Hello and welcome to the first installment of "Fresh Laundry and Ink." I hope you at least somewhat enjoy this chapter, and I would greatly appreciate reviews!

I stared at myself in the small mirror that hung on the wall of my new home. It was strange to see myself back in traditional robes, especially robes this nice. I turned to the side and tugged on the eggplant-colored fabric, letting out a breath. This was definitely going to get in the way once classes started. A knock sounded on my door, startling me from my musings. Grabbing a ribbon, I reached back to tie back the curly mess that was my hair as I moved to answer the door. Standing outside grinning at me was none other than Rubeus Hagrid, one of the professor whom I would be assisting this school year.

"Hullo, Hagrid!" I greeted, leaning slightly on the solid wooden door. "Time already?"

"Well, no," he said, fiddling with his umbrella. "But it's time fer me to go get the first years, yeah? I was wonderin' if you'd help oversee the older students, what with Sirius Black on the loose. Albus was wantin' as many professors as possible for protection."

"Of course I'll help. Just please tell me I won't be working with Snape or Trelawney," I replied, moving inside to grab my wand. Hagrid chuckled.

"I can't promise that, Lottie." I groaned. That meant I would likely be dealing with one, if not both. It's not that I couldn't stand my colleagues. It's just that if given the choice between spending twenty four hours with one of them or having to face a basilisk, I'd probably take my chances with the basilisk. Still, I closed and locked the door to my quarters and began the long walk down to the train station, talking amicably with Hagrid about his lesson plans for the year.

"Yes, but Hagrid," I interrupted as we approached the station, "have you considered that perhaps the students will be too afraid to open the textbooks to actually finish the assigned reading?"

"If they are, they need to just toughen up," he chuckled. We glanced at where the other faculty members were all gathered already, and I made a mental note of my partner options. The heads of houses seemed to be exempt from this duty, thank Merlin, so Snape was out of the question. I ducked behind Hagrid as Trelawney looked our way. My dislike for her was not mutual.

"The train's coming!" Poppy exclaimed. I made eye contact with Rolanda Hooch. I shifted my eyes to Trelawney, then back to her. She gave a slight nod of understanding, and a silent agreement was made. As the train pulled in, I gave Hagrid's arm a squeeze and moved to stand near Rolanda, narrowly avoiding Trelawney. The train came to a stop, and students began to file out almost immediately.

"FIRS' YEARS, THIS WAY!" Hagrid bellowed above the noise, gathering the frightened eleven year olds to him as the older students all but trampled them.

"Please form orderly groups for the carriage rides to the castle!" Rolanda yelled, gesturing toward where Poppy and Trelawney stood with the first of the carriages. I watched as the students scuttled about, all abuzz over the excitement of the train ride. A Patronus had been sent midway through the ride to inform those at the castle that a Dementor had infiltrated the train searching for Sirius Black and had happened upon none other than Harry Potter. Obviously, this was cause for excitement, but as a faculty member and supposed responsible adult, it was my job to help calm the students.

Rolanda had finally gotten a group large enough for a carriage, comprised of a handful of older students and a good deal of what were probably second years. A quick glance told me that the older students were Gryffindors, while the others were a mix of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. Interesting how no Slytherin students were intermingling, but that was nothing new.

As the students boarded the carriage, I turned my head to see how many more students we'd need to come back for. Standing amongst what appeared to be the last few stragglers was a somewhat familiar man. He looked a bit worse for the wear, his robes very clearly secondhand and his face weary. A few light scars covered his visible skin, and he carried a trunk. He quite obviously wasn't a student, seeing as he looked older than me. He must have been the new DADA professor. He looked up, and I saw his face more clearly. He had intelligent looking eyes and a kindly looking face. And he was just so familiar…. Oh, he smiled at me. I must have been staring. Nice one, Lottie. I politely smiled back, then turned back to the carriage, hoisting myself up.

Rolanda was engrossed in a conversation about Quidditch with one of the Gryffindors, a boy with dark hair and a copy of Quidditch Weekly on his lap. I would have bet my entire life savings that he was a captain. And a Scot, by the sounds of it. I smiled at the slight Gaelic lilt to his voice, remembering how I'd been teased for my own speech patterns in school. I glanced around and noticed a young blonde girl staring quite pointedly at the front of the carriage. Oh no.

"What're you looking at?" I asked her, hoping she wouldn't respond as I thought she might. She turned to look at me with large, clear eyes.

"I'm not sure, really. They look a bit like horses." My heart broke for her. The poor girl couldn't have been older than twelve. I smiled at her, and leaned in.

"They're called thestrals," I said softly. "Not everyone can see them, but they're there. I can see them too, though. What's your name, dear?"

"Luna," she replied, eyes flickering toward the thestrals again. "Why can we see them?"

"If you'd like, I'll gladly meet with you and tell you all about them sometime soon. You can come to my office and we'll have a nice talk with some tea and sweets, yeah? I'm L- Assistant Professor Fraser."

"That sounds lovely," she replied dreamily, smiling. I returned the smile and sat back, watching as she pulled out a copy of The Quibbler. Merlin help that girl, she must be teased like no else. Still, she was sweet. I certainly hoped she'd be in one of the classes that I assisted this year. I glanced at the thestrals and shuddered slightly; no matter how many times I saw them, they'd still give me the creeps. I knew they were sweet creatures, but there was just something about the way their skin moved that would always be a bit too strange for me to be comfortable with.

The carriage came to a halt in front of the castle, and the students began to shuffle out. I gave Luna a quick wave and waited for all of the students to be moving toward the castle before stepping down. Hagrid was on his way with the first years in tow, lantern swinging as they approached. I watched them coming and didn't notice as the next carriage got ever closer. I was tugged out of the way as the thestrals pulled into place, and I looked to see Rolanda laughing at me.

"Little out of it this evening, Lottie?" she asked as we made for the Great Hall, scanning the perimeter for anything suspicious. I chuckled.

"It's a big day," I responded, stepping into the beautiful hall. Even fifteen years later, I was still amazed by the beauty that was the Great Hall. I bid Rolanda a quick farewell as we both moved to our places at the staff table, her to a place beside Poppy and me toward my unfortunate seat beside Severus Snape. Thankfully, Hagrid was set to sit on my other side, but I did have to endure the Slytherin Head of House's dreary presence for the evening.

The feast began as usual, with the Sorting Ceremony led by Pomona for the evening due to Minerva's temporary absence as she spoke with Potter, and leading to a long speech by Albus. He went through the usual spiel, which had changed very little since my own days at Hogwarts, adding a bit about the dangers of Sirius Black and the presence of Dementors for this school year. Finally, he reached introductions.

"And now, it is my pleasure to introduce not one, but three new additions to our teaching staff. First, I'd like to welcome Miss Charlotte Fraser as our new Assistant Professor. She will be assisting a few of your other professors throughout the year, and will occasionally fill in as needed." I stood to receive recognition, ignoring a few inappropriate whistles from some boys at the Gryffindor table. As the polite applause faded, I returned to my seated position. Hagrid smiled at me, and I could see the excitement in his eyes as Albus announced his name. He stood to receive his applause, beaming as Harry Potter and friends cheered loudly for him.

"Finally, I'd like to introduce our new professor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts. Please welcome Professor Remus Lupin." As the man stood, so much made sense. Remus Lupin. I knew why he was so familiar now. He had been a seventh year when I was a first year. Granted, we'd never spoken, but he and his friends had been Gryffindor royalty, so of course I'd known who he was. What an interesting turn of events.

Albus ended his speech, and food immediately appeared on the table. Without wasting any time, I pushed my sleeves up, not wanting to ruin my lovely yet inconvenient robes by dragging them through gravy. I heard a snickering from beside me as I loaded my plate, and looked beside me.

"Amazing that a woman as small as you can manage to shovel enough food to feed a troll onto a single plate," Snape remarked snidely. I smiled in the most sickly sweet manner I could manage.

"We can't all survive off a diet of brussel sprouts and students' tears, Severus," I replied. Hagrid choked on his food, and I could see Poppy hiding a smile on Snape's other side. Snape frowned at me, and turned to discuss healing potions with Poppy, clearly put off. I smirked and turned to Hagrid to discuss what I would need to help him with tomorrow morning. It was sure to be a grueling first day.