AN: I do not ship this. It was the ship I was given for a competition, I did my best with it. Have fun!
Without order, there is only chaos.
That is why rules exist. That is why there is a time and place for everything, why there is right and wrong. That is why there needs to be law and enforcement.
At least, that's what Dolores Umbridge believes.
As someone who had seen what chaos can do, order was vital. It was fundamental to survival, which was precisely why she had to do something about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. These students, she was loath to admit, were going to be the ones in charge one day. She needed to make sure that they were going to be good leaders, that they were going to know how to maintain order.
This meant that Hogwarts needed some changes.
Looking back through the history of the school, Dolores can find many things that are wrong. The security is dreadful, with individuals being able to floo in and out at will. This is why all the fireplaces were now monitored. Dark artifacts could easily be sent in through the post, which is why she now checks the letters coming to and from the school.
And if that wasn't bad enough, the discipline in this school was awful.
Firstly, you have the professors who quite obviously favour their own houses. Secondly, there are the various forms of detention that take place. Detentions can be anything nowadays, from cleaning the trophies to sending students into the forbidden forest with no one but a lousy half-giant and a dog.
It was completely and utterly deplorable.
Hence why Dolores was now in charge of discipline at the school. Hopefully she can teach these students to behave, to prepare them for the real world. Many of these students would never be able to maintain a job if they acted like they do here. Those Weasley twins would be fired in a day.
They needed her to create the rules. So that is what she is going to do.
"Can the Slytherin Quidditch team be reformed?"
Draco Malfoy shifted nervously in her office. The many cats on the walls had differing reactions. Some ignored him, some purred, and some hissed. She had yet to work out how important the reactions of the cats were, but she knew they were significant in some way. That was what she payed for when she bought them.
As for the question, she already knew what her answer would be. Educational Decree Number Twenty-four had banned all organisations and teams being formed, so she knew that Quidditch teams would quickly be asking to be reformed. She already knew exactly how she would answer those questions.
Ravenclaw: Yes.
Hufflepuff: Yes.
Gryffindor: Going to have to.
Slytherin: Definitely.
Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff posed no problems for her, so it was fine for them to reform. She wished she could say no to Gryffindor, but Minerva would never let her say yes to everyone else and not them. But at the first sign of Potter causing trouble and that could swiftly change.
Harry Potter. The bane of the Ministry's existence. He's definitely someone that needs to be controlled, before the other students start to actually believe his lies.
The rest of Gryffindor house will blame Potter if the Quidditch team isn't allowed to reform. This could be beneficial to the Ministry, as he'll be too busy trying to regain his friends to cause problems. Unfortunately she will have to find another way to undermine Potter.
As for the Slytherin team…
Severus Snape obviously holds a lot of power in this school. Fear and intimidation come a long way in regard to power. The Slytherin students revere him while the others all fear him. Either way, they do what he says.
She needed someone like that on her side.
Pride is very important to Severus. She can see that. By giving him his team so quickly while not giving Gryffindor theirs will be good for that pride. If she can manipulate him into supporting her, it will be extremely beneficial. But she can see that he is intelligent, so she's going to have to be subtle about that manipulation.
"Yes, the team can be reformed."
So far the inspections had been disastrous. Dolores was not impressed.
Sybil Trelawney was a disgraceful excuse for a divination teacher. She had no inclination of psychic ability and could not teach to save her life. She had to go, Dolores already knew that. They needed to get a qualified teacher. Perhaps someone from the Ministry had psychic tendencies.
Minerva McGonagall was a fine teacher, but was too opposed to changing her syllabus to suit the Ministry's desires. Dolores was going to have to work on her, try and convince her that the Ministry knows what it is doing. Unfortunately it seems Minerva was very much in Dumbledore's pocket, so Dolores doesn't expect it will be easy.
She was now going to sit in on the potion class.
She wasn't sure what to expect, to be honest. She already knew of Severus' intelligence, so at least she knew that he wouldn't be like Sybil. She also knew that he would not tolerate the antics of the students, especially Potter.
Walking into the classroom, the first thing she heard was the sound of Severus' low voice taking points from Gryffindor. And who was at fault? Potter and his friends.
Smiling in approval, she sat at the back of the room while Severus informed the class of her presence.
Writing notes, she found that she liked Severus' teaching method so far. He was firm, to the point, and the students never played up in his class. The other professors could learn from his example.
After a while, she found her notes repeated the same sort of thing. Effective teacher. Good control of students. There were no criticisms in the notes, it was all positive.
The only thing she could think of was that the Strengthening Solution may not be the best potion to be teaching the students, so she decided to tell him that.
He hadn't answered, and appeared to be annoyed with the statement. Storing that piece of information for later, she changed the subject, now wanting to know more about his background instead.
"Now… how long have you been teaching at Hogwarts?"
"Fourteen years." He replied, tonelessly.
"You applied first for the Defence Against the Dark Arts post, I believe?" There was no question about it, really. She had thoroughly researched all the professors before arriving.
"Yes." He replied quietly. Seeing that he was becoming irritated, Dolores decided to see how far she could push him. It was a strange impulse, but she felt she should indulge it.
"But you were unsuccessful?"
"Obviously." There was a notable curl in Severus' lips, conveying his distaste. Dolores would have smirked if the situation allowed it.
"And you have applied regularly for the Defence Against the Dark Arts post since you first joined the school, I believe?"
She could feel the anger radiating from him. He was clearly attempting to hide his distaste, but the narrowing of his eyes gave him away.
"Yes." His response was low, quiet.
"Do you have any idea why Dumbledore has consistently refused to appoint you?" That had come out before she could stop it, to be honest. While she was curious, it was said more to goad him than anything else.
"I suggest you ask him."
"Oh I shall." She allowed herself to smile, only barely managing to prevent it from being a smirk.
"I suppose this is relevant?" He asked harshly.
"Oh yes," she replied, "yes, the Ministry wants a thorough understanding of teachers' – er – backgrounds." Not only them, but she was quite curious as well.
As she walked away, she allowed her smirk to finally form. She was rather curious about Severus Snape. He was an enigma, a mystery. She was, admittedly, quite eager to discover more about him.
She was decidedly glad that Potter and the Weasley twins had been banned from Quidditch.
It was probably one of the best decisions she'd ever made. The obnoxious twins will have been taken down a notch and Potter of course, will be so busy despairing over his ban to spread more lies. Perhaps some order would finally come to the school.
She also secretly hoped that Severus would notice that the students were banned after the game against Slytherin.
She didn't really understand that desire. In fact, it thoroughly confused her. She could only assume that she wanted it to happen because that way it would give them some kind of connection. It may be a step forward into forming a bond, of sorts. That, of course, would make controlling him that much easier. She was still quite determined to get Severus Snape on her side. She felt that he would be a valuable asset, and unlike McGonagall, was not so loyal to Dumbledore.
And she was still quite curious about Severus and his story, so to say.
At dinner that night, she found herself stealing glances at Severus throughout the meal. She was waiting to see some sign, some acknowledgement from him. Finally, after what seemed like hours, his eyes met hers. But just as suddenly they looked away.
Nothing. No indication of anything. He completely ignored her.
Feeling a surge of anger, she looked down at her plate.
Severus was angry.
She had noticed quite quickly. She was ashamed to admit that she had taken to watching him nowadays, so as soon as she noticed the stiff posture, the narrowed eyes, and the curled lip, she knew straight away. Something was bothering him.
There had been no progress in their relationship. He didn't speak to her, and when she asked him questions about the school or the other teachers, he was short and sharp in response. She was offended that he made no effort to get to know her. But for some reason it made her want to know his secrets even more.
Throughout the day she watched him some more and waited for an opportunity. She found that his anger never left, but it seemed to escalate whenever Potter was nearby. She was quickly able to interpret that as Potter being the reason for Severus' animosity. While she had noticed his dislike for the boy immediately, this was different.
He seemed to truly hate him.
Finally finding the chance to speak to him, she cornered him in the halls. If he was shocked, he didn't show it. He simply raised an eyebrow at her.
"Potter is a handful, isn't he?"
He simply stared at her.
"What did he do to provoke your antagonism?"
Her heart sunk when his eyes narrowed at her.
"That's not any of your business."
With that he walked away.
She stared after him in outrage. How dare he speak to her like that! They had something connecting them, didn't they? They both hated Potter!
Clenching her jaw, she stormed to her office. Luckily Potter had a detention tonight. She might feel a bit better seeing him learn his lesson.
She had a reason to speak to him again.
She had heard rumours of an illegal organisation of students and knew Potter was behind it. She needed to discover what exactly was going on, what he was up to now. So she was to interrogate them, get them to tell her what was happening.
She needed veritaserum to make sure they told the truth. That's where Severus came in.
This also meant she had a reason to talk to him. He avoided her when he could, so she now needed a reason to interact with him. She thought about him constantly. His face plagued her mind; his voice seemed to be whispering in her ear all day. She didn't understand why he didn't want to connect with her.
She was strong and smart. She was a capable woman. He would be lucky to know her.
She found that when she thought of her fixation with him, she would react in very different ways. Sometimes she would become almost depressed, she would lie in bed at night and struggle to keep from crying. But then she would become angry. She would be filled with such rage, rage that she had never felt before. She even starting throwing objects a couple of times.
And once she became so hysterical she couldn't stop laughing.
She didn't understand, it didn't make sense. She had lost control, her perfect order was gone. She didn't know what to do; she didn't know what to feel. All she knew was that she needed control back in her life.
And so she went to collect veritaserum.
She lay in the hospital wing, damaged and broken. The last thing she had thought before the centaurs took her was what Severus was doing. Would he miss her? Would he even care?
And now, in the hospital wing, she knew the answer.
He didn't care. He didn't want to know her. He didn't even come to see if she was ok. Her heart felt heavy, she felt like her energy was gone. She was both a physical and an emotional wreck. She was, to put it simply, tired.
Tired and heartbroken.
He never cared for you, the locket hissed. He is still in love with someone else.
The image of a woman with long red hair appeared in her head. The woman was beautiful, elegant, and so different to herself. She couldn't compare with the woman that the locket spoke of.
Tears sprang to her eyes. She had tried to forget him, to put him behind her. But in all this time, she found she couldn't. She thought of him at least once a day.
Each time a mudblood came to her court she found that she would think of him and become angry. She would become so mad that she would judge the individual so harshly, so severely. But then she would remember that this is what the Ministry wanted. She was loyal to the Ministry, she always would be.
Acquiring the locket made everything so much worse.
He loves a mudblood more than he loves you. It whispered in her mind.
With that, she sentenced a mudblood to Azkaban. She didn't notice that she had lost all control to a locket with an "S" on it. She didn't notice that the Ministry she revered was corrupt. Consumed by grief, she no longer had order in her life. It was only chaos.