The Empty Canvas

Written By: Keshia K. Mansell

The places and characters depicted in this story are expressly © J. K. Rowling.


Summary:

Au. Snamione. This story takes place 19 years after the final battle. Hermione is a teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who has been noticing some rather strange things. What happens when the ghost of her long-dead professor comes back to haunt her? Will the school be able to survive yet another conflict with dark magic? And what of the mystery of the empty canvas?


Prologue: The Empty Canvas

Not much had changed in the Headmistress' office at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After the school had been rebuilt from the wreckage of the final battle, Headmistress Minerva McGonagall had felt that it was only right to restore the room to how it had once been in honor of the late Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. She'd carefully removed the darkness and gloom that had taken over since the clever wizard's death.

It hadn't been an easy job at first. The room was in a particular state of neglect from when Headmaster Snape had been in charge there. She found herself learning more and more about her deeply troubled colleague the more she delved. She'd known Snape had never been a happy man to say the least. The life of a spy was a very hard life to live and he had been the only person she'd ever known to give himself so selflessly to that cause. Even she at the time had thought he was nothing but a traitor tempted by the Dark Arts. My, had they all been wrong.

There were dark artifacts in the office, of course. Those things had most likely been placed there to keep up appearances or maybe even to help guide him in his plans for the greater good. However, she could hardly understand what an enchanted music box would have had anything to do with it or even the odd assortment of deadly potions ingredients he'd kept hidden under the cabinet of the pensive. But she didn't question any of it, not that she would have been able to anyway. Instead she'd made sure to take all precautions in removing them from their hiding places and disposed of them quietly.

She was most startled when she'd began cleaning out the large desk that sat main-stage in the room. One of the drawers on the bottom left of the ancient mahogany had been sealed with a permanent sticking charm. It had taken her nearly two weeks to figure out how to open the drawer. She'd recited spell after charm after incantation and had almost lost hope when she'd finally resolved to looking in the restricted section of the library. When she had finally opened the damn thing, she'd had to be quick with her wand to battle a nasty jinx that had been placed to guard its contents.

When she was finally able to see what lay inside she'd nearly started sobbing in grief. A beautiful pair of emerald green eyes had blinked up at her from a smiling picture within. This picture appeared to have seen better days as it looked like it had been ripped away on one side where a man's elbow was just visible and something zooming by. Tears were brought to Minerva's eyes as she realized that Lilly looked just as she had, possibly months before she'd died. With shaky hands she picked up this picture to find others under it. These were much older and some had even been taken the muggle way, showing a beautiful redheaded girl smiling up at the camera. A couple, she wasn't surprised to see, even depicted a much younger Severus than she'd ever known.

Under the pictures lay two leather bound journals. One was brown and the other black. Minerva had treated these with great care as she examined them respectfully. The black journal was simple enough as it contained the most detailed notes that she'd ever seen on various potions and spells that he'd come up with or improved on his own. She'd wondered at first if she should possibly have the work published in his honor, but thought better of it. Severus had always been a very private person and she knew that he himself would have never allowed it. Setting that journal aside she'd next picked up the more inconspicuous looking brown journal. However, upon opening it she'd closed it almost immediately. This journal had appeared to be detailed meeting notes almost like a diary that held information regarding not only his Death Eater Meetings, but most likely his meetings with Professor Dumbledore. As curious as Minerva was, she felt that if she'd read these private thoughts and notes she'd not only probably learn more than she'd ever want to know, but she'd feel disrespectful in the process. She'd set the journal aside.

After that, the mood of the room seemed to change back to its formal glory. She'd carefully reconstructed all of the bazaar metal gizmos that had hung above the room reminding her greatly of a largely detail galaxy and restored all of the colorful banners and cloths that had decorated the room. One the side of the room containing the pensive, she dusted and had ridden the cupboards of doxies to replace them with lovely books on her favorite subjects. On the other side of the room she transfigured a gleaming case for the Sword of Gryffindor and a couple of other relics that had survived the war. Lastly, she'd constructed a nice bust where she'd placed the still scorched sorting hat with confidence.

Soon, only one thing was left to do – find a place to put Severus Snape's most prized possessions where they would be safe and never disturbed. She frowned and bit her lip as she glanced at the pictures, journals, and the vial she'd placed the memories Harry had left in the pensive when she'd went to clean it. Luckily, she knew she wouldn't have to turn any of it over to the school since upon trails Harry Potter had already cleared the Spy's name. These items were protected by the school now, wards of its triumph.

"Minerva…" A familiar voice had whispered knowingly to her. She'd glanced up to the wall behind her desk where the eyes of all the past Headmasters watched her appraisingly. Albus Dumbledore's portrait gazed at her through twinkling half-moon glasses with a sad smile before nodding to a portrait beside him that she'd never noticed before. Straightening her glasses, she furrowed her brows and stepped closer to the phenomenon with a look of bemusement on her face.

The portrait was the same size as all the others. It had a shiny ebony frame with gold gleaming around the trim. On the bottom of it was a small golden plaque that was inscribed 'Severus T. Snape; Born 01/09/1960, Passed 05/02/1998; Headmaster Sept 1997-May 1998.' She squinted and read a quote that had been etched just under the information on the late professor. 'Loyalty and devotion lead to bravery and self-sacrifice in which creates trust that empowers love.' Knowing, that the somewhat sour professor would have never asked for that quote himself, she vaguely wondered if this had been something Dumbledore had planned to make for him for a long time.

Her eyes moved upward to inspect the canvas and she frowned at it in confusion. There were no dark eyes there to peer back at her own. There was no frown or sneer that would have normally accompanied his stressed, pale face. There wasn't even the slightest hint of greasy hair or a black billowing cape. In fact; there was no sign that Severus Snape had ever visited his portrait at all. The only thing that greeted her was a murky brown background with a Slytherin banner visible in what she assumed was supposed to be the background.

Baffled, she looked to the other portraits as if waiting for an answer as to how this could have possibly happened. None of them said a word. Even Dumbledore seemed to have lost the ability to speak as he stared at her imperiously. Giving a sigh of trepidation she picked up the items from her desk and prodded at the empty portrait with her wand. The castle seemed to understand her need as the frame swung forward to reveal a warded cubbyhole with small shelves inside. She carefully placed each item so that they wouldn't come to harm before unceremoniously closing the portrait with her lips pursed tightly.

She'd never given up on that portrait as the years had flown by. It had become an enigma to her. Each year students and teachers alike passed through her office and each year the portrait stayed vacant. Many scholars and magical portrait experts had come to view it at one time or another thinking that maybe they would be the lucky one to discover some sort of secret or clue. But each one failed more miserably than the last. There was one thing that all of them agreed on however; it all had something to do with soul magic. They all seemed to think that something might be intervening between the school and the magic that bound a soul to its portrait. But no one could say how or why it had happened.

Eventually, Minerva had to let the matter drop. Though she knew she'd always wonder about, she knew that it was her duty as Headmistress to worry about other things. And so, nineteen years passed in a flurry and the portrait remained nothing more than a mild curiosity to all those who viewed it.


A/N: Hello there! This story has been on my mind for a little while now so I hope you find it intriguing as I have many plans for it. This will be my first Snape/Hermione pairing, though I have dabbled in many other HP pairings over the years. Please enjoy and review!