DISCLAIMER: Based on characters by J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter series written for entertainment value and not monetary gain.

CHAPTER 1 NEW BEGINNINGS

Thank goodness this old potions classroom doesn't reek of the many mishaps and failures of Neville Longbottom. That was the first thought Hermione Granger-Weasley had as she walked through that old rickety door down in the dungeon. As she unpacked her lesson books and plans for the new semester, she could hardly believe that she would be teaching Magical Law Enforcement at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Twenty years after she was a student here, the halls and corridors still had that familiar edge, though most of it was part of the renovations and couldn't possibly be the same bricks she had passed when she was a student. Hermione was glad that the current Potions Professor had a lung condition that was aggravated by moist air and didn't want to descend down into the cool depths of the castle everyday. The familiarity of this classroom was always something she could count on. A familiarity that honed her skill in potions and tore at her self-esteem for she was never good enough nor would ever be to prove her skill.

It took her all of thirty seconds to rearrange the furniture and make ready her classroom. Students would be arriving tomorrow for the start of the term feast. Her own daughter, Rose would be attending this year and she was excited to see what house she would be sorted into. Ron had better get her to platform 9 3/4 on time. Her Ron. Her wacky, confrontational, erratic husband; a man she has loved for her entire adult life. She has grown with him, fought with him, raised children with him and over the last couple of years, grown apart with him.

She sighed and walked into her office, shoulders sagging in defeat. Why did it always seem like she was reaching for Ron and he was always two steps behind. It was nobody's fault really. He had risen rapidly with Harry in the Auror Department and she was a successful litigator in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Careers combined with children and naturally their marriage had slowly cooled like a popsicle in summer. Now, it was a liquid trapped in the package and one small hole would leak everything they had built together.

At first Hermione saw this teaching job as a blessing in disguise but now she realized it would take her further from the ones she loved. Being on staff meant boarding at the castle while Ron remained at home with Hugo, their son. This was just a more permanent separation to the emotional separation that had already begun in her heart. The reality and enormity of the situation swallowed her like a ravenous beast. She couldn't always be the one fighting for him, for something that took two people to make work.

Hermione circled her office absentmindedly. Well, she wouldn't worry about any of this now. She would lose herself in her work, something she did well when things in her life were less than stellar. Almost against her will she thought of her sixth year at Hogwarts and that very low period when Ron was dating, well more like snogging, Lavender Brown. That was definitely a low patch. Glancing at the clock on the wall, Hermione grabbed her class schedule and made sure she had her wand. She had ten minutes to get to the staff lounge for the faculty meeting.

As she passed through the door, before it closed, she thought she heard a soft snigger coming from behind her but when she looked, obviously the room was empty. Shrugging indifferently, she quicken her pace. It wouldn't do to be late for the first meeting of the term.
**
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CHAPTER 2: THE FRAME


Hermione flicked her wand and a stack of essays floated off the mahogany desk in her office to the metal desk in the classroom. She was exhausted and in need of a much needed break. Was it so difficult to understand the basic fundamentals of the International Confederation of Wizard's Statute of Secrecy? Somehow her students thought that if every possible precaution was taken then it was acceptable to use magic near muggles, as long as every contingency was planned for in case of detection.

Hermione shook her head and opened the door to her bedchamber. She intended to take a quick nap before the Halloween feast this evening but her brain was too busy turning over the ludicrous essay answers in her head. The law was the law and that was all there was to it.

"Laws are meant to be followed, rules put in place for the protection and security of everyone," she said as she tiredly shimmied out of her robes and into a soft white sleeping gown. She climbed into her four post bed and crawled beneath the crisp cotton sheets. A couple hours rest would be welcome she thought as she sunk her untamed curls into the fluffy pillow and closed her eyes.

Did you always follow every rule?

Hermione shot up, eyes wide open as she scanned her bedroom. There it was again. Every so often over the past month she heard this voice, barely a whisper but loud enough to announce a presence. Every time she searched though, there was no one around. She was beginning to think she was losing her mind.

"Of course I follow the rules!" Hermione's voice carried hotly around her room. "I was in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for years!

Great, now I'm arguing with a whisper. The thought escaped her but she put it into perspective. This voice was not some hallucination or figment of her imagination. She was hearing it.

Polyjuice Potion, out of bed and out of bounds after hours, forming unauthorized clubs fifth year...

That's it! She wouldn't be able to sleep with all the chatter going on anyways, she was going to turn this dungeon upside-down and find the source of that voice.

"Homenum Revelio!"

Well, she really didn't expect there to be anyone hiding in her classroom or private chamber but it was the most logical course of action start with. For the next hours, instead of getting some sleep, she wiped sweat from her brow and search high, low and in between but couldn't find a trace of the mysterious voice. What she did discover was a thick layer of dust building up on the upper shelves and the frames hanging on the wall. She would have to clean it.

Walking around the room in one clean sweep she said clearly, " Scourgify."

Dust vanished, rubbish found its way to the trash bin and papers tossed carelessly upon her mahogany desk rearranged themselves into neat piles or into the file cabinet. So that is what her desk looked like clean and cleared off. On the corner was a small picture frame proped up by an easel. Hermione looked at it curiously. That wasn't hers. She tried to pick it up but it wouldn't budge. The small plaque card held the words 'Potions Master' engraved in gold but the frame itself was empty.

That wasn't so odd. Phinias Nigelus was known to speak from his frame at Grimmauld Place without actually being seen in it. Hermione chuckled at the memory of Harry telling her this and thinking he was losing his mind.

A knock at her door reminded Hermione of the feast. Oh no, she thought. I'm late! A moment later Minerva McGonagall entered her room.

"Professor McGonagall, what are you doing here?" Hermione asked, shocked.

"Seeing as this year I am a guest and not a teacher, I offered to come look for you since I was the only one not really doing anything. Are you alright?"

"Yes, I was just...Professor, can I ask you something?"

"Certainly."

"This frame on my desk, it isn't mine and it bares a plaque card saying 'Potions Master', yet there is no photo and no name. Do you know who belongs in this frame?"

"This frame, I believe, is a roving frame." Noticing Hermione's confusion she continued. "What I mean is any former teacher who taught potions at Hogwarts is able to move into this frame as long as they have another portrait within the castle. Why do you ask?"

"I was tidying up a bit and," she wondered how much she should reveal to McGonagall after all hearing voices was still frowned upon, no matter how old a person was, "and well, there must be a Permanent Sticking Charm on it because I couldn't remove it."

"You had better hurry up, Hermione." said McGonagall curtly. "You have already missed the staff prank portion of the feast. Supper will be served soon and from what I understand your new Headmistress doesn't tolerate tardiness."

"You would know, you picked her."

McGonagall's laughter rang into the hallway as she closed the classroom door behind her. Hermione rushed to get cleaned up and presentable. So much for trying to rest. She had better hurry though. It wouldn't do to have the Headmistress cross with her. She couldn't rely on the fact that they were old classmates and had known each other for years. She had just reached for the door knob when she heard it.

"Some things never change, Granger."

It sent shivers up her spine. There was no mistaking that silky voice. It shot fear and uncertainty through her mind for a brief moment. Ridiculous, she thought. I have proven my skill tenfold since I was a student here. He has no power over me anymore. But she turned to face the frame on her desk and there he was, standing full frame, his arms crossed over his chest in a pose she has seen him in more times than she cared to remember. It was his 'I'm annoyed with you' pose but what could he possibly be annoyed about now?

"Wouldn't you like to know what annoys me," he spat angrily and then Severus Snape stalked purposefully out of the frame, leaving a mute empty canvas and a bewildered Hermione in the quiet room.
**

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~nevillesgirl

CHAPTER THREE: DRASTIC MEASURES

"Mom, where have you been?"

Hermione sighed. She had seen Rose weaving her way through the exuberant crowd at the Halloween Feast and could tell by her eyes that she had been worrying unnecessarily about her absence.

"I was grading essays, Rose," said Hermione with mock impatience. "I am a teacher after all."

"It just isn't like you not to be on time for anything." Before Hermione could reply, Rose rushed on. "Dad's here."

Hermione froze involuntarily as her eyes scoured the Great Hall for that familiar red hair. After a few minutes of searching, Hermione spotted him deep in conversation with Harry and Neville near the punch bowl.

She waited for the familiar flutter in her belly that normally washed over her when she looked at her husband but nothing happened. She stared at him hard, willing those feelings of adoration and contentment to bind themselves to her once more but there was only emptiness.
Disappointed, she began to make her way over to the refreshment stand. She may as well keep up appearances.

The Great Hall was lavishly decorated. Black vampire bats swooped down from the ceiling being careful to avoid the strategically placed cobwebs Hagrid had brought back from the Forbidden Forest. He bore fresh gashes of a few acromantula spiders he borrowed the webs from. The ceiling was sparkling from its bewitching star-studded sky and bright colors of orange rays cut through the atmosphere.
Harry had obviously brought his original recording of Sounds of Terror; a collaboration of sounds he and Ron had collected during their adventures in the Auror Department. The deep howl of a werewolf could have been taken directly from the late Remus Lupin and was hauntingly beautiful and eerie wrapped up into one note.

As she approached her husband and best friend, Hermione saw the dead, nonchalant gaze in Ron's eyes and blinked back tears. She had hoped that this time of separation had made him realize that something was missing in their marriage but appearances seemed contrary to that sentiment. She was going to need to put on her big girl face to make it through this evening.

"Harry, Ron," she said softly as she planted a soft kiss upon Ron's cheek, "I have been looking everywhere for you."

"Really," snapped Ron loudly. "That's funny since I had been looking for you from the start of the feast and had sent our daughter to find you before you even showed up in the Hall."

"Uh, I think I see Kingsley over there. Excuse me you two." said Harry hurriedly and scurried off in the opposite direction of the refreshment table.

Neville seemed to slink away silently toward the Headmistress.

Hermione scooped some Bloodlust Punch from the steaming cauldron and sipped it carefully. The hot cinnamon flavor would scald if she didn't drink it slowly.

"I tried to get here on time Ron, but those essays were ridiculous." It was a quiet statement but somehow Hermione felt as if her voice had carried conspicuously over the mayhem in the Hall. " I don't believe we were ever that unobservant or less interested in our subject, not even you, darling."

But Ron wasn't listening. Hermione followed his eyes and sucked in her breath as it landed on Franciose, the Foreign Diplomacy Professor. She was swaying slowly to the pulsing music and her veela powers seemed to be oozing from her pores. Honestly, Ronald was so weak, his eyes glazed over with longing.

Hermione grabbed his arm and dug her nails in to the flesh of his bicep. Ron winced and tried to pull away but the harder he struggled, the deeper her nails cut his flesh. Still clutching his arm, Hermione began to walk toward the entrance of the Great Hall. She wanted a private word with her husband. She didn't let go of him until they had descended the stairs toward her classroom.

When they reached the classroom, Hermione shoved Ron through the door and bolted it behind her. She flicked her wrist slightly and the lanterns light dimly, casting unearthly shadows upon the walls.

Hermione rounded on Ron. He was rubbing his arm and glaring at her with a look she hadn't seen on his face since his jealousy of Viktor Krum had surfaced. He looked angry and she couldn't figure out what she had done.

"Do I matter to you anymore Hermione or are schedules and deadlines and now essays always going to be more important than I am?"

Hermione blinked in confusion. What did he mean? He couldn't possibly be insinuating that this chasm plunged between them was her fault.

"Don't I matter, Ron or is it always the thrill of the chase of the next great adventure as an Auror?" Hermione gulped in air. Courage, she told herself. "Don't think I haven't noticed you pulling further away and your eyes wandering a little to freely as of late."

Ron's eyes bulged but if it was in anger or embarrassment, Hermione couldn't tell.

"What happened to you Hermione? Where is the woman who broke the rules to fight for a cause greater than our own lives? Where is the woman who risked life, limb and reputation for the greater good of man and wizard kind?" Ron turned and kicked over an old wooden student chair and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "I miss my wife. I miss that woman; the one who found it charming that I dared to pass my Auror Final Exam by instinct and chance rather than prepare for it months in advance. I miss the woman who flew into my arms in the face of certain death without thought of propriety and grace. The woman looking at me now is so bogged down by political correctness and schedules that she hasn't seen her husband melting away right in front of her."

"I don't believe this," spat Hermione angrily! "You are blaming me for my nature, my structure; for a person you knew to exist long before we ever fought openly against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. You loved her once remember, or was that only to do your homework and pass you through your Hogwarts courses?"

Hermione hadn't known it had happened until a shiny glass globe of the earth left her hands and shattered on the wall behind Ron's head. He looked dumbfounded, his jaw slightly opened and eyes incredulous at her open act of hostility.

"Whatever passion that drives you in your work, that consumes your mind seriously lacks in matters of the heart."Ron backed his way slowly toward the door. "You are narrow-minded and refuse to feel what you cannot see or be taught."

Ron grabbed his wand and flicked his wrist. A scrolled up parchment tied with a bright purple ribbon floated toward Hermione and settled into her outstretched hand. "I have spoken to the Chief Justice of Legal Affairs privately and have filed for a legal separation. Forgive me the drastic nature of this announcement but I felt it best to avoid confrontation. I'll be in touch."

Hermione's knees sank into the concrete floor as she watched her heart walk out of the door and possibly out of her life forever.
**

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CHAPTER 4 Weakness

That first hour after Ron left was hell. When he walked out that door without a backwards glance, closing it behind him, it felt as if the walls of the drafty dungeon was falling in around me. I was being buried in every smile, every fight, every kiss we ever shared. The memories pummelled my head until I was so overwhelmed that I no longer remembered what day it was.

The hell of that first hour turned into the angry fire from its deepest pit. I felt cheated, jaded and a humiliation that was beyond anything that I have since I turned myself into a cat with Polyjuice Potion. It was easy to release the rage. It was easy to embrace the stupidity that embodied Ronald Weasley. I remember reaching for the nearest thing I could wrap my shaking hands around and chucking it violently against the stone cold wall. I had unleashed an animal and the tornado that was my wrath destroyed my pristine classroom. Glass from the bookcases littered the floor and I made sure the books joined them. Desks overturned and chairs splintered in two, I hardly recongnized my classroom.

The firewhiskey eased the pain of emptiness into a dull numbing sensation. Hour two, then three, then four...I had never drank so wholeheartedly in my entire life and at that very moment when the bottle seemed to finally run dry, the well-spring in my eyes let loose. I couldn't control it. I don't remember how I managed to get into my private chambers but somehow I made my way over to the bearskin rug in front of the fireplace.

That is where he found me. His voice penetrated the drunken haze and carried me out of my stupor. He was disgusted and disapproving. He condemned my weakness and self loathing. He said I needed the hospital wing, that I may have alcohol poisoning but I was just stubborn enough to refuse. In the end he dictated, almost callously to me a potion that would flush the drink from my system and give me clarity of mind.

Now, one week later, I sat behind my mahogany desk and shuffled progress reports and lesson plans in an effort to look prepared for my first evaluation with the Headmistress and a member of the school governors but all I could think about was that Severus Snape refused to tell me the horrors of when he found me that night. There is a block of time that seems erased from my mind and Severus Snape glares at me when ever I bring it up. I have a right to know and he has no right to keep it from me.

"Hermione, are you back there?"

"Yes Padma. I'm ready to get started."

Padma Patil walked through the door holding a big black binder against her black robes.

"The school governors won't be here today for this meeting. If there is a second meeting, they will attend that one."
Hermione blinked. She did not fail to miss the subtle hint of concern in the tone of Padma's voice.

"A...a second meeting? I don't understand."

Padma cleared her throat and placed the binder on the desk.

"How have you been settling in? Is everything as you expected?"

Hermione understood that there would be small talk before the formal portion of her evaluation. It also seems that the Headmistress fought the nervousness in her voice. That couldn't bode well for Hermione.

"The staff is very helpful and quite friendly," Hermione sighed audibly, " the students however-I've never known a group of youngsters less willing to learn."

Oh this can't be good. Padma has a somber look plastered across her face and instead of replying she opened the black binder directly.

"This is a copy of your students learning curve for the first semester," said the Headmistress softly as she seseparatedhe large stack of papers into two piles, "and this is a copy of the students evaluation of your teaching."

Hermione focused her eyes on the two stacks of milky white paper. She had a sudden flashback to a toad-like squat woman with a fascination for pink. Evaluations indeed! And from students no less!

"Well, what does the curve and these children have to say about what they have learned?"

"Hermione, get that haughty tone out of your voice," said Padma sternly. "The evidence says that your students are behind for the first semester. Don't interrupt, " she said when Hermione tried to interject. "Your students say that your 'technique is rigid and ununyielding and that they 'have no room to think or express new ideas'. You must take into account other point of view. It is your job to educate these kids."

"Padma, Magical Law Enforcement has limited room for interpretation."

"You must allow the students to reach the conclusions themselves."

The Headmistress flicked her wand and the papers gathered and reorganized into the large binder. "The school governors have decided that considering your success in the field, they will extend your evaluation period until after the Christmas Holidays at which time they will reconvene and re-assess the situation. Hermione, if there is not a significant improvement in the learning curve or student morale in your classroom, the governors are prepared to let you go."

After the Headmistress left, Hermione walked back to her desk and put her head in her hands. She felt dejected. She wasn't used to the discord in her life. Whenever her personal life was a mess, she could always count on her work and this, not excelling in academics, was unnerving.

"Do you do anything but cry anymore?" Severus Snape's silky voice rang out through the quiet office.

"Shut up. SHUT UP!" Hermione slammed both hands down against her desk, stinging them. "I can't take your sarcasm tonight. I have more important things to deal with than your toxic attitude. Even in death, can't you manage to be pleasant?"

Severus laughed. "You're right. You do have important things to deal with and the first thing is how to get your students to respond to your very boring teaching."

"How dare you! Do you think that we thought you were the best teacher we ever had?"

Severus began pacing between his small frame space. His fists clenched the black billowing cloak that swished around his long body. "I may not have been the best teacher but my classes were never boring and every single student I had respected me and learned something."

"You think the fear you taught with made us respect you? Are you out of your mind?" Hermione leaned in close to the picture frame and whispered, "Half of the students were so afraid of you, they could barely concoct a decent Sleeping Draught in your presence. We didn't respect you."

"You know what your problem is Granger? sneered Snape viciously. "You are frigid. Your entire life is freaking frigid. You don't bend. You learn by the book and you teach by the book. There is no room for instincts and that is where you are losing them."

Hermione pushed herself away from the frame. If that darn frame wasn't secured by a Permanent Sticking Charm, she would have hurled that thing across the room and into the fireplace. She turned her back on it and didn't speak for a long time. Just when she wondered if he had gone, she heard his voice caress the void in the empty room, in her heart and in her mind.

"I could teach you. It won't be easy and you would have to be willing to learn, willing to place your trust in me and willing to do exactly what I say."

Hermione turned and faced the frame incredulously. He was serious. She stared at his dark obsidian eyes, searching for something, anything to explain why he would offer such a thing.

"Snape, what did I do or say that night I blacked out?"

Severus Snape answered by stalking out of the frame, leaving an empty space behind him.
**
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CHAPTER 5: HELP AND HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Hermione had never been so dumbfounded in her life. How could she possibly teach young witches and wizards who obviously didn't want to be taught. She had tried everything from warning them when to expect pop quizzes to giving them unreasonable extensions on essays and still there seemed to be no improvement in what her students have learned. In the end, though she knew it would make her unpopular and hated, she took a lesson from Umbridge and had the students copy the lessons four times for maximum retention.

She sobbed into the light blue handkerchief that was given to her by Mrs. Weasley on her wedding day. The result of her latest efforts was her blubbering into the pretty embroidered cloth and nursing her bum sporting cuts from the invisible thumb tacks that were placed on her chair. These students were vagrants!

She had only two weeks left before the start of Christmas holiday and she was fresh out of ideas or motivation to succeed. She had no alternative and though it pained her to lower herself and her standard to it, she knew she must ask Severus for his help.
Hermione picked up her wand and with a flick of her wrist, she locked the door to her classroom. She walked slowly toward the picture frame on her desk, dragging her feet in the only evidence of rebellion that she could muster. She must do this!

"Severus, are you there?" She spoke into the empty frame quietly.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the teacher extraordinaire," Severus sneered as he appeared into the confinements of the frame.

"Could we please keep the sarcasm to a minimum," sighed Hermione desperately. "I am here to ask if your offer to help me still stands."

After a lengthy silence in which Severus stood with his hands clasped behind his back, Hermione spoke.

"You haven't given me an answer."

"I am simply waiting for the question, Granger."

Stuffing a retort of impatience, Hermione swallowed her pride and asked, " Severus, will you be so kind to help me meet the requirements of the school governors in raising the grade curve of my students?"

Severus began pacing in his frame. He did this quite a bit as it were, Hermione thought. It was almost infuriating, the way he seemed to take everything at his leisure. She didn't have time to dilly-dally.

"You will do everything I say, without question?" Severus asked firmly. When she nodded, Severus continued. "You will commit yourself to the entire venture or I will see to it that you do not succeed in this last ditch effort to relate to your students."

"Of course, Severus. I will do whatever it takes to improve my dismal evaluation"

"Good," said Severus with a satisfied smirk. "The first thing you must do is brew a simple Shrinking Solution but you must add a teaspoon of Echinacea for wellness and you must breathe onto the potion in the last stage of brewing to infuse your breath into it." Severus stopped pacing and looked hard at Hermione before continuing. "I can tell that it is killing you to ask but you are desperately trying to keep our bargain of not questioning my instructions so I will tell you. Your breath in the potion makes it personal. It is invaluably yours and anyone who tries to use it will become sicker than a mountain troll in love."

This wasn't a particularly difficult potion to make and in no time at all Hermione had a simmering cauldron brewing over the burner. Hermione leaned over her bubbling cauldron and was just about to breathe onto the mixture when Severus shouted at her from the picture frame.

"Wait!"

Hermione turned and looked quizzically at him in expectation. She could only assume he had some other instruction for her.

"You must add exactly 1/4 teaspoon of Skele-Gro. This will counter-act the aging process that occurs when taking the solution. "

Hermione did as she was told. After measuring out the exact contents of Skele-Gro and adding it to the potion, she leaned over the potion to infuse her breath with it. One, two, three, four...by the fifth breath, she was beginning to get light headed. Six, seven...and then a mushroom cloud raised and formed over the potion. Without warning, it exploded. Hermione sputtered as she waved her hands in front of her face. She has never in her life had a potion explode on her. What kind of game was Severus playing at?

She wheeled on him, intent on loosing every vulgar verb that came to her mind but stopped when she saw him reclined against the frame smiling.

"It is ready," he said mysteriously. "Use an eye dropper and fill it to 1 Tablespoon. This is a very potent potion and you must not overdose. Once you have shrunk, you will Apparate. I will place the destination in your mind and you will do exactly as I say, is that understood?"

Hermione nodded but very much doubted that what he asked of her would work. As a Professor and Headmaster of Hogwarts, he should know that it was impossible to Apparate or Disapparate within the walls of the school. Her heart was pounding with nervous excitement as she cautiously filled her eyedropper. It had been too long since her core had felt alive with the possibility of adventure. Taking her potion, she waited.
Hermione felt herself shrink until she was no bigger than six inches tall. It was amazing. Her mind function was in tact as was her physical appearance. The Shrinking Solution should have transported her back to an infant state but apparently the addition of Skele-Gro was effective in preventing this.

Then she heard him. His voice, silky and smooth filling her mind like the buzzing of wild bees.

"Come to me."

Severus, she thought and felt her body turn on the spot into the unknown.
**
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