Chapter Two:

"You going to be alright by yourself?" Hermione asked Aurora.

Aurora glared. "Of course, Hermione. I can go on a walk by myself."

"Yeah, but you don't know anybody," said Ginny.

"If you don't trust me, then you might as well lock me in my room." Aurora's voice was cold, but she needed to get away and think. She had no idea what was going on and who to trust anymore.

"Is Ariana alright?" asked James, coming over to sit next to Ginny and Hermione.

"Yeah. She's just...missing France," lied Ginny. "She liked it there."

"She going to be okay?" Sirius asked.

"Of course," Hermione replied. "She just gets annoyed when we try to protect her. She's never very good with protecting herself, especially when she's so distracted."

Sirius put his arm around Ginny. "Say, I think we should go to Hogsmeade together."

Ginny glared at him. "Remove your arm, Black, or I shall remove it myself."

Sirius, looking disgruntled, pulled his arm back to himself. "Does that mean no?"

Aurora walked silently through the hallways, mostly ignored. She paused when she heard a fluttering of wings and looked up to see a pretty snowy owl perched on a statue above her.

"Oh, you are a pretty owl," she said to him. "May I pet you?"

The owl fluttered down to her and landed on her elbow. She stroked his head and back. "Yes, pretty owl. You remind me of my owl. I wish she could have come. Who do you belong to?"

"Are you seriously talking to my owl?" asked a curious voice.

Aurora turned, and nearly gasped in shock to see a young, good looking version of Professor Snape. "Er...Sort of. I had an owl like him back home. My owl stayed at home. You have a pretty owl. What's his name?"

"Sergio." the owl fluttered to his master's arm.

"I've only seen three snowy owls in my life," Aurora told her future professor. "One was my friend, Harry's, one was mine, and the other yours."

"Sergio doesn't normally like other people," he said, petting the owl's head. "I'm surprised he likes you."

Aurora shrugged with a shy smile. "I don't know."

He stuck out his hand to shake. "Severus Snape."

"Ariana Grang." She wanted to give him her real name, but Hermione's reminder and warning rang in her head. She shook his hand shyly.

"Nice to meet you, Ariana," Severus said.

Aurora felt strange, called her future professor by his first name, but she said, "You too, Severus."

"Where were you walking?"

"Just...walking."

"Seem kind of lonely. Can I walk with you?"

"Of course."

They walked in a shy silence for a moment, and then started a long conversation on owls, then history, Hogwarts, muggles, electricity, bridges...A strange conversation, for sure, but Aurora found she liked her professor. He was quiet, kind of shy once in a while, but an intelligent boy who liked to talk and socialize with certain people. She was relieved to find that he was completely over Lily. Aurora didn't pause to wonder why she was relieved; possibly because she herself was developing a crush?

"Yeah, and you know, why fly if all you're going to do is fall? Do you play Quidditch?"

"Yes, I used to. I gather that you don't like brooms much?" said Aurora, smiling at him warmly.

He returned the smile, and she realized she had never seen him smile. It was a dazzling smile that suited him nicely. A gentle, warm look that made him look kind and sweet. "No, not much."

"Scared of heights?"

"Yeah, a little. Aren't you?"

Aurora nodded. "But I like that feeling, of looking down and being afraid. It gives me an edge when I play Quidditch. Weird, I know."

"I don't think that's weird. What did you play?"

"I liked playing as a seeker, but I was pretty good at chaser."

Severus smiled. "I want to see you play sometime."

Aurora shrugged, smiling a little too. She wondered why this teenage boy was so different from his adult form. Maybe because the teacher was a lonely person, a spy who had struggles to keep himself in a high position in the Order, and as a spy deep in the ranks of Lord Voldemort. She wondered if this teen boy ever thought about his future and saw that. Aurora smile sadly a little, thinking that there were probably no boys who imagined that future.

"Wow, it's almost after hours," Severus said. "How was your first day, Ariana?"

Aurora made a movement between a shrug and a nod. "So, so. Kind of wish I was at home. So lonely here."

"What? Lonely? I love Hogwarts."

"Yes, me too," Aurora replied, smiling a little. They stood together in silence for a moment. "Well," she said awkwardly, not knowing how to say goodbye. "I should get going. So we don't get in trouble being out too late."

He started to walk away, and then turned back to her. "Can I walk you to your Commons?"

Aurora smiled and nodded. She wondered if this side of her professor still existed. She liked this side.

Hermione sat down next to Remus, yawning. "I didn't think we'd get so much homework the first day."

"You finished?" Remus asked, smiling a little.

Hermione nodded. "Of course."

"I'm almost surprised you weren't placed in Ravenclaw with Pat."

"What were you doing?" Hermione asked.

"Planning a prank with James and Sirius," Remus yawned and stretched. "It's really elaborate too. James wants to impress Lily too much, I think. She's going to go out with him; she already told me that. He just needs to ask her now."

Hermione laughed, rolling her eyes lightly. Little did they all know, the young couple's child would be her best friend and the hero of the Wizarding World in 20 years.

Aurora walked in, looking dreamy-eyed. "Hi."

"How was your walk?"

"Good." She seemed to wake up a bit, and added to Hermione, quietly so the rest wouldn't hear, "I met Professor Snape. And he is really cute and very nice."

Ginny started laughing hysterically at the cute part. Hermione smiled kindly at Aurora. "As long as he is nice, I approve. Remember, the guy has a tough future ahead of him."

"Who'd you meet?" asked Remus curiously.

"Severus Snape."

"Someone has a crush on Severus?" asked Sirius, sounding curious.

Aurora started blushing, and James and Sirius laughed.

"He'd better be nice to you," James said.

"He will be," Aurora said, blushing a bright pink. "Don't worry about me."

James patted her shoulder. "We know. Goodnight, ladies."

The two boys walked upstairs. Remus told Hermione something, causing her to laugh, and then followed the boys up.

"Shocking, isn't it?" Ginny said, almost sadly. "Considering all that's happened, we start to form crushes here."

"It's tough, meeting Harry's parents," Hermione said, her eyes glassy. "Who do you have a crush on Ginny?"

Ginny flushed. "You like Remus."

Hermione blushed. "And you like Sirius."

"It's going to get weird when we get back. I hope we get back soon so life can go back to normal," stated Aurora. "I'm going to bed. Maybe this will turn out to be a dream."

"You wish," said Hermione. "Goodnight."

Aurora walked upstairs and closed her eyes. She was surprised when the next thing she became remotely conscious of were dark eyes, like Severus's. She woke up the next morning, hardly daring to believe she had dreamed about Severus. Not only that, it hadn't been a dream.