It was cool and breezy over the summer holiday after Harry Potter and his dream team finally graduated properly. The stress of having the boy around had started to leak out of Professor Snape's body as June wore on. By September, he figured, it would all be behind him and he could resign himself to teach out the rest of his days, gawked at by stupid children and being generally disliked by all. That thought made him calmer than anything else had ever made him in all his years.

As Severus lingered in the delightfully cool air in the drafty corridor leading to the staff dining room, he began to think up excuses to leave the meeting early. The Wolfsbane that he was brewing for Lupin's orphan child needed special attention this evening? No, that would not work. Professor Slughorn would know that tonight promised a waxing moon and that the ingredients could not be exposed to the moonlight until after tomorrow night. Curse him for attending the one superfluous meeting just in case the new staff happened to be worth collecting. He entered the room as quietly as possible and ghosted over to a corner, actively avoiding anyone's attempted eye contact. Suddenly, though, it was too quiet. Then, predictably, Minerva made herself known.

"Hello, Severus."

"Headmistress."

She gave a show of incredulity and reiterated, for the third time, "Severus I would rather you not call me that. In any case, how has your holiday been? We haven't seen you much, those of us who stay."

"I have been…engaged in study." She looked at him pointedly. "With the Wolfsbane. For the child."

By this point Minerva looked slightly amused but did not laugh outright. Instead, she simply said, "Well, good, dear. As soon as Professor Slughorn puts his roots down you'll be free as a lark to socialize and let him tend to those duties."

Severus scowled and sipped at the drink offered to him by a passing house elf.

"Minerva. Consider my position."

He had said this low, in what he hoped was his most diplomatic voice. She seemed to shrink a little as he looked away. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her arms uncross.

"Yes, Severus, I know," she started, clearly choosing her words carefully, on the defensive, now. "There are those who will always be ignorant in their treatment of you, but none of them are employed at this school." He wanted desperately to remind her of how quickly she had believed him an evil prick after Dumbledore's demise. "Severus, I implore you. Please do not pull away again. You sink out from the walls for months, and we miss, you, Severus. We miss you."

Severus said nothing but wished to scream at her. He would yell and gesture and smash things and break his knuckles on a wall if he thought it would make her understand how isolated he felt in a group—especially this one. He could hardly breathe, sometimes, and would claw at his knee under the table to keep himself calm, an action he never would have chanced during the war, in case either of his masters became aware of his tension.

Times that he did not show for gatherings were not periods during which he was overly angry at anyone. They were the nights he couldn't breathe just thinking about what someone might say to him about Albus or the war. Mornings in which he'd wake up clawing at his throat. Afternoons he couldn't stand to hear about Potter, or Lily, or his life as analyzed by the newest visitor to the castle. Bureaucrats, politicians, aurors, tours. The summer had always seen an unbearable flood of visitors. Now, however, his infamy followed him everywhere and more times than not he wished the blessed snake had done a better job of things. Leave it to Dumbledore's conniving ways and ingenious mind to confuse Severus' fear of failure with his fear of death and to come up with a solution. Even today, Dumbledore's notes about the Sorcerer's Stone, the modified Elixer of Life, and a house elf's oath of silence sat locked in Severus' desk drawer, unreadable to anyone else.

"I will try, Minerva."

In the end, she walked away smiling, and the others glanced his way, timidly smiling. Severus raised his glass in response to Slughorn raising his. Then, finally, as everyone became seated, the quiet came back to his life.

He looked around the table and saw three faces he did not recognize well, if at all: A blond, attractive woman, a goblin, and a distinguished looking man in his forties or early fifties. Severus placed his napkin into his lap just as the first course was about to be announced. As he took his first bite, Severus picked out a fourth face: the face of a teenage girl who was attempting to hide behind the new wizard. He had not seen her before, but understood immediately that she was the man's daughter. The resemblance was striking. She looked up at Severus and quickly looked away. She had seen him analyzing and he felt as though he'd slipped up. He reminded himself that it did not matter that she knew he'd been watching. Such habits and concerns would take the rest of his life to break.

The girl was dressed in classy, simple robes, and her face was round above them. The young witch was overweight with brown hair and warm colored skin. Her father, as he assumed this man to be, likewise, had dark features and warm skin. His black hair was pulled into a ponytail and bore a green silk ribbon. The style resembled Lucius' so closely that Snape sneered visibly. The girl chewed her fingernail nervously until her father eyed her down.

Minerva announced the first course and everyone began eating as she spoke casually in between bites.

"Most of you have met Ms. Clayborne. She'll be our newest Magical Arts teacher. Well, that is, our only Magical Arts teacher thus far. Ms. Clayborne? Do tell those who have not met you a little about yourself."

The pretty blond woman began to speak, daintily. Her hands were shaking a bit, and she flushed. Snape noted with appreciation that she was curvy, and her hair swept over one shoulder gracefully. Her glasses made her already bright eyes sparkle.

"Melissa, please. And…well…I'm from Australia originally. I got my Hogwarts letter right as I began to accidentally make two meter statues out of dirt, and never knew before then that magic existed and….well isn't that odd? Anyhow, I look forward to working with you."

The blond giggled a bit and looked down at her plate. She was, maybe, 24. Severus would have rolled his eyes at the young woman's rate of speech if not for Minerva's ever-watchful Mr. Manners Timepiece. It buzzed anytime someone was rude in her vicinity. The table went momentarily quiet. Then, the new, distinguished wizard cleared his throat.

"Melissa, is it? That's a muggle name, yes?"

The silence shifted. Severus regarded the dark man closely. He was used to being the rude party at a table, and felt almost left out as this man overstepped a line that had been very clearly forming in the aftermath of the war.

"Yes, it is. Like I said. Never knew about magic before my letter," the witch replied. Her voice was a bit higher than it had been before. Severus couldn't believe that timepiece wasn't going off like mad. He chanced a glance at Minerva. Sure enough, she reached her wand down to her side and whispered the spell to turn the timepiece off.

"Hm. And so where did you learn magical art? As the Headmistress did state, there has never been a class offered here."

Professor Clayborne cleared her throat.

"Australia," she said, "I took art classes during the summer holidays from a wizard in Perth. Studied a year's worth of class material during each summer holiday for 4 years." She was stuffy, now, angry, and half the rest of the table was, too. Severus sipped his pint quietly.

"Yes, I see. And your parents?"

"What about them?"

"What do they do?"

"Nothing. My mother is deceased and my father lives in a nursing home. Dementia."

The wizard smiled.

"Forgive me. I'm sorry to hear. Isn't there something magical that can be done?" The room was so tense, now, that people were starting to try to start side conversations. Professor Clayborne spoke over the noise.

"I'm really not sure. My family has lived its life as it knows how to." She turned to the goblin, then. "Professor Milnt, I hear your class will be called 'Wizard Economics?'"

The goblin took his queue and started speaking lovingly about his economics class and all he hoped to show young witches and wizards about the history and benefits of the goblin banking system within the context of the global wizarding economy. The room then became quiet again, and Severus, surprising himself, spoke up.

"That leaves, what is it, Arithmancy?"

Everyone looked at him, but he shifted his attention to the distinguished wizard who was so clearly a purist. The other wizard finished cutting off a portion of pot roast before setting his utensils down too politely, and turned to face Severus. He sensed challenge, Severus could tell. Severus knew that look a mile away.

"I am Professor Blanche. I will teach Arithmancy. I have taught at only a handful of smaller schools, mostly in Eastern Europe. They do things quite differently. However, I have successfully run my own Arithmancy firm for nearly ten years, one of the last of fourteen worldwide. I also have two advanced degrees in Ancient Runes."

There was another small silence. Then, getting a wicked feeling, Severus mimicked Professor Blanche's demeanor. "Blanche. That's…French…yes?" There were a few muffled laughs disguised as coughs and a couple of wide open mouths. Severus paid attention to magically scraping the head off of his second pint and then looked up at Blanche.

"Yes, as a matter of fact it is. My father was French, unfortunately and also a half-blood. You may call me Romulus, though." His ambiguous placement of the word "unfortunately" made Minerva frown deeper.

Severus narrowed his eyes a bit. This man was serious. He wanted everyone to know. He wasn't going to politely drop his disdain for muggleborns or half bloods. Severus nodded once, then, and went back to eating. Secondarily, he thought about how tacky it was to name one's children after gods, and how French and Latin together sounded even more offensive.

"And…and do tell us about your lovely daughter!" Madame Trelawney nervously fiddled with her vest and grinned while looking at Blanche. At this point, Romulus straightened a bit. He looked down at his plate and then his daughter. She looked straight ahead, suddenly blushing furiously. Romulus leaned forward to look at Trelawney.

"We've relocated from Germany. She will be living in my quarters. Her name is Argo."

'And now to the Greek, as well' thought Snape. Such reverence Severus held for the purists. This man had ties to the Black Family, Severus was sure.

"Well? Darling? Do tell us more about yourself! How old are you, what year, and what would you like us to know about your spirit?"

Everyone seemed to ignore Trelawny's odd question, but paid the girl rapt attention. Her father seemed to scowl a bit but Severus couldn't quite see his face all the way. Argo grew even redder and spoke quietly. Her voice was deep for a girl's, and soft.

"I am 16 and will be 17 soon. I am in what you would call the 'seventh year,' here, but I have had over eleven years of magical schooling. There's not much else to say."

It seemed as though regular conversation might flow again, until someone asked, too loudly, "Isn't she going to eat anything?" Severus looked at the girl, as everyone had, and noticed for the first time that she had no food in front of her. Romulus spoke up, leaning forward a bit.

"Argo has a bit of a dietary problem. She's on a very special diet. Therefore, she may go to the Great Hall at meal times, as I understand the castle requires it at least once daily, but she may not eat there. She will become ill if she does. It's more of a…disorder… you see."

Argo tilted her head away, then, and Severus knew how embarrassed she must feel. Yes, she was a bit overweight, but really, it wasn't unhealthy looking, altogether. Though, Severus wondered if she was still relatively healthy because of the diet.

"We shall have to see whether we can talk Hogwarts into releasing the requirement just this once." Minerva was smiling but Severus knew by the way her jaw tightened that she was angry beneath.

The rest of the meal dragged on and Minerva excitedly gave a short dismissal speech.

"And now we come to a close, friends. We'll be starting another year very soon. I regret that I cannot be here to finish out the summer holiday with you all. Please go forward to rebuild, as we have been trying to do. Please treat your students with respect. Please make sure that they do the same for you. Now, if you please, we'll adjourn. I'll see you all at the sorting!"

With that, most people rushed for the portrait exit. Romulus pulled his daughter away and out of sight as quickly as he could. Severus pretended to be reading one of the parchments Minerva had given out. Feigning interest was another habit of his. As the room cleared, Minerva dropped into her seat. She put her head in her hands and sighed.

"That was horrid."

"Yes, Headmis—Minerva. It was. Where did you find that creature?"

She seemed to consider her answer for a moment. Severus looked at her. She was getting so old.

"I only just procured him. I thought we were going to have to ask Ms. Granger to come do first years' courses while I tried to teach the older years."

He looked at her pointedly.

"There is reason enough now to let him go. The insinuations he made—"

"He'll never repeat them to a student, I hope," she said, "And say he does; a student wouldn't even know it was an insult, the way that man talks. He was the last option, Severus. People are still scared of retaliation. No one wants to call this place home and I can't say that I blame them."

Minerva rubbed her forehead as she spoke, leaning forward on her elbows. It struck him for the first time that she looked helpless. He'd never seen it on her before, but it did not become her. At the same time, Severus understood. The Ministry was on Minerva weekly to make her school somehow more inviting to employees, students, and parents. As it was, even with her increased efforts, attendance was still at an all-time low. A pang of guilt snapped out of Snape's gut and into his throat when he thought about the fact that he was part of the problem. Students' parents still rarely showed trust in his moral leanings. Minerva mistook Severus' bleak ponderings as irritation.

"Well don't look at me like that. Please remind yourself that you are the Deputy Headmaster! You were supposed to be helping find this replacement! Instead you would ward your office so I couldn't even send you an owl!"

Minerva was beside herself. She knew she'd made a mistake and she didn't want the blame to be hers alone. Would this man be part of her legacy at Hogwarts? And a muggle-hater? The contract had been signed.