The frigid winds of winter encompassed the castle, filling the darkened halls with its eerie howls. Howls that would send shivers down the spine of one who did not endure the horrors of the second wizarding war. The moaning breezes sounded more like the soothing purrs of a sleeping cat to the young transfiguration professor. The sounds instilled a calming feeling in her nerves each night as she walked through the blackened corridors.

The second wizarding war left many deep scars in its wake, taking everything that people held dear to their heart away, and the number of deaths that piled upon each other even after the death of Voldemort were quite vast. The remaining death eaters that were able to escape had kept up their mad rampage in vain attempts to claim the title of the next great dark lord. Those days that followed the demise of Tom Riddle were the worst to behold. So many innocent lives were sacrificed in pursuit of more than one crazed delusional maniac. It took months to stop them, but eventually it all came to an end. Many of them ended up going into hiding, fearing Azkaban more than wanting the glory that accompanies fear and fame.

When the age of terror subsided, Hermione had left Britain in hopes of finding her parents and restoring the memories she obliviated. It was a task she wasn't sure was possible, a task that had a larger chance of failing than succeeding. In fact it did fail more than several times in the course of the time she stayed in the shadows, watching over them from a distance. Each day was becoming harder for her when she noticed that nothing was changing. They did not recognize her when she walked by or even when she stepped into their little dental clinic. They could not remember that she was their daughter and greeted her as a complete stranger.

Charm after charm failed, and with it, her soul struggled between continuing her attempts and moving on with her life. Everything came to a standstill as she lived her life watching her parents go about their daily business, completely and utterly unaware of their importance to her. If it wasn't for McGonagall's correspondence, Hermione knew she would still be wasting away in the dark shadows of Australia.

She spent time writing back and forth with the headmistress for a year, receiving updates on how the rebuilding of Hogwarts was coming along and also on her friends with whom had she rarely seen or heard from since her departure from Britain. This was an ongoing thing until one day McGonagall appeared at her front door.

It was enlightening to see the elderly witch, to see someone she recognized and who recognized her. They had spent hours talking about their lives when Minerva finally asked if she would like a teaching position at Hogwarts. Hermione was excited by this, in fact she was hoping to go back there and apply at some point in the future. For some reason she hoped going back would help bring her around, bring back the good old days where there was no pain or suffering. And now here she was and still the pang of pain and suffering gripped at her heart. It went without saying that she accepted the role.

Walking through the silent halls of the dungeons, the transfiguration mistress made her way down the familiar path she took each night. Images of billowing black robes fluttering behind the teacher she would never see again flashed before her eyes. The sound of the deep rumble of his voice when he spoke in class, teaching them about patience in the subtle art of potion making. There were days she went to talk to Minerva for no apparent reason, hoping to find his portrait had awoken, but it did not. No, it was still and lifeless, nothing had happened and she wondered why it was taking so long for him to wake up.

Severus Snape's body was never found that day when she and Harry had returned to retrieve him. His physical form vanished that day without a trace, leaving her to wonder what had come of it. Guilt flowed through her veins attaching itself firmly to her soul, eating away at it slowly. Hermione felt the weight push down upon her shoulders reminding her every day that they left him there. There must have been something they could have done to stop the bleeding, to keep him alive but they did not even try, they had thought him dead already. Though with his body missing and his portrait not awaken she started to think that perhaps he did survive…so what exactly happened to him? Was Severus still alive or was he truly dead? And if he was dead who came and retrieved his body?

The questions filled her mind, torturing her whenever they could. Taunting relentlessly knowing that the supposed know-it-all had no answers to them. And each night like this, she found herself wandering silently through the dungeons towards the potions classroom that was once his. Stopping in front of the door that would have been considered Snape's office, she moved her hand slowly towards the handle.

"Professor Granger is everything alright?" Horace Slughorn asked with a grandfatherly concern.

Startled, Hermione swirled around quickly, her burgundy robes swooshing around her legs as the subtle crimson hues dusted her cheek bones. Her embarrassment burned brightly inside, churning her stomach on being found by another staff member in the middle of the night, stalking the halls that were not part of her nightly routine nor would be, and at three in the morning.

Giving the elderly potions master a semblance of a smile, she shook her head slowly. "No, nothing is wrong. I just could not sleep and I thought that perhaps taking a walk would help. I apologize for waking you, Horace that was not my intention."

"My dear you did not wake me. In fact I just came back from running an errand for Minerva."

"Oh?"

He nodded and continued. "I had to wait upon a friend of ours to arrive. I was quite surprised to hear he was coming to visit for a short time and dear Minerva did not think it was wise for him to stay in Hogsmeade. So she had me go escort him here to stay for the time being. And I dare say that I hardly recognized him…but just keep that between you and I." He said with a wink.

"And who did you bring back with you? Do I know him by chance?" She inquired gently, as her mind whirled on who this mysterious person was, not daring to hope.

"I'm sorry my dear, I cannot tell you. I was asked politely not to say and I do fear our headmistress' wrath." He chuckled. "But do not worry, you'll see him tomorrow at the faculty meeting along with the rest of the professors. I do believe everyone would be quite surprised." He told her with a jubilant expression that brightened the old man's face. "It'll be a festive day tomorrow Hermione. I suggest that you get some sleep, would you like me to walk you back to your rooms?"

"No, that is quite alright Horace, I'll be perfectly fine on my own. Thank you for asking though."

"Well then alright. Goodnight then professor." The older wizard said softly, patting her on the shoulder gently as he walked by her, leaving her once again alone in the dark silent halls.

Running a hand through her thick hair, Hermione let out a ragged sigh as she leaned forward pressing her forehead against the cool surface of the door she was about to open. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest for the couple of minutes that she dared to linger. It was sad that she would be here in the dead of night sneaking into an office that had not been preoccupied for over three years.

Releasing another heavy sigh, she pushed herself off of the door, turning in the direction she had come from when she saw a swish of black robes fade into the dark shadows. Rubbing her eyes, she blinked several times staring in the area where she thought she seen the supposed familiar cloth.

"I must be imagining things…..I really must get some sleep." She mumbled under her breath as she walked by the area she thought she had seen whatever she had seen, not knowing that she was being watched by someone deep within the shadows.

{-}

The figure hidden within the dark shroud of the alcove watched the witch disappear further down the hall. It was hard to tell who she was, his vision obscured by the darkness of the dungeons. He knew she was not a student by the outline of the robes she was wearing. It had been years since he was last here. From what he learned from the headmistress, they had acquired a couple new professors during the duration of his time away. No doubt that woman was one of them. Though in his opinion it was quite odd for her to stop in front of this particular door from all the others. He had watched her stand there for several minutes leaning against it, her hand resting over the handle while contemplating going in or not. Luckily for him the woman decided to huff out a breath of air and leave.

Emerging silently from his hiding place, the dark wizard strolled over to the door where the nosy witch had once stood in front of. Reaching out he grasped the handle, pulling the door open. The hinges squeaked loudly, echoing throughout the silence of the halls as he entered the long abandoned office. Entering the darkened room, his black robes billowing behind him, he flicked his wand, shutting the door firmly behind him once he was past the threshold. Moving further into the room the he cast several wards along with a silencing charm to keep others out and to keep them from bothering him. Though most wouldn't know he was actually there until later that day.

Severus could only imagine the snide remarks, the disgusted looks on majority of the staffs' faces. He was a double agent, a spy for both the dark lord and for the order, the secret weapon Dumbledore kept hidden up his sleeve. One that made him sneer viciously. His life was not his own during that time, he followed two masters, torn on what he needed to do. He did whatever the dark lord wanted of him, he became the headmaster of Hogwarts, a task he did not want at all but he took it none the less with orders from Dumbledore to keep the children safe.

He spat at that thought while proceeding across the small room to the hidden door behind the tapestry. The children suffered the most, the punishments that the Carrow twins dished out was cast behind his back. And even though he wanted to stop them from what they were doing, he knew he could do little to stop it. Sure, he had given them their punishments by sending them to Hagrid, it was a way he could keep those disgusting bastards from hurting any more children than necessary, but even that went only so far when he was caught in a bind of having these two henchmen reporting to the Dark Lord.

With all that had happened under his ruling, how could the staff here ever forgive him for something he truly had no control of? Sure he had the support from Minerva and Horace but that was only two out of a thousand people… Well there was also Potter, and his noble act of clearing his name. It was however, useless. No one would ever welcome him back after all the horrors he had commited.

Sighing loudly, he ran his hands through his hair as he took a seat in the worn out dusty battered chair that sat in front of the cold lifeless hearth. Whisking his wand back out he set the semi chard logs aflame feeling the heat slowly emit from the dancing flames battling with the frigid damp air of his dungeon lair.

Reaching into the pockets of his robes, he pulled out a wooden box and opened it up, pulling out the tumbler and Ogden's he brought along with him from his rotting home on Spinners End. Three years he had stayed hidden in that god forsaken place, recovering slowly from the effects of Nagini's venom. The solitude was blissful to a small degree as he wallowed away in agony without the hustle and bustle of another person worrying over him. There were plenty of times he shooed away the headmistress from his home, telling that damnable woman he was quite fine, and did not require her assistance.

Oh how that woman scorned him for pushing her out of his home when she was trying to help him. But he could not stand to see her at the beginning. He felt terribly embarrassed that she was the one who had come to save him. After all the hell he had put her through during his one year as headmaster and the years before, even when some of it was harmless competitive banter, he just couldn't bring himself to allow her to waste her kindness on a lost cause. As much as he had pushed her away, Minerva somehow found a way to weasel herself into the deepest cracks of his miserable, meaningless life.

The corner of his lips lifted just ever so slightly upwards as he thought of the older witch and her bothersome nagging, as of a worrisome mother over him. Severus would never admit it to her nor to anyone else that she truly warmed his heart, showing him that he did have at least one true friend in the world.

It was because of the friendship that he regained from Minerva during those years that he was back here once again. Severus disliked teaching more than anything, but he would carry out this favor for the time being for her until she was able to find a replacement for Horace the following year.

Raising his glass in the air he gave a silent toast to the headmistress.

{-}

The lack of sleep was evident upon the Gryffindor's face in the morning when she made her way to the staff room, descending the staircases of Hogwarts. Her late night walk did not help her worried mind, instead it was fueled by the image of a billowy cloak disappearing within the shadows of alcove. She really thought it was just her imagination at first, a trick that her tired mind was playing upon her. It was a cruel one there was no doubt about it. Hermione just could not understand why she kept putting herself through this agony thinking that he was still alive, still out there somewhere. That the infamous potions master would suddenly return out of thin air just like that.

Sure his body was missing, there were no traces…there was just nothing left of him except the pool of blood that stained the floors of the shrieking shack. Her guilt would not let her go, instead it grew larger than ever, soaking up everything she regretted not being able to do. First it was not being able to save Snape, then not being successful in giving her parents back their memories of her and finally her very sad pitiful existence in this world.

The brightest witch of her age… it was more of a joke than the truth. She didn't feel very bright, she was book smart, she researched many different things that did end up turning out to be good for her in the long run, but what good was it when she couldn't save those that deserved it the most?

The first couple years she had spent within the castle walls she felt at peace to some degree. The trauma of watching the charms she cast upon her parents fail one after another did not trigger her melancholy anymore. Sure she felt like a failure, though now not having to witness it each day made her feel slightly better than the next. Hermione spent her first year settling in, learning along the way of what she was capable of doing and what she needed to change about herself.

That first year was the toughest for her, many of the students knew who she was and thought she would be easy on them, especially the ones from her house. Oh how wrong they were about that. She was a stern teacher nitpicking their essays, finding many things that were wrong and just put upon the piece of parchment as if they grabbed their information right out of their rears.

Her reputation built quickly as being the hardest professor Hogwarts has ever seen since Snape was there. When she heard about that Hermione couldn't help but laugh at their crazed assumptions. Truthfully she thought that they said this for the sheer fact that she was not going easy on them and why should she when she already was. The war had cost them, pushing back their education by a year. Many of the students there had to be retaught certain information which she understood. What she couldn't understand was why they did not grasp the concept of the easier transfiguration spells that they learned in their first three years here. That befuddle her the most.

Luckily the second year was not quite as bad with her students. They did not expect any special treatments, they did what they needed to do and learned quite quickly that she did not hold favorites. Her teaching career was going nicely so far, she did not mope around the halls during the day only keeping it during the night and also she did not feel quite so alone anymore since Neville had joined the staff.

Even how nice it was to have Minerva, Filius, Poppy, and the rest of the staff to talk to it felt strange to her still going to The Three Broomsticks to have a drink with them and have a grand ol' time. It was nice having someone around that was the same age as her, who grew up along with her and witness the horrors she did. It was nice having Neville here to talk about the good old days, but even though she had him here, Hermione never felt comfortable to talk to him about what was going through her mind when it concern thoughts of the potions master that he feared.

Huffing out a puff of air she straightened her back as she neared the staff room. There was no point in letting the others worry about her, there was too much going on for this semester. The news of Horace leaving so soon was quite a shocker but at the same time, it was expected. Hermione had foreseen it really, he had come out of retirement during her sixth year and stayed until now which she had to give him kudos for being able to do that and dealing with some of the first years… Well those that are less talented in potions could easily blow up their cauldrons because they didn't follow the directions properly. Thinking that they could get through the class by finding a shortcut and then there were those she could hear Snape calling dunderheads consistently.

She could hear him right now, his deep baritone words floating along a steady stream of air, filling her ears with its husky tone. A small smile teased her lips lightly as this particular voice kept floating amongst her subconscious thoughts. Silly how she could still remember it and how it would put a genuine smile upon her face whenever she thought about it. Though that smile clearly went away when she passed through the door and into the staff room when her eyes fell upon the dark wizard chatting idly with Horace and McGonagall.

Standing in utter shock, body frozen in place her eyes repeatedly began to shutter rapidly, taking in the sight before her. The dark wizard sitting next to the headmistress was dressed all in black, except for the white edges of his shirt peeking out from the ends of the sleeves of his frock and from underneath the black cravat wound around his neck. His attire was the same, as the length of his greasy lank hair and hooked nose. The only difference was the facial hair that he was sporting in a nicely trimmed goatee.

Horace's words sprung to mind of what he said the night before. If someone just took a glance in this room they really wouldn't have known that the ominous man sitting in here was Severus Snape.

"Oh, good you're finally here Hermione, we were waiting for you. Please take a seat." The headmistress said sweetly once she noticed Hermione standing utterly still in the doorway. Smiling at the young professor as she indicated the seat on the left of the man who was staring at her with his black eyes and not so subtle sneer.

Nodding her head and murmuring an apology for being late, Hermione strolled to the last open seat and sat down rigidly. Her eyes glancing to the side at the wizard beside her, trying to take in that this was not, in fact, a dream.

"I'm glad everyone could make it, as you can see we have someone very special here with us today. Everyone should know who he is by now. As you all know Horace will be retiring at the end of this week. He has been with us the last several years, helping us out tremendously." Minerva stated, turning towards Professor Slughorn and giving him a bright smile. "Thank you for everything Horace, I and the rest of the staff, appreciate what you were able to do for us. We all wish you a happy retirement."

"Now as you can see here, Severus has come back to Hogwarts. He has willingly accepted the role of replacement Potions Master once again, until the board and I find a worthy candidate for the position. We are all glad that you were able to accept this position once again Professor." McGonagall reached out and patted the dark wizard upon the shoulder as a chorus of 'welcome backs' steered towards him, and he responded with a slight incline of his head.

When the meeting came to an end, the headmistress looked over at Hermione, Neville and Wulfric Hackly and then turned to Snape motioning her hand towards the three sitting on his left.

"Severus, I really don't have to introduce Miss Granger or Mr. Longbottom to you but I feel that I should since they are now part of the teaching staff here. And to the left of them is Mr. Wulfric Hackly he is our new history of magic professor. It seems our dear Professor Binns had finally come to the realization that he was no longer part of the living and has decided to move on."

"It's a pleasure to meet you professor. I have heard many tales about you and I must say it's an honor to be able to work alongside you. But as much as I wish I could stay and chat, I need to prepare for my first class this morning." Hackly said nasally, rising out of his seat and giving the rest of them a curt nod as he left.

Wulfric Hackly was middle age man, short and stout with a great barrel of a gut and somber face that was quite hard to decipher. Hermione never really seen the man smile, nor seen him associate with anyone outside of the great hall since she had started here two years ago.

Stealing up her nerves, the witch smiled warmly over at the potions professor. Keeping her tremors from showing on the outside, her voice clearly gave her away as she spoke to him in a shaky tone. "Welcome back Professor Snape. I'm glad to see that you are alive and well. If you need any help settling back in or in making certain potions for Poppy, I offer my assistance to you."

"And I as well sir." Neville said with a wavering grin all the while his Adams apple bobbing up and down a couple times before continuing. "Hermione and I would both be happy to help you. I have taken over Professor Sprout's position this year. If there is any ingredient that you are in need of please let me know. I should have majority of them in the school's greenhouses. If there is one in particular that is not grown there please let me know. I do not mind sharing the rare plants that I am growing for my own enjoyment."

Severus quirked an eyebrow at this statement, his dark eyes looking at both of the Gryffindors with curiosity. Though under his gaze she felt as if he was assessing them, trying to figure out if what they both said was genuine. Silence grew between the three of them, setting off an awkward aura around them as he contemplated a few seconds longer before inclining his head to them both. "Thank you Miss Granger for your offer, but I assure you I should be perfectly fine on my own." He sneered, then turned his attention towards Neville. "And thank you as well Mr. Longbottom. I will have to see what is left in the store room and make a list based off of that and send it along your way." He said more cordially.

Hermione felt like his attitude towards her was a blow to the gut. She was only offering to help him. It wasn't like she deemed him incompetent in doing his job. She had been helping Horace with keeping the hospital wing stocked with all the necessary potions that were needed. It was already something she had become so used to since she had arrived here. It now felt quite different knowing she was no longer needed.

Letting out a subtle stream of air she bid her farewells and headed out the staff room towards the Great Hall for breakfast not knowing that a particular pair of dark eyes watched her as she left.

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