It's A One Time Thing It Just Happens A Lot.

Chapter One

A/N: This is a VERY old story, it was written and completed before Order of the Phoenix came out. The only reason I ever started this story was my love for Snape. Even before we knew his true reasons I figured he wasn't completely bad and just needed redemption that I thought ( at the time) Dumbledore was helping him to achieve.

So it's obvious to say that this is completely AU. COMPLETELY AU! Obviously Snape doesn't die in this one. Neither does Sirius Black. In fact nothing past their fourth year even comes into it.

It's not a working out of the Voldemort/Harry plot line and never intended to be... You can't tinker with genius like that and that was never my intention. I knew J.K. Rowling was the only one to do justice to that and I read loads of FF that tried to write the end and never pulled it off. The woman is a genius.

All I wanted to do was play in her sandbox with Snape for a bit and see how he might be able to find someone and if he ever did, what would happen. I like to take broken, seemingly dark characters and find them some light, or not, as the case may be. Just try it, if you want to, but you'll need to suspend all working knowledge of Voldemort and the Fight against him... it's skirted around in this one and never really part of it. You will also have to remember Neville as he was in this first few years and not the total HERO year seven saw him to be. I wanted him to grow a backbone even back then... I was so glad at the end of the books. :D

This can be found on fanfiction, but like I said it was written when I was quite young and new to writing anything that could be read other than by me. I have changed a lot, I have changed a lot

of the story too; deleted things and just outright changed things from what can be found on that site. Some it, actually a lot of it makes me cringe. Some of it still does, but I can't change everything.

This is not a slow burn as I wanted to cut to the chase and see how they fit together.

So, if you're still willing to try this, thank you. I hope you enjoy it and if can take the time to comment or vote, I would be thankful. :)

Thanks to Jennifer for weeding out mistakes,  any remaining are all mine. :)

Professor Severus Snape had realised a long yearned for position; he had finally ascended to Defence Against Dark Arts Master. He was magnanimous in his victory and was more than willing to condescend in relinquishing his Potions Classroom to the New Potions Mistress. He was not, however, willing to give up his own personal rooms down there; which was just as well really. He was still the Head of Slytherin and as such needed to be near the students' dorm rooms to be able to keep control.

Megan Kincaid, the new Potions Mistress was quite happy to be accommodated in the staff quarters. Snape had given up one of his precious store rooms, albeit grudgingly, for the study she would need near the classroom. However, he had been quite unwilling and indeed, completely uncommunicative, when Professor Dumbledore had tried to prise him away from his own study to the one situated in his new classroom. He would make use of both, but he was not giving up the study he had in the dungeons.

All of this was perfectly acceptable to Meg who had no desire to remain in the dungeons for any longer than it took to teach. Snape's reputation preceded him and Meg was well aware of it. But she was determined to make the best of things here. She had worked in a muggle school previously and never dreamt that her application for the position of Potions Mistress would be accepted. But accepted it was, and nothing or no one was going to ruin it for her. She was determined to treat him no differentlythan any other teacher there and she was not going to let him affect her. Of that she was certain.

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"Is there something wrong, Professor?" Snape's slightly nasal, infinitely cold voice cut across the silence of the storage room.