Chapter One
It had been five years since the battle of Hogwarts, the Wizarding World was enjoying peace after the defeat of Tom Riddle. It still had a long way to go but for the most part life was good. After completing my seventh year at Hogwarts, I decided to go full steam ahead and pursue my Mastery in Transfiguration. Minerva McGonagall was more than happy to help me as she was now Headmistress and wanted to eventually step down as Transfiguration Teacher, it seemed she couldn't have been more proud that I had chosen to persue a Mastery in her field of study.
I started working as an apprentice under her and completed my Mastery in record time, it seemed one year seven months was a record, one week faster that Minerva did. I learnt so much more than I thought I would and when I passed the final exam, it was like a breath of fresh air amongst the fog of the past. Unlike Harry and Ron who had opted not to go back to complete their Seventh year, I didn't want a job in the Ministry, not after seeing how corrupt it can get when under the wrong minister. I was happy with my choice. It turned out so were the boys or men as they are now, they ended up joining the Auror Corp instead after Kingsley pursued them directly. We seen each other but just not as often as we would have liked, now it was few and far between which was safe but this is what the grown up world is all about.
I was really looking forward to the challenge of teaching all of the children and Minerva wanted me to take over for her eventually but for now she wanted to teach the older children who were doing their N.E.W.T's for another while. I think she was finding it hard to let go because teaching had been all she had known for decades, she hated the paperwok involved in being Headmistress but couldn't give it to anyone else also.
From First to Fifth year was my own classes that I was teaching for the first two years that I worked at the Castle. It was difficult at the beginning, being back at Hogwarts and being surrounded by so many difficult memories but eventually the good outweighed the bad and it became a sanctuary for me once again. After a lot of debate the general public were not told of our hunt for Horcruxes, the powers that be namely Kingsley and the surviving members of the Order deemed the information too dangerous apparently, the last thing we needed was for some selfish prick to want to cheat death and go all Tom Riddle to achieve it.
After the battle Harry and Ginny were together for a year before breaking things off, he was single now and living in Grimmauld Place, he decided to renovate the dark house and move into it. Ginny was a Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies and was very rarely home, making her way through man after man, according to the Daily Prophet anyway. My own affair with Ron didn't last very long in a relationship either, it didn't take us very long to workout that we wanted different things, and we were only together because it's what was expected of us not what we wanted. He wanted a wife who would basically take over from Molly and have babies, cook and clean for him however I was not even sure if I wanted children and I sure as hell didn't want to settle down yet?
It was an amicable split, more so than Harry and Ginny which was very messy and put everyone in an awkward situation for a while but now they just avoid each other and take it in turns for family gatherings. It helps Ginny was always away with the Holyhead Harpies and so Mrs Weasley didn't feel like she was segregating anyone. Anyway this year at Hogwarts I was taking my full Seven years of Students and I couldn't help but get excited, it was August Twenty-Seventh and the school term would be starting in five days and I had so much to do.
I was organising all of my Lesson Plans and exams for each year when a knock at the door interrupted me. Minerva poked her head around it with a bottle of Whiskey in her hand and dread instantly filled my body. If Minerva had the Whiskey this early in the afternoon then whatever she was about to talk to me about must be bad. She has changed her mind, she wants to teach again, I am out of a job! Stop it Granger! Breathe and summon some Gryffindor Courage.
"Hermione, can we talk?" I nodded my head and she came through my classroom before I directed her into my quarters which used to be her own. I felt as if I was under scrutiny as she looked around my living room/kitchen area before sitting down on my couch and poured me a drink. As she surveyed her surroundings I could see a nod of approval and to be honest I was so thankful. I would have kept the room the way she had it but there was only so much tartan I could take, no matter what colour it was.
"I really like the changes you have made Hermione." I nodded and thanked her and I couldn't bring myself to touch my drink because the look on her face was one I haven't seen before. Minerva always kept her cards close to her chest unless she was in a pissed off mood and although I could see irritation, everything else was up in the air.
"Am I being fired?" She let out a huge laugh that was not something that everyone had the privilege to see. Immediately she shook her head at me and I let out a breath of relief before sitting down and draining my glass of Whiskey.
"Godrics Balls Hermione, why would I sack you after taking all of that time to train you? You are ready for this, the marks from the past two years has been amazing. You were born to teach." I just shrugged my shoulders at her and instantly my curiosity was getting the better of me, as she poured me another drink I visibly relaxed and she turned her gaze fully to me.
"So you may not know yet but Professor Slughorn has decided to let me know this late in the summer that he is not coming back to teach this year, Potions Masters are notoriously hard to come by ever since Severus took over as Potions Professor all those years ago. He of course is big shoes to fill but as much as I admire his skill as a Potion maker I sometimes wish I could bring him back just to kill him for alienating people from Potions." I nodded already knowing this, the man in question was a foul bastard and no one wanted to be in his presence any longer than they had to and anyone who was qualified to even apply for a mastery had died in the war or fled to another country.
After the war we had a severe shortage of Healers and Aurors because it required a N.E.W.T level in Potions and well Snape didn't teach anyone If he didn't want to. The Ministry and St Mungos came up with an apprenticeship program which allowed people to apply and learn without the N.E.W.T requirement.
"I don't know anyone that would have wanted to spend more time with Professor Snape than they had to. He was notoriously difficult and biased but his Potions were always more than perfect." Minerva smiled at me in understanding before taking a small sip of her drink, she was nervous. Why was this formidable woman be nervous in front of me? What was she hiding?
"Well as it turned out he did allow one person to Apprentice under him and receive their own Mastery. The only person in nearly twenty years." This was a good thing wasn't it? Why was she acting like she was hiring Voldemort himself.
"Minerva, whatever it is, just tell me." I saw a multitude of things float across her features and it was in moments like this I could see how badly the war affected her.
"Well there is only one option with a Mastery whom is free for the job here in Britain but if you don't want me to do this, I won't." Merlin who the bloody hell was it that they had to get my stamp of approval.
"Ok well the children need a Potions Master so unless it's Voldemort, I don't have a problem with it? So spit it out." I would never have dreamt of speaking to Minerva like that but we have went beyond Student and Teacher at this point. She drew out a breath and pinched her eyebrows together at me and swallowed down the remnants of her drink.
"It's Narcissa Malfoy or Black as she is now knows as." I froze, although Draco Malfoy took the mark his mother did not. She had merely housed Voldemort and his followers, I could still see her face that day in the manor, she was one of the frequent faces that haunted me in my dreams. Her psychotic sister pinning my down and carving into my arm, her eyes were dead, empty. I had never seen that look on someone's face before, Harry had opted to go to her trial and testify on her behalf and lo and behold she was released with some form of community service.
I didn't bother, I had my own issues at that time period without going through a Wizangamot ask me uncomfortable questions. I never asked Harry how it went, not because I wasn't interested but because I was practically a zombie myself those first few weeks.
I hadn't read the Daily Prophet in a while, it was nothing but a sensationalist tabloid now like those Celebrity Magazines in the Muggle world, fabricated news and I could not bring myself to read about the war and the aftermath after living in it. All I know is Lucius Malfoy got sentenced to ten years in Azkaban and ten years probation after his release. Draco got released with one year probation and had came back to Hogwarts with an armed guard to complete his education. He now worked in the Department of Mysteries as an Unspeakable.
"Hermione, I want you to know I have come to respect you as a friend and scholar and she will not step one foot in this castle if you deem it so." I loved Minerva, she was like another mother to me and considering I wasn't able to restore my own mum and dad's memories I clung to her even more. I was more conflicted than ever before, I thought I was done with the Malfoys when the war ended and both Draco and I graduated. It wasn't overly difficult being around Draco so why would it be different with his mother.
I am now an educator and the children should take precedence over whatever the hell I was feeling but I can't help but feel wary of the woman. She saved Harry, although I am under no illusions that she did that for her own personal gain but still. After speaking to Luna, Griphook and Mr Ollivander all of them testified for her along with Harry albeit not as fiercely.
"Is she good? Well she has to be good Professor Snape taught her but...is she good?" Minerva smiled and nodded and it was then I knew that she wanted the woman here, it goes to show how much our friendship means to her that she would say no just because I might be uncomfortable.
"Severus taught her everything he knew and also left her all of his research before he died, she has published quite a few papers if you want me to pass them on. It still stands though, I will not hire her if you are uncomfortable." I knew we needed someone but I really wished it was anyone but her, the children needs this though.
"Hire her Minerva, if she is as good as you say she is then the children take precedence over my own personal feelings, we need a Potions Master that will teach the next generation. We can never be short of Potions N.E.W.T' students again." She smiled at me and nodded before hugging me.
"Oh I am so pleased thank you Hermione, this really takes me out of a bind, trying to find someone on such short notice was panicking me and I am under a deadline from the Board. I know she is not your favourite person in the world but the research she is doing is trying to atone for her past sins and that of her family. I can only hope she says yes. She was one of my brightest students you know, extremely talented, it was such a waste when she married Lucius." I nodded and instantly I regretted my decision but if I kept the mantra of the children need her in my head then hopefully it will be less painful.
"Do you know what happened to me at Malfoy Manor? Do you know what Bellatrix did to me?" Slowly Minerva nodded her head at me and I knew she went to the trial with Harry as she testified that Narcissa Malfoy didn't have a wand and never fired a curse at the Battle. Apparently she actually tried to heal people afterward before she was arrested.
"Yes I do, hence why I asked you but Hermione, I am not condoning her actions but Narcissa has been through her own hell too. The things that was done to her living in that house with that monster, I am in no way making you feel sorry for her but she has her own horrors she has to live with. Greyback he..." She stopped and didn't say anything else, the thought of a woman like Narcissa Malfoy struggling didn't fill me with any sort of guilt but it didn't fill me with happiness either which you would think it would, Considering she watched me get tortured.
However the thought of her struggling is laughable, this was Lucius Malfoys wife, Bellatrix Lestranges sister and the woman who played host to Voldemort. No, it wouldn't do to start to try and feel sorry for her, throughout the war she had a roof over her head, food to eat, the comfort and security of her own bed at night, why should I feel sorry for her? Was it pity? Or was it curiosity? What kind of struggles did she have? Minerva was watching me and I know right there she saw my own internal struggle.
"When it boils down to it Minerva, she is a Potions Mistress, we need one, simple as. However I would be interested in those articles if you possibly have a copy?" She nodded at me and then left me to my own thoughts after another drink, stating she had to write her and ask her if she could take the job.
Maybe Minerva leaving me to my thoughts was not a good idea. Narcissa Malfoy, I truly was not expecting her to be anything more than a trophy wife. Why would Snape teach her? He never takes on an apprentice, were they maybe secret lovers? Was she smart in her own or just regurgitatinga dead mans work? My mind kept getting more and more absurd the longer I went round it in my head.
Even though she was Lucius Malfoys wife and Bellatrix's sister she was also Andromeda's sister and she had reconnected with Andromeda after her sentencing, I mean Teddy calls her Auntie Cissy for Merlins sake. Maybe I am being too harsh, maybe she deserves a second chance as well. The war changed people, it changed me irrevocably, if she was going to come here then surely Minerva would not expect me be her best friend just colleague.
Then again she is going to be Head of Slytherin house, as much as my prejudices have dissapated as the years have went by, the older Children I will be teaching the sixth and seventh years remember what it was like, hopefully her appearance here will not make old habits worse. This is ludicrous sitting here thinking, it only led to whiskey and a dreamless sleep potion, and I knew that wasn't a good option to even think about. The conclusion I had came to in my head was to just let her come and teach and I don't even have to talk to her, do I?
Finishing off my prep for my classes I didn't hear anymore from Minerva until breakfast the following morning. I had gotten up and had my morning run which still earned me some strange looks from the Patrons of Hogsmeade, it didn't surprise me really, wizards are notoriously lazy. Even Quidditch players and the Aurors in training did not do much physical fitness, I started as a form of Therapy after I had taken some Panic attacks and it helped me. I did my lap around the grounds and through Hogsmeade before heading back to the castle again.
My workouts at Hogwarts were extremely more difficult because of the terrain than they were in London when I visited during the summer. Harry always joined me on my runs this past summer and I think he was planning to keep at it and maybe recruit some of his Auror friends once I left, this was the first time I didn't have company considering I only arrived at Hogwarts yesterday. By the time I had gotten back to the castle I made my way to my quarters after Aurora Sinestra rolled her eyes at me and called me crazy.
"Why would you get out of bed at five in the morning to run, voluntarily?" I just laughed and invited her with me sometime to which she politely declined. I got on well with my colleagues and I really hoped that continued. After my shower I donned my casual clothes and made my way down to breakfast, instead of the long staff table a round table was used for breakfasts with the staff in the summer.
Minerva was sitting with Neville on one side and Professor Flitwick on the other, there was a space beside Flitwick and Grubbly Plank which no offense there is only so much conversation I can have about creatures. As I sat down I engaged in a fascinating conversation whilst eating my green smoothie and poached egg with toast. Breakfast continued before a large, regal looking black owl swooped down to the table and held out a leg for Minerva to take. Everyone noticed the stunning bird and instantly my stomach dropped, I noticed it immediately and knew the answer was in Minerva's hand.
A large smile erupted on the woman's face and she fed the bird a piece of bacon and lifted a scroll from her left pocket, she attached it to the cheeky bird who was currently drinking her pumpkin juice and chased it on its way. Within seconds she had gotten everyone's attention and the dread seeped through my body and I couldn't help but kick myself for agreeing to this. Everyone was intrigued by the Cheshire cat grin plastered on her face but said nothing until she explained.
"As you all know, Horace left us in the lurch, I thought I was going to have to stop Potions classes until I could get a teacher which could be another month or so but I received a letter today from someone who has agreed to take over the Position permanently." Everyone was waiting on her putting them out of their misery and tell them who it was before Filius got impatient.
"Well for goodness sake Minerva, who is it? Potions Masters are few and far between these days, it must be a foreigner because as far as I know Severus never let anyone apprentice him.." There was a reason behind it of course but no one wanted to speak ill of the dead, Severus Snape was a war hero yes but he was also an insufferable bastard.
"Narcissa Malfoy or Black now she is known as." I could see everyone's eyes flash to me in concern before flickering to Neville who did not look so surprised which made me think the Headmistress had also asked him permission. No one knew what to say but it seemed Aurora was concerned, and everyone seemed to agree with her.
"Minerva, we need a Potions Master or Mistress in this case of course but Narcissa Malfoy brings alot of baggage with her, you might face some negative backlash for hiring a death eater." Even I rolled my eyes at this because Narcissa Black is no more a death eater than I am but her past was dodgy and questionable. I could see Minerva and surprisingly Neville, I have got to ask him what that's about later but both of them got visibly upset and surprisingly it was Neville who spoke first.
"Narcissa Black, she is a Black again to begin with and I respect you all so much but we would be lucky to have her. The war is over and she was sentenced, she saved Harry in the forest, he testified to that and she cared for Luna, Ollivander and Griphook the goblin when they were..." Aurora was fuming as she interrupted him.
"Held hostage in her house, why not let them go, and not to mention she stood by whilst poor Hermione was tortured. Surely you have a problem with this." All eyes turned to me before I looked directly into her eyes, why did she have to draw attention to me? I hated speaking about what had happened to me in the war.
"No, Minerva has already asked my opinion, we need a Potions Mistress, she deserves a second chance as much as everyone else does. I think there has been too much hatred and animosity already, why make more." Minerva nodded and Neville smiled at me and the subject was dropped after The Headmistress announced she would arrive on the Thirty-First.
Did I really just do that? Did I defend Narcissa Malf- Black? Pigs must be flying. Breakfast passed relatively quickly before everyone excused themselves and I asked Neville if I could talk to him. He had a few things to do in the greenhouses and I offered to help him. As we left the Great Hall and walked down the grounds towards the Greenhouses I didn't really know what to say to him without offending him. Luckily I didn't have to as he Let out a laugh and looked pointedly at me.
"I know what your thinking Hermione, she is not Bellatrix...she is doing so much work to try and fix the mistakes of her family. I was the one who recommended her to McGonagall." Ok whatever I was expecting that was not it.
"You, what? Ok start at the beginning." He laughed at me as we arrived at the greenhouses and he handed me an apron to help him sort his materials which I didn't mind helping him with.
"About two years after the war, I was approached by a Solicitor who was offering my parents a room at a new long term stay ward in a hospital that specialises in exposure to mind arts. He gave me an invitation to the opening and so I went. Luna came with me of course this was about a year before we broke up, a private benefactor was the official term used and when I saw the name I nearly burst into tears. Tonks-Lupin Memorial Hospital." I was shocked and I knew What was coming but I didn't want to hear it.
"The solicitor was the one who opened the building and then he approached me with my answer, there was a dedicated wing that was trying to help those who were suffering with exposure to mind arts etcetera. Lockhart was there, my mum and dad, it also held a counselling service for those who were affected by the war. Provided Wolfsbane for whoever needed it." I did know about that because Harry donated some money to it when he finally got his vaults back from the goblins following our break in.
"I originally thought it was Harry splashing the cash and not wanting the recognition but, when I asked him about it he was clueless. I think he did donate some money towards it after I told him about it but he did some digging in the Ministry and I nearly dropped when I snuck a peek at the signature on the documents he had that named the owner of the building and the one who was bankrolling it. I didn't say anything and it was sneaky but I sat in the hospital one day waiting to confront her from seven in the morning but she never came, I wanted to know she couldn't buy her forgiveness with me." I really admired Neville's courage, I could see his Gryffindor traits shining through more and more as time has gone on.
"One of the nurses spoke to me and told me Narcissa Malfoy the owner was usually in quite early, she worked in a Potions Lab in research. So nine, ten and eleven at night came and still no Malfoy, midnight I heard clicking of the heels and there she was. Now that I am single I can say for a woman of thirty nine at the time she looked fine. Actually she still does look fine." I blushed at Neville's words because he was like another brother and to hear him speak about a woman like that never mind an older woman well it was unnerving.
"Neville..." He blushed at my reprimand and held up his hands at me before apologising for offending me.
"Sorry, I am a man. Anyway, I confronted her about it and she let me rant, shout and basically call her death eater scum, she just stood there and took it. Then when I calmed down and was silent she just offered me a seat in the reception and we talked. She apologized for her sisters actions, told me she was trying to make amends. She lost her magic for a year, that was her sentence and had to live as a muggle, no house elves, no magic and no manor. The Clearwaters took her in, begrudgingly mind you but they gave her the ins and outs of technology, music, art, public transport." Now I had the image of the woman on a bus or a train, this cannot be the same woman we are talking about. I see a woman in my head so cold and closed off she barely looked Human whereas, Neville described a woman who was warm, friendly and open. How can she be two different people? How can I correlate the one I knew then to the one Neville described now?
"Ok I'm sorry if I have given you information overload, it just she is not Narcissa Malfoy anymore, she is Narcissa Black, she is trying so hard to help our world now, give her a chance Hermione. Let her prove she is as much of a worthy Black as Sirius was." I nodded to my friend and instead of the dread that was spreading through me yesterday. I now felt curious, Narcissa Malf- Black is like a puzzle and it's missing a piece.
"I already said yes Neville, I will try and be friendly but this..." I lifted up my sleeve to show him my scar that he has never seen before and I saw him wincing. Everyone did when they saw it so I use glamours to hide my scar when I am wearing short sleeves. He reached over and took my hand in his and held onto it in support.
"This is all I see when I think of her, standing there watching me get tortured by her sister so I will try don't get me wrong we need her but I can't ever seeing us being friendly. I am glad she is helping you and she gains brownie points for that alone but I can't get rid of those images." He nodded at me in understanding and gave me a hug, as he pulled back he took my hand in his own and smiled.
"I have never seen that scar Hermione, but don't forget that the woman who did that to you is also the woman who is responsible for my parents being the way they are. She is responsible not Narcissa, she is trying to fix the wrongs made by her family, she can't do that if no one gives her a chance." I nodded and knew he was right, Neville had grown so much but there was something in him when he sat down beside me in our very first year. Bravery, he came in and sat down and spoke away to me, Ron insulted me because he was an idiot, yet Neville had not treated me any differently.
"I get your point, I will try Neville," I placed a small kiss on his cheek and we continued on for a while in comfortable silence before him telling me he had a blind date the following weekend. Wishing him luck I headed back up to the castle and when I walked into my Quarters I spotted a file which had Narcissa Blacks published work. Francy my house elf, which I loathed owning in the beginning but after asking her some questions I was truly horrified at what I was trying to do back in my years as a student.
House elf magic would dwindle without a master and when Harry Potter saved Dobby in Second Year he was automatically bonded to him, Dobby surely knew but Harry didn't and that was the only reason Dobby survived as long as he did. All of those house elves I was trying to free would have died if I had succeeded, or automatically bonded to me which would have been weird.
Francy was assigned to me when I arrived at Hogwarts and since I am generally a neat person there was very few things she had to do but I was also a creature of habit and so on Friday nights she had the wine breathing and some fruit waiting for me and a bath ran but considering it was only two in the afternoon I had tea waiting with the steam rising from it.
Taking off my cloak and shoes I sat in my big comfy chair and lifted my tea and the file of Narcissas work before settling in to read for a while. She really was extremely intelligent which again shocked me because I thought she was nothing more than a trophy wife to hang on Lucius Malfoys arm. She apparently writes under a pseudonym, the Name Sinarcas White appeared and then I realized Sinarcas was an anagram for Narcissa.
She had created a potion to aid fertility for women, a potion for nutrition in Premature babies. She had also created an updated Wolfsbane potion which apparently aids werewolf women's fertility and ovulation, so many inventions and improvements had been made which made me admire the woman. God first I was defending her and now I am admiring her work get a grip Granger. I had only heard her voice a few times but now as I was reading the magazine's in front of with the articles in them I could not help but imagine her haughty tone, and aloof coldness of her face.
I was unaware how long I was reading for but Francy popping in and telling me it was almost dinner time shocked me. It had been a long time from I had gotten caught up in something like this and Potions was not even my subject. Merlin's Beard I am gonna have to work with this woman and intellectually I was beyond excited however personally I was terrified. Hopefully the former will win out over the latter.
As I walked over to my closet I pulled out a box, it held some photos mostly of my parents and Harry, Ron and things from my years at Hogwarts. At the very bottom sat a piece of parchment. All it held was my name on the front of it and as I popped it open and pulled it out again I couldn't help but read it. When I received the letter all those years ago I didn't open it. Now though I think I have to.
Miss Granger,
I don't even know where to start in this letter, I know there is nothing I can ever do to change the actions of the war. I also know there is nothing I can say but all I can say is...I am sorry. For everything you endured in my home, I'm Sorry.
Narcissa Malfoy
It was a year after the war ended when a large regal owl appeared at my quarters and dropped the letter, I didn't open it but I knew who it was, Andromeda gave me a warning she would be sending a letter and so when I saw Draco Malfoys Owl I knew it was from her. It seems I need to talk to the former Lady Malfoy.