Severus watched from one of the ramparts as the staff of Hogwarts made their way inside the castle. He had arrived the previous day to work out the last few details with Minerva. He was nowhere near happy about being saddled with the role of Deputy Headmaster, but he could see why she had given him the role. He was the youngest of the experienced member of staff. Although he would not let her talk him into re-taking the post of Headmaster after she left.
If she left. Severus scowled at Granger's words from a few weeks ago ran through his mind again. He had not had the occasion to speak with the youngest member of the McGonagall family again, although he had seen her a few times as she rushed back and forth between the school and her home in the US.
"Ah, I thought I would find you here."
Severus turned slightly and watched as Minerva made her way to him, leaning heavily on her cane.
"And why are you not downstairs, welcoming the staff from their holiday as is traditional?"
"Why, Severus, are you actually ready to follow tradition?"
Severus growled, knowing he had walked into that one. Minerva had been talking his ears off about taking the First Year duty. The last thing he wanted was to lead a band of over-excited children on their first night at school.
"Have you seen your daughter lately?"
"Yes, why?"
"I was wondering if it would be possible for me to have a little chat with her."
"With Hermione? Well, I'll let her know when I catch up with her. May I ask why?"
"I need to know when she would be free to supervise detentions."
"You intend to start giving them away like candy once more?"
"Of course. You did not really think I would change my habits, even after all this time away?"
Minerva smiled and started to turn.
"Be a dear and walk me back inside."
Severus snorted and went to stand besides the Headmistress. Although he said nothing, he took careful note of the way Minerva used him a second crutch. They made their way to the Staff Room. Everyone was happily talking to each others when the two of them made it there.
"Welcome back, one and all."
As Minerva started on her speech, Severus tuned her out and watched the rest of the staff. He already knew that Potter, Longbottom and Draco would be here, and that Filius, Pomona and Horace would not. The rest of them were old faces - either from his time as a staff member or a teacher. He was quietly surprised to see that the three newest teachers had chosen to sit together, and were talking in low tones between them.
Severus looked round as the door opened and he watched as Miss Granger poked her head through the opening. She waved and smiled at Potter and Longbottom, and nodded to pretty much everyone else, himself included. Severus managed to catch her eye, and nodded slightly in the direction of the door. Her raised eyebrow and slight nod in return told him she would wait for him.
As he turned back to Minerva, she discreetly pointed him towards the door as she carried on talking to the others. And so, Severus made his way out of the staff room. In the corridor, he was met with the form of Hermione Granger, lounging against the wall opposite the door.
"So?"
Severus narrowed his eyes slightly, turned, and started walking. He was quietly satisfied to hear the girl - woman - start walking behind him. As they made their way through the school, Severus wondered how long it would be before she would call for him to slow down. But she never did and they made it to his office in the dungeons in record time.
"Can I at least now why you want to talk to me?"
Severus said nothing as he carried on walking towards his office. He heard the woman behind him sigh loudly as she continued to follow him down to the dungeons. Severus didn't break step until he made it to his office door, which he threw open. He quickly made his way to his desk and sat behind it, then watched as Granger came in at a much more moderate pace, closing the door behind her.
"I'm not sure I can trust someone who seems to think nothing of lying to the woman who has taken her in."
Severus frowned as Granger snorted loudly.
"She knows. Well, she knows I haven't told her everything. I never do. I haven't told you everything either."
"And you expect me to trust you?"
"No. I don't expect anything from anyone in this building. I'm here because my mother asked for my help. But I have my own agenda, and my own way to get things done. It would do you well to remember that, while I'm here to help, I rarely volunteer information that won't give me an advantage."
"If only you could have been the same way while you were a student here."
"What can I say? I grew up."
Severus studied the small grin that was playing on the woman's lips. She had, he had to admit.
"And how was telling me useful to you?"
"Well, I was hoping I wasn't the only one with a weakness for a particular bossy, overprotective, Scottish, old witch."
Severus had to work hard to keep the small grin threatening to appear on is face. He wasn't quite successful, judging by the way Granger's own smile widened slightly.
"Would you care to share how you became embroiled in said old witch's schemes?"
Severus watched as Granger finally decided to make herself comfortable, conjuring a plush armchair for herself and sitting across from him. She played with her hair for a minute, watching him, and Severus sat back in his own chair, her words from a moment ago replaying in his head.
"When I left, Minerva just wouldn't leave me alone. She can be very persistent when she sets her mind on something. I suppose it's quite lucky, or I probably wouldn't be here."
Severus watched as Granger's eyes clouded over and narrowed, and for a moment he thought she wouldn't go through with it. But apparently, she thought she had something to gain from this conversation because she carried on.
"Although our contacts were more than sporadic - and usually very much one-sided - Minerva was there for me when I hit rock bottom. Although she didn't agree with a few of the choices I made back then, she still helped me when the death of my parents finally hit me hard enough that I had to stop and deal with it.
"Minerva was there to help me pick up the pieces. She kept at me until I had no choice but to accept her help. Actually forced me to come back here and stay for a little while. Hid me right under the noses of the entire staff for a good three months. By the time she'd decided to adopt me, she had worn me down enough that I didn't put up that much of a fight."
Granger stopped talking, and Severus was left studying the dark brown eyes that were looking at him with only a hint of the pain she might have felt all these years ago.
"She's good at that," Severus said, "making people do things they might not actually want to."
And Granger's lips twitched upwards as she nodded. Severus leaned forward, propping his elbows on his desk, and his chin on his linked fingers. He watched Granger and said nothing more for a while. But where the young Miss Granger would have fidgeted under his gaze and might have tried to fill the silence with inane chit-chat, the woman opposite him, just smiled and settled back in her own seat.
"Am I to assume that you telling me all of this means you think you might gain something from the situation?"
Granger just smirked and shrugged a shoulder.
"And to think I didn't believe Minerva when she told me you should have been in Slytherin."
Granger laughed at that. "Yes, she's rather sour that I'm only a Gryffindor by default. But she apparently decided to subscribe to the 'your loss, her gain' philosophy."
"Indeed, she has mentioned the fact several times over the last few weeks. I think to compound the point that your successes at school could have been mine and Slytherin's as well, rather than hers."
"Well, I suppose Minerva is another example of the fact that Slytherins and Gryffindors aren't that different."
Severus nodded slightly. He watched as Granger's smile turned definitely playful.
"So, is this another Slytherin tactics? 'Be nice and throw them unbalanced', maybe? Because I'm telling you, it ain't working."
Severus only sneered at the woman opposite him and snorted as her smile only grew wider.
"Have you heard anything more from the Ministry going-ons?"
"No. To be honest, I've been keeping a low profile on purpose. Minerva's orders. She doesn't want to tip her hand too soon."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning that the Ministry won't know what hit them once I'm done with them."
Severus regarded the witch and actually nodded. Anyone who would come in contact with Miss Granger-McGonagall would expect the mousey, bookworm who had preferred to hide behind the better-known Potter and the attention-seeking Weasley. They would have a nasty shock when faced with the rather brash and abrasive young woman she had become.
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Severus stood at the top of the stairs, watching as the First Years made their way up to him. He sneered down at them, as they shuffled to a stop a couple of steps down from him.
"The firs'-years, Professor Snape," Hagrid said as he drew level with him.
Severus nodded his head, and Hagrid went on to take his place in the Great Hall. Severus turned his attention back to the group of youngsters in front of him.
"You are here to learn the many magical arts you will need to become successful witches and wizards in your own right. Hogwarts has moulded many a great mind. We can only hope that you will be no different, but I won't hold my breath.
"During your time in Hogwarts, you will become part of one of the four Houses of the school: Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. Your House will soon become like a second family. You will sleep, eat and study with your house mates. You will share their successes and failures. And you will share your successes and failures with them. Your rewards will come in the form of House points given to your House, and your punishments will often be accompanied with the loss of House points. At the end of the school year, the House with the most points will be awarded the House Cup.
"In a moment, we will enter the Great Hall. And you will be sorted into your Houses. I expect you to behave with the utmost decorum."
Those last words were spoken with hard looks falling on Cygnus Lestrange and Ted Lupin. However tenuous his links with the Malfoys and the Potters, Severus knew enough about the two young boys to know they were Marauders in the making.
Finally, he led the group of youngsters through the doors of the Great Hall. His long strides quickly left the lot of them behind, and Severus could see Minerva smiling at his behaviour. With a sneer in her direction, he turned on his heels, facing the student body and the first years.
"When I call your name, you will step forward and take a sit on this stool. In silence," Severus added as whispers started to mount. "I will place the Sorting Hat on your head, and it will place you in your new House."
It didn't take very long to make it down the list to Cygnus Lestrange. Just as he had privately thought, the name alone was enough to make the older students forget about his command of silence.
"I have absolutely no quarrel in putting any House in the negative before the school year even officially starts."
His threat had the desired effect, and Severus put the Sorting Hat on top if Cygnus's head in a silent Great Hall. As the hat deliberated, Severus threw as discreet a look as possible to the Headmistress, considering that she was sitting behind him. Her slight nod in return confirmed that she was aware of the problems ahead.
As the Sorting Hat decided to keep the family tradition and put Cygnus in Slytherin, Severus looked down at his list for the next name. Of course, Ted Lupin had to be next. The reaction to his name was more or less the same, although Severus's glare across the room was enough to shut the student up this time. As the young Lupin was sorted in Gryffindor and Severus went through the rest of the - thankfully by now short - list, he couldn't help but think that he hadn't really thought enough about this when he signed his contract.
After Minerva gave her start-of-term speech, Severus leaned towards her.
"Why the reaction to Lupin, exactly?"
"The Ministry of Magic has been running, what they called experiments. Apparently, Ted Lupin will become a fully fledged werewolf by the time he hits maturity. They have announced this several times in the papers over the years."
"Probably why I haven't heard about it."
Minerva smiled at her Deputy.
"Am I required to brew Wolfsbane?"
"No. And according to Hermione, it's highly unlikely that you will need to. She says that although it is not unheard of for the were genes to be passed along, it usually manifests itself from birth. Otherwise the ability remains dormant, never to be awakened without intensive training - or the bite of another werewolf."
Severus frowned and speared a piece of chicken on to his fork. "And how would your daughter know this, exactly?"
But Minerva smiled and said nothing more on the subject, instead turning to her left to speak with Hagrid. Severus let her get away with it, and instead looked down the table to his right. There, he could see Miss Granger talking with Septima Vector. The younger witch returned his gaze for a few moments then returned to her conversation with her ex-professor. He would just need to get the information out of her.
*~*SS*~*HG*~*SS*~*HG*~*SS*~*HG*~*SS*~*HG*~*
Author's Note: Again, a great thank you for the reviews. I just love to know what you think of the story, so keep them coming.
Just a heads up to all my readers. I just got a new job and until I can work out a new routine, writing might be sporadic at best. But I'll keep going :)
Also I'm uploading this with one hour to spare in my part of the world. Just in time to wish all of you a very nice year ahead, with plenty of love, happiness, and success.