The Serpent's Kiss

Chapter One: Scars and Nightmares

Hermione breathed a frustrated sigh as her shoe sank into an inch of mud. It had rained for several days and the road through Hogsmeade was slowly disappearing under a layer of muck.

She was already rethinking her journey into the village, but she forced herself to push on. It was better than what was behind her at the castle.

Silence and broken things. Scars and nightmares. And emptiness in every room.

It was odd to be at Hogwarts when everyone else was home for the summer. She had sat in the empty Gryffindor Tower, amidst the shattered glass and crumbling walls. Trying to ignore the images that were forever branded in her mind.

Of course, the school wasn't completely empty. The staff and a handful of volunteers, including Hermione and a few of the Weasleys, had taken up the task of repairing the extensive damage that the battle had caused. However, only the staff were staying in the castle overnight. Apparation points had been set up for the rest of the workers.

They had been laboring for months now and they still weren't finished. The Quidditch pitch, after suffering major fire damage, had to be completely rebuilt. Several of the castle's towers had been damaged, along with the greenhouses and some of the other buildings on the grounds. And then there was the interior of the school itself; most of the paintings, furniture, and books were a wreck.

So much history destroyed so quickly. Hermione's heart broke every time she thought about it. Headmistress McGonagall, however, was optimistic that most of it would be repaired by the time the rest of the students returned in September.

As Hermione waded through another mud puddle, she noted that she'd finally reached the outskirts of the village. As she ambled along the main road, she tried to lose herself in the brightly colored storefronts. Tried to pretend that it was a simpler time.

With her feet on autopilot, she wandered down the main road, passing all of the shops where the students spent most of their time. Then, her eyes snapped to a man standing about ten feet in front of her. He had a camera clasped in his hands and when he saw Hermione, his eyes lit up.

The man started towards her. "Miss Granger! Would you mind if I took your picture for the paper?"

Another journalist.

A scowl overtook her features as her breath left her in a huff. Reporters from every periodical in the area had been hounding her for months. They would ask her question after question and take pictures of her every time she stepped outside. And then the next day she would find that she was the star of a new article that wasn't even half true.

She had risked her life for these people, and they couldn't even let her live the rest of it in peace.

Hermione quickly turned into the nearest building, neither knowing nor caring which one it actually was. Anything just to get away.

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Severus Snape shoved the rickety door of The Hog's Head open with his shoulder and stepped inside. It was dark inside the small room and a lifetime of dirt clung to every surface. And that included the bar's patrons.

At least some things never change.

He moved to the bar and nodded to the man standing behind it. The bartender bent down and retrieved a grimy bottle of Firewhiskey, which he handed to Severus.

Snape slapped a coin down onto the bar and then turned to find an empty table. His eyes skimmed the crowd, and his fists clenched tightly around his drink as he realized that he recognized one of the patrons.