All's Fair; Interlude I

Summary: Arriving at Hogwarts as new charms teacher, Dannielle 'Danni' Prince soon finds that surly Potions Master, Severus Snape, is the least of her worries when ghosts of the past come back searching for vengeance. SS/OC
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the storyline and Danielle Prince
Warning: This mini-chapter rated K+
Word Count: 815
Beta: All-Knowing Alien 2

I: The Blood Red Veil

I was somewhere but nowhere. There were walls, but the room seemed to stretch on forever. It was definitely square, but there were no corners, so I guess it was a circle as well. Perhaps I should have looked more closely, but my mind was thick and hazy. I wondered vaguely if this was it. The afterlife. Heaven. Or, perhaps, Hell. It was awfully empty and lonely.

A figure appeared. I wasn't sure how. It were just there. It seemed the most natural thing in the world.

'Hello,' said a familiar voice.

'Hi Jesse,' I replied and the figure stepped forward, wrapping me up in his arms. He looked so much like my lost love and yet… different somehow.

'I missed you,' he confessed, burying his head into my neck and kissing me there. His touch made my skin tingle in a way akin to being caressed by a ghost.

'Same,' I said.

'But you've moved on?' he asked, no accusation in his tone, just curiosity.

'I love you, Jesse, always will,' I assured him. 'But it's been awhile.'

'Yeah, too long.'

We stepped away from each other and sat together cross-legged on the floor that wasn't a floor. 'What is this place?' I asked.

'Somewhere in between.'

'Life and death?'

He nodded slowly.

'So I'm not dead?'

'No.'

'But then, what are you doing here?'

He looked up at me slowly, his expression suddenly heavy. 'I'm stuck here,' he explained. 'Stuck in limbo and I don't know why.' He slammed his fist down on to the not-floor.

I lifted the hand and slowly unclenched his fingers. I lifted it to my mouth and kissed the palm gently. His eyes flickered shut, reminding me hauntingly of the sweet years we had spent together before his death, when we had made love in the early hours of the morning and then just lay in each other's arms, eyes flickering shut under soft, loving caresses.

'Who else is here?' I asked gently.

Jesse shrugged. 'This place is weird. It is and it isn't and it's impossible to get bored, despite there being nothing to do. Sometimes there are lots of people, sometimes there are none. I don't know how it works.' His eyes stared at me dully and I realised how much that bothered him. Whilst I soaked up information, he yearned for it; my Jesse was addicted to learning more. I shook my head. Not my Jesse anymore – just Jesse.

Then his eyes lit up. 'I know!' he cried, jumping to his feet and tugging me up too. 'I can show you the veil!'

'The veil?' I asked, laughing as he pulled me into a run.

Again the weirdness of the situation struck me. We were running, but also standing still. The wind was whipping through our hair, yet the air was still. And whilst we were definitely moving towards something it didn't seem to be getting closer. Then we stopped. Or started.

There, before us, was a large marble arch and from it hung a thin, filmy, deep red curtain that was fluttering in a non-existent wind. Or maybe the wind did exist and the veil was still. It was impossible to tell in this place.

'The Blood Red Veil,' I murmured.

Jesse looked at me curiously. 'No one's called it that for years. It's just The Veil,' he said.

'I've seen through it before.' I paused, uncertain as to what to say. 'When Bella was hurting me I could see her, but the colours were wrong. Not… red, just… different. Shiny but dull.'

He looked at me and nodded. 'I know. You can see things from here to both life and death. Hardly anyone looks forward, though.'

I cocked my head in unspoken curiosity.

'Would you want to know you were destined for Hell?' Jesse replied.

Nodding I looked back at the arch. 'Can I look in?'

There was a long, pregnant pause.

'What are you going to look for?' he asked me finally.

'Cameron,' I replied. 'I don't want to see me – that would be too weird – but I need to make sure Cameron's alright.'

Jesse bit his lip, then let me pass so I could look more closely at the veil. I ran my hand over the shimmering cloth, barely a centimetre from the ancient artefact. The veil rippled around my hand as though I had touched it and as it moved it change – seemed to solidify. Then a picture appeared that was more than TV, but less than real life. I leant forward to see, but the pictures became no clearer. When I finally thought I could see something clearly I moved ever closer, not realising my proximity to the veil until it was too late.

I heard a cry from behind me, but before it had registered I had fallen through and my world had, once again, turned black.


Written: Unknown
Chances of continuation: nil

Feel free to use this piece of writing for whatever the hell you want, so long as you credit me (either this account or my main one - Calistabelle) and let me know what you do with it.

Much love,
Cal