Chapter 16

It was raining, the first time in her dreams that it was raining. She watched as the grey sky cried on the rough water at the bottom of the hill. Her hair was damp from the rain. It was probably a bad day to visit she thought, running her fingers through her hair. The bushy green canopy sheltering her from the worst of the weather. Resting her head on her knees she thought about many things. The Ball, what Fiske's plan had been, Draco, and of course what her mind always went back to…Severus.

"I wish more people were as consistent as you." A voice reached her ears over the sound of the rain. Looking up she saw that standing at the bottom of the hill was the black haired boy, his tresses stuck to his face from the rain. Standing she stepped out to join him, immediately being drenched by the cold water.

"I'm finding it harder and harder to stay away from you." She admitted. "Especially with what's going on, I feel like you're the only person I can fully turn to."

"I thought you had friends now?" Severus shielded his eyes from the on pour. Shaking her head she shrugged, exhaling through slightly parted lips to empty her mouth of water.

"They're…well…pretty occupied with what's going on." He nodded letting his arm drop to his side. Rubbing her bare arms against the chill she looked around. "You don't suppose there's any place to escape the rain? I'm rather cold here." He hesitated for a second then turned heading the other way.

"Follow me." He seemed different today. He seemed rather reluctant to see her, but even through the reluctance she knew he was happy to see her. He was just indecisive. Carefully trotting down the hill, her bare feet squishing in the muddy grass behind him she followed him along a long plane. Grabbing her arm he pulled her over to a patio like walkway with broken concrete. She kept her head down as she followed him, his warm hand colder than most days. He led her to a large abandoned looking home on the edge of the river and walked right inside without hesitation.

She on the other hand hesitated greatly. Looking back over her shoulder as if searching for someone she stared at the scenery. It was on the edge of a great forest. What forest it was she couldn't tell but in the distance was a large castle by the ocean. The river she spent most of her time by –which varied in size with each visit from a river to a lake- was connecting the forest to the ocean.

"You'll catch cold." He commented from deep within the house. Looking once more over the terrain she turned and padded her way inside shutting the door behind her. He was sitting at a table in the center of the room. It seemed to be the kitchen and right before her were wooden, twisting stairs that went up to the higher levels, and through an archway on the right seemed to be a living room.

"It's a lovely house." She commented walking in and looking at the cherry wood table, the intricate carved chairs. Along the wall was a long cabinet and a large window that over looked the ocean. An oven was set up on the far end of the room by a back door and straight shot across the room was a refrigerator near a hutch full of bone china dishes. Leaning against the window she looked out over the ocean again, staring at the castle. "Do you live here?" She looked back over her shoulder at him.

"No." He said simply, not looking up at her. He stared down at his hands as his sleeves created puddles on the tables surface. He was dark, brooding. He didn't look at her nor press to make conversation like he usually did. Not even after long minutes of silence did he request for her to kiss him, or to hold his hand. She turned away from the window, the house feeling cold despite the warm feeling it gave off.

"Severus?" She whispered. He didn't move, only closed his eyes. "What's wrong?" She pressed. His reply came out as silent as a wisp of wind, making it so that he might as well of been lipping the words.

"Nothing."

"Is it me? Are you angry with me?" She continued.

"No."

"Severus what's wrong?"

"Nothing." His voice began rising, and as his voice rose so did hers.

"Severus tell me."

"Nothing is wrong." He finally looked at her.

"You're lying, don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying!"

"You are lying, I know something's wrong just tell me!"

"I told you nothing's wrong so butt out of my business you miserable wench!" He snapped standing, slamming his hands on the table. She looked at him shocked. That was the first time he'd openly insulted her and it hurt her more than having her face burned off by a potion.

"Severus please just tell me what's wrong." She whimpered.

"And what will you be able to do about it?" He came around getting inches from her face. "All you'll do is vanish and leave me here to deal with it! You're here for you not for me!" he was screaming at her. She stared at him, her heart throbbing in her chest. Turning she headed out of the kitchen and towards the door. Reaching out she grabbed the doorknob, the metal sending electricity through her fingertips and out through her toes. Twisting she pulled the door open, only for a pale hand to slam it shut again. "Go on! Tell me how I'm wrong!" he got into her face.

"Stop it," She pulled away, covering her face as she entered the living room.

"Go on! If you think you're such a miracle worker!" Grabbing a pillow from a comfortable chair he whipped it at her, pegging her in the back of the head with it. She gasped, her sight turning fuzzy for a second as the initial shock of being hit caused her to turn on her heel. He was standing in the doorway, the look of anger starting to melt away to regret as soon as their eyes met.

"You," She bit her lip, tears coming to her eyes. "What have I ever done to hurt you!" She shrieked back. Grabbing the pillow she whipped it back at him, smashing through a vase in the window next to him. "When have I ever tried to hurt you!" She grabbed a book off a book shelf whipping it at him. Gasping he pulled his arms up shielding his face. "You…I come here for me! You're right, I come here for me, because it makes me happy to see you happy and yet here you are throwing shit at me!" She stomped towards him. Stumbling backwards, he fell, tripping over the threshold to the kitchen.

Opening her mouth once again to scream fire ran up through her legs. She gasped as her head flashed a violent red. Images danced in front of her eyes. A woman with bobbed hair, standing above a rather shocked professor she knew. A broken vase and a blood stained pillow. It flashed to him leaving, waltzing out the door then turning back, then a baby, crying in a white cradle before being carefully swooped up into her mother's loving arms.

She hit the ground, her face in her hands. The smell of blood filled the room. The boy infront of her vanished as the cold seeped into her flesh. The sound of bare feet padding across the floor rang in her ears. Turning slowly, her head hurting as if she were suffering from a great concussion, her eyes landed on the smeared blood that vanished at the fireplace, and the carcass of a man who looked similar to her beloved Severus. "Emilie," A raspy voice cut through the cold. She looked up and there standing in front of her was a dark man, an evil man in black robes, his skin as pale as snow. He resembled a snake, slithering in to its prey, moving slowly not to scare it off. "No, you're not Emilie." He looked down at her. Her head surged, her arm burning with great intensity. Yelping she pulled her sleeve up and there, bubbling beneath the skin was a tattoo.

"What is this?" She yelped, trying to rub it off.

"The dark mark." He replied taking a step towards her. His wand caught her chin, forcing her head up to look at him. "You look so much like your mother…what is your name?" Nyx's eyes caught the mans and all she saw was evil. Like the soul of everyone, he killed swirling in a never-ending sea of suffering in the dark pupils. She thought quickly before speaking.

"Mylinda Perks" He looked at her his forehead crinkling.

"Mylinda Perks?"

"It was my foster families' name." She agreed. "They were the only ones who could take care of me after my parents died." He looked at her for a second then stepped away.

"Well…Mylinda," turning he looked at the corpse on the floor and shook his head, clicking his tongue. "Such a shame she got away." Walking over he placed his foot to the cheek of the dead man and looked back at her. "You're wondering who I'm talking about?" She didn't reply, instead she swallowed hard, keeping her eyes down. Flicking his wand her throat constricted as if a hand was crushing her throat. Gasping she reached up, instinctively grabbing for the invisible hand. "Your mother," He hissed getting into her face, a grin pulling at his lips. "Your traitor of a mother, running away with you," Turning he pointed to the body on the floor then snickered sadistically. "This…this is your father."

Her eyes shot down, her heart stopping in her chest. That was…her father? It was the first time she'd ever seen him. She felt horrified and hurt, but at the same time she really had no feeling. She had never known her father. She never had the chance to get to know him, or talk to him, or even see him, but to look at him dead… "Let go of me, I don't care, I want nothing to do with you or my parents." She croaked, her head starting to pulse.

"Oh, we'll see about that…Ellenyx." Whipping his wand at her he screamed. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" The room flashed a bright green before she was overtaken by agony. Sitting up violently in her bed she screamed, sweat pouring down her face she wrapped her arms around herself. She was alone, her body shaking. Her heart was racing so fast it felt her chest should explode.

Who the hell was that? She thought, her eyes clenching shut tightly, tears forcing their way out from under her eyes lids. She had no idea, but for the Amare Somnium to take a turn like that. Opening her eyes she stared at the bottle of the left over potion and shivered the final words shouted at her ringing through her head. Forcing herself out of bed she shut the alarm clock off, not at all surprised that such an intense nightmare woke her out of that coma.

She worked briskly, getting into her work clothes. She forced herself to think that she was late so she wouldn't think back on her nightmare. Slipping her shoes on she grabbed her robes and ran out, wrapping her hair in a ponytail. It had been about a year since her hair had to be cut. About a year since her lips locked with Lucious Malfoy's, and with the help of Hermione she was ale to quicken it's growth, but so much to the point where it was now down to her waist. But the lucky thing was after having to cut it off and due to Malfoy's potion frying it it now grew in straight -which was a relief because her straighteners battery had finally died and she was on her last spare.

It made her wonder though. There were no outlets in the castle and everything seemed so bright as if it were run on electricity. But it wasn't. That was the magic of well...magic! She'd been caught a few times straightening her hair with her straightener and most of the other female students had no idea what it was. The only ones who knew were the -as Malfoy liked to call them- Mudbloods, and only because they had family members who weren't witches or wizards who used them.

Slipping out the door, she looked around carefully making sure anyone was near her -her worst fear of course being the blonde know-it-all-mamas-boy. When the coast was clear she made her way down the stairs, running for the doors she often made her exit before heading down to Hogsmeade. She winced, feeling a burning sensation in her arm. Instinctively she reached down to itch it then stopped. Her heart started pounding in her chest as her hand clutched the spot on the underside of her arm, the snake-ish voice echoing in her head which The Dark Mark.

"Miss Fairbourne." She jumped screaming as the voice boomed suddenly. Whirling around she stared at the dark figure, her eyes wide as though she'd just seen death itself.

"Son of a Pygmy puff Professor you gave me a bloody heart attack." She sighed, her voice shaking. He looked at her, an eyebrow raising slightly.

"Did I?"

"Damn right you did!" She hissed, her hand clenching her arm tightly. His eyes glided her arm, landing on the area she clutched dearly. Snapping his hand out he grabbed it and pulled it out so he could see, ripping her hand off. There, faintly he could see bubbling. At first, he was going to criticize her for practicing spells on herself until he saw the way it moved. It was similar and in the waves, there was a design. One he knew all too well. She saw it too, the way it bubbled and moved.

"The Dark Mark." She whispered, her heart stopping. His eyes snapped up to hers. He didn't know just how much about the Dark Lord this girl knew, but to know what the Dark Mark was...

"What?" He questioned. He had to question her, see how much she knew, see how much of the Dark Lord's affairs she'd snooped around...see how much danger she was in.

"Nothing sir, just...I had a dream I..." She pulled her arm away rubbing it. "It was a dream about my parents. I don't know how it could be happening to me right now, but this mark...the Dark Mark..." She stopped and swallowed.

"Your parents Miss Fairbourne?" He pressed.

"Their death." She looked down, tears coming to her eyes. "I saw my father, and the blood...then a man with pale skin as white as snow. I-" She didn't get much more than that out of her mouth before her teacher had her by the arm. He dragged her down the hall, almost running. She didn't know where he was taking her, all she knew that by the urgency in his steps and the bruising from where he dug his fingers it was important.

Dragging her to his office, he threw her in a chair and leaned down, his hands keeping her from pulling away. "Tell me about your dream Miss Fairbourne, not a fabricated lie, do not keep anything out." Standing he swished his wand, the door slamming shut and locking. "I want to know where you were, what time of day it was and who was present. I want to know what was said and what went on." Walking around to the other side of his desk he sat down and produced parchment and a quill. She looked at him hesitantly as he licked the tip of the quill before dipping it in the ink vat. He scribbled a small note at the upper right hand of the parchment and waited. "Well? Go about it!" She jumped at the harshness but complied with a quick nod of her head.

"Well," She thought wondering how far back she should begin and how much detail she should put in. She knew that it would be awkward if she mentioned him so she already ruled that out, and the rest should be all right to tell. "I was in the middle of a field by a river and it was raining." She began. "I don't know why I was there; I guess I was waiting for someone. After a little while, I met a boy with medium length hair. I asked him if there was someplace dry we could talk."

"Give me more details about this boy." Severus pressed making a character sheet. She hesitated and closed her eyes thinking of a way to fabricate the boy so he would be able to guess whom she was talking about.

"Well," her voice quivered. "He was tall, with shiny black hair and a...b-big nose," She hesitated biting her lip. From the corner of her eye, she saw the quill stop, her professors head start rotating so he could look up at her. "He was extremely attractive, very thin with fair skin and dark dreamy eyes. He wore very nice clothes, which I could tell was a uniform of sorts. He was very charming and thin and always smiled. He was like a prince from a faraway castle, not at all gloomy." She added carrying on. His forehead crinkled as he finished writing.

"You have very odd descriptions Miss Fairbourne, perhaps they're results of you daydreaming in class rather than taking notes." He commented. She sighed silently to herself smiling. She must have thrown him off. She was glad.

"Perhaps professor if you smiled a little more I'd pay attention. I had no problem in Professor Lupin's class." He smiled bitterly at her before begging to write again. "That was the most heartwarming smile I ever thought I saw you do. You might want to wipe off the seat of this chair when I'm done lest the next student you interrogate sits in a puddle." She snickered. She couldn't help but tease, even in these most serious of times.

"You are a foul child; anyway, carry on with your story before I pull the dream from your mind myself." He groaned. He was used to it by now. He wasn't sure if she was this perverted with other students or in other classes, but he did know that he got a lot of it.

With the threat looming overhead she continued. If he did actually pull it from her head and was somehow able to see it she'd be in deep trouble. Not to mention he'd probably question her description of the boy as either a manner of her liking him, or her covering her ass and hopefully not both. Covering her ass to keep him from finding out she likes him. "Well he took me to this big house by the side of the ocean and I noticed a castle out in the middle. He didn't seem very happy so I asked him what was wrong. He said nothing so I asked if it was something I said and he said no. We got into an argument and I tried to leave because he called me a miserable wench after trying to ask him what was wrong."

"His exact words." He was writing all of this down at an alarming rate, but his penmanship was still marvelous.

"You have gorgeous hand writing sir." She leaned over looking at it closely.

"His exact words Miss Fairbourne before I get the veritaserum."

"Oh sir you wouldn't want that in my system, I have hidden secrets that would make your intestine ball up in a knot." She grinned at him. He stared at her for a long second. He was curious now what kind of things she was hiding from him and if they were secrets of dark or just...disturbing little things. Smiling she sat back and looked back to where she left off, her smile started fading. "Well he got up and chased me and started screaming at me to tell him he was wrong. He kept me from leaving out the front door so I went into the living room. He threw a pillow at the back of my head and I got angry with him so I threw it back. It smashed a vase in a window sill drenching the floor.

"I was so furious with him...after all this time...he was so nice to me before, then he became such a jerk. So I threw a book at him. I started screaming at him and that was when the pain hit. I saw...a flash back. A woman with short black hair and you. She threw a book at you just like I did, and she threw a pillow which broke the vase. You left out the front door and looked back. Out into the rain. Then I saw her pick up a baby and then it stopped. The room turned icy cold and the smell of blood. When I looked up I saw a corpse, blood smeared across the floor. The man looked very similar to you."

By now he was no longer writing, staring at her as she looked down at her hands, wringing them. "A burning pain kicked up in my arm and when I looked down there was this...tattoo of sorts. A pale skinned man in dark robes stepped forward. He had no nose, like a snake and red eyes...He said it was called the Dark Mark and he asked me my name-"

"Did you give it to him?" He interrupted.

"What?" She looked at him shocked of his sudden barge into her story.

"Did you give him your name?" He repeated, his voice sounding urgent.

"No, I lied. I said my name was Mylinda Perks. He questioned my last name but I told him that was the last name of my foster parents who are no longer alive. I thought he bought it. He said it was a shame that my traitor mother got away and then used a spell on me to strangle me; he held me in the air and pointed down at the corpse on the floor. He said that man was my father. I felt horrible looking down at him, covered in blood and dead. Even if I didn't know who he was." She dropped her gaze once again. Tears came to her eyes, trickling down her cheeks. "It was just a dream, I know that that isn't how my parents died, it couldn't be."

"It wasn't just a dream." Severus spoke up. She looked up, her heart breaking. "Your father was killed by your mother for trying to kill her. That necklace around your neck is what the Dark Lord is after. Your mother after being dealt a serious blow, a fatal blow killed your father so that she could escape and bring you to safety. She died later on after being caught by your second cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange." He looked at her for a long time. "You must tell me was that all to your dream?" She choked a bit and shook her head.

"N-no. I told him I didn't care about him or my parents.

"'Oh, we'll see about that…Ellenyx' then he said something. I witnessed extreme pain and then woke up."

"What did he say? What were his exact words at the end?" He looked at her. She closed her eyes, tears trickling down her cheeks heavily now.

"A-Avada...Kedavra." Standing Severus walked around and crouched in front of her.

"He used a forbidden curse on you, the killing curse. He approached you in your dreams for information. As for why you had the Dark Mark I don't know. You're lucky you woke up when you did. Even in dreams can the killing curse kill a victim."

"Why is he after me?" she whimpered, crying harder.

"Because Miss Fairbourne you have the necklace, and now he knows you're the holder of it." Standing he turned looking out the window. "You'll be escorted to your job by me from now on." Turning he looked at her. She didn't budge, instead she kept crying. The news that those were indeed her parents was still shocking to her. She felt horrified, frightened to move lest the Dark Lord show up and try to kill her. After all, she just barely escaped death the last time.

"Severus," She whimpered, pulling her knees to her chin. He stared at her, watching her cry.

"You'll be safe," He crouched in front of her again. She didn't look at her. Cupping her face he made her look at him, his eyes serious and sympathetic. "You are safe here at Hogwarts, the Dark Lord cannot approach you while you are here. If I must, to make sure he does not enter your dreams again, I will stand at your bedside." She looked at him shocked and shook her head.

"Sir that would be preposterous, a girl's dorm?"

"What is more important? Living or listening to a bunch of frivolous girls talk about how improper it is for a male teacher to stand at a student's bedside?"

"Do you want to lose your job? Can't you…like…put a mental block on my mind or something to keep me from dreaming?"

"I could give you some Amare Somnium." She grimaced at the thought and shook her head. "What?"

"I've had a bad time with that." She inhaled deeply and put her feet back on the floor, exhaling through her mouth. "I just…need to keep my mind off of it. Stupid that classes are cancelled for that Ball." She rubbed her forehead. "Do you think you could assign me something? An essay or something?" His forehead crinkled.

"You're not going?" Shaking her head, she looked down at her legs, rubbing her forehead.

"No, I have better things to do than to sit on a bench and watch everyone live out their fairy tale fantasy, dancing around a glittering dance hall with sparkling eyes only for the stroke of midnight to lumber back to the dorm room and cry my eyes out because I wasn't asked to dance." She trailed of swallowing hard.

"It's a mandatory engagement." He commented pushing himself to his feet.

"School work comes before play. School takes precedence over dances, so I'll take that essay." She looked away. He hesitated then sighed.

"If I give you a dance partner will you attend?" She looked at him shocked.

"If you pair me with Malfoy I'll slap you."

"I wasn't going to say Mister Malfoy." He turned looking at her. "Allow me to speak before you jump to conclusions." She saw the look on his face meant he was serious. Hesitating he thought it through in his head. Would he lose his job? No because it isn't a date, it's making sure he didn't get scolded for assigning a student homework instead of letting them go to the all. "I…will be your Ball partner." It was silent for a long time. She just stared at him as he stood there waiting for her to react.

"M-my partner? Isn't that illegal?" She felt her cheeks burn, her heart picking up.

"No, if it is to prevent a student from skipping out on mandatory school events it is not illegal. So while you're in Hogsmeade I suggest you find a dress seeing how you don't have dress robes." Grabbing her arm he hoisted her out of the chair leading her to the door. "Hagrid will escort you to work today seeing how I have papers to grade." He pushed her out into the hall. Whirling around, still in a daze she looked at him, her cheeks beet red. "I suggest you not take this offer out of context. Now, good day Miss Fairbourne." Grabbing the doors he pulled them shut, locking them. She stared at the doors shocked, her heart fluttering. Slowly a smile stretched across her face. Closing her eyes she fell backwards laying the floor with a thud, causing a few students to rush over and ask what was wrong and to get Madam Pomfrey.

She could tell it was going to be a good week.