(Couple of years later)

It was late evening at Hogwarts and news were buzzing throughout the school. Snape walked into the staff lounge where several teachers socialized about how this year was going to be extremely special. Harry Potter was arriving to Hogwarts tommarrow with other students. He couldn't imagine how the boy was going to look like since the last time he saw him was when he was a baby. The boy better not look like James bloody Potter otherwise he would hate the boy. Was he anxious to meet the boy? Truthfully he was anxious but there was no way that he was going to express his wonderment.

He brewed a cup of Earl Grey tea and listened to what the others were discussing. There were several discussions; one about Harry, one about Merrythought retiring, and another one about the new professor. He wasn't greatly interested in any of the topics so he was about to return back to his room but Minerva reached for his arm. He wasn't on any friendly terms with any of the staffs here at Hogwarts but they were all fine to approach him now. Well only a few of them such as Minerva.

"Albus wants to discuss something with you privately," whispered Minerva in his ears. He turned on his heels and went to go his Albus. He entered the room where he was standing by the window.

"You asked for me Albus?" asked Snape.

"Yes, Hagrid is with Harry right now and he returning tonight with the Philosopher's stone," answered Albus without meeting his eyes.

"You fear that Voldemort is seeking for the stone," Snape thought out loud. He only spoke out his thoughts only among those he truly trusted.

"Indeed. We need to have that stone guarded here at Hogwarts. Other professors will help protect the Philosopher's stone but I want you to be in charge. You know how Voldmort works. Furthermore I want you to keep an eye on Quirinus Quirrel and Harry," demanded Albus.

"Very well," he was about to leave the room until he heard the older wizard metion something, "The Mirror of Erised will be arriving within this month. I'll trust you with it."

Snape gave a short nod as he shut the door behind him. He sipped his tea as he entered the dungeon. He didn't want to head off to his room immediately instead he lingered around his classroom. He took out his wand and with a flick of his wand the room was getting prepared for the first week of dread. There were a lot of students he didn't want to see such as the Weasley twins. They were a royal pain. There were only two students he was anxious to meet, Harry and Draco. He recieved a letter couple of nights ago informing him how Draco Malfoy would be joining Hogwarts this year. The senior Malfoy was proud as ever and he asked to watch over his only son. When he was a student Malfoy was a prefect and helped him with many things therefore he was expected to watch over Draco just as much. He understood where this expectation was coming from but he wasn't far too eager about it either. He didn't like babysitting any of the students. Once the classroom was set, he climbed up to his room.

Once he got to his room, his tea had gotten cold. He frowned at his cup. He decided to read some of the potions articles from his personal bookshelves. He turned his fireplace on with a wave of his wand. Even though the tea was cold, he drank the tea while reading his books. It took a while for Snape to fall asleep since he was insomniac although reading did help a bit.

Hermione was thirteen years old and her parents were 'muggles'; a term she recently learned from a letter from a school called Hogwarts that accepted young witches and wizards as students. That made her a muggle born witch. She was quite proud to be a witch and ever since she was little, she knew she was somehow different from other children. Her own parents didn't know what made her different so this letter was extremely helpful. Today was the day when she would go attend Hogwarts and she felt thrilled and excited more than anything.

She arrived at the London train station wondering how to get to platform 9 . She looked around for help knowing her muggle parents couldn't possibly help her with this situation. Then she saw a large family wearing cloaks and on one of the children's bag had an embroidery of Hogwart's crest. She chased after the family but didn't approach them. She quietly watched what they were about to do. Suddenly they ran into a wall and vanished.

Good God, don't tell me I have to run through a brick wall. What am I to do if I crash into the solid wall. She tried touching the wall first but her arm went through the wall. She was shocked in a pleasant way, she found it extremely interesting. Her parents nervously tried touching the wall too but their arm couldn't pass the barrier.

"Looks like we'll have to say our goodbyes here honey," answered her father gently as her mother embraced her.

"Have a safe year and don't forget to be a good girl," said her mother. Hermione gave them a warm smile and both of her parent gave her a kiss on the forhead. She bravely passed through the barrier and entered the new magical world.

"Everyone get on! The train leaves in 10 minutes!" shouted the conductor. She took couple of her books out of her bag and eagerly passed her luggages to the conductor. Once she boarded the train, she comprehood that most of the compartments were already full.

She started reading her magical books; they were so fascinating and different from muggle books. The pictures moved unlike any other books she's ever read and there were numerous things for her to learn. She studied what her subjects were going to be about beforehand and read through most of her textbooks. Now she began reading about famous and talanted wizards and witches. She's bookmarked one specific wizard, Severus Snape. He was a famous wizard who created several spells and potions in the magic world. She opened the book to his page and stared at his profile. Most of the time the wizard was leaning on the wall crossing his arms. Unlike the other witches and wizards, he didn't bother smiling. He looked bored and passive as if he didn't care about the person who was photographing him. Sometimes he was either frowning or looking annoyed.

He really must hate getting his picture taken or he doesn't care about fame and other frivolous things.

He was wearing a large, thick black cloak which swallowed him. He had long, black hair up to his shoulder and his eyes were extremely special. Personally she even believed that his eyes were beautiful. They were black and it seemed bottomless that could pull anyone in. Yet she could sense a tinge of sadness and pain from his eyes. What was more amazing was that this wizard was going to be her potions professor and she was eager to meet him in person. Then there was a sudden jolt which made her book drop and close itself. She sighed as other students ran about in the narrow corridor.

I really need to get a compartment to read or relax. She walked along the narrow passage until she found a washroom where she changed into her robe. Then she walked until she found a compartment that sheltered two boys. She knocked into the compartment.

"Um, do you mind if I share this compartment with you? The other ones are full," she explained.

"Sure, we don't mind," replied the two boys.

Then she saw the redhead with his wand out. Her eyes widened and commented, "You're about to do a spell? Let's see it. I tried some spells myself, at home."

He raised his eyebrows and started saying ridiculous things such as yellow daises as he attemped to make his pet rat turn yellow. She was greatly disappointed to know that the boy didn't perform a spell and slightly annoyed to know that this dull boy didn't know that his siblings had tricked him.

"Here, let me do a proper spell that works," she pointed at the black boy's glasses, "Reparo". The eyepiece that was cracked fixed itself. She was pleased that her spell was successful. The she gasped, "You're Harry Potter! I read about you from this book!" Harry smiled and said, "Yeah, I'm Harry."

"And I'm Ronald Weasley but most people call me Ron," said the redhead.

She really didn't care much about the other boy but politely smiled at him too. "I'm Hermione Granger," she introduced herself. Soon the three chatted among themselves until the boys fell asleep. A knock came from an older student.

"Hey, all first years are expected to fill these papers out," explained the older student as he handed out the papers. She stared at the boys who were deeply asleep.

I will wake them up later and tell them about the paper.

She read the paper that asked simple questions. She filled out her name, birthday, which class she was most interested in and the one that she was least looking foward to:

Name: Hermione Granger

Birthday: September 19th, 1979

Most interested class: Potions

Least interested class: Flying

She looked out the window and saw the beautiful, grand castle which was without a doubt, Hogwarts. She woke the boys up where they rushed through their papers.

"By the way, it looks like we are going to arrive soon so you guys better change," she warned Harry and Ron as she left the compartment.

She couldn't wait to reach Hogwarts and before she knew it she was at Hogwarts. There were a lot of chatters among the students and Harry got a lot of attention as a famous wizard, the boy who lived. While the other students were chatting away, she admired the school. She taken a great liking to the school already. They were told to wait to be sorted to their respective houses by Professor McGonagall. The large door opened and the sound echoed throughout the hallways. She felt nervous like the other students as the walked into the dining hall. The older students stared and smiled at them and at the staff table she saw Professor Snape. He had the same expression as in the book until their eyes met.

Once the doors opened, he immediately recognized Harry as he was the split image of his father. Instantly he found the boy annoying and attention seeking as he smiled whenever someone whispered and said his name out loud. Then he saw Draco who looked proud to be here just like his own father. What he didn't expect was to see a girl who resembled Lily. He knew his eyes widened and the pace of his heartbeat changed. The girl didn't look exactly like Lily but they looked similar; long, brown hair with hazel eyes and thin.

Who could this young girl be? He felt curious about this girl but he didn't know if he could stand her or not. Snape had never expected this and she managed to shake the core of his being which he didn't like. Was he afraid of this young witch? Maybe. He wasn't sure but he couldn't break eye contact from her. Fortunately she looked away as her name was called to be selected.

Please don't let her be in Slytherin but I doubt she will be a Slytherin... His instict told him how history might be repeating itself.

"Hermione Granger," called Minerva.

So her name is Hermione Granger...

She approached the seat where the Sorting Hat waited to be placed upon her head. When the Sorting Hat touched her head, it cried out, "Gryffindor!" She beamed and joined her dorm where the students made room for her to sit in. As the sorting event came to an end everyone began their dinner. He lost his appetite and was filled with curiosity instead. He poked the food with his knife as he kept staring at the witch. The longer he stared at her, the more irritated he became. Why was he irritated? He had no idea why and that frustrated him more.

"Severus, you're killing your piece of chicken," commented Minerva who sat between him and Albus. He ignored her and instead he gulped down his goblet of wine.

He got up and retired to his room.

When he entered his room, he got a bottle of wine and filled his goblet. He eyed at the pile of information about his new students. At the back of his mind it wanted to know more about this Granger girl but at the same time he didn't want to. It was extremely conflicting. He took a sip of the wine as he tapped his finger on his desk. As curiousity got the best of him, he rummaged through the pile until he found the paper that was labled, Hermione Granger.

He discovered that she was a muggle-born and she learned that she was a witch only recently. He was surprised that Granger was the same age as Harry Potter. That meant that he was 19 years older than them. He continued reading about her profile and found out that she was eager to learn potion the most in other words her favourite class was going to be his class. He frowned at that fact.

At the same time his black owl came through the window; he managed to tame the owl. It no longer bit him and they didn't bother each other much. They got along rather well as they both enjoyed not being bothered. He allowed the owl to fly and roam outside unless he had a letter to deliver.

He had to clear his head so he went for the showers. None of the other staffs were around so he'd take advantage of that. Tonight he took a long shower and let the hot water soak his hair. When he got out of the shower, he felt much better and returned to his room. He didn't bother looking at the other students' profiles as he relaxed on his bed. He stared outside where the moon lit up brightly just like that night. He took out the locket that he carried around everywhere and stared at Lily's picture. The locket swung back and forth in front of his eyes. Then he recalled Lily's similarity to Granger.

Damn it...

He put the locket on the cabitnet that was next to his bed and covered his hand over his eyes. He didn't want to think about this anymore. He attempted to fall asleep but failed to sleep properly that night.