A Minor Variation

Where am I? Jenova looked around the room nervously. It was dark and cold, but she didn't recognize anything, and the only thing she could see was a table at the far end of a great hall.

Something brushed against her face and she reached up to feel that she was wearing some sort of a hood. Looking down, Jenova discovered that her entire body was covered in a thick black robe and a shiver went down her spine. She pushed back the hood so she could see better.

Jenova…

A voice beckoned her toward the table and she started slowly toward it, realizing as she walked that her boots made no sound on the stone floor. In fact, she thought, the only sound she could hear was a low humming, as if some huge piece of machinery was idling nearby. It was almost as if she had gone deaf.

As she approached, the empty seats along the rectangular table began to fill with other people, all of whom were wearing black robes, and all of whose faces were hidden behind smooth white masks. There were two empty seats at the table, and Jenova somehow understood that one of these seats was meant for her. The one at the head of the table, however, was meant to remain empty. She knew this too. Somehow.

Slowly, she moved to the empty seat and pulled out the chair. The featureless faces turned to look at her as Jenova sat down slowly. She was getting a strange feeling from the table, as if she knew one of these people. But where would she have met one of the Death Eaters?

The plates before them filled with food and the group began to eat in silence. They were waiting for something…but what? Again, she had the feeling that she already knew the answer to this question.

"Good evening, Jenova." A voice behind her made her turn and Jenova found herself face to face with the one who called himself Lord Voldemort. "We have been expecting you."

"Why am I here?" Chilled to the bone, Jenova forced herself to look him directly in the eye. "What do you want with me?"

"I believe you already know the answer to that." Voldemort sat in the empty chair at the head of the table and folded his hands over the plate. Only Jenova seemed to notice that he wasn't eating like the others.

"The book."

"Yes, the book. But it is so much more than that, Jenova…surely you know by now. The book contains great power, but that power must be unlocked by one who can solve its secret. You." His red eyes narrowed in her direction and Jenova looked down at her plate, which had not been touched.

"If you're supposed to be so powerful, why not just translate it yourself?" Surprising herself with the force of her words, Jenova looked back up at him. There was something strange in the back of his fixed smile that she didn't like a bit.

"I could. But you have a gift, Jenova…a gift that would be most beneficial to us. That is why I asked you here…to consider joining us." The words seemed to ring in Jenova's ears, and she frowned as she shook her head.

"No."

"You would refuse me?"

"As many times as it takes to make you understand." The courage was coming from a place in herself that she didn't even know existed, and Voldemort gave her a look that was disconcerting to say the least.

"Jenova…" Voldemort's voice became softer, silkier, and the rest of the dinner guests suddenly disappeared from their places at the table. "I understand that you may harbor some…ill feelings toward us for past events, but surely you understand that certain circumstances necessitate such actions."

"I understand that you have no regard for anyone other than yourself. Even your followers know that much. Now, if you will excuse me…" Jenova stood up and Voldemort stared at her coolly.

"Perhaps you do not comprehend the seriousness of the situation, Jenova. There is only one option for you. Join us, or meet the same end as your mother." A wave of his hand, and Jenova's mother's face appeared before her.

"This discussion is over," she said, turning away from the table and her mother's image. She wasn't going to allow him to manipulate her that easily.

"Yes, I'm afraid it is." With another wave of his hand, a shriek of pain traveled up Jenova's forearm, burning its way under her skin and into her nerves. Biting down on her lower lip to keep herself from screaming, Jenova pulled up the sleeve of her robe to see the Dark Mark staring up at her, its blank eyes burned into the layers of her skin.

"No…no…"

With a gasp, Jenova opened her eyes and looked around the room. Beads of sweat covered her forehead and ran down the sides of her face as she sat up and realized that she was in her room at Hogwarts. A strange, coppery taste filled her mouth and she reached up to discover that her lip was bleeding.

A dream…that's all it was…a horrible dream. Just to make sure, Jenova pulled up the sleeve of her nightgown and checked her arm. The phantom pain from the dream was still there, but there was no visible mark. Nothing…nothing there.

Shivering now despite the warmth of the room, Jenova pulled down her sleeve and looked at her surroundings. He knew she was alive. It wouldn't be long before he came for her, even here. Reaching down below the covers, she touched the round coin that was attached to a black cord around her ankle.

Yes. He'd be coming.

* * *

Putting her hands on her hips, Jenova looked around her classroom. It didn't look half bad, actually. She had used giant brass relief paintings of the ancient runes to decorate the walls and surrounded the rest of the place with a veritable library of books. The former teacher, Professor Cipher, hadn't done much with the room or its office, but Jenova felt that it needed some warmth.

There was a birdcage in the corner of the room and she looked over at it thoughtfully. A bird would be kind of nice. Homey.

Her eyes fell on the sleeve of her dress and she sighed. She was grateful to McGonagall for having it sent over from Hogsmeade, but it was so plain and the high neck wasn't really her style. What she needed was to go out and get her own set of clothes. Maybe then she would feel a little more like a human being.

Rooting around in her money pouch, Jenova was pleased to discover that she had enough money to buy herself a new dress at the very least, and maybe some boots as well. Her happiness lasted only as long as it took her to remember that she wasn't supposed to leave the school grounds unaccompanied and she leaned on her desk and sighed deeply. Maybe one of the other teachers would like to go out to Hogsmeade.

* * *

"Come on, Minerva, just for an hour…that's all I'm asking." Jenova followed McGonagall down the hall, trying to make her feel as sorry for her as she could. "I just need a dress…"

"You have a perfectly nice dress, and I have to get the things ready for tonight's Sorting Ceremony." She wasn't even looking up at Jenova as she continued to read something off a piece of parchment. "Is your classroom ready for tomorrow?"

"Never mind." Completely annoyed at the world now, Jenova turned and walked the other way down the hall and into her classroom. Why had she ever agreed to such a moronic rule in the first place? In a burst of childish rage, she kicked the leg of her desk as hard as she could. "Dammit!" As if responding to her anger, the contents of the desk jumped and rearranged themselves, leaving several things sliding dangerously close to the edge. Before she could catch them, most of the things went cascading onto the floor, causing her to curse loudly and kick the desk again. "DAMMIT!"

Kneeling down to pick up the books and papers, Jenova realized that one of them was the Talcryllian Processes book she had borrowed from Snape several days earlier. She picked it up again and began to flip through it slowly. Of course, there was always one person she hadn't asked, but…

Look, you silly twit, do you want a new dress or don't you? It's as simple as that.

Clenching her teeth, Jenova carried the book down the stairs to the point of last resort. As usual, Snape's door was locked and she knocked gently.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Excuse me, Severus?" Pushing the door open, she smiled. Everything had been cleared off of his desk and there was a distillation setup covering the majority of it. "What are you working on?"

"The headmaster required some Dacon's Solution," Snape said, emptying a small tray of diced caterpillars into the cauldron that was simmering on his desk. "And what, may I ask, do you require?"

"Well…as you are aware…I-I'm not allowed to leave the castle without another faculty or staff member. I need to go down into Hogsmeade to get a dress for the Feast this evening, and I was wondering…"

"I'm sorry, but I'm quite busy," replied Snape without another look in her direction. "However, I'm sure that there are a great many other professors around this school that would be willing to go waste their time in the village." Snapping shut the book that was in front of him, he looked up at Jenova. "I, however, am not one of them."

"That's very well, but I have already asked all of them," Jenova said, starting to get annoyed. What was his problem, anyway? She hadn't wanted to admit to him that he was her last choice, but it seemed like it had just happened. "It's you or nothing."

"Then I'm afraid it will have to be nothing," came the answer as he turned his back on her.

"Look, I'm not asking much, just…"

"Not another word," Snape said, holding up a hand to silence her. "Once this potion is through simmering, it will have to be distilled one and a half times so as you can imagine I can't leave it alone."

"I know how to prepare Dacon's Solution," Jenova said icily, folding her arms. "So I suppose I'll have to figure something out on my own." Slamming his book back down on an available table, she turned on her heel and stalked out. Just talking to him was putting her in a foul mood. "Oh and by the way," she said, turning to look at him one more time. "I think you'll find that if you half triple distill the solution, it will be much more accurate than just trying to halt the process when you think it might be done halfway through the second process." With that, she left and slammed his door.

"I think not," Snape replied to the closed door as he went back to setting up the distillation coil. With some annoyance, he stirred the potion one last time and looked back at the book before beginning the distillation process. Just for curiosity's sake, he checked the calculations she had suggested and narrowed his eyes. She was right. But that was impossible…the calculations she would have needed to perform were quite complex. How could she have made that determination so quickly?

* * *

"Severus?"

"What is it now, Minerva?"

"Have you, by any chance, seen Jenova? She needed to discuss her lesson plans with Albus before the term started but he wasn't available until just now." Her green eyes searched the room as if she thought Jenova might be hiding in some corner, and Snape shook his head as he watched the progress of his solution through the coil.

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because Argus Filch said he saw her come down here a while ago but I can't seem to find her anywhere in the castle or the dungeons." It was at exactly this moment that something clicked in the back of Snape's mind and he looked up.

"I believe I might have some idea where she might be."

* * *

That stupid…Snape tried to control what was left of his temper as he stormed down the main street of Hogsmeade looking for Jenova. I'm going to find her and then I'm going to kill her. Every moment he spent searching for her he was becoming more and more angry with her, until he was starting to become worried about what he might do to her once he actually found her.

He was so busy trying to maintain his composure that he didn't recognize the figure that was walking toward him. The oncoming witch didn't seem to see him either, and he was about to sidestep her when he suddenly realized who it was.

Wearing a black velvet gown with deep green piping around its pointed sleeves and squared neck beneath a richly embroidered green robe that made a soft rustling sound as she walked, Jenova hardly looked like the same person despite the fact that her dark hair was pulled back in a thick braid. She was fishing bits of spun sugar out of a Honeydukes bag and slipping them surreptitiously into her mouth as she looked into each of the windows of the stores.

"Jenova." Stepping directly into her path, Snape managed to keep his voice at a reasonable level as he looked at her. Much to his surprise, Jenova smiled.

"Oh, hello Severus." She took another bite of her candy and gave him an airy look. "Fancy seeing you here. I could have sworn you said you had things to do."

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" His words came out through clenched teeth as he hissed them in Jenova's direction, leaning closer to her. "Do you realize what kind of a risk you're taking?"

"Seeing as how no one was available to chaperone me," Jenova said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice, "…I decided to come here by myself. I happen to be a grown woman, despite what you all think." She walked past him briskly, still smiling. "Let's see, pet store…"

"Damn it, Jenova," Snape growled, following almost on her heels. "You agreed to stay at the castle and follow the rules that were set to keep you safe. Now, it is time you stopped acting like a spoiled five year old child before it gets you killed." There was no answer to this from Jenova and Snape dug his fingers into the palms of his hands. "This is precisely the reason that you need some sort of supervision. If you want to get yourself killed, that is completely up to you. But don't think for a moment that you are going to be allowed to endanger the lives of everyone around you so that ---"

"Shut up."

"What?" Snape stopped in his tracks and Jenova turned to face him. "What did you say to me?"

"I said shut up. If the only reason you came down here was to lecture me then you can go right back to where you came from. I do not need this, especially from you." Her eyes were narrowed now, and Snape was becoming incensed.

"Apparently, you need to hear it from someone," he said, red patches beginning to appear on his cheeks as his voice crawled up a decibel. "It seems that your parents didn't bother to teach you that there are other people in the world besides you. Or any manners for that---" He was interrupted as Jenova's hand flashed out and grabbed the front of his robes, curling her fingers around the stiff black material tightly as his eyes glittered dangerously at her. "Take your hand---"

"Don't you dare speak to me like that. I am sick and tired of being spoken to and treated like I'm some sort of incompetent child by you and everyone else that thinks they're helping me. I don't care what you think, but I am not going to let myself be controlled by the fact that someone may or may not be coming after me." There was a fire in the back of her eyes that warned Snape that she was about to crack, and he kept his mouth shut for the moment. "And by the way, thank you for saving my life. But that doesn't give you the right to act like I'm some sort of insect that can be stepped on because you're too busy to deal with me." She threw her handful of robes back at him and pushed past him on her way back up the street.

Staring after her, Snape was unable to think of anything to say. People didn't just…no one spoke to him like that. For a long moment, he was caught between fury and a slight admiration for what she had just done before he hurried to catch up with her.

"What do you have left on your list?" His words seemed like a foreign language to her, and she frowned.

"What?"

"Look, will you just hurry up? I said I had a lot of work to do," he said, walking ahead of her as she quickened her step to catch up with him. "The half triple distillation should be done by the time we return."

"You're coming with me?" There was a note of suspicion in her voice as she looked over at him, and Snape remained silent. "Thanks, Severus."

"Just hurry up and get on with it."

"I told you half triple distillation would work better."

"Must you keep talking?"