No one really saw what it was, but they heard the loud SMACK as whatever it was stood next to Snape. Then the class saw a woman, a very beautiful woman, standing there in jeans and a black long sleeved, button down shirt, a cowboy hat, and boots. She was glaring at Snape, with her hands on her hips. Snape looked positively shocked to see her and there was a red hand mark on his cheek where she had obviously slapped him.
"We spend a beautiful week together and you don't even owl me?" the girl said, she looked like she was about to cry, but was holding it back. She also had a deep accent, it sounded Western, American perhaps.
"Jaci…I…I'm sorry?" Snape managed to say.
"For what? For breaking my heart in two or for giving me the greatest pleasure I've even known?" 'Jaci' said. The class looked wide-eyed back at Snape.
"For both?" Snape choked. The class looked back at the 'Jaci'.
"Well forget it, I've spent too many nights crying over you." With that the girl began to walk out of the classroom.
"No, Jaci wait," Severus grabbed her arm and turned her around, there was fire in her eyes.
"What do you want?"
"We need to talk." With that he roughly escorted her out of the dungeons and shut the door, the class immediately got up to go and stand by the door to listen to what they were saying.
"Severus Snape you let go of me right now!" Jaci said, kicking her legs up, twisting and squirming to get him to let go of her. Severus only held on tighter. He brought up against a wall and pinned her so she wouldn't move and couldn't kick him.
"We need to talk Jaci." He said. Jaci glared at him.
"I have nothing more to say to you Snape." Severus winced.
"Well then you listen I talk." He sighed and let her go. "There happy?" she glared at him, but nodded. "Now will you listen?" she nodded again. "Good, but first I think I'll have to dismiss my class, want to come?" again she nodded.
Harry scrambled back to his desk and everyone made it just in time as Professor Snape opened the door, walking in, his face in his usual sneer, he walked to the head of the classroom and crossed his arms, the woman walked over to his desk and plopped herself into his chair, she looked on his desk and looked at a letter.
Harry tried not to smile as she picked it up and began to read it, she looked up at Snape a bit astonished and Harry figured that the letter was to her and she hadn't opened it. Just then Snape cleared his throat, sending Harry's glance up to him.
"You should be finished with the potion by now," Snape said, glaring at Harry, he had seen him looking at Jaci. Harry merely smiled up at him. "You are dismissed." Just then Harry knocked one of his bottles down on the ground and as the class filed out, he began picking it up. Snape growled, he knew that that was an old trick of Potter's. He turned to look at Jaci and saw she was reading the letter and crying. He quickly walked over to her.
"S…Severus, you sent th…this to me?" Jaci cried, holding up the letter. Severus nodded. "Wh…when?"
"Last night," Severus whispered. Jaci stood up and looked at him. She shook her head.
"But I didn't get it."
Severus nodded. "I know, my owl returned it to me unopened." Jaci sighed and shook her head.
"It was father probably." Just then they heard shuffling and they turned their heads. Severus growled.
"Potter!" Severus spat bitterly, Jaci winced slightly, she wasn't used to his voice in that tone. "What are you doing?" Snape growled. Just then Jaci cocked her head to one side. The boy stood up, looking at them, he showed them a rag.
"Cleaning up my swamp water sir," the boy replied. "I…" but he stopped talking as Jaci walked up to him and brushed his hair to one side, reveling the scar. She smiled.
"Cool, I figured you were Harry, I'm Jaci, Jaci Cortez," with that Jaci held out her hand for Harry to shake. Harry looked at her stunned, so did Snape. "Come on, don't leave me hanging, I don't bite." Harry smiled and shook her hand.
"I'm Harry Potter," Harry said. Jaci smiled.
"I know, oh, you can get back to cleaning up your swamp water now." Jaci grinned broadly and Harry was flashed with white, straight teeth. He smiled slowly back and went to picking up his water. Jaci turned to face Severus again. She grinned at him and he couldn't help but smile.
Underneath the desk, Harry watched the scene in amazement, Snape was smiling! Not his usual bear of teeth, not his strained fake smile, but a true genuine smile! It was amazing, this was the side of Snape that no one had ever seen before and here he was witnessing it!
"How did you get here?" Severus asked her. Jaci grinned.
"I flew over to London, found the Leaky Cauldron and Apperated to Hogsmead." Severus shook his head.
"Only you." He mumbled. Jaci laughed. Harry enjoyed it, it was rich and full.
"Severus can I stay with you for a while?" Jaci whispered. Severus' eyes went wide. He walked Jaci to one side of the room as Harry collected his bags and began to walk out.
"What's wrong?" Harry heard Snape mumble.
"It's my father and…Him." Harry cleared the door, shocked, Him, could she mean Voldemort? Harry shook his head, no of course not. He began running to the Common Room to tell Ron and Hermione what had happened when he crashed into someone.
"Hey! Watch it!" a girl said. Harry stepped back, and picked up the book he had made her drop.
"Sorry," he looked up and held his breath. The girl standing in front of him was rather breath taking. He quickly looked at her robe and saw she was in Slytherin! She glared at him.
"It's okay, I guess, just watch where you're going next time okay?" she asked. Harry nodded, still holding his breath. With that the girl walked away.
Jaci turned away from Severus' pissed off face. She had just finished telling him why she had left her home, why she was here instead of America and he was pissed. She closed her eyes and he slammed his fist into the wall, again and again, until his knuckles were bloody and bruised. She quickly walked over to him, and drew him into her arms. He held onto her as she began to sob.
"Don't cry," he whispered into her ear. She shuddered and only held on to him tighter and cried harder. He sighed and kissed the top of her head softly and waited until her sobs stopped.
Dumbledore knocked softly on the door of one of his trusted friends, but when he didn't answer, Albus merely walked in. He stood at the doorway for a few minutes, smiling, there was his trusted friend…in the arms of a woman. They hadn't noticed him, Severus was holding on to her and she was crying. Dumbledore waited patiently as he heard the woman's sobbing cease and Severus mumble something comforting in her ear and he cleared his throat softly.
Both Severus and the woman turned and jumped apart. Dumbledore smiled and walked completely into the room and shut the door. Severus led the woman to a seat and handed her a handkerchief and she began to dry her tears.
"Umm, Headmaster, how, how nice to see you, how are you?" Severus said. Dumbledore smiled.
"Fine Severus, and you?"
"Uh, just, just fine." Just then Jaci stood and walked to be next to Severus, he immediately put his arm around her waist, and then blushed when he had realized what it was he had done, but he didn't remove it. "Headmaster, this is, um, Miss Jacqueline Cortez from Laredo, Texas in America." Dumbledore smiled. He walked over to the woman and shook her hand. Jaci smiled up at him.
"Hello Miss Cortez, welcome to Hogwarts." Dumbledore looked up at Severus, then frowned. "Severus, your knuckles." Dumbledore pointed to the blood falling off Severus' hand and onto the floor. Severus quickly hid his hand.
"It's nothing Headmaster, please have a seat." Severus quickly waved for Dumbledore to take his desk seat, but he refused as he always did and sat down where Jaci had sat, she followed his lead and sat down next to him.
Jaci tried not to stare at the man sitting next to her who was making small talk with Severus. She was sitting next to the Albus Dumbledore! This was a once in a lifetime experience for someone who had come from the rubble of the United States.
"What about you Miss Cortez?" Dumbledore suddenly asked. Jaci jumped slightly. She blushed and Dumbledore smiled.
"I'm sorry, what was the question?" Jaci asked.
"Which Muggle candy do you prefer?" Dumbledore asked. Jaci tried not to let her mouth hang open. Dumbledore was asking her about Muggle candy? Wow. Jaci then smiled.
"Well I like anything with chocolate like Three Musketeers or Snickers. What about you Mr. Dumbledore?"
"Oh please, call me Albus. I prefer lemon drops." He smiled widely, then he looked at the clock on Severus' wall. "Oh my, it's time for dinner. Miss Cortez will you be joining us?" Jaci smiled.
"Oh Headmaster, I was hoping that Miss Cortez could stay with…with me for a while." Severus tried not to avoid Dumbledore's eyes, but it was hard, Dumbledore was grinning like he'd just won the mother load of lemon drops.
"Of course, we'll be glad to have you as long as you like Miss Cortez." Dumbledore smiled at Jaci and she grinned.
"Thank you…Albus."
"May I escort both of you to dinner?" Severus asked. Dumbledore smiled.
"You two go ahead, I'll be there in a few moments, I have something I need to check." With the he walked out of the room, leaving Severus staring at Jaci. She laughed and Severus smiled.
"What's so funny?" he asked, coming up behind her and nuzzling her neck slowly.
"The look on your face Severus." Jaci touched the hand around her waist and gasped. "Oh Severus, you're still bleeding." Severus placed his hand behind his back quickly.
"It's nothing." Jaci shook her head.
"At least let me treat it for you." Severus sighed. He nodded and held out his hand. Jaci placed some ointment and then wrapped the knuckles up. When she was finished, he held out his arm and they walked out to the Great Hall.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked up, as did everyone else, as Snape walked in with the woman named Jaci. They could hear muttering and whispering as people who didn't have the class ask who she was, and the people who did have the class tell them the story.
It looked like Snape was ignoring everyone but Jaci, she had her arm looped through his, leaning against him, talking to him in whispers and he was trying to keep a stern face, but with her telling him little jokes, it was very difficult.
As they sat down at the teacher's table, Severus saw that there was an extra seat for Jaci on his left. He looked over at Dumbledore who smiled at him. Severus shook his head and gave a little grin, which disappeared as soon as it had appeared. He led Jaci to her seat, pushed it in for her, then he walked to his seat. Everyone was still whispering as the food appeared and everyone began to eat. Everyone would occasionally glance up at Snape and the woman.
"Harry, I just can't picture it mate, I'm sorry," Ron said to Harry as they ate. Harry sighed.
"I know, but it was, I'm telling you, he was grinning his head off. He was holding her like, like a…a…" Harry struggled to find the word.
"A girlfriend?" Hermione put in.
"Yes, no, like, well, like he cared for her deeply," Harry finished. Ron shook his head and looked up at the teacher's table.
"No mate, I still can't imagine it," Ron said, then he moved to focus on his piece of pie. Harry sighed and shook his head. He looked up at the Slytherin table and held his breath once more. There was that girl again! She was sitting next to Draco Malfoy, and then there was another girl on Draco's left. Draco looked up at that exact moment and smiled smugly at Harry. Harry glared and looked down.
Great! Now Malfoy was going to think that Harry was jealous because he was surrounded by girls. Who cared? Malfoy was a jerk, all talk no action. Harry sighed, but that girl! He had to know who she was! He shook his head, wait, she's a Slytherin, no, better not.
Jaci looked up from her plate of delicious food and cocked her head to one side. She watched the students talk amongst their own houses. She shook her head, most of them weren't talking to other houses. Jaci rolled her eyes, she wished people wouldn't judge other people just because they were different.
She spotted Harry quickly, he was sitting with a pretty girl with brown hair kept back in a simple braid and a red headed boy. He was talking to them and occasionally the redhead would looked up at Snape, a look of astonishment on his face. Jaci smiled one of the times he looked up and the redhead blushed and looked down. Jaci sighed, she had finished eating, but Severus was talking with Dumbledore again.
She let her mind wander and saw that more and more people were staring at her because they had finished eating. Jaci sighed and rolled her eyes once more, she hated too much attention. The only time she liked being center of attention was when she was hurt, or was excited about something and wanted everyone to know about it.
When it looked like everyone was finished eating, Dumbledore stood and a hush quickly fell. Everyone was silent, looking up at him, waiting for him to speak. Dumbledore smiled and so did everyone, well mostly everyone, a few boys sitting at the table with Snake patches did not.
"I would like to welcome Miss Jacqueline Cortez from Laredo, Texas, in the United States to Hogwarts. She is a good friend of Professor Snape's and will be treated with the same respect any of you would give to any of your teachers. I'm sure she would love to answer any questions you have on where she lives and would enjoy helping you out in anyway. Please, let us show her our hospitality." Dumbledore began to clap his hands, and so did everyone else, even Severus. Jaci blushed and smiled.
"Thank you," she said. Everyone smiled up at her, including the boys at the Snake table.
"Now that you have been watered and fed, off with you all, it is time to sleep." Dumbledore called out. Everyone laughed. Some students began to file out of the hall, others lagged behind, taking that last bit of pie or talking.
Jaci saw Harry and stood from her seat, she walked down slowly to where he and his two friends were sitting. She smiled at Harry, and his other two friends stayed quiet.
"Hello Harry," Jaci said, grinning.
"Uh, hello Miss Cortez," Harry said. Jaci wrinkled her nose.
"Please, call me Jaci, Miss Cortez makes me sound old," she and Harry laughed. Just then Harry remembered his friends.
"Oh, this is Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger," Harry said, making proper introductions. Jaci smiled. She shook Ron's hand, who turned red at the touch and then hugged Hermione, shocking the girl.
"Oh, sorry," Jaci said sheepishly. "Us Hispanics always greet or meet people like that. Well the woman do at least, to other woman." Jaci grinned and they all smiled.
"Hispanic?" Hermione asked after a second. "I thought you were from America." Jaci grinned.
"I am, but my bloodline descends down to Spaniards, so I'm Hispanic, mainly, my mother was American, my father was Mexican, so I'm a bit of both." Ron smiled. He liked this woman, she spoke to them like they were equals, not just students. Just then a shadow fell over them and Ron gulped.
Severus was standing behind Jaci, he put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up, she smiled as she saw who it was. She placed her hand on his and rubbed at the bandage that she had placed.
"Jaci, it's time to go," Severus said, glaring at Potter, Granger, and Weasley, daring them to say anything about what they were seeing, but they knew better. Jaci sighed.
"Ok, I'll see you guys tomorrow then, good night." She stood and waved back to them with her free hand, she was going to loop her other arm with Severus' but she decided to take his hand instead. Severus looked down at her as she entwined her fingers with his. This was going to look great to the entire staff, not to mention the students! He wanted to pull away, but it was Jaci who was holding his hand! Jaci who he'd missed and hadn't seen in so long. He sighed and just continued walking down the hall with his hand in hers.
McGonagall looked plainly shocked as she watched Snape and Miss Cortez walk away. Dumbledore chuckled softly.
"Minerva, flies will fly into your mouth with it hanging like that," Dumbledore whispered to her and McGonagall quickly shut her mouth, but continued to look amazed. She turned to look at Dumbledore who just smiled softly. He stood and began to make his way out of the Great Hall. All the students looked up to him as if he were to answer their questions on Snape and the woman all though no one spoke. Dumbledore merely laughed his way out.
Severus sighed as he and Jaci finally made it to his quarters, all the portraits had been gasping and pointing at him, not to mention looking at him weird. He quickly said the password to the portrait of a man brewing a potion, the portrait swung forward and he and Jaci stepped into his lounge area. Severus didn't allow Jaci to get a glimpse of the lounge area, he took her straight to the kitchen, sat her down at the table and got themselves two glasses and some butterbeer.
"Now, you are going to tell me everything that's happened since I left," Severus said after Jaci had drunken more than half of her glass of butterbeer. Jaci sighed and placed the glass down.
"Nothing much has happened Severus, just…just what I told you." Jaci looked away with tears in her eyes and Severus cursed himself. How could he have brought that up for her again, as painful as it was for her to tell, without him having to remind her? Severus stood quickly and wrapped his arm around her.
"I'm sorry, that was a stupid question to ask. I just wanted to know if you were still doing okay and who and what was going on in your life." Jaci looked up at him curiously.
"What do you mean by who?" Jaci asked. Severus looked away.
"I just wanted to know if you had found anyone else, you know cause I wasn't there." Jaci shook her head.
"How could you even think that Severus?" She sighed and stood up, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him gently. Then she placed her head on his chest, listening to the sound of his heart beating.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for just leaving you, I should have stayed I should have…" Jaci cut him off with another kiss.