Surviving Love

Chapter One

"Rise and shine, mate! It's time for breakfast!" an exuberant 17 year old Harry Potter said as he woke a much less exuberant Ron Weasley.

"I'm up, you prat. Stop shouting." Ron cracked his eyes open to look up at a pair of smiling green eyes. "What's got you so excited, so early in the morning?"

"Well, I mean, there's no more Voldemort and for the first time in a long while I don't have to worry about him trying to kill me. Why shouldn't I be excited? Come on, we have to go if we want to eat before class."

"Coming, coming," Ron grumbled as he got up and blearily rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He was soon ready and the boys went down stairs to the common room where they met up with Hermione. The Golden Trio made their way out of the common room and headed down to the Great Hall. Harry quickly bounded over to the Gryffindor table, followed soon by Ron and Hermione. They sat on either side of him and shared a smile at their friend's happiness. They both agreed that Harry deserved to be happy after everything he had been through. They were soon joined by Neville and Dean and they all struck up a conversation. Harry was munching away on a piece of bacon, when he noticed a disturbance at the door. People were whispering and pointing towards someone but Harry couldn't see who.

"What's going on?" he asked. His friends all shrugged as Harry stood to get a better look. When he finally saw who everyone was talking about, he swallowed hard. She was extremely beautiful and a complete stranger, which was mostly why everyone was whispering. No one knew who she was. She had shoulder length wavy, black hair, a milk chocolate complexion, and curves in all the right places. Harry wasn't sure if he had ever seen a more beautiful woman. As if she felt his eyes out of all the pairs that were on her, she slowly turned and looked at him. Harry felt as if he had been smacked in the chest. Her eyes were a vivid shade of violet and they pierced him as if she could see to his very soul. He couldn't drag his gaze away. How long he could have stood staring at her he would never know because someone called her name and she turned away, releasing him from the spell of her eyes. Harry let out a shuddering breath as he slowly sank back down into his seat.

"Harry?" He turned his head to see Hermione giving him a worried look. He smiled slightly and patted her hand.

"I'm fine, 'Mione. Just a little stunned. That girl was...something else. I wonder who she is."

"I don't know but maybe Dumbledore will tell us soon or we can ask one of the teachers later," she suggested.

"Good idea. We'll just wait and see." But there was no mention made of the mystery girl that morning. The Gryffindors had double Potions with the Slytherins first and then Herbology with the Hufflepuffs afterwards. As they made their way to the dungeons, Harry speculated on who the girl was and wondered if he would see her again. He entered the classroom and sat in his customary seat between Ron and Hermione. Snape entered the classroom and the door slammed behind him causing some students to jump. He stalked to the front of the room and then turned and glared at the students.

"As I am sure that none of you has heard the truth yet, let me enlighten you about the stranger you saw this morning. After the war, the Ministry has decided to send someone to assess the classes and make sure that the school is once again in proper working order." Murmurs echoed through the class as they all remembered Umbridge. "Now, she will be monitoring different classes each day so you may or may not see her. Today she has decided to start with this class, so do not screw up and embarrass me. She will be here soon and will want to see you all working hard. Today you will be making a simple calming potion as to get you back into the swing of things. Instructions are on the board." With that he went to his desk and proceeded to grade essays. Harry got up and went to the storage room to gather his ingredients. He was soon followed by Ron.

"So what do you think of this whole Ministry thing eh? I seriously hope she's not another Umbridge. One crazy witch trying to take over was enough. Don't you think?" Ron asked.

"Yeah. I still haven't gotten over my run in with Umbridge," he said gesturing to the scars on his hand. They made their way back to their seats and began working on the potion. A few minutes later the door, creaked open.

"Professor Snape? I'm Violet Velocity from the Ministry. I came to watch the class. Where do you want me to sit?" came a lilting voice from the door. As soon as her voice was heard, all heads turned towards the door to see the woman from the Ministry. No one could get a good view of her because she was in the shadows.

"Ah yes, Ms. Velocity. You can sit right over her next to my desk. They're brewing a simple calming potion right now. They just got started so you haven't missed much. Sit right here." Snape led her to the front of the room but his large frame blocked Harry's view of the woman. As soon as she was seated Snape moved back to his desk and Harry got a good look at her. He gasped and his mouth dropped open in shock. It was her. The girl from this morning in the Great Hall. Once again she sensed his gaze and turned to him. Violet eyes clashed and locked with green. She smiled and nodded her head in his direction. When he merely nodded back, she rolled her eyes and pointed towards his cauldron where his potion was seconds away from boiling over. He quickly jerked his gaze away and turned down the heat. He blushed when he heard her soft giggle. Harry slowly smiled to himself. If she was going to be in most of his classes, then the year suddenly looked a whole lot brighter.