The Ten Year Hex [Severus Snape]

16

It was a dark secret now, one she and Demi would hold for the rest of their lives. She didn't know what Demi had done with the body and she didn't ask. Jynx had decided that her flat would in fact be abandoned after this night. She would find a new place to call home, new walls to fill with photos and books. These were tainted.

Demi sat across from her as she shuffled the cards and he asked what they were for, just as Dumbledore had. She sat them to the side, the glittering skeleton cast a disappointed look from his perch on the pile.

The candles were lit and she felt she was ready. She had done this same thing a thousand times and after what had transpired only hours before, she wanted that sense of normalcy. However, she knew nothing about this would be normal. She knew it would pull at her core. She would never truly be ready.

She asked him to place his hands in hers, though it was unnecessary. They did not need to touch, but she wanted to. She wanted to hold on to him. She drew in a deep breath as their fingers laced together and the warmth of his palms melted into her own. When she exhaled and their eyes met, the world flipped.

The same fire she had seen before burned around her, the buildings swallowed up in its heavy flames. She assessed the damage, looking for something among the rubble. She called into the void, but the drop in her stomach told her she heard nothing back. The guilt weighed heavily in her gut as she continued her search.

The spiral spun and then unraveled and she faced the Dark Lord. He stood with his hands locked behind his back and his loyal snake coiling around his feet. The look on his face was vicious. He spat silent words at her and she winced. What had she done?

The scene stretched and shuttered, and then she was looking at her own face. Severus stood next to her, his arm curled around her shoulder. There was relief in her chest, Demi's chest. The forest around them was thick and not far from a town, she could see the tops of buildings in the distance. Her own face, the one across from her, was twisted with distaste. As if she had smelled something awful in the air. Then a tear fell down her cheek and she reached for herself, Demi reached for her. Severus stepped forward, putting distance between them and his face twisted into a snarl. He snapped, silent words that left her feeling empty.

She wanted this scene to stay, to know what had happened. To get the answers that often evaded her but it shifted, like the pieces in a kaleidoscope. The Dark Lord stood over her, her fingers dug into the hard stone of a cell. Only a small barred window let in light around them and the pain, the great pain seeped into her bones. It seemed to tear at her muscles, shredding them. Her nerves were woven through a needle and slipped into a tapestry, pulled from her in tiny increments. She could feel her throat screaming and her jaw locking together but the room remained silent.

Then the world turned and she sat facing Demi, their hands still locked in the middle of the table. His eyes were wide, a look respondent to the horror she had witnessed. "You were screaming," he whispered.

She unfurled her fingers from between his, she could see the nail marks she had left in his skin. "I'm sorry," she said, "What I saw wasn't good, but it answered your question." It had answered his, but not hers. She still had not seen how the Dark Lord would rise again, only that he undeniably would.

Demi's eyes went dark, as if he already regretted ever asking her for this very thing. "So," his arms wrapped around him and brushed up and down his arms, "what did you see?"

"The Dark Lord will return and it seems you will join him," said Jynx, the words grating on her tongue.

"And you?" he asked in a hopeful tone, "were you there?"

She thought for a moment, thought about the answer she would give. She could tell the truth, that some event drove them apart. The problem was that she did not have the answer to what event. So instead, for the first time, she chose to lie. "I did not see myself."

She immediately regretted the lie, especially after what he had done for her, but she didn't want to give him some false hope. So instead she told the truth about the rest. "The Dark Lord will torture you."

His eyes flashed to hers and his palms landed softly on the table, "What?"

"That's what I saw and felt. I felt it Demi, and I hope you never have to. Please don't go back," she was willing to beg and plead to save his soul. To save him from the utter horror she had experienced on his behalf, "Please," tears pricked her eyes and her voice broke over the word.

She stood then and walked around the table. Her hands found his shoulders as he stood and there was no time to process how quickly his lips found hers. She wrenched back, prying him away from her, "What the hell Demi?"

"I'm sorry," his voice cracked, "I forgot myself."

"Yes, you did. Please, think about what I said."

"Jynx, I-"

"I know."

Despite the kiss, she threw her arms around him, just as she had done so many times before. Perhaps he would heed her words and take the path that felt unsteady instead of the one paved in black. She hoped that he would not find himself in that room, his insides shredding. Unfortunately, she knew that her visions predominantly came to fruition. Perhaps it was time for that to change, for some unknown deity or paracausal being to change the fates of those she had seen. All she could do was hope and try, there must be a way. She couldn't bare what she had seen in him, his future, his downfall.

Demi left her and she began to pack the few things she would take with her. The rest could rot with the memory of what had happened there. Some Muggle could make these walls into a home again, but Jynx could not.

She placed the small dragon into the satchel that swung over her shoulder, a canvas bag transfigured from a book. One last look around the space, the years fading as she placed her hand on the knob of the door.

When the door opened, she was surprised to find Severus on the other side of it, "Dumbledore is ready to see you."