Chapter 1
Severus Snape sat in the headmaster's office. The students would be arriving within the hour. He was not looking forward to their presence within the castle. This summer had been the lowest in his life. The semblance of a life he had cultivated over the last decade or so was torn down in little more than a flick of his wand. True, he had never had many friends, but he had colleagues and acquaintances and one true friend, whose life he had taken. True, it was akin to what the muggles called euthanasia, but he couldn't help feel like a murder. Sometimes when you are called something enough, even if it is not true, you can begin to believe it.
"Severus, you put an old man out of his misery. Nothing more, and nothing less. You did nothing short of heroic, and heroes lead the loneliest life of all," Dumbledore's portrait said.
"I realize that Albus, but be that as it may, this isn't going to make the road ahead any easier."
"Remember your promises, my boy. You have done so well. We are almost there."
"Have I ever forgotten a single promise I made to you?" And I don't want to think about 'there' right now. My whole life, I protected the son of Lily Evans, and now he goes in like a blind lamb to the slaughter. And I get the terrible pleasure of telling him about it."
"It is an unenviable position. The students are beginning to arrive, Severus, you may wish to go to the Great Hall post haste."
"Yet another 'pleasure' I am so looking forward to. Sitting at the staff table where the only two people who are willing to speak to me are Amycus and Alecto Carrow, two people I would prefer to hex just as soon as offer a greeting."
"Please, Severus, do whatever you can to protect the students from that pair. They are particularly sadistic. Sometimes I think that their cruelty is rivaled only be dear Bellatrix."
"As I am only too well aware, Albus. As I am only too aware."
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Luna Lovegood usually looked forward to the start of term. This time, however, she set out for it with a sense of dread in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't put her finger on it, even as she sat with Ginny and Neville. She was sick with worry about Harry, Hermione and even Ronald Weasley, so she could not imagine what Ginny was feeling right now. She put her hand over Ginny's and squeezed it, letter her know that she understood and would be there for her. She hoped that Harry wasn't still trying to wear the red-headed boy's visage as a disguise. After just observing his mannerism for a moment, Luna had known, so she imagined that, say, an experienced legimens who happened to be a sociopath, would be able to tell right away.
When they finally pulled into Hogsmeade station, Luna's heart broke a little when she noticed that Ginny was able to see the thestrals. Though they were beautiful, gentle creatures, it saddened her that her friend's innocence had been taken away two years ago when they were at the Ministry. "Take a bit of meat, Ginny," she offered indicating the pile of raw meat on the ground. Ginny looked apprehensive. Luna was certain that she was having some trouble getting past the fierce look of the thestrals. "I know that they aren't the most delightful looking creatures at first, but they are so very beautiful. Look into their eyes. Luna knew Ginny would see intelligence, kindness, a little fear, pride and most inexplicably of all, love. She didn't know how the animals, with their freedom so restricted, could so love their captors. But they did. Completely unfathomably, she thought of Professor Snape and the late headmaster. Sometimes captors didn't restrict their prisoners with chains and fences; sometimes they restricted them with love itself.
Luna had seen all the evidence, probably with closer proximity than anyone other than Harry himself, and she couldn't help but think, on some level, that all wasn't really as it seemed. Just like the thestrals, she had seen, really seen, the eyes of Severus Snape. And unless she was mistaken, and she very rarely was, there was no real cruelty there. There were the tired eyes of a man who was almost completely broken, they were overwhelmingly filled with sorrow and perhaps saddest of all, resigned to their fate. Even in his photo in the Prophet (and she could never admit to her father that she actually read the Prophet, and not always just for a laugh) underneath the forced bravado, there was not so much as a hint of real cruelty. The man's eyes were those of a man who was far older than his 36 years, and though they were completely devoid of mirth, somehow, not of gentleness. They were not the eyes of a man who would kill someone as kind as Albus Dumbledore while the man begged. She knew that he was not, as so many supposed, a man, who, like Voldemort, didn't understand love. No, if she knew nothing else, she knew that Severus Snape understood that love itself was the greatest and oldest magic of all. However, she thought that it was best if she kept this particular idea quite secret. She couldn't imagine that Ginny, would understand why she would have sympathy for Severus Snape, murderer of Albus Dumbledore and tormentor of Harry Potter.
She was proud of The Quibbler's recent articles regarding Harry Potter. The way people viewed the articles and the things that they said about them usually let Luna know if people were worthy of the time it took to speak to them. She didn't think she would ever be the same after the death of Albus Dumbledore, but life was beginning to return to what passed for normalcy in these dark days. After the assignation of Scrimgeor (apparently he was not really a vampire, or at least, the odds of that he diminished substantially) and the overthrow at the ministry, life was considerably harder for her little family. Her father showed no signs of breaking, fortunately. He would stand behind his stories.
"Ginny, Neville, who do you think will be teaching DADA this year?"
"Surely not Snape again. At least if he has so much of an iota of self-preservation in that greasy head of his. I'd certainly think that giving him his due would be worth the trip to Azkaban," Ginny spat the name
"And not Slughorn," answered Neville. "Must be someone new, I would think. Gran was a bit concerned about sending me back this year, but I needed to be here. Promised Harry I would come back here, didn't I?" Neville beamed.
Luna reached out and patted Ginny's hand again. There were tears in the girl's eyes at the mere mention of Harry Potter. Luna couldn't help but think that he was a bit foolish to think that leaving Ginny behind would keep her safe. Ginny couldn't hide the love that she felt for Harry anymore than Luna could avoid Nargles, but she shook her head and the strength that they had came to love in Ginny came back to the fore.
"So I guess we'll have to stick together then," Ginny provided.
"Alrigh' first years, into the boats. Prefects, you sort out everyone else into the carriages. No need to be shy, I'm not to bite any of yeh. Least not till we get to th' castle," Hagrid said with a smile. He winked at the trio of Ginny, Harry and Luna, coming toward them. "You lot bes' try to keep your heads down with them new teachers. You don' want to see the trouble they got planned for rule breakers. Hogwarts is a lot diff'ernt this year, I tell you. Never thought I'd see the day- Jus' get down to the feast, and keep your heads down and your mouth shut."
Ginny, Neville and Luna exchanged glances. They entered a carriage and were joined by shortly thereafter by Michael Corner, Lavender Brown, Ernie McMillan and Hannah Abbott. "Everyone glad to be back?" asked Michael, "I know that I for one can't wait to begin term. Although won't be the same without old Dumbledore. He was an institution in and of himself."
"It is so hard to imagine Hogwarts without Dumbledore. My father always said that Hogwarts was the safest place in the world because of Dumbledore. Even heliopaths wouldn't have dared breach the barriers," Luna offered.
Ginny laughed. "At least some things are still the same, my friend." She put her arm around Luna's shoulders, giving her arm a friendly squeeze.
Hannah took some butter beer out of her trunk and accioed some glasses from her purse, giving one to each of her friends in the carriage. "To Dumbledore, who is no longer with us and to our friend Harry Potter, who is out there, somewhere fighting the good fight, and to us. No matter what happens, as long as we're still here and we're still together, we're still winning. As my uncle's muggle wife says, 'la'Chaim!' To life!"
"To life," they all answered in unison.
"What do you think Hagrid meant when he said that Hogwarts is a lot different and that we should keep our heads down?" Neville whispered to Luna.
"I am not sure. I wonder if it has to do with the new professors. I mean Professor Snape is headmaster, so that must change things-"
"Snape murdered his predecessor so, I'd say that is a game-changer," Ginny provided.
"I just don't know what to think of- never mind was that just a crumple-headed snorkack?," Luna stopped herself. She'd find no one to agree with her hypothesis in this crowd, except maybe Neville.
"I wonder who will be the new DADA professor?" Michael Corner was trying to direct the conversation back to school. The truth was, all of them were frightened about what the new school year would bring.
"We were just talking about that. We've no idea," said Ginny.
"Whoever it is won't last more than a year, I'm sure. At least we have that to look forward to. Unless Snape really does decide to continue to teach it even as headmaster," Lavender laughed.
"I doubt it, although his commitment to the dark arts is second only to he-who-must-not-be-named, I don't think that anyone could serve you-know-who, run Hogwarts, avoid shampooing one's hair, and teach a course, all at the same time," Ginny giggled at Hannah's boldness.
Luna noticed that Neville wasn't really saying much; he was certainly even more pensive than usual. Lines of worry etched his forehead. Luna remembered Harry saying that Neville's boggart turned into Professor Snape. She reached next to her and squeezed his hand. She wanted her friend to know that she was there for him.
The carriages slowed and came to a stop. Professors Flitwick and Sprout were ushering returning students through the doors and into the Great Hall. Luna couldn't help but notice the downward cast of their eyes, usually dancing with such mirth. Tiny little Professor Flitwick seemed to have shrunk even smaller over the summer hols. As they entered the new era of Hogwarts, Ginny, Luna and Neville all left their childhoods behind forever.