Authors Note (A/N): This story does flip flop back and forth between the points of view of Severus Snape and Juniper Gray (OC)(Joon)

Disclaimer: All things related to Harry Potter go to Warner Bros. Entertiainment, Schoolastic Books inc., J.K. Rowling, and ect. My OC's are MINE!

Enjoy!

Chapter : 1 - New Teacher

Joon-

Joon sat down at one of the Students tables at random, smiling at them and waiting for the usual beginning of the year.

Each one of the professors came into the hall and sat at the high table in turn.

There was the massive grounds keeper, Hagrid, the recently added tiny Professor Flitwick (Charms), Professor Babbling (Ancient Runes), Professor Burbage (Muggle Studies), Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor Sprout (Herbology), Professor Kettleburn (Care of Magical Creatures), Professor Vector (Arithmancy), and Professor Sinistra (Astronomy).

The Potions Master, Professor Snape, came in last before the sorting of the students in a dramatically dead-on-time fashion. As he stalked down the center aisle impressively, sneer plastered on his face, he seemed to ooze an animal awareness of everything and everyone around him.

The up-coming first years were led in by Professor McGonagall (Transfiguration), and sorted. One of them came over and sat in the seat next to Joon with a kind smile.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts!" Professor Dumbledore announced to the hall full of students. He went on with the whole shebang about having first years in and all that jazz, but Joon wasn't exactly paying attention. She was staring thoughtfully at the floor whilst receiving funny looks from the students sitting around her, who wondered who she was, and what in god's name a twenty-four year old was doing sitting at Gryffindor table. "In further news, to satisfy a new regulation made by the Ministry of Magic, we have added to our staff a sort of Guidance Counselor! As a magically trained Psychologist, she is teaching a specialized class on creativity you are all required by ministry law to take at least once during your time at Hogwarts. All years will have her this year, and then next year, there will be several smaller classes. Please give a warm welcome to Professor Juniper A. Gray!"

The whole Great Hall broke out in polite applause, but Joon didn't stand up, or seem to even notice what was going on around her. Stiff Professor McGonagall tried to flag her down to make a speech or whatever, but at every tiny gesture, she just shook her head and looked nervous.

"Professor, would you like to give us a few words?" Albus asked pointedly.

Joons face didn't change when she said "No thanks, Albus."

Dumbledore went on with the announcements as though she hadn't made a peep, and dinner started. Joon didn't eat, but supped every now and then on a goblet of some clear, bluish smoking substance.

She glanced at the high table, watching the wave of whisper reach all the way to the end, where HE sat. He sneered unappreciatively at the Professor next to him, who was now making motions to try to get him to budge up. He finally gave in, and made his way down towards Gryffindor table.

"Professor Juniper?" one of the students next to her asked.

"It's just Joon."

The little girl stared at her. "Um… Joon, What are you drinking?"

"It's some stuff I have to have in the evenings to keep calm."

"So does that mean we have an insane guidance counselor?" asked a silky masculine voice from behind her.

"No, not so much insane, as hypermnesic with issues controlling direction of thoughts. What's up with you today, Severus?" she said calmly, turning to face him with an impassive expression.
Professor Severus Snape was behind her, in long billowy robes and partially long, jet black greasy hair.

"Why have you not taken your seat at the high table?"

He can't be more than twenty-five and he's already intimidating and worn looking - Joon thought to herself boredly

"I want to get to know the students better, and if trouble starts, I'll be right here." She replied.

He stared at the younger teacher for a moment, turned on his heel, and re-took his place at the teachers table. She watched him for a moment, thinking about how strange he seemed. She shook her head and continued her conversation with the second year.

Dinner ended, and she went out in the entrance hall, where she could feel eyes on the back of her head, but decided not to turn and look. Down two flights of stairs in the dungeons, she closed the door on her room, stood back, and listened. She heard footsteps come close to her door, stop, and the brushing of robes on the floor. There was a hesitation, and then a swift three knocks on her door. She stood there, staring at the oak for a moment, and opened it. Severus was standing there. Neither of their faces changed.

"Hey," She said to crack the ice of the awkward silence that lie between them for a few moments.

"Hello," He replied politely. "You chose this room?"

"No not really, I got booted out of one on the fourth floor by a picture of a duke that had staring problems." She said.

Severus-

Juniper definitely had well practiced occlumency, because Severus couldn't penetrate it for the life of him. She is so beautiful, he thought. Her head was adorned with dark brown hair that began straight at the top, turned to waves level with her neck, and ended in graceful curls near her shoulder blades. Her eyes were the shape of almonds, and a dazzling shimmery purple. He was getting a strange, fluttery feeling in the bottom of his stomach… but there were other times to deal with these things, so he forced the feeling to the back of his subconscious and ignored it.

"I'll be down the hall, should you happen to need anything," He said, and went towards his own rooms.

She was one person he didn't understand. Albus had told him she was hypermnesic, meaning she could remember everything she had ever heard, read, or seen. She was from the United States of America, with little experience as a teacher, and had to take calming drought in the evenings to keep her thoughts in order, otherwise she would have a meltdown due to the total calamity of over two decades of thoughts feelings, and daily life.

He walked into his rooms.

Joon had graduated muggle High School at eight and a half, learned of her magical capabilities, then came through an American Magical institution by age fourteen, and afterwards developed her own way of using magic without a wand. She had then moved to England at age sixteen with her stepfather after her mother had been killed, and gotten a psychiatric position at the ministry when she was eighteen.

He wondered why she would make up an excuse not to sit at the high table. She was a teacher, and had the ability to command total respect, yet she wanted to stay in the same level as those that were under her…

He pulled his clothes on after getting out of the shower.

She, for some reason, had this odd glint in her eye when he had knocked on the door. He knew she knew someone was coming, because she hadn't walked but a few steps to get to the door. That silence for a few seconds when she had opened the door was so awkward. It had his stomach in knots for a split second.

Then a thought occurred to him as he pulled the covers over himself in the cold dungeon room and snuffed the candle out. Why was he thinking so much about her? He was over analyzing things again, that was it. It had to be.

But still… Severus thought about the odd feelings inside of him as they had conversed. What did they mean? He remembered something similar from long ago, but that was preposterous.

He dreamt of her that night for the first of many times.

Joon-

Severus left in his usual billowy way, and Joon closed the door. She hoped the walls were thick, because she let lose this defining scream that rattled the window panes and sat down on her bed in furious thought. WHY was it so hard for her to do this, to be so wanting of something, or someone?

He had this strange way about him. He purposefully led others to think he was no one to get to know better. He made himself seem like a horrible person to drive away everybody around him. She knew Dumbledore had told her about Severus. Maybe she could be of some help so he would peel back a few layers of onion-like cover to reveal the actual identity of the sumptuous fruit within himself that he so desperately hid from the world around him.

She turned the shower knob to shut off the warm water flowing onto her now cleansed body.

It was just… She had seen the strange expression cross his face when she opened the door. He thought something of her, she knew body language well enough to know he had almost let something slip, but then his occlumency took over and it hid it completely. She so wanted to know what he had felt when he looked into her eyes, but he just refused beyond a shadow of a doubt to show anybody.

She pulled on her clothes, sat on the edge of her bed and stared pensively into the burning candle at her bedside.

Why, she thought, was she thinking so much about this? About him? She had to be over analyzing this, surely. She had renounced loving anybody like that at a fairly young age because she had gotten a panoramic view of what heartbreaks through different ages and situations looked like in a very short time, and had a feel to how they felt when she lost her mother… But why would these amorous senses be surfacing now? Here?

She capped the light and curled up under the covers against the cold of the dungeons.

Severus meandered in and out of her thoughts until she finally went to sleep.

She dreamt of him for the first of many times that night.

A/N: Please Review/Favorite, all comments (either critisisim or praise) are taken into consideration!

PLEASE tell me if I spelled something wrong or if there's any flaws in grammar and personality of a character!

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