Hermione stepped off the Hogwarts Express and looked up at the castle in the distance. It had been almost twelve years ago that she had stepped through its front doors and into the world of magic. This was where she had learned all she could before having to leave; she had read all the books in the library. She had been a constant surprise and annoyance to most of her teachers. She smiled ruefully, well, almost all of her teachers. Professor McGonagall had never gotten tired of her constant questions. The witch had dealt with her with the patience of a saint, and everyone knows that that had not been an easy thing to do.

The only other teacher that never seemed to mind her questions was Snape. Oh he minded at first, but by the last few years of school he had learned to tune her out. If she had a question, he would merely wave his wand, and her book would open to the page containing the answer. It had been almost a game to her, to see if she could ever stump the Potions Professor. An unsuccessful venture, until five years ago.

The Hogwarts battle had just ended, and as she looked around there was only one thing was on her mind. They could not just leave Severus' body in the boat house. Not after all he had sacrificed and gone through for their cause. He deserved a proper burial along with all the other fallen heroes that day. When she got down to the boathouse she stared down at his prone body and the tears began to fall. Who would have ever thought that he was the bravest of them all? He had loved Lily Potter so much that he had been willing to become a spy for the Order. If that was not devotion, then she did not know what was, and he deserved better than to be killed by Nagini. The next thing she knew her wand was pointed at him, a burst of light shot from the tip, and Severus Snape had gasped in a breath. Ironically, her first thought was not about what had just happened. It was about the fact that she had told Harry ages ago that wands did not act of their own accord. Now it seemed that she would have to apologize to him about it. It hit her that Snape had been dead, and that dead people do not breathe or stare up at you in utter bewilderment. Then she asked him the one question that still confused people five years later, the question that had stumped him. What in the hell just happened? When she seen that he was still bleeding heavily through the wounds in his neck she ripped off a piece of her sweater and held it to his neck. She then hoisted him up on his feet and all but dragged him to the Great Hall. As soon as they stepped through the doors she yelled for Madam Pomfrey. That had of course, caused everyone to look over at her and the man she was supporting. By then everyone knew that he had not been a traitor to the Order; that he had been acting on Dumbledore's orders. However that was not what was causing all of them to look dumbstruck at them. After all, it wasn't everyday that someone brought back the recently deceased, and not know how they did it. Poppy rushed over and took him from her and put him on a litter. She then took him to St. Mungo's, along with all the other injured. While there the healer's ran all sorts of tests and spells to see what had happened. Everything had come back normal, and everyone had chalked it up to being an amazing feat of magic. Everyone that is, except for Hermione Granger and Severus Snape. They both combed through the Hogwarts library trying to find an answer. Then when that proved fruitless they expanded their search to any know wizarding library in Brittan, all to no avail. There was no mention of anything like that happening in any of the thousands of books they had been through. When she told him that she was done looking they had a huge argument. She wanted to continue on with her life while he wanted her to help him keep looking. Eventually she won and he had stormed out of her flat, never to be seen by her again.

Hermione was jerked back to the present by someone calling her name. She looked up to see Headmistress McGonagall walking towards her, and scolding a few rambunctious second years in the process.

She walked over and met her near the end of the platform, "Hello Professor, how are you on this fine day?"

"Could be worse I suppose. Now, are you ready to start the new year, do you have everything in order at home?"

"Of course Professor, you know me. I got lucky; someone wanted to buy my flat as soon as I put it on sale. Otherwise I would have had to make payments on it when I'm not living there." McGonagall looked at her and frowned. "Oh do not give me that look. I have wanted to move for a while now. How is Professor Snape, if you do not mind my asking?"

The older witch looked down at her and sighed, "I do not really know, he seems to be fine when we see him. He rarely comes to dinner, and unless he has class he is shut up in his chambers. When he does come out he rarely talks to anyone, he just goes to the library. Under the circumstances though, I think he deserves what he wants."

Hermione bit her bottom lip and looked away. It was really her fault that he was even here in the first place. If she had just let someone else go down to the boathouse that night he would not be like this. "Maybe I can try to talk to him, see what is going on inside that head of his."

"I take it the two of you still have not talked? That might be for the best at the moment, last time you two were together you tore each other to pieces."

"That was almost five years ago Professor, he should be over it by now, I know I am." Hermione watched as Hagrid rounded up all the first years and herded them towards the boats. "Besides, he got a second chance at life. Something a lot of people would pay for."

"You know how he can hold a grudge Miss Granger; it is after all, Severus Snape. From his point of view you robbed him from his much deserved reprieve from this world." McGonagall turned and started striding up to the castle, leaving Hermione to try and catch up.

"One thing though Professor would not his yelling at me be better than not talking to anyone. At least then we would know what he is thinking."

"Sometimes Miss Granger, it is better not to know."

Hermione fell silent and contemplated about what she should do while she followed McGonagall up to the school.

"These will be your new rooms, they have not been used in a while so I had the house elves air them out," McGonagall said as she led Hermione into a suite just off the astronomy tower. "Sorry they are up so high, but you did mention a new found interest in star-gazing. Therefore I figured this suite would suit the best."

"It's perfect Professor, thank you." She looked around the spacious room they had entered. It was easy to tell that no one had used the room in quite a while, the musty smell still lingered from being closed up for so long. The walls were painted a light blue with white furniture to match. One wall was nothing but windows looking out over the lake and forest, while another had a large bookshelf built into it. "Who used these rooms before me?"

"An old astronomy teacher I believe, her name was Ilisa. She could not stand to be close to the bottom floors so Dumbledore set her up in here. She retired a long time ago. Well, I will leave you to your unpacking. Dinner is served at its usual time, unless of course you would prefer to eat in here. Your first class starts at eight tomorrow morning, an eager young group of first years. I believe you remember how the first few days go."

"Only too well," she laughed. "I'm sure it's nothing I cannot handle. After the Cornish pixie incident in second year, they should be relatively easy. As for dinner, I guess I will see after I get settled in. Thank you again, Professor, it is good to be back."

"It is good to have you back Hermione," McGonagall said as she breezed out the door.

Continuing in her exploration she headed farther into her suite. The next room she came to was a small kitchen, furnished with a stove, fridge, and a small table for two. She smiled and shook her head, thinking it was likely that Ilisa had hated to go downstairs for meals. Either way it suited her just fine, she could go buy some groceries and cook for herself instead of having the house elves do it. Off of the kitchen, through a set of French doors, was a small balcony that had probably been used for star gazing. The next room she came to was just off the kitchen on the right and was her bedroom. There was a large four poster bed made out in blue and grey plaid sheets on one side, while on the other was a small hearth and two arm chairs. Off to one side was the bathroom, which could only be described as functional. In it was a simple stand-in shower that took up half of the room with just enough room left for the sink and toilet. She smiled ruefully, grateful for the fact that she didn't have a whole lot of cosmetics. Turning around she headed back into the kitchen and opened up the cabinets to see how much room she had, only to find all of them filled already. She sorted through it and found that there were all the ingredients to make most of her favorite dishes.

Deciding to unpack later she pulled out a set of black teaching robes and donned them. Then made her way down through the castle and out to the lakeside, watching Hagrid bring the first years across. Remembering how scared she had been on the boat ride, that there had been some kind of mistake. Now seeing the excited and nervous looks on the faces of the students she would soon be teaching made her smile. They had no idea the kinds of adventures that they would have, or of the trouble they would get into. Hearing the excited murmurs as they all climbed out of the boats she looked down at her watch and seen that it was time to head back for the feast. Waving at a beaming Hagrid she made her way back to the Great Hall and found her seat next to Neville.