A/N: I had this story in my head for quite a while, but I did not know exactly how to put things in place, until now. Severus Snape has always been my favorite character, and one of the things that saddens me most about books is that he is so lonely, so this story is basically me, trying to fill a void in my own heart. Hope you like it.

Chapter One: New And A Bit Alarming...

Emmeline could not believe her eyes. She was standing on the porch, her heavy backpack ruining her left shoulder, and the market shopping under her other arm, in her hands the little yellow envelope she had found in front of the door. That could only be a joke, she thought, studying the letter more closely, the paper was thick and the envelope had been carefully sealed. But it seems so real...

A loud meow made her start, looking down, Emme found Scones, her pet cat, curled up on her legs.

"Oh, it's you," she sighed. "If you could, I bet you'd be laughing at me, wouldn't you?"

The cat growled, and as crazy as it seemed, it sounded like agreement. Annoyed, the girl slipped the envelope into the pocket of her pants and fished the keys, opening the door and closing it behind Scones. The television was on in the local paper, but the lady sitting in front of the device snored loudly. Emmeline smiled as she passed by her grandmother, she went to the kitchen, put the groceries on the counter, and got rid of her backpack.

She still had some time until the medication, she noticed looking at the clock on the wall. Emme pulled the envelope from her pocket and looked more closely. The unmistakable coat was stamped on the front of the envelope. A letter from Hogwarts! Emme had been obsessed with the Harry Potter universe since the age of seven, when her grandfather gave her the first book, and until she was eleven, the girl always expected to receive a letter like that. In fact, until she was thirteen she still had hopes, but she certainly did not believe it at the age of seventeen.

Maybe it was some promotion inspired by the universe created by J.K Rowling, nothing more, and she was freaking out for nothing. But who could blame her? Any self-respecting Harry Potter fan may have wished the wizarding world had really existed ... Smiling at her stupidity, Emme opened the envelope and pulled out two sheets of yellowed paper. The first one said:

Dear Ms. Emmeline Gray,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Emme blinked, stunned. It was really a stupid joke.

She took the other sheet, her hands shaking slightly, out of anger or whatever.

The seventh grade magic extension program opens up opportunities for students from other institutions to join the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in order to prepare for the delivery of N. by the end of the school year. The subjects to be studied must be previously requested by the students by correspondence.

Emme had never heard of that extension program before. She searched for something in her mind. She had read the Harry Potter saga more times than she could count, and a detail like that certainly would not have gone unnoticed. Still, the girl pulled the phone from her pocket and opened a tab on Google, then typed several terms, always frustrating to find nothing to send her search. Finally, she sighed and put away her cell phone.

Beneath the sheet was the usual list of equipment and books, as Harry had supposedly received throughout his years at Hogwarts.

UNIFORM

Seventh-year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS:

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 7) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Advanced Potion-making, Noel Green

Transfiguration for the middle course by Emeric Switch

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

1 broomstick, at the student's choice

Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

Emmeline was smiling without realizing it. As much as the books cited belonged to the sixth year, the inclusion of the uniform and other equipment only appeared in the letters of the first year, and whoever had sent that letter to Emme, really wanted her to feel that she was even getting a place to join at Hogwarts in September. As if that were possible...

Her cell phone began to vibrate, Emme caught it startled, it was the alarm. She stood up resignedly, took the envelope and walked with it to the bin, where she let it fall. She could not afford to dream of a fantasy world at this point, she had a life to take care of. And she had a grandmother, who right now had to take her medicine.

Emmeline erased the calculation for the thirtieth time, frowning. She was especially bad at physics, but she prided herself on being especially good at other subjects, and Emme was good at many non-academic subjects, for example, she had an impressive memory and was very good at decorating information. She could cite in alphabetical form each of the Harry Potter spells and its implications...

Emme shook her head. No, she should not have been thinking about it, but it was really hard, actually. She did not believe the letter, of course, Harry Potter was fantastic, but it was still a fiction, and as much as the inner child in her wanted to believe that Hogwarts' imperious castle, like its teachers and its secrets, were real, she was big enough not to be influenced by desires. Emme had more responsibilities than an ordinary teenager, she had lived with her grandparents since she was six years old, after her parents' unexpected death, her grandfather died two years later, and since then she lived alone with her grandmother, Georgina. Things had not always been easy, but they had worsened dramatically since the discovery of Alzheimer's two years ago, and have been at a steady level ever since.

Emme had to get a job earlier than expected, since, even with the grandparents' retirement, expenses had increased with her grandmother's medicines, and Georgina refused to let Emme play the money left by her parents, claiming that it would be used solely to pay for her college. Emme, however, liked to work in the town's nightclub, it was a quiet job and the bosses were nice people, but more than that, she was grateful for not having much free time to be dreaming of a different life.

Emme did not have many friends, only Nicole and Andie, whom she did not see so often, and of course, she had Scones, but his preference was for Georgina, and he would always make that clear.

Toc, toc.

Emme looked up from the paper in time to see her grandmother entering the room. She had a tray of sandwiches, and she smiled. When her remedies were up, it was almost impossible to say that she was suffering from mental illness.

- Honey, still studying? This can not be healthy.

Emme smiled and sat down.

"I've got tests next week, and I'm super late."

Her grandmother's brow furrowed. Emme knew what she was thinking, that she was guilty because Emme did not have a normal life, they always discussed about it. Emme touched her temples, her head starting to ache.

"Should not you be watching that cooking show?" She asked.

"Oh, yeah, I just wanted to get you something to eat, and, uh, I also wanted to see you opening this up, here."

Emme nearly fell out of bed when her grandmother handed her a letter identical to the one she'd thrown in the trash yesterday.

"Grandma ..." Emme took the letter in her hands, trembling. "Where did you find that?"

"Well, actually ..." And then, to Emme's shock, her grandmother pulled a pack of identical letters from her coat pocket. "That one I found nowhere near the front door, but they've been here for weeks, and every time you were at work, so I put them in the drawer, but I never remembered to deliver them to you."

She shrugged, looking guilty.

Emme, however, was struggling with panic.

She took the bundle of letters, and began to open them frantically, they were all the same. But what is it?

"You have to go, my dear." Grandma said over her shoulder.

"Go where, Grandma?"

"Hogwarts. Those letters are from there, are not they?"

Emme gave a bitter laugh.

"You can not really believe that. It must be some bad joke on somebody, like that note at Christmas."

"That happened five years ago, Emme," the grandmother countered. "Besides, that's different."

"Yeah, this is crazy. Hogwarts! Please!"

The girl got up, picking up all the cards with her.

"What will you do?"

"I'm going to burn it all."

"Emme…"

But Emmeline was already coming down the stairs, she came into the kitchen feeling itchy scalp, she did not know exactly why she was so dismayed, but somehow that play had taken her from the axes. If she discovered the author of this trick, the person would have serious problems.

Emme turned on the electric fireplace and threw the letters one by one, watching them burn in the bluish fire. Part of herself felt glad to see them burning, another part was not quite sure about how to feel. The girl was so focused on getting rid of the envelopes that she did not even notice when her grandmother appeared at her side.

"Honey," Georgina called, touching her granddaughter on the shoulder.

Emme sighed.

"Sorry, Grandma," she said. "I know I was badly educated up there, it's just that it's driving me crazy."

Emmeline waited for some wise response from her grandmother, but only received silence. Looking up, she found a stunned expression on Georgina's face, her thin lips parted and her blue eyes bulging.

Emme jumped to her feet.

"Grandmother! Grandma, what happened? Are you alright?"

Georgina just raised the gauge, pointing toward the living room window. Emme turned to look, and automatically her jaw dropped. Hovering in the air in front of the window, in a confusion of feathers and beak, was a beautiful brown owl.

For a full minute none of the Gray women sketched a reaction, then the owl, looking annoyed, began to peck at the glass more insistently. Emme shook her head, sure that she had fallen asleep while doing her homework, and that this was all a crazy dream, she went to the window and opened it, the owl flew in and went to land on the coffee table. Georgina stared at the animal with adoration and surprise.

"How did you end up here, huh?" Emme asked, approaching, as if to understand it, the owl stretched its leg towards her, a brown leather bag was stuck there, Emme reached out and took out a piece of rolled parchment.

Again with her hands shaking, she unrolled it and lifted it to her eyes.

Dear Miss Emmeline Gray,

You are being invited to attend Diagon Alley on the 30th of July at 1:00 p.m. All students in the Magic Extension Program will need to follow up on the purchase and choice of their materials. What's more, it's a great opportunity to get to know your classmates beforehand.

Regards,

Christopher Gaarder

Chief President

When she finished reading, Emme lifted a hand to her mouth.

Georgina, who had approached and read the message on the granddaughter's shoulders, uttered an exclamation.

"Now you believe?" She asked.

Emme cleared her throat.

"Grandmma... I ... I can not believe it."

But her grandmother was not listening, she had turned her back on her way to the kitchen, and then returned with a pot of biscuits, took two in the palm of her hand, and offered them the owl, which paid attention to both.

"What is she waiting for?" Emme asked.

"Isn't it obvious? She's waiting for your reply to the letter from Hogwarts." Georgina laughed, and then, as if to confirm her speech, a slight swish was heard, and looking at the front door, they saw that a yellow envelope had just been passed under the door.

Emme let her head fall into her hands.

"This can not be happening."

A/N: I know you might be looking forward to see Emme and her new potions teacher meeting, believe me, me too, but first we needed to know Emmeline and her life better. The title of the story is already very suggestive, but if there was still any doubt, the title of the chapter makes it clear that my inspiration comes from a Disney tale. In fact, I like to think that Emme can have an effect as positive on Snape as Belle had on Prince Adam, but well, that's something you'll have to wait and see...