Hidden Slytherin

Chapter 19 Stranger Danger?

Jane spent that night sitting on her bed reading over Sorel's letter. She had pulled the curtain around the bed and set both the silencing charm and used a bit of transfiguration to attach the two together. She had been practicing the Notice-Me-Not spell in till it worked effortlessly. Once that was done, Jane pulled out some parchment and a pen. She silently chewed on the end of the pen as she watched Smudges small black belly slowly rise and fall peacefully.

She wanted to tell them about the symbolism, or at least show that she knew about it. She had little doubt that they wouldn't have figured it out, but who knew. This all would depend on if Sable or Mel had either figured it out themselves or past on the relevant information for the rest of them to figure it out. She also wanted to ask what both Mel and Sable knew about Max, but she didn't want them to get involved or cause Max to get suspicious. Either could be dangerous for everyone involved.

She wasn't sure who to send these letters to. She could just send everything to Sable and let him sort it out. Jane felt as if getting someone older, like Mort or Sorel or even their Father, involved would raise a total shit storm. She huffed, falling back onto her pillows. She felt her eyes sting and wondered what time it was. She pulled up the curtain around her bed and could see the sky had just started to lighten.

Letting out a sigh, she let the curtain fall back into place. She quickly scratched out a letter to Sorel and Sable, and then ones to Mort and Mel. Finally she broke down and wrote one to her Father too. Normally she would just write to Sorel. She felt closest to him. They seemed to send letters to each other constantly about different experiments and magic they wanted to try. She wrote about the symbolism in each of the letters but only mentioned Max to Sable and Mel. She wrote that there were rumors going around about her being a bit shifty and that someone she knew had had a very strange run in with her. She went on to ask if they knew anything about her or had any advice. She then sealed all the letters and stuck them into an envelope labelled for Griphook.

Jane opened the curtains and quickly got dressed in a pair of dress pants and a white dress shirt before pulling on a knit sweater and her wand holster before pulling on her robes. She shoved the letter into her pocket and grabbed her satchel. As she was about to leave she felt something butt against the back of her leg. Turning she saw Smudge stretch before twinning around her ankles, letting out soft chuffing sounds. She quickly bent down and scooped him up.

Jane Cast a silent Notice-Me-Not and rushed from her room. She had to send the letters quickly before her friends woke up and get back to the common room to walk with Roman. Walking the halls wasn't technically against the rules this early but she also didn't want the questions getting caught would come with.

Jane rushed to the owlery before she could change her mind. She knew her letters got a bit blunt but she couldn't help it, Giving away this information felt like giving up an advantage, even if it was to protect them. It wasn't fully verified, but if there was a chance that they got hurt while she waited.

She sighed as she climbed the stairs to the owlery, cold wind gusting. It had been getting colder. Jane could feel it in her fingertips as they tingled, the cold biting into them. The owlery was almost empty, she figured that most of the owls were on their way back right now in preparation for breakfast.

Quickly finding one of the schools extra owls, she handed over the envelope, keeping a carful hold of Smudge as she did so. She had discovered that Smudge saw the owls as someone to torment and the owls had a tendency to try to swoop down and catch the cat. Jan figured it was best to keep them separated.

"To Griphook at Gringotts Bank, please," she murmured. The owl hooted before taking flight out the window. Jane watched as it disappeared from sight through the early morning fog. She could see the forest and the mountains behind from here. The stone sill was could under her fingers as she leaned forward, resting for a moment and breathing in the fresh air.

Maybe her family already knew about the message. Maybe what she was doing was pointless. She leaned her forehead against the sill, bent over and tried to clear her head. It didn't matter whether they knew or not, she decided. At the least, she could see how they would react. That had to be worth something. She huffed, laughing at herself. She couldn't seem to admit even to herself that the thought of them hurt because of her twisted something in her. What's worse is she knew it.

Jane straightened. "Let's go Smudge," she whispered before heading out. The light was filtering through the fog and Jane knew it wouldn't be long before Roman showed up in the common room. She needed to hurry up, and broke into a quiet jog. She found herself outside the common room and the bells hadn't yet chimed to rise yet.

"Duplicitous," Jane told the wall before she slipped inside. Dropping the Notice-Me-Not, She jumped at a sneering voice behind her. Turning Jane came face to face with... no one.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Jane looked up to lock eyes with a portrait just to the right of the passage. She had forgotten that the fucking portraits were alive, for fuck's sake. Jane continued to silently curse herself out as the man with black raven hair sneered down his nose at her.

Jane felt deeply unsure. She was pretty sure saying entering the common room would sound cheeky. She also understood that the Slytherins prided themselves on their house loyalty and any portrait hung in their common room would have been a Slytherin also. She watched him with large eyes and waited for an answer to appear. She still wasn't sure who the portraits were loyal to and didn't like unknown entities knowing things about herself. He seemed to be getting irritated, so she settled on a return rather than a response.

"Who are you Sir," she asked. It couldn't help to be polite.

"Severus Snape, previous head of Slytherin, and the last head master of this bloody school. Now answer me girl. What were you doing wandering the halls at this hour?"

"Why?" She tipped her head to the side slightly and widened her eyes, letting the rest of her face remain blank. She almost hoped it gave her a bit of a daft look at that he would simply get tired of talking to her.

She could see a quite fury blazing in his eyes. "Because I wont have some dunderhead tainting the Slytherin name. If you're going to break the rules, do not get caught," Severus fumed.

Jane dipped her head in a agreement. "Are you going to tell on me Sir?"

Jane noted Severus looked about ready to tear out his hair, or hers if he had been in possession of a body. Which he wasn't. Jane held in her snicker. She knew she wasn't out of the woods yet but she was beginning to get the sense he didn't want to get her into trouble but did want to be in charge.

"Why would I tell on a Slytherin you imbecile, To lose points for my own house? What are they teaching you lot now? Dunderhead," he was practically seething.

Jane held up a hand to quite him. "As long as you're keeping it to yourself, I was sending a letter. And I didn't say it to begin with because someone placed your portrait here and I wasn't sure whether you could act on free will or were bound to someone else's will. why allow you to witness the castles goings-on's. Why, are you loyal to them, spying on others? It's better to get a feel for a person, or in this case, portrait."

Jane waited as his face did several interesting things. He seemed to be absorbing what she had said. Jane remembered what had been written about Severus Snape in her books on recent history book and had added in the word spy on purpose. He struck her as someone who wanted to be in charge, someone serious, and someone who wanted to be taken seriously. Respect could be received, if it was earned and reciprocal.

He finally dipped his head. "Alright." He spent a beat watching her before clearing his throat. "What is your potions grade?"

Jane raised her eyebrows, "Acceptable and Exceeds Expectations. I was muggle raised so I've only started brewing since Hogwarts." Jane tried not to frown. She wasn't embarrassed exactly but she didn't like feeling the need to justify herself. She was doing quite well, in her estimation.

"It could be better. Come see me every Sunday morning at Five o'clock and I'll teach you."

Jane blinked. She honestly hadn't expected that. "Alright. I'll see you then. Goodbye Professor," Jane turned to leave only for ice to spread through her veins.

"Goodbye Miss Blackthorne."