Author's Note: My sincerest apologies for reposting the previous chapter! Let this be a lesson to people, never post at 4 am. Sorry again...

It occurred to Severus as he watched the woman ripped the mask from her face that nobody had ever seen Jacqueline Eames' real face or knew that the elusive Jack the Ripper's name was Jacqueline. Outside the circle of Death Eaters, she didn't exist.

And he had been aware of Malone's thirst for revenge and his plans to kill Severus or at least try it. But what Severus had not known, at least until he saw the woman remove the mask from her face, was the amount of gall the woman possessed.

Or the amount of cunning she had. Or the extent of her love for him.

Severus tightened his grip on Harry's shoulders as he watched the witch slice into Galen McKenna. A moment later he watched "Jackie" reveal and in turn panic at the sight of the false Dark Prince. As he watched the scene, the truth began to form in his mind.

People always assumed Jacqueline was loyal to Severus only because he was the person in power. Because he had been revealed as a spy during the years after the Dark Lord's reign and had taken a job under Dumbledore, overzealous Death Eaters like Malone would smell weakness where none existed and would in turn try to overthrow the Dark Prince. That was something she simply couldn't have allowed. It was probably Jacqueline who approached Malone with the idea of ensuring he didn't return from this mission.

That was why Malone went along with the ruse, arguing and reacting to Jena Key as if she was the real Ripper. Severus only wondered two things: in what shadowy corner Jacqueline was hiding in as she preformed the Imperius Curse on the witch and when did she make the switch.

He smiled. He loved that woman. So, he decided, he better play his part. He released Harry slowly. "You should have known better, Jacqueline."

The voice was smooth, hypnotic and deadly. It seemed to echo through the Grand Hall, like a voice of God.

The memory of that night stung Snape as he watched the woman before him. Jena was nobody to him yet it was the crime he had committed against her had haunted him. He had condemned her to Azkaban by his silence. The price of protecting Jacqueline was never suppose to have gone that high. He had underestimated Dumbledore's grief over Hawke's death, over all the deaths that night.

That night had called for a reckoning, for Death Eater blood, but instead he had delivered up Jena.

Don't make a sound…

"Forgive me…" He whispered, refusing to stand silent.

Jena looked at him incredulously. She did a little dance towards him. Through her craze and insanity, she whispered. "Don't think about it."

He wasn't even sure why he had done it. The reasons seemed lost on him. He was suppose to have changed. He was suppose to have become a good guy or at least someone trying to redeem himself in the eyes of who? God? Albus? His daughter?

Himself?

He led Jena to the main yard and gave her to Avery. "Take her Akel Dama and have Babbitt to care for her. She is all that matters."

Avery nodded. "But what about them?"

Snape looked over to civilians huddled together in the gym. There were over sixty people there. The Dementors hovered just outside the gym's doors, awaiting his signal. Snape stared into the faces of each one; he knew he couldn't afford to deny the Dementors their meal but could he afford that many more on his, if he had one, conscience? He stared at them forever.

"They need to die." Whispered a female voice besides him.

He turned and regarded the Death Eater's purple eyes coldly. "Haven't enough innocents suffered for you?"

She regarded him with an equal gaze. "Ask Natalie if these people are innocent."

Severus felt his heart torn in two. So many people had died by his word…so many… "Lock them in, leave them be."

"What?" Avery demanded. "Lord Voldemort said-"

"Voldemort is not in charge here, I am." Severus hissed, knowing the words were suicide. "Leave them be, not one is to be harmed."

"And what shall we give them?"

Severus looked at the Dementors. "My lord offers you something greater then these. If you take these now, the Ministry will come and try to destroy you, if you wait till the Ministry falls, you can have your fill."

The creatures seemed to consider this, Severus felt nervous watching them. The effects of being so close to him where wearing on him. He felt a woman's arms wrap around his arm for support and he was grateful for it. The Dementor's leader finally nodded and then turned to glide away, leaving the feeling of death in their wake.

A moment later, he heard Avery lock the doors of the main gym. Then screaming followed it. Screaming, that try as he might, Severus could not block from his mind.

Akel Dama was a chaotic and filled with the dregs of humanity. Severus made it to his room after downing half a bottle of whiskey and writing a quick excuse to Dumbledore that read as followed:

Something's big is happening tonight. Don't know what it is but am trying to gather information. Find a sub for my classes…test on Shirking potion for 3rd. years.

S.S

Severus took a long drink from the whiskey as he read over the note. He was a hypocrite. His mind drifted to Jena…

"I should have died that night in the pub. Someone like me should never be allowed to live."

"If you had died, sixty people would have died tonight."

He hadn't realized Jacqueline was in the room. She walked over to him slowly, cautionously like one would approach a tiger at bay. He didn't have the strength to throw her out or the will to. She took the bottle from his hand and set it on the table.

"I hate you." He told her.

She looked at him with her eyes of cool steel. "But you need me."

"Yes, I do." With that, Severus grabbed her and kissed her.