The hallways were cold as I swept my way to the great hall. Hogwarts in December was beautiful but at times unforgiving. Gravel crunched beneath my feet; a testament to the lack of numbers remaining to help rebuild after the war. Times were strange at this 10 year marker and Hogwarts, once a bustling hub of warmth and love had diminished to a flickering lamplight surrounded by uncertainty and sadness. Harry Potter had won, rest assured, but at a high cost. Families were torn apart by loyalties, bloodlines, and of course death. Friendships were strained as priorities shifted. I, for example, had kept no contact with either of my compatriots after all was said and done. Once my education could gather some steam I never let it go, finishing my NEWTs, two rounds of university with apprenticeship in my last two years, and finally acquiring all I needed to secure tenure at Hogwarts as Ancient Runes professor. It had all happened in a blur. Not the blur that suggests "time flies when having fun" but rather in a haze as a means of coping. We had all lost so much at such an early age yet no one could really tell us how to manage it all. So I did what I do best and disappeared into my studies. It seems I did such a fine job of disappearing into my studies that I had disappeared from everyone around me, pushing away any sort of social opportunities however small, citing my need to far surpass my own abilities in a class or on a paper. I missed out on a lot back then, too much a true friend should have been around for. Harry and Ginny had gotten engaged and married, Ron lost interest in me but quickly found solace in the arms of Lavender, and all the while I had read a new book or published a new translation of a rune all on my own. As time went on and friends became acquaintances and stopped calling, I had created a sort of nest around myself. Once I had accepted the position at Hogwarts, this new world of mine was just that: mine. My rooms were as I made them, without any outside influence or fear, and my classroom was run as I meant it to be run. The library was the only other place I would venture, aside from start and end of term feasts; I had created my haven and I refused to see it ruined once more. Which brings me to why, in the heart of Christmas of all holidays, I found myself facing the doors to the great hall.
I do not negotiate with terrorists.