.
"Ok, then. Let's try. The fear of the name doesn't do anything more than increasing the fear of the thing, someone told me one time"
The children tried and tried. At the end of the lesson, all of them were able to speak Voldemort's name quite without fear.
In the meantime, Hermione was teaching her first class of Transfiguration. She too had some first years, from Slytherin and Hufflepuff, while Harry had Ravenclaws and Gryffindors.
She entered the class and then started speaking.
"I would like to surprise you with an Animagus transformation as McGonagall did with my class, but I've to limit myself to this" she started, then transfigured her desk in a beautiful phoenix. Then she changed it back to normal.
The students looked at her in awe. She smiled, then passed them some matches and explained how to change them in silver needles.
The children then started trying to do that, but nobody was able to complete the transformation in the lesson. Only one boy, named Thomas Graves, from Slytherin, had been able to make the match silver and a little thinner, but it was not a complete needle.
"Don't worry, neither I did it in the first lesson. Transfiguration is a very hard and dangerous subject" With this, she dismissed them.
The next weeks passed smoothly. Both of them started acquiring more serenity in teaching, the fear of the first times slipping away.
The only thing that was worrying Harry were the frequent morning sicknesses that Hermione was having. He really didn't know what to think.
He was worried with that thought, when the Seventh year Gryffindors and Slytherins entered his class. He started teaching them, but he was still a bit detached.
After that he had asked them what is the way to defeat the "Imperious Curse" he saw Ginny raising her hand.
"Yes, ms. Weasley"
"I think you need a strong will to break the curse. You need to contrast the order your controller gives you" she replied.
"Exactly. Ten points to Gryffindor"
After the lesson, Harry asked Ginny to wait. He had to speak with her.
"Ginny, I'm worried for Hermione. She has these morning sicknesses and I don't know why. Can you give me some ideas?"
Ginny's eyes lit up, but she said: "I'm sorry, Harry. Maybe if I speak with her, I can understand a little better the situation"
Harry nodded and dismissed her.
It was by now Halloween, and Harry was very worried. Hermione had been with Madame Pomfrey all the afternoon, and he had not spoke with her, yet.
A the banquet, he tried to speak with her but she didn't reply him, saying only: "Later, Harry. Now enjoy the feast"
He was dumbfounded by her reply, but tried to do as told.
After that, they headed together to their quarters, but she said nothing. Only when they were on their couch, she hugged him and started crying.
"Mione, dear, what had happened? Is someone in danger?" he asked.
She looked at him, and stood up. She started pacing the room, then turned.
"I'm pregnant, Harry" she said, dreading his reaction.