Nimue had headed for bed without finding out any news about either Kat or Andy and their fate at the hands of the WIBS. Some wild rumours had circulated in the common room about the latter and someone had spotted Kat but it was unconfirmed.

News also travelled fast that the Lagrands had been taken out of the school for security. Typical - just as Nimue and Morticia had resolved their problems and been looking forward to the alchemy tutorials with Professor Snape!

New students seemed to be popping up left right and centre and there was still the issue of Marvo and what might happen to him in the hands of the Ministry people. He was an Auror though, albeit one in training, didn't they play by separate rules? She hoped for an owl from him or news via daddy.

Having slept on it there was also the matter of Anders Grimalkin and how she was ever going to get through the morning without embarrassing herself. Still she was not without willpower in such matters and so she resolved to keep any such emotions under lock and key where they needed to belong. She had been right in expecting that a lot of the girls were going to find the young Professor 'cute' and while it was against her nature to join in on such girlie giggling at least she didn't feel so weird.

There were still some unresolved things about Achel. They hadn't spoken at all the previous day and she supposed he had taken her comment about being 'friends' as meaning just that. She didn't think she particularly wanted the responsibility of a boyfriend anyway especially as nothing was likely to sway her parents on the matter of Marvo and they were probably right about 'not engaging her affections elsewhere'. Brought her back round to Kat. She had resolved to ask Kat to join her on next trip home so that her parents could get to know her better and understand perhaps why their plans were so flawed.

Anyway, it was day two of the new term. There was a clutch of newbies who needed steering through the routines and DADA was first lesson!

Ready for breakfast, Nimue went down stairs with a few others from Gryffindor to grab a seat and see who was about.

Randal had got up early again and gone for a walk outside. He had hoped to find Elia, but she had not been there. So he had gone to breakfast, and he hadn't seen her there. He headed for DADA.

He had an agitated look about him. He was worried. He was worried about Niki getting these newspaper clippings on her bed, although when he had seen her at breakfast she hadn't mentioned getting one last night. He was also worried about Elia and how she was coping having Niki here.

Anders, having finished his breakfast (which he had eaten heartily, being as he had eaten barely anything the previous day) strolled almost jauntily down the corridor, hoping that an external display of bravado would cover up the extreme jitters that were bouncing around his stomach.

Clutching his leather wallet to his chest as though it was a shield, he took a few deep breaths and entered the DADA classroom, walking in. He was early: he had done so deliberately, hoping to get a few moments to himself before the dissension of the masses.

He noticed one or two students already in the room and mumbled a shy greeting before sitting down behind the massive desk. He busied himself with opening of his wallet and poring over his class plan, not taking any notice of any note-writing that might be going on.

The butterflies began to flap a little harder leaving him wishing that he hadn't eaten so much breakfast.

He walked into the classroom and sat down at a desk. He got out a pen and paper. He scribbled a note, folded it and then used his wand on it. It floated away in the direction of Elia...

The note reads: 'Elia, I NEED to speak to you. Randal'

Elia pulled the note out of the air in front of her, read it, then folded it carefully and put it in her pocket. She was almost in the classroom anyway, and sat next to Randal when arrived. "Yes?" she asked her voice not exactly irritated, but not very happy. She doesn't look like she's in a very good mood either.

"Umm..." Randal stumbled over his words now she was here.

"Well I need to find the person who has been leaving these newspaper clippings for Niki." I imagine Elia scowling here. "Don't look at me like that! Just let me finish. I need to tell them what I heard Niki and Winifred talking..."

Prof. Grimalkin entering the room cut him off.

"Can we go for a walk after this lesson," he whispers at Elia.

"I can't, I've got Care of Magical Creatures! Wait, if you're free, you can walk me down there." Elia smiles slightly, and returns her attention to her 'The Dark Arts: A Guide to Self-Protection.'

Randal nodded at Elia in agreement, and mumbled a 'mornin' to the professor.

As Katia and Niki walked in he smiled at both of them. "Morning girls." He flicked a wisp of blond hair behind his ear.

"Yes, you do look tired Niki. Shame you didn't catch them. They probably knew you were waiting." He winked at Niki.

Katia walks in, smiles sweetly at Randal, glares at Elia, and takes a seat in the first row. If any of the students had really known her, they would have been quite surprised to see this, but as they didn't, they weren't.

"G'morning," Niki says, trying- rather unsuccessfully- to stifle a very large yawn. "Hi, Randal." She sits a few seats in front of Randal and Elia and smiles at the teacher. "G'morning, Professor Grimalkin." She turns around and adds to Randal, "I'm really tired... I stayed up last night trying to find whoever's been putting those notes, but we didn't find anyone." She makes a face. "How inconsiderate of them not to come and try to upset me when I'm waiting for them!"

Nimue had been disappointed not to meet Kat at breakfast. She had finished quickly as quickly as possible wanting some time in the grounds to settle her nerves about the upcoming class. Still she managed to be early and on entering, as there were so many empty seats was somewhat confused as to where to sit.

Normally in class she liked being near to the front centre but after glancing a couple of times in Anders direction (he had his head down studying his notes anyway so hadn't see her dither) elected to take a seat in the very far corner back row so that she could be as far away as possible from him.

*A seat in the room down the corridor might be better* but she didn't think that would work somehow.

She told herself her choice was mainly so as this was the best position to watch the door and catch Kat Black's attention if and when she appeared and she thus 'saved' the seat next to her for her friend. She had also armed herself with an extra book and buried her head in it making notes in the margins, while other students made their way in and took their seats. She kept glancing up at the door.

Hyacinth, her textbook clutched fiercely against her chest, entered the classroom. She hadn't eaten much, as the first day of class generally made her so nervous that if she did eat, her food was likely to end up making its presence more than known.

As she entered the classroom, she noticed that a girl she didn't know--which would be just about every girl--had taken her usual spot in the farthest corner of the room. An expression of panic crossed the small, pixie-ish face as she looked around. The room was filling up quickly, and she ended up taking a seat near the door. Upon accomplishing that, she opened her book and scrunched down in her chair, trying to disappear. Her black hair fell in a loose curtain, hiding her face from the others in the room.

Kalidor entered the DADA classroom and scanned the room. He found an empty seat and sat down, puzzled. What was happening here? He hadn't seen anybody he had recognised at dinner the previous evening. In fact no one apart from Niki had spoken to him. Now he looked around the room and again, there weren't many familiar faces. Nimue was there, but she looked somewhat different. But where were Marvo and Kat? They had gone everywhere together before. He smiled slightly to himself. They would probably arrive together. Late.

And he still hadn't seen Winifred. Maybe Niki hadn't passed on the message. He had heard that Slytherins couldn't necessarily always been trusted.

He'd been up all night as he had only got his timetable sorted out after dinner, when one of the teachers had been kind enough to take him to one side and explain that his first lesson was DADA, and it was compulsory, and he might like to consider reading this book! He propped his head up on his shoulders and tried to stop his eyelids drooping. It was going to be a long lesson.

DADA gave Dylan a glimmer of hope. Perhaps this would be something for which he might have some talent. At least one could hope. As usual, he slunk into class, slipping into the back. Life was easier when one was out of immediate reach of a teacher. Finally, Dylan allowed himself a decent look at Professor Grimalkin.

He looked up and scanned the professor, his own grey-blue eyes taking in details now. The resemblance was uncanny. It bothered him in a way nothing else ever had. Same frame, same build, same colour, same hair, it even looked as if his nose had been broken once or twice just like Dylan. The only difference was the colour of their eyes. It was disturbing, indeed. Dylan dropped his gaze, pushing his hair back as he tried to look like he hadn't just been studying the man, praying no one noticed especially Grimalkin himself. This didn't look like it would be a good term.

Winifred strolled into the DADA classroom looking rested and in good spirits. She looked around for a seat when she did a double take. Kalidor? She hadn't seen him since the ball and wasn't sure what to do. She mustered up some courage and went over to say hello. "Hello Kalidor. Where have you been?"

Kalidor awoke with a start. Here he was again, same sort of question, same sort of answer. In other words, another opportunity to make himself look very stupid. Winifred was the last person he wanted to do that in front of. He looked around at the restless, paper-shuffling Prof. Grimalkin, to make sure that not too much attention was been paid in his direction, and turned to Winifred.

"Hi there", he said. "Look, I'm really sorry I left you in the lurch like that, it's just that something came up and I had to leave fairly sharpish." Another one of those pauses. "If you're not too busy, we could meet up later and I'll try and explain things, it's a bit of a long story."

There, that didn't sound too stupid, but wait, hadn't he just effectively asked Winifred out on a date? He blushed ferociously and turned back to his desk. How he hoped that no one had heard.

Winifred fidgeted with her robes. She felt her face get hot and stood, silent, for a few moments. "I, uh, suppose we could meet up later. Um, maybe before dinner or something?" She couldn't help feeling embarrassed and slightly stupid. Before either of them had a chance to say anything further, however, as Professor Grimalkin started the lesson. Winifred grabbed the nearest empty seat and kept her eyes on the teacher for the rest of the lesson.

Looking up as more students began to enter, Anders' face filled with abject panic. He reached across the desk to pick up a quill and knocked over his decanter of water, which flooded onto his notes, smearing the ink into complete unreadability. He let out a yelp of horror as he tried desperately to save them from the deluge. With the usual 'flicking-wand-into-hand' motion, he pointed it at the damp patch that was encroaching on him. "Evaporum", he said, and immediately, the water became a small haze, and vanished. His papers were ruined however. Now he had no notes to work from, either.

This was not, he felt a good omen.

Hyacinth caught the look of panic on the professor's face in one of her brief, apprehensive glances up from the book she pretended to be engrossed in reading, and allowed herself to relax just a little. 'He can't be that bad,' she thought. 'It must be like what they say about animals...they're just as scared of you as you are of them.' She found the idea of comparing a teacher to an animal highly amusing, but forced herself to keep her smile hidden as she went back to her reading.

There was still time before the beginning of class, so Anders tried to settle down and gather his thoughts. He acknowledged the one or two people who greeted him, and became unnerved when his eyes met those of a student sitting at the back, who seemed to be examining him with an intensity that made him uncomfortable. In a nervous moment, he wondered just how up-to-date with his personal history some of these students might actually be.

"Morning, Dylan," Niki says. "See, he does look like you!" She grins. "It isn't a bad thing, you know."

As more people begin to enter the classroom, Katia looks around calmly. "Professor Grimalkin," she says, smiling slightly, "before class begins, may I ask a question?" Without waiting for his answer, she says, "Why don't you tell us what we really want to know? That is, there are so many rumours going around... Why were you in Azkaban? And why aren't you any more?"

Hyacinth actually looked up from her book at this point to give the professor the kind of look a deer gives approaching headlights. She hadn't heard that girl's question correctly, had she? Azkaban? A teacher- -but surely, they wouldn't hire--would they? She wished that girl hadn't taken her corner seat. Fighting a sudden urge to cry, run, or do both, she buried her face back in her book.

Anders stared at the girl in the front row who had just asked him the question he had been dreading the most. The very word 'Azkaban' set his hand to shaking and what little colour there was in his face drained completely. When he did speak, he stuttered nervously over his words.

"I...uh...that is...I..." He stared down at the floor, trying to think of the right words. "I w..was wrongly con..convicted of a crime. My trial judges found me not guilty and...well...h..here I am..." He thought about attempting a smile, but feared that it came out as a grimace, so bit it back and remained tight lipped.

"What crime?" Katia looks up at him inquiringly, a sweet smile on her face. Niki leans forward, and taps Katia's shoulder. The older girl half-turns in her seat, and says something very softly. Niki's face colours, her eyes narrow, and she starts to say something, but thinks better of it. Katia looks back at Professor Grimalkin. "I'm interested, Professor. One never knows whether the rumours are correct."

His hands were shaking so much now that he had to thrust them into the pockets of his robes in an effort to hide it, but a haunted, hunted look flashed across his face. "I was...in...an accident," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "It was an accident. Didn't mean it. Wasn't deliberate. No, no. No."

Pleadingly, he looked at her, begging her silently with his eyes not to ask any more questions and just let the matter drop.

"This seat taken?" Sarah had sneaked up on Nimue and started to sit down next to her. She didn't intend to stay in the back of the class - she wanted to be where the action was but thought she might try to at least be friendlier to the Gryffindor girl.

"So Hawkwood - bad couple of days for you? Marvo and all. I wouldn't shed too many tears over your lad Achel. He's no loss. He was checking me out after the Yule Ball while you were out in the woods. Couldn't be bothered to give me any of the potion but could check out my... anyway, I wanted to say that there's no hard feelings for you know the stuff I ragged on you about before Christmas. Who knew...? So, what do ya think of our new professor. Great eyes, huh? Bit mad, bad and dangerous to know according to the grapevine."

*Great* thought Nimue "I was saving that seat for Kathryn Black." she said rather lamely. That didn't stop Sarah from staying there and making what Nimue guessed passed in Sarah-speak for an 'apology':

"That's OK" Nimue replied, "I know that sometimes I probably come across as .. well that I take myself a little too seriously so easy target. Truce?" Nimue didn't want to get drawn into conversation with Sarah about Anders; the girl was far too quick on the uptake.

No one had seen Arcadia since Dinner the previous day.

She had woken early, but made a special effort to look her best for the DADA lesson today. She had seen the new teacher and thought he was 'yummy'. The experiments with her robe had not gone well, she just could not get the 'shaping' right, like that new girl had. Arcadia frowned as she thought how the boy's eyes had turn when Katia had entered the room.

So she had had to make do with her normal robe, perhaps slightly shorter than usual, and a little more open at the front, showing off her lovely short pale blue dress. Still, she had her makeup perfect and had brushed her hair an extra 100 times just to make sure.

She was sure the new teacher wouldn't mind her being a little late. She strode into the DADA Classroom and instantly felt the tension in the air. Pantalaimon fell in close to her side and his ears were flat against her head.

"Erm... Sorry I'm late Sir" She whispered and looked around for an empty seat.

Dylan was seething, watching this spectacle in front of him. He had seen Katia at the Slytherin table, and he could see she fit in her new house just fine. He didn't know Professor Grimalkin well, but he knew that look. It roused in him an anger that he carefully bit back. "Fer Christ's sake," he hissed at Katia. "Shut up an' let th' man teach!"

Anders, under extreme pressure from Katia merely glanced in Arcadia's direction and said nothing. He turned back to stare at his inquisitor, then, to his relief, the boy with the Welsh accent spoke up.

~Thank you,~ he directed silently at the boy, hoping that she would heed his advice.

"Is...is...is...everyone here who's g..g..oing to be here?" he asked, a little faintly, praying that the situation had reached its end.

"Hear, here" piped in Sarah from the back row, and clapped a couple of times to show support for Dylan's words to Katia, "yea, go one let the man teach." She decided to show further support and frank admiration of the new teacher by moving closer. She winked at Nimue as she gathered her books and found an empty seat a few rows forward.

Arcadia is, for want of a better word 'miffed'! All the effort and he didn't even give her a second glance! Well! Both Arcadia and Pantalaimon both give a 'huff' and sit down. She turns to the person next to her and whispers 'Well... I guess he doesn't like girls! What did I miss?"

It was too much for him. All the painful probing into his past, and now people getting up and wandering around the classroom, whispering to each other...he'd not even STARTED the class and already he'd lost control. He reverted to the only course of action left to him. He lost his temper.

"I said," he began, the nerves gone from his voice, and a cold tone entering it, "is everybody here who's going to be here, because this lesson," Here, he stood up, and his blue eyes flashed dangerously around the classroom, "is starting NOW!" He banged his hands, palm down on the desk, with a thunderous crash, causing the quills and papers to leap a good couple inches from the surface.

"Is that clear?" he hissed, in a voice that was seemingly not entirely sane. "Well?"

His glare met Katia's gaze and for once, he did not drop his head, or shuffle his feet. "There are some subjects," he said, in the same moderate, but threatening tone, "that are not suitable for the classroom. If you wish to believe gossip and rumour, indeed, even spread it yourself, then that is your prerogative. But right here - in MY class, you will not mention it again, is that understood?"

He sat down again, breathing deeply. He was so nervous, it was all he could do to keep from being sick there and then. Losing his temper like that probably hadn't been a very good idea. On an automatic reflex, his hand went to his pendant. It seemed to calm him a little.

Hyacinth's reaction to this explosion was to hastily close her book, which she hadn't been reading anyway. She had listened to the conversations about the professor, and once the initial panic had worn down, she felt herself becoming more sympathetic toward the man. His temper, though, had given her a start, and as she quickly set her textbook down on the desk, she overbalanced it, and it went crashing with what seemed to be a thunderous BANG! to the floor. (It probably hadn't been that loud in reality, but she didn't know this.) Quickly, she reached down to retrieve the book, lowering her head even further than it normally was, hoping no one had noticed her faux pas, particularly the professor! She just knew she was going to be sick...could feel it...

Sarah had noticed Hyacinth's discomfort and all. The girl seemed another one happy to be at the back of the class. "Hey are you OK?" Sarah leaned over and whispered to her.

Hyacinth, surprised by the gesture, slowly nodded her head. She wasn't sure if she actually *was* OK, but then things hadn't really started yet...

**********

"We are still waiting on a couple of students, sir."

Nimue could hardly believe she'd spoken up so promptly and clearly. Maybe this wasn't going to be as hard as she imagined. Now that he'd asserted his authority as a teacher it was easier to act more normally. She remained concerned about Kat's continued absence.

Niki, who had been trying, with moderate success, to quell her own rising temper, relaxed after the professor lost his. Raising her hand tentatively, she asked, "So, what is our lesson on?" and tried to smile.

Kat was late. She was running down the hall as fast as she could. She had so wanted to be on time for this lesson, and now she was late. She didn't look too good either. She had overslept. She had no idea what had happened yesterday, all she could remember was going out with the WiBs.... It was almost as if her mind couldn't cope with it and had blocked out the memory.

And then she had been in her dorm, crying herself to sleep again. Her eyes were still puffed up and rather than being their usual bright blue they had taken a permanent grey colour. Her hair was going everywhere as she had only pulled a brush through it a couple of times. Her wizard's robes were half hanging off her shoulder where she had thrown them on in a hurry.

She opened the door. The entire class turned to look at her. She blushed. "Ummm. Err.... Sorry I'm late, sir." She dashed to a desk. She didn't look at anyone, so she had no idea that Nimue had saved a place for her.

She got out her books and tried to straighten her robes as she got out her books. She briefly looked round and noticed that she had sat next to Arcadia. She didn't recognise this girl, but she did notice the looks and the make-up.

Looking around she also noticed Kalidor had made a re-appearance. She smiled. But then she noticed Nimue in the corner. The smile was replaced by a guilty look. 'Sorry' she mouthed at Nimue 'didn't see you.' Now she felt guilty for just sitting down.

Anders nodded at Kat. "Fine," he said, shortly. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again." He looked a little more closely at her and saw how red her eyes were, and his demeanour softened again. He sighed inwardly and stayed where he was until he was sure he had the attention of the students. The nerves were back.