Snape stalked down the hall, his customary black robes billowing out behind him. It had been almost 19 years since he'd heard that stupid, worthless prophesy from the blind muggle woman - a prophesy that had since proved to be completely true. He'd helped defeat the Dark Lord, Voldemort, and was slowly going nutters from boredom. True, he preferred boredom to the torture, but the fact remained that he was still bored.

Although he'd never admit it, he missed the company of the teachers. He'd complained, snapped, and been down right nasty to them, but they were all he'd had. He had mourned in his own way for the deaths of Rolanda Hooch and Pomona Sprout, and for the teachers who had merely retired.

His irritability rose at the thought of not having them around during the upcoming school year and he stopped watching where he was going. It wasn't a big problem, he had wandered the castle for large amounts of time like this, lost in his own mind, and he never ran into anything.

Of course, he ran into someone while he was doing so.

"Watch where you're going you stupid…Albus." Snape snapped angrily at the person he'd walked into before he realized who exactly he was talking to.

"Ah yes, Severus, you're quite right, I should be paying more attention to where I'm going. However, I seem to have accomplished my goal. Which was of course, finding you." Dumbledore said as cheerily as always. "I've been looking for you for the last little while, for there is a staff meeting that you were supposed to attend. It's over, but a few of the teachers are still around, as they wished to meet you."

At the mention of the new teachers, Snape stiffened. The scowl the muggle woman had pointed out was now firmly engraved in his features and he had it on full force at the poor headmaster. Dumbledore, however, was either oblivious to the fact he was being glared at, or was so used to it, it no longer affected him.

Either way, he had taken Snape by the elbow and was gently guiding him to the staff room located near his personal office.

It wasn't very far away, and they were soon there, in the brightly lit, cozy room. Snape had never been particularly fond of it, with its squishy armchairs (bad for the posture), roaring fire (too hot), and the fact that it usually contained the teachers he didn't like. Not that you could tell which was which.

As they walked in, a few unfamiliar faces were sitting in the armchairs by the fire. He had expected this, and briefly wondered who would be replacing who. Not that he cared, and he'd find out soon enough.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and the teachers in the chairs seemed to snap to attention. There were two women and a man, and they waited expectantly for Dumbledore to say something. Instead of talking, he gently pushed Snape forward almost into the new teachers. Snape scowled at Dumbledore, and straightened his robes automatically, then shifted his glare to the people in front of him.

The younger woman was as tall as he was, but very tan where he was pale, with leaf green eyes and thick black hair. She looked a bit nervous to be under his intense stare, but she managed a weak smile and held out a hand to him.

"Hi! My name is Raven. I'm the new herbology teacher." Her nervous smile seemed to gain strength as she talked, "You're Severus Snape? The potions master? I've been told that we'll be working together a bit, because of the potions…ingredients…. I'll…" she faltered when she realized his scowl hadn't changed a bit, and she was still on the receiving end of his death glare.

She stopped talking and pressed her lips together nervously as she looked back at Dumbledore then back to Snape. Dumbledore gave her a warm smile and she looked back at Snape. His glare had traveled down to her proffered hand, with its short, slightly dirty nails, and was now staring at them in disgust. She blushed and snatched her hand back when she realized he wasn't going to take it, and fingered the corner of the book she was holding. She backed up a little, and sank back into the chair she'd previously occupied, opening her book.

Snape turned his glare to the next victim, er, teacher. This one was a man, who looked vaguely familiar. He was short, and stocky, with windblown bright blue hair. Another smile from this one, revealing perfectly straight, white teeth.

"Hey Professor Snape! Remember me?" The man announced proudly. "I was in your class a few years ago!" Snape studied him and a name suddenly reattached itself to the man's face.

"Mr. Nav. I hope the you know more about teaching the subject you've been hired for than you knew about potions. As I recall you melted a cauldron at least once a class, and it wasn't always your own." Snape replied nastily.

"It's Simon now, Severus. I'm your colleague! Besides, I teach flying. It was always my best subject."

"You will address me as Professor Snape, Nav, and you are not my colleague. I reserve that title for people with some sort of intelligence." Snape told him as his mind screamed "Ten points from Ravenclaw!"

Simon Nav looked hurt, but he didn't say anything further. He looked over to the last remaining teacher and gave her an "I told you so" look. Snape assumed that his… reputation… preceded him. Not that it mattered; these fluffy headed imbeciles would soon learn that he was to be left alone. In any case he still had one more teacher to be introduced to and then he could leave.

The third teacher, another woman, looked extremely nervous to be under his glare because of the earlier exchanges. She seemed to suddenly gain confidence, and held out her hand to him, ignoring the fact that he had earlier glared at Raven's.

"My name is Amy, Professor. I'm the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Thanks to you though, it seems that my class isn't as needed as it was in the past years. I hope I do a good job though."

Snape studied the woman. She was almost as pale as he was, with bright blue eyes, and thin, pale blond hair. She was giving him a toothy smile, showing her slightly blindingly bright teeth.

For some reason, he instantly didn't like her. Not that he really liked anyone, but that was beside the point.

Having fulfilled the requirement of meeting the teachers, he turned to leave and return to the halls and his thoughts, but Dumbledore again, caught his elbow again, and turned him back around.

"Won't you join us for some dinner, Severus? It's almost time to eat, and the house elves have prepared some delicious roast beef with a demi-glaze I've been told." He said in that tone of voice that meant Snape really had no choice.

Dumbledore pulled the silent man to the table that was located nearer to the large window in the room, and sat him down in a random spot. The other teachers sat on either side of him, making him feel slightly trapped, except for the herbology one, who sat at the foot of the table, still absorbed in her book.

Truth be told, Raven wasn't absorbed in her book. She was slightly shaken by the intensity of Snape's glare. It wasn't like she'd done anything wrong. She couldn't have, she'd just met him!

She sneaked a look at him from the corner of her eye. He was frowning at the plate in front of him, and looked decidedly uncomfortable with the seating arrangement. He looked up, and at her just as she looked back at her book. She tried to go back to reading, but she'd been reading the same paragraph since she sat back down in the chair. Raven sincerely hoped that no one had noticed that she'd never flipped the page.

The food appeared before her, and she dug into the beef, which was, like all the food the house elves prepared absolutely delicious. She'd already gained a bit of weight while she was here, and would most likely gain more. She had always been a very thin, delicate looking girl, even if she really wasn't, and the extra weight pleased her. She now actually needed a bra, which was just an added bonus.

As she finished her plate, she sat back in her chair and stared out the window, which overlooked a rather large lake. She'd been told that merpeople, a giant squid, and other creatures inhabited it. Raven had really wanted to meet the merfolk, but was told that they weren't hospitable, and that it was a bad idea. It looked so calm and clear that she could barely believe that anything lived in it, but as she trusted Dumbledore, she believed it.

Realizing that nothing was happening outside, she turned her attention back to the teachers, who were eating away. Simon, the flying teacher, was about her age, and was practically devouring his food. She wondered briefly if he was even swallowing, because it didn't look like he had enough time in between bites, and talking. He was involved in animated conversation with Amy, however one sided that conversation may be. They were talking around the potion master, who still looked disgusted at the arrangement.

Where Simon ate like he was facing a ten-year famine, Snape ate with a slow elegance, somehow smoothly dodging elbows, and moving hands while he was doing it.

Raven's eyes drifted to Dumbledore who had bits of dinner stuck in his long beard, and he smiled merrily at her. It took her a few seconds to realize that his mouth wasn't moving because he was chewing, but because he was talking to her.

"-ing your dinner?" He asked her.

"Oh… pardon me… My mind wandered…" She blushed lightly, which was barely visible on her tanned skin, and snapped her fingers and whistled, "Here mind, c'mere girl! I need you!"

Dumbledore and Simon laughed heartily at her face-saving gesture, but Amy gave her a disapproving look. Snape ignored her.

"I'm sorry Professor, would you mind repeating yourself?" Raven asked politely, regretting that she wasn't paying attention in the first place.

"Of course, dear girl! I asked you if you were enjoying your dinner? And, please, call me Albus."

"Oh! It was wonderful… Albus." She hesitated for a second over using his first name, but continued, "The food here is much tastier than I'm used to. I can grow everything I need, but I'm not much use when cooking with it."

"I'm sure the house elves would be delighted to teach you how to cook, should you desire to learn." Dumbledore consoled her, snapping a finger. Instantly a house elf appeared by his side, and he explained, much to Raven's embarrassment, her ineptitude at cooking. The elf nodded once, then, giving her a large smile, it disappeared.

"They have agreed to teach you, all you have to do is make your way to the kitchens, and they will help you at any time."

She smiled faintly at him, not wanting to tell him that she had no interest in cooking, but he appeared oblivious to her reluctance.

"Now then, I'm sure you'll all want to turn in early tonight, as tomorrow, we'll have students!" Dumbledore announced, as if this were something new, and not something that happened every year. He stood as the plates magically cleared, and walked out of the room, humming happily.

Raven collected her book, and was halfway out the door, when she was rudely pushed out of the way by a large black shape, which turned out to be Snape. He walked quickly down one hall, his robes flying out behind him.

Muttering to herself about rude men, Raven wandered back to her room, and quickly changed for bed, snuggling under the fluffy comforter, and was soon sleeping peacefully.