DISCLAIMER:: I own nothing...yada yada yada. Enjoy

Author's Note:: Herrenia is pronounced Her-In-EE-Ah

Quiggly Pips

Tempus's head swirled with worries and fears, but she couldn't help feel a little excited. Perhaps she would truly get a fresh start and be able to do better. She manually folded her clothes and stuck them in her trunk, and just as she pulled her hands out, the lid came flying down rapidly with a thunderous thump. Tempus gave a startled cry and turned to face the entrance. Adrienne had her wand extended and was glowering at Tempus.

"Adrienne…" Tempus said coolly, trying to hide her fear. Her father's strange attitude toward Adrienne made Tempus feel uneasy about her; and not to mention the fact that she tried to kill her.

"You little whore!" Adrienne growled, slamming the door behind her.

Tempus had her wand out in a blink of an eye and held it in a combative manner.

"Is that what this is about? You tried to kill me because of Draco? I'll have you know that I hate that blonde prat and I don't want anything to do with him. You can have him."

Adrienne scoffed, "Ha, you only wish that this had something to do with him. Stupid Draco will pay for how he mooned over you, but my war with you is far more than that. You can run to your Gryffindor allies and they might protect you for a while, if they even want to that is…but I'll have my revenge on you." Adrienne's voice was low and threatening. Her eyes were steely but her voice seemed on the verge of breaking. Tempus could sense that deep sadness that was behind the façade of roughness. Before Tempus could even begin to reply Adrienne had stormed out. Tempus considered herself lucky to not have gotten into an actual duel, grabbed her truck, shrunk it and headed for Gryffindor Tower.

***

"Password," the Fat Lady droned.

Tempus bit her lip nervously. Neither Dumbledore nor her father had bothered to tell her the password.

"I'm sorry, I don't know the password," she finally said.

"Well I can't just let you in. Besides, your robes are Slytherin! Why on Earth would I let you into Gryffindor Tower?!"

Tempus sighed and was about to argue when she heard her name being called from the moving staircase.

"Miss Snape! Never mind her, come with me!"

It was Professor McGonagall. Tempus inwardly kicked herself; she should have known that she couldn't be admitted into a house without meeting the Head first.

"Professor! I'm sorry I totally forgot about-"

"It's quite alright. Let's go to my office and discuss some of these matters further, shall we?"

Tempus nodded and picked up her bags. McGonagall was a refined woman. She walked proudly and carried herself with grace and elegance. Tempus couldn't help but wonder what she must have looked like when she was younger. She must have been beautiful. Her graying hair was always put in a tight, old-fashioned bun; her clothing was always in dark jewel tones and conservatively cut. Tempus liked to notice these things about people. She felt their apparel said a lot about their personalities. Her father's black habiliments said more about him than he probably wanted them to.

Once in the office, Tempus was asked to take a seat across from McGonagall's desk. Tempus was beginning to notice how often people of importance do this. They separate themselves from you with a desk. She wondered if there was some psychological reason for this or if it was just custom and people generally don't question custom.

"You're case is an extraordinary one, Miss Snape. You were home-schooled for five years before being admitted into Hogwarts and after only being here for a few months you have turned the entire school upside down. There are rumors circulating about your drug use, your sexual activity and your father as a parent-"

"Before the incident I had NEVER used drugs recreationally, I have NEVER been sexually active and my father is a fantastic parent!" Tempus interjected defensively.

"Yes, my dear, but your classmates don't know that. Don't let it get to you, it isn't like they are squeaky clean themselves, but the rumors about your father are not about his parent skills but rather how he became a parent in the first place," she said tentatively, knowing how awkward this conversation was about to become. Tempus diverted her eyes in silence.

"Are you prepared to deal with hard questions, Tempus? I love my House dearly, but I know them well enough to know that they may not treat you respectfully at first…"

"I will answer all of their questions with the truth, however, questions about my father's love life I won't tolerate."

"Understandable, Miss Snape, just don't reduce to blunt force when defending yourself. Slytherins and Gryffindors have different methods of conflict resolution, as you will soon find out. I trust that you will be very successful in my house if you adapt as quickly as you did to Slytherin. Take care and if you need me to intervene, I shall. The password is Quiggly Pips. Don't ask… Oh, and one more thing…" McGonagall whipped out her wand and without uttering a word transformed Tempus's Slytherin robes into Gryffindor ones.

Tempus couldn't help but smirk. It was meant to me a grin, but smirking comes more naturally to Snapes.

"Thank you Professor, your help is most appreciated." She then ventured off to the Gryffindor Common rooms, worries about being questioned about her father's love life distracting her all the way there.

***

Tempus walked in staring at her shoes. When she first arrived there she had held her head up high with that standard Snape pride, but after the humbling experience of overdosing, she kept a low profile.

"HERMIONE YOUR NEW ROOMMATE IS HERE!"

Tempus looked up from staring at her shoes very alarmed. One of those redheaded twins had just bellowed her name. He smiled good naturedly at her and thumped her on the back.

"Welcome to the light side, we have moral fiber."

The other twin snickered at the old joke and nodded his hello to Tempus. Hermione was soon seen bounding into the common room.

"George, don't embarrass her! Just imagine how hard this must be for her. Hello Tempus, I'm you're new roommate, Hermione Granger."

Tempus gave her a half smirk, half grin…her famous girk and stuck her hand out.

"It's nice to meet you." She already knew who Hermione was. She was the smartest girl in her grade; a muggle born. Her father had taught her to not be disdainful of muggle borns and to never call them mudbloods. He had told her of a sweet redheaded girl whose friendship he had lost over his prejudice. Tempus began to wonder if she was the twins mum…she would have to ask them that later.

Hermione's smile brightened. At first she had been somewhat forcing her cheerful optimism, but now she was really believing that it might be okay rooming with the Snape girl.

"Let me show you to our room."

Hermione gave her the bottom bunk by the window. They had had to switch around so she could have that one. Ginny, Hermione and a quiet girl named Herrenia decided to give her the better bunk as a peace offering and a sign of friendship. Tempus appreciated it and told them so but also offered to return it to its original bunkmate.

"Nonsense. We want you to feel welcome, and I think you might enjoy it more. I've had it practically all five years!" Hermione said with her classic grin.

Tempus felt her throat get tight, like it did that day she cried. She wasn't sad, in fact, she was really happy and she couldn't begin to understand why she felt like crying when she was so happy.

"Thank you so much, it means a lot to me. And Hermione?"

"Yes?"

"I'm gonna unpack and get settled, would you mind calling your friends into the common room? I want to set some things straight."

Hermione kept smiling but concern sparked in her eye. She nodded though.

"Of course," she replied and walked out.

Ginny and Herrenia said there goodbyes and told her to just ask if she needed anything and then left out to round up their friends.

Tempus didn't want to look pompous or ungrateful but she wanted to introduce herself to them formally and give them a chance to ask her questions. She knew she would have to do it anyway and it might as well be on her terms. Besides it would be an excellent chance to debunk and ridiculous rumors. Also, I'll give me the opportunity to meet everyone and try to make friends… Tempus spent the remaining time she was unpacking thinking about the cute redheaded twins and if they were available or not.