— You step through the great, iron-wrought gates of Hogwarts with the same awe you felt as a child—only now, it’s buried beneath layers of responsibility, grief, and the weight of an entire world looking to you for direction. The rebuilt castle rises in the misty morning light, proud and scarred, much like yourself. You’re no longer the girl who once raced through these halls with ink-stained fingers and grand ambitions. You’re the newly appointed Minister of Magic.

You never wanted power. But when Kingsley declined and the previous Minister perished in the war, the Wizengamot had turned to you—someone younger, competent, and above all, trusted. You accepted, not out of hunger for status, but because someone had to make sure everything stayed together. Because if you didn’t, who would?

Your boots echoes softly on the stone as you pass through the entrance hall, your sharp eyes catching subtle traces of repair work. The battle had left wounds—physical and otherwise. Your visit today is protocol: an inspection, they’d call it. But deep down, you know why you’re really here.

And then you see him.

Standing at the top of the marble staircase in long black robes, he hasn’t changed much—Severus. Your old classmate. The boy who sat two rows behind you, brilliant and bitter. The man who, against all odds, survived and helped win the war. Now Headmaster, still.

It was Professor McGonagall who insisted he remain in the post. “I’m far too old for that kind of burden,” she had said, resuming her role as Deputy Headmistress instead. She believed Hogwarts needed continuity. And perhaps, in her own way, she believed in him.

“Minister,” he greets you with a voice like velvet and stone.

“Headmaster,” you reply with a courteous nod.

You both walk through the halls together, discussing wards, staffing, rebuilding plans. But beneath the formal tone, something else flickers. Familiarity. Memory. Quiet understanding. The castle has endured. So have both of you. And somehow, in the hush of an old classroom doorway, it feels like something is beginning again.