Hermione finished putting the last book on the shelves of her new office, which was made much larger during the reconstruction of Hogwarts, and stood back to admire her hard work. Tears coated her eyes for a moment as she thought about how proud her parents would have been.

She had traveled to Australia with the full intention of restoring her parents memories. When she'd found them, they were happier than she had ever seen them before. Swallowing her selfishness, she'd turned around, sobs caught in her chest, and walked away.

Hermione shook her head to rid her mind of the memories and turned around, running into a lean figure clad in black, "I'm sorry, Headmaster."

His mouth curled into his signature sneer, "Well, well. Minerva insisted on hiring the Gryffindor Princess because of her 'extraordinary capabilities', and she walks worse than Nymphadora did."

She bit her tongue to keep herself from yelling at him about trampling on graves. It probably wasn't a good idea to make her boss angry on the first day of the job.

"Cat got your tongue, or have the dimwitted duo killed any intelligence that you had left?"

"Headmaster, whether you like it or not, we will be colleagues from now on. I am no longer your student, and I would appreciate it if you could talk to me as such," she replied through gritted teeth.

A flash of anger passed through his onyx eyes, "You would do well to mind your tone, Ms. Granger."

"It may do you well to show the same courtesy. You see, I don't need this job. I can always find another. You, on the other hand, are in need of a suitable Potions Mistress. As I'm sure I wasn't your first choice, that leads me to believe that you have exhausted all other possibilities. Do you really wish to fire me this close to the start-of-term?"she asked, her mind shaking.

Suddenly, he reached out and gripped her forearms. His eyes were made of black fire as he snarled, "Don't you dare begin to believe that my life revolves around you! I promise you I will continue searching for a replacement for you. I don't want you here! I don't need you here! Understood?"

He released her, making her stumbled backwards into an armchair as he swept out of the room with his ridiculous cape following.

She was trembling like a terrified rabbit, but she had to smirk. He hadn't said she was wrong, and he hadn't killed her. Oh, this was going to be an interesting year.

Thank you so much for all of the follows and such on this story. I can't wait to get farther into this story. I should get the third chapter up later today, and chapter 4 up tomorrow, unless I get delayed. Please review!