Severus Snape stared out the window trying his hardest not to blatantly stare at the other occupant of the carriage. Hermione Granger, the Great Hermione Granger, returned at last from her self-imposed exile in muggledom. Dumbledore had said that she would be returning. Seven years. That was a long time for anyone to be gone and here she was picking up right where she had left off. Back at Hogwarts. That sounded rather familiar to him. Oh yes, he'd done much the same thing in his youth. He hadn't gone so far as to remove himself from magic but he had spent a long time in solitude. He knew what it was to need to be alone. Better than anyone.

There had been many rumors about Miss Granger. Some sources had reported that she had run off heartbroken when Ron Weasley had confessed his love for Luna Lovegood. Severus was sure that was far from the truth. As well as he knew Miss Granger, which admittedly was not that well, he did have the sense to know that a foolish school-girl crush would not have made her abandon all of her hopes and dreams. He had often wondered what, in reality, had happened. The details of Voldemort's fall were known by very few. Not even he had been privy to the details. The only information that was widely know was that Potter had defeated the Dark Lord, Lucius Malfoy had been found dead and Peter Pettigrew had never been seen again. Of course the only thing that really mattered was that Voldemort was dead.

Still, he wondered what she had seen. What had traumatized her so greatly. He turned his thoughts away from her. It wasn't important. He was finally free. These last several years at Hogwarts had been the best in his life. There was no more pretending or pretenses. He was free to make his own choices and be his own person. The strange thing was that not much had changed. He no longer had to try to vie for the position of the Defense Against the Dark Arts , a post he had never wanted. That was the most notable change. That, and not having to fear for his life at every passing moment. He was content to teach Potions and live out the rest of his life at Hogwarts.

He lied, he wasn't content.

Contentness would come. He just had to wait. This was what he had wanted. To live peacefully and not be bothered. There was nothing else he could want for. Still... there was something missing. After all these years he had yet to figure out what it was. A challenge perhaps? Something to keep him up late at night. He couldn't recount the number of times that he had stayed up late into the night locked in the Headmaster's study going over plans upon plans to by Potter time, to foil the Dark Lord, to advance the Order. Part of him missed that.

He heard a sound coming from Hermione. As if she was sleeping and trying to wake up.

"Miss Granger?" he said hesitantly

No answer.

"Are you all right?"

It was a night in late March when Hermione's life had been changed forever. When she had changed forever. The alarm sounded at around ten o'clock at night, and from the endless drills they all knew that Hogwarts was under attack. Gathered at the front gates was over one hundred dementors and sixty Death-Eaters. They had been preparing for an attack ever since Hogsmeade and now it was time. Life or death.

Instead of following regular class syllabuses their lessons that year had been concentrated more on defense. Nearly all six and seventh years had learned and mastered the patronus spell. Dumbledore had devised a plan weeks ago to make it seem as if students were leaving Hogwarts to go home. Some Slytherins had, but for the most part the students stayed. Voldemort believed that there were only a handful of students, the professors, and Dumbledore left inside of the castle. In reality there were nearly three hundred students and two hundred parents secreted inside of Hogwarts.

With the alarms blaring in her ears Hermione went looking for Harry and Ron only to discover that they both had disappeared. Immediately she knew that they'd gone looking for Voldemort. Voldemort wouldn't want to be directly involved in attacking the castle. The ruins of Hogsmeade would be the perfect place for him to wait it out and remain relatively safe. As far as she knew the Shrieking Shack hadn't been completely destroyed. She ran through the halls and outside to the whomping willow, knowing she'd have to hurry. She could hear the sounds of spells being cast not far away.

She had to find Ron and Harry.

There was already a stick in place to keep the trap door open and she climbed down and, with her wand out in front of her, she began to run as fast as she could. She caught up with them halfway there. Harry was trying to convince Ron to go back and when he saw her his face fell.

"Go back. Ron, take her back, I have to do this alone."

He couldn't do it alone. He needed her. He needed Ron.

"We know that you have to be the one to defeat him but it never hurt to have your friends with you. We're in this together, no matter what happens," she said. There was no way she was going to let Harry face his fate alone.

"Yeah," Ron agreed stubbornly.

Harry sighed and looked at them. "We could all die, and if I don't defeat Voldemort then he'll kill me and then he'll kill you. Hermione, think about all of the things you want to do in the future. Ron, what about your family? Your Mum? Let me go alone."

"Harry, we're going with you," Ron said. Hermione shared his fear though it remained unsaid. She was a Gryffindor and she had to have courage. They all needed courage.

"We've been together for seven years. You can't get rid of us now," she said with a small smile and he returned it.

Harry sighed knowing that there was no way he was going to get them to go back.

"I'm glad you two are with me. Let's go."

Hermione felt so much fear but at the same time there had been a kind of peace that she had made with what was going to happen. This moment had been coming for seven years and no matter what the outcome there was no going back.

Emerging from the shrieking shack they spotted Voldemort standing with Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew. They were watching what was happening by using a spell that played the scene out in front of them like a muggle television. There attention was so focused on watching the Death Eaters trying to get through the front gate of Hogwarts that it gave them time to come up with a quick plan. Hermione would use a subtle suggestion spell which would give Wormtail and Malfoy the irresistible urge to investigate the area towards the former Hog's Head. She and Ron would subdue them while Harry took on Voldemort.

Hermione remembered very little after that. Her spell had worked perfectly. She and Ron had said a quick goodbye to Harry and then they'd followed the two Death Eaters with their wands at the ready. When they had gotten far enough away Hermione disarmed Malfoy while Ron did the same to Wormtail. Just as Hermione was uttering the spell that would put Malfoy in a petrified state he threw a bottle to the ground and they were engulfed in a heavy fog. Ron found a spell that dispersed it but by that time Malfoy and Pettigrew had both retrieved their wands. That's when the battle had really begun.

It was all a blur in her mind, dodging, countering, defending. At one point Ron was knocked unconscious and they ganged up on her. She held out as long as she could but she was running out of ideas. Just as she cast a spell that would burn Malfoy's hands, hopefully making him drop the wand, Lucius cast the crucio and at the same time Pettigrew cast a flame spell. All three spells combined and then ricocheted heading straight for her. A flaming ball of pain. Just as she turned to move out of the way she felt it sear her face and then Ron pulled her out of the way and she dropped to the ground in agony. Ron was up again trying to protect her and her hand clenched her wand. From her spot on the ground she pointed it at Malfoy before she used the last of her strength to cast a final spell.

"Avada Kadava!"

There was a flash of green light, she saw Lucius collapse, and then she fell into unconsciousness.

"Are you all right?" Snape's voice pierced through her memories, through the overwhelming emotions she still felt when she thought about that night, about what she had did. Her hands were trembling and she hid them in the sleeves of her cloak lest he see them.

"I'm fine." Her voice sounded strange. Thick with sadness? Regret? She couldn't quite tell. It had taken her years to think back on that night and not fall to pieces. She had taken someone's life, in an unforgivable way, and in a sense, that night her life had been taken away as well. She had lost a part of herself that she could never get back.

Three weeks after that night she had woken up in St. Mungos, the whole left side of her face covered in bandages. The first faces she'd seen had been Ron and Harry's and though they'd both looked a little worse for wear they were whole. She hadn't been that lucky. The left side of her face had been burned in an arc from the middle of her forehead, down her cheek and to the middle of her chin. The burns were third degree and no matter what remedy was used, magical or muggle, the burns couldn't be healed. She'd been released a month later disfigured in body and spirit. There had been no punishment for her actions. No one, but a select few, knew what she had done.

But she knew.

Hermione punished herself every day for it. She wasn't sad or repentant that she had killed Lucius Malfoy. It was the fact that she had taken a human life, no matter how despicable, and ended it by using a forbidden curse. One that couldn't been countered. Despite her expansive knowledge, a plethora of spells at her fingertips, she had fought unfairly and nothing could ever make her forgive herself for that.

Dumbledore had taken her back to Hogwarts, as the school year was still not over. He gave her a room far away from everyone else, where she could be alone and she reveled in the seclusion, glad that no one could see the burn that was her punishment for being a murderer. She kept up with her studies from her self-imposed exile and allowed only Harry, Ron, Ginny and Dumbledore to visit her. She formed quite a friendship with the headmaster, they frequently stayed up late drinking tea while he told her wonderful stories. Dumbledore was a master at taking her mind off of her troubles, even if only for a little while. She had tried to cope, but in the long run things were just to painful.

By the end of the school year she had managed to find a glamour spell that hid her burns from everyone. It had been a small victory. While she was no longer visibly disfigured on the outside inside she was nothing but a twisted ball of guilt and self hatred. After graduation she ended up going back to the muggle world, cutting ties with nearly everyone and everything. Once a day she used her wand to cast the glamour and then locked it in a drawer where it stayed until she needed to cast the glamour the next day and for almost three and a half years she had lived a normal mundane life. She enrolled at a university and took regular classes. She got a small flat and a job at a library. Hermione had been so determined to be normal but the whole time she had been absolutely miserable.

She ended up dropping out of school before she had even graduated and it was then that she decided that she needed to completely wipe the slate that was her lief clean. She cut off contact with absolutely everyone, even Harry and Ron. She packed up her things and traveled around the world for the last three years. It had helped put things in perspective and it had given her time to accept what she had done. She knew that in her heart she was a witch and she couldn't deny that part of who she was.

During her travels she had began writing. So far she had published two books, one about different magical cultures around the world and the other a comparison between the muggle and magical world. Both had done amazingly well and had number one book sells for a record number of weeks. She knew it had more to do with her reputation than the actual content of her books, still, it had helped make her feel wanted. Feel a part of something. When Dumbledore had contacted her about the teaching position she had been reluctant at first until she realized that this was her chance.

Now she was a part of something.

She belonged again.