A/N: Hi! So, you know the drill: this doesn't belong to me (unless it's not something you recognize, like the plot or a character or a place). This will be my only disclosure of this kind. I don't like reading A/N's usually, so you won't see many from me.

Like every other writer since the beginning of writing, I like reviews. Please keep your criticism constructive and professional, but honest! This is my first story, so I expect more criticism that accolades, but I will respond as often as I can.

SYNOPSIS: Years after the war, Hermione is asked to return to Hogwarts by Minerva, and a certain brooding Slytherin becomes very glad. Romance and trouble, as always, follow in their wake. Rated MA for future chapters - you have been warned! EDITED and REPOSTED

Happy reading!

When the battle ended, everyone else assumed he was dead, and had been ashamedly relieved, though he had been exonerated.She was the one who had searched for him. Shock at not finding his body in the Shrieking Shack leading her to wander, not leaving the masses of unidentified bodies on the battlefield until she had searched every last face for the teacher-turned-hero.

With Dumbledore gone, and Minerva in mourning for her life-long friend - not to mention all the other deaths - Hermione knew they needed that cold, hard exterior, tempered by years of loss and doing the necessary, to perform the onerous tasks that now lay ahead. They needed him in charge of the aftermath; he, the one who could handle anything thrown at him, the one with a mind like a scythe, the grace of a tiger, the resolve of a mountain river…

He had returned from reuniting Draco Malfoy with his mother (and recovering from his injuries) to find her on the battlefield in a shallow defile, clutching at and sobbing over the body of an unrecognizable man. She had part of a mask clutched in her fists as though it were the last shred of her sanity. His concern rose as she slumped, exhausted from days of sleepless searching for… someone.

"Miss Granger, if you insist upon wearing yourself out to this extent, you will cause the already horrific death toll to climb."

She froze. She had heard that midnight voice in her mind so many times in the last few days that she scarcely believed it was real. His hand on her shoulder caused her to turn to him, her face a splotched mess due to sweat and mud, blood and tears. Her heart leapt into her eyes, unbidden, and she searched his face in wonder and relief.

His expression turned to stone as he underwent a scrutiny that made his inner depths quake with an unfamiliar emotion. To cover his weakness, he snapped, "You shall go to the infirmary. NOW." and grabbed her to him, carrying her all the way to Poppy's side.

The next time he saw her, it was his heart that made an unbidden appearance. It had been 3 years since he last saw her, having left her to Poppy's ministrations and walking away from the celebrants and the school until it was time for Minerva to convince him to return to teach a new round of students. He taught and he slept and he experimented; but never did he leave the school.

So it wasn't until the Ministry demanded his presence at a celebration in honor of the fallen and the victorious survivors that he saw her again. As she walked into the Ministry ballroom, her arms were held protectively by Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley.

Her posture was regal, her neck a sculpture to hold up her cascading locks, all traces of child replaced by woman. Her countenance shone with a luminosity that he had seldom seen outside of a flame, and he was unwillingly drawn to her.

The ceremony, praising all who received various acknowledgements, caused him to stand not 10 feet from this vision, and he avoided her glances as though meeting her eyes would burn his very soul.

When the dancing began, his position in the shadows of the large ballroom allowed the perfect vantage point to watch her: laughing easily as she passed from partner to partner, flowing with the music as though she were floating above the marble. Her shining eyes and tinkling laughter were a torture to him and he did his level best, though he failed, to tear his eyes off her silken tresses and glistening skin. When the Weasley brat crushed her to him in a passionate kiss, he fled before he did something… uncouth.

Minerva, who was now Headmistress, beamed in the direction of her former students, though she frowned at the married Weasley's antics. She then watched Severus exit, her curiosity and concern blossoming. His dislike of and brutishly cold manner towards students, faculty - everyone - was a fact that brooked no comment anymore: they simply avoided him when possible. However, she watched him with worry as she glimpsed something naked in his face before he disappeared.