A/N: Written for Screaming Faeries Halloween Collection Competition with the Prompt: Jet Black

The Snapes' residence was lit up against the darkness of the storm. For a while, after the war, this had been a beautiful home. Severus had met someone and had a family. Kendra had been good for him. Hermione could still remember the smell of sugar cookies baking in the over when she had visited them over Christmas. The house had been lit up with Christmas lights and Severus had even helped his daughter, Zoe, put up a tree. He had remained guarded and reserved to an extent, of course. After everything the war had cost them, Hermione couldn't hold that against him. Still, somehow, the small dark haired little girl running through his house never failed to bring a light to his eyes and a smile to his lips that made him look so much younger.

Tonight, the house was lit up for a different reason. Hermione's stomach churned as she stepped inside. Furniture was toppled over. Vases that had once been filled with flowers were shattered on the floor. Bookshelves were knocked over, the books ripped and scattered across the room. It was the blood that got her though. It was everywhere. Dotting the walls and staining the carpets in pools around the bodies. Severus's corpse was on its knees, leaning over his wife's body as though he had been sitting that way when he'd been killed. Their throats were slashed open savagely.

"Bloody hell…" Harry cursed. He'd thought he'd seen everything. He rarely let his team of aurors see him react around crime scenes. It was important to keep his composure so that they could remain calm and do their jobs as well. This time he couldn't stop himself.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Hermione covered her mouth with her hand.

"Why don't you go look for Zoe while we get this cleaned up," Harry suggested. "You don't have to be here."

"We've already looked." One of the aurors answered before Hermione could move back away from the bodies. There are no other bodies in the house. One of the neighbors heard her screaming as the she was dragged out.

"Who would do this?" Hermione asked. Her face had gone white as a sheet and Harry could see her hands shaking.

He rested a hand on her shoulder, "I don't know, but we're going to find out. I promise."

ONE YEAR LATER

Lucius hunched over the books on his desk, flipping through each one meticulously, page by page. His eyes scanned and searched and scanned again, growing heavier with each passing, dreaded hour. He knew it was going to come again. That ticking. That incessant ticking of a clock that came each night just as the hour struck 12. For two weeks, every night, the ticking tormented him. It came whether he was sleeping or awake. He'd tried everything to end it. He'd cast silencing charms and wards over the house and the rooms and himself. He'd burned every clock in his home and searched every corner for the culprit. Still it came and still it ticked. Narcissa claimed it was his health, since he was the only one who could hear it. The mediwitches ran test after test and found nothing wrong with him except his sour attitude and inflated ego. Then, he'd thought, if anything held the answers he needed, it would be the library. Stacks of books on every type of magic he could think of filled his office. He'd searched more than half of them already, and found nothing. Only one thing was for certain- the clock was counting down to something, and time was running out. He was terrified of what would happen when it did. He hadn't slept in days. His body had grown heavier and heavier as his strength began to fade. Now, he did little more than sit with his books, even as the words began to blur on the page. Lucius turned his gaze towards the window. It wouldn't be long now before the ticking returned. He knew it was useless to close his eyes. To fold his arms on his desk and rest his head on them. He knew the moment he fell asleep It would wake him. It always did, but he couldn't help it. He was so tired.

Tick…tock…tick…tock…Lucius's eyes flew open as the ticking began again. He sat up and pressed his hands against his ears, but it wasn't coming from anywhere in the room. It was inside his head. He could feel each tick as though the sound were echoing within his body. His limbs trembled with it.

Tick…tock…tick…

"Stop it!" Lucius screamed, leaping to his feet. His eyes darted frantically around the room. It couldn't be coming from inside of him. Surely there was a culprit. Surely there was some way to stop it.

Tick…tock…

Lucius came out from behind his desk, turning in circles, "What do you want? Why won't you leave me alone!"

Tick…

And then.

Silence.

A chill went down Lucius' spine. He should have been relieved that it had finally stopped, but he couldn't shake that rising sense of dread. "Hello?" Lucius said, his voice shaking.

Silence.

"Are you still there?" He whispered.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Lucius whirled towards the door of the room. It wasn't coming from inside his head anymore. That was definitely someone knocking on the door. Tap…tap…tap… There it was again. Slower this time.

Lucius took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He had a visitor. The ticking had stopped, and now he had a visitor. It was probably Narcissa or Draco. They had probably heard him scream. That was all it was. They just wanted to check on him.

Lucius slowly stepped towards the door. His hand shook as his fingers gripped the knob.

Tap…tap…Lucius threw open the door. Darkness greeted him. There was nothing but shadows and darkness.

The tapping came again, this time from behind him. Lucius slowly turned around to face it. A bird stood on his desk. It was a raven. A raven with beady black eyes that glared at him with more hatred than any ordinary bird would be capable of. Those eyes. Those eyes with that glare were so familiar, but Lucius couldn't pinpoint exactly where he had seen that look before.

"It's a bird." Lucius told himself, "A bird…just a bird."

The bird opened its beak. "Tick…tock…I know what you did…"

His eyes widened in horror. "You can't talk! You're just a bird!"

"Tick…tock…free the girl or pay the price…tick…tock…"

"No…it can't be…" Lucius whispered, stepping towards the bird. He knew that voice. He knew those eyes and that glare. "You're not him! You're dead! I killed you!"

Tick…tock…The ticking grew louder and louder until it wasn't just coming from the bird anymore. It was coming from the room. From the air around him. No. From inside of him. His ears rang with it.

"Stop it Severus! You're not real! I killed you! Stop it!" Lucius pressed his hands over his ears, but the ticking only grew and grew until his ears were bleeding with it. No…not blood…Lucius' hands shook as he pulled them away from his aching ears. Whatever it was coming from his head wasn't blood. It was slick, but thicker than blood and pitch black.

Lucius fell to his knees, curling up in a ball as though to protect himself. The jet black ooze dripped from the sides of his head, oozed from his nose. His vision blurred as it formed in the corners of his eyes. His throat tightened and his stomach churned. He gagged and choked on it as it filled his airways. Lucius rolled over onto his back as his eyes turned vacant and glossy. Only then did it end.

The raven flew down and landed next to him. It pecked at his pockets until a set of keys fell out, and then it picked them up and flew out of the room, all the way down to the dungeons. A small girl with onyx hair and matching eyes sat huddled in the corner of a small room. Her clothes were stained with dirt and her eyes stained with tears, but she smiled when she saw the bird slip through the bars of her cell. It dropped the keys onto the floor in front of her before landing in her lap.

The bird opened its beak again, but this time there was no ticking sound. Only a single word. A name. "Zoe..."

One year later

Zoe crouched down in front of the Christmas tree, helping Hermione add the last of the decorations. When they were done, they stood back and looked at their finished work of art. Zoe wrapped her arm around Hermione's waist and Hermione held her close.

"Your parents would be so proud of you, you know." Hermione said, looking down at her fondly.

"I wish they could see it." Zoe answered with a sigh.

Hermione was quiet for a long moment before she spoke again. "I have a present for you. I was going to save it for Christmas, but I think it would look really nice with the lights you made for the tree." Hermione rummaged through the bag of gifts she had until she pulled out a small box wrapped with silver paper. She smiled as she handed it to Zoe.

"Thank you!" Zoe gleamed as she quickly ripped the paper from the box and pulled off the lid. A porcelain Raven stared up at her, just like the one her father had used to save her from the dungeons and guide her here.

"Dad?" Zoe said quietly, looking back up at Hermione.

"I think we both know you parents are perfectly capable of watching over you...even if you can't always see them." Hermione pointed out.

A chill went through Hermione at the pure honesty of what she'd just said. It was a warning, as much as it was a comfort. Severus had already shown them what he could do to anyone who dared hurt his daughter.

Zoe smiled.