AN: Hello! (That seemed like a pretty solid way to start) So this is my second story. I won't lie, I did abandon my first story - but please don't leave! I promise I will never abandon this. I wasn't really emotionally invested in that one, but this one I have written about 6 chapters already, have it all planned out and I WILL DEFINITELY FINISH IT!

Yes it is Severus/Hermione, but you gotta bear-with. There's a lot of plot we gotta get through before that even gets considered but I think the end result is good. Also it is rated M - our characters will have some sexy-fun-time and be warned for lots of strong language (effective immediately)

I guess- don't like don't read.

I dunno how much point there is in disclaimers, but: I'm not our friend Ms Rowling (I wish!) and I don't own anything you recognise.

(Wish me luck and here I go...)

PROLOGUE

As her thoughts slowly began to drift away from the comforting coldness of sleep, and her eyes began to focus through the tangled mass of hair across her face, she heard a soft shifting of a person behind her.

Judging by the light, and the lilting serenade of what must be a nightingale, she decided it was early, and she shuffled backwards into the warmth spooning her. She let out a lazy, 'Mmmmmm….', and allowed her eyelids to drift closed again, enjoying the closeness that felt so natural. Sleep was usually not an option after around six, but encased in these warm arms, her body decided, much to her delight and relief, that it was willing to make an exception.

She sank yet deeper into the embrace, smiling as she elicited a moan into her neck, realizing the hardness pressed into the small of her back. She giggled slightly.

She languidly brushed some of the hair out of her eyes and began to turn her head towards her companion, reaching for an early morning kiss.

She startled. Before her was a carrot-coloured, straw-like, shaggy-dog-esque mane.

'Fuck', she hissed. Well, that was unexpected.

She internally cringed as she realized her mistake. Oh, well. She wiggled her hips, trying to catch his attention. 'Ron', she hissed, 'wakee-wakee, time to get up'.

The only response from her neighbour was a moan and a tightening of the arm around her.

'Ugh, disgusting boy'. She shoved him away, "accidentally" elbowing him multiple times as she unzipped her sleeping bag and stomped to her feet.

She took the side of his sleeping bag, and with a determined look on her face, rolled him right out of it.

That jostled him awake. 'Whaa-?'

He was never the most articulate, but today Hermione especially repulsed at his inelegancy.

'That does it,' she announced. 'From now on, Harry sleeps next to me, and you sleep outside. In the cold.' She turned and stormed out, feathers thoroughly ruffled. Her stomping was designed to drown out Ron's disgruntled insult, and the piercing ringing of a chirping lark nearby.

She knew full well why she was so annoyed by Ron's typical teenage-boy behaviour, and she knew that it wasn't really his fault. She knew letting her anger out at Ron was the easy option. But sometimes, her Gryffindor stubbornness decided, the easy option was the option she would take.

No. She knew she was clever, and so she decided, she would face her thoughts.

She felt stupid that something so small had affected her so much, but as she allowed herself a rare moment of reminisce, she was flooded with feeling. She realised she finally understood the phrase, 'a whirlwind of emotion', and she wistfully pondered whether she was glad of that fact.

_*\/*V*v*V*\/*_

Snape sighed. The Carrows had just put another innocent in detention and he couldn't stop them. He reluctantly realized that that was becoming his most common expression. He rather enjoyed sneering, but sighing? He was in his 30s but he felt like an old man.

As a reflex, he reached for the firewhiskey, but then stopped himself at the last moment. Was this what he really wanted? To forget his worries through the medium of alcohol?

Yes, he conceded with another long-suffering sigh. This was what his life had become. It would be easier to just accept it.

Perhaps it was time to revisit the memories of the last year. Unlike at any other period in his life that he could remember, there were moments of true…happiness. Despite all that had happened, and all he knew was to happen, he had had the happiest year of his life.

II-+-XXX-+-II

Somewhere else. Somewhere dark and dank and smelling of rot. Somewhere no doubt buried far below the reach of civilisation, sat Bellatrix Lestrange. Her hair, usually preened over until she was as glossy as a prized poodle, now much more closely resembled a knot of rat tails. Her nails, jagged shards; her dress, a pile of rags. Nothing would lead an observer to believe that just months ago, she held such power.

Perhaps, if her captors were not so intent on their hate of her, they would have seen comedy at the cliché of the situation. Unfortunately, the black hate that radiated from the occupants reverberated around the room, searching for any pocket of happiness and engulfing it.

She leered at her captors, delighted at their disgust.

It was like a twisted game of cat and mouse. She just had to taunt them a little while longer.

And then suddenly, she was once again plunged into the darkness that was her memories, forced to replay them from the beginning, retelling the story for her captors.

II-+-XXX-+-II

Hermione had finally calmed down enough to think. The cool breeze helped her to sort out her thoughts, which had drifted back to that year, Hogwarts, the last time she was truly…happy. Scenes jumped through her vision: a groan of pain from an injured soldier… a first kiss unlike any other …. green sparks accompanied by a shout of 'Avada Kedavra'.

A sob escaped her lips.

Realising the cliché, as she thought it, she decided it was time to go back to where it all started…

Unsurprisingly, it all started at Hogwarts.

So - thoughts? Please leave a review cause I'm kinda insecure about this prologue. If it seems pretentious I tried to make fun of it, but I think that the rest of the story will be better. It might be a while before I update cos I've got exams, but I wanted to get this prologue up before. So - again - thoughts?