All the Best in Your Future Endeavors

           Breakfast early on Monday mornings at Hogwarts could generally be expected to be a subdued affair. As a rule, many of the less ambitious students would silence their charmed morning bells and doze until the last possible moment; at which point they would spring from their beds and rush haphazardly through the castle, pulling on their robes as they went, toward the great hall to grab a muffin. They would then proceed to scarf the muffin down as they bolted to first class. For Hermione, though, Monday mornings were as orderly and collected as any other. In fact, Hermione’s Mondays were possibly her favorite mornings.

            On one particular morning, mid- April, Hermione was seated alone at the Gryffindor table blowing the steam off her tea as she rechecked her Arithmancy homework for the fourth time. Lost in magical equations, she barely looked up when the morning post arrived. Minutes later, her concentration was broken when a chair scraped across the floor at the head table. The grating noise echoed angrily through the Monday morning quiet.

            Severus Snape had stood abruptly, the Daily Prophet grasped firmly in his hand. His robes billowed menacingly, his lips set in a firm line and his eyes glittered with the same quiet fury that was generally known to precede a massive deduction in house points, rapid fire detention bookings, or the assignment of an incredibly long, excruciatingly painful, essay: due the next day. Fearful students bent over their plates quietly as he passed.

            Most student’s attention turned quickly to their meal after the doors swung shut. Hermione was not most students. She knew that; for Snape, as a former spy: to do anything so...well... noticeable was an indication that something was vastly out of order in the universe. She looked questioningly toward the head table. Headmistress Minerva McGonagall  briefly met her gaze,  then glanced pointedly down to the Daily Prophet on the head table, and finally towards the door through which the potions professor had made his dramatic exit.

           The formerly unnoticed copy of the Daily Prophet in front of Hermione was quickly unfurled and laid flat. The headline flashed:

Marriage Law Repealed

Childless Unions Granted Annulment

            Quickly gathering her homework and leaving the still steaming tea in her place, Hermione Snape hurried from the great hall.

A Note from the Author: I have never written a FanFic before and do not have a beta; so I hope it wasn't completely terrible.