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Last Resort
Jess hated beginnings; in fact, she hated middles and ends as well. It seemed that Jess hated a lot these days. But, that wasn't of importance right now. So, here she was, standing outside the most acclaimed school of witchcraft and wizardry ever known. Jess thought dryly of that fact that as she was starting sixth year, it hardly seemed worth the bother, and the ten hour plane flight. Ah well. Jess sighed in a rather melancholy way, and ran her blank, black eyes over the turrets and stone walls before stepping into the cavernous hall. When a tight lipped woman came hurrying towards her, Jess ran a hand self consciously over her dishevelled plait of light brown. The woman, plain as could be studied the child, as plain as can be.
"Miss Sn-."
"I know what my name is, thank you."
The unfortunate Professor Mc Gonagall wondered if the sneer was a genetic trait. "Ah, yes." She replied delicately, assuming that more than a facial expression was hereditary, "Under the…unique circumstances, we have granted your place at Hogwarts…you must understand the process which we sorted you…"
Once again, Jess cut in curtly, "I'm in Slytherin, aren't I?" The professor nodded, "That's good."
How convenient, Mc Gonagall thought, interested in her younger colleague's reaction to finding how this fiery young lady resembled him. She might have liked to cut that crackpot hat up.
She was taken straight to her cage, metaphorically speaking of course, the Slytherin Common Room.
Once inside, Jess glared around at the multitude of school students running around like beheaded chickens, before sinking into an abandoned armchair which was side on to the entrance. Minutes later, another entrance was made. One which commanded a lot more attention.
"RIGHT! Malfoy, get off that chair this instant, Rosier put that down, Parkinson don't encourage him!.. Now, GET TO BED!...." When the common room went into a simultaneous blink the Slytherin Head added- "NOW!"
Jess had frozen, and not out of fear at the insane screaming of the professor. She knew that voice. Completely apart from the fact that she had been five when she'd last heard it…"Uncle?" She said incredulously, her voice ringing in the pending silence.
Shifting into a position that showed his irritation Professor Snape looked around the common room at the innocent faces of his Slytherin students.
"Not quite but you still must obey and GET TO-" Professor Snape stopped. The students were already wincing, at the unfinished sentence, completing it in their heads.
Apparently his gaze had reached the sulking figure of Jess.
Silence rang so deafening it was irritating Draco Malfoy, who was indeed hanging around for the amusement of hearing Professor Snape torture some one.
Aforementioned Professor was staring at yes, his niece, absolutely horrified.
His last memories, well really only memories, of her were when she was an infant and then a child of 5 turns. She'd drooled on him, and then became a screaming banshee. Not grounds to bond on.
His brother missed the memo, he didn't like children.
"In my office now, Jessica."
Draco sighed impatiently; he'd missed whatever she had done. To be called to the Professor's office would involve something big.
Jess glared coolly back. "No."
In a voice of dangerous quiet he repeated his request with force, a little more strongly worded.
"Now! If you don't wish to find yourself on grave terms."
"No." Jess repeated, her cool tone melting into absolute loathing, "I will not. I am not going to speak to you…In fact, I'm going to bed." With probably the first dismissal Snape had ever gotten from a student, she disappeared into the girl's dormitory.
Pansy had her fingers shoved in her mouth, in anticipation, thinking this could be the day the Professor turned a wand on a student. The rest of the common room took a few steps back to their respective dorm doors. With absolutely no change in attitude the professor flicked his eyes over the group and began to turn an enraged red.
"I believe I told the lot of you, TO GET TO BED. THIS INSTANT."
A paper floated to the ground and the common room was deserted less than 5 seconds later. With everyone feeling that they'd generally missed something.
Pleased with the result of his request, Severus Snape turned his heel and left, off to break the Headmaster's door down, regardless of whether it was locked or not. He would simply because he could. After breaking the hinges, he'd take his newfound destructive skills and use them on the headmaster's neck. All of this played out in his mind as the girl, out of sight but not out of mind, plagued him.
The following day proved to be a fateful one, starting with the lesson of potions. Jess had characteristically seated herself at the back, dubiously ignoring both Slytherins and Gryffindors, glaring around as if daring anyone to sit next to her, or in front of her, or anywhere within four feet of her. A pair of Gryffindors, practically sitting atop each other to keep as far away from her as possible cursed as they heard their potion master's characteristic stalk approaching the dungeons.
"Bloody hell Harry, elbow out of my abdomen."
"Doesn't this bastard get sick?.."
Hermione turned around in her seat. "Really Harry, using language like that doesn't change anything, no real wizard would respect you if you went shooting your mouth off like that."
Ron repeated 'Bastard' pointedly at the door just as Snape swept into the classroom. Jess scowled, gathered up her books and stood. She swept in the identical way towards the door, making sure to stand on the toe of the boy whom had called her uncle a bastard on the way. She made no sign of recognition towards Snape as she left, nor he to her.
"The nerve," the bushy haired Hermione commented to the nervous boy next to her about the girl.
Wincing Ron groaned openly falling onto Harry helplessly, knocking his charms book onto the floor...
"If she's got it in for me I'm done for-"
Professor Snape hadn't even paid Jess's little exit the slightest attention, as he glared at Mr. Weasly.
"Have you a problem Mr. Weasly? Share it with us? Or perhaps you need the acclaimed Harry Potter to speak for you." Both boys glared without fear, just as their Professor returned the look of hatred.
"Nothing, Professor." Ron drawled, adding 'greasy' in dark undertones, receiving a sharp deadly glare from Hermione.
"Yeah you don't have a crushed toe festering in your shoe now do you?"
As it happened, potions wasn't the only interesting lesson which Jess was subjected to that day. Divination turned out to be an experience to remember. It seemed that the staff had deliberately not told Professor Trelawney of Jess's particular ancestry, for reasons which were painfully obvious.
"Ah, my dear girl!" The insect glowed, "Your father! How is he faring?"
Jess sneered up at her teacher, "I expect he's doing rather well. I haven't exactly heard from him since he died."
Just about every antennae shot up in the air, on the word died. Someone always died in the divination lessons.
"Oh, how is your mother coping deary?"
"Heh heh, rather well, she's dead too."
"Eh..ah…Well, your grandmother?"
Jess sighed, wondering how long this would go on for, "Rotting in the ground, actually." Jess wondered just how creative she could get.
The professor looked slightly taken aback, but was not deterred. "Ah well, your Uncle then?"
Jess scowled, "How about you ask him, then?" She retorted coldly before stalking over to an empty table.
The 'insect',''beetle','thing' as she was termed, followed.
Meanwhile at their table the two Gryffindors exchanged looks. Ron looked triumphant.
"I caught that, I actually got that."
"Hurt did it?" Harry asked idly, mockingly.
They looked over at where Jess was seated.
"Your uncle, he's passed on too?" Trelawney asked gently, pursuing conversation.
"One can only hope."
"Then he is still alive?!"
"Unless he died in the last hour, yes, 'm afraid so."
Harry blinked, maybe she had rushed out of potions to get mail, or perhaps see her uncle... that explained everything. Ron looked at Neville who was counting on his fingers for reasons unknown. Yes, he'd missed the conversation, no use asking him squat.
The rest of the lesson passed in bursts of agonizing slow periods, followed by short bursts of speeding time. Eventually, everyone filed down the ladder, Jess almost running Neville down as she scrambled to get out as fast as humanly possible. At the bottom of the ladder, Ron froze. Harry gave him a look.
"Come on." He told Ron, "Not much point drifting around down here."
But Ron didn't move. "Oh…SHIT." He said, "Jess's uncle is Snape."
"OH…shit, she's a Snapette, oh fuck…"
Waiting for them at the bottom, Hermione scowled as she approached them.
"You've a very limited vocabulary haven't you? Gutter mouths, I think you're mother should wash your mouth out Ron." She chided them, as the act came all too naturally to her.
Hurriedly Ron replied, "She did, I mean had, has, but that's not the point. Fess's un-"
"Jess. Continue." Hermione corrected.
"Yeah, Jess's uncle is Snape."
"Oh come on, the pair of you are ridiculous. You don't know that, plus we'll miss lunch if you two hang around here debating it all day."
Lunch or talking about Snape. Lunch.
Ravenously stuffing his face with potato salad, Ron mumbled over the masticated vegetable's, "Wvot we 'ave arfta runch."
Hermione replied testily, disgusted by Ron's table manners. "Charms."
"'Arry,'ave oo done your charms homework." He asked swallowing the load.
"Um, yeah, Flitwick's been a bit, merf lately, so I had too."
"Bugger, I haven't done mine." Ron shrugged, covering up his sense of foreboding about his impending doom and detention due homework, or lack of.
Harry sighed in defeat and rummaged in his bag for his book, seeing where this conversation would go. Hermione made a point of glaring, giving Harry the look that preceded the 'You've just given you're soul away' lecture.
"…. Hey its not here... Did you take it Ron?"
"Hey if I had you're book I wouldn't be asking if you'd done your homework. I'd pass it off for my own."
"Thanks,.. damnation I left it in the dungeons… where is that asshole?"
Scowling Hermione flicked a bit of potato at Harry, scanning the Head Table.
"He's left."
"Correction, leaving."
Ron gestured in the direction of the malevolent Professor dragging the unfortunate Jess from the hall forcefully.
"Who is he harassing?"
"His niece."
"Don't start with that again Harry. She's probably in trouble, you jump to the silliest conclusions sometimes."
"She's violent! Like him."
"When has he been violent? To you anyway?"
"He hasn't yet.. But I bet he has a shovel and headstone with my name on it in his office."
"If he knocked you off do you really think he'd bother with a headstone, especially for you Ron?"
"Are we going to follow him or what?!"
Hermione glowered at the pair as they rose. "I'm not coming." She told them in a superior tone. "And I pray to Merlin that you grow up before you come back."
It wasn't hard to guess where Snape and Jess were headed. And, sure enough, with their ears pressed to the door of Snape's office, they could hear the conversation inside.
"I don't see why this is necessary." The cold, female voice rang out, clearly annoyed.
Professor Snape, well really, Severus Snape, or in this case, Uncle Severus, who didn't like to be questioned by conceited little brats, totally ignored her heated question and simply ordered. "Sit down." The shuffle of feet told the eavesdroppers that, miraculously, Jess had obeyed. But she didn't do it without comment.
"Why on earth do you need to talk to me so badly? You haven't bothered for, how many years?"
"Don't flatter yourself. What do you call yourself these days? Jess? Frightfully inappropriate." He replied bluntly, circling the chair she was seated in, studying her critically.
Ron leaned over and whispered in Harry's ear, judging from the footsteps. "D'you reckon he was a shark in a previous life?"
Harry tutted and elbowed him sharply before extending his neck as though trying to press his head through the door.
"Inappropriate?" It seemed Jess's voice was becoming increasingly colder, "Call me what you will. It doesn't mean I'll answer." Jess sighed, "While we're on the subject, I don't suppose I'm supposed to call you anything. Other than professor."
Not inclined to submit to her interrogation Snape ignored her question instead countering with one of his own.
"Why are you here?"
"Because I have no where else." Jess said softly, "Because the orphanage burnt down." Her voice resumed its hard undertone, "But why is that any concern to you? Your hatred of my bearing your name is apparent. Painfully so. Why don't you disown me and be done with it?"
"Hold your tongue, before you say something you'll regret." He warned lingering for a few moments before sinking into his chair, safe behind his desk.
"Such as?" Jess replied bitterly.
He however had over ridden her words. "Your parents, Lutik and Hannah?" He questioned. It had to be said before he accepted it. He doubted very much Lutik would have sent his own daughter to an Orphanage, no matter how stark raving mad he might have once been.
Jess's voice went dead. "Car crash, Severus. Mother died on impact. Father three hours later in hospital."
Nothing. He wasn't looking at her, he hadn't been to start with, he was gazing off blankly before he frowned. He considered her like she might have been a master of lying. Jess had been staring at her knees, but looked up. Among the deep mistrust and coldness in her eyes was a kind of desperate sadness.
"See? Nowhere else. I didn't want to come here any more than you wanted me to.
It was an answer; he wasn't completely sure what he'd do with this information now. He couldn't ignore the biological orphan, but he wasn't the sort of person for warm reunion and comforting, and obviously neither was Jessica. It was enough for the time being, for him in any case. He waved a hand settling back in his chair. "Go. Now"
And strangely enough, she went. With no quips, no snide comments. She just went.
A/n: Title could be subject to change as the story progresses. By around 4am, if we don't fall asleep we may have another chapter. Read and Review please. ^^