Hermione sat on the floor hugging her knees into her still heaving chest. She knew she was in for it now, but she didn't care. What did any of it matter? House points, detentions…none of it seemed important anymore. All that mattered was finding out who she was. She thought about what her favorite professor had said. She hated him for saying it, but he was entirely right; this "sniveling" as he called it, didn't suit her at all. She stood, quickly cleaned the mess, collected her belongings and exited the classroom. She was resolved now to take action. She'd had her day of wallowing and tomorrow she would begin her quest for answers. As she rounded the corner and headed towards Gryffindor Tower, she noticed a black crow resting on a nearby windowsill. Its eyes followed her, filling her with apprehension. Not that she believed in any of that divination nonsense, but she didn't believe in coincidences either- especially in the wizarding world.
"Shoo!" she threw her hands up at the ominous bird but it barely flinched. Hermione reached for wand, suddenly feeling oddly threatened. The crow cocked its head and retreated through the open window. The young witch hurried up the stairs and disappeared behind the Fat lady's portrait.
Severus sat in his room, steaming. He was not used to students losing their tempers with him and he certainly was not used to caring about what students thought of him. He shook such thoughts from his mind as he poured a small glass of Brandywine. He swirled the liquid around in the glass and recalled how Hermione's brown eyes had widened with emotion when she shouted at him. He had never seen her so unrestrained.
His thoughts then turned to her cries. He had detected some emotion in them that he couldn't place. Certainly there had been a hint of anger in her sobs, but there was something else he couldn't quite understand. It was betrayal. He sipped his glass and flicked his wand.
"Accio Memory Book"
A small tattered tome was summoned from the top shelf of the book case to the far right of the fireplace. He took another sip before flipping the cover open. In actuality, it was a photo album. Severus watched as the pictures danced and smiled from the pages. He had not looked through this in years and was not entirely sure where his sudden desire to reminisce had come from. Most of the photographs were of plants, animals and ingredients that Severus had been studying as a youth. However, there were some photos of Lily Evans pretending not to notice him taking her picture, surrounded naturally by James and the Gryffindor gang. He turned the pages with a frown hanging on his lips. These had been painful times for the potions master and he felt a twinge of guilt at having criticized Hermione Granger so profusely. Surely she was in some considerable torment over something. Severus again dismissed such thoughts from his mind, remembering how she had made his blood boil with fury only a few hours ago.
A smile spread across his mouth for a brief moment as his eyes lingered on a photograph of a young witch in Slytherin robes. Her hair was very light and strands of it listlessly blew across her face in the wind. She was smiling next to a very young and scowling Severus and a proudly wicked Lucius Malfoy. Severus closed his eyes, remembering everything about that particular day out by Black Lake. She had made him feel so significant in the short time he had known her and he could think of no one else who had ever come close to making him feel so comfortable with himself. It had never been a romantic connection; if anything, she had been like an elder sister to the young Slytherin loner. She was a confidante, a mentor and an angel in the eyes of Severus Snape. The fireplace spit little bits of ash and ember onto the cold stone floor. He sat back in his chair and downed the last of his Brandywine in a single gulp.
"Katrina" he whispered into the dying flames.