A/N: This fic is something of an experiment for me; I've never explored such a pairing before. I give you fair warning; this fic deals with the issues surrounding teacher/student relationships. If that kind of thing bothers you, then this fic is obviously not for you. You have been warned!!!

Another Chance

By Spirit Of Euphoria

Chapter 1

It was a warm September evening, and the autumn sun stretched its fingers lazily across the sky, caressing the landscape with a lover's touch. Trees were thrown into sharp-edged silhouette against the blazing orange horizon, completing the idyllic portrait.

Ginny Weasley stared morosely into the distance, her knees tucked up to her chest in a position of insecurity. The late sunlight poured over her, and she was glad of the slight warmth it gave her. She'd been out here for a couple of hours now, maybe even more. She didn't think she could stomach going to the Gryffindor common room. Ron would be gazing lovingly at Hermione, and Harry would be mooning over Cho as usual. She stifled a sob at the thought and buried her face in her hands.

She didn't know who she was kidding. Harry would never notice her. To him, she was just Ron's shy little kid sister. He wanted Cho, not some silly little girl who idolised him.

She uncurled herself from her position and peered into the shimmering surface of the lake. Reflected there was a youthful face, faint freckles dusting her cheeks and her tiny, pixie-like nose. Light brown eyes glanced questioningly back at her from beneath long eyelashes. She couldn't see the simplistic beauty in her features; she'd always seen herself as a freckly redhead, gawky and immature in appearance.

However, Harry wasn't the only thing bothering her. It was the upcoming Ball to celebrate Professor Dumbledore's seventy-fifth year of teaching at Hogwarts. It had been the idea of Professor McGonagall to mark the momentous occasion with a Ball of some description.

And Ginny knew all too well what Balls meant.

Partners.

And she knew full well that she would be spending the night alone and miserable, watching couples with the same wistful expression in her eyes. True, she had gone to the Yule Ball three years ago with Neville Longbottom, but that was where it stopped. She liked Neville as a friend, but it was Harry that she wanted.

Nobody knew how she felt. Nobody knew how it felt to be so lonely, so miserable, so…unloved. She might as well just give up now. Nobody could even begin to empathise with her…

* * * * * * * *

Staring out of the staffroom window, Professor Severus Snape blinked and rubbed his eyes. Who on earth was that, sitting beside the lake at this time on an evening? Stupid imbecile. Didn't they know it was safer in the confines of the school?

The figure approached the front entrance to the school, and Snape recognised the person immediately, by her flaming red hair. Virginia Weasley. Why on earth was she wandering the grounds at dusk? His eyes narrowed slightly into an intimidating glare and he wrapped his cloak around himself, a satisfied sneer creeping upon his features.

He pushed open the window that he'd been looking out of, and watched as Ginny Weasley stared up at the window in fright.

"Miss Weasley," he said coldly, "I would like to see you in my office. Five minutes."

He closed the window with a snap, and smiled wryly to himself. The perfect start to the year…taking points from Gryffindor House. He didn't have many pleasures in this job…this just happened to be one of them.

He made his way down to his office in the dungeons…and waited. Fairly soon, a gentle knock came at the door, and he leant back casually in his chair, a smirk on his face.

"Come in."

Ginny Weasley stepped into the room, visibly shaking. Snape noticed this with a degree of sadistic satisfaction, and steepled his fingers together, peering enquiringly at Ginny.

"You may sit," he said, and Ginny settled thankfully into a wooden chair opposite Snape's desk. "Now, Miss Weasley, may I ask why you were wandering the grounds after dusk? Surely a girl of your intellect should appreciate the dangers of such behaviour."

Ginny didn't reply. How could she? What was she supposed to say? 'I'm sorry, Professor. I was feeling depressed and was contemplating jumping in the lake.' Yeah. That would go down really well. She kept quiet and twisted her hands together uneasily.

"Well?" persisted Snape, leaning towards Ginny slightly. After an awkward pause, he sighed in exasperation. "Very well, Miss Weasley. If you won't tell me the reasoning behind your behaviour, I have no option but to remove points from Gryffindor-"

"Don't do that," exclaimed Ginny, in panic. "I was…I just needed to be alone."

Snape's eyes widened slightly. "Indeed, Miss Weasley? And what was wrong with say, the library? Or the dormitory?"

"I just wanted to go outside," replied Ginny, simply. "That's all."

Snape glanced at Ginny through ebony lashes. She looked somewhat preoccupied. Well, he wouldn't get anything out of the girl whilst she was like this. Probably mooning over Potter. Silly girl.

"You may go, Miss Weasley," he said, with a casual wave of his hand. "I am inclined to take your behaviour with a pinch of salt, but I can assure you the next time, I will not be so lenient."

Ginny got up from her chair quickly, her cheeks flushed, and hurried out of Snape's office as fast as she dared under his piercing gaze. Once the door was closed, Snape sighed and pushed his hands through his hair, already lank from the stress of the day. Dear Lord. He was obviously cracking up. He'd just let a Gryffindor escape punishment from him.

Still, she'd looked a little upset about something…somewhat preoccupied. Probably Potter, he thought to himself. He couldn't understand for the life of him why she was interested in the ignorant little git. All she was doing was inflating his already overlarge ego.

Even so, he'd noticed that something wasn't quite right with Ginny Weasley for a while now. She was becoming less attentive in Potions as of late, making ridiculous mistakes in the simplest of things. Tonight's incident had only served to confirm his suspicions that something was amiss with the girl. Alone, wandering the grounds, avoiding her friends? Something had to be wrong.

Well, it was none of his business, anyway. And he didn't even know why he was bothered about the silly little Gryffindor. Let her swoon over Potter and find out for herself. It was her own fault for being so bloody naïve.

* * * * * * * *

Ginny couldn't believe her luck. Escaping punishment from Snape? She'd have to tell everybody about that one.

Then again, they'd probably never believe it.

She rubbed her eyes, thinking hard. Why hadn't he punished her? He'd told her that she wasn't supposed to be out in the grounds after dusk. She'd broken a school rule and he'd not even removed points from Gryffindor. She shook her head slightly. Strange.

She'd often wondered about Professor Snape, in some strange, empathic way. Wondered why he was so cold, so seemingly bitter. Nobody could be that mean without a reason. And for all his dry, cruel sarcasm, he was still strangely charismatic. There was something that she couldn't quite put her finger on, but it was there all the same.

She pressed her hand to her forehead and groaned. She was sympathising with Professor Snape, of all people. Her nasty, sardonic teacher, who delighted in belittling her at every opportunity. He didn't deserve to be understood.

But it was something that Ginny couldn't help; she was kind-hearted for all her fiery temper at times. Nobody really understood her either; just like him.

She never told anybody what she was thinking, of course. Ron would be disgusted, Hermione would probably laugh and Harry…Harry wouldn't say anything, but she knew full well what he'd think. He'd be repulsed, insulted.

Upon reaching the portrait of the Fat Lady, she steeled herself with the ease of long practice, and said the password (Peppered Imps- she supposed that was Dumbledore's choice) and stepped through the portrait hole with as much courage as she could muster.

Her heart sank.

Hermione, Harry and Ron were sitting around a small table, appearing to be deep in conversation. They were evidently talking about something funny, for Ron and Harry kept laughing and joking amongst themselves. They obviously didn't want her there. She bit her lip slightly and walked past the rest of the Gryffindors, purposefully keeping her eyes averted.

"Hey, Ginny!"

Ginny turned around slowly, almost reluctantly, to see Ron gesturing to her to join them. She smiled weakly, making sure to keep the mask firmly in place, and went over to the trio.

"Where've you been?" asked Ron, once Ginny was beside them.

"Just to the library," she lied, crossing her fingers behind her back. "I had some extra work to do for Charms."

"You should have asked me if you wanted help!" exclaimed Hermione. "Honestly, I don't mind."

"Oh, it's fine, really," said Ginny, dismissively. "I only needed to research something. Anyway, I'm going to bed…I'm really tired."

"But Ginny, it's only quarter past nine," protested Ron. "Surely you can't be that tired."

"It's all this work," she said, vaguely. "See you in the morning."

"Night," they all called, as Ginny made her way up the staircase to the dormitories. Ron frowned slightly and drummed his fingers thoughtfully on the table.

"There's something wrong with her," he said, finally. Hermione looked at Ron.

"Of course there is," she said, glancing at Harry meaningfully.

"Oh!" exclaimed Ron, getting the point. "Yeah, but she's liked Harry for ages now. This is just a recent thing."

Hermione sighed in exasperation. "Perhaps you'd like to say that a little louder, I'm not sure the Slytherins quite heard you."

"What?" exclaimed Ron, in amazement.

"You're so tactless, Ron," she said, angrily. "No wonder Ginny's so upset all the time, with you broadcasting her crushes left, right and centre."

"Look, let's not row over it," said Harry quickly, upon seeing a steely glint in Hermione's eye and Ron's cheeks flushed with anger. "Anyone for a game of Gobstones?"

Ron quickly forgot his anger as Harry withdrew a set of Gobstones from a nearby cupboard, lost in discussion with Harry. Hermione sighed and opened her Arithmancy book.

"Boys," she muttered savagely to herself.

A/N: Just setting the scene at the moment…and I'm hoping to be able to post chapters a little sooner now, seeing as I'm on study leave from college (no more college! Yippee!) before I go to university. My e-mail is sundancekid164@hotmail.com if you wish to give any feedback or want information on the progress of a story.