Realization

The professor studied the small script scrawled across Attica's notes, the curtain of his black hair covering most of his face. "And you are certain about this information?" he asked.

"Yes." Attica swung her feet slowly back and forth as she sat on the bench in the lab. "I was only able to compile it all from the oldest of the texts you gave me," she continued as the professor continued to study the scroll in his hands.

"Well, that would explain the results of the Revelo test," he muttered, slightly under his breath.

"How so?" she inquired, curious. They had already established that the Elixir contained traces of approximately seven ingredients. The number was magically potent, so that should have come as no surprise. Phoenix feathers, amber, and asphodel were definite ingredients. The other four or so had thus far been elusive and Attica was insistent that the rubies were used in the creation. She also wouldn't be surprised if sapphire appeared on the list as well. The research backing her claim rested in Snape's hand. Of course, he would not attempt a test for an ingredient without appropriate research to justify it. His overly scholarly approach was really testing her patience.

"The reason behind the liquid turning brown rather than reflecting the color of the stone, Miss Flamel." He did not look up from the parchment.

"Because it was a mixture of them," she said as comprehension dawned.

He glanced up, nodding slightly. "Indeed. Ruby, sapphire, and emerald. If we are correct, then I estimate that we are only one ingredient away from having the full list."

Excitement bubbled in her chest. "I bought rubies on my last supply run!" She slipped off the table, her sneakers clacking against the stone floor. "And there is a sapphire encrusted hair comb in a jewelry box upstairs. I'll fetch it!" It had been over a month, and it was beyond exhilarating to know that they were so close to determining, without a doubt, what exactly was used to compose the Sorcerer's Stone.

"Not necessary, Miss Flamel. I happened across a small box that contained several split sapphires in the supply cabinet when I did my initial inventory. We can use those," he said matter-of-factly as he summoned the box.

Using a charmed knife, Snape scraped off a small flake from one of the rubies and cracked a sapphire in two. "There is an emerald on the stopper of your vial, yes?" he asked, pushing the two chips of precious stone together on the countertop.

Dread slowly but definitively crept over Attica. Her body felt cold and she stood very still as she contemplated his request. "I don't know if..."

Snape sensed her discomfort. "I only need a very small sample. I assure you, the missing piece will not even be noticeable."

She slowly pulled the vial from the stopper and murmured a charm to dislodge the round-cut emerald from its resting place. She handed it to Snape without a word. It didn't feel right. The emerald belonged to her. It was the last connection she had to her grandparents, and she immediately began to question what would possess her to just hand it over to this man without question, without a fight. But she reminded herself that it was necessary. They were so close to determining the components of the Stone. If she refused to give it to him, it would take weeks for them to get another sample. The closest apothecary did not carry precious gems on hand. An order would have to be made. She couldn't wait and he promised that she wouldn't notice the difference. It was worth it.

Wasn't it?

Despite her rationalization, she still felt overwhelmed by a dark sense of foreboding. Attica held her breath as Snape lowered the sharp little knife toward the glinting emerald. When the charmed metal came into contact with the stone, Attica screamed. At first, she didn't understand what was happening. She hadn't been trying to stop him from cutting the stone, but she had screamed anyway. And then came the pain. She could feel the sharp edge of the knife as if it were pressing into her skin rather than the small glinting rock.

Piercing, intense, and excruciating pain.

The knife crumbled to dust in Snape's hand and the emerald glinted an eerie gold light. With the light came a force powerful enough to knock the man off his feet and fling him across the room. His body crashed against the opposite wall and he sank to the floor. He remained there for a moment, dazed and confused. Attica was still screaming, and he found the strength to lift himself to his feet with his wand drawn. He trained his eyes on the girl, who had slumped against the table and was clutching a shaking hand to her chest.

She was panting heavily in between the shrieks of pain. Her golden hair was strewn across her face and was adhered to her forehead by a thin sheen of sweat. Her face was contorted into an expression of pain that struck Snape's heart as painfully as if he had been stabbed with the knife himself. Even more painful was the panic that came with the realization that he had no idea what was afflicting her and if he would be able to save her.

He ran to her side, ignoring the physical pains caused by his fall. The stone sat where it had before, appearing completely innocuous. He reached a hand to touch it and felt something grab his arm with a vice-like grip.

He heard a feral voice hiss, "Do not touch it!"

The voice had issued from the girl, her eyes wide and bloodshot, her hair wildly twisted around her. She had not let go of his arm and was clutching it with more strength than he thought her capable of possessing. He looked at her with horror. She looked nothing like the once charming child who had single-handedly renewed his desire to teach or the resolute young woman she had grown to be. Now, she was glaring at him with a hatred he had seen rivaled not even by Voldemort himself. Her normally prepossessing blue eyes were now almost black. He could see something burning inside them, something that was not coming from her. For one disconcerting moment, he thought he might have been staring into the eyes of the Dark Lord himself. He had to remind himself that the horcruxes had been destroyed. He was gone for good this time. But as he continued to stare into those demonic eyes that he knew did not belong to the girl in front of him, doubt flooded his mind.

"Attica!" he cried, trying to shake off the death grip she still held on him before she broke his arm. She seemed to wake up then, looking at the hand clutched around Snape's forearm before attempting to jerk it away. But before she could break the contact, Snape caught her hand in his.

As he did so, he noticed something peeking out of the edge of her white cotton sleeve. It looked something like a bruise.

He briskly shoved the sleeve further up her arm, revealing her Dark Mark. He almost choked on his breath. Purple and black bruises covered the skin of her arm and the tattoo was much blacker and bolder than he remembered his being during the times he was most connected to Voldemort. The skin that wasn't bruised or covered in the ink was a sickly pallor. It almost looked green with infection.

She used her free arm to reach between them, to find the stone that lay on the black tabletop, but Snape restrained her free arm as well with a move so fast that she hadn't been able to deflect it.

She glared at Snape and her eyes flashed with the darkness he had seen there before. "Give me the emerald," she snarled and writhed against his hold. The doubt in Snape's mind gave way to comprehension. How had this child acquired something like this? Who would give her such a thing?

When he didn't respond or give in to her wishes to return the stone to her, she screamed. "Let me go!" she bellowed in a voice that she didn't recognize, although it came from her own lips.

She mentally shook herself and gasped. What was that?

She shuddered, and Snape eased his grip on her but did not let go. Instead, he lifted his hands to take hold of her shoulders and bent over in order to look her directly into her eyes, which, he noted with relief, were blue once again.

"Attica," Snape said softly. "What is happening to you?"

~~~

Attica sat in a straight-backed chair in the study. Bright sunlight filtered onto the hardwood floor, warming it. She stared unblinkingly at the sun-drenched square, feeling like she was in a daze.

"What is happening to you?" Snape repeated. He stood before her with a glass of water in his hand. He tried to hand it to her but she would not even look at it, so he set it on a table and fixed her with his dark, calculating stare. The reserved but not unpleasant research partner was replaced by the stern and cold professor from Attica's youth.

She remained silent because she didn't know. And she wasn't sure she had the strength to meet the gaze she could feel burning on her skin. She knew he was looking at her with a mixture of horror and despair. It was the same look she had been giving herself in the mirror for years. She had always known there was something wrong, she had always felt it, but she had attributed it to grief and then to her thirst for vengeance. Snape resumed his pacing.

Abruptly, he stopped in front of her. He held the emerald out to her, pulling it back against his chest when she almost jumped out of her chair to claim it, the hunger on her pale face so intense that he, the ever surly and undaunted Potions Master, was taken aback.

"I want to know how and when you obtained this stone," he said, trying to keep the fear out of his voice.

Attica rolled her eyes as she slumped back in the chair. She smirked. "My grandfather gave me the vial. I've mentioned this to you before."

"Yes, yes, I am aware of that. But he did not give you the emerald." No grandparent would bestow that burden on a child they loved. And Nicolas Flamel would never have bestowed it on any other person. He had only met the man a handful of times, but that was enough for him to know that the man was one of the most selfless men he had ever known. He would have undertaken the curse of this item and would have let it kill him before he would wish it on his worst enemy. No, the girl had acquired it from some other source.

She pursed her lips and glared at him.

"How did you obtain this? I will not ask you again."

Attica met his eyes but did not answer.

"Speak!" he barked. She jumped.

"I found it!" she shouted. She tucked her hands under her legs as she spoke. "When Dumbledore came to tell my grandparents that they had to die. I eavesdropped, and I saw the stone fall onto the ground as they were talking. I waited until they left, and then, I snuck into the study and took it."

Snape rolled his wand in his fingers, and Attica eyed him warily. He wasn't going to hurt the girl, but she most likely didn't realize that. And if that stone was what he suspected it was, the sooner he knew for certain, the better.

"You are going to tell me what you heard that night. You are going to tell me everything you know about this gemstone, Miss Flamel."

She swallowed hard, but acquiesced.