Prologue:

He had always admired her, of this he was quite certain and capable of admission. The day Severus Snape first laid eyes on her was unseasonably cool for late August, the blustery winds blowing his dark cape wildly as he stepped out onto the quad.

Unsurprisingly, he found his students urgently darting out of his line of sight. It is better to be feared than loved, he mused, his thin mouth pulled tightly into a frown. Ascending the stairs to the Headmaster's office, he murmured the painfully absurd words to allow his entrance, and he, along with the other members of the faculty at Hogwarts, awaited the announcement that Albus Dumbledore had promised them.

A bespectacled wizened wizard, cloaked in sunshine gold appeared before them after a time, his eyes twinkling merrily as if he and he alone was privy to something inherently amusing. Severus leaned his tall body against the stone impatiently, his head shaking slightly at the ridiculous man before him.

"Thank you all for joining with me today". The old man began, his long beard scraping the floor as he advanced towards the teachers. "I have an announcement that simply could not wait. Today we have been entrusted with a new student. She exhibits extraordinarily unique abilities, those which may one day prove to be invaluable to us all. Please, allow me to introduce Princess Elsa Andersson". Albus's face lit up like the harvest moon as he carefully viewed his colleagues appraise the slight girl who floated into the room.

A slender ice blonde young woman of about sixteen sauntered cautiously into the space, eyes downcast. Severus tentatively watched as her round eyes left the floor, and crystal blue swept curiously over the teachers, her pale face set in a tight smile. Strangely, he felt a protective pull deep inside him as their eyes met, from a place he did not realize he could still evoke emotion. Succinctly squelching his bizarre desire to reach out and touch her fair skin, he heard her speak for the first time, her sweet lilt music to his ears.

That day was nearly three years ago. Since then, he had taught her, watching her grow into her skills, admiring how her magic thrived. At the untimely death of her parents, he observed quietly as she took on the dual role of Queen and student, never once faltering in her multitude of tasks. He had to bear both the punishment and privilege that day of breaking the news, and steadied his resolve as she fell onto his chest numbly, her slender racking arms held firmly in his own. Only a fortnight later, those small arms lifted up the somber nation, as he viewed her coronation silently in the back of an ornate Orthodox Church, her eyes trained on him as intricate gold perched atop her platinum head.

He found it both odd and refreshing that while her marks consistently remained high, she never once managed to obtain a companion out of her peers, the sole muggleborn Slytherin in her year, and as such, her preference was to studying alone in the library, or spending extra time in the Potions laboratory, too keen on her studies and royal obligations to acknowledge her many young admirers. Silently smug, he took note of all of this- surely she is too good for the lot of them - and he could not help but be pleased that she notably favoured time in his company. One could say that he was already in love with her then, though he would not, even now, admit to such a thing aloud. He was amazed by her, at the very least, her reserved dignity in strength and character drew her to him, which led him to request, and her to accept, an apprenticeship once she had graduated from Hogwart's School of Magic, which is where our story begins.