A/N: None of this is mine. The characters, world, and backbone of everything belong to JK Rowling. I just would like to play with them for a bit.
CHAPTER ONE
When she was barely eleven, he had been sent to tell her she was a witch. Professor McGonagall was supposed to go; her social skills lent more to dealing with parents, or anything alive (save lab rats, perhaps), really, than his did. But she had developed a hayfever the day before and despite the exceptional quality of the pepper ups he had made her, she was not feeling up for the journey to the muggle world. So, Severus Snape was sent.
When he knocked on the dark blue door, a woman with a startling amount of curly brown hair had answered, blinking at him, hello caught in her throat. He had to admit his appearance might indeed be disconcerting, on top of his already staggering height and greasy appearance, he had not deemed it necessary to dress in muggle attire. Billowing black robes were not a common sight in Surrey. "I'm here about the letter your daughter has received," was all he said before stepping into the front hall.
Snape first saw her peaking around the corner of some hallway, hair poofing out around her small face, blinking out him with giant brown eyes.
"Who are you?" Mrs. Granger demanded as a balding man came around the corner the little girl had been half-hiding behind. Snape heaved a sigh.
"My name is Severus Snape, I am the Potions Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Your daughter is a witch and has been invited to attend this school in the fall to develop her magical abilities." There was a sneer at the end of this, but they didn't seem to notice.
"There's no such thing as magic," piped up the small girl, even though she didn't sound like she actually believed herself. Snape's sneer deepened. He removed his wand and pointed it at their umbrella stand, turning it into a vase of lilies before turning toward the table and transfiguring it into a chocolate cake.
"Oh," Mr. Granger spoke first. The girl's mouth dropped open and her eyes grew as large as dinner plates.
"Ms. Granger needs to go and get her school supplies and wand. I will escort you to Diagon Alley where I trust you can figure the rest out. You can exchange your money at Gringotts. More information about Hogwarts will be in her letter." With that Severus Snape turned on his heel and exited their house. Shoes were quickly thrown on and off the family went, running to catch up. Snape stopped briefly to look down on the girl, walking next to him instead of her parents. She really had monstrous hair.
"I'm Hermione Granger," she said. He said nothing, her teeth were monstrous too.
"I knew there was always something different about me. We had to dissect a frog for science last year and I didn't want to, all I wanted was the frogs to come alive and jump all over the classroom and teacher and escape. Then they did." She said this all in one breath and a corner of Snape's mouth twitched up for a millisecond; then she starting asking questions. And didn't stop. And Snape wasn't amused anymore.
***
The first time he saw her face was what came to mind as he saw it for the last time. He pushed out his memories of Lily and Dumbledore and Voldemort and anyone else of consequence and given them to Potter for whatever good it may do (likely none). She had conjured a flask almost as soon as he gave over his memories, and perhaps he had been impressed. Then he had laid down his head to die and she looked at him with those big brown eyes. This would be the last time he'd see this brilliant, know-it-all, Gryffindor princess who had annoyed him since the day he met her.
He didn't know what to think of in those fleeting fractions of seconds he had left, so he thought of when he'd first seen her. First known that she was probably going to change the wizarding world; even when she was an eleven year old who knew absolutely nothing about magic, some little part of him knew. He ignored it magnificently, however, until he was about to die.
He knew she had kept Potter alive till this point, had been the reason any of this was able to get so far. Then he felt something unfamiliar, hope. He believed they would win, just because she was on their side.
Then, as he used the last of his strength to swallow the bezoar, Severus Snape thought no more.