Chapter Three:
I stand there, on top of the white 'x' on the floor, and stare straight ahead at the cold, damp stone walls that had water and blood from previous beatings or killings trickling down them in little streams, creating a circular room. There are chains hanging from the ceiling, attaching to handcuffs; I've seen people tortured here before, lucky enough to only watch and never suffer their pain.
"Are you ready Ms. Granger?" I don't turn my gaze from the spot of a dark red stain on the wall five feet in front of me. The lights are dim, the room only lit by four candles placed exactly seven feet apart towards the top of the wall.
"Ms. Granger?" It is a second voice that addresses me this time, a voice I do not recognize.
"Slytherins are not afraid, Ms. Granger," says the first voice. He speaks softly, barely above a whisper, but his tone commands respect and response.
I turn my head, seeing the silhouette of a blonde man, his hair falling in front of his eyes and around his ears, shaggy; it is the exact same way I remember him wearing it back when he was seventeen which causes me to smirk that he isn't the only person who is stuck in the past.
"I promise Mr. Malfoy, I am not afraid of you. I have no reason to be."
I hear a deep, hoarse laugh from my left and slowly turn my head in that direction, the silhouette of a tall red headed man coming into my view. His nose is long and pointy, and he is wearing glasses that don't compliment his facial structure.
"Please, Ms. Granger, do you know who we are?" he asks, mirth in his tone and dancing in his eyes.
A puff of air escapes my lungs and a smile tugs at my lips. "And you, Mr. Weasley, I could kill with my eyes closed."
He frowns at me, roughly grabbing the upper part of my left arm in his hand, squeezing it tightly, but not the way Draco has grabbed my arms before. The gesture from Percy Weasley is meant to show power, not meant to hurt me. He is truly a Gryffindor at heart.
"Watch it, little girl," he growls at me, spit flying from his mouth and hitting me in the face. I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from showing my disgust; it will make him believe he has power of me, something no goody-Gryffindor will ever have.
"Now, now Percy. Let her go. She is here to help us, aren't you Ms. Granger?" I nod my head, still looking at Percy, my eyebrows pulled together in confusion.
"What else would I be here to do?" I ask them, my tone suggesting the stupidity of such a question. I was, after all, a Slytherin at heart, and Slytherins knew about the importance of House pride.
He nods his head, stepping in front of me and holding out my left arm. He pulls back the sleeve of my dark forest green robes, pointing his wand at it, and mumbles a spell. A black snake slithers out of the tip of his wand and my eyes widen as it wraps itself around my forearm; I knew what was about to happen, but it didn't make experiencing it any less terrifying. It's about glory, I reminded myself as the snake bites my arm and its form is imprinted with black ink onto my pink flesh.
I can feel tears stinging behind my eyelids, burning as they slide down my cheeks, the salty taste around the edges of my mouth a harsh reminder of my fate in this world. I hear Draco asking me a question, but I can't make out his word, I can't open my eyes to look at him. I feel a sharp pain start in my right arm, and close my eyes tighter.
"Slytherins are not afraid, Ms. Granger, nor do they show pain. Open your eyes." I do as the harsh voice tells me. "Good, now, you will not tell you comrades anything about this, and if they find out or ask, tell them you are a spy. Understood?" I nod quickly. "Good, now leave."
I yank my arm out of his grip, and am surprised when I feel his fingers closing around it once again. "Percy, leave us for a moment." The red headed boy looks at me, smirks, and struts out of the circular room by way of a wooden door in the floor that I hadn't taken notice of before now.
"Here," Draco says, holding up a long, slender wooden object, "take this." He shoves the wand into my hands before I can respond and I feel the magic flowing from me into it and back, the connection is strong. It must be a replica of my old wand.
"Will you answer a question for me?" I ask sweetly, turning to look at him, consciously forcing my lips to curve up in a small, seductive smile.
"Of course," he answers stepping forward. "What's on your mind?"
I look towards the wooden trap door Percy disappeared through, nodding my head in its direction. "How did you end up working with a Gryffindor? A Gryffindor who is a traitor no less. Perhaps not a blood-traitor, like the rest of the clan, but a traitor to his family. I always wondered that."
He looks at me, raising his eyebrows in what could either be a look of surprise or a look of being impressed. "You're right, he is a traitor to his family, but so are you, aren't you? Turning on the bookworm and the badger?"
"No, they turned on me." I glare at him for bringing it up and tuck the wand neatly into the inside pocket of my robes. "I will see you next week, Mr. Malfoy."
I wake up in my bed, people hovering around me and giving me strange looks. It takes me a few moments to register where I am and why I am there, and that all thirteen members of the army I've assembled are now standing in my quarters. I raise my head slightly only to be pushed back down by a cold hand. My eyes lock with those of Severus Snape, his dark brown eyes boring into mine.
"No, lie back," he says, commanding and loud. I do again as I am told. I look down at my left arm, tugging the sleeping gown sleeve down to cover up the tail of the black symbol that is permanently tattooed to my skin. He holds a bottle filled with pink liquid to my mouth and pulls on my hair, causing my head to tilt back. I drink down the potion, the bitter taste remaining in my throat, my tongue lashing around the inside of the mouth to try and wipe any remaining drops away.
Severus turns to look at the room. "Lindsay, Hermione, will you stay and watch Jane? The rest of you may return to whatever it is you were doing before this event." Everyone moves, all exiting the tiny room except for my sister and friend. I close my eyes, hoping the two will get the hint to leave me alone for a few moments. When I hear the sound of the shower running, and another door closing, I am happy.
"Jane, you look like you could use a shower. You are all covered in sweat." It is Lindsay's voice talking to me. I move to sit up, the pain shooting through my entire body, I let out a scream. Hermione watches me from the other side of the room, I send her a defiant glare as Lindsay moves to help me.
"I'm fine," I say through gritted teeth, holding the pain inside of me. I force myself out of the bed, throwing the covers back and I hear Lindsay gasp. I look at her, and for the first time in my life the youngest Parkinson looks shaken. I turn my frustrated look to my sister whose mouth is agape, one finger pointing at me left arm.
"You're bleeding," she bluntly states.
"I'm fine," I say once again moving across the small room and into the bathroom, closing the latch behind me, reveling in the feel of the steam swirling around me. I slip the nightgown down around my ankles; the left side of the baby blue gown is now a dark red color.
A knock on the door is followed by the concerned voice of Hermione Granger. "Jane, let me in." It isn't a request, it is a command.
"Let me think about that," I say, stepping into the hot water, wincing as it trickles into the wound on my arm.
"Jane Margaret, open this door, right now!" she shouts from outside, banging her hand against the wooden frame once again.
"You're a witch, aren't you?" I ask laughing, "can't you use other methods to open the damn thing?" I grab the bottle of shampoo and lather up my hair.
"That would be a Slytherin thing to do, entering without asking for permission."
I close my eyes, running my hands through my hair and squeezing it until the locks are no longer wet, but damp, reaching behind me I push down the knob and the water shuts off. I can't even take a peaceful shower without my sister pestering me. Severus was right, this is definitely one of my stupider ideas. I grab the towel with my initials etched on the bottom and wrap it around my torso. I look at my left arm, the black snake writhing in small circles. I wave my right hand over it, muttering the spell to make it blend with the rest of my skin, but to no avail. I need my wand to do this one. I raise my eyes to the ceiling, slowly letting the air out of my lungs in exasperation. I tuck my left arm against my stomach and fling open the door.
"Technically, you did ask for permission," I say brushing past her to my closet, pulling down the red trunk, and walking back to the bathroom. I move my hand behind my head, and the door clicks shut behind me. I smile at my reflection before pulling out the wand from the secret compartment in the lid of the trunk, waving it towards the door.
"Damnit, Jane! You locked it!" comes the booming and infuriated voice of my sister, the handle jiggling to punctuate her words. I flash a large smile at myself in the mirror, sighing happily to myself.
"I love being a witch!" I call back to her, pointing my wand at my arm now and muttering the blending spell. A nude color jets out of the tip of my wand and spreads evenly over the black ink snake on my arm, fading slowly away from my vision. Pointing the wand at my hair, I flick it twice to the left marveling as my hair straightens out, curls up at the bottom, and hangs loosely around my face.
"Are you doing magic again?" calls Brynne. I assume she has taken a spot next to Hermione on the outside of the door.
I pick up a barrette from the inside of my toiletries part of my personal trunk, pulling the front part of my hair back and clipping it into place. "Much better," I say to the mirror, which to my surprise, responds.
"You look lovely, dear, but could use a touch of make-up!" the mirrors says brightly, and I can almost picture a smiling face in the reflection.
"Agreed," I say, pulling some foundation and eye shadow out and applying it to my face. The effect is nice. Any blemishes I had fade away just like the tattoo on my arm, and the dark brown eye shadow illuminates the darkness of my hair and my eyes.
"Jane! You shouldn't be doing magic! It is illegal."
I put everything away, muttering a quick Scourgify charm at the bathroom before zipping my wand safely back into the secret pocket of my trunk. I unlock the door by hand and carefully open the door, Hermione and Brynne both leaning off the jam.
"Lindsay, care to help me with classes today?" I cast a questioning glance at Lindsay who is seated on her bed reading a book on Advanced Potions, one of many we had to read back in our seventh year.
"Sure," she replies, flipping the page in her book and not looking up. "As long as you feed me first."
"Sure, lunch starts soon." I put my trunk back in the top of my closet and stare at my selection of clothing. I opt for a light gray skirt that is slightly longer than knee length with black ribbon tying in a bow around the hips, a black tank top, and a deep red cardigan to go over it. I change the outfit and pull out my plain back teacher's robes, and some low heels, slipping into both simultaneously. I turn to find both Brynne and Hermione staring at me, giving me the same 'you can't be serious' look.
"What?"
"How can you teach, you can't do magic?" asks Brynne, at the same time Hermione says, "You were just bleeding, how can you move about so chipper?"
I look at both of them, then raise my eyebrows at Lindsay who just shrugs before looking back down at her book. "Ok, first Brynne," I say moving towards the bookcase in between Lindsay's and mine's bed, plucking a book off the shelf and tossing it at her, "read this."
"What is it?" she asks inquisitively, turning the book over in her hands.
"It is the rule book, chapter seven is all about wizarding laws and regulations regarding magic. It says specifically that once of age a wizard or witch can do magic without consequence."
"But you had your wand snapped," she says, matter-of-factly. Each time she says this it is as if to remind me of that fact, like I could forget that I had spent the last ten years of my life trying to get by in the wizarding world without one.
"I know, thank you. As long as I don't use one, I can do magic. I learned wandless magic here, just like every other student, and taught myself more after the trial. So it is not illegal, otherwise I think I might in Azkaban."
She tilts her head to the side, flipping casually through the book. I turn to look at Hermione. "As for you, I can be so chipper because I just took a shower, cleaned myself up, and have to seem chipper because I have sixth year Gryffindors followed by seventh year Ravenclaws. "
She opens her mouth to reply, but Lindsay dog-ears the page she is on, placing the book back on the bookshelf, and turns to look at Hermione. "And as much as watching you two attempt to belittle your sister is, we have classes to teach, and a lunch to get to. Ciao!"
I laugh and roll my eyes as I follow her out of the room, shutting my closet door with a wave of my hand as I leave, knowing full well that if left open Hermione and Brynne would have no reservations about prying into my life.