Stat Light, Star Bright, First Star I See Tonight…
So what do you think? I've spent ages researching Severus' background so that I can make this story as accurate as possible (well except for the part about ignoring OoTP, HBP and DH!). I'm basically ignoring any parts of the books that I don't like.
I don't own the Harry Potter plots, any of the characters (as much as I wish I owned a certain snaky Slytherin) or the world.
'This heart, it beats, beats for only youThis heart, it beats, beats for only you'
My Heart by Paramore
Chapter 2: This heart, it beats…
Severus Snape
Nothing happened for over a month and, in my disappointment, I put the wish out of my mind. Two weeks before the students were due to return to Hogwarts the teachers had to return. Dumbledore called a meeting in the staff room after dinner that first evening.
"We have some faculty changes this year. Minerva McGonagall and Aurora Sinistra have decided to retire." He said once we were all sat down. I looked around the room. It seemed that there were only two new teachers, Hermione Granger and another woman that I didn't recognise. Ginerva Malfoy (born Weasley) was still the Muggle Studies teacher and Draco Malfoy (her husband) remained the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Their marriage had been one of the greatest surprises after Voldemort had been killed. Everyone expected her to marry Potter, including him and her brother, but at the end of the final battle the person whose arms she threw herself into was none other than Draco. Potter got over her rejection of him fairly well, according to her he got married himself last year (not that I care!).
"Hermione Roberts, formerly Granger, has agreed to take on the position of Transfiguration Professor while Nia Roberts is our new Astronomy Professor." Dumbledore said, breaking me out of my reverie. After that, there was the normal staff meeting topics covered, such as approved discipline techniques (I'll never forget when Barty Crouch Jr. turned Draco into a ferret as a punishment, when I heard what happened I had to work really hard to not laugh and even then I could only hold the laughter in until I was alone).
Once the meeting was over Dumbledore stood up to dismiss us, as he did with the students. As everyone walked out Dumbledore asked me to stay.
"Severus, I remember well the dislike that you held for Hermione and her friends. Can I trust you to not act upon those dislikes?" He asked when we were alone.
"Of course, my dislike was mainly for Potter as you well know." I replied shortly before sweeping out the room. It was fairly late by now and I wanted to get back to my chambers and do some reading. Imagine my surprise when I found Nia Roberts stood outside my classroom.
"What can I do for you Professor Roberts?" I asked, my surprise causing me to be more polite than I normally would if someone disturbed my peace.
"I've been having trouble sleeping at night recently and I was wondering if you had a potion that would help with it." She replied. Her voice was soft and gentle with an underlying musical quality and a strong North Welsh accent.
"Why didn't you ask Poppy Pomfrey for something?" I asked, opening the door and beckoning her through to my office. I began searching through the shelves of my personal potions store to locate a sleeping potion.
"Knowing my luck she'd have decided that there's a medical reason for my insomnia even though there's not. I hate going to medi-witches and healers for something so simple when I know the cause." She snorted irritably.
'She has a bit of a temper.' I thought amusedly. I handed the potion to her. It was then that I noticed more about her appearance. Her skin was as pale as mine but more luminescent, almost glowing in the candlelight. She also had inky black hair with a slight blue-ish tinge that hung in soft waves to her shoulders and bright blue eyes. She was slim but had obvious curves as well. She was wearing a royal blue Muggle skirt and a silver Muggle blouse, both of which accentuated her figure, which she teamed with silver ballet flats. She looked almost ethereal, and deep in her eyes there seemed to be twinkling stars shining out at me. My heart started to beat faster and my mind was unable to think about anything except her. After what seemed like an eternity she thanked me and left, breaking the spell she held over me. I shook my head trying to clear it.
'Stop it!' I thought, after all, she was only a woman, and a woman who was much younger than me at that. I sighed to myself before getting my book and reading late into the night.
Nia Roberts
After getting the potion from Professor Snape I made my way back to my chambers. Stood outside waiting for me was Hermione, my sister-in-law, and a pretty red-haired witch.
"Hi Nia, this is Ginny, a really good friend of mine." Hermione smiled.
"Hi Mione, hello Ginny. I'm Nia, Hermione's sister-in-law." I smiled.
"I didn't know the Gawain had a sister." Ginny gasped.
"Yeah, actually I'm one of four sisters and Gawain is one of three brothers. We're part of a large family." I grinned.
"Me too, there's seven of us as well but I'm the only girl. I wish I'd had a sister." Ginny sounded wistful.
"It's not all it's cracked up to be hun, they nick your clothes and shoes." I joked. In reality I loved my sisters, Lili, Avalon and Yseult, and I'd never change them for anything.
We went into my private living space, to carry on our conversation. I loved my private rooms. There was a large living room with dark blue and silver carpets, curtains and wall hangings. All the furniture was a dark blue too with dark wood. In the fireplace there was a large fire burning merrily, casting a rosy glow over the room. On one wall there was a large bookshelf filled with books and on another there was a tiny kitchenette. My bedroom was the same, my four-poster bed had silver drapes and dark blue sheets. The bathroom, with its large bath and shower was also coloured in blue and silver. Throughout my rooms there must have been hundreds of candles that illuminated when I walked into the room.
I got Hermione, Ginny and I a glass of red wine each and we sat in front of the fire.
"I still think you're so lucky Nia, you have all those family members and now I basically only have two." Ginny sighed.
"What?" I asked, confused. She'd said that there were seven kids in her family.
"When I told my parents that I was marrying Draco rather than Harry they disowned me and Ronald, the youngest of my brothers, supported them. They never told Bill, the eldest, or Charlie, the next eldest, but the third, Percy, also refused to accept that I love Draco. Only Fred and George, the twins, accepted it and because of their refusal to let me go they were disowned too." She explained sadly. I couldn't believe my ears, this was one of the most sad things I'd ever heard.
"That's terrible!" I gasped. Hermione nodded, she looked just as shocked as me, it was obvious that she hadn't had any contact with that family since she got together with Gawain, my twin brother.
"I know, but what can I do, they're minds are made up." Ginny sighed.
"Well, Hermione and I'll adopt you as our sister." I replied with a smile.
"What? You're not serious are you?" Ginny asked while Hermione grinned at the idea.
"Of course! You said that you've always wanted a sister! Well now you've got five. And three new brothers as well." I grinned. There were no more arguments really and we all had a right giggle, until Bleddyn, my pet wolf, wondered in. "Oh my god! Is that a wolf?" Ginny gasped.
"Yep, that's Bleddyn. He's my pet wolf. I found him as a cub on his own so I kept him. He's just like a big dog really." I smiled, scratching his ears. He licked my hand before walking over to Ginny and sitting in front of her, waiting for her to stroke him.
"He won't bite." Hermione smiled stroking his back gently. Cautiously Ginny held her hand out to him and he placed his head in it, looking up at her with soulful eyes. He spent the res of that night with his head in Ginny's lap the charmer.
At about midnight Arianwen, my barn owl, flew in with a letter for me. It was from my mother's half sister, Ciara Draconis, asking me how I was settling in. I put it to one side and made a mental note to reply to it later. Not long after that Ginny and Hermione went back to their rooms and their husbands, leaving me with Bleddyn while Arianwen flew back to the owlery. I got ready for bed and took the potion before laying down to sleep.