ENIGMA

Plot, new characters, new magical terms and abilities etc. are my intellectual property. If you want to borrow then please kindly ask. JK Rowling's characters and Wizarding Universe are all uniquely hers.

Summary: AU: What if everything we ever read in JK Rowling’s books was real – including the people characterised? What would you do if you found yourself caught up in that reality knowing what was to come? SS, RL, OC

Authors Note: It has been mentioned in the story but now I am noting it here. I am a fan of Diana Gabaldon’s ‘Outlander’/’Cross Stitch’ series and definitely was influenced by that in writing this story – i.e. the Standing Stones and traveling through time. But I also love Philip Pullman’s ‘His Dark Materials’ series and the tv programme ‘Sliders’ and the alternate universes alongside ours idea comes from there no doubt.

This chapter has got some cough slightly erotic undertones towards the end… nothing outlandish and certainly not explicit! Ahm just letting you all know…

Fantasy/Drama

This story is rated R/M.

ENIGMA

Chapter 014: Crossing Over and Back Again

She had never felt a peace such as this. There was no hurt, no pain or worries. The moonlight reflected off the landscape encrusted in snow and ice and it seemed a multitude in the expanse of the universe cried out to her. She moved swiftly across the grounds, above the tree-tops and then around the castle.

Some – instinct – bid her to not go into the force that was calling from the hills beyond. It was calling her as it had never done in life. It was seductive; haunting and even frightening in its intensity, but undeniably seductive. She started to move towards it and then hesitated. She turned back to the castle and moved swiftly downwards, searching…

She saw Him…

And whatever it was that called her to it was not match for what was drawing her back to Him…

She could see Him and she could see everything all at once.

Focus.

Yes… she had to focus…

She looked down and realised it was the shell that had been her human form lying on a cold stone floor in a pool of blood. She watched as the thing poked a cheek and cried like the young changeling it did not yet know it was. It had been set apart from the others because it was not one of the others. He was one of the rarest of all his kind and had been rejected for it. She didn’t know how she knew, but she knew…

And her attention was drawn once again to Him; stalking the corridors like a caged panther.

The rhythm and the heat of Him…

She looked back at the glow in the distance from whence she had come.

‘Not yet,’ she thought to herself and then the glow calmed.

Focus…

Once more she turned her attention, and the undeniable power she seemed to have, to the thing inside…and began to move upwards slowly. She climbed – or did she float? – steadily upwards. She peered through darkened windows into rooms which had been uninhabited for as long as the castle had existed.

“Harvey doesn’t like it,” the thing squeaked under its breath. She didn’t know how she knew, but she knew…

She kept moving upwards and then willed the thing to move in the darkness all the while guiding Him and it; willing them to find each other in the darkness which frightened her and it so much. Something was coming for her and she didn’t like it.

He and it found each other finally; the collision of the two was like a new star being born. She moved upwards and her awareness of what was coming increased the higher she drew. She saw Him – finally she saw Him. He had taken the earthly form into his arms and began to cry softly behind the curtains of black hair that framed the imperfectly elegant features of his face.

Why did he cry? Why did such a beautiful being cry?

She moved forwards and then found herself watching Him as he sat in frustration and despair watching the still, sold form in the bed somewhere else in the castle.

“If in your heart of hearts you know that you love Jessica, tell her; or else you will lose her…” the old man standing at the door said.

Did he love the mortal being she realised that she had been?

“Potions and charms aren’t always the answer, but you don’t need me tell you that,” the old man said in parting as the uneasy silence was broken. He then closed the door after picking up the thing which didn’t seem too happy about it and taking it with him.

She moved closer and reached out to touch Him but thought better of it. Did He love what she had been in life? Did he truly?

He and she were all alone now; all alone for the first time in many phases of the moon.

Moonchild…

Isn’t that what she had been called in a time that no more than the blink of an eye in the great beyond…? She could see it now; she could see the home that she’d left behind. The home that she’d never really felt part of no matter what she had said to the werewolf…

Moonchild Who Soars Through the Heavens…

‘A child of Destiny’, the Sachem had said so long ago. In so doing it had turned some of her people against her. But it was true: she was Destiny’s Child and had to have been when she came into that world only to come into this…

Being there and now here was proof of that.

But Something was coming for her and she didn’t like it…

She started to move away towards the glow that was calling for her and felt Him panic at the change in atmosphere he rightly perceived. He was scared and it frightened him. The fact that he could be frightened scared her too.

She watched as the man tenderly undressed the form and then himself. He drew the body close to him and confessed the deepest feelings and worries of his heart.

He loved what she had been; what she could be again.

There was a choice.

“I want to wake up now,” she spoke into the ether. She was ready for this dream to be over.

That was what it was – wasn’t it?

She felt It coming and started to panic even though it made no sense why she should do so. If she could feel then that could only mean…

‘Severus’ she whimpered as looked worryingly in the distance. There was a tense stillness that seemed to exacerbate her fear.

“I need absolution, Jessica; and only you can give it to me,” He whispered sleepily. “I love you, God how much I love you!”

“Severus!” she screamed as she felt it coming closer. She wanted this dream to be over, she wanted to wake up. She wanted to be with Him where she belonged; where she should be.

She realised what was coming and knew that she had to protect Him… It wasn’t just her that It would want... In the end, when all was said and done, it would be Him that It wanted just as much as her. There was something about them, the two of them together…It wanted that.

For the last time she moved outside of the window and into the deepest, darkest regions of – what? Where?

It was there; she knew It was…

And It was not quite aware of her though It should have been; that she knew also.

“You can’t have him,” she thought to herself. “Even if I must face you myself you will never have him!”

There was nothing that could be done in their ethereal forms so she retreated and found Him once more. She hovered above the form, hearing the glow calling for her once more.

“No…” she said firmly.

It was a battle of wills now, but she did not dare contemplate what it could mean to answer that call.

“No, no, NO!” she screamed as she plunged downwards.

And then everything went dark once more.

xxxXXXxxx

“Severus… Severus please…” Jessica whimpered. “Please…. No….”

Snape woke up in a blind panic at hearing her call out for him.

“Jessica?” he asked clearly in shock. He could see her struggling; she was struggling to return to consciousness.

“I don’t want…” she cried out in her sleep. “Please… No…!”

“I’m here, Jessica,” he whispered in her ear as he held her and then gave her a gentle shake. “Come on, wake up – it’s alright…”

Jessica stopped struggling against him and her eyes began to open slowly.

“Severus?”

“Yes,” he whispered softly. “It’s Severus…”

“I saw…him… whatever it is that Tom Riddle is at the moment,” Jessica babbled without seeing the look of astonishment on the Potions Master’s face, “Dumbledore – I need to see Dumbledore…”

Snape nodded mutely before dressing quickly.

He summoned Dumbledore struggling to understand how Jessica could possibly know the Dark Lord’s Muggle name when even the rest of the Death Eater’s Inner Circle did not.

xxxXXXxxx

Jessica sat up in bed having bathed with Severus’ help and sipped a cup of hot tea laced with a healing potion. She looked pale and tired. Considering the usual rich dark honey tone of her skin, her condition was telling.

“I saw…” she began slowly before giving up with a shake of her head.

Dumbledore, who was seated on the only chair in the room, leaned over and placed an aged hand over the one of Jessica’s which lay limply by her hip. He had a fair notion of what she had experienced, and the wisdom to know that discussion such things was not a usual matter of course – not even in the wizarding world.

“Take your time, Jessica, and tell us all that you can…”

The young woman nodded slowly and frowned in her tea. “I saw…him… whatever it is that Tom Riddle is at the moment…” she repeated.

Dumbledore looked at her in surprise and then at Severus, who was clearly disturbed by what she had just said yet again in his presence.

“Everything,” he said quietly. “Jessica, we need you to tell us everything...”

xxxXXXxxx

“Headmaster, I have only ever heard of such things…” Snape said quietly, holding one of Jessica’s hands while she slept.

“As classified according the Ministerial definition of the Dark Arts…”

“She knew his name – even I did not know such a thing until informed by yourself!”

“Mmm – indeed she did. Do not concern yourself about that; it is the least of what we need to think about.”

Snape took a deep breath. “Even Lucius Malfoy does not know his name… and yet she, a stranger to our world and – all of that – knows more than most!”

“She has undergone a powerful, even transformative and profound spiritual experience. She died, Severus. She was dead and then came back – she willingly came back…”

The Potions Master looked down at the only person who loved him. There was no doubting now what he was to her, but he didn’t understand it. For the first time in a long while he gave voice to his concern; his cool logic battling against the tidal wave of emotion deep inside.

Dumbledore rose and crossed over to the door of the room.

“You will need to spend some time together – quality time. And you need to talk Severus. But most of all, you need to listen…with your heart. Is true love such a difficult thing to accept? Don’t let everything that either of you have suffered be in vain.”

xxxXXXxxx

Jessica was released several days later and found herself being escorted by Snape to her new quarters. They were obviously meant to take a path that would allow them the utmost privacy, but took their time, walking slowly. He stopped near the end of a dark corridor and drew her close.

Without speaking a word, Jessica understood that he was sorry. She hugged him back and drank in the familiar and comforting musky scent of him that seemed to be part and parcel of potions-making.

“I missed you,” she whispered softly in his ear.

“And I you…” Snape answered before pausing thoughtfully. “Let’s not go to dinner…”

“No… let’s not…”

xxxXXXxxx

Severus and Jessica lay in bed, each feeling safe and comfortable in the afterglow of their lovemaking.

“Do you think you can be happy living with me,” he asked hesitantly.

“Can you be happy having me with you?”

Snape could tell by the sound of her voice that Jessica was still afraid he would change his mind about her. He leaned down and gave her a kiss, a kiss that turned passionate yet again.

“I want more than you believe me to,” he said coming up briefly for air.

A renegade tear rolled down a cheek as Jessica looked up at him.

“None of that,” Severus said gently, but firmly. “No more tears from you about us, ever.”

Jessica shook her head in agreement and drew him downards.

“I need you inside me…” she whispered.

“I want to be…I need to be; I need this so much…” came a croak of a reply before Snape gave into both their needs.

xxxXXXxxx

Jessica shifted yet again in Severus’ arms.

“Harvey – is he alright with the Headmaster?” she croaked. “He must be really confused by all this.”

There was a low chuckle.

“I think we have been replaced in his affections…”

“Are you kidding me?”

“The Headmaster spoils him rotten. The few teeth he has will fall out from all the sweets the two of them eat…”

“Good Lord; we will have a little monster on our hands…”

There was an awkward silence.

“Severus?” Jessica asked sitting up. “Harvey wants to come back to me, to us, doesn’t he?”

Snape sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“Listen to me, Jessica. He loves us…and I suppose we can be grateful for that. But what he needs – what he needs is complicated by what he is. The Headmaster is uniquely prepared to accommodate those needs.”

“I… I know Changelings are special…” Jessica hiccupped as tears began streaming down her face. “But he… he was my baby boy… I’m his Mum…”

Snape pulled her into his arms and held her as she cried heart-breaking jags into his chest.

“I’m sorry; I know you hate it when I cry,” she continued as she wept uncontrollably.

“I don’t hate it…as such…exactly…” came a hoarse reply as Severus blinked his own moist eyes in frustration.

Damn it he most certainly was not going to cry!

Jessica heard a faint sniff and looked up through her tears to see Severus angrily brush a cheek and then scowl as only he could.

“Nevermind; it’s alright…” she said quietly as both turned their heads to the fireplace across from their bed.

Snape didn’t answer; but deep down both knew that their life together wouldn’t be quite the same without their baby boy Jarvey.

xxxXXXxxx

“Miss Newkirk! Madam Pince said…” Hermione said breathlessly as she rushed into the Library the on a Monday afternoon three weeks after Jessica had moved in with Snape.

“Nevermind what she said; I’m doing much better. Just a nasty case of Doxy flu and I had some business to attend to in London…which should quite please you come next term.”

“Oh! She made it sound like…”

“Wishful thinking…” Jessica said with a murderous look. “So what can I help you with? Have everything you need for the Herbology essays?”

“How did you know about that?”

“Are you kidding me? It’s been a virtual stampede all day! I set aside some things I knew you would want – otherwise you would have been up the creek without a paddle…”

Jessica looked up to see Hermione’s confused expression – and tried not to take too much delight in it.

“It’s a figure of speech – It means you would have been left high and dry…”

“American expressions then… meaning I would have lost out…”

“Yes, Miss Granger…” Jessica said motioning to a hefty stack of books.

“Oooh excellent! I’ll take them all!”

“You only really need the top two…”

“But there will be all sorts of footnotes and…”

“Never you mind; I’ve already out signed the top five for you. Send Harry and Ron to me – the rest are for them.”

“You know us too well,” Hermione said with a delighted grin.

“Mmm don’t I just…” Jessica replied with a wink before returning her attention to her the mound of paperwork and new intakes Pince couldn’t be bothered with in her absence.

“Oh,” Hermione said turning and circling back. “Professor Snape led the Library Club while you were ill…”

“Did he? Well, I will have to thank him for his kindness.”

Hermione gave the Administrator a funny look that Jessica did not miss.

“It was very good of him, Hermione. It’s good to know that what I have done can carry on even in my absence. I’d hate to see things fall apart just because I am not here…”

“Oh, I didn’t mean anything by it…”

“But…?”

“Well… erm…”

“Ah…you are surprised that I would say something nice about him even though we both have very different ways of doing things and because of how everyone else tends to treat and think of him?”

“Something like that…” Hermione said through a cough.

“My grandmother always said to never judge a book by its cover, Hermione. I’m not going to hate the man because everyone else does. The rest don’t have to like him – but they can at least show him some respect. Now go on… send Harry and Ron to me…”

xxxXXXxxx

“Did you really mean that,” Severus asked as he and Jessica enjoyed a quiet break in her office. It helped to relieve the monotony that rainy days could sometimes be when one had to work. They had gone to visit Harvey at the Headmaster’s. Both had been left devastated by the reality that the little Jarvey Changeling seemed to be getting on fine without them; but wisely decided to refocus their energy into their relationship and the life they were building together.

“What you said to Miss Granger…” he continued hesitantly.

Jessica looked up from the tea she’d asked the house-elves for. She stood and then took a few steps, depositing herself in Snape’s lap.

“You act like you never had a woman in you lap before,” she teased, taking delight in the bemused look on his face.

“The gentler sex has never been so inclined…”

“I hope the stronger sex hasn’t been so inclined either…”

Snape chuckled and put an arm around Jessica’s back and looked up at her.

“I meant what I said Severus; I didn’t say that for your benefit… I love you.”

The Potions Master looked surprised; and then Jessica had a glimpse of the man he might have been had so many things been different for him.

He smiled; a big warm smile that lit up the dreary darkness of the room as he turned slightly red.

“I love you, Severus Snape. I loved you before I met you…”

Snape looked up at her again, but before Jessica could say more he place a finger over her lips.

“We won’t speak of that now. Not now…”

Jessica nodded and Severus lifted her ever so slightly and then motioned for her to straddle him.

“About thanking me…”

“The door…” she whispered as she unbuttoned the pants he was wearing. He had made adjustments to his wardrobe in the past couple of weeks due to weight gain and she could see more than a bit of the cinematic Snape in his choice of garments. She wasn’t going to complain; she liked the way he was filling out – she liked it a lot.

There was the faint sound of clicking and then Snape whispered, “Not yet… just sit…”

Jessica stopped fussing with his buttons and did as he asked. Severus unsnapped her jeans and she took them off after kicking off the ballet slipper-style shoes she was wearing. She had on a big white man’s shirt – one of his though no one would have realised it. He took her long hair down from its braid, admiring the sheen of its waves and the silky heaviness of it as it framed her oval face.

Severus pulled her onto him so that she straddled him once more. They began to move against each other and she could feel how much he wanted her.

“A friend back home told me something once…” she said softly as he unbuttoned her shirt and popped a breast out of her bra.

“Oh – and what sage wisdom did she impart?” he replied quietly before running his tongue around her nipple and then taking it into his mouth.

“He…” Jessica moaned. “He said that the biggest compliment a man could give a woman was to be aroused by her…”

“Mmmm,” Severus moaned as if he at least agreed. He slumped forward, raising his hips and repositioning the ever-increasing bulge between his legs so that she could ride it.

Jessica began to undo the black cravat he was wearing and then tossed it on the floor before making short work of his own white shirt. She leaned in and it was her turn to suckle him as her tongue flitted over the engorged pinkness that was his nipples.

“Jesus…” he moaned as her hands moved to the buttons on his pants once more. Once free of his trousers and the rest of their clothes, both moved backwards across the room through a kiss onto the sofa in a corner.

xxxXXXxxx

Severus had just entered her and began to thrust deeply, when Jessica whispered guiltily in his ear. “I didn’t… I haven’t had my potion this morning…”

“But you have taken them regularly, no?” the Potions Master moaned without stopping or breaking his rhythm.

“Mmm hmm…” Jessica moaned. She felt him grow in size inside her and pulled him in deeper. “Oh God, don’t stop…”

The train of thought about having unprotected sex was lost as they spent the rainy afternoon making love in her office.