The Light of Your Darkness

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize isn't mine; it belongs to the most wonderful J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 8: The Elf Inside Me

"I ask for your full attention." Severus began the class, his eyes grazing the students in his N.E.W.T. sixth year class. His eyes lingered slightly on Rosalie, who raised her eyebrows up at him amusedly. "So put your books away, I've not asked you to get them out yet."

Rosalie took a look around the class room; most of the DA had got an excellent grade on their O.W.L. and had decided to continue on in the course. However, Rosalie was sure that they hadn't been exactly prepared for her brother to be teaching the class. Most were Gryffindors, a handful of Slytherins and Ravenclaws and two Hufflepuffs.

"To defend oneself against the Dark Arts is an art in itself." Snape began earnestly. "The Dark Arts are ever-changing and have existed for as long as magic has been around. They are dangerous and more clever and fierce than any other magic. To fight against them, requires skill and finesse that I'm sure none you quite possess at the moment."

Rosalie gave her brother an unidentifiable look. He always spoke of the Dark Arts as if they were the most powerful magic of all. However, she had once spoken to him on the subject and Severus feared this magic above all as well. He said that it had a way of taking over the soul and ensnaring the senses of the body to bow before its power. It wasn't meant to be used in large doses, but rather defended against in colossal quantities.

"Your defenses have to be impenetrable and complex to counteract the magic you seek to undo." Snape gestured to the pictures around the room, which were busy casting a gloomy look across the room. "Dark curses are used to torture the enemy as such can be seen with the Cruciatus Curse or the Dementor's Kiss. Curses are put upon certain things not only to cause that thing harm but others as well such as the Inferius."

"Has an Inferius been seen, then?" Parvarti Patil asked, her voice high in emotion. "Is he really using them?"

"The Dark Lord has used them in the past and we cannot rule out the fact that he will use them again." Severus answered honestly as he began pacing the room, his black robes billowing out around his lithe form. "Today, we will begin to learn to use nonverbal spells, this is an advantage why?"

"It will give you a miniscule advantage over the enemy due to the fact that they aren't sure what you are casting." Rosalie easily answered, this was her reasoning after all for wandless magic and much easier wordless magic.

"Correct Miss Prince, ten points to Slytherin." Severus gave her an appreciative nod, Rosalie knew that he hadn't wanted to call on Hermione, who had previously been waving her hand manically. "Nonverbal magic takes an extraordinary amount of concentration and mind power which some of you I am sure are severely lacking in." Severus's black eyes came to rest on Ron's, who was glaring, challengingly. "Now you will divide into pairs. You will be practicing jinxing one another and the opposite will attempt to defend oneself, all in complete silence. Go."

"Come on Draco." Pansy quickly claimed the Slytherin as her partner, grabbing him by the arm and giving him the ugliest puppy dug look Rosalie had ever encountered. Rosalie tried to hold back her laughter at the dismay on Draco's face, which he caught and sent her a glare.

"Blaise?" Rosalie asked the Italian boy, who nodded his head and got up from his seat. "You jinx me."

A lot of cheating was going on and while she was sure that Severus noticed it, he didn't say anything. Rosalie however, refused to cheat and even after she was hit several times with a jellylegs jinx, she kept trying. Finally, she reached a small amount of success and was able to repel the jinx with a weak protogo. Severus took notice and rewarded her with twenty points but conveniently failed to notice when Hermione managed to do the same thing. After that, Blaise switched her and she began to try to cast the jinx silently, it was much harder for her and just as she was about to succeed she heard Severus begin to get angry with Ron.

"You're pathetic Weasley." Severus was obviously annoyed at the lack of concentration that Ron was displaying. "Here, I will show you how it's done."

Severus moved so fast, Rosalie didn't even have time to think about what she was doing. Her instincts came over her quickly, she needed to protect Ron. Silently her mind reacted and thought up the shield charm and launched it at Ron. The emotion behind the charm was so strong that shield came out practically solid white and Snape was thrown into a desk as his own jinx rebounded off the indestructible shield.

"Severus." Rosalie hurried over to her brother, whose head had hit the desk hard. All the students were sniggering, save for Draco who came to try to help as well. Severus easily righted himself, his face in his own permanent scowl.

"Who cast that charm?" Severus demanded angrily, his eyes falling on Hermione. "Granger, detention."

"But it wasn't me Professor." Hermione denied it easily, her chocolate brown eyes flickering over to Rosalie's guilty blue ones.

"Severus I don't know what happened." Rosalie admitted to her brother, going to stand in front of him. She was a head shorter than him but their eyes connected instantly. The fury in his eyes was easily detectable but to Rosalie the only emotion that she could see was the betrayal. "Severus, I-"

"Class dismissed." Severus said shortly, the two of them in a mental battle of their own. All the students stared as they packed up and slowly left the classroom, had a Slytherin just defended a Gryffindor? The sister of Snape nonetheless! Draco was the last to leave the classroom, being practically dragged out by Pansy who was sending looks of pure jealously out at Rosalie every moment she could.

"Severus." Rosalie repeated but at that moment, Rosalie felt the familiar penetration of her mind. She watched mentally, her eyes shut tightly, as Severus brought up the memory of just a mere few minutes ago. Rosalie watched as her brother was about to jinx Ron, Rosalie's face seem to shift suddenly, her eyes turning their brilliant shade of green, despite the contacts in her eyes, and the complete concentration etching into her angular face. This wasn't her memory. "Severus who-"

Suddenly, her memory hit her. The feeling of ancient instinct to protect all people against each-other rose up in her chest. A calm, warm feeling filled her body as if everything worked in complete harmony and the world was in indescribable peace. The memory ended as the charm shot out of Rosalie's wand and protected Ron easily. Rosalie's eyes fluttered open, the ice blue shining brightly out and met with the obsidian eyes of her brother.

"The elf." Severus said, beginning to pace once again. He always seemed to pace when he was thinking or anxious. "Elves are very protective creatures and feel the need to protect all beings. It is in their instinct."

"Couldn't have just been habit?" Rosalie suggested, Severus sent her a confused look. "Like habit of protecting Ron, he is my best friend after all or was anyways."

"No, I don't think so." Severus muttered shaking his head. "That was probably the catalyst in the situation though."

"Well, it could've been worse." Rosalie offered as compensation. "At least we didn't have a vampire attack right?"

"Your magic is out of control Rosalie." Severus said seriously, stopping his pace. "That's two instinctual attacks in one day."

"I'm sorry I can't control it." Rosalie apologized sincerely. "I only feel it at the last moment."

"That's the thing though, Rosalie." Severus came to stand next to her. "You're not suppose to control it. Those are your natural instincts but the fact is, you shouldn't be having them. The vampire and elf instincts should be canceling one another out but your wizarding magic is causing an in-balance in your being."

"Ergh!" Rosalie hissed out angrily. "We have to start this meditation, inner core and becoming attune with my magic thing now Severus."

"Yes, yes I know." Severus agreed.

"Animagi is an obscure magical art. Not many are capable of achieving a solid form and even more so, having the ability and power to stay in that form for a decent amount of time." Severus told her, he was reading through some other unnecessary book that had nothing at all to do with Animagi. "Theory states that to be able to achieve your known form that you have to be attuned enough into your magic, that you can see the animal within your magic."

"The animal within my magic." Rosalie repeated, her hand going to her chest subconsciously. "Where would it lie?"

"I've never had the pleasure of attaining an animal form but according to theory you should be able to feel the wild energy and instincts of the animal within your magic. Flashes perhaps of the face." Severus was distracted, his nose was practically buried in the tome he was reading.

"Why don't you do it to?" Rosalie asked confusedly. She was anxious to know her form already but she knew it would be many months still until she figured it out.

"Do what?" Severus asked, his long thin fingers following the words down the page before snapping loudly. Her brother got up and started to pace again, his greasy hair hanging in his face as his thoughts spun in every direction.

"Become an Animagus with me?" Rosalie asked earnestly. She felt alone with having to do all this new magic by herself, it was a lot of pressure. Maybe if Severus was to struggle with her, than she wouldn't feel so cornered.

"I've tried before." Severus told her, stopping to meet her eyes, the unidentifiable look back in his own. "I wasn't able to find my animal form."

"Try with me again!" Rosalie all but pleaded with him. She held back a smile, the thought of her asking Severus for anything just a mere few months ago, would have repulsed her. But now, she felt comfortable around him as Rosalie and he hadn't given her any reason to distrust him. He held all of her secrets of being a girl, an elf-vampire and still the secret of being the savior of the wizarding world. "Please Severus."

"I'll think about it." Severus said distractedly, his hand running through his own hair in a very Harry-like gesture. He seemed to notice this and glared defiantly at his hand and then at Rosalie's smirking face. "Come on, we're going to start meditation."

"Oh." Rosalie muttered. She wasn't at all excited about meditation, it seemed hard and extremely boring. "What do I do?"

"Sit down in a comfortable position." Severus told her, coming over and taking a seat on the floor with his legs crossed. Rosalie followed her brother's instruction and took a seat across from him. "Now close your eyes and clear your mind."

"How do I do that?" Rosalie asked closing her eyes. Immediately, many thoughts started surfacing in her mind and memories of earlier in the day started replaying.

"Just relax your entire body." Severus's voice was already calm and soft. "Breathe deeply and let it out slowly. Concentrate on the rate of your breaths."

"Ergh, I can't do it." Rosalie growled out frustrated, her fangs bore in irritation.

"It's going to take time Rosalie, just relax your body." Severus told her, his own body obviously in an immense state of relaxation. "Give it five minutes."

Rosalie sighed loudly and began to concentrate on her breathing. The rhythmical pace of it, breathing in deeply and letting it out gently. She began to feel the muscles in her arms and legs loosen and relax but despite this, her mind wouldn't empty. It was whirling around in thoughts, they come much easier when she was relaxed. Her mind wanted to work as her body rested, almost like when her body worked her mind couldn't think. But, Rosalie waited patiently, trying to push the thoughts and memories away. She concentrated on her breathing and soon her head was clear, she felt more relaxed then she could ever remember. Then suddenly as she was about to tell Severus, an image of a blonde-haired boy entered her mind. Almost at an instant, her mind went crazy in thoughts and memories of the past.

"Bloody hell." Rosalie opened her eyes, exhausted all of a sudden. Severus was no longer across from her, instead he was back up at the desk with his book. She hadn't even heard him move. "I was so close."

"You did well, Rosalie." Severus told her, not bothering to look up from his tome. "Much better than I expected from you."

"Aw, thanks." Rosalie said sarcastically, getting up from her position on the floor. She stretched widely and yawned loudly, she was tired. "What time is it?"

"Around 10." Severus muttered, shutting the book after marking his place. "I better get you back to the common room, it's already after curfew."

"Yeah, it's been a long day." Rosalie yawned again. She had been at Severus's quarters since after Dinner, it had been three hours. The only person who even knew where she was was Blaise. Not that anybody would be worried about where she was at. She was alone in the world now, nobody knew her. She was just another stuck up pureblood. Just Rosalie Prince.

"A bit late isn't?" The silky voice of Draco Malfoy snuck on her the moment she entered the Slytherin common room.

"Not especially." Rosalie sighed and threw herself into the comfortable green sofa in front of the fireplace. Her eyes closed tiredly as she felt the couch indent and she sighed audibly. It had been a long day.

"As a prefect I should take away points for you being out passed curfew." Draco commented lightly, his voice a whisper but commanding nonetheless.

"But?" Rosalie glared at him from under long black lashes, her lips pursed in a very McGonagall sort of way. Draco raised an amused eyebrow and slid off the couch and stood before the warm fire.

"But I know you were with Severus." Draco's back was toward her but she had a distinct impression that he was smirking triumphantly.

"And how pray tell, did you come across this information?" Rosalie asked, her eyes narrowed challengingly at the blond boy's back. She of course knew that he had probably asked Blaise but this unnerved her to say the least. Why was he inquiring as to her where a bouts?

"I'm a prefect; it's my business to know where everyone is at. Especially after curfew." Draco said simply, turning back towards her. His face was stoic but his silver eyes sparkled amusedly. "Not to mention, I'm a Malfoy. I know everything."

"O really I didn't know that about you Malfoy's." Rosalie said in mock awe. "All my life I always thought that the Malfoy's special talent was just being incredibly stupid and annoying." Rosalie shook her head in teasing confusion. Draco's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Ah Merlin, guess us Prince's just aren't always right."

"What were you doing with Severus tonight?" Draco inquired in a change of subject, his voice much colder now. Rosalie yawned as she stood up and stretched widely.

"Talking, he is my brother after all." Rosalie started to walk away from Draco Malfoy, whose suspicious eyes she could feel on her back. "O and tomorrow could you remind me of something?"

"What?" Draco met Rosalie's eyes as she turned around right before she reached the door to her dormitory.

"To give Blaise a good thrashing for his huge mouth." Rosalie smiled sarcastically and gave Draco a small wink. She turned back around but not soon enough to miss the small blush that rose up on Draco's cheeks first.

Perhaps she wasn't as alone as she thought.