Chenford419
Book Description:
The war is over. Hogwarts stands.
But not everyone who returns is whole.
Hermione Granger comes back to finish her final year, determined to earn her N.E.W.T.s and reclaim the future that was almost taken from her. Instead, she finds a castle filled with ghosts-some buried, some breathing-and a version of herself she barely recognizes.
Professor Severus Snape, reinstated as Potions Master, is as cold and unforgiving as ever. His standards are impossible. His scrutiny relentless. And Hermione quickly becomes the focus of both.
To everyone else, it looks like hostility.
To Hermione, it feels personal.
But as the year unfolds, the line between cruelty and control begins to blur-and the man she thought she despised may be the only one who truly sees what the war left behind.
He falls first.
She falls harder.
And neither of them is prepared for what that means.
A long, antagonistic slow burn exploring trauma, healing, and the dangerous quiet between hatred and love.