Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own a thing. Would love to be the proud owner of a Snape, but JK Rowling got there first. She owns all of the characters, settings etc. But you knew that.

-Chapter Six Visits in the Night-

As Jane was about to step into the bath full of enormous champagne coloured bubbles, she realised that she had no nightclothes to change into. Though Professor McGonagall and her had bought robes and various other items of clothing that she required, they had forgotten about what she would wear at night. For a moment she toyed with the idea of simply sleeping in her robes, but she rejected this idea as it was a sweltering night, and besides, Professor Snape did say that if she needed anything, all she had to do was knock...

Hastily buttoning up her robes again, Jane ran back into her bedroom, out of the door, and along the corridor until she reached Snape's door. She took a deep breath and then, once she had mustered up the courage, knocked twice.

It took Snape a while to reach the door and when he opened it, he discovered his student staring at him with a slight expression of embarrassment on her lean face.

"Miss Dashwood...what can I do for you?" Snape enquired, his arms folded against his dark robes.

"I...well, I was going to have a bath, but then I realised that I don't have any nightclothes to sleep in, and it's much too hot to sleep in my robes, so I was wondering what I should do, really," Jane explained, her cheeks turning pink.

"Ah," nodded Snape, unfolding his arms. "Wait there one second. I'll just find something for you."

Jane did as she was told and waited patiently outside his door. She was relieved that he was not angry for her knocking; it had been over an hour since he had last left her room. After a short while Snape returned at the door holding a white shirt. It was obviously of the same variety as the one she could see flashes of at his neck and hands.

"Unfortunately I've never felt the need to keep female nightclothes, but you can have this shirt to wear instead. We'll buy you some more appropriate things tomorrow on our little trip. Feel free to return it whenever." Snape's voice was smooth yet tired. Jane was relieved she had not knocked any later; if she had left it any longer, he would probably have been asleep already.

"Thank you, Professor," Jane replied before bidding him goodnight.

"Good night," Snape said before shutting his door.

Jane made her way back to her chambers and, once the door was safely closed, she sighed to herself. She was feeling embarrassed about the fact that, though she was attempting to rid herself of the feeling, she did like Professor Snape. Raising Snape's shirt to her face, she breathed in his exotic, spicy scent. Jane's mother always used to tell her that she smelt of magnolia. How different her scent was to Snape's.

---

Jane's sleep was riddled with dreams all throughout the night. Dreams of how she found her mother in the bath, drowned, dreams of Snape, dreams of the shirt she was wearing smothering her until she was gasping for breath. She woke up several times, gasping, before returning to sleep.

Jane woke just before 9 and instantly remembered some of the troubling dreams she had experienced during the night. She was so fixed on thinking about them that she forgot entirely about a house elf coming to wake her, and when the bizarre green creature appeared in her room, she shrieked at the top of her voice, causing the house elf to jump and bang it's bald head on the bedside table, knocking itself out.

Severus Snape had been buttoning up his clothes when he heard Jane scream, and had immediately flung his door open to see what the matter was. Upon entering her room, he saw Jane's horrified face, the unconscious house elf, and couldn't help but laugh.

"Knocking out house elves on your second day at Hogwarts, Miss Dashwood? How alarming," he mocked, his dark eyes twinkling.

"I didn't knock it out! It jumped and hit it's head...oh gosh, is it alright? It scared me senseless, Professor. Perhaps you should've woken me instead...I'm not accustomed to house elves," Jane rasped, still looking horror-stricken.

"Perhaps I should've," Professor Snape replied as he eyed his shirt on Jane. Realising how inappropriate it was for him to be staring, he quickly turned his head, ashamed, though grateful that Jane was staring at the house elf instead of at him. "Don't worry about the house elf...she's called Winky, she's manically depressed and a bit of an alcoholic. It's one of the first times she's been out of the school kitchens for a long time. She'll be glad to be out of herself for a while. It numbs her pain."

Jane turned to face Snape in disbelief. "Are all of the house elves that strange?" she asked nervously.

"No, she's just...special," came Snape's reply. "Well, you had better get dressed for our trip now. When you're ready, knock on my door and we can leave."

Jane nodded and walked over to the mahogany wardrobe to retrieve some robes. She chose green to show her Slytherin pride, closed the door, and then stopped before entering the bathroom; she wanted to see how Snape was going to deal with the house elf. He stared down at it for a moment and then, rolling his eyes, prodded it with the side of his foot. The house elf leapt up and began to scream, "Miss Dashwood, Miss Dashwood, wake, wake up!" Snape sniggering and remarked, "She's already up, unlike you. Go back to the kitchens."

Snape's coldness disturbed Jane. Though he had been moderately nice to her, he had just shown a great deal of insensitivity towards the house elf, which left Jane wondering what he would be like when in a bad temper.

Snape followed the house elf out of the door without saying good bye to Jane.

---

Jane laughed with glee as she looked in the mirror and realised that she had finally managed to tame her dark red hair so that it regained its natural curl rather than crazy knots and frizz. "Yesss!" she shrieked, dancing into her bedroom. "YES!" Still smiling, she stood up as straight as she possibly could and strolled into the corridor, looking extremely elegant. Now that she had spent the night at Hogwarts she was confident once more, and looking forward to the day ahead. Taking a deep breath, she rapped several times on her Professor's door. Snape opened it almost immediately, and took a step back when he looked at Jane. Her hair was so nice now. She looked very, very appealing, he was disturbed to admit.

"Right, let's head for Hogsmede, Miss Dashwood," he declared, leading the way throughout the school and to the Entrance Hall.

Once they had finally reached Hogsmede, Snape advised Jane to hold on extremely tightly to his arm so that they could apparate into Diagon Alley. Jane blushed at this; holding on to his arm was being a little too close for comfort, but she did as she told. The experience was a dreadful one; she felt like she was being suffocated, squashed, punched and kicked all at the same time, but eventually they were in Diagon Alley, a street packed with busy witches and wizards wearing all sorts of bizarre clothing.

"Here we are," Snape declared unnecessarily. "Let's head to Ollivander's for a wand."

---

Several hours later, with the shopping out of the way, Snape led Jane to a small café. "Do you want something to eat?" he questioned.

"No, I'm not that hungry thanks," Jane replied. Snape was pleased to see she was back to her confident self.

"Something to drink then?" Snape asked almost eagerly.

"Yeah, go on then," Jane smiled as Snape ushered her into the door.

Once a worker had bought them over cups of tea (Jane was missing the muggle world slightly, and it bought back fond memories for her), Snape and Jane indulged in idle chat, mainly about Hogwarts. Jane eventually bought up the subject of her father.

"My father is a wizard," she confessed, "and apparently, his name was Rodolphus. His surname was Lestrange, I think. I don't know anything about him, but my mother told me that he was a bad man, and that if I joined Hogwarts, there was a chance I'd turn bad like him. She pleaded with me before she died that I'd never be bad like him...but I don't know what sort of bad he was, if you get me."

Snape almost choked. "Rodolphus Lestrange? Your father. That is...well, it's awful."

"You know him?" Jane asked, hungry to know more.

"Unfortunately, yes. There's something you must understand about me, Jane, something which I can't tell you here. We should be getting back to Hogwarts. I'll tell you there." Snape's reply made Jane anxious; what did she need to understand about him that was so bad he could not say it in public? She was pleased, however, that he said her actual name for the first time.

"Alright then," she agreed, "let's get going."

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Thanks Tara (Bebob) for your continued support and reviews. They mean a lot to me! And yes, I wish it was me with Snape too!