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 Ten Vicious Encounters and Changes of Heart
Note: this chapter includes some goriness simply because I'm feeling rather cruel.
As Jane laid back in the bath, she sighed to herself. It had been almost an hour and yet Snape had still not come back to see her. Perhaps he was too exhausted, or worse still, Remus had bitten him? After thoughts like these, it came as a relief when she heard Snape pound the door several times (however forceful he was being).
"Just a minute!" Jane called, throwing on a bathrobe and leaping from the bath. As she strolled into her bedroom, it dawned on her that there was no way she could open the door to a teacher while dressed in a bathrobe. "Professor, could you please come back in about 15 minutes?" she called, dripping bathwater onto her carpet.
The pounding on the door persisted though, and more heavily than before. The realisation hit Jane almost instantly; Remus Lupin was thrashing her door down. And it was full moon.
"Bloody hell!" Jane screeched, barricading herself in the bathroom once more, where she hastily picked up her fresh robes and got dressed. She sat on the edge of the bath, dreading what would happen when her door was finally knocked down, when suddenly, she heard Snape's cries of "BELLATRIX! BEHIND YOU!" shortly followed by a high-pitched scream. The scream of a woman. Bellatrix, Bellatrix, where had she heard that name before?
"Oh, bugger," Jane hissed under her breath. "My step-mother!" The sounds of Snape's door slamming shut could be heard. Presumably, they were behind it, safe and sound. And, Jane thought, quite possibly plotting to come and get me! What the hell is Bellatrix doing here? Inside, Jane knew why, but she could not bring herself to admit it. As she bit her bottom lip anxiously, the sound of the door to her bedroom collapsing could be heard. She screeched, which probably was not the best thing to do; sensing where the sound was coming from, the werewolf hurled itself through the bathroom door, breaking the wood and howling as a splinter stabbed in its side.
Jane stood, transfixed, by the side of the bath. There was nothing she could do; she had left her wand in the bedroom. "SNAPE!" she screamed. "HELP!"
It was too late though; Remus the werewolf hurtled towards her, licking its lips, and then sunk his teeth into her arm, causing her to screech so loudly that the werewolf withdrew its fangs from her bloodied arm to look up at her.
As Jane's face contorted into a look of sheer agony, Snape bounded through the door and hurled himself at the werewolf. "Try stunning it!" Jane screamed, clutching her arm in pain.
Snape did as he was told, and the werewolf was rendered immobile for a moment. "Get out, quickly – run to the Hospital Wing!" Snape roared, jumping off of the snarling werewolf and sprinting after Jane. As they ran as fast as their legs could carry them, Jane still in a lot of pain, she snarled, "Why is Bellatrix here! I heard her!"
Snape did not answer; he just kept running until they were safely away from the dungeons. "I don't know what you're talking about, Miss Dashwood," he replied, looking extremely flustered.
"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM, SNAPE!" Jane screamed, clutching her arm. "FOR ONCE, I WISH YOU'D TELL ME THE TRUTH! YOU'RE UP TO SOMETHING, ALWAYS LEAVING HALF-WAY THROUGH OUR LESSONS, ALWAYS BLOWING HOT AND COLD!"
Snape lowered his head for a moment and simply replied, "SHUT UP! We need to go to the Hospital Wing! There are some people I think you need to meet, Jane."
Everything fell in place in Jane's mind. Snape was not a reformed Death Eater; he still was one. He had told her father about her being at Hogwarts. He had told Lord Voldemortabout the "valuable role" she would have in the war. Snape, who she had learnt to trust of late.
"If you think I'm falling into your stupid Death Eater trap, think again, Snape!" Jane yelled, proceeding to dash as fast as she could down the corridor, away from Snape. She was not quick enough, though, and he soon was alongside her.
"Foolish move, Miss Dashwood," Snape murmured, not quite able to muster up a sneer. He grabbed her by her injured arm and, being too strong to fight, dragged Jane along the last few corridors towards the Hospital Wing. As they approached it, Jane kicked at Snape, desperate to be freed; she could see that they were drawing near to two men, one with white-blond hair, one with brown-black hair, and a dark haired, manic-looking witch who Jane supposed was Bellatrix.
"You traitor," Jane seethed, glaring at Snape. "There's no way I'm going to let you get away with this, you sick bast-"
"Stop it Jane, stop it," Snapebegged as they walked (or, in Jane's case, was dragged along) the long corridor. "You've been expecting this. You know it! All those times I left the classroom half way through lessons for you, it must've occurred to you that there were proper reasons for it! And you know those reasons!"
Jane attempted to push away from Snape's grip but, with the pain in her arm where Remus had bitten her, was unable to. She wished that she did not have to wait for next full moon to become a werewolf, but instead was able to turn into one now and bite Snape into unrecognisable chunks.
"Oh, I know the reasons, do I!" she spat, still trying to break free as they progressed along the corridor towards the door to the Hospital Wing where the three Death Eaters were waiting.
"Yes, yes you do, Jane," Snape retorted. Then, in a whisper, he announced, "It's the moment's you've been closed to finding it out."
"Oh? Finding out what?" Jane glared at Snape.
"The truth."
"The truth? Well then, what've you got to be so scared of? You seem pretty proud to be a Death Eater to me."
"You think that's all I've been hiding! No!" Snape bellowed, thankful that it was a long corridor they were walking; the thought of the Death Eaters hearing what he was about to say made him feel nauseous. "I've been hiding more than that, Jane. I've been hiding something I promised myself fervently that I'd never tell you, yet here I am doing it. You were bound to find out anyway; I know you're an excellent Legillimens.What I've been attempting to hide is...I think...I think I perhaps...love you."
Jane stopped hitting out at him for a moment to take in what he had said. "You love me?" she whispered. Snape loosened his grip slightly. "Yes. I do. I know you probably think I've got a funny way of showing you it, letting you get captured like this, but I promise you that I've reasoned with them to let you go. It wasn't me who told them you are here, and that Dumbledore thinks you'll be a vital weapon in the war. It was Theodore Nott. The newest Death Eater to join. I have to give you to the Death Eaters or they'll kill me."
Jane shuddered. Theodore Nott. The constant scratching of the top of his arm...all of the things she had told him...it all made sense suddenly. The Dark Mark had been etched onto his arm, quite obviously. He was a Death Eater. Not a friend.
"Let's run from them, Snape! We can get away from the Death Eaters! You don't need to give me to them. We can take them on if needs be!" Jane pleaded, tugging on the side of Snape's robes. She had forgotten the pain in her arm. It seemed trivial now.
Snape looked ahead thoughtfully and slowed his pace. They were getting extremely close to the Death Eaters now. Staring into Jane's chocolate eyes, he sighed heavily, placed one of his hands in his robes, and whispered, "Wands at the ready."
"Wait – I don't have my wand!" Jane moaned, horror-stricken.
Snape let out a groan. "Why not! Accio wand!"
At that moment, a cry came from behind them. It was McGonagall's voice. "Severus! Jane!" she called, running to catch up the two of them. Upon seeing the Death Eaters, she raised her wand, shaking slightly. "What's going on!"
Snape turned round and stared at McGonagall. Behind her stood Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, Professor Sinistra and Hagrid and hurtling towards them was Jane's wand, which struck Hagrid in the back of the head and then fell to the ground.
"Get back!" the blond Death Eater cried, running forwards a little. McGonagall and the other teachers were standing directly behind Snape and Jane. Turning behind him, Snape whispered so that only the other teachers could hear, "On three, get them. One. Two. Three."
As soon as Snape had said "Three", everybody leapt towards the Death Eaters, shouting a stream of hexes and curses. Jane, with her uninjured arm, picked up her wand and joined in. Four people had placed a full-body bind hex on Bellatrix at once, and eventually, the other two Death Eaters were stunned.
"Alert the Ministry!" Snape ordered Professor Sinistra. "Tell them we've got Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange. Makethem comeimmediately!" Professor Sinistra nodded at Snape and ran off in search of the nearest fireplace.
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This chapter is...ergh. I don't know about it, what with Snape suddenly turning good and all. And he was kind of out of character. Sigh, I don't know. What do you think? Reviews would be appreciated!
And yes, Jane is a werewolf now from Remus's bite :)
Snape's Opera Rose – I'm really glad you love it! It means a lot to me :D
Porcelain Prayer – Aww, thanks, but I'm not as talented as you make me out to be!