Correspondence

Hermione walked into the library on the first day of classes; thankful that it was indeed the first day because most likely the library would be empty. She walked to her desk and placed her notes and such on the empty desk.

Pulling out the chair, she sat down and worked on figuring out how she was going to fix up and organize the library. Madame Pince might have been a stickler about talking in the library, and earlier in her life she might have been a stickler about organizing the books, but in her old age she’d become senile and the books had stopped being organized.

A few hours after Hermione had sat down, a piece of parchment began floating in front of her face. She brushed it away, assuming it was some prank by Peeves or even a student. When her hand touched the paper, it fell to her desk, unrolling. In an unfamiliar handwriting was the message:

Let nothing disturb you, let nothing dismay you. All things pass – Saint Teresa of Avila

It was a message she needed to hear on her first day. She looked around the library, not really expecting to see anyone, but checking nonetheless. She gave a shrug and tucked the note into the bottom drawer of her desk.

When the note was deposited, she stood up and walked over to the center of the library. Pulling out her wand, she muttered the spell she had created to sort the books by subject and then by author. The genius behind the spell was that she had tweaked it so that the books would automatically return to their spots on the shelves.

She watched with wide eyes as the heavy tomes flew off the shelves and reorganized themselves. They floated about, barely missing each other, flying from shelf to shelf. She heard the whistle of one just missing her head and smiled. The air filled with whistling as the books flew, creating a breeze with their fluttering pages. A contented sigh escaped her at the beautiful sight of the books floating about.

When the tomes had finished organizing themselves, she went back to her seat, sitting down and smiling in accomplishment. The note in the bottom of the drawer was forgotten for now.

That night Hermione sat at the head table in the Great Hall, eating with the people she had once had as professors not that long ago. Somehow, she found herself between a chatty Minerva and a silent Severus Snape.

“How was your first day, Hermione? Did the children give you any troubles?”

“No. Actually, no one came into the library at all today. It was nice and quiet; I got a lot of work done. I reorganized all the books since Madame Pince left them in slight disarray.”

“Oh, yes. I am so sorry. I meant to tell you about that. But you figured it out, so no harm done, right, dear?”

“Yes, no harm done. I spelled the books to organize themselves. So now when the students return them I simply place my full hand on the cover and it will fly right to its place. It will be quite handy. And it still allows me the liberty of placing them in the right spot by hand if I need some sort of calming device. Books have always been a good therapy for me.” A snort from the dark man to her left had her quirking her brow.

“Is there something the matter, Severus?”

“No, nothing at all. Just remarking on how you haven’t changed at all since you left here.”

“Oh, I beg to differ. I have changed a great deal since I left this place my sixth year. You simply may not have noticed.”

“Oh, I noticed,” he mumbled, quiet enough that she didn’t hear him.

“I’m sorry? What was that?”

“Nothing. Nothing. Go back to your conversation.”

She gave him an odd look and turned back to Minerva who had a hint of a smile dancing across her normally stern features.

“Don’t mind him, dear. He’s just an old sourpuss.” She smiled and patted Hermione’s hand. She turned back to eating her food and started a conversation with Filius about his first day.

Hermione looked out over the crowd of children, remembering the days when she was sitting down there. She could feel the body heat from the man sitting next to her.

She turned and looked at him. He was hunched over his plate, eating his food with a scowl on his face.

“Is it ever not odd sitting up here and looking out to where we sat when we were students here?”

“I prefer to not look back on those days, so I would have to say it is never odd for me.”

“Yes, I suppose you wouldn’t want to remember them.” He cringed at the reminder that she knew his secrets. He inwardly cursed Harry Potter for sharing his secrets with the world. If he had known he would have been saved, he wouldn’t have been so generous with his memories.

‘Yes, you suppose right,” he stated with a tone of finality, mixed with sadness.

She left him alone for the rest of the meal; she felt guilty for bringing up his wretched past.

*

A week later, Hermione was already settling into a routine. Luckily her rooms were close to the library. They were located on the fourth floor as well, just down the hall, in the other direction. Her commute could be a short one, especially if she skipped breakfast. Being only the second week of classes, she had not skipped breakfast yet.

She made her way to the library slowly, humming a tune to herself, when she heard a rustle up above her.

“Don’t even think about it, Peeves. I can easily invent a spell that will glue you to a wall. Which wall though?” she asked tapping her chin, “Oooh, I know, Professor Binns’ wall. You would love to sit through his lectures everyday, wouldn’t you?”

Her only reply was a loud screech of “No!” and the sight of Peeves flying back down the hall getting as far away from her as possible. She chuckled to herself and continued on to her destination.

When she walked up to her desk, there was a roll of the same parchment from the first day. She glanced around again and sat down. She lifted the page and it unfurled, revealing a new message:

Blessed are the hearts that can bend, they shall never be broken –Albert Camus

“Who are you?” she asked out loud. Her only answer was the typical noise of the castle.

That day was as quiet as every other previous day. A couple of students entered the library to study. Hermione could see herself in them. They were eager students, the ones longing to learn as much as possible, so curious about everything, longing to belong and understand a new world.

In the week that she had worked in the library, she had grown used to the silence. Her ears had adjusted to only hearing the scratching of her quill on paper, mixed with the ancient and familiar sounds of the castle. In the week she had worked in the library, she had grown used to the silence. When she entered the Great Hall, the loud murmur of a thousand whispers invaded her eardrums, overwhelming her. She took the same seat from the earlier meals, between Severus and Minerva.

“Are you alright, Hermione?” the Headmistress asked.

“Yes, just readjusting to noise, is all.” Hermione chuckled softly as she sat down.

“You have no idea how lucky you are, Miss Granger.”

“Why do you say that, Severus?”

“You don’t have to listen to those dunderheads all day. You get to sit in the quiet library with your books and no students attempting to harm themselves in various ways,” he stated as though it was completely obvious. Hermione and Minerva laughed at his statement.

“They aren’t that bad, Severus.”

“Miss Granger, I’m going to ask you something, and I want you to actually think about the answer, not answer out of loyalty. All right?” She nodded her affirmation, a little nervous about what she had just agreed to.

“Would you want to teach an entire class filled with people that have the work ethic of Ronald Weasley, the clumsiness of Nymphadora Tonks, the ego of Draco Malfoy, the forgetfulness of Neville Longbottom, and yes, your inability to not ask questions. Now honestly think about that. Would you want that class?” She looked thoughtful; she was really thinking about it.

“No, I wouldn’t, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t love each and every one of them, well, except Malfoy of course. But, each of them has special qualities about them that makes them special. You have to take the good with the bad. You are there to help them learn, and to help them grow, so that they can become the good people that they have the potential to be.”

“Well put, Miss Granger. However, they can still be nuisances,” he said with a slight bow of his head.

“Call me Hermione. We are working together after all.”

“Hermione,” he said, his voice washing over her like silk.

She gave him a smile and picked up her fork to eat her dinner.