An excerpt:
"Severus? Is that you?"
Snape paused in the doorway to the shabby hotel room, light flickering behind him as the flourescents in the hallway slowly died. Light flickered inside the room as well, a swirling, psychadelic glow emerging from the sleek high-definition television hanging on the wall, it's high-end electronic allure at odds with the battered furnishings in the rest of the Motel 6. Allard lay sprawled back on the bed, his shirt unbuttoned, a glass of Shiraz in hand.
After a moment's pause to take in the tableu, the tarnished potions master stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. Soft, pulsating music filled the room, the mysterious visuals on the screen throbbing in time to the beat. Allard gave Snape a wry grin. "Impressive isn't it? There's a bit more to it than just pretty pictures. Here, let me show you."
Snape poured himself some wine as Allard's deft fingers flew across a mysterious device. The patterns on the screen shifted, a form emerging from the chaos.
"Is that a llama?", Snape asked, his tone of voice indicating that he was less than overwhelmed.
Allard chuckled. "Patience, Severus. You should understand the importance of impatience." Snape grunted and took a sip of the Shiraz, his finely honed sense of taste savoring the liquid enveloping his tongue and filling his mouth. Not bad.
After a few moments the images before him begin to shift, the llama starting to distort, the color spectrum becoming darker. Soon the room was filled with an eerie green light and an image had solidified on the screen: a skull, with a serpent emerging from it's mouth, undulating across the screen.
Snape's eyes grew hard as he slammed the glass of wine on the nightstand and turned to face Allard. "That's a very dangerous symbol. Do you realize what you're playing at?"
Allard stood up and stepped closer to Snape, who was accutely aware of Allard's presence. "Oh, I'm very aware of the symbolism and I'm proud to display it on this, the eve of my greatest triumph. As we speak, the muggle world is waiting anxiously for the arrival of the device before you, a machine designed to bridge the gap between the muggle and wizard worlds. The muggles know nothing of your politics or struggles, but when they first get a glimpse of magic they'll already be familiar with the proper signs."
"The Dark Mark is designed to create fear and loathing, not comfort and familiarity."
Allard laughed. "Do you think I know nothing of Dark Marks? Let me show you something else, Severeus." Rolling up his right shirt sleeve, Allard revealed his forearm. "Touch me."
Snape swallowed nervously, then reached his fingers out to lightly stroke the underside of Allard's forearm. Slowly an outline took shape, a tattoo edged in sharp lines, glowing with a harsh, brilliant light of their own. A window...
Allard looked Snape in the eyes. "My master requires me to wear a dark mark of my own, Severus. He has spread this mark across the world, annoucing to all his power, his intent. And they love him for it."
Snape looked back, then nodded and begin to pull away, only to find Allard's hand covering his, a rainbow of light emerging from undereath their fingers. "I didn't say you needed to stop touching me, did I?"
There was a long pause before Snape whispered, "No, J. You didn't..."
FnordChan