Abigail O'Connor was not ready to face the school year. Her summer vacation had not been peaceful and relaxing. She did not feel refreshed. Instead she felt knackered and worn down. Just days after having returned to Ireland her mother had come to tell her that Rose's group had been spotted in Florida in the United States. Abigail and her cousins had spent almost the entire summer chasing them through three states before finally conceding that they had lost them. The missing children reports had died off quickly and none of the RV's they followed gave off a hint of magic. She had given them the slip again.

"Dammit!"

Abigail swiped a hand through the air and a tree split near its base, crashing to the floor of the forest. The trunk was blackened and dead where it had broken and she stared at it feeling annoyed with herself. Her parents would not be pleased if they could see her loss of control. She would be twenty-seven this month and she still couldn't keep her temper or her powers in check. Growling under her breath she stormed the last few yards out of the Forbidden Forest and up to the castle. The students would be arriving in just a few short hours.

Severus Snape's eyes followed O'Connor as she left the forest, feeling slightly surprised she hadn't noticed his presence so near her own. He readjusted his grip on his ingredient bag and looked back the way she had come. Had she been responsible for the tree that fell? Why was she in the forest to begin with? He didn't think it likely that she apparated into the forest and come back to the castle that way. With her fear of spiders she wouldn't want to be that far into the forest to be able to do so.

He frowned when he came upon the tree that had fallen. It was not a small fir and he didn't see any spell damage. The trunk looked like it had simply rotted away near the roots. However, there was no sign of deterioration anywhere else on the tree. Feeling more curious than ever about his mysterious colleague he tracked her footprints back the way she'd come. They stopped in an area rife with thick bushes, leading into something of a hovel. Inside was a small pile of smoldering logs.

A bonfire? She flooed here; straight onto the grounds? Just who the hell is this woman?

Snape was loathed to admit it to himself and refused to acknowledge the feeling, but he had been slightly disappointed that O'Connor had not written to him over the summer. Without wanting to he had looked forward to receiving a letter from her. Something to brighten his dreary days spent in the dung heap that was his parent's old house. He hated that old home but he spent so much of his year at Hogwarts he didn't see the point in buying or renting a new place when it was perfectly livable.

Due to that, a small feeling of betrayal had grown; bringing back his initial dislike of the woman. With it came feelings of mistrust and anger. She had spouted all her nonsense about feeling that she could trust him now and that she believed he was fighting for their side, but what about her? He knew nothing of her. Perhaps she was the one who couldn't be trusted. Not only did she say her family had a history with the Dark Arts, she was cryptic about everything and had secretly flooed onto the grounds of the school.

Just what is she hiding?

After cleaning up her personal quarters and office and unpacking her belongings, Abigail started preparing her classroom for the upcoming year. She was just hanging some new pictures when the door opened. Professor McGonagall was standing there in deep blue robes with silver designs and smiling kindly at her. Returning her smile she strode across the room to hug the older woman.

"Nothing like showing up at the last possible minute, my dear."

"Oh Minerva, you have no idea."

"You do look a little worse for wear." She held Abigail at arm's length. "Did something happen over the summer?"

"A family member who's been on the run for a very long time now was spotted overseas. I spent my entire vacation looking for her without any luck. I'm so sorry I didn't get a chance to write to you. I didn't get to write anyone."

"Oh there's no need to apologize. I'm just sorry you didn't find her. May I ask why she's running?"

"She's practicing an art that has been banned for a very long time. Our family is the only one that remembers it now. We want to find her before she puts it to use or anyone else finds out about it. It's the only reason we haven't involved the authorities. We've been keeping this spell a secret for hundreds of years and we don't trust even them not to use it or be able to keep it under wraps."

"I can understand that. Our Ministry isn't exactly the most competent organization and MACUSA's record isn't the best either. You're secret is safe with me."

"Thank you Minerva. Did you enjoy your summer?"

"Oh yes. I visited my brothers' families and got to spend time with my nieces and nephews. They're growing like weeds."

Most of the teachers were already seated when Abigail arrived in the Great Hall. She had changed into a form fitting knee length maroon dress with long sleeves and a billowing black cloak. The dress left her leg tattoos visible and she played with her sleeves feeling self conscious. Britain's wizarding community was so old fashioned. With a deep breath she headed to one of the only seats left. She sat with Filius on her left and Snape on her right. The latter resolutely ignored her.

What the hell is his problem? I thought we'd made such progress last year.

"Good Evening Abigail! I trust your summer was enjoyable." Filius smiled at her.

"I wish I could say so, but some rather unfortunate circumstances sent me out of the country shortly after I returned home. I only just returned a few days ago."

"Oh my! May I ask what happened?"

"A family member of ours that we had a falling out with was seen in the states. I went there to try and find her and convince her to come home, but I failed miserably."

"I'm very sorry to hear that."

"Thank you Filius. How was your summer?"

"It was very enjoyable indeed. I gave a lecture in Rome on dueling and spent the following two weeks touring the sites."

"That must have been fun. I bet the food was wonderful."

"It was. I think I must have gained ten pounds!"

"Well it doesn't look it." She laughed.

"You're too kind. I imagine you're looking forward to an uneventful year of teaching this time around."

"Fingers crossed."

Filius' attention was captured by Professor Sprout then and O'Connor turned to Snape. He was picking imaginary lint off of his spotless sleeve.

"I'm guessing you heard what I said to Filius. I really am sorry I didn't get to write. I didn't get to write anyone this summer." He refused to look at her still and she tried to keep her temper under control. Dropping her voice she leaned closer. "Knowing you you're probably curious about another one of my mysteries. I wouldn't mind discussing it with you after dinner. I'm hoping maybe you can give me some advice."

"I do believe I told you last year that any letter you sent would simply be used to light my fireplace. Regardless, I see that the only time you deem it necessary to communicate with me is when I am of some use to you. Lastly I don't see why you'd believe anything having to do with you or your family would hold any interest for me."

O'Connor looked gob smacked at his venomous reply. Where the hell had that come from? Had she actually hurt his feelings? She thought he didn't care if she wrote him. He said he didn't want friends. God the man was so confusing. Hadn't she just apologized though; given him a valid reason for her lack of correspondence? She'd even handed him a peace offering by volunteering one of her closely guarded secrets; a way to demonstrate the trust she'd given him last year.

That bastard!

"For your information my world does not revolve around you!" She hissed. "And it's not like I ignored you or thought you were only worth it if I needed something. I told you I couldn't write anyone, because I was hunting down a rogue family member! However if I had known how god damn needy you were I might have made the extra effort! Lastly I could have asked anyone for help. I asked you because I value your opinion and knowledge and because you showed an interest last year."

Snape's face turned a worrying shade of red and she could see his jaw flex as he clenched his teeth. She was surely in for a fierce verbal battle with volatile potions master, but was saved by the thundering of hundreds of teens making their way to the Great Hall. O'Connor gave him a murderous look and turned away to face the students, feeling as if all the small steps forward from last year had been overtaken by one giant leap backwards.

I just wanted a calm peaceful year with no problems. I really hope this isn't a sign of things to come.