Those of you who have been watching my work for a long time may have a heart attack here, but yes, this is a new chapter for "Black". I appearently am on a writing spree. Enjoy it while it lasts! :P

Monday: September 13, 1971

Minerva sighed in relief as Poppy shooed her out of the infirmary. Being cooped up there all bloody weekend had been nearly intolerable, save for Hermione coming by each evening for a game of chess. The Defense professor had agreed to continue their chess games, though it was agreed between them that with the term moving forward, they should only count on it happening on evening a week. Sunday evening would now become something Minerva looked forward to.

It was only just after breakfast, and she didn't have any classes to teach till after lunch, so Minerva elected to make her way to the Defense classroom and observe Hermione teaching. She was curious what sort of teacher the other woman was, and now was as fine an opportunity to find out as any. A quick tempus charm told Minerva that Hermione's second year class should be nearly over, and her first year class would be filing in directly after.

She walked into the classroom just as Hermione had finished taking roll call of her first year Gryffindor and Slytherin class. "Did you need something, Professor McGonagall?" Hermione inquired, noting her presence."

"If it's alright with you, I'd like to observe your class," the other witch said.

Hermione looked at her curiously, but nodded in agreement before turning back to her students. "Can anyone tell me what the standard shield charm is?" she asked the group.

Unsurprising to Minerva, who'd already taught this particular group, young Lily Evans raised her hand eagerly into the air. A few other students did as well, but none with such a sparkle in their eye.

"Yes, Miss Evans?"

"The Protego charm, Professor," the red-headed girl replied with certainty.

"Correct. Five points to Gryffindor," Hermione praised. "Now, there are four variations of the Protego charm, only two of which we'll be talking about today. The first is a standard shield charm designed to repel unfriendly spells. The second will do absolutely no good against spells, though it will protect you from falling debris, should you find yourself in a situation in which, for example, the roof of your common room caves in on top of you."

Minerva absently wondered if that example was actually a memory of Hermione's. She had mentioned that there had been a battle here at Hogwarts in her timeline, and that much of the castle had been damaged in the course of the combat. Or, she mused, the example may simply have been just that - an example.

"The variant between protego charms are not in the word, but in the wand movement. Today, we will be going over the wand movement for the variety protecting your from falling debris; you'd be surprised how useful this can be in your daily life."

Hermione flicked her wand, and suddenly it was snowing inside her classroom. The flakes were large and falling heavily, and the students looked up in awe. Most of them, anyway. Minerva noticed that Lily Evans and Severus Snape were both scowling and shoving their books into their bags, obviously fearing the snow might damage the paper.

"So this shield charm can be used like an umbrella?" Remus Lupin inquired, also stowing his books away.

Hermione nodded. "To a point. Maintaining this spell for a long period of time would inevitably drain your magic, especially at your age, Mr. Lupin. That said, were you outside and it started to pour, you might use this spell to keep dry whilst you made for more suitable cover. This spell is not designed for long term use, which is why it is not covered in your Charms class. As you've all noticed, it is snowing in here - I rather thought the Headmaster might be cross with me if I attempted to teach you this spell with falling rock."

The class giggled, and Minerva, already having cast a weather repelling charm on herself, allowed herself a smile. It was not often that a teacher could master the line between firm and friendly. Even she still struggled with that, though it seemed that Hermione was a natural at it.

"Now, observe the wand movement," Hermione instructed. She swept her wand in a long, left to right arc, and clearly said "protego". As should have happened, the snowflakes were now glancing off of a magical umbrella, collecting on any side of Hermione, but never actually on her.

"Wicked," young Sirius Black uttered.

"Yeah," James Potter agreed.

The rest of the class was spent helping the students get the spell right, and by the end, most of them could be considered proficient. Most of the previous Defense Professors Minerva had known had not taught this spell to students below third year, and in light of how easily this group of eleven year olds had just grasped the concept, she had no idea why others had considered it a higher level spell. She'd have to ask Hermione what had made her go against the norm in this case.

Another hour passed as Minerva contently observed. Hermione hardly seemed to notice her standing at the back of the class, she was so wrapped up in teaching. The only disruption to the class was toward the end when Hermione noticed that Miss Evans, one of the few still having difficulty, was starting to shiver from the cold of the snow.

"Mr. Snape, would you kindly escort Miss Evans back to her dorm so that she can change her clothes prior to lunch. Miss Evans, if you'd like an opportunity to work on this spell further prior to next week, you are welcome to come by my office after supper."

"Th-thank y-you, Pro-professor," the young girl replied, gathering her things.

Mr. Snape quickly bounded toward her, offering to carry her books along with his own, as the pair exited the classroom. Another fifteen minutes passed, and then Hermione was handing out homework assignments. "Miss Carrow, please see that Mr. Snape gets his assignment. Mr. Lupin, I trust you'll do the same for Miss Evans," Hermione said in closing. "Class dismissed."

The children filed out in a bustle of echoing footsteps and low chatter, some of which was about the class, though most was speculations on what was for lunch. One of the Slytherins made a comment about how lucky Narcissa Black was to have the Defense Professor as an aunt. Hermione appeared to be well liked by her students.

"That was a great class," Minerva remarked after the last of the students had left.

"Thank you, Minerva," the younger woman replied. "I feel bad about Lily, but it had to happen."

The Transfiguration Mistress raised her eyebrow. "The use of snow had a deeper purpose?"

"Severus Snape, while a master at Potions, is, or rather will be, also a genius at developing spells. The first spell he develops will be a drying charm, the idea for which he got today, spurred by a wish to help young Lily. He'll be given detention more than once in the coming year for being caught in the Library after curfew," she chuckled.

"I realize you come from the future, Hermione," Minerva stated, "though it does seem odd how you know of so many details of individual lives."

"Not so many lives," Hermione replied. "Severus, yes. Remus, yes. James, Peter, and Sirius, a fair bit. Alice and Frank, only tidbits here and there. The Prewett twins died years before I was born, in my timeline, though their nephew Ron was one of my best friends."

"What of Narcissa Black?"

"I had occasion to meet her," the younger woman admitted. "Though it is through her elder sister who I got information regarding what sort of childhood she had. Narcissa could be so much more than she was. She just needs a push in the right direction, and to be kept far, far away from Lucius bloody Malfoy."

"Who else?"

"I'm not an oracle, Minerva," Hermione chuckled. "That's about it. You have to understand I was living in the midst of a war, and many of those people were members, like myself, of the Order of the Phoenix."

The older woman nodded, recalling Hermione explaining about the underground resistance Albus would form as the war developed.

"Severus was my professor. So was Remus. I had friends within the Weasley and Longbottom families, so I was able to find out a bit about them. Sirius was my friend Harry's godfather. I knew these people, and we often spent hours talking about the what-ifs of life."

"What of Mr. Pettigrew?" Minerva inquired, thinking of the quickly forming friendship between he, James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin. "Did he become godfather to a sibling of Harry's, being so close to James?"

Hermione sighed sadly. "In my timeline, Harry was an only child. Peter became one of several instruments that led to James and Lily's deaths."

"Oh my," Minerva said sadly. "How much do you mean to change, Hermione?"

"As much as I can in the limited time that I have, without making my presence known in this timeline," she answered. "I'm walking a very fine line, Minerva. Albus will not allow me to directly impact anything, only influence. So far as he is concerned, I may only do what another in my occupation would have naturally done. For example, another Professor may have stuck her neck out for Narcissa Black, wanting to give the girl another chance. On the other hand, without foreknowledge of future events, another Professor wouldn't be able to arrive in the right place and the right time to prevent a death from happening. It feels so much like a game of chess, moving pieces into position that may motivate other pieces to move the way I want them to."

"Sounds like a massive headache," the Scottish woman commented. "Life sized chess game, indeed."

Suddenly, Hermione burst out laughing. "Oh, bloody hell. That's brilliant."

"What?" Minerva asked, perplexed at Hermione's outburst.

"I have a feeling we've had this conversation before," she admitted. "As in my first year at Hogwarts, you used Transfiguration to create a life sized, living chess board which had to be played in order to gain access to something Albus needed to keep safe. It's just… I wonder if you - the future you, I mean - was thinking of this conversation when you decided to do that for your level of enchantment."

"I guess I'll have to let you know in twenty odd years," Minerva smirked.

After dinner that day, to no surprise at all, Lily Evans showed up in Hermione's office, determined to get the shield charm right. Hermione was glad for the opportunity to connect with Harry's future mother, but the detention serving fourth years, Narcissa Black and Danika Potter, were less than thrilled to be there and it certainly soured the mood.

The difficulty Lily seemed to be having was that she was left-handed. Hermione herself was right-handed, and thus was having a bit of trouble communicating the proper wand movements to her student. For all the teaching she'd done already, this was the first time she'd even run into a lefty. Most wizarding families forced their children to adapt and become right-handed despite any inclination otherwise, and the percentage of muggleborn students who were also left-handed was incredibly low.

After a half hour of trying to help Lily, Hermione was at her wit's end and almost ready suggest the eleven year old just try at right-handed, when Narcissa suddenly threw down her quill (she and Danika were writing lines) and loudly groaned, "For the love of Merlin!"

"Is there something you wished to say, Miss Black?" Hermione inquired.

"Can I please help her?" Narcissa asked with a huff.

"Excuse me?" the Defense Professor demanded firmly, thinking that Narcissa was on the verge of insulting her ability as a teacher.

The fourth year Slytherin blushed when she realized how her statement came out. "I'm sorry, Professor Black. It's just that I'm left-handed myself, and was wondering if I could help Evans get the wand movement for that spell right."

Lily looked up at the older girl, hopeful, and Hermione nodded in agreement. "Be my guest, Miss Black."

All of five minutes later, Lily was grinning happily after successfully employing the Protego charm against the cotton balls that Hermione had falling in a localized area around her. "I got it!" she exclaimed.

"You almost had it figured out on your own," Narcissa said kindly. "It was just that you weren't relaxing your wrist enough at the end of the hook - made it seem like a flick at the end which wouldn't make the spell work, you know?"

Lily nodded. "I get it now. Thanks!"

To the surprise of both Hermione and Narcissa, Lily wrapped her slender arms around Narcissa's waist. "You're the best, 'Cissa," she said.

"Head on back to your dorm, Miss Evans," Hermione said after a moment. "It's getting close to curfew."

"Oh course. Thank you, Professor Black."

Hermione glanced over to where Danika was still glowering over the lines she was writing. "Miss Potter, you are dismissed. One of the Prefects should be waiting outside to escort you back to Gryffindor Tower. Miss Black, if you'd remain a moment, please…"

Danika sighed in relief, packed up her things, and with a curt nod to Hermione, was out the door. Narcissa looked a bit worried as Hermione closed the door behind her rival, but stood her ground with her chin up, as befitted a pureblood. "What did you want, Professor?" she asked.

"You have a natural ability for teaching, Narcissa," Hermione stated as she took a seat at her desk. "Have you considered that as a career choice?"

"Career?" Narcissa spat. "What career? If my future was what you had in mind when you stopped Professor Lestrange from expelling me, you needn't have bothered. My future is already set in stone. My parents will marry me to a suitable pureblood man, I'll provide him with an heir and mind his manor. End of story. Girls like me don't have careers."

Hermione frowned. "I would think that a Slytherin such as yourself would have more ambition than to just accept a fate you clearly do not think highly off."

The look on Narcissa's face at that moment was almost comical. She stood there, gaping like a fish, as if she wasn't sure if she should be angry or if she should accept the challenge presented and fight for a life beyond what was expected of her. "I…"

"Here is an offer, Narcissa," Hermione said. "Should you in the course of this year decide that you wish take control of your own life, I will arrange that after graduation, a Master in the field of your choice will take you on as an apprentice, and that the fees related to that term will be paid for, should your family cut you off in response."

With a gulp, Narcissa nodded. "I will...give it serious thought, Professor," she said after a moment.

Hermione stood again. "Alright then. I'll walk you back to your dorm."

The two said nothing as they made their way down to the dungeons. Before parting, however, Hermione asked one more thing of the fourth year. "Miss Black, should Miss Evans have difficulty with wand movements in the future, may I refer her to you for assistance?"

Narcissa, despite obviously trying to act like she couldn't care less, blushed lightly and nodded. "Of course, Professor."

As Hermione walked back to her own quarters, her mind was racing over the implications of a friendship forming between Lily and Narcissa, and the potential impact on the future should Narcissa choose to take her life into her own hands like her elder sister Andromeda was already destined to do. She'd have to speak to Minerva and Albus about this latest development. While Hermione had never intended to impact the life of Narcissa Black quite so much, she found herself smiling at the notion of the girl never becoming the woman who stood by and watched with disinterest as she was being tortured at Malfoy Manor.

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