Chapter 10
Nothing really changed here. Hogwarts was, as it always was. The only difference were the names of the dunderheads that he had to teach.
Severus sat at the staff table, eating his dinner. He mentally checked off one more day to his three year sentence. Less than three more years here and he was finished for good. He knew not only the students, but most of the staff were silently counting the days as well. But Severus stayed on. Fulfilling his agreement with the former Headmaster. Severus also wanted a nice retirement and he had to complete his entire twenty years of service in order to qualify for it. Minerva had stayed well past her retirement eligibility. But Severus was no Minerva. She reminded him of that everyday.
He ate with his head down, his dark, lank hair covering his face. It was this evening that a faint glimmer of warmth filled him. Something that he hadn't had in a while. He frowned as he chewed, concentrating on the warmth that tickled his chest. He never could figure it out. Sometimes, it came and went rapidly. Other times, it was strong and alarming. But it hadn't happened in so long, it was surprising when that evening, he felt…odd.
Life went on for Professor Severus Snape as usual. He taught his classes and took points from Gryffindors. He antagonized Minerva to the point of her banning him from her office for life.
Severus survived by keeping his head down and away from the public eye. Sometimes he thought that Ms. Granger had a spectacular idea. She worked for some spell company, anonymously, and no one ever knew if things were created by her or someone else. He had seen the arrival of the Walk-N-Grow shoes and wondered for a fleeting moment if they were something she did. If it was, it was pathetic. She must have gotten the idea from camping too many summers at the Weasley's. He also wondered every so often, if she had ever gone any further with her research on the anti-Unforgivable curses. He had not heard even a whisper about any possible new spell or charm to ward them off, so he thought perhaps she abandoned the idea, or was still working on it.
Never the less, he found that his mind wondered in the evenings, he thought of the old days when he had his mentor around. He missed the old codger. He was the heart and soul of Hogwarts before he was taken from them. Well, before Severus took him from the rest of the world.
He knew Potter headed the Auror department at the Ministry. That was just one more reason for Severus to stay out of everyone's way. He had gone out, incognito, a few times and seen the younger Weasley sister out and about. She was a wild one, that Ginny Weasley. He bet his last Galleon that her brothers knew nothing of her behavior. The Weasley's were pretty much the same. Those annoying twins had more money than the Ministry. One of them worked with Dragons, another was at the Ministry…Severus couldn't keep up with them, there were so many.
He couldn't wait for the day that he could walk from Hogwarts grounds and never look back. To find his own way somewhere far from the long arm of his past and his mistakes. He quietly reflected that he desired the same life that Ms. Granger had wanted years ago and probably had. A pang of jealousy hit him as he finished his plate.