Monday, September 2nd

Hermione:

"HERMIONE! GET YOUR ARSE UP!" bellows Ron from outside of the doorway. It was the first day of Hermione's seventh year and ever since the battle she saw no use for getting up every morning. Her whole life was focused towards helping Harry defeat Voldemort, and now that he is out of the picture, she has nothing left.

She groaned at the though of another school year. Learning did not seem as important as it once had. There was no longer a goal for her to strive towards

"GIVE ME A BLOODY SECOND, RON!" she yells to Ron who is still pounding at the door,

She opens her eyes, and closes them again, not expecting the light to be quite that bright. She puts on her robes and stumbles out into the Gryffindor common room, surprised by the amount of people who were awake.

"What time is it?" she mumbles to Ron

"7:30," responds Ginny bounding out of the girls dormitory.

"Why is everyone up so early?" Hermione asks, it was only the first day, they have not gotten their schedules yet, and they don't have to be in the Great Hall for another hour.

"Didn't you hear? They're having a special Quidditch match! The Ministry versus the Bulgarians!

"Well good for the Quidditch players!" says Hermione with fake enthusiasm striding out of the common room and into the stairwell to go down to the Great Hall for some food. She had been unable to eat the night , not wanting to be around her fellow classmates, tired of their immaturity . Her stomach growls at her on her way down the stairs, she should have gone to the kitchen after everyone else had gone to sleep, too bad Hermione had not thought of that then.

When she gets to the Great Hall and goes to open the door, someone else pushes it open and it hits Hermione in the forehead, stunning her a bit. "Damn," she mumbles.

"Ms. Granger," says the familiar drawl

"Oh, Professor Snape, hi!" she says, blushing slightly, afraid the professor would take points off for her swearing. Her mouth starts to move and she cannot control what she blurts out "I wanted to thank you, for everything, and I apologize for not trusting you, I can only imagine what you've been through…"

"Yes, Ms. Granger, you can only imagine, and if you would please not waste any more of my time…" Snape interrupts.

"Oh, sorry, yes, sir," she says stepping out of his way. The professor had miraculously survived the snakes bite, once the battle was over, Mediwizards from St. Mungo's rushed in and took care of all the injured. Snape had barely been alive and was in the intensive care ward for weeks. Hermione was surprised to see him strolling along Hogwarts so soon after his injuries. She had expected it to take months to fully heal.

Hermione took a seat at the empty Gryffindor table and yawned, she would really need to go to sleep at a decent time tonight, and not stay awake reading Hogwarts, A History again. She had memorized the book already, but found the familiar words soothing, something that helped to keep away the nightmares. She sips her pumpkin juice and begins to butter a piece of toast. While chewing she feels a tap on her back.

"Ms. Granger, would you please come to my office at the end of breakfast, there are some things about your schedule that I would like to discuss," says Professor McGonagall.

Hermione swallows, "Of course, Headmistress," she says, her eyebrows furrowing with worry What could this be about… she thinks.

While everyone else was making their way to the first class of the new school year, Hermione is going to McGonagall's office. When she gets to the stone gargoyle, she realizes that she doesn't know the password and is frozen for a second. She then sees it spinning and the Headmistress emerges, "Ah, Hermione there you are! You go on up, I just have to go ask Professor Snape about something. The password is lemon drops." says McGonagall running down the hall. Hermione felt a pang of sadness in her heart, remembering that lemon drops was Dumbledore's password her first year attending Hogwarts.

Hermione goes into the office and looks around. it's changed so much since she was last in here, during the battle. Instead of a gloomy feel it had a rather bright, homey feel. The walls were a pastel shade of green, which was quite unlike the professor. The portraits of the past headmasters and headmistresses all appeared to be dusted and they were all smiling her. Hermione rather disliked the feel of being watched by them and wondered how the headmistress dealt with it all day long.

McGonagall rushes back in, slightly out of breath. "Oh, Ms. Granger yes, please take a seat," the headmistress says. Hermione sits down on the chair across from the desk wondering what was so important that she had to miss her first class of the year.

"Ms. Granger would you like some tea."

"Oh, no thank you, but, ma'am if you would, why am I here?"

McGonagall pauses, as if wondering if she was making the right decision. "The professors have been talking Hermione. They've been talking about your accomplishments during the war. Some are extremely impressed. We know that you want to continue onto further education when you leave Hogwarts, but we were wondering if you would want to apprentice in the field of Potions, we believe that you have serious potential to be a great potions master, and while you are at Hogwarts, you can get a head start. You would still have to take you NEWT exams, which are quite a full workload themselves, but you have memorized all of your textbooks and all of the Professors agree that you of all students would be capable of doing that as well as the apprenticeship. That is if you feel like you could do it."

"Professor, I would love to master the field of Potions"

"Very well, which teacher would you prefer to mentor you, Professor Snape or Professor Slughorn mentor?"

"Professor Snape or Professor Slughorn?"

"Yes, even though Professor Snape did not continue teaching Potions, he still retains his master in potions, and is perfectly willing and capable to mentor you, as is Professor Slughorn."

Hermione had to really think about this, she would be stuck with whoever she chose for who knows how long. Professor Snape was rude and Harry and Ron have hated him since their first year, but no, Hermione was done letting Harry and Ron influence her life. She was going to make her own decisions. Professor Slughorn was kind, but he definitely had favorites, and they were those that were going to succeed in the Wizarding World, and Hermione was still unsure about how well he actually knew Potions, and obviously Snape knew a lot, he knew enough to improve the text books during his sixth year.

"Professor Snape."

"Very well," the Headmistress said with a slight smile on her face, "Every Monday morning, and Friday afternoon, you are to go to his classroom, you will be studying different potion making processes, and the proper way to research and create a new potion. You will also help him by brewing potions that are necessary for the hospital wings stores. It will be a lot of work outside of your normal classes, but I believe that you can handle it."

"Oh, thank you Professor, should I go to his classroom now?" said Hermione, wondering if there was a class going on.

"Not right now, Professor Snape has a class. But go to him tomorrow morning and you two can discuss scheduling and he will most likely give you some research to do for your next lesson."

"Okay."

"Now get to your first class Ms. Granger."

Hermione left the headmistresses office and went to potions with Professor Slughorn. When she arrived she met a curious Ron and Harry asking why she had been late for the first class of the school year, Hermione doesn't usually miss these things, she even tried to keep up on her studies during the war. She gave them a look that said they would talk about it later.

All of her classes seemed like a blur when she arrived at the Great Hall for lunch. She could remember taking notes, and raising her hand and answering questions, but she could not remember the subject matter talked about in any of them. She was nervous, but also excited for her first meeting with Professor Snape, she wondered what his response would be to her picking him as a mentor. She had shown clear dislike for him for years, as did he, but now, after the war, she is looking towards him with a new light. Like a hero, not like the man that had made her life hell for six years.

"Hermione, where were you during Potions, we were worried about you?" asks Harry sitting down next to Hermione at the Gryffindor table.

"Yeah, worried we wouldn't have your notes to study off of for the NEWTS!" says Ron sitting down on the other side of her.

"Well thank you for caring Harry, I was in McGonagall's office, the Professors think that I should master Potions and start my apprenticeship this year."

"Spend all day with old Slughorn," Ron says shoving food down his throat at what Hermione presumed to be the fastest speed possible.

"No, with Professor Snape."

"SNAPE, why would you want to spend all day with that slimy git!"

"I wouldn't be spending all day with him, just a couple of extra classes! Don't forget, he is a hero, he has saved your life on multiple occasions and all you call him is a slimy git! He had the most difficult part during the war; lying to Voldemort! If he had been discovered, we would all be dead."

"Whatever, I still don't understand why you would want to spend all day with the git, he hated Harry, he just saved him because he stalked Harry's mum."

"Ron! He loved her. He would have died for her!"

"He stalked her."

Hermione could not believe the immaturity of Ron, even after the war he had not grown up. He had almost died on several occasions, you would've thought that that would have forced him to grow up.

"Whatever, Ron, I off to the library, have loads of homework to do." says Hermione, she hears someone respond to her, but she is unsure of what they said. She really needs to get some new friends.

After her trip to the library, which she spent napping because she had not had any homework, thank goodness Harry and Ron didn't take Arithmancy, the rest of the day pasted by with the same blur the morning had, she skipped dinner and went right to the dormitories, nervous about having to meet Professor Snape the next day. Their meeting at the Great Hall that morning had not exactly been friendly, and she was afraid that he felt some resentment for the way that he was treated during the war.

When she got to her dormitory, she had nothing to do. The clock only said 7:00 and she knew that that was an unacceptable time to go to sleep. She picked up Hogwarts, A History again, hoping that it would put her to sleep.

Severus:

Severus groans when the light hits his eyes forcing him into consciousness. It is his first day teaching again at Hogwarts. He doesn't know if he will be able to handle the strain on his weakened body. The snake bite had drained his body of all energy for a month, and he had only had time to spend another month recovering and he is unsure of how taxing the school day would be.

Severus rolls on his side and looks at the clock hanging on the wall 7:00, he groans again. He doesn't need to be awake for another hour; however, now that he is awake, he would never be able to fall asleep. He gets out of bed, showers, puts on his robes and goes down to the Great Hall to get something to eat before the rest of the schools population awakes.

He sits at the teachers table alone, thankful that no one else was there, trying to converse with him. He drinks his pumpkin juice and eats his toast quickly and rushes out of there.

When he reaches the door, he pushes it open and there stands Hermione Granger. He hadn't seen her since the war, but she appears to be aged far beyond her years, something that war would do to a person. "Ms. Granger," he greets.

"Oh, Professor Snape, hi!" she says looking up and blushing slightly as surprise covers her face. "I wanted to thank you, for everything, and I apologize for not trusting you, I can only imagine what you've been through."

"Yes, Ms. Granger, you can only imagine," he interrupts, tired of her droning and wanting to get back to his quarters, "And if you would please not waste any more of my time…" he finishes.

"Oh, sorry, yes, sir," she says stepping out of his way. Severus goes back to his quarters, when he arrives he looks around. Back at Hogwarts he thinks to himself. And now, what do I do with my life. Severus had spent most of his existence in love with Lily Evans. Now, after the war, after he had saved her son from dying multiple times, there was nothing left. Except his potions.

Severus loved brewing potions, researching ingredients and ways to improve potions, and even creating new potions. He was lucky that he had enough patience and concentration to make it his career. Due to magic being able to instantly gratify a which or wizards needs instantly, there was a huge lack in the character trait of patience.

He looked at the clock, 7:35. It didn't take long to get from the Great Hall to his quarters. Classes didn't start until 8:30, so he had enough time to brew something for the Hospital Wing stores. He looks at the list of potions needed by Madame Pomfrey….. Pepper-Up Potion, that was easy enough.

Severus gathers and prepares the ingredients. He is slower than he used to be …before the bites. He begins to brew and lapses into the familiar pattern.

His concentration is broken by a knock on the door. "Shit," he mumbles and casts a stasis spell over the cauldron. "Enter."

"Oh Snape, thank goodness you're here," says a slightly out of breath Minerva, rushing into his rooms, "Remember what I talked to you about over the summer, about Ms. Granger, have you considered it? You wouldn't want Horace to be the one mentoring her would you."

Ahhh… that's what this is about. Snape had completely forgotten about the Headmistress' request. Him mentoring the insufferable know it all. Didn't seem too appealing. The headmistress did have a point, Horace mentoring a student, alone! She wouldn't survive the first week without being sent to St. Mungo's for an abnormal mental condition. It would also give him something to do, he subconsciously thought.

"If it would please you Minerva."

"Oh Severus, thank you!" she says running out the door as quickly as she came in. What had he just signed himself up for.

He heard chatter from the door that connected with his classroom and sighed, Another year back at school.

Severus leaned back into his chair and stretched his neck from side to side. God how he hated teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. Now that the Dark Lord was not in position to make Snape stay in the position, he wanted out. He could not stand the students who were unable to wave their wand and say the spell correctly, what the hell was the point of being a wizard if you are unable to do that. It infuriated Severus to no end.

He looked at the clock, 5:00, and he had two detentions coming at 8:00. What moron got a detention on the first day. These children were becoming less disciplined as the years went by. The feast didn't start until 6:00 and if he didn't want to be forced to attend by Minerva he better get something to eat now.

He went to the portrait and tickled the pear to get into the kitchen, "Master Snape, what would you like Sir!" said the house elf closest to him, Slinky or something like that.

"Would you please deliver some sandwiches to my room, I will not be attending the feast."

"Yes Master Snape, Winky will be there right away!" Winky was the creatures name. He was close.

He goes back to his rooms and sees that the sandwiches have already arrived. He eats a couple and remembers the Pepper-Up Potion he started that morning, he jumps up and rushes to the cauldron, eager for something to do, disables the stasis spell and gets to brewing.

Yet again his concentration is broken by a knock on the door. He casts another stasis spell and says, "Enter."

Minerva rushes in yet again. "Will you be attending the feast, Severus?"

"No Minerva, as you can see I am brewing and had the house elves deliver some food to my room already."

"Oh, I just thought that you would like to be there for the first feast this year."

"Minerva, you cannot get me to come, and this is not the first feast of this year, there was one just last night, which I was forced to attend, despite my protests."

"Well the classes hadn't started yet, so that does not count as this year."

"Yes Minerva it does." he says opening the door and pointing to it to hint that she should leave. The women did not know when to leave him alone, "And can you please announce that anyone who was assigned a detention with me should now report to Argus, I'm not up to punishing them." He was sure that Filch wouldn't mind. He loved to punish kids, unfortunately his favorite form of punishing was now illegal.

"Fine Severus. But you will attend the next one." she says walking out the door.

"No, I will not," he says shutting the door in her face before she has a chance to rebut.

He glances at his unfinished potion and decides against finishing him that night, his argument with Minerva made him realize how exhausted he is. He was still recovering and was not able to overtax his body, which he was afraid he had already done teaching his dunderheaded students. He sighed, went into his bedroom, stripped down into his boxers, got into his bed, and went to sleep.