Song Of The Guardians

Back At Hogwarts

AN:  I have been working on this story for quite some time.  It's still a work in progress and I periodically come back to make corrections.  I'm told that it's a great story and it's quite funny.  I hope you enjoy it.  Comment on the things that you like, or the parts that you don't like.  Enjoy!

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"Do you ever stop reading Granger?" Draco Malfoy asked, looking over at her from the chess game he was playing with Harry.

"It's been known to happen," Hermione replied, not bothering to look up from her book. Draco rolled his eyes and Harry chuckled. A slight smile tugged at Hermione's mouth, but it was safely hidden behind the book.

Harry and Hermione had managed to form a truce with Draco Malfoy after the war. It hadn't been easy, but they were finally able to look beyond their past hatred. They weren't really close, but they tolerated each other well. And so, they found themselves in the teachers' lounge at Hogwarts, relaxing a bit before the students would arrive at the school.

"God, you're awful Potter," Draco commented, watching as his queen crushed Harry's bishop. "Are you putting up a fight at all?"

Harry glared at him but paused in his retort when the door to the staff room, swung open.

The new Muggle Studies professor stepped in and smiled hesitantly at the trio. She was a pretty American witch with wavy, light brown hair and bright blue eyes. She was small, but she was stunning. "Hello," she said quietly, her eyes scanning the room a bit nervously.

"Hello," the other three chorused politely.

"I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione said helpfully. "I'll be teaching transfiguration this year."

"Draco Malfoy," Draco supplied, rising and stepping forward to shake her hand. "I'm teaching charms."

Harry stepped forward to shake the witch's hand as well. "I'm Harry Potter, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

"Nice to meet all of you," the witch said with a smile. "I'm Caroline Freeman. I'm taking over Muggle Studies."

"It's so strange to listen to your accent," Harry commented.

Caroline blushed slightly. "I can imagine that it would be," she giggled. She was from South Carolina, and though her accent wasn't strong at all in comparison to other South Carolinians, she sounded quite strange among her British colleagues. "I've heard so much about all of you."

Draco glanced uncomfortably at Harry, unsure of what Caroline may have heard about him. Caroline noticed the look and smiled slightly. Quite a bit of what she'd heard of Draco had been less than flattering. In the end, he had felt remorse for his deeds and that was what really mattered. Everyone deserved a second chance. In an effort to ease his discomfort she asked "Is Professor Snape always like that?"

"Like what? A git?" Harry supplied with a smirk.

Caroline frowned. "A... a what?" she asked, sitting down next to Hermione.

Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry. "Professor Snape is quite stern and very grouchy," she told Caroline. "He's had a hard life."

"Yes, I've read about him," Caroline nodded. "It must've been awful to work as a spy for so long."

"The war was hard on him," Draco agreed. "He managed to survive the bite from You-know-who's snake but he was sent to Azkaban soon after he recovered. Still can't imagine how he survived," he added, shaking his head.

"It took us a while before we could get him out of there," Harry added, shaking his head. "I provided loads of evidence, but the ministry dragged it's feet in clearing him of all charges. I guess we can't really blame him for being such a bastard sometimes."