This was the time of the year no one got to see: the heather was purple over the hillsides and the sky was a clear, rainless blue. Woundwort and bluebells added their own magenta hues to the blooming purples. Local sheep roamed a bit too close to Hogsmeade and the giant squid liked to sun itself on the surface of the Black Lake. Better yet, the castle was silent. There were no more children hooting and hollering, running and behaving like fools. There was no more grading, no more lesson planning. Severus Snape roamed the halls, content in the solitude and not terribly eager for September to come again.
But come again it would, as it had many times before. Only this time- this time. This fall Harry Potter was coming to Hogwarts for the first time, and Snape knew that now, everything would change.