Hermione Granger, smartest witch of her age, bushy haired know all, hero of the war against Voldemort and all round 'nice' girl scowled out the window of her tiny house. She had received another owl from Dumbledore today, expecting her to be honoured to come back to Hogwarts to teach. "Why on earth would I want to be a teacher?" she mumbled to herself. "I didn't even like teenagers when I was one, the old man has finally lost the plot! Being dead for a couple of years must do that to a bloke…"

"Talking about me dear child, and to yourself too, first sign of madness you know?" Hermione whirled around in fright as the disembodied voice of her former headmaster came from the direction of her fire.

"Please don't do that to me, you know my nerves aren't up to that much stress anymore" she whined plaintively as Albus smirked at her.

"Hmmmmm."

Hermione thought for a few moments about why the headmaster had shown up in her house in New Zealand, she had chosen it for its isolation from her past as well as her fascination with the uses of the native flora in potions. But on a wet and cold day in July, as bitter as any Scottish winter she would admit (only to herself of course) that she was lonely. She missed Harry and Ginny and their triplets, though she could only ever cope with small doses of the three children who seemed to be taking after their uncles Fred and George. She missed Ron, who had declared his undying love to her one day and then, when he was refused, had run off to Hawaii to surf and 'spread some ginger lovin.'

She missed her parents who had retired from dentistry and moved to the country where her father pretended to be a farmer – he had two cows, a sheep and a very silly dog, and where her mother baked cakes (without sugar) and took them to deserving old ladies. Her parents! So good and so content, though utterly bewildered by their daughter all her life, oh how she adored them! She knew they wanted grandchildren to spoil, she always knew they should have had another child to do that for them. She was rusticating in a shack on the side of a mountain in a picturesque part of the world, she shivered, dampening down that biological clock as it ticked ticked ticked away. The only option here was an elderly gentleman down the road who supplied her with eggs and checked on her every so often to see if she was alive. Nice guy! Shame he as 78, had a wife, 7 kids, 19 grandchildren, wore a raincoat that Leonard Cohen wouldn't be able to find charming, plus he was a muggle. So options were pretty limited.

"Miss Granger, Hermione, hello!" Professor Dumbledore's voice rang out again, "Are you alright?"

"Sorry Professor" she replied sheepishly, "went on a trip down memory lane there for a minute. What can I do for you? As long as it doesn't involve teaching any of those brats you like so much of course!"

He laughed at her softly, "I think I liked you better when you didn't speak your mind child."

Hermione blushed and closed her eyes tightly for a moment, "Sorry Professor." She blurted, reverting in an instant to that shy child she once was, desperate to belong in a world that really didn't want to accept her.

"Oh, Hermione, I was just joking with you. And you know I've had no one to trade insults with since…well that's why I'm here really…"

Hermione looked up at him sharply, "you have news? Of Professor Snape? Is he OK? Where is he? Is he safe? Oh Albus!"

Professor Snape had vanished that fateful night after the debacle on the Astronomy Tower, running for his life from the Order vowing revenge, from Deatheaters enraged he had taken over Malfoy's task and from his own demons she had always imagined. He had stayed away after Harry had defeated Voldemort in an anticlimactic battle that left the Deatheaters leaderless and eventually imprisoned. He had stayed away when Albus Dumbledore appeared one morning from within a book in his office, startling his colleague Minerva McGonagall into dropping the whiskey she had poured for herself and her new DADA Professor Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin. Dumbledore had twinkled at his old friend and inquired how things were going as if he'd been away a morning instead of two long years, then he proceeded to prove Snape's innocence. Snape received a pardon, obviously, as the man he had allegedly murdered was alive and twinkling!

And still, Snape stayed away. Hermione thought of him often, she had been terrified of him as a student, but had missed him when he was gone. At least he had made her work! So many of the other teachers were full of her praise, but allowed her to easily pass through her subjects. Snape was different, he pushed her to be the best she could. Slughorn had nothing on him, was content to bask in the reflected glory of her perfect scores. It was Severus Snape who had inspired her to do those long years of apprenticeship. And now she was as qualified as he, but still he stayed away! She, who had practically run away herself, could hardly blame him for that.

"Yes, in a town called Taupo. He's there, I'm sure of it. But I've failed him in so many ways." Albus said sadly. "I was hoping you might go see if he's alright. I haven't seen him for ten years and I miss him, please can you try to bring him home."

Hermione looked at the old mans face, there was hope there, it looked very much like an old man who wanted to make peace with an estranged son. And there was fear. He was afraid that Sanpe would want nothing to do with him.

"I will do all that I can, but it's been ten years for me too. But I'll try my hardest to bring him home to you."

Albus flickered away with a smile, but she could see the tears he was trying to hide. She looked out her window at the rain. 'It's time' she decided, 'time to find the greasy git, and bring him home.'

TBC

This is my first ever fanfic...what do you think? Should I continue? I'd love some feedback!