Hermione climbed up the stone stairs leading to Hogwarts castle. She wasn't in the best of moods, as it was pouring down with rain and thunder rumbled ominously in the background. Her clothes were soaked from head-to-toe and her curly brown hair clung to her face and neck. Reaching the top of the stairs she headed into the entrance hall as fast as she could to escape the torrential downpour, with her suitcase following behind her. Once she got inside she waved he wand and the suitcase fell to the ground.

Hermione looked around, pleased to be back in her old school again, but also extremely nervous. What would it be like working beside her old teachers? She was looking forward to seeing some of them, Remus or Dumbledore for example. On the other hand she wasn't looking forward to seeing others. Take for example Severus Snape, with his snide comments and rude remarks. No matter how hard she had tried her best in potions, he always found a new way to put her down and hurt her feelings. She had grown to hate him for it, and the idea of seeing him again… well it made the butterflies she was currently feeling in her stomach (due to nerves), turn into something more akin to a swarm of wasps.

Hermione looked over at the front doors and saw another drenched figure walking over to her. On closer inspection she realised it was her former DADA teacher, Remus Lupin, who smiled warmly at her through a curtain of wet hair.

"Hermione! How are you?"

"Great thanks" Hermione smiled back at him, noting that Remus looked a lot better off than he had been a few years ago. Obviously Tonks had been taking good care of him.

"Great weather we're having…" Remus added sarcastically, while pulling out his wand and starting to dry off his clothes.

"Tell me about it" she rolled her eyes and watched as the steam rose off his robes. "So how's Tonks doing?"

"Oh, she's doing well" Remus smiled again fondly, " Well… She's actually pregnant again…"

"Congratulations! That's great!"

Remus shrugged and looked down at the floor, rather embarrassed but obviously pleased, "So… How's Ron doing?"

It was Hermione's turn to look embarrassed, "He's…he's fine" she mumbled awkwardly.

Remus looked slightly puzzled but didn't enquire any further, "well, I'm glad to hear-"

"Sorry to interrupt this obviously touching scene, but Dumbledore has given me the delightful task of showing you both to your classrooms" a voice sneered from behind her.

Hermione spun around to find her old potions professor leaning against the wall, his arms crossed and his lank black hair hanging over his face. His black eyes stared at her and Remus with a look of undisguised contempt and Hermione noted that under his eyes there were dark lines, as though he hadn't been sleeping well. Her stomach had jumped at the sight of him, and she was hoping that she wouldn't have to stay too long around him. 'He still hasn't lost his arrogant manner…' she thought angrily, the familiar hatred starting to resurface again at the sight of him. But when she looked closer she realised his skin was a sickly pallor and he was even thinner than the last time she had saw him. It looked as though he had been ill for along time. She almost pitied him.

'Perhaps he's changed since the war' a small voice in the back of her head whispered quietly.

'Of course he hasn't! He's still the pig-headed git he always was!' she told the voice firmly.

"Miss Granger, please stop staring into thin air and listen for once" Snape snapped at her, coming away form the wall and striding towards them, "You might have nothing better to do with your time, but I on the other hand have better things to do than to be your and the werewolf's tour guide. Now, if you could pay attention and follow me it would be most useful" he finished up standing in front of them, looking for a moment at Hermione, rather strangely.

"Good to see you too, Severus." Remus replied quietly with an unfathomable expression on his face. Severus snorted and stared at him with an almost pitying look. He then shook his head, turned around and headed up the grand staircase, obviously expecting them to follow. Hermione sighed, waved her wand at the luggage and started to follow on behind Remus, their two suitcases behind them floating along in mid-air.

…

Severus sank into the chair behind his desk and sipped the fire whisky he'd just poured for himself. It had been a hellish day. When Dumbledore requested Severus to meet the two new teachers and escort them to their classrooms, he had been going to point-blank refuse. After all he hadn't slept at all last night and even if he had slept he knew that those dreams would have just haunted him again. All throughout the summer holidays and even now, a couple of days before the start of the term, the nightmares had been bothering him. He was at the point of not sleeping at all and on top of that he still didn't have a clue about what the dreams meant.

He had often wondered if they were because of the rumours going around about the Dark Lord supposedly returning. Severus had dismissed them at first as being complete rubbish - after all he had seen Voldemort's dead body with his own eyes. But last week Dumbledore himself had admitted to Severus that he was concerned about another Death Eater uprising, although if the Dark Lord had returned or if someone else had taken his place, Albus still wasn't sure. Either way, another uprising would be deadly for Severus, because even if the Dark Lord hadn't returned, the Death Eaters would want him to return and help fight. The ones locked up in Azkaban didn't know that Severus had been the architect of Voldemort's downfall. Although on the other hand, if the Dark Lord had returned….well, the whole lot of them would be after his blood. Fantastic.

In the end, despite his best intentions to refuse the headmaster, Severus's curiosity had got the better of him. He had been curious as to how Lupin had adjusted to life after the War. And he was also slightly curious to see how Hermione Granger was coping. After all, the girl certainly had brains, it was just a shame she hadn't been a Slytherin, she could have gone far in life. Instead, she had ended up being married to Ron Weasley, who in Severus's mind was about as likely to have an intelligent conversation as a teapot.

Severus sighed to himself and leaned back in his chair. He had been quite shocked to see how Hermione looked now. She had looked a lot more mature than she had the last time he had saw her. She now held herself more proudly when she walked through the castle and, being a man, Severus couldn't help but noticed that she looked more…well more like a woman now. But what had startled Severus the most was her eyes. When she had been at school they had always been filled with constant curiosity, unwavering loyalty and a burning thirst for knowledge. The loyalty had always irritated Severus, as it was the mark of a true Gryffindor, but the thirst for knowledge on the other hand, Severus had always quite admired in the young girl.

However, now her eyes looked completely dead, almost although she had lost the will to live. Severus had much the same look about him, but he was friendless and pretty much alone in the world. Hermione on the other hand, was famous for the part she played in the war. People respected and admired her and she had a group of friends that were willing to die for her. She was even married to someone that up till now, Severus had presumed that she must love. Now he wasn't so sure. He had mentioned the fact she had changed a lot to Lupin once they were alone, but he had merely shook his head sadly and muttered, "I know as much as you do Severus…" and shrugged awkwardly.

Severus stood up, drained the last of his Fire whisky and headed through to his classroom. He didn't like to dwell on the troubles of others for too long, and besides, he had to get this Wolfsbane potion finished before the next full moon. As, he headed out however, he felt a cold breeze dance across his face and out of the corner of his eye he saw someone standing behind him. He spun around and came face to face with nothing. There was no one there. Severus cursed under his breath and stalked back out the room. He was imagining things again, he was sure about it. It must be his mind playing tricks…

'What else could it be?'

He glanced around the room again before slamming the door shut on the way out.