I do not claim any of JKR characters or original story. This is just my creative twist on an already excellent story. No money is being made off of this story. Please enjoy and share your thoughts!
This story takes place after the DH. Minerva is headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore is deceased, Severus survived, Harry and Ginny did marry, and Hermione and Ron are just friends with no romantic involvement.
London 2005
Outside a small vine covered brick apartment a vicious storm raged. The wind howled, the rain pounded the ground, and lighting streaked across the sky. Hermione sighed to herself. This was turning out to be a miserable night. She was having an awful time trying to get back to sleep. Every time she lay down and tried to relax her thoughts drifted to the odd dream that awoke her. Now as she stood and stared out into the storm she thought about the dream.
Windsor Castle 1585
A young lady in a long green gown raced through the hallways of Windsor Castle. Her foot steps echoed through the empty stone corridor. She knew she was late, again. Her tight corset made it hard for her to breathe normally while running through the hallways. As she ran, she tried to tame her unruly hair into a chignon at the base of her neck. The Queen would not be pleased with her if she was late and looked like she rolled out of bed. As she ran towards the Queen's personal chambers she hoped her lateness would not be noticed. Quickly the young lady in waiting entered the Queen's chambers, picked up her embroidery, and sat down as if nothing was wrong.
"Lady Greenher you are late once again. Do not tell me that books have kept you away from your Queen once again" the Queen said in a neutral but firm tone. "My apologies Majesty" Lady Moria Greenher replied as she stood and gave the queen a deep curtsy. The Queen nodded and everyone contitued on with their embroidery. Soon the room was filled with light music and chit chat from the rest of the ladies in waiting; Moria's lateness was all but forgotten. She let out a silent sigh of relief; it was never a good idea to be on the Queen's bad side.
Moria tried to concentrate on her embroidery task, but could not help it that her mind began to wonder towards the book she just finished. It was a fascinating book The Discoverie of Witchcraft written byReginald Scot. This man believed the magic and witch craft simple did not exist. Many people, women espically were being tried under this charge of witch craft. It was interesting that one man would take on such a task of proving that what people thought were magic tricks were just simple illusions. Lost in her thoughts about the book, Moria forgot to pay attention to her task at hand, and soon felt the effects. Ouch! She said quietly to herself as she looked at her now bleeding finger. Stupid emboridary needle. After a few hours the Queen dismissed her ladies for the evening. As Moria was leaving the Queen commanded her to stay behind.
Here it comes, the lecture on my tardiness and how I spend too much time reading. Moria thought to herself. The Queen watched as Moria approached with her head down preparing for a scolding. Though she may have deserved the scolding, something else more important needed to be discussed. "Moria, I have decided to give you a chance to use all that knowledge you keep cramming into your head." Moria's head jerked up and she stared disbelieving at her Queen. "You will be given the chance to become an apprentice, with some limitations of course." "Bess I don't know what to say!" Moria replied.
In her pure excitement she had forgot all formalities when addressing Queen Elizabeth. During her short term as one of the Queen's ladies in waiting Moria had become extremely close with the Queen. Queen Elizabeth had requested that Lady Moria Greenher join her after Moria's parents had been lost to the plague. Alone, vulnerable, and left with a title and lands, Queen Elizabeth thought it best to bring the young lady to court. While Moria was away the Queen entrusted the Greenher lands to an appointed overseer until her return.
"You will become an apprentice with an apothecary. I am in need of a trust worthy person to make my needed cures for any aliments I may encounter. There are too many people with in my own court who would wish harm upon me. Also it will be beneficial to you to have a craft for when it is time to find you a husband. Your embroidery skills are severally lacking. I have already chosen a worthy master of the craft. You will work and learn from him here at the castle. The space as already has been set up with the request items. You will meet Master Stephen Prince tomorrow morning. Do try to be on time." Queen Elizabeth said with a smile. Moria could not believe her ears. She would be an apprentice! "OH!! Thank you Bess!", Moria exclaimed. She quickly gave the queen a hug and curtsied before leaving the room. Tomorrow she would be able to do something more than just senseless embroidery work.
The next morning came quickly, but Moria was up, dressed ,and ready to begin her apprenticeship. She quickly walked toward the Apothecary room (as she called it). Moria knew she was early, the apprenticeship was not to begin for another hour yet, but she wanted to see what was in the room. What kind of things would she be working on? She entered the room and looked around. It was a larger room with several shelves and multiple tables. Each shelf contained several different jars, each jar held some kind of ingredient. Moria was able to identify a few items in the jars. She noted there were lavender, rosemary, thyme, chamomile, peppermint, and several other herbs she could not yet identify. Some tables were empty while others held scales, measuring instruments, and other items Moria did not recognize. There was a fireplace in the room as well. Near the fireplace sat several different sized containers which resembled cooking pots. When she took a closer look at the pots she realized they look much different then the normal cooking pots the cooks used to make the meals. What would these be used for?
In the corner of the room the Apothecary Master stood watching the young lady explore the room. Clearly she did not see him when she entered. She was very different from the majority of the women in Queen Elizabeth's court. He could not imagine any of them having half a brain let alone exploring items needed to study apothecary. The young lady wore a simple blue gown with a moderate neck line, her hair in a lose chignon at the base of her neck. Her curiosity was clearly observable as she inspected the cauldrons near the fireplace. She arrived early, which appealed to Master Prince, he did not like tardiness. He made a small cough to alert Lady Greenher. She quickly turned towards the back corner of the room with a startled look upon her face.
"I apologize sir, I did not see you standing there when I entered the room", she quickly replied. "I am Lady Moria Greenher; the Queen has ordered me to become your apprentice.", she stated as she made a deep curtsey towards him. "I am aware who you are and why you are here my Lady. You will address me has Master Prince. We will meet everyday, but Sunday shortly after sunrise. You will be here ready to study and learn." He replied with a cool commanding tone. Master Prince walked towards her and gave her a thick book. "You will read and memorize this book for tomorrow." He noticed her eyes light up as he handed over the book to the young eager student.
The lesson began with simple instructions on how to identify and cut up common herbs. Moria was a quick learner; with in a few practice trials she was able to accurately cut the herbs into any specific size. After practicing how to cut and identify the herbs, Master Prince ordered her to begin writing an essay on their properties which was due by the end of their session.
As she sat at the work table she glanced up to study her Apothecary Master. He wore dark robes; they reminded her of a man of the church's robe, but his were made of better quality. Master Prince had long black hair fashioned into a neat ponytail, his skin was pale, he was taller than she by at least a head, and he had the darkest eyes she had ever seen. She never recalled seeing him before today's lesson; he would stick out among the court. "Lady Greenher your time is quickly running out. I suggest you wake up from your day dream and finish your assignment.", he barked. Moria turn red at being caught staring at the Apothecary Master and returned to her work.
"I am finished Master Prince" she said as she handed him her written work. As he reached out to grab the parchment their hands accidentally touched. When this happened something very strange occurred. Master Prince felt it immediately, a surge of power follow through him. He knew instantly what this meant. Master Prince looked up at Moria's face to see nothing but shock, clearly she felt it too. She quickly let go of her parchment and began backing out of the room. Once outside she headed straight for her private rooms to organize her thoughts.
This can't be. Master Prince thought to himself. She is a witch. Clearly she does not know this yet. No wonder she was able to catch on to the craft so quickly. He was very careful to conceal his magic from the majority of England. Wizards and witches were not welcome among muggles. Muggles tended to over react when someone was different from themselves. Look what happen to Anne Boleyn, the Queen's own mother. She was beheaded for practicing witch craft. Simple minded fools really. Master Prince was surprised to discover that Lady Greenher was a witch, from the simple touch he realized her magic abilities had not yet surfaced. He would have to keep an eye on her to see what would happen during their lessons. Today could trigger the emergence of her dormant magic ability.
Moria sat on her bed in silence. She had a wonderful first lesson, the amount of knowledge Master Prince had was outstanding. But she could not get past what happened at the end of the lesson when their hands touched. What was that feeling? She had never experienced anything like it before. It was as if a jolt of fire ran through her body and onto the Apothecary Master. Maybe she was just imagining the feeling, it had been a long day, and maybe she need some rest before the evening meal. Yes, that had to be the answer; she was tired it was nothing really. Slowly Moria drifted off to sleep.
London 2005
Hermione stare out her apartment window, watching as the thunder storm raged on. Why did she have such a dream? It felt extremely real, as if Hermione herself were Moria. Hermione felt the constriction of the corset around her waist as Moria ran, the pinch of the embroidery needle, and finally the surge when Master Prince touched her hand. What did it all mean? She did have a good amount of wine to drink before going to bed, maybe that was the cause. Wine did make her incredibly tired if she drank too much. Yes, that had to be it. Too much wine before going to bed made her have such an odd dream. Hermione walked over to her bathroom feeling better that she had come up with a rational explanation of why such a dream came to her. She splashed some cold water on her face and was just about ready to climb back into bed when something caught her attention. As she was drying her hands she looked down at her finger. There on the tip was a small puncture wound, the size of a needle point.
Hogwarts 2005
A crash of thunder and Severus suddenly awoke from his sleep. He held his head in his hands and tried to piece together what he saw. No it was more than just watching in the dream, it felt real, as if he was there. Severus slowly began recalling the events of the dream. He was back in Elizabethan England working as a Master of Apothecary. Clever way to disguise his magical abilities, not many people truly understood the art so there would not be many questions asked about his strange practices.
Severus noted that in the dream he was Master Stephan Prince, a descendent from his mother's side. After all she was a pure blood. Aside from not having a larger nose their appearance was very similar. Tall, thin build, long dark black hair, dark eyes, and steady hands. Of course there was the uncanny knack for precious potion making. Severus thought for a moment about his mother's family. She never really shared much about her family, her father considered her to be a failure for marring a muggle. But she had said on several occasions that potion making was in their blood, everyone in the Prince side of family was able to do it with great ease. It was a natural skill something others would notice anytime they watched a descend of the Prince line work on a potion.
Back to the contents of the dream, he needed to get as much information from it as possible. He remembered being a teacher for a young lady of the court. Severus thought this was odd since women were not normally given their own apprenticeships. This was ordered by the Queen herself. When the Lady Moria Greenher entered the room she looked oddly familiar. The young lady was extremely curious about her new surroundings. When the lesson began she proved to be a quick study, within a few practice cuts, she was able to accurately cut the herbs into the specific size. This was something that took most Potion Masters years to perfect and she was doing it with in an hour. Severus also remembered seeing how the young lady light up when he handed her a large book and set the assignment for her to have it read by the next lesson. What Severus remembered the most was the surge felt when their hands touched. He understood that the young lady was also a witch and was just coming into her magical abilities. As he stared down at his hand he could still feel the trace tingling sensation from the touch. Clearly she was to be a powerful witch.
What did this have to do with him? Why did he feel and experience everything in the dream? Severus got up and walked over to his personal desk. He made a few notes on a piece of parchment. Tomorrow he would have to visit the library in order verify some of his notions. But for now he would return to his bed and try to obtain some much needed sleep.
Author Note:
Reginald Scot did write The Discoverie of Witchcraft. I thought it was fitting for this story. en./wiki/ReginaldScot
Please share your thoughts and reviews with me. This story just came to me. I am not sure if or how far I want to contitue this story. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Don't worry I am not abandoning my other story! Just taking a brief detour.