After five long years of war, the Order of the Phoenix has fallen. Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic caved to the command of Voldemort. And as for the members of the Resistance... their fates are sealed in blood and servitude. For Ainsley Hale, that means being trussed up and sold to the man whose haunting presence shadowed the majority of her school years. The very wizard who turned the tide toward an inevitable victory for the Dark Lord and his followers. Her former Potions Professor... Severus Snape.

» I didn't know you had a sister, Potter. «

Severus Snape wants absolutely nothing to do with the new Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts. She's bubbly, and gentle, and kind. All of the things he hates the most. But when she accidentally leaves a journal in the staff room full of salacious ideas for what appear to be for a book she's writing, he suddenly finds himself intrigued. Severus returns it to her, but not after discovering that she's been suffering from writer's block. And for some unfathomable reason, he just can't seem to halt the offer that comes out of his mouth. To help her get past it.

Severus Snape never believed in love. Not after Lily Potter died. Not after the war took everything from him, leaving behind a miserable husk of a man. But, the universe has a funny way of giving you the very things you thought you never wanted. Or ones you never thought you'd ever have... And for the grumpy Potions Master, that comes in the form a five foot two blonde spitfire who upends everything he thought he knew.

Severus Snape is a recluse. Following the second Wizarding War, he retreated into the shadows, hiding away from everyone and everything. He preferred life that way - solitary, quiet, and uncomplicated. Other than his occasional affiliation with a certain dark wizarding website. One where he can fully be himself and express his rather... preternatural desires... Online he is BlackPotioneer... a man who is sought out for being a retired Death Eater; not one who is feared for it. And when he begins messaging with a very timid Bookworm18, Severus soon learns that, maybe, even the darkest parts of him don't have to stay hidden away forever.