****I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters…I merely play around with them for my own enjoyment ***

This is my first story, so please bear with me. Feel free to leave suggestions, but go easy on me. I'm definitely not an English major. Reviews are definitely helpful ;)

Anyway, here's my story. Hope you like it!

This is an edit of the original chapter I had up. A very special thanks to my amazing new beta, Lupin's Mistress. What did I do before her?

This was it, the past six years had all been leading up to this…and I was nervous as hell. I had gotten what I would consider my dream job, teaching music classes at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

After the war, the Ministry had decided that they wanted all Hogwarts' students to become more knowledgeable about the culture of both the Muggle and Wizarding worlds. Traditionally, Muggle students have had a general music class in elementary school. Upon arriving at a Wizarding school, Muggle raised students would have to give up music classes and many have felt that this was an unfair practice, my personal opinion falling with their lot.

Let me introduce myself: my name is Elle Billette. I'm a half-blood American. I come from a small town in Missouri in the United States. Growing up, I loved music and when the time came for me to go to a magical school, I didn't want to because I was upset to lose my music classes. Luckily for me, American magical schools included music in the curriculum.

After high school, I decided to go to college and major in music education. I had always hoped that I would be able to combine teaching music with magic and getting this job at Hogwarts was like a dream come true. Yes, it was far away from home and I was going to miss being near my family all of the time, but the fact of the matter remained that this is what I wanted.

After my initial interview with Professor McGonagall, I was informed almost immediately that I got the job. A few weeks later, I was packed and moved into my rooms in the castle. I moved in during the first week of August, shortly after graduating from college with my masters in teaching music. Tonight was the first staff meeting and it was daunting to think about meeting all of my new colleagues. I was going to be spending so much time with these people and I was really hoping that everyone would like me despite having one of those personalities that meant I could get along with almost anyone. I do realize that it's not possible for everyone to get along with everyone else.

I really just wanted to be able to get through this meeting and get back to my rooms so I could start on my lesson plans. Teaching seven different levels would definitely be interesting. Each level would have a Music History/Appreciation class. There were also the elective music classes like Music Theory/Composition and Choir. I would also be offering to give private voice lessons to students who had the desire or the raw talent.

So, there I was, collecting my nerves before walking into the room where the staff meetings took place. I took a deep breath to calm myself and walked in. Thankfully I wasn't the last to arrive. It would've been awkward if I had. As I entered, I caught the eye of Professor McGonagall and she gave me a small smile that helped to calm my nerves. I looked around at the table of professors noticing the few open spots. I took the empty seat next to a blonde man with deep grey eyes next to another open seat. When I sat, the blonde man turned to me with a small smirk.

"Hi, I'm Draco Malfoy. I'm the new Potions Professor," he told me.

I really don't think I'll ever get used to that really cute English accent. That accent is going to be my undoing. How am I going to handle all of my colleagues having that accent? Being from the Midwest, an English accent was completely new to me.

"It's very nice to meet you, Draco. I'm Elle Billette. I'm the new Music Professor," I replied as calmly as I could.

"You must be the American that McGonagall was talking about, then," he stated with a smirk.

"Um, yes. That obvious, huh?" I laughed.

"No. Not at all."

Sarcasm dripped from his every word.

"Well, I'm sure you'll get used to my strange accent. I'll try to refrain from saying, 'ain't' but I can't promise I won't say, 'y'all.' There will definitely be moments when I get a bit of a southern twang to my accent." I smiled.

As he was about to respond, a tall man with long dark hair and black eyes swept into the room and took the last remaining seat, the one next to me. I smiled and nodded to him but he just raised an eyebrow at me and said nothing. Clearly, I wasn't going to get anywhere with him at the moment. Realizing this, I raised my own eyebrow at him, gave him a small smile, and turned my attention to Professor McGonagall.

"Good afternoon Professors, it is my pleasure to welcome you back to Hogwarts for this school year. It's been a long journey, and I am delighted that we are finally reopening the school and welcoming the students back. We are all ready to move on into the future.

"Before I announce some of the ministry changes, I want you all to introduce yourselves. I realize that most of you know each other, but we do have some new faces here as well," McGonagall announced. She then turned to her left and motioned for a small professor to start.

"I am Filius Flitwick and I teach Charms. I'm also the head of Ravenclaw House," he stated and then turned to his left to give his attention to the next professor.

"Hello, I'm Harry Potter. I'll be teaching flying and will referee Quidditch," a tall boy with dark hair and amazing green eyes said.

I had heard about him before. In America, we had heard some of what was going on with Wizarding England. I had talked a bit with one of my cousins about it. He is in the American Secret Service. Most Americans don't realize that while they protect the President of the United States, they are part of the American Magical Government. Apparently, the American Magical Government had offered the help of the Secret Service, FBI and CIA but the English Ministry of Magic refused any help for a long time. Finally, Harry Potter had gone beyond them and talked to the AMG on his own and asked for their help. With their help, Harry was able to defeat Voldemort. Turns out that the 'power he knew not' was not love as Albus Dumbledore had thought but muggle weapons technology. Harry was able to pinpoint Voldemort's hideout, and pushed the button to drop a big bomb on him. Voldemort never saw it coming.

Once Harry was finished, he turned to the next person. A girl with mousey brown hair spoke up, "Hi, I'm Hermione Granger. I'll be teaching Muggle Studies."

The next professor went, "I'm Poppy Pomfrey and I'm the mediwitch."

Draco was next, "I'm Draco Malfoy and I'll be teaching Potions."

At this, Harry tensed up a bit and I saw his eyes widen before Hermione reached her hand over to calm him and whisper in his ear. He seemed to relax.

When it was my turn, I stood up and introduced myself, "Hi, I'm Elle Billette. Yes, I'm American. I'll be teaching music." I smiled and sat down.

Some of the Professors seemed confused, but Professor McGonagall just smiled at me and turned her attention to the man next to me.

"I'm Severus Snape and I will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts," that said, he smirked at Harry. Harry tensed up again and it took Hermione to calm him down again.

"Hello, I'm Parvati Patil and I'll be teaching Divination," the next professor spoke up. I was glad she spoke when she did as it seemed to break the tense silence of the room.

I zoned out a bit as the rest of the staff introduced themselves, too focused on the glares going on between the men next to me and Harry Potter. Hermione was doing all she could to keep him calm, but Draco and Severus were making the matter worse with their constant smirks. I knew I should have paid attention to the other professors seeing as it was really because of me that they were introducing themselves at all, but I really couldn't help it when I felt like I was sandwiched right into the tension going on around me.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when Professor McGonagall spoke up again. "Now that we all know each other, we can move on. I'm sure there are some things that you are confused about, but before we go into that, I'd like to address the elephant in the room."

She looked at Harry as she said this.

I want to make it clear that all true Death Eaters are either dead or in prison. I will not tolerate any accusations. I also advise that you will put your prejudices with each other aside for the sake of the students. I hope you will all get along. However, realizing that this may not happen, all I can ask is that you are not seen arguing with each other in front of students. Nor will you give off the impression that you do not like another member of the staff to the students. We must present a united front for the sake of our students to view as an example for their own behavior.

"Now, to move on from that bit of business, I'll address the new changes that the Ministry of Magic will be implementing. As many of you noticed when Professor Billette introduced herself, we have added music classes into the curriculum. This is a change implemented to expose our students to a more cultural take of the world. Another change is that all students with a wizarding background will be required to take Muggle Studies every year. It will no longer be an elective course. In the same instance, all Muggle-borns will be required to take Wizarding Studies. Many of the prejudices between Muggle-born students and those of a pure blood background are born of ignorance and it is my hope as well as the Ministry of Magic's hope that knowledge about each other from an early age in school will help put a stop to them.

"Although it is not something that would usually be brought up during a staff meeting, it has come to my attention that the Ministry is currently talking about the possibility of a Marriage Law. Our numbers are dropping and have been since the war. A large amount of our population was wiped out, and if we don't correct this now the Wizarding World will be in grave peril. I mention this now because although not all details have been made public as of yet, whatever this law entails will not leave many of us in this room unaffected." At this, Professor McGonagall looked at me.