Chapter 1: New Beginnings
A/N: Hello everyone! This is the first story I've ever put onto the internet. I've written many stories before, but only on paper. I'm a very big Alan Rickman fan and thus a massive Potterhead. This story would be mostly canon Snape, but with the physical appearance of Alan Rickman and a little bit of A/U Snape. The story plays off in the 5th book, but Umbridge isn't getting the DADA job, she is already the High Inquisitor. Please please please feel free to teach me how to do this right by sending me messages and leaving reviews! I don't know how often I would be able to update the story, because I'm a university student and currently entering my exam period. Gentle criticism please. I hope you all enjoy my first chapter!
Disclaimer: I own nothing, only OC Athena Herrmann! All belongs to JK Rowling!
Best wishes,
Michelle.
Chapter 1: New Beginnings
A slender, athletic woman was just about finished braiding her long dirty blonde hair into a ponytail up in her brightly lit room located in Manchester.
She was wearing her best attire for the big occasion about to occur in the next hour. A silk midnight blue blouse, along with navy denim jeans and white sandals gave her an elegant, yet confident appearance.
Small silver star-shaped earrings decorated her ears, a black wristwatch and a silver necklace with an emerald graced her neck.
She ran her fingers over the gem while eyeing herself in the mirror to assure it hung straight and symmetrical.
A barely noticeable amount of make-up enhanced her magnificently sapphire blue eyes and covered some stubborn marks across her face that she wished no one to see.
Her luggage and possessions were neatly stacked next to her door; one of the few things that were actually tidy in her room. She was a lazy person concerning unimportant matters, like the tidiness of her room. How often her mother complained about her untidiness when she was a child, but as she grew up, it never went away entirely, it only got less.
"Athena!"
A voice belonging to her mother called from the kitchen. She turned her head towards the noise and grabbed her grey wool coat, containing her wand and pulled it on, remembering how cold Scotland could be.
She stopped upon reaching the doorway, pulled out her wand, gave it a wave and everything out of place fell back into their original places, tidy again.
Smiling to herself, she walked down to the kitchen to her mother.
Her mother, a short, greying woman of a slender build was holding a mug of fresh German coffee that could be smelled from the upper floor.
She accepted the beverage with a smile and took a big gulp, closing her eyes in delight as the warm liquid moved down her throat. German coffee truly was the best. She sighed at how good it tasted, for her mother knew exactly how she liked it.
"Are you ready to go?"
Her mother spoke their native language, German, never really comfortable with English, even after living in Britain for over 50 years.
Athena nodded in reply, not entirely convinced of herself. "Are you going to Apparate or use the Knight Bus?". Athena frowned at her mother's forgetfulness, they only spoke last night about the matter.
"Mum, I told you. You can't Apparate into Hogwarts and besides, the Knight Bus is so much fun," her mother glared at her from her short temper. Athena knew that it was something she had to work on if she was to work with inexperienced children.
She finished her coffee and pointed her wand at her room and said, "Accio". Her luggage joined her, neatly stacked on each other.
Her mother turned to her, tenderly holding her face in both hands, equally blue eyes filled with nearly overflowing tears. "I'll miss you so much, Athena. Come and visit me when you can, and also, remember to control your temper. I doubt that Dumbledore would tolerate any bad attitude in his school from his staff," Athena huffed her disapproval of her mother's lecture.
"You look so beautiful," her mother pulled her into a hug and let out a strangled sob. "I love you, Athena". At those words, Athena felt the burning in her eyes even after she refused to cry on this day.
"I love you too," she choked out. They let go of each other and her mother kissed her on the cheek, pulling out a handkerchief to dry the tears that are now running freely down her face.
She felt a deep sense of pride, the same pride she felt on the day Athena first went to Hogwarts, when she graduated and after she qualified as an Auror and Master Healer.
"Wingardium Leviosa," and Athena's luggage floated in midair out through the door. She stretched out her wand hand and in a matter of seconds, the triple decker purple bus zoomed through the streets and reached a dead stop right in front of her.
Stan Shunpike repeated his melody of introduction and soon after grabbed Athena's luggage and ushered her onto the bus.
With one last glance at her mother, she said by herself, "New beginnings," and the bus was off in a whoosh.