Disclaimer: Harry Potter and characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and co. There are a number of made up characters, and they belong to me.
Mnemosyne
Chapter One: Return
The halls seemed darker and emptier than she recalled. Of course, it had been a little over three years since she had last stepped foot into what she had once considered her safe haven, six since she had graduated from here.
Hermione Granger shivered, pulling her cloak closer to her body with one hand, the other gripping the small bag filled with all her personal belongings.
Smiling bleakly at the familiar passages and paintings, she swiftly made her way into the middle of the castle, stopping in front of the infamous hunched gargoyle.
Images of the times she, Harry and Ron had stood outside this passageway flashed in her mind before she firmly pushed down all thoughts of the past. Mumbling the password that had been given to her, the gargoyle jumped out of her way, allowing her entrance the Headmaster's office.
Deep in thought, she slowly made her way up the steps. Suddenly she found herself in front of the wooden door. Taking a deep breath, Hermione knocked twice, before the door swung open.
She walked through the doorway and made her way to Albus Dumbledore's desk. The aged wizard stood up with a slight sigh, and his kindly face smiled down at her.
Looking into his clear blue eyes that still twinkled after everything that had happened, Hermione felt like she would break down into tears. Shaking her head slightly, she steeled herself and said quietly, "Headmaster, it is nice to see you again," while holding out a hand for him to shake.
He quickly took her slightly trembling hand in both of his warm ones and smiled once more. "It is a pleasure to see you again as well, Hermione. But please, dear, it is Albus now. You are no longer a student here, and have not been for some time." He released her hand, gesturing for her to take a seat in one of the comfortable armchairs in front of his desk. He continued, "I am very glad that you have decided to accept the invitation and join us this year. We are very lucky to have you here, Hermione."
"Thank you sir," Hermione answered, in a slightly stiff voice.
"Our previous Transfiguration teacher followed Minerva's course schedule, not preparing his own. If you wish to use Minerva's that is up to you. You can, however, prepare your own syllabus as long as you follow the guidelines for the curriculum," Albus stated, getting right to the point of the meeting.
Hermione nodded, suddenly choked up as her mentor and dear friend was brought into the conversation.
Albus's gaze softened, and his voice was soothing when he said, "I am sure Minerva would be absolutely thrilled to know that you are teaching here as the Transfigurations Professor. She would be equally happy to know you are becoming the Head of Gryffindor House. She would be very proud of you Hermione. Never forget that, or think otherwise."
Hermione looked down at her hands, and nodded once more. Breathing in and then out slowly, she schooled her face into a blank expression, cleared her throat and looked up.
"Thank you Albus. That means a lot to me. Now, if you could please show me to my rooms, I have some unpacking and preparing to do," she said calmly, revealing little emotion.
Albus looked at her searchingly for several seconds before nodding and standing up.
"Alright, then," he said with a smile. "Shall we?" he offered Hermione his arm, and the two made their way out of his office and into the hallway.
On their way to Hermione's new quarters, which were very close to the Gryffindor Tower, Hermione was silent. Every once in a while, Albus would glance at Hermione, who did not seem to be paying much attention to his friendly rambling. Inwardly sighing and trying to think of ways to pull Hermione out of the depression she had so obviously sunken into, Dumbledore kept up his chatter until they had successfully reached the door to her new rooms.
As they came to a halt, Hermione looked up at the headmaster, who was watching her intently. Smiling down at her, he said softly, "Hermione, it is nice to have you here. I know everything has been tense and things have not been exactly cheerful, but it will get better. I promise."
Patting her arm before she had a chance to reply, he continued, "There is a staff meeting in about two hours in the Great Hall. Formal robes, or any outer robes for that matter, are not required since there are no students here. I will see you then. Please make yourself comfortable, and if you need anything I am sure Dobby would be thrilled to be of service. The current password is 'Godric'. To change this one to one of your own, you need to be inside. All you have to do is say the current password and then the one you want to change it to. It will only work for the owner of the rooms, or myself, so do not worry about someone changing your password. I think that is all. See you tonight, my dear."
With that, he swiftly turned on his heel and disappeared down the hall.
Hermione stood watching him for a second before sighing and turning towards her door.
Here goes nothing, she thought somewhat bitterly to herself, opening the door to her new rooms.
Walking into her chambers, a sense of déjà vu swept through Hermione. The image of a sobbing Hermione, four years younger, entering the room and being greeted by Minerva with a huge, motherly hug invaded Hermione's mind.
Hermione shook her head, getting rid of the image as soon as it formed in her mind. Setting her shoulders, she walked fully into the room and looked around.
She was standing in a beautiful sitting room with a couch and two matching armchairs that stood in front of a brick fireplace. The floor was covered with a plush beige carpet that matched the hangings around the two large windows. The walls were a light cream and there were both Muggle and Wizard paintings of landscapes and flowers hanging on the walls.
After admiring the bright room, Hermione walked towards the door at the far end of the room and into the kitchenette. Putting her bag down on the small wooden table, she continued her exploration of her quarters. The kitchenette had the wooden table that held four matching carved chairs, a small refrigerator, an oven and the equivalent of a Muggle toaster-oven. These walls were a plain white and the floor had pale, pale blue tiling.
The next room was her bedroom. Occupying most of the room was by far the largest four poster bed that Hermione had ever seen. The desk and dressers in the room were made of beautiful dark mahogany and had intricate carvings around the edges. The room was decorated in Gryffindor colors, red and gold. Hermione smiled slightly, remembering Minerva's passion for her house.
Finishing her sweep of the bedroom, Hermione pulled out her wand and summoned her bag from the kitchen. As she placed the bag on the bed and opened it, Hermione thought of the Muggle movie Mary Poppins. She had always wanted the nanny's bag that had held everything and anything. She had been quite proud of herself when she had been successful in charming one to match the one Mary Poppins had owned. Smiling again, she reached into the bag and started pulling out her belongings and placing the items around her room.
An hour later, Hermione pulled the last picture out of her bag. She placed the picture of her, Ron and Harry taken at graduation on the dresser next to her bed. Staring at it for several seconds, Hermione felt the familiar gloom and emptiness start to overwhelm her.
Dragging her eyes away from the waving picture, she walked into the bathroom to clean up before the staff meeting. She gasped when she entered the extravagant room.
Tiles of silver, cream, lavender, and light pink covered the floor and stretched halfway up the walls. The rest of the walls were papered with a pink and lavender design. A gorgeous vanity made of white marble covered half of one of the immense walls, matching a counter with two gold-plated sinks. A porcelain toilet sat in one corner, hidden slightly by the counter with the sinks. In the corner across from the toilet stood a tiled shower with beautiful glass doors with etchings of two swans. The main part of the bathroom, however, was dominated by considerably larger than normal sized bathtub. Jets could be seen here and there along the sides of the Jacuzzi-like tub. There were eight golden taps, placed evenly along the edges of the tub, each one with different colored jeweled handles.
Glancing quickly at her watch, Hermione smiled when she saw that there was roughly forty-five minutes before she had to meet with the other professors. Walking over to the tub, she began turning on the faucets in order to fill the tub. Colorful streams of water cascaded out of the eight faucets, accompanied by different aromas. When the tub was filled, Hermione stripped and climbed gracefully into the water. Leaning her head on the edge and letting her body float in the hot water, she relaxed in the bathtub, letting the scents of different fruits and flowers flow over and around her.
With a flick of her wand, gentle music filled the luxurious bathroom and Hermione closed her eyes and let herself completely relax.
* * * *
Thirty-five minutes later, an extremely peaceful Hermione walked out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom. No longer tense and stressed, she dressed quickly in a simple Muggle lilac sundress. It was a very flattering dress, not extremely low-cut, but revealing a great deal of neck and skin. The sleeves were only inches past her shoulders, with a slit on the top of each one, making them flutter whenever she moved.
Her once bushy tangle of hair was gleaming and soft, completely frizz-free. On impulse, Hermione left it to hang down her back, where it reached her waist. Putting a touch of lip-gloss on, she surveyed her appearance quickly, tucked her wand into a small, well hidden pocket of her dress, and walked out of her room.
On her way to the Great Hall, Hermione's feelings of anxiety and unease began to return. She knew that she had changed greatly in the years since she had seen many of her teachers. She did not know exactly who would still be teaching, or how they would react to these changes in her.
Finally reaching the entrance of the Great Hall, Hermione's nervousness suddenly increased ten-fold.
Who was still teaching? Who had moved away? Who had taken over the positions of those who had died? Who had died that had been here the last time I was here? Stop it! You're being foolish! she scolded herself. It's just a staff meeting. You know you can do this! You're a teacher now, and in order to meet your colleagues, you need to open the damn door! Go! Stop being such…
Hermione's silent scolding was interrupted by a cough behind her. Whirling around, she stared at the man that stood behind her with an amused expression on his face. Not moving, Hermione observed the man standing before her.
He looked to be around the same age as her, but surprisingly did not have the many worry lines that graced the presence of many people nowadays. He was a couple of inches taller than her, not surprising since Hermione was still rather short. He had a slight, wiry body that belied the muscles evident in his chest and arms. His piercing blue eyes were appraising her as they both stood there not moving. His shoulder length, dark blond hair was so curly and soft looking that it took a good deal of Hermione's self control not to run her fingers through his curls.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your thoughts, miss, but I kind of need to get into there," he said with a charming smile and a slight Scottish accent.
Hermione started, then moved away, blushing slightly, saying, "Sorry, I zoned out there for a second. Are you teaching here this year?"
He nodded to her and offered her his hand. "Miles Raine, Combat and Offensive Magic Professor, at your service ma'am," he said, still smiling.
Hermione took his hand and replied, "Hermione Granger, Transfigurations Professor and Head of Gryffindor."
His eyes widened slightly in surprise as he quickly looked her up and down again. Hermione's smile disappeared as she realized that once again, her damned name had caused this reaction. She understood all too well what Harry had been talking about all those times…Harry.
"Shall we?" he asked, waving a hand at the doors before she could continue her thoughts.
She gave him a small smile and nodded. As he opened the doors, he offered her his arm, and together they entered the hall
* * * *
"Severus!…Severus I know that you're in here! Ten minutes, that's all. If you're not there, do not think I won't resort to coming and getting you myself!...Severus!! Fine…ten minutes and you better be there!"
Severus Snape laughed silently to himself from the safety of his bedroom as the head of Albus Dumbledore yelled at him from the fireplace of his sitting room.
Sitting against the headboard of his bed, he carefully started organizing the different Potions' books, articles, and journals that he had been reading through. Glancing in the mirror, he grimaced when he saw his rumpled state, and quickly changed his clothes.
Now donned in expensive black slacks and a nice dark green polo shirt, he placed his wand in his pocket and walked quickly out of his chambers towards the Great Hall. Exactly ten minutes after Albus' head had appeared in his fireplace, Severus threw the doors open with a bang, swept into the hall towards the single round table that stood in the center of the room.
Damn! Fell for that one again! Severus thought to himself as he glanced around the empty room. Did the same thing to you last year and you still fell for it! You'd think you'd learn by know! he scolded himself.
Taking an empty seat that faced the entrance of the hall, Severus allowed himself to slouch comfortably in the chair and gaze at the enchanted ceiling.
Magnificent, he marveled. Glancing around at the large empty table, he wondered to himself, Wonder who's going to be teaching this year…who's coming back for another year and who will take the places of those who left…
Gazing at the ceiling once more, Severus sat lost in his thoughts. As he began to tap his foot, a habit he had developed when sitting in silence for too long, he absently started rubbing his left forearm.
He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't see or hear anyone enter the Great Hall until the person pulled out a chair, making a scraping noise that echoed throughout the Hall.
Jumping slightly as he was jolted out his thoughts, Severus looked up at the person who had just sat down and groaned to himself.
"Albus," he said with an exaggerated grimace.
"Good morning, Severus," Albus greeted cheerfully, holding out a pouch of sweets, "Lemon drop?" When Severus shook his head no, Albus continued with a smile, "I see you're here on time, my boy. Glad to see it."
Severus glowered at the headmaster for a couple of seconds before allowing his face to relax into a small smile.
"You would think I would catch on already, wouldn't you?" he asked his mentor.
Albus smiled knowingly, eyes twinkling. "Yes, one would think that, wouldn't they?" he asked. Glancing at Severus's right arm that was still absently rubbing his left arm, a concerned look passed over Albus's face. "It isn't still bothering you, is it?"
Looking down, Severus realized what he was doing and quickly moved his hand away from his forearm. Looking back up at Albus, he answered, "Not at all. Old habits, you know. It's amazing actually, that it doesn't bother me. After so many years…"
Albus nodded in understanding as Severus trailed off.
Shaking his head, he changed the subject. "Who's not coming back this year?" he asked curiously.
"Poppy has decided to retire after seventy years as our beloved Medi-Witch. As much as we will miss her, I have a feeling we shall be seeing her often, for her niece Elizabeth is taking her place," Albus answered.
Severus nodded as he remembered Elizabeth from a few years earlier. "Anyone else?"
"Binns has finally decided that he no longer wants to teach students. I think he is planning on traveling, well as far as he can in his designated haunting areas," Albus said with a smile.
"Took him almost thirty years," smirked Severus. "So there are only two new staff members then?"
"No, five actually," replied Albus. "The Transfigurations, Ancient Runes and Combat/Offensive Magic Professors are new as well, but you will meet them all shortly."
Before Severus could pry Albus about information on the new staff members, the doors opened once more, allowing Sirius Black and Filius Flitwick to enter, deep in conversation.
"Good morning, Sirius, Filius," welcomed Albus happily.
"Morning Albus, Severus," replied Sirius, pulling up a chair beside Severus.
"How were your summers?" asked Filius after greeting the two seated men.
"Marvelous," replied Albus, sucking on a lemon drop.
"Quite nice," responded Severus. "Very relaxing. And yours?"
"No terrorizing children then Severus?" Sirius piped up with a smile on his face.
"No one other than you, Black," Severus growled with mock disdain, clapping the other man on the back.
"Now, now. No need to fight," Filius interrupted with a wide grin. "Besides, I don't think you've heard my news! I'm a great-grandfather!" the tiny professor squeaked excitedly, beaming.
"Congratulations Filius!" exclaimed the other three men.
The four were then caught up in a discussion about children, as Filius pulled out a number of moving pictures of his new great-grandson. This led to the four talking about the once dwindling but now rising population of wizards.
As they talked comfortably, Severus kept track of those who entered in the hall. He recognized most, except for a young man who was sitting uncomfortably at next to Filius. He smiled and nodded to Blaise Zambini, who had not been there last year, and wondered what position his former student was teaching.
The staff continued to talk amongst themselves until there were only three open chairs. The doors opened again, and Severus looked up to see a man and woman enter, arm in arm.
His breath caught as he gazed at the familiar looking woman. She was rather short, and dainty looking, but Severus could see that she had a will of steel from the way she regally held herself. Her tresses hung down to her waist in soft, full ringlets. Her dark brown hair was streaked with reds and golds, causing it to shine and almost glimmer in the light from the ceiling. The pale lavender sundress that she was wearing fit her exquisitely, molding to her full form elegantly.
Her eyes, however, where what Severus could not tear his gaze away from. They were deep, deep brown, like melted chocolate. They were wide and shone with an inner light. Yet, they looked cold and hard at the same time, as if cut of from the world. Severus was spellbound by these eyes, unmoving until he felt Sirius put a hand on his arm.
"Beautiful, isn't she?" he asked, sounding slightly amused.
"Yes," Severus answered softly, still watching the woman as she made her way to one of the empty seats. His eyes barely glanced at the young man accompanying her as they once again made their way back to the mystery woman. "Enchanting," he murmured. "She looks very familiar," he continued softly.
Vaguely, he was aware of Sirius chuckling and then getting up. His eyes focused on him, however, and he saw Sirius move towards the woman. He was able to hear their greetings.
"Hello Sirius. It's been a long time," the woman said as she rose, smiling a beautiful smile.
"Yes, it definitely has been too long, Hermione," Sirius answered as he leaned in to hug her affectionately.
Severus stared in shock at the woman, thoughts racing.
Hermione? No…it's can't be her. Hermione Granger? The Gryffindor know-it-all? Definitely not! he scoffed at the idea. Looking more closely however, he was able to see the resemblance to the girl he had last seen almost four years ago. Merlin! It is her! My god, she definitely has changed. And not at all for the worse, either, he thought to himself, instantly shocked at these thoughts towards an ex-student.
He was brought out of his thoughts as Hermione addressed him after seeing him watching her.
"Hello Professor Snape," she said, her musical voice reaching him from across the table.
Musical voice? Where the hell did that come from? he thought angrily as he answered her somewhat stiffly, "Miss Granger."
Holding his gaze for a second longer, he saw her eyes harder ever so slightly, before she turned back to Sirius, and Severus forced himself to look away.
The doors to the Great Hall opened once more and a young, cheerful looking witch bounced into the room, taking a seat in the last empty chair. Albus cleared his throat, waiting for everyone to quiet down and Sirius made his way back to the chair next to Severus.
"Welcome, my friends, to another year at Hogwarts," the Headmaster began, smiling at his staff. "I am pleased to welcome everyone back after a wonderful summer break, and I would like to introduce everyone, seeing as we have five new members to add to our staff this year.
Starting with the young man on his left, Albus began introducing the staff.
"We welcome back Mister Neville Longbottom, our esteemed Herbology Professor, as well as Miss Lavender Brown, our Divinations Professor. I would like to introduce our new Ancient Runes Professor, Mister Blaise Zambini, and our new Medi-Witch, Miss Elizabeth Pomfrey. Elizabeth is Poppy's lovely niece and I expect we shall be seeing Poppy quite often," he said with a warm smile. "We have a new Combat and Offensive Magic Professor, Mister Miles Raine, and sitting next to Miles is our new Transfigurations Professor and Head of Gryffindor House, Miss Hermione Granger. Welcome back to Mrs. Morgana Hooch, our esteemed and well loved Flying Instrictor, as well as Mrs. Angela Vector, our Arithmancy Professor. Mister Justin Finch-Fletchey will be continuing as our Muggles Studies Professor and as the Head of the Hufflepuff House. I would like to welcome back Miss Maud Valence, wo is returning to us this year to continue as Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. I give Maud a large amount of credit as this position has not been filled by the same person two years in a row for many, many years. Mister Thomas Hudson is our new History of Magic Professor, as Professor Binns as finally decided to enter into his well-deserved retirement. Our Head of Ravenclaw House and Charms Professor is Mister Filius Flitwick, and beside him is our Groundskeeper and Care of Magical Creatures Professor, Mister Sirius Black. Last but definitely not least, is our Deputy Headmaster, Head of Slytherin House and Potions Master, Mister Severus Snape," Albus finished, eyes twinkling at the incredibly long commentary he had just completed.
Severus, who had been following Albus's introduction with his eyes, noticed that Hermione's eyebrow slightly rose at his title of Deputy Headmaster. He wondered what that meant, when he realized what Albus had said about her.
Wonderful, he thought. Of course Albus would make her the Head of Gryffindor. She's practically the spitting image of a younger Minerva, and of course she would be her successor, he though, not completely bitter at the idea of having to spend all the planning time required between the four heads of the houses of Hogwarts. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he focused on what Albus was saying.
* * * *
The first thing Hermione noticed when she walked into the Great Hall was the fact that almost every chair at the large circular table was occupied.
Are we late? she thought, panicked and slightly uncomfortable at the fact that almost all eyes were on the pair.
As she let Miles lead her over to the table, Hermione let her eyes wander around the seats, picking out people who she knew and looked familiar. She was glad to see many of those present and nodded to Neville, Lavender and Filius as her eyes connected with theirs. Halfway to the two empty chairs that they were heading to, Hermione's gaze fell on her ex-Potions Professor. She was surprised to see that he was staring intensely at her. She was even more surprised when she saw an emotion in his usually cold and hard eyes. She smiled to herself when she realized that she saw some confusion, and that Severus Snape didn't recognize her.
Hermione looked away from him as Miles pulled out her chair for her, and smiled at him in thanks. Glancing around the room again, she noticed Sirius making her way towards her. Getting up and smiling warmly, Hermione said, "Hello Sirius. It's been a long time." She smiled to herself again as she waited to Sirius to say her name, looking forward to Snape's reaction.
"Yes, it definitely has been too long, Hermione," Sirius answered as he leaned in to hug her affectionately.
Returning the hug, Hermione glanced over Sirius' shoulder at Snape, and was satisfied to see the shock that was written there.
Giving him a moment to process the information, Hermione quickly introduced Sirius and Miles.
"Sirius, this Miles Raine, the new Combat teacher. Miles, this is my good friend, Sirius Black. No doubt you have heard of him," she said, chuckling softly at the stunned look on Mile's face.
After the battle between the Dark and the Light, Peter Pettigrew had been apprehended by the Aurors and the truth about what had happened so many years ago had finally come out. To say that people were shocked was an understatement. Sirius had been awarded the Order of Merlin, as an apology for spending twelve years in Azkaban even though he was innocent.
Although, not all people were happy about the arrangement, Hermione thought wryly, once again glancing at her ex-Professor.
Turning to him fully, she finally greeted him across the table.
"Hello, Professor Snape."
Hermione saw something change in his eyes as he coldly answered her, "Miss Granger."
Fine. Good to see that some people don't change. If he wants to play it that way, be a cold bastard why don't you, Hermione thought somewhat angrily, mentally yelling at Snape in her head. Forcing herself to look away from him, she turned away to talk to Miles.
Before she could say anything, however, a cute, bouncy witch practically ran into the room and to the only available seat on the other side of Miles.
Before Hermione could introduce herself to the witch, Albus stood up at cleared his throat.
"Welcome, my friends, to another year at Hogwarts," the Headmaster began…
* * * *
A/N: This chapter might be slightly confusing, as it jumps from one perspective to another. There may be characters that are extremely out of character, but this is six years since Hermione's graduation from Hogwarts. She is around the age of twenty-four, and people change, especially if there are wars or extremely emotional situations. But I'm getting ahead of myself and everything will be explained in upcoming chapters. Hope you enjoy the story…it's my first try at a Hermione/Severus, so sorry if it starts off oddly. Please review with any comments/corrections, anything really, for I love hearing people's opinions. Hope you enjoyed!
A/N2: Just to let people know, the title is from Greek mythology and has to do with memory. Since this story has to do with the past, I thought this name was fitting. Thanks to Andrea!