"Master!"
Jacqueline pushed open the doors of Snape's mansion, Akel Dama. His house elf, a wiry petite thing called Babbitt was staring wide-eyed and terrified. Snape was struggling to remain awake. He was leaning heavily on Jackie, his arm thrown over her shoulders. His head kept bobbing up and down as he tried to take in where he was. Babbitt was pounding her fists on Snape's thigh having thrown her whole body on him.
"Listen to me, you little cockroach, stop crying!" Jackie shouted.
"Master Snape is dying! Oh no, Master Severus, no dying!" Babbitt moaned. "He's bleedin, all over me waxed floors! Master Severus is dying!"
"Babbitt," Snape forced out. "Why aren't these floors clean, there's blood everywhere."
"Cuz you dying! Oh no, Master!"
The house elf went into another chorus of weeping. Jacqueline finally had to peel her off before carrying Snape to a bedroom. She sat him down and began to undress him. His black robes were moist with blood and they stained her hands. She ordered Babbitt to bring hot water and fresh towels, to which the elf sprinted off. Jacqueline helped Snape to the bed, where he collapsed.
Without his billowing robes, Snape looked human. His black hair was matted with blood and strewn over the pillow. His shirt was off revealing fine lines from perfect muscles, all terribly defined by thin streams of blood that flowed from a hole in his stomach. Jacqueline tried desperately not to show her terror as she keep wiping away the blood, all the while keeping him talking.
"Tell me about your daughter again, Severus!" She demanded. "Or tell me about how we were."
"We? We were grand together Jackie. Don't you remember? We destroyed entire villages, communities, lives...we made Voldemort's reputation by bathing our own in death. We were young, and foolish." He rambled on, incoherently, "You took a Auror, the son of Aurors and killed him. You made him into your own image." He smiled. "You made him a Prince." He looked at her with a warm gaze, one she had longed to see. "And he never thanked you." His head rolled to a side again. "Or told he cared for you..."
"Severus." She pleaded, leaning down. "Don't die, please."
He looked into her eyes. "If I hadn't met Melanie again, if we hadn't had Alchemy...we could have been grand, Jackie. I should have never betrayed Voldemort. I should have never agreed to betray him."
"Don't talk like that. You never betrayed him."
"Yes, Jacqueline, I did. I betrayed him because of Melanie and Alchemy. Because I thought I was doing..." His body tensed and he cried out in pain. He had to complete his thoughts. "Oh please forgive me for betraying..."
"Shhh. It never happened, Severus." She soothed. "You're going to survive this and whatever you did, that will be what dies tonight. After tonight, you'll be the Prince again..."
Babbitt had entered with a healing broth but knew it was too little to help.
"Come on roach!" Jackie shouted. "He's a bloody Potions Master...there is nothing he has that can help?!?"
"If only Master would let Babbitt bring him the Stone!"
Jacqueline's eyes narrowed. "What stone?"
"The Sorcerer's Stone"
"Idiot roach, that was destroyed!"
"Not this one! This is more powerful, Master said, he kept it from You-Know-Who. Only him and Master Lupin knows about it!"
Jacqueline's mind wasn't understanding what the rave elf was muttering, but her heart understood. The roach had something that could save the man she loved. "Bring it to me!"
"Oh no, ma'am. He said no one is to see it."
Jacqueline pulled the elf up to the bed. Babbitt howled at the sight of her Master's motionless body. "Do you see that? That is your Master bleeding out! He will not die because some pathetic little rat of a species refuses me. Bring me what you're talking about!"
Babbitt shivered and looked to her Master. Slowly, she nodded and jumped down and disappeared. She reappeared moments later with a rosewood box. She handed it to Jacqueline who promptly blasted off the lock with her wand and peered inside. She pulled out a Death Eater's mask and then a small sapphire that fit into the palm of her hand.
Jackie's breath caught. She was holding the Unicorn's Tear. Rumors of the Tear's power had once made Voldemort send out his best followers to search for it. Severus, as the Dark Prince, had been the leader. He had said it didn't exist. According to legend, the Unicorn's Tear had been made by a powerful Wizard using the cruelest of the Dark Arts. It had gotten it's name from the key ingredient- Unicorn's blood. But because unicorn's blood had been used to fashion the stone, the Elixir of Life it produced was tainted. The potion was said to cause madness, turning innocents evil and giving those already loyal to the Dark Arts increased power at a price. The potion was addictive. She looked at Severus.
"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked him. She looked back to Babbitt. "Bring me a glass."
Severus opened his eyes at Jackie's urging. He smiled at her playfully. "Can't a man die in peace?" He asked.
"Drink this..."
He eyed it curiously. "What is it?"
"A second chance." She said carefully.
He stared at her and back to the drink which was thick and red with streaks of what appeared to be molten silver. He leaned forward and fell back. He was too weak, "I can't."
"Listen to me, you arrogant bastard! Don't you dare seek a martyr's death. You have to drink this, it's the only way you'll live."
Snape lolled his head to his side. He was too weak.
"Think of your daughter!" She screamed at him, her voice panicked. "Or all those others who died for you!"
His eyes opened. Pulling from every once of strength his beaten body could muster, he obeyed when Jacqueline placed the glass to his lips. Slowly, he drank.
A scream pierced the silent night. It echoed through the old house. It was a scream of a wounded animal, inhuman and horrifying. It seemed to last forever, bathing the house in a mood of tense fear. Severus Snape screamed at the top of lungs like a man insane. His insides were on fire, he felt like he was drowning and burning up at the same time. His back arched as he clung to the edge of his bed for some tangible object of reality. He was certain he was in hell. His body contorted again, more painfully then before and then he flung himself back to his bed.
His breathing was ragged and tortured. Slowly, he rolled over to his side.
"Severus?"
It was Jacqueline's voice. He ignored it for a moment as he regain his senses. Something was different now. He felt exhilarated, like he had the night of his first kill. He felt acutely aware of everything, from the summer breeze to the buzz of the flies. He reached down and prodded his stomach, the wound was gone. Fresh scar tissue was in its stead. He smiled softly.
"Severus are you alright?"
He considered not answering. He felt too alive to. He was afraid that if he acknowledge reality, this sensation would end. The thought of being without it scared him.
"Tell me what you need, Sev." Jackie continued. "What do you want?"
Snape closed his eyes and felt the bed. His hand found what he was looking for. Taking the cool mask into his hands again was like taking a long, drink of cold water. As he placed it on his face, he felt the cold material mold perfectly to the contours of his face. It was like the greeting of an old friend. He sat up and stood, walking to his wardrobe.
Jackie watched as he slipped into a white shirt that hung loosely on his shoulders. He turned around and tilted his head slightly. The moon light glistened off three slender gold lines that were posed perfectly over the left eye of the mask.
"I want revenge."
