After the war, a new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor arrives at Hogwarts — brilliant, ambitious, and far too skilled in dark magic for someone so young. Almost immediately, she clashes with Severus Snape, whose cold criticism and constant interference make it painfully clear that he cannot stand her. Their hostility quickly becomes infamous throughout the castle. But as strange incidents begin unfolding around Hogwarts, the tension between them shifts into something far more dangerous. Protective wards appear around her office overnight. Snape always seems to arrive moments before disaster strikes. And beneath his sharp cruelty lies an attachment neither of them fully understands. Because Severus Snape has spent years believing himself incapable of love. Until her.