The school was buzzing and owls were delivering letters right and left. It had been two days since Professor Bilding, the new Muggle Studies teacher, had told some of the students about the Scandinavian tradition of chocolate-egg letters, and the students had taken the opportunity for a mix of both fun and chocolate. They had made letters, some with remarkable clippings others with no clippings at all, but all containing little verses and dots instead of the signature – one dot for each letter in the senders name. The receiver had to guess, who had sent the letter. If the name was not guessed, the sender could come forward and claim a chocolate egg. If the sender was guessed, he or she owed a chocolate egg to the one who had received the letter. Hermione had tried to correct the obvious mistake, as she tried explaining, that this was an Easter-tradition and not a fall tradition, but she had been thoroughly ignored, as people seemed intent on playing the chocolate-egg game now.
Hermione received another letter. She opened it and smiled, as she read the text: "Mione it's almost chocolate-time now, if you don't guess my name don't have a cow" The letter was signed with three dots. Hermione laughed out loud and looked over at Ron before saying: "Ron! You owe me a chocolate-egg". Ron looked surprised: "Aw Mione, how did you know?" He looked so disappointed, it made Hermione laugh so hard, she almost choked on her pumpkin juice.
Snape heard a sparkling laughter over the chatting and buzzing from the students and looked over at the Gryffindor table. His eyes narrowed, as he saw the curly head of the Gryffindor know-it-all bopping up and down with laughter before starting to cough and splutter, while the annoying red headed Weasley boy dunked her in the back. He didn't understand why they had returned to Hogwarts after the war. Of course it was to be expected, that the girl would return for her N.E.W.T.'s but it had come as a surprise to both him and the other teachers, that Harry and the Weasley boy had returned. After the war he had gained a somewhat tolerable relationship with the boy who lived, and the Granger girl had apparently kept watch over him, while he recovered. He had been told, she was the one who had sent the patronus that had ensured, he was found in time. The Weasley-boy was just the same, and Snape had never understood, what his role was in the trio or anywhere really. Snape looked over at Professor McGonagall the new head of the school. He had declined the position and agreed to teach DADA instead.
Suddenly Snape's attention was caught by an owl circling in on him and dropping a letter. Snape looked at the letter in confusion. It was obviously one of those chocolate-egg letters, but who would dare... Snape looked up and realized, most of the student body had stopped talking and were looking at him. His eyes met the hazel eyes of the Granger girl, before he glared over the hall, took the letter and left.
Back in his chambers he opened the letter. The paper was cut in beautiful patterns with letters wound in between saying "My name is written in a dot. I hope you will forget me not." It was signed with 8 dots. In his mind Snape went through the students, whose names contained 8 letters. Who on earth could think, he would appreciate being part of this ridiculous tradition; who would dare send him that silly letter? Nothing had changed. He knew, he was still intimidating the students, so who would want to engage him in this weird game? He tried different spells to make the writing reveal, who had sent the letter, but it was magically warded. Suddenly it dawned on him, as he had a flash back from laying in the hospital bed. Every time he had surfaced just enough to slightly open his eyes, he had seen the young witch. The curly head resting against the back of the chair she was sleeping in. A cooling cloth pressed against his forehead and hazel eyes looking at him. Her voice whispering his name, asking if he could hear her. And then one day she was gone. It had to be her, she was the only student who would do this. Snape threw the letter on his desk, intent on ignoring it. After a while he went back and picked it up again,while mumbling "insolent child" under his breath.
Hermione was excited about being back at school, but today she was nervous before her DADA class. She wasn't sure, what had made her send Professor Snape that chocolate-egg letter. She had noticed, she was thinking about him a lot, and she had never stopped wondering, if he would have recovered faster, if she had reacted differently. If he could have been spared some of all the pain, if she had not left him there in the shack after the snake had attacked him. She had visited him in the hospital wing, and had seen him comatosed but still writhing in pain. So she had come back day after day, until she was called back to Grimmauld place. She took a deep breath and walked in to the classroom.
Snape threw the doors open and marched in, his robes billowing around him. The room grew quiet and everyone seemed to hold their breath. He looked condescendingly around the room, while he instructed them in the exercises of the day, paired them up and told them to start practising. As he walked around the room, he found his eyes drifting towards the Granger girl, and a few times he caught her looking away, when he looked in her direction. He was unsure what made him look at her, but she was very gifted and although most of the students in her year had some experience from the war, she was one of the best in her class. That had to be it, he thought; that had to be why his eyes kept wandering to her. Snape sneered a correction, as he passed her. No need to let her think, she was better than everyone else. He noticed her surprised look, and for a moment he met her eyes and felt an instant tugging inside of him. He turned on his heel and marched away. Hermione felt her cheeks blushing; probably from the effort of duelling, she thought, as she looked at her professor walking away. Her heart sunk. She was sure, he blamed her for leaving him in the shack, and for his long recovery. He had nearly not made it, and Hermione knew, it would have been her fault, if he had died. She was sure, he thought the same.
As she returned to her room later that day, she found a box on her bed. Hermione looked for a note, and not finding one, she eyed the box suspiciously. It was fairly big and covered with emerald-green velvet. She carefully lifted the lid of. Inside was a beautiful chocolate-egg, covered with a fine carved pattern similar to the one she had cut out for the letter, she had sent Professor Snape. She stared at it for a long time and tentatively ran her finger across it, before she placed it on her bedside table and smiled without knowing exactly why.
