Disclaimer: As usual a disclaimer is necessarily! I donnot own any characters or anything from the wonderful world of Harry Potter. I merely write for my own pleasure and does not earn money on my stories! Hope you all will find this story as interesting to read as I do writing it! Here's the prologue only, and please, bear over with me, I'm still very new to this, and english is not my main language! :) But hope you all enjoy it!

Prologue - The Power of Words

The snowfall had begun to increase as Severus Snape walked through the cold streets of Hogsmeade. After running the errands planned for today, Severus was ready to return to his home at Spinners End. Apparating would have been an option, but there was something so calm about wandering around the streets after the shops had closed when nearly all noisy people had gone. As a result, he secretly decided to do something he usually wouldn't: to go for a walk before he would return to home.

The end of the summer crept up on him, and days of teaching the same subject, the same potions over and over again, approached. He loved his job and was very passionate about teaching, but every year seemed to develop into the same thing, the same routines. He knew all of his old students inside and out, all of them equally bad at potions. There was nothing in his life he was looking forward to anymore, not even when summer once again sneaked up on him. He knew that after each school year he would return to his house at Spinners End, doing the exact same things as he did the summer before, simply rooted to his routines. Perhaps it would be enjoyable if something new would happen, if something different could occur.

But this, he enjoyed. Simply walking around, surrounded by nature's hushed noises, felt so soothing that it was nearly unimaginable. The howling sound of the cold winter air wafting gently in his environs and the creaking sound of the snow underneath his winter boots sounded so peaceful and mild. It was beyond his belief that something as simple as this could be sensed in such a calm way, putting his stressed mind at ease.

He took a deep breath, inhaling the frosty, wintry weather before he exhaled again through his now enlarged nostrils. He fixed the black scarf around his neck before he pulled up a bit in his dark gray – almost black – trench coat. The more the evening slithered its way over Hogsmeade, the more the freezing temperature began to drop. The lampposts along the sidewalk began to enlighten the outdoors even though the dark had not yet entirely taken over.

It was about time to head back to Spinners End, and the thought of a good cup of warm tea, while he could lean back and read the new book he had bought from Tomes and Scrolls, sounded like the perfect way to end his evening.

As he made it to his left and strode down an almost empty path, he spotted something with his eye that he found a rare sight. A silhouette of a person sitting in the snow, wrapped in old clothes and blankets from top to toe, with a hat and sign placed in front of it. As he made his way through the passage and nearly passed the person, he spotted a beautiful handwriting upon the sign: "Lost my family; Unable to work, unable to ask for help... Will play for a single Knut or two."

For a second, Severus gazed around. The few people walking down the very same road did not seem to even pay attention to the person sitting in the snow. To them, the outlaw was merely invisible, pretending that he did not sit there, begging for help. The thought made Severus snort slightly. Normally, he would have been the same, normally he wouldn't have cared, and he would stride by as everyone else not giving the individual a second glance. But today was different. Today, Severus stopped and paid attention to the things he would normally have ignored. He knew that as soon as he left Hogsmeade he would go back to his aged habits, seizing the days forward as he had done for so many years.

Today, he wanted to do something different.

From his pocket, he grabbed a little black pouch; he opened it and found a couple of coins left. Pouring every last Sickle and Knut into his hand, he put them into the little hat placed in front of the person. He stared at the individual as it lowered its head in gratitude. With frozen but fine looking female hands, the person grabbed a beautiful silver flute from underneath the many layers of blankets. With her nearly blue hands she brought the flute up to her face that was yet still hidden underneath the many layers.

Within a mere second, she began playing the most beautiful melody that Severus had heard in a long time. Every note was gently caressed with perfection. The song sounded familiar to him, as if it reminded him of the lullabies his mother used to sing to him as a child. Turning his attention towards the passers, they continued walking along, shutting their minds and made sure that the outlaw remained invisible. Not a single one halted to listen to the sweet tunes created from mere blows into her flute.

Turning back to the woman, he paid full attention to the tune worthy of a Goddess. Not even the power of words could describe a melody as beautiful and sad as this. It almost seemed a shame as the song ultimately approached the ending and, yet again, silence occurred. Severus' cold and seemingly careless eyes scanned his surroundings; the few people who had been on the very same street, had left.

The woman lowered her head gratefully to thank the patient man for his time. Grabbing the hat, she pulled it gently into her body, burying it underneath the pile of cloth.

Feeling his old self, Severus returned his pouch back into his pocket, before he continued walking onwards without a single word spoken.

Hope you all enjoyed the prologue. :) Wonder what's with that woman? find out later! The story takes places before Harry Potter starts Hogwarts. Presenting the theme of the story inhere, so you'll all see how it goes once the first chapter comes up! Let me know what you think! Let me know if you're interested to read more ;)

Edit: For those of you interested; The song played on the flute is one of my top favourite melodies by; Michael Ortega - It's hard to say goodbye. .com/watch?v=3YMsy2_fyEE - I imagined a flute version of this when I wrote it :)

A BIG AND HUGE THANKS TO MY BETA READER NAG !Who's been awesome and very supportive of this! Thank you!