Child of Fire and Night

Chapter Nine

Irritated by Dumbledore's words, I pushed away from the edge of the balustrade and made my way down to Snape's office. I pushed the door open when I got there and slammed it shut.

Snape looked up from his desk, a mildly annoyed look on his face. "There's no need to slam doors."

I glared and walked up to him. "Show me your arm."

He looked taken aback. "What?"

"Your arm. Show it to me." I said. Unless Dumbledore was lying, he should have a Dark Mark on his left forearm. And if he does ... what then? Would that be enough proof that I didn't have to worry about someone here discovering my past?

"Why?" He asked, his arms crossed in front of him.

"Just do it!" I snapped.

Snape gave me a reproachful look and stood, forcing me to take a step back. "I would advise you to speak more respectfully to your Professor in the future. Why do you want to see my arm?"

"Please, show me." I said quietly. "Please."

He saw the pained and frustrated expression on my face and sighed. Slowly, he rolled up the sleeve of his robe. The pale outline of a Dark Mark showed against his pale skin. His forearm tensed as I traced it lightly with my fingertips.

"Satisfied now?" He asked.

I pulled up the sleeve of my dress and held my wrist next to his arm. "Mine was never faded. I don't know why and I don't understand why mine is different from everyone else's." I looked up at him. "Do you?"

He shook his head. "I haven't been involved with Death Eater's since the fall of the Dark Lord."

"Why did you tell Dumbledore about it then?" I asked a little annoyed. "You didn't know if was a -"

"I could tell." Snape pushed the sleeve of his arm back down covering his Dark Mark and I let my arm drop to my side. "It's extraordinarily rare for a witch or wizard to have a tattoo, much less the tattoo of a skull and snakes." He grabbed my wrist and pushed my sleeve back up. "The first snake is coming out of the skulls mouth. The last one is going in. The Dark Mark depicts a snake coming out of the mouth of a skull. What else could it mean? I can't believe Karkaroff would let his own niece be branded like this."

I yanked my wrist away from him and covered it with my sleeve. "He didn't know." I said quietly, looking away.

"What do you mean, he didn't know?" Snape growled. "How could he not have known? He used to be a Death Eater and I'm sure that's how -"

"Don't just assume things you know nothing about!" I shouted. "Even though I met Aleksander and his family through him, doesn't mean anyone made me do this! I chose it for myself! My Uncle didn't even know about it until he told me Aleksander died!" My voice was shaky and my breath came out in short gasps.

"Why did you do it then?" He asked a little more calmly.

I looked away from him. "Because I was in love with him, and his family took me in as their own. After my parents died, all I had was my Uncle. Aleksander's mom helped him out by filling the role of a mother. I lived with them until I was old enough to attend school."

Snape was quiet for a moment and it looked as if he were thinking something through in his head and then it clicked. "Aleksander Lestrange. Bellatrix Lestrange's nephew."

I nodded. "Yes, but they're all imprisoned in Azkaban now. Except Aleksander that is." Hot tears threatened to fall and wiped them away quickly. "He died a year ago when the Ministry raided his family's house."