Never Too Late

A/N: If you are a big Severus Snape fan or if you didn't really like some parts of the ending of Deathly Hallows, this fic is for you. This story is mostly cannon, because I have a high respect for the world, characters, and plot that J. K. Rowling has created. There are a few very small changes throughout this fic. Towards the end, the few changes grow bigger, but the characters will remain the same. At the end, there are a few OOC moments for Snape, but this is a romance so what do you expect? And this isn't a typical romance either. It will seem like one at the beginning, but I've added a few twists just to make it interesting. This story also contains no slash. I do not have any problems with homosexuals; I just can't picture any of the Harry Potter characters as being homosexual (except maybe Lockhart, but he plays only a very small part in this story, and I am keeping Dumbledore's sexual orientation the way JKR defined it).

PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!! I want reviews so badly that I will even accept flames. It will only take about thirty seconds to a minute of your time. If you've already taken the time to read my fic, then you might as well take just a tiny bit more to write me a review.

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you have already read about.

Chapter 1

Nine Years Young

She slowly started to unpack her suitcase, feeling completely miserable and apprehensive. Finally, the moment she had waited for was here; she was officially enrolled at Northern Arizona University, and only a year and a half away from obtaining her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology. Yet she missed her home terribly. She longed to hug her grandparents, spend time discussing the Bible with her cousin, and watch sappy movies with her aunt, but this was now nearly impossible.

As she began pulling out shirts and hanging them up in the closet, she realized she was almost entirely alone. None of her community college friends were attending NAU, and all of her family members lived in different cities. Feeling utterly depressed and scared, she snatched up a black photo album. She opened it feverishly, and began perusing it, looking at each of the faces—some familiar, some unknown. A hot tear rolled slowly down her cheek, and she hastily brushed it away. Disgusted with herself, she thought of what her mother would have told her, "Just be strong. Say a prayer, and everything will be ok." Swallowing hard, she thrust the book onto a shelf and resumed the tedious task of unpacking.

Next she pulled out a slightly battered box containing an audio book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

"Well, I might as well listen to something," she said softly. She walked determinedly to the CD-player, and inserted disc 1. But before she could press play, a loud whistle reached her ears, and she was sucked into a whirl of color and sound.

In a couple of seconds, she found herself on a comfortable, yet very warn, seat. Looking around, she realized she was on a train. Before she had a chance to try and find another person to ask where exactly she was, the train skidded to a halt. Through the glass door of her compartment, she saw other people getting off of the train. She decided to go with them to find out where she was and possibly how she got there.

Exiting the train, she heard a familiar voice calling, "First years. First years over 'ere."

"There's no way," she muttered, "It's just a coincidence." Yet she never had believed in coincidences.

Then she saw him, an eight-foot-tall man with wild hair and a tangled beard. Spotting her, he said, "Well, 'ello. Do ya need any 'elp?" He quickly extended his arm.

"Oh, no thanks," she replied, being perfectly used to this question, "I can just follow you."

In a dream-like state she followed the giant to a boat.

"Yur a first year, aren't ya?" he asked.

"I don't really know. Probably not, I mean, I'm twenty years old."

"Twenty?" he asked suspiciously. "Yeah, sure ya are. C'mon, you can go in a boat with me."

"Thank you," she said.

Suddenly, a girl with dirty-blonde hair put up in a puffy ponytail ran over to the giant.

"Excuse me," she said to him, "Uh, I'm not really sure how I got here. But I do know where I…"

She broke off immediately, staring at the girl beside the giant.

"Katie?" she said, astonished.

"Amber?"

The two girls ran to each other and hugged.

"I thought you were at NAU now. What are you doing here?" Amber asked.

"I'm supposed to be at NAU. I honestly have no idea what I'm doing here."

"Ur, I don' mean ter interrupt," said the giant, "But we better get up ter the-"

"Wait! Don't leave yet!"

Another girl rushed up to them, her long, brown hair flying behind her.

"What ther," murmured the giant.

"Brittany, is that you?" Amber asked.

"Amber? Katie?" Brittany asked in return. The two girls nodded.

"Oh my God! I never thought I'd see you guys again! But Katie, I thought you were at NAU? And Amber, aren't you in college too?"

"Ok, that's enough now. We really need to get up ter the castle," interjected the giant.

"Oh my God! It's Hagrid! This is so awesome! Wait, but is this real, or am I just having an awesome dream? I can't believe it's-"

"Brittany we really should go to the castle so we can find out what we're doing here," said Katie. The three girls and Hagrid got into a large boat that swiftly began to make its way toward the castle.

"Wait a second," said Amber, "Why do you two look younger?"

"How much younger do we look?" Katie asked.

"Well, Katie, you have bangs, your hair is only shoulder-length, you look shorter, and you're a little, um, bigger in some areas and smaller in others. And Brittany, your teeth are kind of uneven, and your hair is brown."

"Well, when I looked like that, I was either ten or eleven years old," said Katie.

"Yeah, me too," said Brittany, "And Amber, you look like you're about ten or eleven too."

"Wait a second," said Amber, "I have a mirror in my bag." She quickly pulled it out, and looked into it frantically.

"Oh my gosh," she said and handed the mirror to Brittany.

"Wow, this is kinda unexpected," Brittany said, handing the mirror to Katie.

Katie slowly looked into the mirror. A round, pale face, uneven, gapped teeth, and slightly too long bangs stared back at her.

"Yeah," she said, "I'm definitely not twenty anymore."

"We're 'ere," said Hagrid happily, not quite sure of what he had just witnessed, "Time to get sorted into yer 'ouses."

They hurriedly got out of the boat, and made their way to the front doors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As the tall, double doors creaked open, a wonderful and long dreamt of sight met Katie's impaired gaze: the entrance hall, full of scared-looking first years and hovering shimmers that could only be ghosts. A tall, elderly woman suddenly emerged from behind a door. She beckoned the students into the Great Hall and told them the rules for sorting.

"Katie," whispered Brittany, "We're in the same year as Harry, Ron, and Hermione."

Sure enough, a small, black-haired boy stood next to a tall, thin, red-headed boy, and a girl with bushy, brown hair stood in front of them.

Suddenly Katie felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Hagrid. "Er, Ms.," he whispered awkwardly, "You and yer friends need ter come with me. Professor Dumbledore wants to see ya. He wants ter find out what's goin' on."

Katie, Amber, and Brittany followed the giant up to the staff table. They waited as Dumbledore slowly inched his way toward them, walking sideways behind the other teachers. Katie stole a quick glance up at the staff table. Professor Flitwick was sitting cheerfully, watching the sorting. Professor Sprout was looking at the Hufflepuff table, no doubt hoping that more Hufflepuffs would soon come. Katie then spotted Professor Quirell. Her eyes did not linger on him; she had no desire to look at someone who was in league with Voldemort. Moving her eyes quickly to Quirell's other side, to the person that was nearest to her, her gaze fell upon Professor Snape. With a quick thrill of surprise she realized he was looking at her. She quickly turned her head in the other direction, and wondered how much she would see of him; Snape had always been her favorite character.

Hagrid's hand was on her shoulder again. She walked with him and her friends into the entrance hall. Dumbledore was waiting for them. Hagrid quickly walked back into the Great Hall.

"Hello, my name is Professor Dumbledore. Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Could you please tell me who each of you are and how each of you came to be at this school?"

"Well, I'm Brittany Douglas, and I'm, or at least I was, nineteen years old. I just got signed on as a new artist for Atlantic Records. I was in the middle of recording a song for my debut album, and I just…found myself on the train."

"That is quite interesting," Dumbledore mused, "And you?"

"I'm Amber Daniels. I was eighteen years old. I was getting ready to go outside on the field—I'm in my college's marching band—and the next thing I knew, I was sitting on the train."

"I see," Dumbledore murmured, "And your name is?"

"Katie Insche. I was twenty years old. Today was my first day as a full-time student at Northern Arizona University. I was unpacking my suitcase in my dorm room, and then I found myself on the Hogwarts Express."

"And you three know each other?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes," they answered in unison. "We went to high school together," added Brittany.

"Well, I'm very happy to welcome you to Hogwarts. As this has never happened before, I see no problem with allowing you to attend," said Dumbledore very quickly.

"So you're going to let us join, just like that, without testing us for magical abilities first?" Katie asked suspiciously.

"I see no need to test you. If you were muggles—people with no magical abilities—you would never have been able to enter this castle. Now, why don't we all go into the Great Hall so you can get sorted into your houses," said Dumbledore, but Katie couldn't help feeling that Dumbledore had other reasons for letting them attend Hogwarts.

As they walked toward the Great Hall, Dumbledore added, "Katie, after the Start of Term Feast, please come up to the staff table so we can discuss the accommodations you will need in lessons due to your visual impairment."

"Ok, thank you," Katie replied, knowing that Dumbledore's excellent skills of perception would enable him to easily notice that she was partially blind.

"Professor McGonigall," Dumbledore called as McGonigall began to carry the three-legged stool out of the Hall, "There are three more students to be sorted."

McGonigall quickly brought the stool back. Dumbledore handed her a small piece of parchment.

"Amber Daniels," she called. Amber walked confidently to the stool, and sat down. McGonigall placed the hat on Amber's head. After about fifteen seconds, the hat shouted, "Gryffindor!"

"Brittany Douglas." Brittany strode forward and the hat was placed on her head.

"Gryffindor!" it shouted.

"Katie Insche." Katie walked carefully to the stool. It was difficult; she was in an unknown area and had no cane. McGonigall put the hat on her head. Katie sat nervously on the stool. Ambition, bravery, loyalty, a thirst for knowledge, she had all of these qualities. Where would the hat put her? Hopefully in Gryffindor, but it was hard to tell.

"Awe, I see that you would like me to put you in Gryffindor," said a voice in Katie's ear. "Well, today is your lucky day. Gryffindor," the hat yelled to the hall at large. Sighing with relief, Katie made her way to the Gryffindor table, and sat down by her friends. "That was almost too easy," she thought.

When the feast was over, Katie walked up to the staff table. Dumbledore was waiting for her.

"Well, Ms. Insche, could you please tell me what kinds of accommodations you will need for your lessons?"

"Yes," said Katie, "I am not able to read small print or most handwriting. In the muggle world, I use a device called a computer. I can type in sentences on a key pad, and they appear on a screen. From that point, I can change the size, style, and color of the print if I want to. I can than print it out on a piece of paper."

"Yes," said Dumbledore, "I have read a bit about computers in muggle newspapers. Luckily, Professor Flitwick knows how to use them. I'm sure he would be willing to show the other teachers how. Are there any other accommodations?"

"Yes. I normally use a cane and other devices to get around in unfamiliar places. However, my cane is back in the muggle world."

"Oh, that is not a problem. I think you will find them waiting for you in your dormitory. Awe, that presents a problem. The house dormitories are only made big enough to house the incoming students. No one knew you and your friends would be arriving, so I'm afraid you cannot sleep in the dormitories. I can construct something like a small house within the castle for you and your friends to live in. Do you think that would work?" asked Dumbledore.

"Definitely," said Katie.

"Are there any more accommodations you will be needing?"

"Yes," Katie answered, "I normally get my school books in large print, but muggle devices are used to do this, so I'm not sure…"

"That is easily achieved," said Dumbledore happily, "A simple engorgement charm will fix it. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Not that I can think of right now," Katie answered, "But I did want to ask you, are students required to wear the Hogwarts robes every day?"

"No, most of them just choose to."

"Ok. Thank you for all of your help."

"Don't mention it," said Dumbledore kindly, "And now, I think it's time for you and your friends to get some sleep. I will show you to your…well, I'm not exactly sure what to call it…"

"Apartment," Katie suggested.

"Yes," said Dumbledore happily, "I believe that name is very fitting."

Dumbledore and the girls walked to the second floor. They paused at a blank stretch of wall, and Dumbledore created the apartment instantly. The girls told him goodnight, and went inside.

"Wow," said Katie. The apartment was huge. They had walked into a living room, complete with a couch, a television, and a chess table. Through the door straight ahead of them was a large dining room/kitchen, containing a stove, an oven, a sink, a dishwasher, a microwave, a refrigerator, a toaster, a blender, a table for six, and tons of counter space.

"Apparently JKR got the part about electronics not working at Hogwarts wrong," said Brittany.

They then entered a room filled with musical instruments and a sophisticated-looking computer system. They soon found three bedrooms, each containing a trunk full of each girls' possessions, including clothes that they would normally wear, wands, school books, cauldrons, potion ingredients, Katie's low vision devices, a huge selection of CDs with players, and a set of all seven of the Harry Potter books. Each room came with an adjoining bathroom, complete with bathtub and shower.

"This is great," said Amber, smiling.

"It sure is," said Katie.

The three girls soon went into their bedrooms. Katie began unpacking her trunk, but this time she had nothing to be sad about. "No matter what happens here," she told herself softly, "At least I have people I know that I can talk to."