-LOST IN OWL POSTS
CHAPTER 1
Snape stretched his arms as he made his way to the large balcony of his Portuguese Villa in the isolated town of Bragança. It had taken him a year to find the perfect place to take residence. It wasn't really permanent, he could stop and move anywhere if he felt the need to. He accepted the job offer in Portugal for the location mostly; it was quiet, peaceful and this particular town was ancient and full of history.
After admiring the view of the mountains, he went back to get ready to his first day at his new job. He had to walk a couple of blocks, for the wards guarding the Research Center didn't allow him to Apparate directly to it, but he liked to walk and the morning was pleasantly cool.
There was a separate village in the west side of the town not visible to Muggles. The entrance was a broken down stone wall with a crooked archway, that to non-magic eyes, led to nowhere. He crossed the archway and in seconds he was in an impressive medieval looking village. He could see the local wizarding university in the distance, it was said to be one of the best in Europe, located across from a large lake and in a way, it reminded him of Hogwarts; the large castle standing tall and imposing.
He was to be in charge of the medicinal Potions' research, in the town's Research Center. Its large building faced the university, across from the lake and only the best in the business were selected to be part of it.
He made his way to his new lab. It was three times larger than the one at Hogwarts and it had a variety of ingredients that not even his personal lab, back at the Manor in Scotland, contained. Not to mention the material available to work with, the cauldrons were the kind impossible to melt, supporting the more complex potions that required the highest temperatures.
He smiled approvingly. In his first visit to the place, he was given the choice of an assistant. There were many students at the university that would love the opportunity of apprenticing with a Master, but he refused, choosing to work alone. These were the rewards of being the best in his area, plus the fame he acquired for fighting the war. He finally had the upper hand.
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The day went by fast and enjoyable; never in his life did he think he would work on something he actually felt happy with. He looked up at the clock, it was probably enough for one day, he would have to do some paper work on the results of his experiments, but he could postpone it until the next day. He wrapped his outer robes around his shoulders and walked out of the room. The long corridor was empty by then. The staff had probably left hours ago.
A familiar voice traveled through the air, meeting his sharp ears.
"But couldn't I at least use the archive room? I won't be long, the essay is due tomorrow, and this is all I need to finish it," said the insistent woman.
'Oh Merlin, no... it can't be,' Snape thought, coming to a halt.
"I'm sorry, but it's after hours, and the archive supervisor is gone for the day. I suggest you come by tomorrow morning," replied the Center's receptionist, an old stern looking witch that could be Madam Pince's sister, and nothing would make her break the rules.
Snape knew that voice, he had heard that demanding tone too many times to not recognize it. He carefully approached the front hall and was able to see the two women clearly from a shadowed corner.
It was her! Bushy hair and all!
Hermione nodded at the receptionist and reluctantly left, holding a bag flooding with books.
'She must be a student in the local university,' he thought, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose.
Of all places on earth, why would she choose this very university to attend? Just his luck, when he thought he would never have to lay an eye on any of those dunderheads again, one of them comes back to haunt him! And HER of all people!
The memory of his last day at Hogwarts came flooding back. The letter. The insufferable girl had sent him a letter! He had sat staring at the parchment for hours. He didn't... couldn't know how to react to it. He hadn't learned how to react to such things. He could deal with anger and hate, but... that was something he never had to deal with, and to be perfectly honest, he didn't want to.
His mind had a hard time accepting any kind of affection toward him. He knew the Granger girl wasn't one up to practical jokes and despite being the resident know-it-all, she always had respected him even with all his constant insults. But even so, he could never, in his wildest dreams, imagine she 'liked' him.
'Why?' he thought. He had always done such a great job, being as unpleasant as possible. What would she want with a man like him?
When he left Hogwarts that day, he put that and all his past behind him. She was young and would go to college, meet more insufferable friends like her and would eventually forget his existence. He never replied her letter and he knew that was the easier way out, the only way he knew for those things. By shutting people out was easier and would prevent him from getting hurt.
He couldn't face her now and he wouldn't! Not even if he had to walk around in an invisibility cloak!
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It was very late that night when Hermione put her quill down. Her essay was acceptable, not much she could do without the information she wanted to find in the Research Center, but it would have to do. Her Potions Professor was an idiot, and an idiot who didn't like her at all. What was with her and Potions Professors?
She had to work extra hard on his homework and essays in order to learn properly and make sure he wouldn't find something to criticize. It wasn't much different with Snape but at least Snape was brilliant; she could take his insults any day. Her current Professor couldn't be able to discern a potion from a stew without a book to back him up. That was probably why he hated her, she could see right through him.
Potions Mastery wasn't one of the most sought after fields and her classes had very few students. She didn't mind really, she had grown a little intolerant with people in a way that she favored her solitude.
That was one of the reasons why she had chosen to rent a flat in the Muggle side of town. She had her privacy, no noisy roommates and access to lots of bookshops and the Muggle library.
She rubbed her eyes and climbed on her bed, murmuring a barely audible "Nox", and lay staring at the darkness in her bedroom. It was at moments like these that her mind ended up wandering to her former Professor. It was impossible to not remember him one way or another, after all, she had chosen to study potions. Every time she was in front of a cauldron, she found herself thinking about those long fingers stirring its contents, that black curtain of shiny greasy hair covering his face as he bent over it.
She knew she should try and forget about him, he was out of her league as was every man she ever met. But she could care less for other men, she never was the sort of girl to worry about dating and getting romantically involved with anyone. She knew she wasn't pretty and she had other things on her mind, but the trouble with feelings is that they come against one's will. She couldn't forget the only man she had ever felt something for, but even he had rejected her, or better yet, ignored her.
When she sent that letter, she had no expectations of a reply, but it hurt all the same to know he didn't care. She sighed deeply at the thought and eventually fell asleep, still lost in stray memories of her Potions Master.
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Severus Snape was wary as he walked through the silent streets that morning; he had no idea where the girl lived, but he couldn't afford to be seen. He turned the corner and was making his way to the entrance for the wizarding village when he saw her. She was probably late, judging by her fast pace and disheveled robes as if she had dressed in a hurry. Her wild curls were untamed, making it look even bushier than normal and her books were almost falling out of her bag.
He slowed down his steps, staying a fairly wide distance from her. As he crossed the archway, he could see her running to get the enchanted ferry that led to the other side of the lake. As she climbed the steps and the ferry started moving, a parchment flew out of her opened book bag, landing over the rocks near the edge of the lake.
He had an impulse to yell at her and warn about her parchment, but he stopped himself just in time. What was he trying to do? Besides, that was none of his business. He started to go in the direction of the Center, telling himself it wasn't his fault if the girl wasn't organized enough to wake up on time. But he couldn't. He shook his head, muttering, "The insufferable woman..." and turned around to go catch the parchment before the wind blew it in the lake.
The parchment was a potions essay, probably the one she was referring to last evening at the Center. She would obviously get in trouble if she didn't turn this in. He sighed, making his way to the large building and once inside his lab, he wrote a quick note, taking care to apply a disguising spell to his handwriting. Attaching it to the essay, he headed to the owlery.
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Hermione only stopped to breathe when she sat in front of her cauldron in class. She had made it before Professor Moraes, but it was a close one. She placed her bag on the table, gathering her potions' materials and looking for the essay she had to hand in today. Her eyes grew wide when she took the last item in her book bag and her essay was nowhere to be found. She started to panic, she was sure she had put it in the bag! She had overslept on account of that very essay and now it was gone. She looked at the big clock on the wall and there was no way she could go back to look for it. She buried her face on her hands, ignoring the curious looks from her classmates when a white owl flew inside the classroom and stopped right in front of her. She frowned and reached for the bird's leg to retrieve the letter.
She unfolded the large parchment, immediately recognizing her essay. With a little gasp she covered her mouth in surprise and relief. Attached to it was a little note:
""" I believe you will be needing this today. Be more careful to close your book bag next time.
A friend. """
She put the note down amazed. Who could possibly know she needed the parchment and would go to the trouble of helping her? She had no friends...
She decided to send a thank you note to whoever had helped her, and instructing the owl to wait for her outside so she could send a reply, she sat down just as her Professor entered the classroom.
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A/N: I want to thank Shauna for beta-reading. And Thanks to hp-lover-fifi, JoJo the Jellyfish, Chatterpillar(really? it was weird?how so?), Parody-of-an-Angel, Intelligent Witch, Porthos, Minerva7, meneyavewen, sweetytweety013, strega-in-progress(glad you liked it, this chapter is longer i hope), the-sexy-flower, momsangel and The Great Green Leaf of Peril for your wonderful reviews.
As asked by Parody-of-an-Angel, here are the Challenge rules:
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The Letter
Hermione writes the following letter to Severus:
(see letter in the prologue)
The challenge:
What happens next? you can look at any characters reactions, You can choose to make it as fluffy, angsty or realistic as you want. There are no size restrictions to the story (though remember, Ashwinder requires 600 word minimum)
The letter does need to show up somewhere; where is up to you.
Deadline: since this letter is written for Hermione's Graduation, the deadline will be June 30th, 2005.
Cheers, and looking forward to the great stories I know you guys can churn out!
Best,
Dryad