Author's Note: Hello again! :) I am trying on a new pair, one that I've been itching to write about after reading so much about them and absolutely adoring them. As with my other fic in the CSI: Miami fandom, I have already plotted out this story, so hopefully I'll be able to finish it. *crosses fingers*
Forgive me for any inconsistencies I might commit throughout this story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of its characters, and some parts of this tale's plot which were lifted from the books.
Heart Over Matter
Chapter 1: The East Wing
"Miss Granger, look out!"
Hermione Granger turned around in time to see hundreds of school desks levitating in mid-air towards her. She flattened herself to the ground and waited until all of them had passed by.
"Ooh, I am terribly sorry Miss Granger! I did not notice you here!" Professor Filius Flitwick apologized profusely.
"It's quite all right, Professor," Hermione smiled at the little man. "No harm done."
"Minerva is calling out to you," he replied, nodding towards the new Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Headmistress, who was presently waving her hand in the air to get Hermione's attention.
"Thanks Professor." Hermione rushed beside the witch in formal robes and a pointed hat.
Headmistress McGonagall smiled. "I see you are bright and early today, Hermione."
"I really had nothing much to do at home, so I figured I'd come by early to help out," Hermione responded, shrugging her shoulders.
"It's just as well. I have been looking for capable and trustworthy hands that can explore on the east wing of the Castle. The staff are already burdened enough as it is and not many student volunteers are familiar with it. I daresay you are one of the few who might have ventured toward that side of the Castle," said McGonagall with a twinkle in her eyes.
Hermione blushed. It was true that her many clandestine night-time ventures around the Castle with Harry, Ron, the Marauder's Map, and the Invisibility Cloak had made Hermione more knowledgeable on the ins and outs of the Castle than most students.
It was fifteen months after the Second Wizarding War. Lord Voldemort was finally defeated by The Boy Who Lived, and life had resumed again for the wizards and witches of Britain. It was not without difficulty that they tried to rebuild their lives again after their losses. Those who lost someone because of the War were still grieving.
Their dead were buried, and accolades were given to the heroes of the new Wizarding World, both small and great. The renovation of the Hogwarts Castle was nearly done, and the Board of Governors, along with the rest of the staff, had deemed it worthy to be reopened in a month—just in time for the regular school opening in September.
Hermione Granger was one of the many students who volunteered to help in rebuilding the Castle. Miraculously, she had regained all of her parents' memories. But they decided to stay in Australia for good. Hermione settled herself in London—this time, alone. She wanted to continue being a part of the (now new) Wizarding World which had accepted her for who she was at the time when she had no one else to rely on aside from her parents.
Hermione wanted to continue her seventh year in September and earn her N.E.W.T.s, despite protests from her two best friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Both had already started on their own careers as Aurors-in-training under the new Ministry of Magic. Seeing as she did not exactly have constant company, Hermione decided to help out at Hogwarts.
"I might have been in some of the rooms in the east wing, yes…" Hermione consented.
"That is good. The east wing is generally unpopulated by most students. The staff members are, of course, familiar with it. The place is mostly abandoned. There are a few unused rooms there that I would like you to check, just to see if they are in need of any fixing. I will personally show you the rooms that I would like you to work on," said McGonagall. She looked at Hermione with her beady eyes.
Hermione nodded enthusiastically. "Of course, Professor! I mean, Headmistress!" She tittered lightly. She was still in the process of getting used to calling her former Head of House in her new title.
McGonagall smiled. "Very well. Shall we go there now?"
Hermione followed McGonagall into the Castle. After a series of staircases—some she were not entirely familiar with—they were finally in the eerily silent east wing. There were three doors to her left and four to her right. One door on each side was boarded up. Hermione glanced at them curiously.
"We shall keep them boarded up unless we are in need of additional classrooms," McGonagall answered to her curious look.
The Headmistress went to the right side and opened the door closest to Hermione. Both peered inside the dusty interior. There were grimy windows and a few broken school desks inside. "Remember to wear a mask when you go inside these rooms. They have been uninhabited for who knows how long, and I'm afraid they have been left to gather dust.
I only want you to examine if any part of the rooms have been damaged by Dark Magic. I trust that you know how to handle yourself in these situations?"
She peered at her student intensely. Hermione nodded quickly but said nothing.
"Very well. You will examine them alone, but I will send someone to help you when there are renovations to be done."
They went into the room next to the first one and saw that it was much like the former. The next door was boarded up, and so they skipped right to the last door. The room gave out a putrid odor which initially put Hermione on her guard. She did not trust anything—or anyone, for that matter—and it was all because of the War. It really changed me a lot, she reflected sadly.
Hermione suspected that it would take her a while to regain her once-optimistic hope for the best in people, but she was slowly letting herself do so again.
Suddenly, McGonagall let out something between a snort and a laugh (Hermione raised her eyebrows in surprise at this). "It smells like cat food mixed with dung in here! I daresay Mrs. Norris has been making this room her litter box."
Hermione, having no desire to enter such a rancid room again, asked timidly, "Do I have to check on that room, too, Headmistress?"
McGonagall laughed. "No, no. I won't force you to work in there. I shall see to it myself when I find the time."
They crossed the hallway to the remaining two rooms. McGonagall opened a door. It was full of tanks, phials, and cauldrons. Her face registered recognition. "Oh! This is the storage room for Potions. Be careful here, Hermione. You never know what Severus or Slughorn, or any of the past Potions Masters have been putting in here."
At the mention of her old Potions professor, Hermione startled. She had pondered for some time what had become of Severus Snape. They had erected him a tombstone, but they never recovered his body. She, Harry, and Ron thought that Snape had died in the Shrieking Shack, but when the other members of the Order of the Phoenix looked for it, it was nowhere to be found. The stream of blood only indicated that he moved around the room.
And they never looked for him again, Hermione thought, somewhat bitterly. No matter how many honors Snape received, she still thought that it was more important that they actually found him—or his dead body.
Harry had relayed to her the contents of the phial Snape gave him before they left him in the Shrieking Shack. Hermione had long suspected Snape to be trustworthy, but she never imagined the extent of his loyalty. Harry's story confirmed her opinions about the man. This made Hermione even more frustrated over the way the Wizarding World had treated Severus Snape after he had vanished.
But you were like them, Hermione, her conscience reminded her. You didn't look for Snape either.
Because I didn't know where to look! She wanted to scream back at her conscience. And it's not as if I'd given up on him entirely…
Hermione had tried to talk to members of the Order, even the new Minister for Magic himself, Kingsley Shacklebolt, about looking for Severus Snape. But they had given up on the idea of finding the man alive again. After all, he had been mauled by no ordinary snake.
Even Harry looked helpless when she asked for his help. "You simply cannot find someone who does not want to be found, Hermione," he reasoned.
After many months of trying, Hermione finally let the matter rest. But it did not mean that she was not plagued anymore by the haunting death scene of Severus Snape. His final moments mixed with her other friends' own in her nightmares. She saw them almost every night. That didn't exactly make it easy for her to forget.
Hermione shook herself out of her reverie and tried to focus on what McGonagall was saying. She was unaware of having followed her inside the last room. Blinking, Hermione let her eyes get accustomed to the darkness of the room. It only had a small solitary window, and did not contain anything—or so the two witches thought.
McGonagall finally closed the door and the pair descended the many stairs again. As Hermione was wondering how she would find the east wing again without McGonagall's help, the elderly witch answered her thoughts again. "Just tell the stairs where you want to go," was her simple advice.
When finally out in the open sunlight, McGonagall said, "You can start on the east wing tomorrow. In the meantime, you can help whoever needs any assistance around the Castle."
A squeal issued from one of the open upper windows. Hermione suspected that Professor Flitwick might be having trouble of some sort with the school desks.
"Thank you, Ma'am," Hermione said politely, and jogged back inside the Castle to aid the Charms Master.
A/N #2: I'm really quite excited to see how this tale will turn out, seeing as I only planned the plot generally.
Please let me know your thoughts about this chapter! :)