The journey of a man struggling with the demons of the world and a girl haunted by the demons of her mind. Can two people so broken find solace in each other? A story of healing and moving forward while creating something beautiful along the way.
Hermione Granger was struggling with the post war life.
It had been six months since Voldemort had been defeated at the battle of Hogwarts and Hermione still hadn't adjusted to a mundane routine. Now that normalcy was a familiar aspect of her life she didn't know how to move forward. Promptly after the war she was pulled and prodded in fifty different directions by the media, the Daily Prophet was doing backflips trying to get a photo of the Golden trio. Now that the Dark Lord was gone and crime rates were at an all-time low and there was nothing left to talk about except the gossip of the war heroes.
The wisest witch of her generation was at a dead end, nothing seemed to make sense to her anymore. Everything around her seemed to be moving at record speed. It was like she was stuck in a car watching out of a window. Promptly after the war, Harry and Ginny moved onto Grimmauld place, ready to move on with their lives. If the Chosen One could pick up the pieces of his life after all his horrors, why couldn't she?
She missed her friends; especially Fred, Tonks and Remus. She was still mourning the deaths of the fallen but couldn't come to accept that she would be living without them.
And then there was Ron. She hadn't talked much with her redheaded best friend. Ron had shown a romantic interest in her after the war, most likely because of the heated kiss they shared six months ago. But Hermione wasn't quite sure if the kiss was a result of true feelings or the rush of adrenaline and desperation that war brought.
Hermione sighed.
She was currently back at Hogwarts finishing up her seventh year. Lost and dazed after the war she returned back to the one place she could seek solace. Her beloved school and library brought her some form of peace; but as comforting as the old castle was she felt as if she was stuck in a limbo state.
It was about half 6 and she was holed up in her dorm with her nose in an Arithmancy textbook. The Headmistress had named her Head Girl when she informed her she was returning to Hogwarts; she had her own dorm space due to her status of Head Girl. She was in no mood to go down to the Great Hall to mingle and eat. The amount of missed dinners were accumulating, her knitted jumper was sliding off her bony shoulders. She was looking weaker and pale compared to her usual healthy glow.
A soft feline rubbed against her side and Hermione welcomed the half Kneazle warmly. The one constant in her life came in the form of a large ball of bronze fur.
"Hey Crooks" she mumbled into his fur as she pressed her nose into the mountain of hair. She thought about the rainy night that she went to retrieve her familiar in Melbourne. But she shook her head back and forth as if she could shake the memories right out of her head and stomp on them.
Leaning against the soft cotton red and gold sheets she put her book on the wood night stand and murmured a quiet 'nox' and the room turned a silent black.
Severus Snape couldn't sleep.
The recent War had taken a toll on a usually resilient wizard.
Ever since the War insomnia had tormented him for hours at a time. On a good night he got one or two hours of sleep, not nearly a sufficient sleep to teach a full day of Potions.
After he had dealt with the repercussions of the War, like avoiding getting sent to Azkaban and facing many Death eater trials he thought he could resume some normality. But everything was a reminiscence of the horrors that he was force to face during the war.
Sometimes he wished he had not survived that night at the Shrieking Shack but deep down he was scared of death. Scared of the oblivion and uncertainty that came along with dying. Coward he thought. But now that he was back at Hogwarts he felt his life was filled with nothingness.
Lily would never come back.
Her son did not need protecting.
He was no longer needed as a spy.
Perhaps he truly had no purpose any more.
He sneered and thought about the dunderheads that might be in the corridors snogging and causing mischief. He slipped out of his bed and put on a black cloak. The dark silky fabric engulfed his long, slender limbs; he walked out of his quarters and began scouting for Gryffindors.
He started to feel the fatigue and the sharp cracking in his joints but regardless of the aches in his body he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep.
Snape walked briskly toward the Gryffindor tower.
And that's when the screaming started.
Author's Note: Hello all! I'm really excited to start this story and my journey as a writer. This happens to be one of my favourite pairings. If I have readers I would love for people to review just to see if people are interested in my writing and if I should continue. I have a great vision for this and I hope you all enjoy it. I'm going to try my hardest for regular updates! Thanks! Love Rhys.