Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
—————————————————————
The next two years passed by in a blur for Harriet.
The Ministry's auror training program was rigorous and intense. Harriet had a huge amount of experience to reference, but she greatly admired those training alongside her who had not been a part of the grand battles in which she had fought.
Harriet didn't know how well she would have fared if she hadn't been The Chosen One and faced so many dark wizards already in her short life.
At the beginning of the the third and final year of her auror education, Harriet found herself sitting down in a room at the Ministry along with the other trainees, or after least, those who remained.
By the third year, over three-quarters of the original recruits had either dropped out or failed.
It was no simple task to become an auror.
The program's instructor stepped into the room that day and peered out over his small class as he spoke, "You've all done well these past couple of years, but being an auror takes more than classroom instruction and exams. Soon, all of you will either be working out in the field of duty or you will be shamefully ejected from this vocation and sent to pursue other interests. This year will be the true test whether you really have what it takes to be one of us or not. This year, each of you will take on a Ministry approved field assignment."
Whispers erupted throughout the room but Harriet stayed silent.
The trainees fell silent as their instructor spoke again, "The Ministry has identified several institutions and potential places where a program trainee may be useful while gaining knowledge and experience. I'll list the available locations and each of you will choose one, starting with Miss Potter, alright?"
"Why does she get to go first?" One of the young men behind Harriet called out.
The auror instructor narrowed his eyes at the student and asked, "Would you rather have the first pick?"
"Of course I would, I want the best choice." The young man replied with an arrogant smirk.
"Very well, how many threats to the magical world have you eliminated?" The auror instructor asked the young man.
The young man frowned.
"How many times have you been killed or had your own murder attempted?" The auror instructor pressed.
The young man's frown deepened.
"So then, Potter will go first." The auror instructor declared.
When he repeated that statement, he did not encounter any further protests from the class.
The auror instructor looked down at Harriet and nodded as he spoke, "Alright, recruit, you've got the following choices…….Diagon Alley, Latvia, a small village in Cornwall, Hogwarts, Gol-"
"-Hogwarts." Harriet answered immediately.
She spoke so quickly that the auror instructor blinked at her and she herself couldn't believe how hastily the word had left her lips.
"Very well, then, Miss Potter, you'll be sent to Hogwarts for your assignment." The auror instructor confirmed.
As he moved on to the next auror program trainee to allow them to make their choice, Harriet let out a quiet breath.
Really, why had she spoken up so fast?
It made sense, she loved Hogwarts, Hogwarts was her home.
Somewhere through, in the section of her thoughts that she tried desperately to ignore, for some reason, memories of the summer she had spent looking after Severus Snape kept flooding her mind.
Harriet remembered their lengthy chats by the fire. Harriet remembered the way he looked at her when she was gentle and kind with him. Harriet remembered the anger and the hurt he had displayed when she informed him that she would be leaving to pursue her career.
Not that Harriet had ever forgotten any of those things over the past two years, no, those memories were too lovely to discard.
Regardless, Harriet pinched the bridge of her nose and ignored her nostalgia about Severus.
She loved Hogwarts, that was all, that was why she wanted to go there.
Howarts was home, Severus Snape just happened to be there too.
—————————————————————
"There's another interview here, sir." The Slytherin prefect, a tall, handsome young man with black eyes and coal-colored hair, informed Severus as they stood in the large, stone room.
From his desk, Severus glared up at the prefect and the prefect added quickly, "I don't think he'll take up too much of your time, sir."
"If Slughorn had been more careful over the summer, he wouldn't be trapped as a patient in St. Mungo's." Severus snapped, "Then I wouldn't have to waste my time speaking with dunderhead after dunderhead. Tell me, Mr. Dacre, why is it that every idiot who can stir a cauldron believes themselves qualified to become a potions professor?"
"I…..I don't know, sir." The Slytherin prefect, Elion Dacre, replied as he swallowed, "You asked me to bring the interviews to you, so I only wanted-"
"I know exactly what you wanted! Stop your babbling, boy!" Severus hissed, "I never thought I'd see a staffing issue after the war. It used to be quite a rare occasion that there was ever an opening at Hogwarts."
Elion Dacre looked terrified as he dared to add onto his original statement, "...There's…...there's someone else here to speak with you as well, Headmaster."
"Who?!" Severus asked as his face tightened in irritation, "Am I meant to get nothing accomplished at all today?!"
"I haven't sent the visitors, sir, or invited them! I'm only telling you of their arrival!" Elion humbly reminded his stern leader in a quiet action of self defense.
"Don't you think I know that?!" Severus hissed.
Severus glanced down at the pile of documents on his desk that awaited his signature.
While it was true that Severus Snape had never been a very approachable person, the alpha's abrasiveness had increased ever since that summer when he and Harriet Potter had parted ways.
Severus ruled Hogwarts as absolutely and as skillfully as he used to control his classroom in the dungeons, but yet, students and staff were not unhappy under his leadership.
Coincidentally, fights and bullying between students had greatly decreased. Apparently, there were few brave enough to risk facing Headmaster Snape for their punishment.
"Who else is here?" Severus growled at the Slytherin prefect in front of him.
"The…...the auror trainee from the Ministry, sir?" Elion cautiously responded.
"Oh…...yes….." Severus replied as his voice quieted in sulky remembrance.
He had no choice but to acquiesce to the request that he had received from the Ministry of Magic some weeks ago. A letter had come to Hogwarts directly from the center of the wizarding world of Great Britain asking if Hogwarts would be willing to find use for what the muggles would call an "intern" from the auror program.
Severus admitted to no one, not even himself, that as he sent his statement of agreement back to the Ministry, he had silent hopes of who may come to the castle.
It was a silly notion and Severus berated himself for allowing it to cross his mind.
He hadn't heard from Harriet since she left his side after he had recovered enough to stay on his own.
He didn't even know if she was still in the auror program, he didn't know where she was, or who she was with, or if she was happy or sad or sick……….and that irritated Severus all the more.
"Send the auror trainee in first." Severus barked at Elion.
The Slytherin prefect quickly nodded and left the room. He quickly opened the door to Severus's office and scurried out into the hallway.
Severus heard Elion speaking with someone and used the spare moment to apply his signature to one of those wretched documents.
His quill had just finished bobbing along when the door to his office creaked open and footsteps sounded as someone stepped into the room…….
Severus looked up from his work and he gaped for a moment in disbelief.
Severus was anticipating several outcomes, but he wasn't expecting his unacknowledged dream to come true.
Severus's dreams never came true.
"Miss Potter……." Severus greeted the auror trainee whom the Ministry had sent in his low, velvety purr of a voice.
"Hello, Headmaster Snape." Harriet nodded politely. She was unashamedly unable to hide the bright smile that danced across her lips as she spoke, "It's good to see you again."
—————————————————————
Harriet kept her smile as her eyes scanned over Severus's tall frame, pleased that he was exactly as she remembered him.
Severus was hypnotized by her emerald gaze and the furious beating of his own heart under his heavy, black robes.
Severus and Harriet stared at each other for such a long moment that the Slytherin prefect peeked in the doorway to make sure everything was alright.
"Sir?" Elion asked.
Severus's attention was so focused on Harriet that he didn't have time to snap at the Slytherin prefect, but his dark eyes flickered over to Elion questioningly.
"How long of a wait should I mention to the man that's here to interview?" Elion inquired.
Severus's mind raced as he quickly formed a clever, crafty plan.
Hmm…...he had made it known to Hogwarts' staff that the auror trainee would be assigned to a professor. As headmaster, had no use for an assistant to trail behind him constantly. Surprisingly, there were many days where Severus had more free time in his new position than he ever did during his years of overseeing his dungeon classroom.
But perhaps those years weren't quite finished yet…….
"Tell him to leave." Severus replied to Elion, "The position of potions professor has been filled."
Harriet glanced back and forth between Elion, who had introduced himself to her upon his arrival, and Severus.
The Slytherin prefect blinked at Severus incredulously. He clearly didn't understand what Headmaster Snape had plotted and he dared to to ask, "But, sir, we-"
"The position…..has been…….filled." Severus reiterated in a low tone that reverberated with a threatening seriousness. When he came to the last word, he gazed over at Harriet as the Slytherin prefect abandoned his doubt and left the room to go inform the man who sat waiting to be interviewed.
"We have a new potions professor, then?" Harriet asked. She was searching for anything to talk about that might break up the tension which weighted the air as she and Severus held each other's gaze.
"Slughorn has taken ill." Severus replied, "We've not been able to find a candidate with adequate qualifications to replace him, so I will be taking over the task myself."
Harriet narrowed her eyes in confusion as she asked, "You're…..you're going to be the headmaster and the potions professor, sir?"
"Until Slughorn returns, yes, I am." Severus said confidently as he crossed his arms and stared down at Harriet, "Why do you think I agreed to let the Ministry send a trainee, Potter? Do you think I'd go through the trouble if I couldn't use the aid? The house elves can't keep my schedule and grade essays, now can they?."
Harriet felt a little flutter in her chest as her eyes widened and she dared to reason out loud, "So I'll be…...I'll be working under you directly, sir?"
Under you, directly~.
Her words unintentionally invoked lascivious ideas that made them both shift on their feet as they imagined the context in which that phrase could be applied.
Severus's voice was as thick as chocolate and his dark eyes were as shimmering as molten ore as he stood from his desk and slowly glided towards her. When he was inches away from her, he scanned over her face as he replied, "Yes, Potter. You'll be working…...directly…..under me…... Your assignment here is to serve as my assistant and see to my needs on a daily basis."
Harriet couldn't help herself, she was intoxicated by the tall alpha and the dominant way that he spoke to her.
Harriet looked up at Severus with her lips parted slightly as he added, "I will expect…..no less….than excellence from an auror program candidate. Remember, I'll be sending progress reports directly to the Ministry about your performance."
"...Yes, sir." Harriet nodded in reply after she recovered herself, "I'll do my very best."
Severus narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Harriet when he detected a very distinct scent as he stood so closely to her.
"Get your things, Potter." Severus commanded in a voice that was barely above a whisper, "I'll show you to your rooms."
"My rooms, sir?" Harriet blinked.
"Did you think you'd be lodged in the dormitory?" Severus retorted, "The only available quarters in the castle will be convenient for you, considering your new duties. Come…."
Harriet collected her trunk and bag from the hallway and Severus made arrangements for them to be carried separately as he walked Harriet out of his office and led her down the corridors.
Harriet couldn't help but notice they were headed straight for the dungeons and with Severus filling in as the potions professor, she blushed when she realized that she would be living in what used to be his chambers.
There was something intimate about that, something so personal that it almost felt like an intrusion to Harriet.
Severus didn't feel that way at all, but he didn't really know what way to feel as they walked along.
The longer he was in Harriet's company, the stronger that tantalizing scent seemed to grow.
It was an undeniable fact, the news that Severus's senses screamed at him.
Harriet Potter was an omega~.