Disclaimer: All these lovely characters belong to J.K.R. I just enjoy playing with them for awhile.

A/N: As always, I would like to thank my wonderful beta, SouthernWitch69, who is also a great mate!

This is a response to SW69's HP Chapter Challenge. Details at the end of the chapter.

HBP SPOILERS

OOOOOO

Grimmauld Place

Hermione Granger was sitting at the kitchen table at number twelve, Grimmauld Place crying silently. Ronald Weasley had just devastated her once again. The war had been over for six months, and they would be going back to a newly reopened Hogwarts on the first of September in about two weeks. Hermione had never been so happy that she had kept up on her studies, even going so far as buying her required books months ahead of time. Unfortunately, Ron had just informed her that, even though he loved her with all his heart as a best friend, he was just not in love with her.

They had been dating for the past eight months, and she had no clue he was feeling this way. She vaguely wondered if it was because she had not wanted to have sex just yet. She had done other things with Ron, but she'd drawn the line at sex. She decided it didn't really matter. The point was, as he had informed her, he would be back with Lavender Brown when they headed back to Hogwarts for their last year.

For some reason, she thought of her parents just then. They had been sent to Switzerland under the Fidelius Charm, having Tonks as their Secret Keeper, and liked it so much, they decided to stay. They were upset that Hermione wanted to come back to Hogwarts after the war, but they understood her need to finish her education. Besides the fact, she was a grown woman now, almost twenty, and free to make her own decisions and choices.

She was startled to hear a silky purr behind her. "Do not shed tears for a Weasley, girl! He is beneath you!"

Hermione raised her chin indignantly. "Please do not speak of him that way to me, Professor. I do not think anyone beneath me. Can you say the same?"

Smirking, the newly reinstated Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher replied, "No. I can't say that I can."

"Oh?" Hermione asked. "Muggle-borns and Gryffindors, Professor Snape? Does that about cover it? Or do you have a thing against headmasters as well?"

"That will do," he hissed in an extremely irritated voice. "You know perfectly well I did what I had to do, as you were one of my strongest defenders, Miss Granger. And furthermore, you also know I am not a pure-blood myself."

Indeed, she was one of his strongest defenders. She was one of the first to have figured out everything had been set up beforehand. From the conversations Harry had told her he'd had with Professor Dumbledore, and other bits of conversations Harry had told her about, she'd been able to put two and two together.

The headmaster had not left the ex-Death Eater out to dry either. He had placed a Pensieve in a locked cabinet, and he charmed it to be opened when Voldemort was defeated. It was pure luck Harry had not found Severus Snape before that moment. Even though he had been cleared of all charges, the only person who trusted him completely, besides Minerva McGonagall, was Hermione Granger. The members of the Order had welcomed him back after he had been cleared of all charges. They had seen Albus' Pensieve, but every one of them always wondered.

Hermione sighed. "Forgive me, Professor. I am not good company at the moment."

"I am not here for your company at any rate. I am here with a request from the headmistress. She wishes you to take your N.E.W.T.s before the start of term. With the death of Horace Slughorn in the final battle, Hogwarts is in need of a Potions teacher. Because you are already nineteen, and with your O.W.L score in Potions, you may teach under my care, providing you pass your N.E.W.T in Potions as well. If you do well, I will apprentice you personally to be a Potions mistress."

"What about my other classes?"

"You will be taking all your N.E.W.T.s. You cannot very well teach and attend classes at the same time, you silly little girl! Now, what say you? I need to inform Minerva of your decision so that she may take the proper steps to set this up. You will also need to get settled in before the students arrive and go over all syllabi with me."

Because she was getting excited, she let the 'silly little girl' comment slide. She had never really thought of becoming a Potions mistress, but this was just too good an opportunity to let pass. "Tell Professor McGonagall I would love to! Who will be teaching her classes?"

"Fleur Weasley. She and her husband will be living at the castle, and he will Apparate to work from the main gates. Minerva seems to think that will be okay since the wound he sustained did not turn him into a werewolf. Now, I will go inform her of your decision. She will be pleased. Provided you pass your N.E.W.T.s, I want you in my office by nine on Tuesday morning. We can discuss what you need that day. I can accompany you and your things from here to the castle on Wednesday."

"In the dungeons?"

Severus sighed and shook his head. "No, your quarters and office will be located in the dungeons now. Mine will be located in the DADA rooms where Lockhart's was. Now, if that is all, Miss Granger, I will be on my way. I have more important things to do than to sit here and talk to you."

With that, he was gone in a flurry of black robes. He needed to distance himself from the Granger girl. He had started to take notice of her after the war, especially when she so adamantly defended him. Nobody, save Albus, had ever defended him in such a way. And now, she was to be his colleague. He was going to have to work closely with her before and during the school year. The only thing that helped him through the slight attraction was the fact that she utterly got on his nerves with her bossy know-it-all attitude.

OOOOOO

Hermione lightly knocked on Ginny's door. Ginny had been unconscious the first three months after Voldemort was defeated. She was awake now and expected to return to Hogwarts, but she tended to take long naps in the afternoon. Harry had not left her side since they all came to Grimmauld Place the previous month.

Apparently, unbeknownst to anyone, Voldemort tried to use part of Ginny's soul as a Horcrux. Because he had possessed her through the diary in her first year, he somehow left a bit of his soul in hers. However, his plan backfired. When Harry killed him, that part of his soul immediately tried to escape, as it had done before, and it had to be destroyed—leaving Ginny in a coma for three months. As it ripped out of her body, Harry cast a Distraho before Voldemort could flee, and the impact of the spell, combined with the forceful way the piece of soul came out of her body, was too much for Ginny to take. Thankfully now, she was well on her way to a full recovery.

Hermione heard Harry softly say, "Who's there?" That was Harry, over protective as usual.

"It's me, Hermione." She wanted to tell them of Professor Snape's visit. She hoped Ron was in there as well. She only wanted to tell everyone once.

"Come in," Ginny said. "I'm awake."

Hermione opened the door and was happy to see Ron was, in fact, there. She was also happy of the fact that Ron had probably already told Harry and Ginny of their breakup, if judging by the guilty look on his face was anything to go by. Briefly, she wondered why she wasn't more upset about the breakup. It had hurt her, but it was not the soul-ripping pain that she would have expected. Mainly, it was her pride that was bruised.

"I have some news," Hermione stated. "Professor Snape just came to see me, and Professor McGonagall wants me to teach Potions provided I pass my N.E.W.T.s. She is getting things ready for me to take them sometime this week so that I will have at least a week to prepare before the new school term starts. Also, provided I do well, Professor Snape is going to apprentice me to be a Potions mistress. So, Ron, it's a good thing we broke up after all." She couldn't very well date a student.

Ron and Ginny were staring at her, completely gobsmacked. Harry, however, was furious. "Why would you want to work so closely with a murdering Death Eater, Hermione? You could be next, you know!"

"Oh, stop being so dramatic, Harry! You know perfectly well that Professor Snape was a spy for the Order, and anything he did was done under Albus Dumbledore's orders. I am getting tired of having to defend him to you at every turn!"

"Fine, Hermione, but you know where I stand. I hate the greasy git, and he hates me. Nothing will ever change that, and I wouldn't want it to."

Wanting to stop the argument before it escalated, Ginny asked, "So, we will have to get used to calling you Professor Granger, huh? It sounds so grownup!"

"Bloody hell!" Ron bellowed. "Now, I wish I would have taken Potions! I could easily pass." Ron gave Hermione his most charming smile.

Putting her hands on her hips, Hermione said, "Ronald Weasley! I will not pass someone just because they are my friend. They will have to earn their grades, just like in every other class! I can't believe you even thought that." With a huff, Hermione left the room to go study.

OOOOOO

Nobody was surprised that Hermione passed all her N.E.W.T.s. The day she left for Hogwarts with Professor Snape, Harry would not even look at her. It was as if he took her teaching Potions, and being trained by Professor Snape, personal. She rolled her eyes at his childish attitude.

She understood Harry. She knew how much he loved Dumbledore. It amazed her that a powerful wizard, such as Harry, who could take charge and lead the Order in a battle, could not let his hatred of Snape go. She wondered if he just needed someone to aim his hatred at now that Voldemort was gone.

She was happy Harry and Ginny had gotten back together, especially now that she would be teaching and not around. Ginny was very good for Harry; she kept him grounded and sane.

A little disappointed she would not be riding the Hogwarts Express back to school this one last time, she hugged and kissed her friends goodbye, and then she walked over to an irritated Professor Snape.

He had been ready to leave as soon as he'd arrived, and he hated these public displays of affection. They made him uncomfortable. "If you are ready, Miss Granger? You will be seeing your friends in one week; there is no need for all this. You are acting as if you will never see them again!"

"I know I will be seeing them in one week, Professor, but I will be seeing them on a teacher/student level most of the time. I can't treat them any different than anyone else, so I wanted to get it out of my system here."

Inwardly impressed by her maturity, but not willing to acknowledge it, he simply swept his arm out in front of him towards the door and said, "After you, Professor Granger."

With her chin held high, she walked out the front door and Disapparated to the front gates of Hogwarts.

OOOOOO

Christy's Notes: I hope you enjoy my response to SouthernWitch69's HP Chapter Challenge at The Petulant Poetess. I have the entire story completed already and will be uploading every day. There are eight chapters in all.

Southern's Notes: I'm so glad someone finally took up this challenge. It's such a quick write and has hardly any restrictions. Thanks, doll. Good start.

Quote from book one: SS/PS: "Who's there?"

Distraho to destroy

Challenge Rules

Note by SW69: This has been influenced by Doompark's 394 Challenge. Instead of using random books, we will use the HP books for a single quote per chapter.

Pairings? Choose one below.

Yes, there must be a love match between them.

Hermione/Severus
Draco/Ginny
Harry/Gabrielle
Ron/Luna

1. Take the month and day of your numerical birth date and add them together. (Ex: My birthday is on July the fifth. 07 [seventh month 05 [fifth day 12 )

2. Divide the sum by 2 to get a second number.
(Ex: I would divide 12/2 and get 6. Round all half numbers up to the higher number.)

3. Open up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone and use your SECOND number to figure out what chapter to open up to.
(Ex: I would open to chapter number 6.)

4. Use your FIRST number to find the sentence to use. (Example: I would scroll down to the 12th sentence of the chapter, even if the sentence is on the next page.)

5. The first chapter should include that sentence.

6. Continue the process with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets following the same formula and the second chapter will be formed around this sentence.

7. Continue with POA, GOF, OotP, and HBP in the same manner and in this order.

Each chapter must be 1000-2000 words long. No shorter and no longer!

BONUS:

An additional chapter or two chapters can be created from the two extra books that J.K. Rowling wrote: Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastical Beasts & Where to Find Them. These aren't as lengthy as the others, so you'll have to find your sentence and page a bit different here.

Fantastical Beasts...

1. Use your FIRST number to determine what page to turn to. (The highest sum would be 43. Since there are only 42 pages after the foreword, if your sum is 43, use the number 42.)

2. Use your SECOND number to determine which sentence to use on that page. If your number isn't found on the page, simply use the last sentence. (There are so many run-on sentences. You'll probably have to do this.)

3. Record the sentence AND the beast's name in which is falls under. (Example: I would pick sentence 6 from page 12 and note that my beast is the Common Welsh Green.)

4. Write the chapter using the sentence and the beast from that page. Same length requirements as above.

Quidditch Through The Ages...

1. Use your FIRST number to determine what page to turn to.

2. Use your second number to determine what sentence to use. Record the sentence and build the chapter around it. You may not have enough sentences on the page, simply use the last sentence if this is the case. There are many run-on sentences there, and some pictures take up a lot of room.

Same length requirements apply for this chapter.

NOTES:
If you use the six Harry Potter books plus the 2 extra books, you could have an 8 chapter story. The chapters won't be very taxing, as the length requirements are minimum. If you do not have all of these books, please ask me or anyone else who might own them. We will gladly give you the quote you need to get started. This challenge starts as of today, April 27, 2005 through December 31, 2005. That should give people enough time to start up something and begin posting. I hope someone takes up this challenge. If you need anything, please post for help here or send an email to me.