The wind howled and grimaced like a lonely ghost around the grounds of the castle and the darkness of night seemed to devour everything the moonlight touched. The Whomping Willow arched its flailing branches against the wintry breeze like a feeble shield. The blustery night was merciless and as Severus Snape sat by his fireplace, eyes bearing down on the leaping flames, he wondered when this unremitting darkness would finally catch up with him. He had done terrible things; unspeakable things in his past and he had quite accepted the fact that he would inevitably die lonely and unappreciated; as he should, he thought. The wizard poured some firewhiskey into a small glass and his mind turned to Thomas Crowe. He had never seen him emerge from his private meeting with the Dark Lord and this made him very nervous. He would surely speak to Dumbledore about it in the morning- no, he thought, 'I will demand Dumbledore tell me just what he's up to'. A slight growl escaped his throat and he turned his attention again to the fire.

As much as he hated it, he was thinking once again of Hermione. Had she really suspected him of forgetting to brew the wolfsbane potion for Lupin? Had she really been only an inch from his hooked nose and not recoiled in fear? She confused him and he hated her for it. He picked up the tattered book of letters from the floor beside his chair. He had thrown it down there in frustration the previous day like a short-tempered child. He flipped through the yellowed pages and let his eyes linger for a long time on a particularly dog-eared page.

Severus,

I am sorry but I simply cannot go to the Yule Ball with you. As you probably know, I am going with James. James is my boyfriend and you have to understand that. You've been a good friend and an excellent tutor for Potions class, but it can never be anything more. Please understand that I will always be your friend and I'm sorry for the ways my friends treat you. Why not ask Diana Rotworm or Felicity Burton?

Your friend,

Lily

He cringed a little as he read the tattered parchment and took a large gulp of firewhiskey. Lily had always seemed so ideal in his eyes. She was intelligent, compassionate and in the end, a very loyal mother. Perhaps it was because she was so unattainable that Snape could never seem to give up on her. He had never seen her equal until…

Severus gently lifted the letter out of the book and warily cast it into the fire, his eyes smoldering over the disintegrating paper. He felt sick that he had let down Katrina, he felt sick that Lily had ended up with James Potter, and he felt sick that he couldn't get Hermione out of his mind. Exhausted, he drank himself into a quiet slumber, clutching his old letters in his pallid hands and dreaming of the only witch who had caught his eye since Lily Evans graced the hallways of his memories.

Outside, the darkness pulled at the clouds to let the rain fall. The castle was quiet, as if nothing stirred within it. Dumbledore was unnerved by the silence. He paced his office, anxiously awaiting young Mr. Crowe's return. He hoped that his infallible intuition was wrong, that Voldemort knew nothing of Hermione's true legacy. It was only a matter of time before he knew and so, it was only a matter of time before he sought after her tremendous power for his own vile purposes.

Albus sat finally at his desk and pulled out a small sack of peppermint toads. He closed his eyes and felt the little cream candies hop about in his stomach. Thomas was a boy of great character with the willpower to match but there was something troubling about him too; his desire for vengeance. Albus couldn't help but to see some of his young self in Thomas – the cocky stride, his eagerness to be great very quickly. He remembered being a young boy of seventeen; so brilliant, and yet so inexperienced. The old wizard let out a sigh followed by a quiet laugh. He knew the risks he had subjected the boy to and he knew it wouldn't be long before Severus came calling on him for some explanations.

The fireplace sputtered ash and a blaze of iridescent green light filled the room. Dumbledore stood quickly from his chair and approached the barely breathing heap on the floor. "Thomas?" He rolled the boy over and was pleased to see his eyes open ever so slightly.

"I've told him nothing, Professor" He coughed up warm blood as he spoke.

"You've done well Thomas…let us go see Poppy now" Albus Dumbledore placed his wand firmly against the young boy's temple and hoped there was something of value there; something Severus would have been unable to obtain from the elusive, sinister mind of Tom Riddle.

In her room, Hermione rummaged through her chest of drawers for her mother's ebony wand. She hadn't paid it much attention since Martha Granger had given it to her. It was almost too precious to touch and she wondered what magic substance its heart consisted of. Her own wand contained dragon heartstring and was carved out of vine wood. It had always done well by her, though it had never fit just right in her hand.

Hermione took a deep breath and lifted the wand from the drawer like a hallowed relic and felt for the first time, the immense weight of the beautifully carved wand in her small hands. The young witch felt tears well up in her eyes and she dropped to the floor, the heaviness of her emotions too much to bear. She set the exquisite wand on the floor beside her; almost afraid to handle it too suddenly. She leaned up against the wall and hugged her knees to her chest. A small smile spread across her face, as she recalled to memory the story Professor Lupin had told her.

Hermione swallowed back a hard cry and reached into her satchel for the postcard book, her eyes frequently staring down at the wand beside her. The time had come to read the final postcard. A part of her had never wanted the book to end. In a way, Hermione had felt that the little book was her only means of communication with her long dead mother; her only link to a past she would one day be forced to claim once and for all.

Neville Longbottom and Dean Thomas sat in the Gryffindor common room studying for upcoming exams. Dean was quite strong in Arthimancy but lacked much skill with Herbology; Neville was entirely the opposite- so the two wizards worked well as a study team.

"So- wait, is flitterbloom the same thing as devil's snare then?"

"No…it's um…it's…" Neville's mind seemed to be a thousand miles away. "Neville! Snap out of it, you great river troll!"

"I'm sorry- I just- what were you asking me?"

"Oh forget it- I'm off to bed." Dean slammed his book shut and stormed up to the boy's dormitory. Neville shrugged his shoulders and scribbled something down on his paper.

Ginny Weasley, who had been sitting across from Harry and Ron as they finished their fourteenth match of Wizard's Chess, narrowed her eyes in an effort to read over Neville's shoulder. But the only words she could make out were "gurdyroot", "hemlock" and "arrestingly beautiful".

"What are you writing Neville?"

"Oh- um…this? It's just- I … it's a paper…for Madame Sprout"

"Arrestingly beautiful? Either you're weirder than I thought or you're writing a love poem to some sort of vegetation" the little witch snickered.

Neville stared at her wide eyed and said very simply "She's not a vegetable at all…otherwise the Blibbering Humdingers might have eaten her by now" He then closed his books, gathered his things and went up to bed.

The three remaining Gryffindors looked at each other blankly and then broke into hysterics.

"Blibbering Humdingers?"

"I think Neville's been hanging around Loony Lovegood too much!"

After a minute, Harry caught his breath. "Come to think of it, I haven't really seen Luna around much these days"

"Me neither…maybe its…the nargles!" Again, the two Weasleys broke into fits of laughter. Harry liked Luna, though she did strike him at times as being a bit off.

"Can you imagine if Neville and Luna had a child?! It would be clumsy and as daft as a…as a…" Ginny racked her brain for the right word.

"An Aquavirius Maggot!" Ron blurted out.

The three were in stitches now, with Ginny practically rolling on the floor and before either of them knew what had happened Neville burst back into the common room like a hurricane.

"You don't even know her- none of you! Just because you're all narrow-minded, doesn't mean- It…it doesn't mean…" The veins on Neville's neck looked as though they would split open yet his eyes were sad as if all the joy in the world had been torn from them.

"I'm sorry Neville- we didn't mean to" Harry tried to reassure his friend that they meant no harm but the tall boy didn't even seem to hear him. Neville ran his hands through his hair and paced for a minute.

"You've fought a Basilisk, you've defeated You-Know-Who, you've done great things Potter- but this…this is so…"

It intimidated Harry a little to hear Neville address him by his last name and he looked at the broken boy before him in the way he was used to looking at elder wizards; with a certain respect.

"We're sorry Neville- we didn't mean…"

"Ginny- why don't you just tell Harry how you feel? You have nothing to lose after all" Ginny's face drained of all colour and her eyes quivered like two baby birds about to fly. Harry looked equally astonished at Neville's suggestion but no one looked nearly as stunned as Ron. After awhile Neville composed himself and before leaving the room, nodded a rather formal goodnight to each of them.

"Ron…do you think you could leave me and Harry alone for a minute?" Ginny hesitantly rose from the floor.

"Now who's daft?!" Ron barked.

Harry said nothing; Neville's words still resounding in his head.

Hermione turned the pages of the postcard book carefully, reviewing each card as she flipped through. It was now or never she thought as she turned the final page to reveled the tenth and final postcard. To her great surprise, it was a picture of an ebony tree. It was a black barked tree with small berries adorning the branches like little persimmons. There were a number of pixies flitting about the tree, leaving sparkling trails of azure light along the green leaves. Its roots were quite large and seemed to coil along the ground like obsidian coloured snakes. The tree took Hermione's breath away; it was so beautiful and yet so strong. 'Just like her' she thought and inhaled deeply as she turned the card over to read it.

Katrina-

Of course, I was rather impressed to find out at dinner that you're wand is carved from ebony wood. As such, I found this card to be quite fitting for such an unusual young woman as yourself. I hope you will enjoy it. You're family is charming and I so enjoyed my time with you last evening. While I do realize I am quite a few years your senior, I hope you will not think badly of me requesting a second rendezvous. I would so like you to accompany me to Maison Des Cinq Serpents this coming weekend. Owl me.

Yours( if you'll have me)

Hermione read it over and over again, turning the card every which way for a name or definitive signature. Could this mysterious older man be her father? She was glad to be done with the post card book but all it had done was leave her with even more unanswered questions. She closed the book and placed it in her book bag, staring down at her mother's wand. She swallowed hard and gripped her right hand around the ebony instrument, raising it up to her golden eyes. She studied the little etchings and felt how smooth the wood was in her palm. She would surely need help casting a powerful enough "Priori Incantatum" charm.

Hermione carefully placed the wand in her book bag and resignedly stood to her feet. She knew that there was no one else on Earth who could help her now; she needed to know whatever else Professor Snape knew about the ever intangible Katrina Malfoy.

Outside, the storm persisted. Rubeus Hagrid poured himself a giant cup of hot cocoa and calmed a very startled Fang.

"Thar, thar Fang ole' boy- it'll pass" The cowardly boarhound buried his sagging face under the giant's massive hand and whimpered like a puppy.

From time to time lightning seemed to split the night sky clear in two, illuminating the darkest crevices of the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid felt that the recent storms over Hogwarts were extraordinary somehow and though he knew the Dark Lord had been vanquished, he felt in the back of his mind that his evil was still lurking out there in the unbridled darkness.

In his dungeon room, the Potions Master awoke from a seemingly ominous dream. Sweat dripped from his furrowed brow and he shook his head about furiously to relieve his mind of the lingering images. He had seen a young girl screaming in horror as he ordered a snake to wrap around her small body- squeezing life from her like water from a sponge. Her eyes flashed before him again- as black as his own but ten times more animate. He shook his head again and summoned a glass of water from his modest kitchen. The dark wizard felt his heart thumping against his chest. He focused his mind on the dying embers in the fireplace and it suddenly occurred to him that he had burned up Lily's one and only letter to him. An irresolute smile spread across his gaunt face and he leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes in an attempt to calm his mind back into sleep but a knock at the door startled him. It was probably a frightened first year, traumatized by the Bloody Baron or the rumbling thunder. He unceremoniously crossed the rather empty room and cracked the door open.

His normally constricted gaze widened considerably to see Hermione standing before him.

"Miss Granger- might I ask what you are doing-"

"May I come in Professor? Please?" Severus could not believe her nerve. How could she so brazenly walk into Slytherin House without the slightest bit of reservation?

"Miss Granger- you will return to Gryffindor Tower immediately unless you want-"

"I need you to take a look at this" Hermione presented the wand to her Professor with an unfaltering look of determination. She was certainly as stubborn as her mother, he thought.

"Enter…but don't touch anything" His words were like frost and his black eyes followed Hermione into the room like a meandering serpent. Severus held the wand up to the candlelight beside his chair and recognized it at once.

"Where did you get this?" he hissed.

"Mrs. Granger… she said it belonged to my mother"

Severus said nothing as he handed it back to her and rubbed his temples.

"Miss Granger- I want you to return to your dormitory…now"

"It's ebony wood but I don't know what the core consists of yet, I know that Lucius Malfoy's wand is a dragon's heartstring core so I'm guessing -"

"Enough" His voice was tomblike.

"But Professor- I…"

"Twenty points from Gryffindor"

"But…"

"Thirty points"

"Look- I know how horrible Harry's father was to you but I don't see what that has to do with me! My mother stood up for you- my mother hexed James Potter for you! The least you can do for her now is help me! I need to know what spells this wand has cast."

For a long time the potions master said nothing. What could he say? She was exquisite; fiery and volatile as a volcano one minute and brilliantly insightful the next. He finally looked her in the eye as he approached her with guarded steps.

"It contains a unicorn tail hair which has been soaked in a rare snake venom…I doubt that you would ever find its equal" She had done it again, somehow she had forced him to give her what she wanted. "There is a spell which reveals all previous cast enchantments…" Her smile was enough to bring a grown man to his knees and as he watched the familiar grin form at the corners of her perfect mouth, he relinquished to it. "Your mother was very skilled with charms though her specialty was divination."

Hermione raised an eyebrow and gave him a look of revulsion. "Divination" she frowned, "Are you sure?"

Severus nodded curtly and crossed the room to the fireplace where he retrieved a small frame from the mantle. He handed it to Hermione and turned away from her. The young witch looked down at the picture and saw a stunning girl of seventeen with dark eyebrows and waist length blonde hair smiling and playfully pinching the cheeks of a very serious looking twelve year old Snape. Tears once again filled Hermione's eyes and though she tried to hold them back, she felt emotional reserve was quite impossible at the moment.

"You may keep it if it means so much to you" Whatever he did, the dark wizard would not allow himself to look at her.

"I…I couldn't…it's yours…I…"

"You may keep it"

Hermione bit down on her lip and held the little frame to her heart. How could he be so kind one minute and so spiteful the next?

"Now- Miss Granger- unless you wish to serve a week's detention in this dungeon, I suggest you return to your dormitory at once"

"Yes sir" As she turned to leave, he gripped her wrist tightly.

"Never be so bold again Hermione. It is most unwise." The two stared at each other darkly. Each one trying to penetrate the other's mind; to know once and for all what lay beneath this façade that had become so expected.

"Do you know where the Maison Des Cinq Serpents is sir?"

Severus suddenly let go of her wrist, practically shoving her away from him as he did so.

"How do you- what do you know of such a place child?" He leaned hard against the chair for support. Hermione pulled the post card book out of her bag and handed it to him with an unyielding look. "Who is my father? I know you know"

Her words were as heavy as the night sky itself. The dark wizard flipped through the pages of the book and his face contorted slightly as he read the final card. "Who else have you shown this to?"

"Just Ron and Harry"

Severus rolled his eyes and closed the book quickly, handing it back to her.

"Who is my father?" She was now an inch from his face.

"You must put this to rest - no good will come of it, trust me child."

The young witch looked up at him with amber tears in her eyes and before she knew what she was doing she gently pressed her lips to his pale cheek.

"Never call me a child again Severus." Her voice was shaky, her eyes like shattered glass "It is most unwise".