Shade (A Severus Snape Fanfiction)

|chapter one - prologue|

Hello, my name is Kathryn Quinn and I am going mad. Now I know what you must be thinking. Who in the world introduces themselves in such a manner? It's funny, really, or it would be if you knew me, because on the surface, you'd never know I am anything but happy.

I've always been the content nobody in the background of everything. I've never been very talented at anything, or extraordinarily smart. Aside from the darkness that looms within me, I am exceptionally average.

I suppose for things to make much sense, I should start from the beginning. I was born on April 23rd 1970 to Helen and Thomas Quinn in the outskirts of London. We lived a normal, happy life in the wizarding world. When I turned eleven, I recieved my Hogwarts acceptance letter and it was during my first year there that my life fell apart.

A dark wizard named Voldemort had been spreading terror throughout the entire wizarding world for quite some time. He and his followers were a vicious, cruel bunch who often killed muggle born witches and wizards, as well as those who refused to join them. It was in September of 1981 that my parents were murdered by them.

A month later, Voldemort attacked another couple and their infant son, who somehow defeated the evil bastard. No one understood how, and soon after, most of his followers went under the radar or to Azkaban.

If it hadn't been for one women's kindness, I undoubtedly would have spent my summers in an orphanage after that year. Poppy Pomfrey had taken pity on me and took me in as her own. I grew up within the walls of Hogwarts and was a relatively quiet kid until my seventh year as a student. That was the year that I first began to feel the effects of my birth right.

What I didn't know until that year was that my parents, my father in particular, were far from ordinary. My father came from America, so it wasn't common knowledge in Europe that he came from a very dark, very powerful magical family. Not only were they a strong bloodline, but they also had the abilities far beyond anything I could have imagined.

I started showing the first signs of the powers within me two months into that school year. It started slowly, the darkness taking hold without me even knowing it was happening. First came the nightmare plauged nights. Nightmares that began as silly little phobias but slowly progressed into something darker.

I would often wake in the middle of the night, my body still buzzing with excitement after a reoccurring dream of myself covered and dancing in blood that fell from the sky. It was something I was too afraid to tell anyone about. I was ashamed.

It wasn't long after the dreams started that I began to search for anything that could make me feel as alive as those shameful dreams did. After some experimenting, I had finally found the closest thing: sex.

To say I developed a reputation that year would be an understatement. There was a hunger in me that always left me wanting something more no matter how many boys I slept with. By that time, the darkness had taken a much firmer hold on me.

Word got to the professors and eventually back to Poppy of my indiscretions. The night that she confronted me about it was the first time my powers showed themselves. She had started lecturing me, as any concerned guardian would, when I first heard the voice.

Are you going to let that bitch talk to you that way? End her. All you have to do is snap your fingers, and her neck will break like a twig. Come on. Do it.

That was the first time I felt truly terrified. I was certain I was going mad. What happened next has always been a bit fuzzy for me. I remember feeling the rage bubble inside of me as her voice raised. I remember throwing my hands into the air in frustration, and I remember the destruction that followed. A black cloud erupted from my hands and shot out among the Hospital Wing, sending each object it came into contact with into the air and skidding around the room.