Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling does), nor do I own "General Hospital" (created by Frank and Doris Hursley). No characters are my own, I am just writing for the fun of it; not for a profit.

A/N: This is fiction and combines the world of Port Charles, NY with the world of Harry Potter. It is, by that nature, AU and characters will more than likely be a little OOC. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. 

Spinelli for my intents and purposes is a genius who graduated from high school at an early age and is now 18 or 19. Timeline would be altered as I would simply place the Harry Potter books in the present time, so that 2008 would be year 4, which would mean that Snape would be 34 and Spinelli would have to be 18 (Severus would have been a father at age 16).

We will start off in Port Charles, but the majority of the story will take place in Hogwarts.

Cloaked in Shadows

"The Jackyl will not rest until Maximista vanquishes all thoughts of the Son of Darkness from her mind," Spinelli spoke into the thin air. He was on his way from a meeting with Stone Cold, thinking about his last encounter with Maximista – he had seen her in The Son of Darkness' (Johnny Zaccara) lap a couple of days ago, and so he stood alone on the pier, looking out at the stormy water, his computer clutched protectively in his arms.

Unbeknownst to him, he was currently being watched from the shadows by two men. One dressed in billowy black robes, the other in purple. The 'Son of Darkness'? The man in black wondered, his dark brows creased deep in thought. Whereas the white-haired man in purple silently chuckled, popping a lemon drop into his mouth.

They continued to watch the young man as he sat on the edge of the pier, his feet dangling over the edge, "The Jackyl shall have his vengeance. Yes, the Jackyl shall find a way to thwart the Son of Darkness and shall woo the Fair Maximista right from under his nose."

Who is this Jackyl the boy keeps speaking of? The man in black was curious. He continued to watch from the shadows, determined to keep as still and objective as possible, like he was on a reconnaissance mission. He would not, could not consider the possibility that the young man sitting on the pier could possibly be what Albus had excitedly, if a little reluctantly, informed him of just a few blissfully ignorant days ago. He would not even allow such thoughts to enter his mind as he watched the young man, Damian Spinelli, he had been informed by Albus, open the contraption he had been handling like a baby and start moving his long fingers deftly across it.

He sat there for quite a while, the wind whipping his shoulder-length hair about his face. He absentmindedly tucked it behind his ear or brushed thehair from his eyes from time to time. The two cloaked figures continued to watch from the shadows, the one in black narrowing his eyes, intent upon noting every feature of the young man they watched. Did he have greasy hair? Were his eyes so dark as to be almost black?



Spinelli really wanted to work out a plan to win over the beautiful Maximista, he truly did not want to make the tragic mistake he had made with her sister, the Wise Georgie who had recently been senselessly murdered before he had learned of her interest in him – he had been blinded by his own unrequited interest in The Blonde One. He could have had a real relationship with her, if only he hadn't been so blind. Sighing, he reluctantly began to work on the assignment that Stone Cold had given him. He would much rather be thinking of how to win Maximista over, but instead, he would be looking into the finances of the Zaccharas. As if that would make any difference in the feud that was going on.

As he typed away, looking for ways to hack into the information that he needed, the sensation that he was being watched stole over him and he quickly looked around. "Just being paranoid," he muttered to himself and continued with his work. A couple of minutes later, when he couldn't shake the feeling, he stood, looking frantically around, willing his nerves to calm and his breathing to return to a normal state as it had started to come out in panicked, almost asthmatic-like, shortness. Tucking his computer under his left arm, he started to make his way toward the steps that would lead him into Mr. Corinthos Sir's father's diner. If nothing else, it would be warmer there and perhaps he could shake that feeling of paranoia that had overcome him. Not that he didn't have a lot to be paranoid about with the kind of work he willingly did for Stone Cold. None of it was strictly speaking, legal.

The men who had been watching him kept to the shadows, muttering nearly silent incantations under their breath that rendered them invisible to the non-practiced eye. Waiting for a half a minute to pass, they followed Spinelli into the warmth and brightness of Kelly's Diner. They hovered in a dark corner near the bathroom and what looked like an entrance to a back hallway. The darkness is what they were after. The man in black watched the young man pensively as he sat at the counter, bantering with an old man who had a hand towel draped across his shoulder and an apron tied around his waist. What was it they were talking about, he strained to hear the conversation, a blender? What exactly is a blender? The curiosity had gotten the better of him and he leaned in, intent upon hearing the conversation and seeing what this 'blender' thing might turn out to be. He was also, if truth be told, slightly impressed that the young man had sensed their presence.

He watched and listened so intent upon finding out what it was that Spinelli had offered to fix, that he nearly gave his position away when a muscular young man, dressed in a black t-shirt and blue jeans emerged from the dark corridor and nearly bumped into him. He pressed himself back just in time, but nearly gave a startled gasp when he looked directly into the man's icy blue eyes. It was almost as though he could see him, but no, that couldn't be, he was thoroughly cloaked. What held his interest then? The man in black turned his head to look behind him and sighed in relief when he realized that the blonde man with the intense stare was looking at a clock on the wall behind him. Albus (the man in purple), also a bit startled, put a hand on his colleague's arm to draw him further back. Though no one else could see either of them, they could see each other and Albus mouthed silently, "Hold still."

As if I would move. Severus (the man in black) thought angrily and glared at the man standing next to him, wanting to shake his hand off, but knowing that such an act could give their position away. He had a feeling that if they were discovered by the man who kept staring intently at the clock behind him, things would not go well.



While musing over their predicament and trying not to breathe overly loudly, Severus had forgotten his interest in the young man who sat at the counter, but his dark eyes turned back toward him when said young man eagerly strode over to the man with the piercing blue eyes, some strange shaped glass in his hand, could that be what a 'blender' is?

"Stone Cold," he said with a smile on his face.

The man turned around, his cold blue eyes piercing the soft brown ones of Spinelli (Severus could see the color more clearly now) whose smile faltered, but innocently regained its position on the young man's face.

"Did you get the information?" He asked, a little harshly even to Severus' ears.

"Umm…" Spinelli looked at the blender in his hand, "I'm still working on that," he replied softly.

Stone Cold grasped Spinelli's shoulders and it took nearly all of Severus' willpower and Albus' restraining arm on him to keep the man from intervening. He didn't understand his reaction, after all what Albus had told him the other day quite simply could not be true, why should he care what this "Stone Cold" did to someone who was obviously in his employ and had not done his work? Whatever he got would surely serve him right, wouldn't it? He waited to see what the man would do to the boy, fully expecting him to either bodily throw the shy young man out or bring him into the back room where he clearly conducted some sort of business.

What happened instead completely took him by surprise, Spinelli looked directly into Stone Cold's eyes and the man released his hold on him, "I'm sorry Spinelli, it's just that I really need that information." He ran his hands through his hair and looked at the ground almost sheepishly.

"I'm sorry Stone Cold, it's just that I cannot seem to shake the feeling that forces of darkness are impeding my progress through steady surveillance of my every action. The Jackyl senses that he is being stalked."

At this Stone Cold looked up sharply, taking in each and every corner of the room and looking out of the windows, his blue eyes, piercing in their intensity, sent a shiver down Severus' spine when his gaze fell in his direction. Albus' eyes were not as piercing, nor The Dark Lord's. Those eyes had the look of a stone cold murderer in them. Severus wondered how the boy could stand up under that gaze, how he could look the man in the eye and not quake. Spinelli did not strike him as having much of a back bone and he seemed rather weak to Severus.

"Maybe you'd better work at the apartment," he suggested after seemingly satisfying himself that he had made a thorough sweep of the place.

"Sure, after I fix this for Mike," Spinelli smiled and walked back to the counter, working on the blender. Severus noted that he did not leave the contraption he had opened and used back at the pier, even when he had come to talk with Stone Cold. He laid the black contraption on the counter next to him as he worked on the 'blender'.



Stone Cold continued to stare at the clock and intermittently look around the room. He must be waiting for something to happen, Severus surmised. I wonder what it could be. The possibilities caused the normally stoic man to shiver in spite of the warmth.