The Hand That Feeds
Rating: PG-13, for gross imagery Spoilers: HBP, DH!
Summary: Spoilers for HBP/DH. Snape meets with Voldemort in Malfoy Manor.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. I'm simply borrowing/abusing them.
Note: I wrote this last year after reading Deathly Hallows. Figured I might as well post it here. Enjoy! :D
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Severus watched the other Death Eaters in the Malfoy's dining room hesitantly get up from their chairs and leave the room. The Dark Lord had ordered for only him to stay, and he now sat rather uncomfortably, trying to avoid the glassy eyes of Charity Burbage, who lie cold and dead on the smooth table's surface. Nagini had already devoured her from her feet to her waist, and Severus found the slimy, sucking noises of the reptile's feasting to be quite nauseating.
Draco Malfoy hung back in the shadowy doorway for a few seconds, his eyes seemingly pried to the corpse. A pale, feminine hand appeared on his shoulder, and his mother, Narcissa, whispered something urgently into his ear. The two quickly disappeared from sight.
"Now Severus, I have some business to go over with you," said Voldemort, his becoming soft, and almost enticing.
Snape swallowed hard and ripped his gaze away from Charity, hoping that the Dark Lord hadn't seen any hesitation in his eyes. "My Lord?"
Voldemort's red-slitted eyes stared at him unblinkingly, seeming to read his very mind. "Now that I've freed the Muggle Studies position at Hogwart's, I think we can begin to set our focus on taking over the school."
"A very good idea, My Lord," agreed Snape coolly, meeting Voldemort's burning gaze.
"You were successful in killing Dumbledore, Severus. Therefore, I can only reward you, and you alone, with the title of Headmaster. I will, of course, fill the other empty positions with Death Eaters of my own choosing. I reward those who are loyal to me. You have done quite well, my servant."
Snape bowed his head slightly, trying with all of his might to look grateful, though his stomach churned at the thought of being congratulated for the murder of Dumbledore. He did not wish to see Hogwart's again. He could almost feel the disgusted looks that his fellow professors would give him, not to mention the students who already disliked him before the death of Dumbledore. Now they would loathe him.
"You are unhappy with the job I am entrusting to you, Severus?" snapped Voldemort; his pale fingers stroking the growing bulge in Nagini's side. "I would have thought you would be beside yourself at the chance to put your peers in their place, once and for all."
"No, My Lord. It is a great honor to be given such a task. I am just at a loss for words. You are most generous to a humble Death Eater, such as I." He bowed again, this time lower and longer.
In the silence that followed, he tried to focus his mind on anything but the ominous sound of bones cracking and flesh stretching. He could feel the Dark Lord trying to enter his mind, and as always, he relinquished his hold and let him see what he wanted to see. He fought with every ounce of power he possessed to steer him clear of the doorway that led to memories of Dumbledore, and most importantly, the emerald green eyes of Lily Potter.
Voldemort's thin lips slid upwards into what could have been a smile, as he watched Nagini finish off the rest of the ex-Muggle Studies professor. Finally, when he seemed content with what he had seen in Snape's thoughts, he spoke again, "Very well, Severus. I expect you to succeed in your new position, because failure is not an option at this point." He turned back to look once more at Snape. "Soon Harry Potter and the rest of the Order will be finished, and Hogwart's will become the only source of wizards and witches who will gladly follow me, serve me, bow before me, and die at my command. You must break them, Severus."
"I will do as My Lord commands me," he said, his voice full of awe, despite the horror he was feeling.
"You may leave, then." Voldemort dismissively waved his long pale fingers in the air, and refocused his attention on his beloved snake. "Do not fail me, Severus. Nagini is satiated now, but she will hunger again." The snake's tongue flicked out rapidly, and followed Snape's procession intently with her yellow eyes.
Snape did not turn back, but could not suppress a shudder at the Dark Lord's threat.