We're glad you guys like this story so far- it's shaping up to be quite smutty and Lord knows after this weekend, we figure you guys might really need H/Hr smut, and well written at that ;)
If you're still reading Last Dance, please check that out- we want to know if you guys are still interested because only 14 people reviewed and we want to know if we should stick with it after HP is over. Please? :D
Hermione wished a hole would open up in the floor and take her away from this awkward, embarrassing moment. He was her instructor? Hermione felt as if she was going to be sick.
"Looks like a good group," Harry finally spoke. He refused to let his surprise at seeing Hermione sitting there show.
Lavender turned around and looked at Ron. "Did you know about this?" she whispered.
Ron shook his head in response.
"I will leave them in your capable hands," Lupin told Harry.
"Thanks," Harry told him before looking out over the group again.
"I---I know that this might seem a little strange," Harry said to the group.
"How the hell did this happen?" Ron blurted out. "You're an instructor---how? And why didn't you tell me?"
Harry blinked. "It just happened, Ron. Could you sit back down while I explain things?"
Lavender stood up and gave him a hug. "I haven't seen you since Parvati's funeral. How are you holding up?"
"Fine..." Harry sighed, realising this might just be harder than he thought.
Lavender sat back down.
"Pardon me for asking," another boy said. "But how did you get to be an instructor when you haven't even been through the training."
"Ernie, do you think he needs the training?" Justin asked him. "He defeated You Know Who."
"Yeah but--" Ernie objected.
"How about you lot let me teach you some of what I know," Harry cut in.
"Go right ahead, Mr. Potter," Justin said.
"Brown-noser," Ernie muttered.
"At least I'm willing to learn," Justin glared at him.
Hermione barely heard any of this exchange. She was still completely mortified and unable to look up at Harry, who was trying to capture everyone's attention.
"Okay," Harry said clearing his throat. "Can everyone please be quiet?"
"Come on Harry," Ron said with a grin. "You can let us in on the joke now."
Harry looked at his best friend. "I assure you this isn't a joke, Ron. And to put your mind at ease, Ernie, I took the tests required to be an Auror this past summer and passed with flying colours. Now, if you'll all keep it down, we can begin."
"Can you believe this?" Lavender whispered to Hermione. "Harry... teaching us?"
Hermione couldn't answer her. This whole thing was unbelievable. The one time she decided to do something spontaneous and it ends up blowing up in her face.
Harry pulled out some booklets and handed them out. "These are your orientation materials. You will find your roommate assignments in there as well. You will be living in Ministry housing. After this class, I will take you upstairs to show you around."
Hermione couldn't even look at him as he handed her a booklet.
"I hope I don't have to room with Eloise Midgen," Lavender whispered to Hermione.
Who she was rooming with was the least of Hermione's concerns.
"Miss---" Harry asked still standing in front of her.
"Granger," Hermione said looking up at him. "Hermione Granger."
"Miss Granger, perhaps we could have a quick word outside?" Harry asked.
"Okay," Hermione managed.
"Read over your booklets," Harry told the rest of the class before stepping into the corridor with Hermione. He looked around to make sure that no one was within earshot. "You mind telling me what's going on?" he demanded.
"I... I'm just here for training," Hermione stammered.
"I thought you were a Muggle," Harry said shaking his head. "You know who I was though, right? What are you playing at?"
"I'm not playing at anything," Hermione crossed her arms. "And I knew who you were, but how was I supposed to know you were going to be teaching here?"
She had him there. No one had known other than his superiors and his fellow Aurors.
Hermione sighed. "So what do we do?"
Harry ran his hand through his hair. He had no idea what they could do. The groups were already set in stone and to try and get out of them would be nearly impossible. "We're stuck, Miss Granger. We have to find some way to make this work. I just hope you don't think that last night gives you any sort of leverage here---"
"I beg your pardon?" Hermione asked, not liking what he was implying.
"Us... sleeping together." Harry stared at her. "That's not going to make you a teacher's pet. I'm not going to treat you any differently."
Hermione folded her arms again and levelled her gaze at him. "I told you last night that I'd never done anything like that before. And for another thing, I prefer getting ahead based on merit not by special treatment."
"Fine," Harry said coolly. "Keep that in mind and things will work out."
Hermione glared at him before walking back into the classroom.
Harry had regretted his actions from the previous night when he woke up but even more so now. He only hoped he could trust her to keep things professional.
Hermione sat back down and tried to keep her emotions in check. The nerve of him thinking she would use what happened last night to her advantage.
"What did he want?" Lavender asked.
Hermione shrugged. "He---he knows a professor at Beauxbatons and he wanted to know how she was doing."
"Oh," Lavender said. "Hmmm...I wasn't aware he knew anyone from there."
"All right," Harry said briskly. "I hope you all brought your things, because as of now, your new home is upstairs in the dormitories. I'll take you up there now- in the booklets I gave you, you should have the names of your roommates."
"Looks like you and I are roommates," Lavender said to Hermione. "I hope you don't snore."
"No," Hermione said absently.
Ron sidled up to his best friend. "So what's going on? I didn't see you all summer and now you're here?"
"Yeah," Harry muttered. "They wanted to see if I could handle teaching."
"You did a good job with the D.A.," Ron said. "But you know, you're getting over what happened to Parvati, to Sirius, to Dumbledore..."
"I don't want to talk about any of that," Harry said. "Especially about Parvati."
"You know that it wasn't your fault," Ron continued.
"I said drop it," Harry said sharply.
"Okay," Ron said holding up his hands.
"We have to go tour the dorms," Harry said, brushing past him.
Lavender and Hermione had heard this exchange. Lavender grabbed Hermione's arm. "He's usually not like this. He----he dated my best friend, Parvati. She was killed during the war and it changed him quite a bit."
Hermione nodded. "I know-- I mean I understand," she almost slipped up.
"If you need to know anything about anyone, you can ask me," Lavender said.
"Thanks," Hermione said, avoiding Harry's gaze as they left the room.
"How's Luna?" Harry asked Ron.
"She's fine," Ron replied. "Back at school already."
"You'll see her during Christmas hols," Harry said pushing the button for the lift.
"Yeah I know," Ron replied. "She doesn't think I should be doing this, you know."
"She doesn't?" Harry asked.
Ron shook his head. "Doesn't seem to think it's my calling."
The lift pinged open and Harry stood back so the trainees could get inside. "Come along now."
"Oh Merlin," Lavender gasped when she saw the room she was going to be sharing with Hermione. "This is entirely too small!"
Hermione looked into the room and saw that it had two twin beds; two desks, and two closets. "It doesn't seem so bad," she commented.
"But that's not a big enough closet," Lavender said lamely.
"It's fine," Hermione commented.
"Your things will be brought up later," Harry said in a terse tone from the doorway.
"Thank you," Hermione said coolly, not turning to look at him.
"Harry," Lavender said. "Um, Mr. Potter. Whatever. I have over two trunks and three suitcases. There's no way I can make do with one closet."
"It's regulation," Harry told her. "Nothing I can do about it."
Lavender sighed. "This is unfair."
Hermione sat down on one of the beds. "Do you have any preference?" she asked her new roommate.
"I'll take this one," Lavender said motioning to the bed nearest the window. "If that's okay."
"Sure," Hermione shrugged. She finally looked over at Harry who was still lingering in the doorway. "What?"
"We're going to continue the tour," Harry said quietly. "Would you two like to join us?"
"Fine," Hermione said, wishing he'd stop staring at her like she was going to break down and tell everyone what had happened the night before.
Lavender cast one last disdainful look at the room before following Hermione out into the hall.
"Okay," Harry continued. "This entire floor will be your residence. Curfew is 10 p.m. Classes begin each morning at 7."
"Hang on," Ron said. "Curfew?"
"Yes," Harry said tightly. "There is a curfew of 10pm. It's in your booklet."
"What did you think you signed up for?" Hermione asked glaring at Ron. "A cruise?"
"No," Ron said defensively, glaring right back at her.
Hermione rolled her eyes and turned back around.
"The lift right here at the end of the hall leads you right down to the lobby," Harry said. "It can also take you right to the floor where your classroom is, or directly to the cafeteria. It's been secured with wards that detect your presence."
"The cafeteria is open 24 hours a day right?" Ron asked.
Harry finally grinned. "Yes, but your curfew is still ten."
Ron seemed to accept this and he walked ahead with Harry down the corridor.
"What's up with that mental one from Beauxbatons?" Ron said in a hushed tones.
"I don't know," Harry lied.
"She's pretty, but wound a little too tight," Ron commented. "I pity her boyfriend."
"She doesn't have one," Harry said before realising his slip.
Ron thought didn't notice anything unusual about his friend's remark. He laughed. "You're probably right. No bloke's that desperate."
"Right," Harry felt his chest tighten.
Harry looked over his shoulder and saw that Hermione was walking with Justin. She was smiling at something he was saying.
"Harry," Lavender came up on his other side. "We really should catch up sometime. I saw Parvati's parents--"
Harry paled. Her parents had kicked him out of the memorial service because they still blamed him for their daughter's death. Padma, Parvati's twin sister, had even slapped him.
"Nice move," Ron hissed at her when she realised her mistake.
"I didn't mean anything," Lavender said quickly. "I just thought---well, that enough time has passed that perhaps you could try talking with them again..."
"No," Harry replied shortly.
"Something to think about," Lavender said looking down at her feet.
"Not going to happen," Harry walked faster.
Hermione felt as if she was coming in at the middle of some story and she'd missed the gist of the plot.
"I can't believe they're giving us a curfew," the boy named Ernie was complaining quietly to Justin behind her. "Like we're twelve again or something."
"It's part of the rules," Justin said shrugging. "We knew what we were getting into."
"But still..." Ernie pouted. "At least we got to room together again, eh?"
Justin nodded. "Don't think about getting me to sneak out with you. I'm going to do all that I can to prove myself here."
"I am too," Ernie said quickly. "It's just weird that Potter's our instructor."
"You saw how well he did with the D.A.," Justin said.
Hermione turned around. "I'm sorry, Justin. But what is the DA?"
"Dumbledore's Army," Justin told her. "Harry came up with it our fifth year. He helped us train ourselves better in case You Know Who tried to infiltrate Hogwarts."
"I didn't think much of it to begin with," Ernie said. "But if we hadn't have had it, I'm not sure how bad it would have been..."
"Right," Justin replied.
"If you don't mind me asking," Ernie said. "Why didn't you go to Hogwarts?"
"We lived in France," Hermione answered.
"My dad practised dentistry there, and we moved here right before I finished my seventh year at Beauxbatons."
"Were you among the students who came to the Triwizard Tournament our fourth year?" Justin asked.
"No," Hermione replied. "I wanted to stay behind and concentrate on my schoolwork."
"That's too bad," Justin said smiling at her. "We would have loved to shown you around."
Hermione smiled. "I wish now that I had come."
They continued the tour with Harry pointing out the classrooms they'd be using; the gym they could use at any time during the day and the cafeteria.
"Can we stop for a bite?" Ron asked, his money pouch already out.
Harry looked at his watch. "We have a few minutes before the first class. Go ahead."
Ron was practically salivating. "I'll have one of those... no wait two... and three of these, just one of those--"
Harry stood back, feeling more than a little awkward. A few months ago, he'd been in class with these people. Now, he was their superior. It was more than a little surreal.
"Are you getting anything?" Lavender asked Hermione.
"Come on, Granger," Justin put his arm around her. "I'll even buy you a muffin."
"Well I suppose I can't refuse an offer like that," Hermione smiled at him, not noticing Harry glower at the two of them.
"You going to join us, Harry?" Lavender asked.
Harry shook his head. "I'm going to wait outside."
"Wouldn't want you fraternizing with the peons," Justin mused before leading the group into the cafeteria.
Ron was already sitting at one of the tables, two trays in front of him. "It's really good you guys!" he said with his mouth full.
Ernie laughed. "Have you ever met food that you didn't love?"
Harry didn't mean to watch them, but he couldn't help it. A part of him longed to be a part of that group, but given his position now there was no way he could.
"How's the first day?" Lupin asked.
"Fine," Harry broke out of his reverie. "I think it's going to go well."
"They're not giving you too hard a time, are they?" Lupin asked.
Harry shook his head, his eyes on Hermione. "No."
"Come on," Lupin said. "I'll buy you a coffee."
Harry nodded. "Thanks."
Harry joined the queue with Lupin and stole another glance at Hermione who was talking animatedly with Justin. What the hell was up with that? She'd just met him for Merlin's sake! Justin Finch-Fletchley was about as interesting as a root canal.
He had to stop himself from thinking further than that. He told himself to stop thinking of her altogether. What had happened last night had been a huge mistake.
"I'm proud of you," Lupin said. "Sirius would be, too."
"I hope so," Harry replied as Lupin handed him a cup of coffee. "I really miss him."
"Me too," Lupin said quietly.
"I wish I could go back and stop it from happening," Harry said guiltily. "And save Dumbledore... and... and Parvati..."
"There's nothing you could have done," Lupin told him. "You know that, Harry. No one blames you."
"Her parents and sister do," Harry mumbled.
"They're grieving," Lupin said sitting down at a corner table.
Harry sighed. "I miss her. Sometimes I don't know if I'll ever get over her."
"It will get easier," Lupin said. "I know it sounds like a cliché, but it's the truth. And in time, the Patils will come to see that Parvati's death was not your fault."
Harry didn't feel as convinced as Lupin. "I hope teaching will help keep my mind off everything."
"Well, you'll certainly be busy," Lupin said thoughtfully. "And you have quite the motley crew over there...."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Motley crew?"
"Your trainees," Lupin said motioning toward them. "Roughly assembled group of conflicting personalities and different backgrounds. You, my friend, are going to have your hands full."
"I'll be fine," Harry answered.
"That Hermione Granger is something else, isn't she?" Lupin asked out of the blue.
"What?" Harry looked over at him. "Why do you say that?"
"Well, I had a hand in recruiting her," Lupin told him. "She's very intelligent. Her test marks were off the charts."
"Oh," Harry replied. "I guess she's all right."
"Quite clever," Lupin said. "We have high hopes for her."
Harry gazed over at the brunette again and remembered vividly how her body had felt under his last night.
"Good luck with the rest of your first day," Lupin said getting to his feet. "And if you need any help, you know where I am."
"Thanks," Harry managed a smile at his former mentor. "I'll see you later."
He took a deep breath and walked over to where the trainees were finishing up their coffees.
"You lot ready?" he asked. "We need to get started."
"Absolutely," Justin said grinning at Hermione.
She smiled back and Harry saw red for a moment before turning on his heel and stalking away.
Hermione and the rest of the trainees hurried after him. He glared at them all over his shoulder as if they were responsible for his suddenly sour mood.
"We're back up to the room we started in," he barked.
"Yes, sir," Ron muttered with a mock salute.
Hermione rolled her eyes. Didn't this bloke take anything seriously?
"Do you think he'll make us run laps if we don't keep up?" Ron asked Ernie, who snickered.
"He's obviously in a mood," Hermione hissed at him. "Would you shut up before you set him off?"
Ron glared at her. "Pardon me your highness," he mocked.
Hermione rounded on him. "You know you'd get a lot further if you took this seriously. We're all here to learn and if you're just going to joke around, you're not going to be of any help to anyone."
"No one asked your opinion on me in the first place," Ron snapped. "I don't need your help here, you know it all!"
"I'd rather be a know-it-all then a goof-off!" Hermione retorted.
than
"Oh and I suppose that one was supposed to get me where it hurts?" Ron asked sarcastically.
"I'd love to get you where it hurts," Hermione said glaring at him.
"Hey," Harry pushed between them. "Enough!"
"I have an idea for the first lesson," Ron said sarcastically. "Let's see if we can remove the stick from her----"
Hermione whipped out her wand. "I dare you to bloody finish that," she seethed.
"ENOUGH!" Harry yelled.
"She started it!" Ron exclaimed.
"Oh grow up," Hermione said disdainfully.
"He was baiting her," Justin told Harry. "If anyone was to blame---"
"Gee thanks a lot," Ron said to Justin. "Good to see where your loyalties lie."
"Upstairs, now," Harry said firmly. "No one says anything the rest of the way."
Hermione and Ron glared at each other but followed the rest of their classmates upstairs.
Harry sighed. It was only his first day of teaching and he wasn't even half way through.
Once upstairs, they all sat back down, this time Hermione and Ron sitting on opposite sides of the room. This really wasn't how she had pictured her first day, Hermione thought sourly- realising her one night stand was actually her instructor and getting into spats with her classmates.
"We have three years of this," Lavender whispered to Hermione. "You think we're ready for it?"
"Have to be," Hermione replied.
For his part, Harry tried to remain all business with his students. He gave them a quick overview of what they would go over the next few weeks.
"The workload is heavy here," he told them. "You're expected to do all this and still be able to go on a moment's notice."
Ernie looked bored throughout most of the talk and he seemed to scoff at most of what Harry had to say. Harry hoped that wouldn't be a problem.
He was quite surprised, on the other hand, to see Justin paying close attention to what he was saying.
"The first part of your training will deal with concealment and disguise," Harry told them. "And we will also teach you advanced defence techniques."
"You mean something like makeovers?" Lavender couldn't stop herself from asking.
The rest of the class, save for Hermione, laughed at this.
"Kind of like that," Harry said with a laugh.
Hermione had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. This Lavender girl definitely didn't belong here.
"Lupin will be responsible for the academic portion of your training," Harry told them. "I will be handling the practical part of your training. Those of you, who excel in one area, might have trouble in the other."
"Are there any questions so far?" Harry finished his speech.
"How much do we get paid?" Ernie asked.
Harry sighed. "Each trainee gets a starting salary of 700 galleons a month; a Ministry issued broomstick and your room and board here at the Ministry." Hermione raised her hand.
"Yes Miss Granger?" Harry nodded in her direction.
"Why would we need a broomstick?" Hermione asked.
Harry stared at her. "For flying, of course."
"F-flying?" Hermione stammered. "Um, I wasn't aware that was part of the curriculum."
"What?" Ron asked. "Are you scared, Granger?"
Hermione shot him a nasty look and sank down in her seat. She loathed flying- it was probably the one subject she wasn't good at.
"Flying is one the most crucial parts of your training," Harry said. "Tomorrow morning, you will each receive your brooms."
Hermione sighed. There didn't seem to be any way around getting on a broomstick short of quitting the program.
She looked down at her desk.
"Extra help is available to each of you," Harry said. "All you have to do is ask."
"What are we doing the rest of today?" Justin asked.
"This," Harry said. "Will probably be the lightest day you'll have throughout your three years here. We'll need to split you up into groups of two."
Justin tapped Hermione on the shoulder. "Care to be my partner?"
"No," Lavender tugged at her arm. "We girls should stick together."
"I asked her first," Justin said grinning at Hermione.
"Justin," Harry said angrily. "I'd appreciate it if you'd not use my time to get dates."
Justin turned back to look at Harry. "But--"
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm in charge here, right?" Harry interjected. "Miss Granger, you will work with....Ron Weasley."
"WHAT?" Ron and Hermione shouted in unison.
"You two will be partners," Harry stated. "Miss Brown, you will partner up with Mr. Finch Fletchley. Ernie Macmillan, you're with Eloise Midgen..."
Ernie glared at Harry. Harry glared right back, daring him to say something.
Ron was also pissed at his so called best friend, making him partner up with such a shrew. He was already wondering if Luna had been right in her prediction of this not being his true calling.
"Anyone have a problem with that?" Harry asked.
A collective muttering of "No sir," was heard among the group.
"Fan-bloody-tastic," Harry said wondering why he'd suddenly turned into Severus Snape. This wasn't him and this wasn't his teaching style.
He turned away from the group. "I recommend taking the rest of this session to get to know your partner. You'll be working with them as long as you're in this section."
Hermione sighed and reluctantly moved her desk closer to Ron's.
Ron looked as if he'd been dealt the worst hand in life. "Great," he muttered. "This is just bloody great."
"I couldn't agree more," Hermione said putting her head in her hands.
"You can't fly," Ron said thoughtfully. "And your idea of a good time is probably spending the night in a library."
"What of it?" Hermione asked irritably. "Better than someone whose only requirement for a job is making sure they have full access to a cafeteria 24 hours a day."
"I bet you have to beat the boys off with a stick," Ron said leaning back in his chair.
"Jealous?" Hermione retorted.
"Hardly," Ron scoffed.
Hermione sat back sullenly, refusing to look over at her partner.
She looked over to where Harry was talking with Eloise Midgen.
She wondered exactly what was up with him. He had been so different last night- at first a bit rough, but then gentle and sweet.
She remembered last night just before they'd drifted off to sleep.
He had slid his arm around her, pulling her back against his chest.
"I've never done anything like this before," she whispered.
"I know," he said closing his eyes. "You told me about a thousand times."
"Sorry," she said softly.
"If it makes you feel any better," he said in her ear. "Neither have I."
That surprised her. From the pained look on his face when she'd asked him about the girl in the photo, she had assumed they had been quite the couple. "I guess it does..." Hermione answered.
He kissed her shoulder. "I'm glad you came into that pub tonight."
She smiled. "Me too."
He was silent then and Hermione wondered if he'd fallen asleep. She had a million questions she wanted to ask.
Part of Harry was regretting what he had just done, but the other part was elated to have a girl in his arms again. He wanted to move on, and not forget Parvati, but break away from the memory of their relationship. But he still felt slightly unfaithful.
"Are you asleep?" Hermione whispered in the darkness.
"Almost," Harry answered.
"Told you I talk too much," Hermione said glad she was turned away from him and he couldn't see her blushing.
He actually smiled at that. "It's sort of endearing."
"Thanks," Hermione said. "I think."
"I have to be up pretty early tomorrow," Harry said, tightening his hold around her slender body. "So I do need to get some sleep."
"I should probably go," Hermione said. "I have an early start tomorrow too---"
"You should stay," Harry said. "It's... it's nice having someone here."
Hermione turned around to look at him. "You want me to stay?"
He blinked at her, his eyes unfocused without his glasses. "Yeah... if you want to."
"I want to," Hermione said leaning in for a kiss. "I'd like that very much."
Harry cupped his hand around the back of her head and kissed her. "Good..."
Hermione rested her head on his shoulder and drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face.
"Hello?" someone prodding her shoulder brought her back to the present. "Anyone in there?"
"Hmmm?" she asked frowning when she saw it was her insufferable partner.
"I've been trying to talk to you for the past few minutes," Ron stared at her as if she were covered in warts. "We have to work out a stupid study schedule."
"Right," Hermione said looking at her booklet. "Well, we're in classes until three each day. What times are best for you?"
"Half past never?" Ron tried to joke.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Do you take anything seriously?"
"Forgive me for trying to just lighten your mood," Ron snapped. "I don't care when we study, as long as we get it over with."
Hermione glared at him. "I don't need you to lighten my mood. This is important to me. This is my career. "
"Well it's mine too," Ron said defensively. "And I still want to have fun, unlike some people."
Thankfully, Harry chose that moment to dismiss them. He announced that they'd meet in this same room after lunch and that Lupin would be teaching the afternoon class.
"We'll figure it out later," Hermione said to Ron, but he'd already streaked to the door, presumably to rush to the cafeteria and stuff his face again.
Hermione rolled her eyes again and gathered up her belongings.
She walked by Harry without saying a word. Part of her wanted to ask why he was making this so difficult for her but didn't want to give him the satisfaction.