This is my first non-DC related fic. I'm kinda nervous about how it's gonna turn out. I have a sort of plan for this, but not really, you know?

The idea for this has actually been in my head for a while. I'm happy to finally be writing it down. I'm sometimes kept up at night thinking about this story.

I really hope you enjoy reading this story.

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, Severus would have led a better life.

General POV

Albus Dumbledore was a great man, according to many in the European wizarding world. There were a few who were distrustful of him, justifiably so, but the vast majority was tricked and taken in by the grandfatherly smile on his face and the joyful twinkle in his eye. Few felt that he was a threat. After all, he defeated the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, so how bad could he be?

So, many would wonder why a man such as this was walking down a street in the middle of America at such a late hour, or why he went to the door of the mansion of a family who so openly practiced the Dark Arts.

The old man knocked on the mahogany door in a slow rhythm. A house elf that was young in appearance opened the door. Albus looked at the elf critically. The ugly creature was clothed in a tattered gold pillowcase made of silk with a purple outline of a horse on the front. It bowed and led him inside. They passed several doors and hallways decorated with various gold and silver decorations, purple and blue furniture, and several old portraits, before stopping in front of a light colored wooden door. The elf knocked.

A feminine voice called, "Enter," from inside of the room. The servant opened the door and bowed. "Your guest has arrived on schedule, Madame," it said in perfect English.

A woman in a purple night gown turned her head towards the door and replied, "Thank you, Regina. That will be all." The house elf nodded apparated away.

The woman's eyes turned toward her old headmaster and hardened. "Albus, please, take a seat," she said gesturing at the chair opposite her across a small table.

Albus did as he was told before stating, "I trust you know why I'm here."

The woman scoffed. "You want me to teach at your school. Why else would you ask to visit," she said, rolling her eyes. "There's no reason for me to return to Europe, as you well know."

"There is reason enough," supplied the man.

"What reason?" the woman asked harshly. "You made sure that anything I wanted over there was taken from me!"

"Voldemort has returned," began Albus, effectively grabbing the other's full attention. "He returned near the end of the last school year. Harry Potter engaged him in a duel." A flicker of fear passed through the woman's eyes, causing him to smirk slightly. "While the boy survived, I'm afraid the Ministry is refuses to believe any of his claims concerning the situation. As such, they are planning to send a Ministry worker to Hogwarts to teach Defense against the Dark Arts. However, if I'm able to find another professor before then, they'll be unable to do anything of the sort. I was hoping you would be willing to fill the position."

"I'll do it," the woman said with a scowl.

The old man smiled and clapped his hands together. "Excellent!" he exclaimed. He quickly sobered, however, before warning, "You know you cannot tell the boy the truth."

"I'm a Slytherin," stated the woman coldly. "I'll do what's best when the time is right."

Albus sighed but nodded, knowing he wasn't going to get her to reconsider.

The woman had a smug smile on her face when she called for Regina to escort her guest out.

-LINE BREAK-

Harry's POV

Harry honestly felt tired as he half listened to the Sorting Hat's song and watched the new students get sorted. Between worrying over Sirius, Professor Dumbledore ignoring him, his feelings for Cho, his guilt for Cedric, whatever he was feeling towards Ron for becoming a prefect, and the very thought that the darkest wizard in history was back, he barely had any time to feel anything else.

He vaguely caught the fact that someone was teaching Care of Magical Creatures other than Hagrid. Harry looked up in shock as the headmaster continued. "And it's my pleasure to welcome Professor Cassiopeia Everpine who will be teaching Defense against the Dark Arts." A woman with long platinum blonde hair tied up in a ponytail smiled and nodded from her seat beside Professor Snape. Her soft brown eyes swept across the hall, pausing on him for a few seconds before continuing.

Before Harry knew it, he was chatting with his friends between bites of chicken. The subject was the new professor at the head table, who seemed to be talking contently with Snape.

"She seems alright," he said with a shrug.

"Alright!" Ron exclaimed. "Look at her. She's friends with Snape! How is that supposed to make her alright?"

Hermione rolled her eyes before saying, "Ron, you can't judge her by who she talks to. They might not even be friends. I bet he's just giving her advice on how to properly teach here."

The redhead groaned. "That means we're all gonna fail."

"Ron!" Hermione chastised.

As the two began to argue, Harry turned his attention to Professor Everpine. She did seem to get on well with Snape. The boy felt suspicion spark in his mind, but he was really tired, so he brushed it off and continued eating.

-LINE BREAK-

Cassie's POV

Cassie was overjoyed to see Severus again. She missed him dearly while she was back home.

But I had to leave, she reminded herself, I didn't have a choice. None of us did.

She felt herself becoming angry and sad, so she pushed that thought to the back of her mind. She was seeing an old friend for the first time in over a decade. Those feelings would have to wait.

"So," she began with a slight smile, "what can you tell me about the students here?"

Severus scowled. "Complete dunderheads, the lot of them. None fully grasp the importance of what they're failing to learn. Very few are better than others, but I have yet to find a single well-behaving student."

The blond giggled and thought, same old Severus. Please don't ever change.

Deciding her friend wasn't going to be much help in actually learning about how her students would need to be taught, she changed topics.

As the students began leaving the hall, she spied a messy head of black hair amongst the Gryffindors.

TBC…

I like this chapter. It's a good opening, I think.

Severus is hard to write. He's a complicated character, but I still love him. He doesn't want to admit it, but he really cares for his students.

Any criticism you would like to share? Then please comment!