First Impressions Chapter One, a harry potter fanfic

Author's Note:

Hello and welcome to my new fic. It's problably my first novel (maybe) length Severus/Hermione so I'm very proud of myself. As much as I love this pairing have never actually been able to get one of those great ideas for story until a few months ago and so here we are.

One of my favorite books is Pride & Prejudice as such that is where the title for this fic comes from. First Impressions is the first working title, as it were, of Pride & Prejudice and because I didn't want to call this Pride & Prejudice the title became First Impressions. I've seen many fics around here based off of said book but this really isn't based off of the book so don't worry...my plot is not the same as that of Ms. Austen's novel, I think doing that wouldn't really make the plot my own.

So now that, that has been stated I want to put in this story is based off of the Marriage Law. I also have not seen it set up the way I'm doing it so it might be an original approach but you never know so I'll leave it at that. The story also contains time-travel and is a romance (Can't get away from those).

By the way this is AU but it does have some connections to DH other than the obvious (ie Snape being alive, Hermione and Ron not being together...)

Other than that I do have a summary but first I will explain the title. It comes from A Mid-summer's Night Dream By Shakespeare and I think it just speaks for itself. I couldn't help myself with the first line of this story, after all what is a good story without a famous opening line...

Summary:

Hermia Dumbledore was his first love, his only love--Lily Evans would never come even close to Hermia Dumbledore. After Hermia's death Severus Snape has vowed to never love again but when the Marriage Law comes into place, Severus has to marry his former student and a woman who reminds him so much of Hermia. Hermione Granger isn't too pleased to marry her former Professor but over time grows to respect him until one mistake puts fate into place and Severus begins to realize that after 21 years he has to move on but is it too late, after all Hermione Granger was dead.

So hopefully that summary might interest you...

Disclaimer:

I don't own anything...maybe the clothes on my back and perhaps the computer but for the moment I have nothing. My plot may or may not be mine...but none of the characters not even Hermia Dumbledore are mine...figures...so nothing is mine and this is plainly for fun.

Chapter One

The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth

August 25, 2000

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man that has fallen in love can fall in love again. Such being the case, it can also be said that such a man can also remain so set upon his first love that he will not allow himself to fall in love again, much less marry another woman. This was the case with one Severus Snape.

"Won't you even consider another woman? Miss Granger is much like Hermia." Headmistress McGonagall said to him one day, "You can't live in the past forever."

"What? That know-it-all Gryffindor?" Severus said, nearly laughing. "I think not, I was her professor for goodness sake."

Minerva let out a peal of laughter. "The war is over, Severus, you're a free man and I wish to simply see you happy. You are not her professor anymore, either, and she would do you wonders, if you just let her. Who else could match you as well as she can?"

Severus snorted. "If you were to see me happy you would leave me be."

"Don't be daft, Severus, you aren't happy, brooding about like you do. You haven't smiled in such a long time." she looked at him sadly. "Sulking will not bring her back."

"Why did you really call me up here, Minerva?" Severus asked, tired of where the conversation was headed.

She glared at him for a moment before she spoke again, "I'm retiring, Severus. It is about time; too, I'm getting too old for all of this. I want to spend some time in Scotland with my sister, maybe travel elsewhere. You know what this means, I expect."

Severus shook his head, wondering why it concerned him in the least.

"You are now headmaster." she said this so simply and plainly as if it wasn't at all important. "I have spoken to Miss Granger, already, and she has agreed to take over for you as Potions professor. I have done my best to prepare everything for the coming school year. I will be leaving within a week. This office is officially yours."

Severus was stunned; couldn't believe it, he was the headmaster, granted it was for the second time but Severus liked to think that his first time as being headmaster didn't count, that had been back when he was taking orders from Voldemort while working for a dead man, while Harry Potter and his friends worked on destroying said dark lord, anyhow, so it didn't need to count.

The hooting of two owls alerted one Hermione Granger as she took her walk around the Hogwarts grounds, much as she always did. Hermione enjoyed her walks, the only time she had to actually be by herself and think without the noise of the professors or the few students that showed up from time to time. The two owls, however, got her attention. No one ever received owls this late in the day, most coming in during breakfast, the few letters that did arrive over the course of the day, however, were usually the serious kind. Hermione only hoped that neither owl carried bad news and with that she continued her walk, until one of the owls was flying towards her, carrying a white envelope with a ministry of magic seal.

"Oh, what do they want now?" Hermione asked herself, not opening the letter quite yet.

She would worry about it after her walk. Nevertheless, her walk had been ruined. The ministry of magic had a way of doing that to her like nothing else could. After the war they had begun sending her letters with job offers or--this was worse in her opinion--asking her to publicly give her support to the ministry.

The ministry was currently in need of all the support it could get. Scrimgeour had left the ministry in shambles and then when it had been in the hands of Lord Voldemort nothing had come to better it and while it was still the center of all hypocrisy it was getting better. Hermione still disliked it greatly and wanted noting to do with it, nevertheless. Her two best friends, however, currently trained to become Aurors and had given the ministry their support. Ginny who had left Hogwarts just that past June would be joining them within the month. Hermione had wanted no part of it, something that she assumed was part of the reason they weren't talking to her. Or maybe they had sided with Ron when she rejected him. Truth of it was she couldn't handle being with someone that needed everything explained to them, who would never be her match intellectually. How bored would she have felt with him? He had been rather upset with her upon his rejection and so--as it had been expected--had the rest of the Weasleys, been; Mrs. Weasley going as far as to sending her a howler which called her, quite plainly, a scarlet woman, not that this hadn't also been expected. Hermione had long ago seen the truth about the Weasley's, their bigotry, as it were. Harry had taken no side at the time but it was quite clear--now--that he would side with Ron. His girlfriend was, after all, Ginny Weasley. There was still hope for Harry, nevertheless, Hermione had seen Harry, not long after the howler had arrived at her then home and they had proceeded to get drunk, the things he had said about Ginny had been terrible, to say the least.

Her walk was ruined. Hermione sighed in frustration; she had been looking forward to today's walk, too. She decided to head back to the castle and open the letter in the confines of her rooms in the dungeon. No one understood her choice of career to become a professor, they had all thought she would be doing something better with her life and her "brilliant mind" as Ginny had put it. Her friends--if she could even call them that anymore--frustrated her. They wanted her to do things that while worthwhile to her seemed boring and pointless. Did they not want her to do the things she wanted to do like they were doing or was it all simply about using her for their own means like Ron had used her to pass his classes during their years at Hogwarts?

She entered the castle. The halls were surprisingly empty but she didn't mind it much. She began making her way down to the dungeons and to her rooms.

Severus looked around his office. He couldn't believe that he was actually the headmaster of Hogwarts. He had never wanted to be the headmaster of Hogwarts the first time around and he had never pictured himself in the office again but here he was, in his office. He found himself smirking, now, thinking of how the students would react, and then it was a full on smile. How dare McGonagall say he hadn't smiled since Hermia's death. He had just proved her wrong. His face turned into a scowl as he, once more, thought about her.

Hermia.

His Hermia, his life, his love, his everything.

Hermia had been his first and only love. Lily Evans had been nothing to Hermia Dumbledore. Even though she had showed up one day without a notice to anyone, he had fallen in love with her. It hadn't really lasted long, now that he thought about it. It had been a quick affair, if he really told himself the truth. Hermia had been married, after all, and at first had been reluctant to start anything with him but even she had admitted that she and her husband were not in love. The end had been the tragic part, however, with Hermia dying, but he didn't want to think about this any longer. Not that he had to because an owl was pecking at the window.

Severus groaned when he saw the seal on the letter. What did the ministry want with him, anyway? They hadn't been in contact with him since allowing him to go free of all charges on the murder of Albus Dumbledore. He didn't want to open the letter just yet, and instead wanted to simply enjoy his new office. Some changes were in order of course, but he would worry about that later, but for now everything was fine except for the letter sitting on his desk. He glared at the offending piece of parchment.

"Minerva. I cannot believe the ministry of magic this time; they're taking it too far." She said, looking for her old Transfiguration professor.

"Miss Granger." Severus Snape drawled.

Hermione turned and gasped. "I'm sorry for just running in here but, I..." she stopped to look around, "where is Minerva?"

"Not in my office." Severus said, an eyebrow raised. "But, you now have my attention, for I have received a letter from the ministry myself, now, what could the ministry have done to warrant such an un-respectful entrance into my office from you, Miss Granger."

Hermione blushed slightly, "you said you received a letter." Hermione said. "I would read it."

Severus walked around her to his desk and picked up the envelope. He turned back to her. He opened the envelope and took out the folded piece of parchment. He then began to read it, the only show of emotion being a quirk of an eyebrow.

"I see." He finally said, setting the letter down. "I see no way out of it."

He seemed so resigned to his fate, not bothered by it at all. Hermione wished he would show more emotion, that he would be angry and that he would try to get out of it but he just looked at her until she let out a sound of frustration and left the office.

After she had left he sat down and buried his head in his hands. How could this have happened to him? To go against everything that he had promised himself that night twenty years previous. He stood up, grabbed the nearest object, a mug full of ball point pens, and threw them at the nearest wall, the pens rolling all over the floor. Why did it have to be her of all people. The one person that reminded him so much of his Hermia.

Two Years Later

November 9, 2002

The creak of a door made Severus look up from his place on the bed, reading a potions' journal. His pajama clad wife entered the room and turned away from him, walking to a closet, where she began to rifle through robes.

"What were you doing in there, you've been in there for--" he consulted the muggle clock next him "--an hour. It doesn't take you that long to shower."

Hermione turned to look at him. "I have a stomach flu." she told him. "I had the urge to empty my stomach and then I took a bath."

He frowned and then got out of bed, walking towards her. He placed his hands on her arms and ran his hands over them. "I'm sorry, are you alright, now? Should I get you a potion?"

She shook her head. "I'll drink some tea and later a potion if I'm still unsettled." she told him.

Severus nodded before he walked to the bathroom to take his shower.

Hermione in their bedroom sighed in relief. She didn't know how she would tell him. It wasn't that she was scared of him, that wasn't it at all but just that she didn't know what his reaction would be. He knew it needed to happen eventually, that had been the reason behind the law in the first place but, for some reason, she felt like he would take it bad. She finally picked out her robes for the day and pulled them on, heading to her vanity, as she did she couldn't help but look down at her flat stomach. What would it be like in the months to come? She smiled slightly to herself before sitting down and running a brush through her messy hair. She had just about finished getting all the tangles out when the bathroom door opened and Severus walked back into the room, fully dressed in his long black robes.

"Breakfast?" he asked.

"I'd rather not be around food." Hermione said. "See you later."

He nodded and walked out of their room to the small sitting room and then out to the cold dungeons. He walked briskly, his cloak billowing behind him, while he thought about his wife. Two years married with Hermione had done nothing to change him, unlike what Minerva had proposed. Hermione wasn't Hermia; no one would ever replace her, even if Hermione was much like Hermia. How many times had he seen her do things that reminded him so much of Hermia? Their names even sounded alike, for that matter and they even looked somewhat alike, if he admitted the truth to himself, they could have passed for one another if only for the subtle and simple differences between them.

He entered the great hall through the teacher's entrance and took his place in the middle of the table, looking around at the sleepy students.

Hermione made her way into her classroom directly from her rooms. It was there that she called Dobby to bring her some tea to settle her stomach. She then took her seat at her desk and pulled a pile of essays towards her. She hated grading essays, especially those from the younger years, which were messier and less well research save for a few that usually came from the more studious bunch. She sighed as she began to read the first essay, shaking her head as to how everything mentioned in the essay seemed to be somehow wrong.

She had gotten through five essays before her first class had filed in. The Gryffindor and Slytherin fifth years all looked at her with sleepy, bored gazes.

"Continue working on your potions from yesterday." Hermione told them. "Instructions are on the board, if you have any questions just ask me."

She watched them levitate their cauldrons and continue with their potions, hoping that no mistakes would happen. After finishing another essay she began to walk around them, looking at their potions. Some of them had it right but most of them had the wrong shade of blue, some going as far as to having a purple or pink color.

The rest of the day went on as normal. No accidents happened, a surprise to Hermione seeing as at least one mishap seemed to happen per day in one of her classes, usually a stupid mistake by one of the morons that she usually found in her class. It was as such that she found herself in a good mood as she made her way to dinner. Once in the great hall Hermione took her seat and began to pull food her way, she was famished.

"I see you're eating." Hermione jumped at the remark from her husband.

He took a seat, chuckling, and piled food on his own plate. Neither said anything to the other throughout the rest of the meal. Severus left the table first, Hermione following after him a few minutes later.

In their rooms the usual nightly routine began.

Neither talked as they relaxed in front of the fireplace, Hermione marking essays while Severus read from the potion's journal he had that morning. Every night was usually the same to them, save for the weekends when things changed a little with all the time they had to spend in their rooms.

Soon, like every night, Hermione finished her grading, as she set it aside she looked towards her husband, taking in his form as he read, relaxed. She smiled slightly and thought about what she had to tell him, maybe she could tell him and maybe he wouldn't take it badly or maybe she didn't need to worry after all. She stood up, stretching her arms and allowing a small yawn to form. She walked out of their room, headed to their bedroom.

Severus looked up as he heard the door close. He slumped a little in his chair and closed his book, dropping it on a table next to his chair. He ran a hand through his hair before covering his face with his hands. He was--like he had found himself doing often these days--thinking about his wife and the love of his life.

He didn't love Hermione. Hermia on the other hand, he had loved her, and he couldn't stop thinking about the fact that he was betraying her, and betraying the promise he had made himself after she had died. Just the fact that Hermione was so much like her, it killed him. He sighed, thinking about his marriage, the kind of marriage--he expected--Hermia had, too, had back then. His marriage wasn't at all like a real marriage needed to be. The fact that it was working, alone, meant that with so many things left unsaid, things wouldn't be alright for long regardless of the delusion they were living. His marriage like that of many others in the wizarding world lacked love and communication, two of the things that made marriage work. He groaned remembering how the first week had gone. Both ignoring each other and trying hard to not think about what they would need to do at the end of the week.

The wedding had been hasty, the signing of papers and saying I do's to each other without real feeling had passed quickly and then they had been finally alone. The awkwardness that had taken over them after their sham of a marriage had been terrible, neither knowing if they should speak or not to break the silence. Finally it was Severus who offered to show her their new domain, his rooms in the dungeons, they would never be mentioned as their rooms, she would be a guest, expected to leave as soon as the ridiculous law was dissolved. While they walked the long trek to the dungeons, Severus couldn't help but scowl at the thought of her in his rooms, and not just that, just even thinking about her, it made him cringe. She had been his student for goodness sake. He finally dared to look at her face, and met a frown; at least he wasn't the only one suffering.

"Your stuff is probably already through that door over there." He told her once they were in his rooms. "The door next to it is my room. A bathroom is connected to both rooms, just to warn you."

She nodded, the only sign that she was listening to him.

"My lab is through that door over there. Your office--my old office--has been cleaned out and already probably has your possessions, there is a door in there that leads out to the corridor and the potion's classroom. My private lab is not to be used by you and off limits as is my room unless you have my permission to enter. I want to make it clear that these rooms are mine until this--" he spat the next word, "--law, is repealed."

Hermione said nothing again but nodded, quietly.

"I shall see you later. Look around if you like but do not disrupt my books." He said, looking at the shelves of books that covered the walls."

In his office, still looking like it had when Dumbledore had occupied it, Severus considered his wife. He didn't know how his life would turn out with her around but he hoped that, somehow, the law would be dissolved in the near future, before anything else were to happen like the chit of a girl he had been made to marry getting pregnant. If he could put off that part of the law for as long as possible, until it was dissolved, that would at least comfort him. Severus didn't like children and much less babies and while he assumed that he would probably love his child he still didn't want any.

The first few days went on quite as the first, with Severus hiding in his lab and Hermione spending as much time as possible fixing up her office or looking through the potion's stores that would be used by the students to see if enough of everything was there, as well as adding to her own private store.

Both stayed as far away from each other as possible, ignoring each other but knowing that once Saturday arrived they needed to spend some time together to do the "deed" that would change their lives for ever, as it were.

Severus stood up, shaking himself out of his thoughts. It had made for an interesting but awkward day that first Saturday spent together, the week that had followed he had enjoyed watching the pink tint on his wife's cheeks and when that second Saturday came about, he grinned slightly, it had been that weekend that had led to them sharing a room. He walked to the fire, wondering how exactly his wife had managed to wiggle her way into his room--no--their room and rooms. He groaned slightly not wanting to keep thinking about her.

"Severus."

He turned to look at his wife. She wore a smile on her face, one of her hands rested on her still flat stomach while the other was against the wall next to the door, on which she was leaning.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Are you coming to bed?"

"Soon." He said, watching her, knowing something was odd in the way she stood.

"I wish to speak to you." She told him, after a small silence. "I've been meaning to."

Severus said nothing and instead just nodded.

She shifted slightly. He raised an eyebrow at her. Her smile grew bigger for a moment and then she turned and walked back toward their bedroom.

What did she want? They had never really talked and here she was, wanting to talk about something. He didn't need this, not while he wanted nothing more than to just go to sleep and stop thinking about her and everything else he had to deal with, like the constant visits from Harry Potter, one of which had happened earlier that day, and many other things like misbehaving students.

When he stepped into their room she was sitting up on her side of the bed, reading. She looked at him and once again, smiled.

"Severus," she began.

He interrupted her. "I don't feel like talking tonight. It's been a long day, Hermione; tomorrow you can tell me whatever it is that is bothering you."

Her smiled faded and now she was frowning, "Do you know how hard it is to even..." she trailed off and took a deep breath, no longer looking at him. "You know what, forget it, Severus Snape. I won't even bother."

She turned away from him, and he knew she was crying.

November 20, 1982

The gloomy day reflected on his mood as he walked across the bed of snow while heavy rain beat against him. He didn't seem to mind the weather like everyone else who had been outside earlier and had now taken refuge by the fire in their common rooms. He turned to look at the castle and frowned upon seeing the newly fixed window. It was so unfair that the broken glass could be gotten rid of and that something new would replace it. Nothing--no one--could replace Hermia and no one would try, because no one would replace her in his heart. He turned back to looking at the lake, the place he was headed towards, watching the raindrops grace the water and get lost in its depths. He let out a small strangled sob, a lone tear getting lost in the raindrops that fell like tears over his face.

Hermia.

Her smile, the way she had looked at him before--no! He wouldn't think about that day.

He choked on another sob, remembering, now, her daily walk around the lake and the grounds of Hogwarts. He had joined her sometimes but on most afternoons she took her walks alone. He stood at the edge of the lake, now, watching the rain fall on the water, sending ripples across the surface of it. He sighed. She had been such a special person, such a beautiful person.

"I promise to never love another." He said in a whisper to himself.

He walked closer, the cold water touching his shoes slightly. He didn't seem to notice it. His eyes were now closed and he was picturing her in his mind.

She was standing, smiling at him, her hair twisting and turning around in the wind.

"I will never love another." He said this louder.

His shoes were completely covered by water.

"I will never love anyone but you! No one but Hermia Dumbledore!" This he screamed, when it died down he whispered, "No one but you."

He walked two steps into the lake, the water nearly to his knees.

"No one but you." He whispered, again, a sob breaking in.

Magic seemed to surround him, now, taking him off the water slightly before he fell to his knees in the water and even though he had told himself not to cry tears were rolling down his cheeks mixing with the rain and falling into the lake and he was whispering her name not caring that he was soaking wet and still in the lake.

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoyed that as much as I enjoyed writing it...reviews are very welcome and I hope you stick with the fic. Other than that I think next chapter should be up within the next two weeks, hopefully, unless my teachers decide to be mean to me and give me tons of homework which will probably happen.